Ithaca Minute from 14850 Magazine

Here’s the Ithaca Minute from 14850 Today for March 27th.

Tompkins County officials say a “private employer” at the Ithaca Tompkins International Airport has reported “that one of their employees had tested positive for COVID-19.” In all, Tompkins County has 32 with positive test results as of Thursday afternoon.

A Tompkins County spokesperson confirms that the employee worked for the company at the airport. Employees at the airport often work for a third party, rather than the county, including airline counter staff, car rental staff, and cafe staff. The county did not identify the private employer.

Earlier in the week, the health department said they’ve received word of a positive COVID-19 test result in a food service worker, and they’re encouraging people who ate at the Mango Mango restaurant on Dryden Road in Collegetown during the food worker’s shifts on March 14th and 15th to self-quarantine.

Cornell announced on Wednesday that its campus-to-campus bus service between Ithaca and New York City was suspended until further notice, and on Thursday, Mayor Svante Myrick said all intercity bus service between Ithaca and NYC “has been voluntarily suspended by the bus companies.”

The decision comes at a time when local, state, and federal officials are strongly discouraging unnecessary travel.

Cornell Athletics has released a new Cornell Sports Activity Book, available for free download. Available at cornellbigred.com, the downloadable and printable PDF offers a maze, coloring, word search and a sport match page.

And IthacaTipJar.com popped up recently to make it easy for those in the community who still have some discretionary income to toss a monetary tip to their favorite local bartenders, servers, hairdressers, baristas, or others who rely on tips.

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Here’s the Ithaca Minute from 14850 Today for November 9th.

The Ithaca Sciencenter Workers’ Union announced on Friday that the group “voted unanimously to be represented by Workers United.” The vote was conducted by the National Labor Relations Board on October 24th, but results were delayed to allow for arrival of mailed in ballots.

Municipal offices like the City of Ithaca and Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office business office are closed this coming Monday, November 11 for Veterans Day, as are public schools and banks, but many services like TCAT buses and Tompkins County’s curbside recycling pickup will happen on a regular schedule.

Tompkins County Public Library is open on Veterans Day, as are the SPCA of Tompkins County and Ithaca Sciencenter. The Tompkins County Veterans Committee is hosting its annual Veterans Day Ceremony at 11am Monday at Dewitt Park.

And Ciao has been named to the Pizza Today Hot 100 list for the sixth straight year. More about that in the 14850 Dining Podcast.

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Here’s the Ithaca Minute from 14850 Today for November 8th.

A residence director who joined Ithaca College this August passed away in his campus apartment on Thursday evening. 28-year-old Michael Palumbo was the residence director for Terraces 7-13. According to Rosanna Ferro, IC’s vice president for student affairs and campus life, no foul play is suspected, and there is no reason to believe there’s any danger to the college community.

The Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office said Friday morning they “have no additional progression on the identification of the suspect” in two cases of forcible touching and one of rape from October, but they “also have not had any other reports of incidents on the trails.”

The Sheriff’s Office has been looking for a man who “who displayed a knife and forcibly touched two women in two recent incidences” that “are potentially related.” The first incident occurred on the 2600 block of Danby Road near the Finger Lakes Trail on October 14, and the second on the Thayer Preserve Trail on Sand Bank Road on October 28, both “in the early evening hours before dusk.”

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Here’s the Ithaca Minute from 14850 Today for November 4th.

Just recently, three write-in candidates emerged for three of the five Ithaca Common Council seats up for election this week. Ellie Pfeffer, Thea Kozakis, and Cheyenne Carter are running last-minute campaigns for Alderperson as part of “Sunrise Movement Ithaca,” a group that wants to implement a Green New Deal platform for the City of Ithaca and “galvanize student engagement”

A total of 1,408 voters took advantage of Early Voting, available for the first time in Tompkins County this year, over the last nine days, according to the Tompkins County Board of Elections. Deputy commissioner of elections Kari Stamm tells 14850 Today that the 1,408 early voters were out of “56,047 active registered voters” in Tompkins County.

And when election day rolls around, voters get to vote for plain pancakes or blueberry pancakes at the annual Rotary Clubs election day pancake breakfast. The 46th annual pancake breakfast will be at Coltivare, on South Cayuga Street, this Tuesday from 7am-7pm.

Polls will be open 6am-9pm on Tuesday, November 5th.

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Here’s the Ithaca Minute from 14850 Today for August 13th.

The City of Ithaca has reopened South Aurora Street, Route 96B on Ithaca’s south hill, almost three weeks ahead of schedule. The road closed in mid-June with little warning as part of the South Aurora Street sidewalk extension project.

John Licitra, the City’s sidewalk program manager in the Department of Public Works, tells 14850 Today, “Construction punch list items are still on-going, but the road will be open.” The road reopens a week ahead of Ithaca College’s move-in day, August 20th, and a week and a half before Cornell University’s move-in weekend, August 23rd and 24th.

Spencer Road remains closed through the end of August, and North Aurora Street remains closed for bridge work at Cascadilla Creek.

The final Music in the Hollow of the summer at Ellis Hollow Community Center is tonight at 6 featuring The Small Kings and music from Silo Food Truck!

