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The Ithaca Common Council is set to vote on a negotiated Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Cornell University in a special meeting tonight. I’ll have a report on the results of the vote tomorrow morning. This is a brief recap of what’s at stake. Cornell has tax-exempt status so it doesn’t have to pay property taxes on most of the real estate it owns in the city of Ithaca. The MOU sets terms for Cornell to make payments instead of taxes to the city. Ithaca’s last agreement with Cornell was negotiated about 25 years ago. This September, Mayor Laura Lewis announced a new agreement following several months of negotiations between officials from the…
WE DID IT! Thanks to the incredible support of over 80 donors in the Finger Lakes and beyond, we raised over $10,000 in the past week! Your generosity ensures that we can continue opening ears, minds, and hearts across the Southern Finger Lakes. THANK YOU for making a real impact! Your contribution supports: Amplifying the…
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Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October there have been several separate rallies in Ithaca supporting Palestine or Israel. Public emotions ran high when the Tompkins County Legislature briefly considered a resolution in support of Israel and flying the Israeli flag in the legislative chamber. It was around that time,…
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We’re sorry to announce to our Watkins Glen listeners that we have gone off the air on 91.9FM as of Friday, November 10. This change will not affect our signals at 88.1FM in Ithaca, or 89.7FM across the Southern Finger Lakes. Nor will it affect our webstream heard here at WRFI.ORG. In fact many Watkins…
Read MoreWRFI Community Radio and The Ithaca Voice are bringing you conversations with candidates in the contested Ithaca Common Council races and the mayoral race. Tonight Matt Butler interviews Ward 5 candidate Jason Houghton. Houghton is running on the Ithacans for Progress ballot line. His opponent is Clyde Lederman, running on the Democratic Party and Working…
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Daily features and interviews from our community
– Residents of Ulysses to vote in special election on land purchase for recreational area – Voters in the Town of Ulysses will decide whether to buy 30 acres to become a recreational area in a special election on December 6. The town includes Trumansburg and is a few miles north of Ithaca. The town’s…
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– New report says New York can’t reach climate goals by 2030 – A newly released report says that New York State won’t meet its 2030 climate goal. The legislature passed the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act in 2019. It requires the state to get 70% of its energy from renewable sources by 2023.…
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– Two Ithaca residents arrested at United Nations protest – Eighteen people were arrested at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations on Thursday. They were protesting the U.S. government’s failure to sign on to the “Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.” Ithaca residents, Teresa and Ellen Grady were among those arrested. Both are…
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– Sierra Club raises concerns about proposed waste facility in Steuben County – A proposed waste facility in Bath would accept sludge and industrial waste. The Painted Post company, Momentum wants to build a facility in Bath that could accept over 100 tons of materials including construction debris, non-hazardous sludges, and contaminated soils. The Sierra…
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