PAGES 8-9
COLLEGETOWN SALTBOX PROGRAM PAGE 3 ITHACA CITY BUDGET APPROVED PAGE 4 POST-ELECTION YOUTH CLIMATE RALLY PAGE 6 DANO’S CLOSING AFTER 34 YEARS PAGE 11 THE LOTUS REVIEW PAGE 15
When cancer patients need support Cancer Resource Center
For several years, Amelia Massi, formerly of Ithaca and now in Utica, punched and kicked her support for the Cancer Resource Center of the Finger Lakes at Cayuga Lake Seido Karate’s annual punch and kick-a-thon fundraiser in Lansing. In 2018 her relationship with CRC changed direction once she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Like many patients first learning of a cancer diagnosis, her mind was filled with fear and concerns, making it difficult to take in the details her physicians were telling her.
“You hear the word ‘cancer,’ your brain freezes, and you don’t hear a lot more,” Amelia recalls of her diagnosis in October 2018.
Even though familiar with CRC, Amelia was initially reluctant to go there because, she said, “Cancer diagnoses can be scary.” Fortunately, a friend offered to go there with her, which gave her the courage needed for that first step. Immediately, CRC staff and volunteers began to support Amelia in her cancer journey, becoming a guide and offering essential resources.
“I really needed a guide at that point, and I still do!” she said. She found her guide at the CRC’s Women’s Group which continues to give Amelia unconditional love and support from other women who share their experiences with cancer. They recount personal milestones on how cancer affects their lives, discuss fears, tips on self-care, and provide practical advice on recovering from treatment and living with cancer.
The Women’s Group is one of several, including groups for those with prostate, colorectal, bladder cancer, and other types of cancer. Another support group is one devoted to the needs of caregivers. Yoga classes are available, as well as a weekly webinar series on cancer related topics from experts and physicians. For details, see https://crcfl.net/services/ Carla Baudrons, Donor Relations and Marketing Coordinator for the Cancer Resource Center, values having a caring support group. She also had breast cancer and could not find that support prior to her move to Ithaca.
“Newly diagnosed cancer patients are often overwhelmed with information,” Carla says. “Support groups with a facilitator like we have at the Cancer Resource Center help slow down the information flow. That lets patients process the information and their feelings in a safe, supportive space.”
Besides support groups, the Cancer Resource Center also has a free and confidential peer-to-peer program that connects patients and caregivers with mentors who share insights from their own experiences with similar cancers. Mentors listen, extend emotional support, and offer practical advice. They do not provide medical advice.
The Cancer Resource Center’s staff also offer one-on-one confidential conversations with patients to answer questions and to provide information and resources available both locally and nationally. This free service is available by phone, email, digital platforms such as Zoom or in person, by appointment, in the Center’s office. Details: call (607) 277-0960 or email info@crcfl.net
Other services at the Cancer Resource Center of the Finger Lakes include:
• A lending library of books and other materials that covers a wide range of cancer-related topics.
• A boutique featuring free wigs, hats, scarves, and other items that can be useful during some types of treatment. Call (607) 277-0960 to schedule an appointment. Boutique items are given in memory of Emily Virkler through the Emily Virkler Memorial Boutique Fund.
• Aesthetic tattoo specialists who can replace nipples removed during breast surgery and eyebrows lost during chemotherapy with realistic tattoos.
• A financial advocacy program can help residents with financial concerns including:
• The Ángel Fund which provides financial help to individuals with cancer in our community who have a specific and immediate need, such as travel, rent, food or overdue utility bills.
• The Tapan Mitra Community Access Fund provides financial assistance to help with travel costs related to appointments for diagnosis, second opinions, and treatment. This assistance aims to help individuals facing financial hardship due to cancerrelated issues.
• Wellness programs that include chair and bed-based yoga, meditation, and walking groups. The Center partners with the Ithaca YMCA to provide free membership to their LIVESTRONG program for cancer patients. The program offers adults affected by cancer a safe, supportive environment to participate in physical and social activities focused on strengthening the whole person.
• Patients can also get help from the Center’s staff to obtain local transportation services, parking permits and travel assistance to Rochester, Syracuse, and New York City for medical care.
The Cancer Resource Center of the Finger Lakes is an affiliate of Cayuga Health and is located in Cayuga Heights, at 840 Hanshaw Road, Suite 5. Hours: Tuesday-Friday 10 am to 4 pm. Phone: (607) 277-0960, email: info@crcfl.net. Residents of Tompkins, Seneca, Cortland and Schuyler counties and vicinity are eligible for support.
The Cancer Resource Center of the Finger Lakes offers information, assistance and support groups for those with cancer. A group devoted to the needs of caregivers and yoga classes are also available as well as a weekly webinar series on cancer related topics from experts and Cayuga Health physicians.
Carla Baudrons, Donor Relations and Marketing Coordinator for the Cancer Resource Center of the Finger Lakes.
Ithaca Introduces Salt Box Program and Housing Attorney Role in City Budget
By Matt Dougherty
Fourth Ward Alderwoman Tiffany Kumar announced two key amendments to Ithaca’s newly approved city budget that aim to address winter street and sidewalk safety, as well as housing concerns.
The amendments include a pilot “Salt Box Program” in Collegetown and the creation of a Housing Attorney position within the City Attorney’s office, both targeted at providing essential services to the community while ensuring fair budgetary impacts.
The Salt Box Program is a pilot initiative that will place salt boxes at 10-12 critical locations throughout Collegetown. The program targets high-traffic areas with steep slopes, where inadequate snow and ice removal have created safety hazards, particularly during freeze-thaw cycles. These locations often become dangerous for pedestrians, including elderly and disabled residents, who are at increased risk of injury from unmaintained sidewalks.
Residents will be able to use pet-safe salt from these boxes to improve sidewalk traction, addressing a long-standing issue with negligent landlords who fail to maintain safe walkways.
Kumar said that the program is a “stopgap solution” designed to reduce injuries and accidents caused by dangerous winter conditions in tenant-heavy areas, where
large rental companies often neglect their responsibilities. Kumar included a grace period for property owners to comply with city regulations, after which aggressive fines will be imposed on non-compliant landlords.
“I am eager to continue leading the charge to ensure landlords and rental companies are held accountable to their responsibilities, starting with sidewalk maintenance,” Kumar said.
The Salt Box Program, funded by an investment of just $6,336, represents a cost-effective approach to addressing the safety needs of Ithaca’s community. Kumar highlighted the importance of securing Cornell University’s involvement, given its significant presence in the city, suggesting the university should contribute to winter maintenance efforts as part of its broader responsibility to the community.
In a further effort to address housing issues, Kumar’s second amendment allocates $35,911 to fund a full-time Housing Attorney position in the City Attorney’s office. This new role is replacing an empty position in the City Attorney’s office that has been vacant because, as Kumar says, “[It] is desperately underpaid.”
The Housing Attorney will focus on supporting Ithaca’s majority tenant population by ensuring that the city follows
Ward Alderperson Tiffany Kumar passed two amendments in the 2025 budget. One created a pilot saltbox program to increase winter street safety in Collegetown and the other created a Housing Attorney position in the City Attorney’s office. Both added just 2 cents to the tax bill. (Photo: File)
recently passed laws aimed at protecting tenants rights, such as the Good Cause Eviction law, which Ithaca opted into this past summer. Nearly all of Ward 4’s residents are tenants, and many face challenges from landlords who don’t maintain safe and habitable housing conditions.
This position empowers the city to prosecute negligent and exploitative landlords effectively, holding them accountable for creating unsafe or unlivable conditions. Beyond tenant rights, the Housing Attorney will assist in maintaining Ithaca’s designation as a sanctuary city, advocating
Continued on Page 4
T ake n ote
X Health Alert: E. coli Outbreak Linked to Organic Carrots
Ithaca, N.Y. — Tompkins County Whole Health (TCWH) is alerting the community to a recall on multiple sizes and brands of organic whole and baby carrots which were sold at grocery stores in our region (including Wegmans, Trader Joe’s, Tops and GreenStar Food Co-op). The carrots have been linked to an outbreak of E. coli from bagged organic whole and baby carrots supplied by Grimmway Farms. A complete list of all impacted items is available online. If you have a product included in this recall, do not consume; consumers are advised to throw the products away, as washing and cooking will not reduce the risk of E. coli
To date, 39 cases of E. coli have been reported, with 5 cases reported in New York
State, including one from Tompkins County. Of the 39 cases, 15 cases have required hospitalization and 1 death has occurred. The true number of sick people in this outbreak is likely higher than the number reported, and the outbreak may not be limited to the states with known illnesses. This is because some people recover without medical care and are not tested for E.coli.
E. coli is a type of bacterial infection that causes a form of food poisoning. Symptoms of an E. coli infection include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea, fever, nausea, and/or vomiting. Symptoms begin anywhere from a few days after consuming contaminated food or up to nine days later.
Some infections can cause severe bloody
diarrhea and lead to life-threatening conditions, such as a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), or the development of high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease, and neurologic problems.
With any illness that causes diarrhea and/ or vomiting, dehydration is a large concern, especially for children younger than 5, adults aged 65 and older, and those with underlying health conditions.
Monitor for symptoms if you may have consumed any of the recalled products. Contact your health care provider if symptoms develop.
For more information on the recall, visit: https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodbor ne-illness/outbreak-investigation-e-coli-o121 h19-organic-carrots-november-2024.
WEB
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The
(1972–1978) and The
Fourth
IN UIRING PHOTOGR PHER Q A
By Mark Syvertson
QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
“IF YOU CAME WITH A WARNING LABEL, WHAT WOULD IT SAY?”
Ithaca Council Approves 2025 Budget and Downtown Plan
Median Assessed Home Will See an Increase of $537 in Property Taxes, Plus a 9% Increase for Water and 7% Increase for Sewer Services
By Matt Dougherty
There was a packed house at City Hall in Downtown Ithaca as dozens of community members attended Wednesday’s Common Council meeting to voice their mixed opinions on the city’s 2025 budget.
