Live, Local, and Commercial-Free

Listen now at 89.7FM, 88.1FM in Ithaca, or by using our web player.

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…

Now Playing

Reload page to refresh.

Archive Player

Youth Farm Project Celebrates Earth Week with Greta Garrison of the Youth Radio Project

By Felix Teitelbaum

Youth Farm Project participants Stella Sapp-Dietrich and Etienne Exantus and Ray Hage Assistant Director of Cornell’s Science & Technology Entry Program (STEP) with Greta Garrison of the Youth Radio Project on WRFI.

Read More

CREATIVES: New Voices Literary Festival Preview with Raul Palma [AUDIO]

By Felix Teitelbaum

Listen to author Raul Palma in conversation with student organizers April Morales, Emily Trage, Riley Rhoder and Professor Jacob White. The 2024 New Voices Festival runs from April 24-26 at Ithaca College and in your community.  

Read More

Tune in, Turn on, and Take Part! Join Us for WRFI’s Spring “Fun” Drive and Be Part of this Community-Powered Radio Revolution!

By Felix Teitelbaum

What does community radio mean to you? We think this commercial-free, free-form, independent station helps make our listeners lives-and life in our communities-just a little better. We strive to make programing that opens ears, opens hearts, and leads us to ask important questions about our world. Even if it’s just to ask yourself, “What in…

Read More

LISTEN: Freedom of Expression at Cornell – Academic freedom

By Celia Clarke

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…

Read More

Latest from the WRFI News Team

Daily features and interviews from our community

Interview: Laura Rosbrow-Telem on audio storytelling and COVID-19 vaccines [AUDIO]

By admin | December 1, 2020 | Comments Off on Interview: Laura Rosbrow-Telem on audio storytelling and COVID-19 vaccines [AUDIO]

On Tuesday, Public News Service Reporter Laura Rosbrow-Telem joined WRFI Community Radio News for a live interview about her recent story for WNYC’s Radiolab. The story, which is available online and on podcast platforms, was about the process of developing COVID-19 vaccines through human challenge trials. Listen to the interview below to hear the interview…

Read More

Coronavirus Update, December 1, 2020

By admin | December 1, 2020 | Comments Off on Coronavirus Update, December 1, 2020

Looking at the local COVID-19 caseload, the latest numbers, released today from the Tompkins County health department, indicate that there are 34 additional positives, and 8 new recoveries. According to the County Health Department, that’s 219 active cases of COVID-19 in Tompkins. In Schuyler County, there are 3 new cases of COVID-19 reported as of…

Read More

Coronavirus Update, November 30, 2020

By WRFI News Staff | November 30, 2020 | Comments Off on Coronavirus Update, November 30, 2020

3 residents of the Oak Hill Manor Nursing Home in Ithaca have died in the last week from complications of COVID-19. This comes amid a cluster of cases among 39 residents and 13 staff members at the facility. The Ithaca Voice reports that the State Department of Health is responsible for all contact tracing and…

Read More

Interview: The Reverend Billy Talen on shopping, activism, and the end of the world

By Felix Teitelbaum | November 27, 2020 | Comments Off on Interview: The Reverend Billy Talen on shopping, activism, and the end of the world

It’s black Friday, and, as the coronavirus spikes around the country, retailers closely eye holiday spending. Radical performers Reverend Billy Talen and the Church of Stop Shopping blend activism, music, and humor to trace the connections between consumerist culture, climate crisis, and the coming “shopacalypse.” “Reverend Billy Radio – Preacher for the Planet” makes it’s…

Read More