Here’s the Ithaca Minute from 14850 Today for February 14th.

Think of it as a musical Valentine. Ithaca musician Kurt Riley has a new music video and a single for sale around town. The video for “Love Is In My Heart” is online today, and a CD single is in stores.

The song is inspired by Nat King Cole, but with an electro twist, Kurt tells us, adding that he loves fusing genres. The CD single is available at Sunny Days, Hickey’s Music, and Angry Mom Records.

Cornell men’s ice hockey goaltender Matthew Galajda is the ECAC rookie of the week and goaltender of the week and NCAA player of the week. The freshman’s eight shutouts give him the Cornell record for shutouts in a freshman season.

Downtown Ithaca bookstore Buffalo Street Books is offering Valentines all day, and each contains a poem, a special discount, or even a gift card, and there’s a read-aloud session for kids at 4.

And the final taco pop-up night for the Bickering Twins at the Loft above the Carriage House Cafe is this Thursday.

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

Ithaca radio station WVBR has a new format this week. Fifty years after the transition to rock music and over twenty years after adopting the Real Rock Radio slogan, WVBR is now Ithaca’s Alternative.

The new format “will feature classic artists like Nirvana, the Foo Fighters, and the Strokes, along with the best newcomers… like the Cold War Kids and Tame Impala.”

WVBR’s TJ Hurd tells us much of the new playlist “has been taken from the alternative music we already play, but we’ve been expanding a bit further into the discographies of our core artists.”

Governor Cuomo issued an executive order late last month authorizing funding for flu vaccines for children regardless of their families’ ability to pay, and this week he’s put forward legislation to codify the order. There have been four confirmed pediatric flu deaths in New York this season. Local pharmacies like Rite Aid and CVS offer walk-in flu vaccines, and Cornell, Ithaca College, and the Tompkins County Health Department offer vaccination by appointment.

And the fifth annual Mardi Gras fundraiser for the United Way is Tuesday night at Lot 10, featuring celebrity guest bartenders and music from Casey Max and the DixieKats.

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

The United Way of Tompkins County has its fifth annual Fat Tuesday fundraiser this Tuesday evening at Lot 10. There’s free admission to the event, which features celebrity guest bartenders and music from Casey Max and the DixieKats.

Celebrity guest bartenders include City of Ithaca mayor Svante Myrick, Cornell Track & Field coach Adrian Durant, Cayuga Medical Center CEO John Rudd, and United Way of Tompkins County president James Brown.

Luna Inspired Street Food, which operates a food kiosk in Lot 10, is providing “original Mardi Gras style eats” for the event, including gator bite tacos, Cajun fries, BBQ shrimp over rice, fried catfish sliders, and cornbread with honey butter.

Cornell women’s hockey swept their home weekend, with a 4-0 shutout over Yale on Friday night and a 6-1 senior day win over Brown on Saturday. They finish the regular season on the road at Union and RPI. The Big Red men had a three-point weekend, tying the Clarkson Golden Knights in Potsdam after falling to them at home in the fall, and edging St. Lawrence 1-0. The men return home for Brown and Yale this coming weekend.

Sheriff’s deputies report two shoplifting arrests, of Jaci Rumsey at the Tops Friendly Markets on North Triphammer Road and Tyler Alden at Target at the Shops at Ithaca Mall.

And this week the 14850 Dining Report pays a visit to Ten Forward Cafe on the Ithaca Commons.

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

Cornell women’s hockey has their final home weekend of the regular season, with a 6pm game Friday and 3pm game on Saturday. The Big Red shut out Syracuse Tuesday night by a 5-0 score thanks to a hat trick from sophomore Kristin O’Neill.

Wear purple on Friday evening for Cornell’s annual Do It For Daron game, which brings Yale to town. DIFD is a Big Red family cause, founded by the family and friends of Big Red alum Morgan Richardson’s sister Daron, who died by suicide as a young teen. The organization created a dialogue that challenges the stigma of youth mental illness, and Cornell’s women have skated with purple laces, purple DIFD hearts on their helmets, and even limited-edition purple-trim jerseys that were auctioned off after a previous season’s DIFD game.

Saturday’s 3pm game against Brown is the final regular-season home game on the team’s schedule, and will feature a Senior Night ceremony.

Odd-even parking restrictions are being enforced in the City of Ithaca until further notice due to this week’s snow.

And Friday is both National Pizza Day and National Bagel Day! There are few topics more polarizing than what constitutes “real pizza,” and depending on where you’re from, your definition may vary quite a bit! Check 14850.com for a roundup of some of our favorites.

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

Cornell men’s and women’s lacrosse players are hosting their 13th annual blood drive. The drive kicks off the 2018 “Save the Day” campaign for the Dream Factory of Central New York.

The Dream Factory of Central New York helps to improve the lives of sick children. The blood drive is Thursday, from 9am-2pm, in room G10 of Cornell’s Biotech Building.

Monks on the Commons in the lobby of the Ithaca Marriott prides itself on serving lots of local food and drink, and this week they’re kicking off a weekly series of tastings that will showcase some of their vendors.

The weekly “Monks & Friends” events will start this Thursday with a free tasting of products from F. Olivers, which from day one has provided custom olive oil and spice blends for Monks.

Monks restaurant supervisor Joshua Fogerty tells us each week’s complimentary tasting will be matched with suitable food or drink pairing specials in the restaurant and bar.