During the meeting, the council held public hearings on the Downtown Plan and the 2025 Budget. After a brief overview of the Downtown Plan and some public comments in support, the council unanimously voted to pass it. Following a more lengthy debate the council also voted to pass the 2025 budget, which includes an average 13% property tax increase.
Department heads from the Greater Ithaca Activities Center (GIAC), Ithaca Youth Bureau, Planning, Sustainability, and Public Works addressed the council during the public budget hearing, criticizing a series of amendments proposed by Third Ward Alderperson David Shapiro and Fifth Ward Alderperson Margaret Fabrizio that would have cut nearly $1 million from the budget according to the Ithaca Voice.
The amendments aimed to cut funding from the following areas:
• $250,000 from the GIAC for their capital project at the Red & White Cafe (Sponsored by Shapiro and Fabrizio)
• $71,822 to defund the City Attorney (Sponsored by Shapiro)
• $250,000 from the Ithaca Fire Department (IFD) allocated to purchase a new boat (Sponsored by Shapiro)
• $45,000 from the City Manager’s office (Sponsored by Shaprio)
• $115,505 in funding for one Deputy Director position at the Ithaca Youth Bureau (Sponsored by Shapiro)
• $150,000 to defund the Superintendent of Public Works (Sponsored by Shapiro)
• $75,000 to defund health insurance benefits for council members (Sponsored by Shapiro)
• $484,442 to eliminate all funding for
the Human Services Coalition (Sponsored by Shaprio)
• $115,505 to defund the Deputy Controller position (Sponsored by Shapiro)
• $115,505 to defund the Deputy Director at GIAC
• $25,000 from the Planning Department related to ADU plans
In response to the public’s criticism, Alderperson Fabrizio said, “I’m sorry if any staff members felt disrespected; it was certainly not my intention to do that.” Fabrizio continued saying that she proposed the amendment because more than 350 community members signed an online petition asking the council to find ways to reduce the tax burden.
Fabrizio said that since the city did not initiate the Red and White Cafe capital project and the budget already included $4.2 million for GIAC, she felt the additional allocation of $250,000 was not the best use of taxpayer dollars.
Several council members opposed Fabrizio’s amendment, saying that it would jeopardize the state funding that GIAC leadership has worked to secure.
“I didn’t see any information that said that this money was needed to be able to apply for matching funds. If I had known that, I probably would not have put this forward.” Fabrizio added, “I would be happy to withdraw the motion.”
The council then discussed an amendment First Ward Alderpersons Phoebe Brown and Kayla Matos introduced to delay funding for seven vacant IPD officer positions until December 2025.
Matos said that she and Aldperson Brown proposed the amendment to find areas to cut the budget to reduce the tax burden on the
SALT BOX PROGRAM
continued from page 3
community in response to concerns from their colleagues and community members. Matos said that the delay would save the city up to $400,000 in the 2025 budget and reduce median household taxes by $45.
Ithaca Police Chief Tom Kelly addressed council members advocating against the amendment, saying that he previously requested ten more positions, and the seven that were included in the City Manager’s budget were meant to help address staffing challenges and anticipated future vacancies.
Kelly continued by saying that the seven positions have been planned to be hired in two phases, with four hired now and three later. He told the council that the department is already understaffed and that he is concerned that the funding delay would make it more difficult to hire officers when they become available. “I don’t want to put us in a position where we are not able to hire when we get seven candidates,” Kelly said.
Mayor Cantelmo said he would vote against the amendment, saying, “In order to fulfill the charge that this government has set to itself with reimagining, we need to ensure that we have a fully staffed police department.”
The motion failed 3-8, with Alderpersons Matos, Brown, and Shapiro in favor. Ultimately, the council voted to approve the budget by a margin of 9-2, with Fabrizio and Shapiro in opposition.
for marginalized communities, including immigrants, transgender individuals, and those seeking reproductive healthcare. Kumar stressed that ensuring the city’s legal capacity to uphold these protections is essential to support Ithaca’s growing and diverse population. Both amendments collectively contribute to a small tax increase of only two cents per person. Kumar expressed pride in achieving a budget that balances fiscal responsibility with impactful programs, describing the measures as “cost-effective, high-impact programs” that prioritize the needs of Ithacans and aim to mitigate the impacts of climate change and wealth disparity.
“Warning: Flammable.”
– Andrea
“Warning: I will do it for Lil Saint.”
– Thomas
“Warning: I'm a yapper. I will talk your ear off.”
Arianna
“Warning: I will overthink this.”
Joby
“This is not so much a warning label as it is a sign I would wear: Build others up instead of tearing them down. True happiness comes from kindness, not from pointing out someone else’s struggles.”
– Audrey
During their weekly meeting on Wednesday November 13, the Ithaca Common Council voted 9-2 to pass the city’s 2025 budget. Third Ward Alderperson David Shapiro and Fifth Ward Alderperson Margaret Fabrizio voted in opposition. (Photo: Mark Syvertson)
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Beacon Events and Catering Providing Free Holiday Meal for the Community
“As part of its ongoing commitment to supporting the local community, ITH Hospitality’s catering department Beacon Events and Catering / Catering By Luna is proud to announce its annual Free Thanksgiving Meal for those in need. The event will take place on Wednesday, November 27, 2024, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Beacon Events and Catering, 1638 East Shore Drive Ithaca, NY 14850.
The free Thanksgiving dinner will feature a classic holiday menu with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, roasted carrots, cranberry sauce, and dinner rolls/butter. Vegetarian/Vegan options will be available to ensure everyone is able to enjoy the meal. While our team is busy preparing and coordinating, we ask community members to help to sign up to deliver meals throughout our community. Those willing to volunteer should sign up to help using the online form on the link provided.
“We understand that the holiday season can be a challenging time for many, our team enjoys making sure everyone possible in our community can enjoy a festive meal” Kevin Sullivan, Operator. “This event is a way our catering team can use our skills to give back to the community that has supported us throughout the year.”
Details for the Free Thanksgiving Meal:
• Date: Wednesday, November 27, 2024
• Time: 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
• Pickup Location: Beacon Events and Catering, 1638 East Shore Drive, Ithaca, NY 14850
• Delivery Available: For those unable to pick up their meals, delivery will be available
To learn more about the event, including the full menu and donation details, please visit: https://www.ithhospitality. com/thanksgiving.html
This Free Thanksgiving Meal is an annual tradition that brings together community members, staff, and volunteers to share in the spirit of giving and gratitude. Volunteers are welcome to help deliver directly to those in need via the form on the website.” — Kevin Sullivan
RE: Trump and Cryptocurrency
“After the election, Donald Trump declared that he will make the US the “cryptocurrency capitol of the globe”. Not because it is good for the economy
(numerous collapses have hit cryptocurrency already) , but because he recently announced on a livestream his newest business cryptocurrency venture “World Liberty Financial” along with his three sons. It used to be a “conflict of interest” for a president to be involved with active business, while conducting the nation’s business. This particular business is loaded with conflicts. Crypto is an unstable, speculative financial instrument that 100s of Americans have lost their savings on. The number of frauds and scandals in crypto will blow your mind.
As the CFTC regulator, Christy Goldsmith Romero says “There’s just a lot of fraud in the crypto space. There’s no way we can police all the fraud, but we’ve got to do something”. One fraud in 2024 was “Bitcoin Beautee” which employed the “Hyper Fund” to pull down $1.7 billion dollars from investors worldwide. As the CFTC website explains: “The crypto industry has been in the regulatory crosshairs since investors were burned last year, 2023, by sudden collapses of Celsius Network, Voyageur Digital, FTX & other companies”.
A recent article “The Partners with Trump on Crypto” (NYT Business, 10/6/24) lays out his newest business scheme. The Times article notes “Like Trump’s social media company, his new crypto business stands out for its potential conflicts of interest. If Trump is elected, he would be in a position to influence the very regulations that could determine whether World Liberty Financial succeeds or fails”.
Environmentalists in the Finger Lakes have been fighting a crypto business for years. The amount of electricity that is required to keep these gambling speculators going is astounding: Our public resources are being drained for around the clock crypto, electricity that could be saved for our extreme weather needs like heat domes. It uses 2,000 kilowatt hours of electricity to “create a single bitcoin” — enough to power the average American household for 73 days. Building a new set of electric power plants to keep World Liberty Financial going is going to be a very expensive, inflationary, and wasteful proposition.” —
Dorothy Pomponio
Ithaca Resident Arrested at Protest Demanding Israel Arms Embargo
“On Friday afternoon, members of the Downtown Berrigan Collective, based in Ithaca, NY, and other upstate peace activists went to the Syracuse Federal Building to demand access to the offices of New York’s US Senators Schumer and Gillibrand to “exercise our right to petition the government for a redress of grievances”.
They wished to “impress upon the Senators the urgency of cutting off offensive weapons for Israel’s genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples.” They specifically were asking the Senators to support the 6 Senate Joint Resolutions of Disapproval that would block the sale of U.S. weaponry to Israel.
Earlier this fall Senators Bernie Sanders (VT), Peter Welch (VT), Jeff Merkley (OR), and Brian Schatz (HI) introduced 6 Senate Joint Resolutions of Disapproval to stop a $20 billion weapons shipment approved by the Biden administration. “There is a mountain of documentary evidence” that Israel uses US weapons to violate the law, Sanders said.
When the nine activists were denied access they staged a sit-in in the security checkpoint area of the building. Part of the activist’s statement read “It is against US law to send a single weapon to any country grossly violating human rights. 61% of Americans say they want to cut off weapons to Israel. Our tax dollars must not be used for another illegal, immoral weapon giveaway to Israel!” The nine said they were there to implore the Senators to uphold the law.
After about an hour the Department of Homeland Security police removed the nine from the lobby, carrying them out of the building and depositing them on the sidewalk. Some of the nine decided to block the doorway of the building. Eventually, the DHS police arrested one of the group, Ellen Grady from Ithaca, and charged her with not following the order of the DHS and blocking a doorway. Grady was ticketed and released.
