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Local News: April 26, 2024

Adjustments Expected to Ithaca Water Bills Ithaca property owners may face unexpected water bills starting this year. The city has relied on equipment to remotely read water meters since 2005. However, batteries in the equipment started to fail during the pandemic and were never replaced. This means that many bills have been based on estimated water use. Now that the city has started to replace the equipment, bills based on actual usage can be issued. Many accounts may have been underbilled and some overbilled. Customers who’ve overpaid will be reimbursed. According to the Ithaca Voice, Common Council is looking at a plan to place a $1,000 cap on back charges to customers who…

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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.

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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.  

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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…

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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…

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Daily features and interviews from our community

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…

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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…

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Coronavirus Update, November 27, 2020

By WRFI News Staff | November 27, 2020 | Comments Off on Coronavirus Update, November 27, 2020

A second Covid-19 testing center opened today in Tompkins County.  The Ithaca Voice reports that Cayuga Health Systems is operating a sampling center at 412 North Tioga street on property owned by Tompkins County.  The hours will be 8am to 4pm Monday thru Friday. The new center will operate as a walk-up and will use…

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Area Congregations Together Hosts 2020 Virtual Thanksgiving Service

By Esther Racoosin | November 26, 2020 | Comments Off on Area Congregations Together Hosts 2020 Virtual Thanksgiving Service

  On November 22, 2020, Area Congregations Together, also known as ACT, hosted a virtual Thanksgiving Service.  Suzanne Scholten, one of the organizers of the service, talks about how ACT decided on the theme for this year’s event, “Finding gratitude in hard times: What I learned from the impacts and challenges of Covid-19, economic crisis,…

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