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In 2023, the City of Ithaca and Tompkins County inked deals with Flock Safety, a company that provides Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered license plate cameras for law enforcement. The project received a state grant, and installation began earlier this year. Now there's over 70 of the devices capturing data on every vehicle that passes by.

Now, nearly two years later, there's growing outcry over the technology. What are advocates saying? And how have local officials responded?

Other notes:

Transcript is auto-generated and may contain errors. Access it by clicking the transcript button on the embedded player.

This is the first time we've taken on a project like this and we want to know what you think. Fill out this survey or email audio(at)ithacavoice(dot)org. Thanks!

Original air date: Sept 5, 2025

Produced and hosted by Megan Zerez.

Reporting by Jimmy Jordan and Megan Zerez.

Cover photo by Casey Martin.

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts.

There’s a huge government office complex planned for downtown Ithaca and it's been years in the works. But outside of county government, few people seem to know about the project.

The county's "Center of Government" complex would take up a significant part of a downtown block. Construction could take five years. And the price tag — currently $50 million — has increased. Even as the county inches closer to getting shovels in the ground, some legislators still have cold feet.

Other notes:

Transcript is auto-generated and may contain errors. Access it by clicking the transcript button on the embedded player.

This is the first time we've taken on a project like this and we want to know what you think. Fill out this survey or email audio(at)ithacavoice(dot)org. Thanks!

We'll be taking a break on the podcast next week for Labor Day.

Original air date: August 22, 2025

Produced and hosted by Megan Zerez.

Reporting by Matt Butler.

Cover photo by Casey Martin.

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts.

Part I: New York State wants Ithaca’s local wastewater treatment plant to make major and expensive upgrades to its treatment process. But local officials say all the necessary repairs could potentially double sewer bills . . . and they want the see hard data to prove that the wastewater plant’s discharge is a problem for Cayuga Lake.

Part II: The school year’s about to start for K-12 students, and with it a much anticipated statewide ban on cell phones in classrooms. What’s Ithaca City School District’s plan to implement the policy?

Editor’s note: transcript is auto-generated and may contain errors. Access it by clicking the transcript button on the embedded player.

Original air date: August 15, 2025

Produced by Megan Zerez.

Hosted by Megan Zerez and Matt Butler.

Reporting by Jimmy Jordan and Megan Zerez.

Cover photo by Casey Martin.

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts.

Part I: For years there's been deadlock over plans to bring basic services — like showers, lockers and charging stations — to people living in the homeless encampments on Ithaca’s West End known as The Jungle.

But that's about to change. The city is turning a former Burger King restaurant into a resource center and, later, a temporary winter homeless shelter. So who’s paying for it? And how does it fit in the county's other efforts to address homelessness?

Part II: Tompkins County is eying a potential deficit as it begins planning for next year’s budget. Policy changes at the federal level aimed to reduce the federal deficit could drive administrative costs up for local government.

Editor’s note: transcript is auto-generated and may contain errors. Access it by clicking the transcript button on the embedded player.

Original air date: August 8, 2025

Produced by Megan Zerez.

Reporting by Matt Butler and Megan Zerez.

Cover photo by Casey Martin.

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts.

Last August, officials and developers celebrated the opening of Asteri, a massive, multiuse building in the heart of downtown Ithaca. The project was supposed to put a dent in the city's housing crisis and boost downtown businesses and hotels.

But a year later, the building's owners are facing legal action — including a lawsuit from some of their own residents. The suit alleges mismanagement and dangerous living conditions. It’s not the only legal proceeding involving the building.

Asteri has become one of the most common sites for 9-1-1 calls in the City of Ithaca. And its location right off the Commons means all those issues are front and center.

Editor’s note: transcript is auto-generated and may contain errors. Access it by clicking the transcript button on the embedded player.

Original air date: August 1, 2025

Produced by Megan Zerez.

Reporting by Matt Butler.

Cover photo by Casey Martin.

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts.

Part I: Ithaca's city owned dams are in poor shape and there may not be enough money in the bank to fix them. There's been little discussion of the matter among Common Councilmembers so far. What does that mean for Ithaca's water supply ... and everyone living downstream?

Part II: Cornell University took the rare move of withholding six weeks worth of union dues after a contract dispute with the union that represents its graduate student workers. The university — and some graduate students — are not happy with the way that the union handled religious exemptions, particularly for some Jewish students.

Editor’s note: transcript is auto-generated and may contain errors. Access it by clicking the transcript button on the embedded player.

Original air date: July 25, 2025

Produced by Megan Zerez.

Reporting by Fernando Figueroa, Jimmy Jordan and Megan Zerez.

Cover photo by Casey Martin.

Part I: An ambitious project to provide permanent supportive housing for some of Ithaca's most vulnerable has garnered renewed scrutiny after an alleged arson attempt last month. The downtown building, Asteri, has also become the subject of a disproportionate number of calls to law enforcement since it opened last year. Now, local officials are seeking accountability. So what's next for the building and its residents?

Part II: Trumansburg's longstanding Grassroots Festival kicked off Thursday. We go back to the roots of the beloved local event with local musician and Grassroots co-founder Jeb Puryear.

Editor’s note: transcript is auto-generated and may contain errors. Access it by clicking the transcript button on the embedded player.

Original air date: July 18, 2025

Produced by Megan Zerez.

Reporting by Megan Zerez and Matt Butler.

Additional episode music: Heaven and The Earth by Donna the Buffalo.

Cover photo by Matt Butler.

Part I: President Donald Trump signed the "Big Beautiful Bill" into law July 4 — and with it, some of the largest ever cuts to federal Medicaid spending. The program provides health insurance for about 15% of Tompkins County residents. Megan Zerez and Ithaca Voice Editor-in-Chief Matt Butler go over the cuts and what they might mean for us locally.

Part II: Potential harms to rural and small city hospitals have been a topic of debate nationally. Matt Butler speaks with Kevin Kerwin, the president of a trade group representing dozens of small hospitals in our region and elsewhere upstate.

Part III: The first harmful algal blooms of the summer have arrived in Cayuga Lake with a bang. Megan Zerez and Ithaca Voice environment reporter Fernando Figueroa talk about what these increasingly common phenomena mean for our watershed.

Editor’s note: transcript is auto-generated and may contain errors. Access it by clicking the transcript button on the embedded player.

Original air date: July 11, 2025

Produced and hosted by Megan Zerez.

Reporting by Megan Zerez, Matt Butler and Fernando Figueroa.

Cover photo by Casey Martin.

The New York State comptroller is in the process of auditing the City of Ithaca's financial management processes. Meanwhile, the city remains without a credit score and is years behind on its routine yearly audits.

Updated federal flood risk maps were released last month for Ithaca. More properties will require flood insurance, which could drive up housing costs. The city's more renter-heavy, working class neighborhoods could see the largest changes.

Original air date: July 4, 2025

Produced and hosted by Megan Zerez.

Reporting by Jimmy Jordan and Fernando Figueroa.

Music by Andrii Poradovskyi from Pixabay

Tuesday was primary election day in the first countywide local elections since President Donald Trump's second inauguration. We analyze the races and talk about the winners — and winning issues. However the general election shakes out, county, city and town governments are poised to see significant turnover come January. With looming threats of federal spending cuts on Medicaid and other programs, incoming lawmakers may need to contend with budget shortfalls sooner than expected.

Original air date: June 27, 2025

Produced and hosted by Megan Zerez.

Reporting by Matt Butler and Megan Zerez.