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Local News: April 17, 2024

ICSD Board Cuts Proposed Budget Ahead of May 21 Vote The Ithaca City School Board has made cuts to their proposed budget. According to the Ithaca Times, the adjustment was made after a 5-hour meeting with the public. Board members heard from a range of homeowners who spoke to the effect of rising taxes on Ithaca’s already serious housing affordability crisis. The school tax levy had originally been proposed to grow by more than 12%. The board eventually approved a proposed budget that would lower the levy by approximately $4 million through a combination of cuts and use of reserve funds. The new levy would still be an 8.4% increase. Because the increase…

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2019 Izzy Award Winner Dave Lindorff

By WRFI News Staff

David Lindorff is an an investigative reporter. His career spans between mainstream and independent media. He has served as a contributor for Businessweek, The Nation, Extra!, and Salon.com, a columnist for CounterPunch, and is founding editor of ThisCantBeHappening.net Lindorff is a recipient 2019 Izzy Award for his investigation into the Pentagon’s accounting practices, which appeared…

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Facebook group Mama’s Comfort Camp gives mothers a place to get support — and not advice [AUDIO]

By WRFI News Staff

Yael Saar founded Mama’s Comfort Camp eight years ago to serve a need — to give mothers more support, and less advice. She was motivated to do this after suffering from postpartum depression. Now, it’s a Facebook group where moms in Ithaca and around the globe can be very honest about being mothers and get…

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“The Long Trail Out” documentary preview [AUDIO]

By WRFI News Staff

Ithaca College alumnus Shai Ben-Dor has spent over three years making his documentary film, “The Long Trail Out”. The film centers around 70-year-old Tim Buchanan, a longtime youth worker and mountaineer, who speaks about his life as a closeted gay man. WRFI News Contributor Michayla Savitt spoke with Shai about his inspiration for the film,…

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Earth Island Journal Speech at Izzy Award 2019 [AUDIO]

By WRFI News Staff

Earth Island Journal is an independent publication of the Earth Island Institute. The publication’s goal is to support environmental activists and leaders working to protect biological and cultural diversity that sustains the environment through the sharing of stories. The Magazine is a 2019 Izzy Award Winner for their in-depth reporting on the overlap of environmental…

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Local News: April 17, 2024

By Felix Teitelbaum | April 17, 2024 | Comments Off on Local News: April 17, 2024

ICSD Board Cuts Proposed Budget Ahead of May 21 Vote The Ithaca City School Board has made cuts to their proposed budget. According to the Ithaca Times, the adjustment was made after a 5-hour meeting with the public. Board members heard from a range of homeowners who spoke to the effect of rising taxes on…

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Local News: April 16, 2024

By Felix Teitelbaum | April 16, 2024 | Comments Off on Local News: April 16, 2024

Graduate students at Cornell are pushing the administration to act more quickly in negotiations with their union. According to the Ithaca Voice, last week about 200 graduate students rallied at Day Hall. Organizer Sadie Seddon-Stettler said that the university isn’t making contract negotiation a priority. The union maintains a dashboard showing the status of various…

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Local News April 15, 2024

By Felix Teitelbaum | April 15, 2024 | Comments Off on Local News April 15, 2024

Competing rallies were held at Cornell Sunday. One was billed as a “Jewish Unity” rally and featured speakers who decried what they say is a rise in antisemitism at Cornell and across the country. The other was organized by the Coalition for Mutual Liberation whose demands include that Cornell divest from what they call genocide…

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LISTEN: Freedom of Expression at Cornell – Academic freedom

By Celia Clarke | April 11, 2024 | Comments Off on LISTEN: Freedom of Expression at Cornell – Academic freedom

This is the last of my three stories about freedom of expression at Cornell University this year. Here are links to the first and second stories. The academic theme at Cornell this year is “Freedom of Expression.”  In earlier stories, we reported about the general mood at Cornell around free speech, and students’ opinions about…

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