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Here’s the Ithaca Minute from 14850 Today for May 27th.

Ithaca’s Veterans of Foreign Wars is hosting a series of services and ceremonies this Memorial Day to honor Tompkins County’s fallen service members. The VFW says the public is welcome at the events hosted by their ritual team.

The schedule is

7:00am: City Cemetery

9:00am: South Hill Cemetery

9:30am: East Lawn Cemetery

11:00am: Dewitt Park

For Memorial Day, the Tompkins County Public Library is closed, curbside recycling pickup will be delayed one day, and TCAT bus service is suspended for the day.

And an Ithaca man has announced his intention to run for Mayor of the City of Ithaca, hoping to challenge Svante Myrick, who’s running for a third term. Adam Levine collected petition signatures at GreenStar on Sunday afternoon, and has until Tuesday to get the required number.

The would-be candidate believes in bringing people together “to make a situation, a place, as good as can be,” and wants “to give a voice to the whole city.”

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Here’s the Ithaca Minute from 14850 Today for May 25th.

The Ithaca Police Department responded to a report of “shots fired” at about 1:15am Friday in the 400 block of West Green Street, and at first officers were unable to locate any victims or other involved persons in the area.

According to police, “a short time later, the victim of the shooting was located at a local hospital.” IPD asks any businesses or residences on West Green Street between Plain and Cayuga who may have security video that captured the incident to get in touch with the IPD investigations unit.

An Ithaca Police Department officer has pleaded guilty to perjury, “and the City immediately terminated his employment as an officer,” according to a statement from Mayor Svante Myrick on Friday morning.

Officer Kyle Paolangeli pleaded guilty in a case in which the Chemung County District Attorney served as special prosecutor at the request of Tompkins County District Attorney Matt VanHouten, the Mayor’s statement says.

And the Tompkins County Public Library will be closed for the entire Memorial Day weekend, and TCAT says there will be no bus service on Monday. Tompkins County’s solid waste and recycling center is closed on Monday, and there will be no curbside recycling pickup Monday. Curbside pickup will be delayed one day for the rest of the week.

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Here’s the Ithaca Minute from 14850 Today for May 24th.

The Ithaca City School District says Erin Croyle, a write-in candidate for school board, won one of the three at-large seats up for election on Tuesday. Croyle came in third in the close field, behind Eldred Harris and Robert Ainslie, defeating Bradley Grainger for the third seat. The three will begin three-year terms on July 1st. On Tuesday night, the school district released preliminary results of the budget votes, with all three propositions passing by a wide margin.

Ithaca’s Aspen Dental is opening on Saturday, June 8th exclusively to vets as part of the chain’s annual Day of Service, offering free dental care to veterans. Appointments are required for the free dental care, and the Ithaca office has limited remaining availability. Vets can call 1-855-814-3287 for an appointment.

And Grant Imahara, known as one of the hosts of “Mythbusters” and “White Rabbit Project,” will welcome about 2,000 young scientists to Ithaca as the keynote speaker for next weekend’s national Science Olympiad, hosted this year for the first time by Cornell University.

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Here’s the Ithaca Minute from 14850 Today for April 29th.

Promoters have pulled the plug on a three-day music festival scheduled for this August at Watkins Glen International, marking the 50th anniversary of the legendary Woodstock festival.

The event promoters had been widely criticized for offering tickets starting at $450, as well as for moving the anniversary celebration so far from the Hudson Valley site of the original concert. Ticket sales, originally slated to begin last week, had already been postponed.

According to The Poughkeepsie Journal, while a statement from Amplifi Live says they’ve canceled the event, a spokesperson for Woodstock 50 said, “Woodstock 50 vehemently denies the festival’s cancellation and legal remedy will (be) sought.”

And a “college age male” rescued from the Six Mile Creek gorge “may have been evading or avoiding” police when he reportedly fell into the creek from Giles Street around midnight Saturday night, according to an official.

Firefighters responding to Six Mile Creek donned water rescue suits and entered the fast-moving creek to reach the man who had fallen in. Crews were able to secure the man in a life jacket, assist him back across the creek, and take him to a waiting ambulance to check for injuries.

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Here’s the Ithaca Minute from 14850 Today for April 12th.

A message to Newfield Central School parents from superintendent Dr. Cheryl Thomas says more security measures are in place for Friday as rumors swirl about a message found in a middle school bathroom stall earlier this week. Dr. Thomas says, “Somebody out there knows the truth about who wrote it and we hope they will do the right thing by telling us.” Some parents are saying they’ll keep their kids home from school.

The Ithaca Police Department says a 23-year-old from Ithaca is in Tompkins County Jail after surrendering to police following a standoff on Ithaca’s west hill on Thursday afternoon. A statement from IPD says officers responded to the apartment complex at 150 West Village Place at 12:48pm after receiving a report of a subject “brandishing a handgun.” After about two hours, the subject exited the apartment and surrendered without further incident. Jalin Boutwell was charged with criminal possession of a firearm and arraigned in Ithaca City Court.

And the Friends of the Library Book Sale is coming in just a few weeks, and this Saturday is the deadline for donating books and other materials before the Spring Sale.

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