The group’s action is part of a nationwide effort to urge Senators from across the nation to support these historic Joint Resolutions of Disapproval which will very likely be voted on this coming week. Please call your Senators, 202-224-3121.” — Ellen Grady
Back to La-La-Land
“Couple points here: Ithaca voted last year to restructure local government and run the city primarily through a highly paid city manager with the mayor playing a reduced figure head/part time role of $30k/ yr (the people voted on this). 1 yr later, the common council and mayor quietly pass an amendment to double mayor’ salary to $60k, with residents eyeballing a huge increase in taxes, and the mayor claiming we need to help those less fortunate. At least do what you say and give the extra $30K you found to the less fortunate. How can any of these people be trusted with fiscal responsibility?
The Talk at
UPS DOWNS&
Ups
After a multi-year renovation e ort the Northside Apartments are o cially ready for their grand opening. The ribbon cutting took place on Tuesday, Nov. 19 and was attended by State Senator Lea Webb and Assemblymember Anna Kelles.
Downs
Despite some recent rainy days it has been a uniquely dry season in New York and wild res are becoming more common in the area.
HEARD SEEN&
Heard
West End Gallery announces the opening of its newest exhibits, “Deck the Walls,” a group holiday exhibit featuring a collection of artwork by many of the region’s nest professional artists in the Main Gallery and a special showcasing, “A Tribute to the Late Thomas S. Buechner” (1926-2010)” in the Upstairs Gallery. There will be an Opening Reception on Friday, November 22nd from 5:00-7:00 p.m.
Seen
The Tompkins County O ce for the Aging is looking for individuals interested in doing snow shoveling/ plowing for older adults as many are not able to remove the snow from their driveways and sidewalks without assistance. We are especially in need of people who are willing to work in places outside of the City of Ithaca and in rural areas. If you are interested on either a paid or volunteer basis, please call the Tompkins County O ce for the Aging at 607-274-5482.
IF YOU CARE TO RESPOND to something in this column, or suggest your own praise or blame, write editor@ithacatimes. com, with a subject head “U&D.”
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Were you surprised by Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 Presidential Election?
49 1 % Yes.
47.3% No.
3.6 % I don’t care.
: Have you started christmas/holiday shopping yet?
Visit ithaca.com to submit your response.
Community Members Process Election Results, Commit to Continuing Climate Advocacy at Post-Election Climate Rally
By Kai Lincke
Climate action groups Sunrise Ithaca, Cornell on Fire, and Extinction Rebellion Ithaca brought together about 50 people for a post-election climate rally Nov. 15 on the Ithaca Commons. Attendees re ected on the election results, called on local leaders to take climate action and discussed plans for future activism.
Sam Poole, a member of Ithaca Sunrise and Cornell Young Democratic Socialists of America, opened the rally by commending attendees for standing together in solidarity.
Poole said Trump’s victory poses a signicant threat to the environment, which has not received as much attention as concerns about his presidency’s potential harm to immigrants, women’s rights and labor unions. Poole believes that this is because Democrats and Republicans did not prioritize climate justice during their campaigns.
“It can be easy sometimes for our leaders, or even for us, to feel like climate change is far away, to read stories in the news about natural disasters or see graphs of CO2 emission,” Poole said. “It can feel like climate change is something that happens to other people in other places, at times, at some time far in the future — but climate change is here now.”
Poole said there are clear signs of the growing climate crisis in New York State, like the drought watch in New York City and FEMA’s 2022 ood maps for Ithaca, which signi cantly expanded the zones in danger of ooding.
Ace Dufresne, an Ithaca High School junior who serves as the leader of Ithaca Sunrise, took the stage next. Dusfresne said many of his peers feel discouraged by the election results and are losing hope about the country’s future.
He added that the national Sunrise movement feels that the Democratic party has counted on the youth vote without trying to earn it and act on the issues important to young people. Dufresne said young people must organize to ght for climate justice and make their voices heard in the next presidential election.
“Nationally, the Sunrise movement is relying on mass civil disobedience and base building to create a moral imperative for climate action so strong that whoever wins in 2028 has no choice but to act swi ly
and sweepingly on climate,” Dufresne said. “We will build power here across the country, beyond political, racial and class lines. We will train a generation of young people to be the political leaders we deserve. Most importantly, we will not give up.”
Dufresne said Ithaca Sunrise will turn their emotions into action by working to increase public support for the Ithaca Green New Deal.
e City of Ithaca Common Council adopted the Ithaca Green New Deal resolution in 2019. e GND committed to achieving carbon neutrality city-wide by 2030 and ensuring climate action bene ts are distributed equitably with all local communities, especially those impacted by historical, economic and social inequities.
e Common Council passed the Justice 50 resolution in May 2024, which requires 50% of city expenditures for large infrastructure updates and the GND to be used in climate justice communities: communities that experience economic hardship or disproportionately experience the e ects of climate change.
Dufresne said Sunrise Ithaca understands that the GND could have monumental impacts for Ithaca and the nation and has been pushing city leaders to implement the GND for several years.
“I strongly believe that if any city in the US can demonstrate how to address the climate crisis promptly, equitably and urgently, it would be us,” Dufresne said. “It will be hard to meet our goals, but I feel
that we have a duty to show the rest of the country and the world that it is possible.”
DuFresne said in an interview with e Ithaca Times that Sunrise Ithaca is considering a campaign to change the city charter to allow minors to serve on volunteer city commissions, like the Sustainability and Climate Justice Commission, to give youth voices greater in uence in decision making. Sunrise Ithaca also plans to campaign for Common Council candidates who engage with the group while in o ce and represent its interests.
Jesse Bates, a Dewitt Middle School student and Sunrise Ithaca’s youngest member, said he wanted to use his voice to call attention to climate change’s devastating impacts, especially for marginalized communities.
“I don’t want the decisions of older generations and decisions made by our new president to dictate the future me and you will inherit,” Bates said. “I’m grateful for all of you for showing up today, because your presence proves that young people are not just standing by — we’re leading the charge for change.”
Todd Saddler, a climate activist with Extinction Rebellion Ithaca and Cornell on Fire, said in an interview with e Ithaca Times that it was profound to see young people leading the rally and climate justice activism.
“It gives me hope and it breaks my heart,” Saddler said. “I learned about global warming [and] the greenhouse e ect when I was in high school, graduating in 1982, and we
Dozens of Ithacans gathered at the Bernie Milton Pavillion on the Commons on Friday November 15 for a post-election climate rally that was organized by Ithaca Sunrise and the Cornell Young Democratic Socialists of America. (Photo: Mark Syvertson)
Tom Robert, NoOneHome
By Marjorie Olds
Growing up in Buffalo, New York, Tom Robert’s parents often had music playing in the background. Tom’s father had guitars, and his mother had Simon and Garfunkel or the Beatles’ albums playing, while she sang along. Tom got his parents to take him to guitar lessons when he was 5, and he loved it when his Uncle Curt came to visit from Tucson and took out his guitar and played. In Tom’s early memories he would be sitting on someone’s guitar case while he listened to their music. Tom’s younger sister Jenna loved to sing, and still does.
After college Tom taught English as a Second Language, with a degree from the University of Buffalo. It brought him up close with lots of people of all ages in the Buffalo Public School system, and later in Taiwan and Japan.
When the pandemic changed lives across the globe, Tom was settled into the Springwater Center for Meditative Inquiry, south of Rochester near Hemlock Lake. “This serene setting gave me the opportunity to reflect on my life, my spiritual journey, interdependence, and it allowed me to evaluate what was important to me and
what I wanted to focus my time and energy on.”
This spring Tom made his annual trip to play music with his Uncle at the Tucson Folk Festival, where they hosted an open street jam and where Tom performed. Upon return, with his Masters in Social Work degree he began a new job at a community mental health clinic, where anyone in the community, little kids on up to the very elderly, can access services. He says the drive along the Niagara River and Lake Erie to work is peaceful.
Also this summer Tom is completing his first album, No One Home. He thinks the folk, country, blues, and rock music his parents played inspired some of his own creations. He notes that playing and creating music and meditating seem to coalesce into a similar state of being for him, where everything flows peacefully. He describes making the album as a long spiritual journey. Even the sadder songs he has written lead the audience to a cathartic, yet uplifting feeling he observes.
“Creating an album has been a lot of rewarding work; writing, editing, rehearsing, recording, mixing, mastering, promoting… I’ve been writing songs for many years and some songs on this album are nearly 20 years old. It’s been an important part of this process to reflect and journal on the album’s aesthetics, values, themes, styles… all the parts I want to combine into a coherent whole album. And slowly but surely it’s coming together.”
“Usually I begin with some notes and some chords and just keep playing that combination, experimenting, jamming as the few notes turn into the melody, which becomes the song over time. Then I write down the words, then sing the words to the music. Some of the songs just emerge organically and others seem to need more deliberate work and attention. Sometimes I rediscover and reinvent a song I hadn’t played in years.”
“The songs I wrote and assembled while living at the retreat center all mixed bluesy, rootsy, folksy music with lyrical themes of spiritual experience and hopefully growth; of transitioning into something new. Over time I have made adjustments, tweaking and editing the music and the lyrics, playing with the sequence of the songs on
Complete the Streets
By Maëlle Tholomé
As the temperatures start cooling down this November, many of us, myself included, are squeezing in our last outdoor runs. After an exhausting day of classes, I happily lace up my shoes and head outside without a specific route in mind. As I set off and pick up my pace, I am determined to run for at least 20 minutes–but this is not what the streets of Ithaca have planned for me. Instead, just 10 minutes in, the sidewalk ends abruptly, and I am forced to turn back, feeling disheartened to live in a place that doesn’t fully embrace pedestrians. Four years ago, in November 2020, Ithaca released its Draft Complete Streets Network, which aimed to improve walkability, bikeability, and public transport. However, based on my experience as a pedestrian, it is clear that more work needs to be done to add more complete streets.
