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Local News: May 13, 2024

State Targets ICSD for Improvement Ithaca City Schools have been targeted for improvement under New York’s Every Student Succeeds Act. Enfield and Beverly Martin schools had already been identified as needing improvement. According to the Ithaca Times, the district received the new designation after Dewitt and Boynton middle schools also received poor marks. The state’s report card showed that Black students at the middle schools were disproportionately absent and in need of academic improvement.  Now that four schools in the district have been targeted for improvement its been labeled a “target district.” State law requires target districts to develop a District Comprehensive Improvement Plan. About 18% of New York’s school districts have the…

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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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Latest from the WRFI News Team

Daily features and interviews from our community

Coronavirus Update, December 3, 2020

By WRFI News Staff | December 3, 2020 | Comments Off on Coronavirus Update, December 3, 2020

The Tompkins County Health Department is reporting a potential COVID-19 public exposure at the Walgreens on South Meadow Street in Ithaca. The individual who tested positive for COVID-19 is an employee at the pharmacy, and is now in isolation. Any close contacts are being notified to quarantine. Potential public exposure may have occurred at the…

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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…

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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…

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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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