Live, Local, and Commercial-Free
Listen now at 89.7FM, 88.1FM in Ithaca, or 91.9FM in Watkins Glen, using our web player.
Station News and Events
Here are the latest announcements and opportunities to get involved in WRFI, follow along with us on this journey of serving Ithaca and Watkins Glen with community radio. We love hearing from you! Contact us anytime.
Felix Teitelbaum interviews Irish singer-songwriter Karan Casey and Ellen Grady of the Ithaca Catholic Worker. Casey will be performing a benefit for the Catholic Worker on Thursday, March 9, 2023 at the Community School of Music and Arts. Casey is a founding member of the American/Irish supergroup Solas and has released 9 albums of her…
Read MoreThis week’s episode of The Scene features an interview with artist and photography professor Al-An deSouza. The Scene’s Chantal Thomas speaks with Professor deSouza about their exhibition, Elegies of Futures Past, at Cornell University’s Johnson Museum of Art, and its meditations on family memory, colonial empire and diasporic identity. (original air date: November 4, 2022) The Scene airs every…
Read MoreStevie Eve Chaneles and Bea Bornstein speak with Pontypool director Jeff Hodges and actors Mike Chen and Ivony Whiteley. HOI is proud to present Pontypool (running November 18-December 3, 2022) by Tony Burgess as an audio horror drama directed by HOI co-founder Jeff Hodges. The show centers on disgraced radio DJ Grant Mazzy, who finds himself…
Read MoreLatest from the WRFI News Team
Daily features and interviews from our community
Local News for Friday, March 10, 2023
Few Attend Ithaca Public Hearing About Police Reform Draft A public hearing about the draft plan from Ithaca’s Reimagining Public Safety Committee was sparsely attended on Wednesday night. According to the Ithaca Voice most of the commenters approve of the plan, though one resident criticized the plan’s intention to hire more police officers. Alderperson George…
Read MoreLocal News for Thursday March 9, 2023
City of Ithaca Seeks Public Input for National Police Chief Search, Union Critical The city of Ithaca is pushing ahead with its second search for a permanent police chief. On Tuesday it announced two virtual meetings for members of the public to voice their priorities for the role. The two sessions will be Saturday March…
Read MoreLocal News for Monday, March 7, 2023
New York state is struggling to find a new chief judge for the Court of Appeals. After Senate Democrats rejected Governor Hochul’s nomination of appellate Justice Hector LaSalle last month, the number of new submissions has been fewer than expected. According to the Times Union, the Commission on Judicial Nomination is mostly reconsidering 41 initial…
Read MoreLocal News for Monday, March 6th, 2023
The New York State Attorney’s Office is proposing a set of rules aimed at preventing price gouging. The rules define gouging as “any price increase over 10% during an abnormal disruption in the market.” According to the Times Union, New Jersey, California, and 8 other states already follow the 10 percent threshold definition. The office…
Read MoreLocal News for Friday, March 3, 2023
Ithaca Has a New Fire Chief Robert Covert II is the new Chief of the Ithaca Fire Department. The Common Council voted unanimously to approve his promotion during their meeting on Tuesday. Covert had been the Acting Chief since former chief Thomas Basher retired last August. He’s been a member of the department for 30…
Read MoreLocal News for Thursday, March 2, 2023
State Awards Downtown Revitalization Grants The Village of Montour Falls in Schuyler County and Waverly in Tioga County will each get $4.5 million in state grants to help revitalize their downtown areas. The funding will be used for local infrastructure projects, to boost economic development, and to create jobs. The funding comes from NY Forward,…
Read More