With the completion of the interstate in June 1956, the fate of American cities was sealed, prioritizing high-speed, efficient car travel over walkability. This efficient road network allowed the development of suburban life and urban sprawl, where towns are built far from cities and established around car travel. In addition, it promoted infrastructure development, such as shopping malls, in remote areas accessible only by car. While Ithaca is not directly on an interstate route, the city’s infrastructure and transportation systems still bear the marks of this national shift. Its different shopping malls are located not within Downtown Ithaca but farther North and West, hosting vast areas of car parking. As a result, many Americans have established a life around car travel.
Over the years, driving became equated with freedom. As someone born and raised in Europe, I often grew up watching American movies where the common birthday present for a 16-year-old was a new car. Although this concept seemed absurd to me, now living in the USA, I understand this necessity.
However, it is no secret that despite its convenience, car travel is detrimental to our planet. In fact, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the transport sector is the single largest emitter of greenhouse gassesin the USA. As of 2022, passenger cars in the US account for 7% of US net greenhouse gas emissions. These greenhouse gasses contribute to the acceleration of climate change,
causing devastating global impacts. Cars are also large contributors to air pollution, linked to illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, and noise pollution which disrupts natural ecosystems. By fixing Americans’ relationship with cars and the infrastructure created around them, we could simultaneously improve our relationship with the environment.
Cities like Ithaca are addressing this challenge by embracing Complete Streets Networks, increasing active transport such as biking, walking, and public transport in towns and cities. This would reduce emissions while addressing issues beyond climate change. Indeed, obesity is one of the largest health issues in the US. High rates of passive transport lower physical activity which causes significant health problems such as heart disease and diabetes. In addition, the abundance of car travel has increased accidents on the road and compromised the safety of pedestrians and bikers. It’s clear that both our health and that of our planet are in jeopardy due to car dependency. Although some might argue that adding more modes of active transport may increase congestion, in reality, these alternatives greatly reduce the number of cars on the road. And, while it may be expensive to implement these changes, the positives strongly outweigh the negatives. The long-term benefits include enhanced local economies, improved public health, increased property value, and strides in tackling climate change. Picture an Ithaca where the local economy thrives while you enjoy a healthier, safer lifestyle! This city/town reconfiguration is not an anticar movement, but rather a way to ensure a healthier society and planet. So what can you do? It would be easy to tell you to reduce your car travel, but as established, the current alternative is weak so the choice is often out of your control. Instead, I invite you to call the Town of Ithaca Public Works Department at 607-273-1656 during their office hours (Monday to Friday, 6:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.) and kindly ask to speak with someone about the town’s Complete Streets policy implementation. Express your support for expanding Complete Streets initiatives in Ithaca and ask how you can get involved in the planning process! Tell your neighbors too– the more support for these policies the more chances of implementation. Together, we can increase our safety, reduce emissions, and complete our runs!
Tom Robert (right) and Vanessa Snowden (left).
State Re-Evaluates School Funding Model
By Kai Lincke
Educators and educational advocacy groups from the Southern Tier and across New York State say the state’s 17-year old public school funding system, the Foundation Aid formula, is outdated, inaccurate and inequitable and must be revised.
The state charged SUNY’s Rockefeller Institute of Government with conducting a Foundation Aid study and delivering recommendations to improve the formula to the Legislature and the governor in December. As school districts wait to see how their Foundation Aid — and ability to fund programs — will change, some educators worry that they will see a significant cut in state funding.
The New York State Court of Appeals ruled in its 2006 decision on the Campaign for Fiscal Equity v. State of New York lawsuit that the New York State Education Department’s funding system failed to give all students the “sound, basic education” guaranteed in the state’s constitution. NYSED replaced about 30 separate aid formulas and programs with a new Foundation Aid formula, which increased funding for high-needs school districts without reducing other school districts’ aid.
According to the 2024-25 State Aid Handbook, New York public schools receive, on average, about 55% of funding from locally raised revenues, 40% of funding from state formula aids and grants and 5% of fund-
New York Governor Kathy Hochul holds significant influence over the states school funding system as she prepares to review recommendations to change the Foundation Aid formula, directly impacting the resources available to school districts statwide. (Photo: File)
ing from the federal government. Foundation aid makes up about 70.6% of the funding that the state awards to school districts, and about 10.5% of the state’s total budget.
Some educators and educational advocates say the formula no longer serves its purpose.
Senator Lea Webb has participated in discussions with superintendents of several local school districts to gather feedback on the Foundation Aid formula. Webb has highlighted the importance of ensuring that the state provides equitable resources for all students. She called potential changes to the formula, “One of the most significant education policy measures in recent history.” (Photo: File)
Michael Rebell is the executive director of the Center for Educational Equity at Columbia University’s Teachers College and the lawyer who led the Campaign for Fiscal Equity’s case to secure equitable school funding for all students. Rebell said the funding distribution through the Foundation Aid formula has become unconstitutional because it does not equitably distribute aid based on districts’ needs.
After years of calls to re-evaluate the Foundation Aid formula from advocates like Rebell, the state allocated $2 million in its Fiscal Year 2025 budget to the Rockefeller Institute to conduct a Foundation Aid study.
The Rockefeller Institute plans to share a report with findings and suggestions for updating the formula with Governor Hochul and the legislature in early December. The governor and the legislature will consider changing the formula as they develop the Fiscal Year 2026 budget.
feel the current formula fails to equitably distribute aid.
State senator Lea Webb and Assemblymember Anna Kelles held round table conversations with superintendents and board of education presidents to collect feedback about the Foundation Aid formula.
“This is definitely one of the most significant education policy measures and potential reforms that we’ve seen in recent history here in New York,” Webb said. “[We] definitely will be engaging our various stakeholders on how we move forward as a state with making sure that our schools have the resources that they need to ensure that our future leaders and their families can most certainly thrive.”
OUTDATED FORMULA
The Foundation Aid formula still uses the poverty rate from the 2000 Census to calculate districts’ economic need. The formula also uses regional cost of living data from 2006 to calculate variations in the wages districts pay school professionals.
Outside of outdated figures, superintendents say the formula does not recognize the costs of fully educating students in 2024.
Margo Martin, superintendent of the Groton Central School District, said school districts have been asked to provide more and more non-academic resources for their communities, which is not represented in the Foundation Aid formula.
“We provide mental health services, we provide dental services, we provide health services, and we provide food, we provide clothing,” Martin said. “It just goes beyond — way beyond — just the normal day to day operations of running a district and having kids sitting in the classroom.”
Newfield Central School District Superintendent Eric Hartz has said that changes to the formula could significantly impact funding for rural school districts. With limited local revenue-raising capacity, districts may face challenges maintaining services if the state reduces aid or ends the “hold harmless” provision.” (Photo: Mark Syvertson)
The Rockefeller Institute invited the public to share feedback about the Foundation Aid formula through an online form or a comment at public hearings throughout July and August.
Local superintendents said they sent letters to the Rockefeller Institute and spoke at the summer town halls to explain how they
Eric Hartz, superintendent of the Newfield Central School District, said the Foundation Aid formula does not recognize the increasing costs of special education services, which have been compounded by the rise in the classification rate for students with disabilities. According to an Education Week analysis, 20.1% of students in New York state received special education services in 2022–23, compared to 13.7% of students in 2017–18. Hartz said the state should increase the formula’s weighting for students with disabilities to provide more financial support for special education services.
OPPORTUNITIES GAP
The formula was designed to reduce the opportunities gap between affluent and lower wealth school districts. The state considers districts’ enrollment, property values and aggregate incomes to determine how much funding they must raise from local revenue.
The American Institutes for Research finds that the Foundation Aid formula provides more aid for high-needs, low wealth districts. However, this progressive structure is offset because districts with higher wealth and lower student needs have greater ability to raise funding from local property taxes and other local sources. The highest needs districts raise one third as much funding from local revenue (about $10,000 or less, on average, per student) as the lowest needs districts (about $30,000 per student).
Perry Gorgen, Newfield CSD’s business administrator, said the Foundation Aid formula should recognize limitations to school districts’ ability to raise funding. He noted that the formula was implemented before the creation of the state tax cap, which mandates that school districts cannot raise taxes more than 2% or the inflation rate, whichever is lower. If districts raise the tax levy above the cap, they need a supermajority (60%) of voters to approve the budget.
When property values increase, the state expects school districts to raise more revenue locally — but the tax cap prevents districts from increasing taxes to fully match the increase in property value. This means districts cannot cover the gap between operating costs and what they can raise through local revenue and state aid, so they may have to cut services.
Martin said Groton can raise about $68,000 from every 1% increase to the tax levy — the amount of funds that the district needs to raise from property taxes — while some districts can raise more than $500,000 from a 1% tax levy increase. This leaves large disparities in the quality of education that districts can provide.
“I grew up in an area that didn’t have a lot of ability to raise local levy, just like Groton, and I didn’t feel that it was right that those kids get less opportunities just because they happen to be living in an area that may be less populated and has less industry and less wealth,” Martin said. “I truly believe every student is entitled to the same level of educational opportunities regardless of where they live.”
The Ithaca City School District Board of Education said in a statement to The Ithaca Times that it recognizes neighboring districts’ funding needs, but it would also like the state to re-evaluate how it distributes aid proportionally.
The BOE said that since the Foundation Aid formula awards less aid to school districts with greater property value, the district must rely more on local revenue to fund its schools. ICSD’s tax levy made up about 68% of its 2024–25 budget, compared to an average of 55% statewide.
“Because of our high property values, the state’s contribution to ICSD's budget is proportionally much smaller than that of neighboring districts,” the board wrote. “However, the growth of home prices in our district has far outpaced the growth of incomes. This trend places an increasing tax burden on residents, which their ability to pay cannot keep up with.”
Single family home assessments in ICSD increased by an average of 20.1% in 2024. ICSD’s first proposed 2024-25 budget included a $12 million, or 12.14%, in-
“Everybody already gets free lunch and breakfast at Newfield because of our community eligibility program,” Gorgen said. “While we ask families to fill out these forms again and again every year because they are important to the formula, there’s no practical reason for them to do so. Our free and reduced price meal application numbers have been declining, but that’s not an indication of a declining of major economic [need].”