And TCAT says its Route 14 on Ithaca’s west hill is on snow detour until further notice, skipping Chestnut Street and Campbell Ave. Routes 11 and 51 were also detoured for much of Wednesday.

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Here’s the Ithaca Minute from 14850 Today for February 7th.

Most area school districts are closed on Wednesday, and several made the call on Tuesday night. Drew from Finger Lakes Weather says, “Snow should quickly spread from west to east across the Finger Lakes between 7-9 am on Wednesday.”

TCAT says Schuyler County Transit Route 6 with Tompkins TCAT connections won’t be operating Wednesday.

A hat trick from sophomore Kristin O’Neill was the core of Cornell women’s ice hockey’s Tuesday night win over the visiting Syracuse Orange. Junior Diana Buckley and freshman Joie Phelps added the other two goals on the night. The Big Red host Yale at 6pm Friday for their annual Do It For Daron game. Wear purple!

And the Dunkin’ Donuts on Pine Tree Road on Ithaca’s east hill finally has a drive-through! Town of Ithaca officials had initially refused to allow the chain donut shop franchise to have a drive-through when they opened just over three years ago. As a result, the Dunkin’ Donuts franchise owner had to cover over the existing drive-through on the former bank building before opening. The new window service opened Sunday.

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Here’s the Ithaca Minute from 14850 Today for February 6th.

If you wanted to watch “The Resident” or “Lucifer” on Monday night, tough. The primetime FOX shows were among the casualties as Northwest Broadcasting and Charter Communications, aka Spectrum, fought over a contract renewal and pulled the plug on the network broadcasts.

Cable or satellite companies, which must pay local broadcasters to carry network affiliates and other local channels, and the local or regional media companies who own the broadcasters, often disagree about what’s a fair price, and contract negotiations sometimes come to a head at renewal time.

The Ithaca area’s hills make for spotty over-the-air television reception, but some area residents can tune in the programming with an antenna or other means.

A school bus was rear-ended by a car early Tuesday morning in Dryden in what interim superintendent William S. Locke calls “a minor accident.” No injuries were reported.

The Dryden Central School District sent another bus to pick up the students, and Mr. Locke says “the run will be late and no one will be considered tardy.”

And a three-game week for Cornell women’s ice hockey starts with a Tuesday game against Syracuse and includes the annual DIFD game on Friday.

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Here’s the Ithaca Minute from 14850 Today for February 5th.

A sunny Monday will be followed by light snow showers on Tuesday and “widespread moderate snow” this Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service in Binghamton. Forecasters expect between 4-8 inches for our area. Drew from Finger Lakes Weather says the heaviest snow is likely between 9am and 3pm Wednesday. The City of Ithaca has gone back to odd-even parking restrictions for the time being.

Authorities canceled a missing child alert on Friday afternoon after a 17-month-old boy and his father were found safe. Glenn David Newswanger and his father Lloyd vanished from Stanley, in Ontario County, on Thursday.

Big Red men’s ice hockey’s winning streak came to a crashing halt on Saturday night. Cornell had a late goal Friday night to beat Union, but fell to RPI on Saturday.

And it’s not too late to get a flu shot this season, says the Tompkins County Health Department. Visit your pharmacy or call the health department for an appointment.

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Here’s the Ithaca Minute from 14850 Today for February 2nd.

A 21-year-old Owego man was found safe on Thursday evening after having been missing since late Wednesday afternoon, reportedly without the seizure medicine he needs to take twice a day. County officials say Billy Zavado-Bado was found at a friend’s house.

The #1 Cornell men’s ice hockey team is at home this weekend with games against Union and RPI at Lynah Rink at 7pm Friday and Saturday. The Big Red hit the #1 spot in the polls for the first time in 15 years thanks in part to their current ten-game unbeaten streak. Cornell’s women are on the road this weekend at Harvard and Dartmouth.

Expect blustery weather on Friday with high temperatures in the teens and wind chill around zero, and a quieter day in the 20s on Saturday. Steadier snow is possible for Sunday evening, just in time for the Super Bowl.

And this Friday is First Friday gallery night in Ithaca, including a dance party following the Tompkins County Public Library’s art opening, at Lot 10. Find a list of shows and a map at gallerynightithaca.com.

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Here’s the Ithaca Minute from 14850 Today for February 1st.

The Tompkins County Sheriff’s Department says a 31-year-old Ithaca woman was charged with two counts of petit larceny after she was observed stealing items from the Tops supermarket on North Triphammer Road.

Sheriff’s deputies interviewed loss protection officers at Tops, who said they observed Lisa E. Wapen stealing several grocery items from the store without making any attempt to pay for them. They also said Wapen was the same woman who had stolen from the store on January 23 but had fled before sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene.

The Tompkins County Health Department says Ithaca is seeing an increase in the flu this year, according to Samantha Hillson. It’s not too late to get a flu shot. Call the health department to schedule a vaccination or visit a local pharmacy like Rite Aid or CVS. Both Cornell University and Ithaca College have finished their scheduled flu vaccine clinics, but each is offering vaccinations by appointment.

If you’re sick, Hillson says, stay home from school and work until you’re feeling better.

And after a warm day, a cold front sweeping across the Finger Lakes on Thursday night will bring much colder temperatures and a chance of a snow squall.

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