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Local News: April 24, 2024

Pilot Program in Tompkins Adds Emergency Responders Emergency response times in Tompkins County should be getting shorter. State Senator Lea Webb was in Ithaca Tuesday to announce additional state funding for the county’s Rapid Medical Response program. The two-year pilot program operates three emergency response vehicles and employs nine EMTs. According to Webb, emergency response in many rural areas of New York is slow and first responders are stretched thin. According to the Ithaca Voice, the program started earlier this month, and has already shown results. On the program’s first day, County Administrator Lisa Holmes told the legislature a woman with a broken hip got medical help from the team in just seven…

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ELECTION FEATURE: Ithaca Common Council Ward 3 Candidates

By Celia Clarke

WRFI Community Radio and The Ithaca Voice are bringing you conversations with candidates in the contested Ithaca Common Council races and the mayoral race. I’m Celia Clarke, with Matt Butler Editor-in-Chief of The Ithaca Voice. Today, Ward 3 candidates Pat Sewell and Pierre Saint-Perez. Saint-Perez is the Democratic Party candidate.  Sewell is an Independent running…

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ELECTION FEATURE: Ithaca Common Council Ward 1 Candidates

By Celia Clarke

WRFI Community Radio and The Ithaca Voice are bringing you conversations with candidates in the three contested Ithaca Common Council and the mayoral races. Matt Butler, Editor-in-Chief of The Ithaca Voice questions Ward 1 candidates.  In the first half of the hour, you’ll hear from Phoebe Brown and Zach Winn who are running for a…

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This Week on The Scene: Risa Lieberwitz discusses “Make Cornell Pay” and Academic Freedom

By Chantal Thomas

On October 4th, 2023, a group of Cornell faculty condemned Cornell University’s proposed “payment in lieu of taxes” to the City of Ithaca for falling grievously short of Cornell’s obligations to the public interest. In this week’s episode of The Scene, Risa Lieberwitz, a professor at Cornell’s Industrial and Labor Relations School, places the MakeCornellPay campaign in the broader context…

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Julian Eagle: A Tribute to WRFI’s Very First Youth Radio Volunteer

By JT Stone

At fourteen, Julian Eagle started working at WRFI as the station’s very first Youth Radio volunteer. This week would have been his 21st birthday and this month was the one-year anniversary of his death from Fentanyl poisoning. WRFI’s JT Stone got his start in radio working with Julian. He filed a tribute to a young…

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Local News: April 24, 2024

By Felix Teitelbaum | April 24, 2024 |

Pilot Program in Tompkins Adds Emergency Responders Emergency response times in Tompkins County should be getting shorter. State Senator Lea Webb was in Ithaca Tuesday to announce additional state funding for the county’s Rapid Medical Response program. The two-year pilot program operates three emergency response vehicles and employs nine EMTs. According to Webb, emergency response…

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Local News: April 23, 2024

By Felix Teitelbaum | April 23, 2024 | Comments Off on Local News: April 23, 2024

Cornell Undergrad Vote Supports Gaza Ceasefire, Divestment Last week Cornell undergraduate voted in a referendum polling their views on a ceasefire in Gaza and divestment from 10 military contractors supplying Israel. According to the Cornell Sun, nearly 50% of eligible students voted. And votes for a ceasefire and divestment outweighed those against by nearly two…

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Local News: April 22, 2024

By Felix Teitelbaum | April 22, 2024 | Comments Off on Local News: April 22, 2024

Public Hearing on ICSD Budget Announced Ithaca City School District has announced a public hearing on its proposed 2024-2025 operating budget. The meeting will take place May 14 at 5:30 p.m. at York Hall at Ithaca High School. Last week we reported on a 5-hour meeting during which the board heard from taxpayers concerned with…

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Local News: April 19, 2024

By Felix Teitelbaum | April 19, 2024 | Comments Off on Local News: April 19, 2024

Case Against Day Hall Protestors Conditionally Dismissed A case against Cornell student and staff protestors will likely be dismissed. Twenty-four members of the Coalition for Mutual Liberation who staged a sit in at Day Hall in March appeared before Judge Seth Peacock Wednesday. The charges will be dropped  provided the defendants don’t commit further violations…

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