Steve Parker Zielinski, superintendent of the South Seneca Central School District, said using property values to measure districts’ resources does not accurately reflect their ability to fund services or the costs of supporting their students’ needs.
“At South Seneca, we exist between the two big Finger Lakes, and so we have a lot of wealthy properties on the edges of the
dents and students in temporary housing. Rebell said the state must realize that enrollment alone does not show the cost of educating students and update the formula to reflect schools’ increasing services.
Governor Hochul’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget initially proposed ending the “hold harmless” provision — which mandates that the state cannot decrease a school district’s Foundation Aid from year to year, even if enrollment decreases. This would have decreased 50% of school districts’ state aid.
The Legislature decided to preserve hold harmless for the 2024–25 school year, but several local superintendents say they are concerned that the state will end hold harmless for the 2025–26 school year.
Martin said Groton could lose up to $1.2 million in Foundation Aid if hold harmless ends. Martin said the district is pre-
While school distircts like Ithaca and Lansing rely primarily on property taxes for funding and recieve less than 20% of funds from the Foundation Aid program, rural school districts like Newfield that have a lower tax base rely primarily on Foundation Aid for funding as it consists of 42.4% of their budget. (Graphic: Maddy Vogel)
crease in the tax levy from the 2023-24 budget. The proposed tax levy increase prompted community uproar and caused 71% of voters to reject the proposed budget. Voters approved a revised budget with a 2.79% tax levy increase. ICSD has implemented a hiring freeze and cut some positions and classes to decrease costs due to the reduced budget.
ASSESSING DISTRICTS’ NEEDS
Some school leaders say the Foundation Aid formula does not accurately assess students’ needs or districts’ ability to fund services.
The state measures districts’ poverty rate, the number of students who qualify for free or reduced price lunch, the number of English language learners and sparsity to calculate the Pupil Needs Index.
Gorgen said using the outdated census poverty data and the free and reduced lunch count underrepresents the district’s true economic need.
two lakes, and everything in between is essentially rural poverty,” Zielinski said. “When you factor in the wealthy properties with other properties … we look a little bit richer than we probably are. … We’ve always been classified as a high needs district, and it just makes us wonder sometimes, well, how is that reflected in the foundation aid formula?”
ENROLLMENT
According to EdTrust-New York, New York state public school enrollment decreased by 8% from the 2017-2018 school year to the 2022-23 school year. Governor Kathy Hochul has proposed decreasing school funding due to declining enrollment.
Rebell said that though enrollment is declining, school districts’ costs have substantially increased. Rebell said schools are trying to address challenges like pandemic learning loss, the mental health crisis, new policy initiatives like universal pre-K, and rising numbers of migrant stu-
paring for a potential loss in aid from the end of hold harmless or a re-engineered Foundation Aid formula. Groton is looking at areas to reduce costs, right sizing the number of class sections and looking for grants and alternative revenue streams.
Martin said any loss in state funding can force school districts to reduce programming like extracurriculars, courses offered, experiential learning opportunities, field trips and job shadowing opportunities.
Rebell said he understands why school districts are concerned about the potential end of hold harmless. However, he said, hold harmless acts as a temporary fix to maintain the level of school funding and prevent school districts from feeling the full effects of the outdated and inequitable formula.
“Hold harmless was better than getting an absolute cut when nobody was really looking at overall needs and doing the kind of qualitative assessment,” Rebell said.
Continued on Page 14
Cortland 28, Ithaca 17
Cortland Retains Cortaca Jug Winning 22nd Straight
By Steve Lawrence
The Cortaca Jug game– whether it’s played in Ithaca, Cortland or Yankee Stadium, whether or not it carries post-season relevance, whether the weather is a factor — never fails to feature numerous compelling story lines.
This year’s game — the 65th Jug game — was played in Cortland. On the visitors’ side, the Bombers wanted to bring the Jug back to South Hill after it had see-sawed back and forth for the previous four seasons. Ithaca won three in a row from 2017-19, the 2020 season was Covid-canceled, then the Red Dragons won in ’21, the Bombers bounced back in ’22, then Cortland last year.
Reclaiming the Jug would be a great way to wrap up a season that started in a very uncharacteristic way for the Bombers, given they started out at 1-3. After some adjustments were made and the offense went into a higher gear, the defense was no
less than fierce — shutting out three opponents. Going into the Jug game, Ithaca had clawed back to win five in a row, 6-3 looked a lot more Bomber-esque, and the mood around the program was one of optimism heading to Cortland.
On the Cortland side, the mood has held steady for well over a year, as the Red Dragons had won 21 straight. One of those wins secured the program’s first-ever Division III national championship, and a win on Saturday would run the ’24 record to 10-0. Heady times indeed.
Interestingly, the Ithaca and Cortland story lines saw some overlap for the past three Jug games, as the Red Dragons’ quarterback — Zac Boyes — is the son of Jerry Boyes, who led Ithaca College to the championship game 50 years ago, before going on to coach for decades at the collegiate level. For sure, coming into Butter-
field Stadium last year and rooting against the Bombers was a surreal experience for Jerry, but everyone understood. Bomber fans were frustrated last year, when Zac Boyes made one big play after another in the Jug game. A few weeks later, many of the same fans were thrilled to see him do the same thing against North Central, which had won 29 in a row. Going into this year’s Jug game, Bomber coach Mike Toerper was very generous in his praise for Boyes, conveying how challenging it was to prepare for Boyes’ consider-
able array of skills, and calling him “the best quarterback in the country.”
On Saturday, the Bombers held their own for most of the game, getting long touchdowns from Jake Williams (on a pass play) and Jalen Leonard-Osbourne (on a running play). In fact, Ithaca led 17-14 before the hosts put up the last 14 points, with Boyes once again lighting it up in his last game in front of a home crowd of nearly 10,000. Boyes would pass for 131
Continued on Page 13
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607-898-5134 | RCDempsey.com Haylor, Freyer & Coon 607-257-1003 | Haylor.com
Saturday’s Cortaca Jug game ended Ithaca College’s football season and the sensational career of Bomber Jalen Leonard-Osbourne. (Photo: Ithaca Athletics)
Auf Wiedersehen
Dano’s
Closing After 34 Years; Silver Thread Winery to Take Over Lodi Location
By Robert Rieger
Craving goulash, spätzle, or Liptauer spread? Your time is running out.
Dano’s on Seneca, a popular restaurant with Ithaca roots and featuring rustic Austrian cuisine, has announced its closing, set for December 1.
In announcing the closure, Gilman wrote on behalf of herself and her late husband, Dano Hutnik. “It has been a great privilege to welcome people from around the corner and around the world to our restaurants in the beautiful Finger Lakes region for a taste of Viennese food and hospitality,” she said.
Silver read Winery will take over the space located at 9564 NY-414 in Lodi. e winery, which already operates nearby, will feature a tasting room, retail sales, private events, and a small selection of Dano’s appetizer menu. Silver reads’ new location opening is targeted for February, 2025.
Dano’s started in Ithaca on Cayuga Street, opening in 1990 and closing in 2003. During the summers of 1999 and 2000, they operated Dano’s Heuriger at Standing Stone Vineyards.
e current location, Dano’s Heuriger on Seneca, designed for them by Cornell architecture professor Andrea Simitch, opened in 2005.
“Some chefs can work their entire careers for other people,” Gilman said about her husband. “Not Dano.” A er graduating from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, Hutnik served as a chef in California and New York City area restaurants. Before immigrating to the U.S., Hutnik performed as a ballet dancer for een years in Vienna. Born in Ukraine and growing up in Slovakia, he aspired to share the cuisines of “middle Europe.”
Gilman had worked in several top restaurants in the NYC, Boston and Cape Cod areas and always had an interest in food and wine. Painting has been her other passion since the 1980s. She plans to focus full-time as an exhibiting studio artist once the restaurant closes.
e walls of Dano’s restaurants will continue to feature Gilman’s paintings.
In 1990, Gilman and Hutnik had their rst child, Sophia, born in New Jersey. ey decided to open a restaurant and raise their family outside of the metro area. ey explored Cape Cod and Boston, then saw an ad for the Ithaca location in the New York Times. Gilman had some familiarity with Ithaca through her work as a studio assistant to artist Mary Kelsey, who had lived and painted landscapes of the area in the 1970s.
“Ithaca checked all the boxes,” said Gilman.
“Dano and I set out to create a restaurant that brought beauty, creativity and good tasting ingredients together to provide our customers with a memorable dining experience,” said Gilman. “To this day some of our very rst customers still dine with us.”
Since moving to their Seneca location, Dano’s has been involved in the Finger Lakes wine scene, including featuring local wines on the menu, catering, and hosting wine events. “Our dream was to build an architecturally designed building to showcase the landscape, the wine, and the ingredients of the Finger Lakes,” Gilman said.
“No matter how famous a region is for the things it produces, if there isn’t a good restau-
rant, people won’t travel there,” said food consultant Mitchell Davis, CEO of Kitchen Sense and formerly of the James Beard Foundation. “ eir places both in town and out of town were warm, cozy, casual, but totally sophisticated.”
“Dano’s food was perfect for the region,” said Davis. “ e crisp Rieslings and other whites of the Finger Lakes are hallmarks of Austrian wines, too.”
Hutnik passed away in 2018. Since then, Gilman has been managing the restaurant and serving as executive chef. “I have strived to honor Dano’s legacy, featuring his dishes and ideas,” she said.
She and their daughters—Martina, Sophia and Katya—have the food memory of how Dano’s dishes should taste. “Dano used to say everything was made with love, which is true,” Gilman said. “But we remember all his little tricks and habits.” Gilman said her daughters are supportive of the closing since they understand the stress and personal sacri ces involved with running a restaurant.
She shared that she is proud of the personal connections she and Dano made with customers over the years, helping customers through good and di cult times with a good meal.
According to Marti Macinski, who along with her husband Tom Macinski, co-founded nearby Standing Stone Vineyards, Gilman and Hutnik had a vision of pairing local food and wine. Previously, people from Ithaca were not coming to Seneca Lake wineries in large numbers.
“Dano’s relationship with the James Beard House in New York City helped tremendously
Arts & Entertainment
Karen Gilman Dano’s which started on Cayuga Street in 1990 had locations at Standing Stone Vineyards and finally in Lodi.
Karen Gilman, co-owner of Danos. (Photo: Mark Syvertson)
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
continued from page 5
Even though I don’t think the largest land owner in the county should get away with not paying any property taxes and needs to contribute more, we can’t keep blaming them for our property tax situation because they are now paying more than they ever have. The issue is that the city needs to stop spending. Cornell’s contribution is the constant, the city’s out of sight budget is the increasing variable. Stop Spending. Sss-Tee-Ooo-Pee! Let’s come back to Realville folks.” — John Duthie
CLIMATE ADVOCACY
continued from page 6
could have done something by now.”
Dufresne told The Ithaca Times that local climate activism groups often work in their silos, and Sunrise Ithaca wants to build intergenerational connections with non-youth climate groups to work toward common goals.
Claire Nickell, a climate activist with Extinction Rebellion Ithaca, said it can be challenging to see if climate activism work is having a tangible impact. Nickell and other XR Ithaca members hold a vigil out-
side of Chase Bank each Saturday at 11 a.m. to protest how JPMorgan Chase funds the most fossil fuel projects in the world.
Nickell said she sometimes questions whether the vigil is worth her time and making a valuable contribution to the environmental movement, but she feels hopeful when she sees people wave or honk to show they care. She said she also gains hope from the community of activists who are fighting for climate justice alongside her.
“It’s not just one rally, it’s not one event on the corner,” Nickell said. “It’s all of these things that we do together. It’s the
A Hear tfelt Thank You to O ur Sponsors, Potters, Food, Wine Donors and Volunteers
Loaves & Fishes ’ Empty Bowls Fundraiser would be impossible without the incredible generosity and dedic ation of the sponsors, potters, food, wine donors, volunteers, and community suppor ters. They make this event extraordinar y ever y year; their hard work and kindness are truly the hear t and soul of Empty Bowls. They come together to help relieve hunger in Tompkins County through their suppor t of Loaves & Fishes. Thanks to their collec ted effor t, just over $58,000 was raised this year! These funds make a major difference to Loaves & Fishes ’ c apacity to ser ve meals to those in need. Currently we are ser ving 5,600 meals a month. Please join us in expressing our deepest gratitude to ever yone who has played a role in making this event so successful and for their unwavering commitment to our mission!
connections that we make. It is the people that we see together, the rallies we come to. And so we need to keep coming together.”
Charlotte Nelson, a Cornell University sophomore and Sunrise member, closed the rally by encouraging attendees to practice self-care as they process the election results and their implications on climate justice, and choose to focus on what they can control.
“You have come here today to take action,” Nelson said. “You have chosen to take these emotions and this energy and put them towards something that can create change, instead of letting them just sit inside you. Don’t lose this courage and drive to fight for the thriving and equitable world we deserve. Center the solidarity we’ve created today and use it as the foundation to keep pushing forward. It will not always be easy, but our future depends on it.”
the album. Still, the core of the album has remained unchanged.”
“From February–July of this year, one weekend a month I’ve spent 5-8 hours in a friend’s home studio. Luckily, my friend is a multi-instrumentalist and sound engineer, and brings not only the technical ability to record an album, and provide bass guitar performances, but also a delicate and sensible ear and a healthy balance of organized fastidiousness with a laid-back easy-going demeanor.”
Tom also recruited old and new musical friends to contribute to the album; including Vanessa Snowden on fiddle, Kurt Almond on harp, Mike Farry on drums, and the late great David Ebersole on lap steel guitar.
“It has been great to reconnect with my old songs and my old friends, while making new music and meeting new musicians.”
About once a month Tom also comes to the Ithaca and the greater Finger Lakes area to play at farmers’ markets, festivals, fairs, breweries, senior residences, vineyards, and weddings. This last visit Tom camped alone in a peaceful park.
Tom says that while it has been lively with a new job, travel, performances, and recording his first album, he feels pleased with the endeavors, albeit juggling. And it seems like the escapades that make up his week meld into the music he plays.
Stay in touch with Tom and stay tuned for No One Home this fall.
https://www.tomrobertmusic.com/
TOM ROBERT, NO ONE HOME
Case of Cultures Clashing
Kitchen’s “Case for the Existence of God” is Heartbreaking and Hilarious
By Barbara Adams
The first thing to know about “A Case for the Existence of God” is that it’s not about religion; the second is it’s a genuine encounter between two men that manages to be both heartbreaking and hilarious.
This superb Kitchen Theatre Company production, the third of the season, is sensitively guided by producing artistic director Emily Jackson. The playwright, Samuel D. Hunter, may be most recently familiar for his screenplay of “The Whale,” an adaptation of his award-winning 2013 play. But he’s written some 19 plays, among them the Obie award-winning “A Bright New Boise.”
Though he’s New York-based, Hunter draws his subjects largely from his roots in Moscow, Idaho. “My relationship to my hometown is just that,” he’s said, “existing somewhere in the tension between smalltown pride and parking-lot desolation.”
“A Case for the Existence of God,”
by
Samuel D. Hunter, directed by Emily Jackson. With Philip Kershaw and David McElwee. At the Kitchen Theatre Company, 417 W. State St., Ithaca.
And that’s the atmosphere in “A Case for the Existence of God,” set in a southern Idaho town, mostly in the office of a mortgage broker, Keith, who’s trying to help a yogurt plant worker, Ryan, get a loan to buy back a dozen acres of his grandfather’s long-lost land. While both men are in their mid-to-late thirties, we first notice their differences. Keith (Philip Kershaw) is Black, college-educated, with successful and supportive parents; Ryan (David McElwee) is white working class with an erratic upbringing (dead dad, drug-addicted mom).
Beyond the obvious class contrast, even their temperaments clash in the opening scene: Keith is serious and overly technical, but professionally kind; Ryan is excited, even manic, and, as we soon see, desperately hopeful. The loan process Keith lays out for Ryan is gobbledygook to him, and he’s quickly upset and overwhelmed.
Keith’s patience convinces Ryan to work with him, and what transpires over the next few weeks is a series of increasingly intimate conversations. All this happens as the two men sit on opposite sides of Keith’s desk (a stark and effectively lit set by Tyler M. Perry). The scenes shift swiftly with a loud clap, in almost time-lapse fashion, as men gradually progress to a sympathetic friendship.
fostering Willa since birth and waiting for the final adoption approval; Ryan, recently divorced, wants to build on the former family land to give Krista the home he never had.
Hunter’s dialogue is brilliant, wholly naturalistic, and psychologically rich. The men reach out, ramble, self-reveal, challenge, console, and above all connect — it’s a fascinating journey. As a Black gay man, Keith has some defenses; his upright posture and tentative hand gestures suggest his selfprotecting ambivalence. Meanwhile, Ryan, comfortable in worn jeans and a t-shirt (costumes by Lisa Boquist), lounges and sprawls, twisting himself into endless possibilities.
Ryan, who shows his caring easily, is the first to note that they share a sadness, and this is part of their eventual bond. The very real anxieties of parenthood and possible loss are the somber theme of this play, yet nearly every scene is leavened by laugh-out-loud moments. And there’s sweetness too, as when the two men anxiously (and proudly) watch their daughters at a playground. While the play itself is deeply engaging, Kershaw and McElwee bring a remarkable authenticity to the characters that will etch them in your memory. In an economically and emotionally depressed context, we don’t expect miracles, but the playwright shows us, in an unusual decades-fastforward ending, that human resilience and the power of love can be counted on.
CORTLAND 28, ITHACA 17
Nov. 20-23 at 7:00 p.m. and Nov. 21 & 24 at 2:00 p.m. Tickets at kitchentheatre.org/tickets or 607-272-0570. yards, run for another 132, and again, played like the field general whose legacy will loom large in Red Dragon lore henceforth. For the Bombers, Leonard-Osbourne put in his typical workhorse performance, running for 117 yards and a touchdown. He has been a highly reliable player who will be missed.
Going forward, Cortland will figure out how to adjust to Life Beyond Boyes, but in the immediate future, they will prepare for at least one more game — and hopefully another shot at a national title — as they are headed to the post-season.
We learn their daughters, almost two years old, attend the same daycare, and both men are anxious about the precariousness of their custody — Keith has been
As for the Bombers, they will continue to build their offense around two quarterbacks — Colin Schumm and Matthew Parker — both sophomores and both with considerable experience as signal callers.
● ● ●
Congratulations to Ithaca High sophomore Tsadia Bercuwitz on her second place finish at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association crosscountry championships. Tsadia’s time of 17:32:4 (5,000 meters) was just 8 seconds off the lead, and was the fastest time of any Section IV runner.
And Ryan is so socially powerless that, with nothing to lose, he’s become refreshingly outspoken. He critiques the system and admits that he feels without money, he doesn’t have “permission to exist.” Keith may be financially stable, but in the adoption system, he’s equally precarious.
AUF WIEDERSEHEN
continued from page 11
in getting the word out about Finger Lakes wines,” said Macinski. “Previously, people in Manhattan did not drink our wines until Dano’s started.”
Macinski saw the changes in clientele to her winery soon after Hutnik would be the featured chef at James Beard House. “Karen and Dano would invite other local chefs and serve Finger Lakes wines,” said Macinski. “It’s not just us, it’s the whole Finger Lakes area,” they would tell the NYC diners. This elevated the perception to wine and food connoisseurs and media.
Gilman likes how this wine region is
Barbara Adams is a regional theatre and arts journalist and retired professor of writing, Ithaca College.
really growing and the new style of tasting rooms where you can relax, have a small bite to eat, and enjoy the landscapes with a nice glass of Finger Lakes wine. “I am especially excited by the new guard of winemakers,” she said. “I am always impressed by the diversity of expression of the grape that you can experience just around this one lake.”
“A Celebration of 34 Years of Dano’s Hospitality,” planned for November 23, has already sold out. The event will be a benefit for World Central Kitchen, which conducts important humanitarian work feeding people after natural disasters and conflicts. Dano’s hours through December 1 are Fridays 5-9 p.m., Saturdays Noon to 9 p.m., and Sundays, Noon to 8:30 p.m.
Philip Kershaw as Keith and David McElwee as Ryan find both contrasts and compatibility in Samuel D. Hunter’s “A Case for the Existence of God” at the Kitchen Theatre through Nov. 24. (Photo by Rachel Phillipson)
High School Rock Band Discusses Debut Album
By Caedmon Sethupathy
Irecently had the opportunity to sit down with Mazaik, a promising young band made up of two Ithaca High School students and one recent graduate. The group released an album in September, which has garnered some significant traction within the high school community, and even Ithaca at large. The following is their first interview discussing the band’s origins, recording process, and musical style.
Caedmon Sethupathy ‘25: When and how was Mazaik formed?
Maeve Stuelke ‘25: Well we can go with two examples. Zak and I met in 2022 ad we started playing and hanging out, and I suggested “hey, we need a drummer.” Our first rehearsal with the whole band was February 18, 2023.
Zak Kasian ‘26: Yeah, I believe that was the date.
MS: So, we are a pretty young band. Its been almost two years now, maybe a little over a year and a half.
Isaiah Tau ‘24: I’ll give you my perspective. I always walked up Cayuga street to the library after school. On my way over the railroad tracks either Maeve or Zak, I’m not sure which one, came up to me and asked “Do you play drums?” And I was like “Wait a minute, how do you know my name?” And one of you said you went to Boynton [Middle School] and saw me play marimba. It was a quick 30 second conversation and I was like, yeah I’d love to join your band. At the time I was only in my church band and I wanted to be a part of something different.
CS: In what music genre(s) would you say Mazaik specialize?
MS: I’ll take this one. We just released a
STATE RE-EVALUATES
continued from page 9
“The rural districts, those who are living on hold harmless because the formula is not serving their needs, they will be better off if we have a formula that has really thought through what the needs are everywhere.”
funk album and at this point most of our set is funk. That’s a very bass heavy and drum heavy thing and our band is made up of two bassists and a drummer. On all of our socials we list all the genres that we play but I think funk rules them all. For me funk is one of my favorite genres to play and listen to. You can do so much with it because there’s elements of both rock and jazz. There are three things that I always tell people we play: funk, rock, and bluegrass. People always look at me really weird when I say that. But I’m also a banjo player and I brought that idea to the band. I definitely got the feeling that when I first proposed it, you guys thought it was weird because nobody plays bluegrass at our age.
ZK: We actually started with bluegrass I think, because we started busking in the Commons.
CS: Is it a challenge to organize, given that you three attend separate schools?
ZK: that has definitely been an issue. Isaiah still lives in Danby but he’s taking a gap year and going to be in college next year. It has been easier now that Maeve can drive Isaiah to and from rehearsal. But its still really hard to communicate things, especially when we’re all really busy people. Isaiah’s got a construction internship; Maeve’s got senior stuff; I’ve got other extracurricular music stuff going on. I think that despite all the setbacks, bands work best when everyone’s super busy. That’s just something I’ve seen over the past eight or nine years touring with others.
CS: You guys recently dropped a new album titled, Lookin Swell, in late September. Tell me about the recording process. Which track was the easiest, hardest, and do you have a favorite song? IT: I’ll start with this one. I’ll take a little
bit of responsiblity here. There were a lot of days when I couldn’t get into session. We couldn’t push back the release date because it would have been unprofessional to do so. So, I couldn’t play on all of the songs. There was one of those songs which Zak and Maeve played on called “Large Mouth Bass.” They killed on that one.
MS: I’m the band’s producer. I remember Zak and I would be here real late. We’d be here for hours, recording and getting ideas, and going on tangents. I remember we started recording in late June. So we recorded a couple songs and then nothing in July and early August. I was getting really anxious, but we all pulled together and got the album out. Definitely one of the hardest songs to produce was “Low Tide.”
CS: How has the album been received? Are you happy with the community engagement?
MS: Oh yeah. I have control of the Spotify and Apple Music accounts and they just sent me a monthly update a couple days ago. It’s done much better than I thought it was.
FOUNDATION AID STUDY
Superintendents say they are concerned that the six month timeline for the study will not allow the state to fully recognize the problems with the current formula and implement thoughtful changes in time for the next budget cycle. The legislature must approve the budget by the start of the new fiscal year April 1.
Zielinski said school districts must prepare their budgets in February and March and release them to taxpayers one month before the budget vote in mid-May. This leaves very little time for districts to adapt their budget if the state significantly changes aid. Hartz said it is very challenging for districts to plan ahead without knowing how
Spotify tells me that we have around 649 total streams of the album, so people are listening to it and its not just people from Ithaca. There’s actually one person in Canada.
CS: What’s next for Mazaik; any future projects?
ZK: We’re going to release single sometime soon: an acoustic version of one of Maeve’s songs called “All I Want to Know.”
MS: We are already working on another album. Like Zak said, we have a demo. The album’s not going to come out any time soon, but the single will. Another thing that’s coming up is we are going to be collaborating with IHS Jazz band for the April show.
CS: What is the best way for listeners to follow you music, both in-person and virtually?
MS: We have Spotify and Apple music. We’re going to start recording some music videos for a couple songs in Lookin Swell soon. Look for us at shows in and around Ithaca. We’ll definitely be busking on the commons.
much the funding structure will change or how much aid they will receive.
“It’s a little bit unnerving right now, because we really don’t know what’s coming,” Hartz said. “There could be some districts that the impact doesn’t have as much of an impact, and there could be other districts that it could be really devastating for.”
Mazaik, courtesy of Zak Kasian.
Lots to Offer at The Lotus
By Henry Stark
It’s sometimes difficult to keep up with the changing restaurant scene in Ithaca. Some establishments go out of business and are replaced with others, while others move from venue to venue, often just across the street.
I recently caught up with The Lotus, a new, quasi-authentic Korean restaurant on Aurora Street on “restaurant row.”
It’s a pleasant, if not exceptional, place. I think of the atmosphere as functional or serviceable. There are hard wooden benches lining the walls where comfortable cushioned seats might have been. The walls are brick and unadorned, leading to a relatively noisy experience which is not ameliorated by loud piped in unfamiliar music.
There is an evident spirit among the employees that they want customers to have a happy experience and will do anything they can to enhance it, including lowering the volume of the music if asked.
When I arrived for a recent lunch, I was given both a lunch and a dinner menu. If you don’t find something that you want on the limited lunch menu, all the dinner items are available from the opening.
A nice touch occurs before any of the selected food arrives. I was presented with a complimentary partitioned dish with a “green bean salad” which consisted of a half dozen green beans, some spicy kimchi, which is salted and fermented vegetables, some “fish cakes” which were a few shreds of some kind of seafood, and a few bean sprouts.
Prices are quite reasonable. The Lunch Menu doesn’t have anything over $15.99.
TID BITS:
Don’t expect a knife or a fork. You’ll get a tablespoon and a set of wooden chopsticks on a paper napkin. I would guess that if you asked for a fork it would happily be provided.
All the items are listed in Korean with clear English descriptions.
It features four entrées served in bowls, four salads, two rice selections, and three sandwiches.
I recently ordered the Lotus BibimBap from the Lunch Menu. It’s a rice-based dish served in a sizzling stone pot with a choice of tofu or vegetables and topped with a fried egg. You can add beef or chicken for $2. The portion was more than generous, as are all the dishes here. It was served with a cup of miso broth which should be eaten separately and not poured over the rice. There was also a cup of gochujang sauce which was incredibly spicy. I strongly recommend that, before pouring it over your BibimBap, you try a very small sample. It was too hot for me. Because I found the rice dry and crumbly I asked the server if there was any other sauce I could have. He cheerfully brought me a ramekin of something he called soy sauce.
Dinner entrées range from $13.99 to $27.99 with most between $14.99 and $21.99. I tried the Udon Bakkeum which is supposedly stir-fried noodles with vegetables. I say supposedly because to me everything seemed boiled and the veggies were decidedly al dente. The vegetables that I identified were broccoli florets, thin carrot slices, and a few onions and mushrooms. I asked to have chicken added for $2. That turned out to be a good choice as there were lots of small, tender chunks of chicken mixed in. Udon noodles are thick and easy to deal with if you’re using chopsticks and the portion was more than generous.
There are about a dozen beers on offer, $7-$10. American coffee is $5.00 while various teas cost $4.99. I thought that was a bit curious.
The Lotus, offering a mild cuisine, is a pleasant Korean addition to our community, although I would have preferred they used a few more herbs and spices to pep up the dishes.
Above, I referred to The Lotus as a quasi-authentic Korean restaurant. That’s because, on my frequent visits to Seoul, I
The Lotus is a new quasi-authentic Korean restaurant on Aurora Street located on downtown Ithaca’s popular “restaurant row.” (Photo: File)
was always taken aback by the redolence of garlic emanating from private kitchens in the residential areas as well as sections of the city where there was a concentration of restaurants. I don’t, however, detect the scent or flavor of garlic at The Lotus and wonder if the cooks modify their recipes to appease American (Ithacan’s) taste to attract a larger clientele. If so, it seems to be working as no one should have any problems with the mild, generous, and reasonably priced selections on offer.
What do residents say about us?
Janet and Cindy who clean my cottage are so cheerful, they're a big upper to my Tuesdays. Everyone in the resident health center is over the top helpful. Beanie is a delight. Meg is a delight.
- Ann
www.kai.kendal.org,
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Bars/Bands/Clubs
11/21 Thursday
Free Tradicals with Dave Davies | 6 p.m. | South Hill Cider, 550 Sandbank Rd.
11/22 Friday
Analog Sons | 8:00pm | The Downstairs, 121 W. M.L.K. Jr. St.
Northern Attitude - A Live Band Tribute to Noah Kahan | 8 p.m. | Deep Dive Ithaca, 415 Old Taughannock Blvd
11/23 Saturday
Barrel Room Concert Series featuring Darkwine | 5 p.m. | Treleaven Winery, 658 Lake Rd
Sarah Noell & Friends | 6 p.m. | South Hill Cider, 550 Sandbank Road Farm to Stage: Cold Feet (Featuring Intrigue Experiences) | 6 p.m. | Center for the Arts of Homer, 72 S Main St
Venissa Santí w/ Michael Stark & Olive Mitra | 8:00pm | The Downstairs, 121 W. M.L.K. Jr. St.
11/24 Sunday
Jazz Guitar Brunch with Dennis Winge | 10:30 a.m. | Antlers Restaurant, 1159 Dryden Rd. | Free Jazz Jam | 6:00pm | The Downstairs
11/25 Monday
Plan Z |7:00pm | The Downstairs, 121 W M.L.K. Jr. St.
11/27 Wednesday
Thanksgiving Eve with The Ampersand Project | 6 p.m. | Treleaven Winery, 658 Lake Rd
Casual Splash |8:00pm | The Downstairs, 121 W M.L.K. Jr. St.
Scuba Jerry | 8 p.m. | Deep Dive Ithaca, 415 Old Taughannock Blvd
Concerts/Recitals
11/20 Wednesday
Midday Music for Organ: David Yearsley | 12:30 p.m. | Anabel Taylor Chapel, 548 College Ave | Free Mikaela Davis | 8 p.m. | Center for the Arts of Homer, 72 S Main St
11/22 Friday
Cornell Wind Symphony Concert | 7:30 p.m. | Bailey Hall, 230 Garden Ave | Free
Coco Montoya & Ronnie Baker Brooks | 8 p.m. | Center for the Arts of Homer, 72 S Main St
11/23 Saturday
Ithaca Community Orchestra Fall Concert | 2 p.m. | Ithaca College Ford Hall, 953 Danby Road | $8.00
Binghamton Community Orchestra Concert | 7 p.m. | Maine Endwell Middle School, Farm to Market Rd
Cornell Symphony Orchestra Concert | 7:30 p.m. | Bailey Hall, 230 Garden Ave | Free
11/24 Sunday
Mostly Motown Fall Concert | 3 p.m. | First Baptist Church at Dewitt Park (behind the Courthouse), 309 N. Cayuga St. | $15.00
Cornell University Chorale Fall Concert | 3 p.m. | Sage Chapel, Ho Plaza | Free
11/26 Tuesday
Gillian Welch & David Rawlings
| 7:30 p.m. | State Theatre of Ithaca, 107 West State St
Stage
A Case for the Existence of God |
7 p.m., 11/20 Wednesday | Kitchen Theatre Company, 417 W. State St./ Martin Luther King Jr. St., | By Samuel D. Hunter; Directed by Emily Jackson | $10.00 - $52.00
Galumpha | 7 p.m., 11/22 Friday | State Theatre of Ithaca, 107 West State St | Galumpha is a triumphant mix of art and entertainment, o ering world-class, award winning choreography (Edinburgh Festival Critics’ Choice Award, Moers International Comedy Arts Prize) that is equally at home on the concert stage, at a comedy club or at an outdoor festival. | $8.00 - $12.00
Elmira Little Theatre presents THE HUMANS | 7:30 p.m., 11/22 Friday | Clemens Center, 207 Clemens Center Parkway | In Mandeville Hall.
Art
Present Conversations II - Group BIPOC Exhibition & Artist Talks | 5:30 p.m., 11/20 Wednesday | Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins
County, 110 N TIOGA St | Enjoy art and artists talks at Present Conversations II during the month of November @ Community Arts Partnership, 110 N TIOGA ST. To learn more to go 110 N TIOGA ST | Free
Seeing Ithaca: through the eyes of artists | 12 p.m., 11/21 Thursday | State of the Art Gallery, 120 West State Street | Member artists at SOAG organized Seeing Ithaca through the Eyes of Artists to promote the area and invite nonmember artists to participate. | Free
Why is Reality? | 12 p.m., 11/21
Thursday | State of the Art Gallery, 120 West State Street | Diana Ozolins, Margy Nelson and MarryAnn Bowman are showing new works at SOAG created through their own individual perception, imagination and humor. | Free
Every Stone Tells a Story Exhibit | 10 a.m., 11/23 Saturday | New eld History and Activity Center, 192 Main Street | Come and learn about New eld’s cemeteries at the New eld Historical Society’s new exhibit: Every Stone Tells a Story! | Free Hours - Research Library | 10 a.m., 11/23 Saturday | The History Center in Tompkins County, 401 East State Street | Beginning on February 17th 2024, the Research Library will be open to walk-in visitors on Saturdays from 10:00-3:00 for limited research access.
Opening for Robert Sardell’s “States of Being” | 4 p.m., 11/23 Saturday | The Gallery at South Hill, 950 Danby Rd. South Hill Business Campus South Hill Business Campus | Robert Sardell opening reception at The gallery at South Hill. Bob was born in New York City in1949. He took his rst art classes as an undergraduate college student, going on to receive
an MFA degree from the University of Iowa in 1975 and has been painting since. | Free
Film
Wiping the Tears of the 7 Generations/Movie Night | 7 p.m., 11/22 Friday | South Hill Cider, 550 Sandbank Rd. | WIPING THE TEARS OF 7 GENERATIONS is a very powerful telling from 1890 survivor descendants themselves about the true account of the 1980 WOUNDED KNEE MASSACRE and what actually led up to the massacre from Lakota oral historical accounts. Q&A to follow with the lm’s co-director Fidel Moreno.
Cinemapolis
120 E. Green St., Ithaca November 22nd-28th. Contact Cinemapolis for showtimes. New lms listed rst.* Wicked* | Elphaba, a misunderstood young woman because of her green skin, and Glinda, a popular girl, become friends at Shiz University in the Land of Oz. After an encounter with the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads.| PG 160 mins
Gladiator II* | After his home is conquered by the tyrannical emperors who now lead Rome, Lucius is forced to enter the Colosseum and must look to his past to nd strength to return the glory of Rome to its people.| R 148 mins
A Real Pain | Mismatched cousins reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the odd-couple’s old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history.| R 90 mins
Conclave | When Cardinal Lawrence is tasked with leading one of the world’s most secretive and ancient events, selecting a new Pope, he nds himself at the center of a conspiracy that could shake the very foundation of the Catholic Church.| PG 120 mins
Anora | Anora, a young sex worker from Brooklyn, meets and impulsively marries the son of an oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened as his parents set out for New York to get the marriage annulled.| R 139 mins
Heretic | Two young religious women are drawn into a game of cat-andmouse in the house of a strange man.| R 111 mins
Cornell Cinema
All lms are shown at 104 Willard Straight Hall, Cornell Campus. Amerikatsi | 11/20, 7:00 pm |In 1948, decades after eeing Armenia to the US as a child, Charlie returns in the hopes of nding a connection to his roots, but what he nds instead is a country crushed under Soviet rule. Science on Screen®: Food Nostalgia and the “Ratatouille” Moment | 11/21, 6:30 pm |This Science on Screen® event — led by Cornell doctoral candidate Hetvi Doshi — will use the lm Ratatouille as a jumping-o point for exploring the scienti c connection of food, nostalgia, and sensory autobiographical memory. Come to learn more about food nostalgia through this beloved animated lm!
Sports
Cornell Men’s Basketball vs Robert Morris University | 6 p.m., 11/21 Thursday | Newman Arena at Bartels Hall |
Cornell Women’s Squash vs Stanford University | 3 p.m., 11/22 Friday | Belkin Squash Courts |
Cornell Men’s Squash vs Western University | 6 p.m., 11/22 Friday | Belkin Squash Courts |
Cornell Men’s Ice Hockey vs Quinnipiac University | 7 p.m., 11/22 Friday | Lynah Rink |
Cornell Men’s Ice Hockey vs Princeton University | 7 p.m., 11/23 Saturday | Lynah Rink | Cornell Women’s & Men’s Squash vs Williams College | 12 p.m., 11/24 Sunday | Belkin Squash Courts |
Cornell Women’s Ice Hockey vs RIT | 7 p.m., 11/26 Tuesday | Lynah Rink | Cornell Women’s Basketball vs Mercyhurst University | 1 p.m., 11/27 Wednesday | Newman Arena at Bartels Hall |
p.m., 11/21 Thursday | Bu alo Street Books, 215 North Cayuga Street | Join local author David B. Schwartz at Bu alo Street Books to celebrate the his new release Waiting for the Steamboat at Lamoreaux Landing. He will be reading from the book and accompanied by local musician, Richie Stearns. | Free
“Rooms: The Works and Life of JJ Manford” with Gordon Sander and JJ Manford | 5 p.m., 11/22 Friday | Bu alo Street Books, 215 North Cayuga Street | Author and biographer Gordon Sander will be at Bu alo Street Books to talk with artist, and subject of his book Rooms: The Work and Life of JJ Manford, JJ Manford. | Free
“Yield Everything, Force Nothing” Generative Creative Writing Workshop | 2 p.m., 11/24 Sunday | Bu alo Street Books, 215 North Cayuga Street | “The most common feedback I get about my teaching style is “I’ve never taken a class like this before” and “I can’t believe I just wrote this!””
Stories from the People of the Longhouse | 2 p.m., 11/24 Sunday | Morgan Opera House, 370 Main Street | Stories from the People of the Longhouse - told by Perry Ground, traditional Haudenosaunee Storyteller | Free Early Readers Book Club | 3 p.m., 11/26 Tuesday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | Children in grades K-2 are welcome to join our Early Readers Book Club.
Kids
Coalition for Families | 10 a.m., 11/21 Thursday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | | Free Story + Craft | 3:30 p.m., 11/21 Thursday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | Story + Craft is our weekly reading + creating event for children! Join us for a read-aloud, followed by art-making or a guided craft.
Late Fall Baby & Toddler Storytime | 10:30 a.m., 11/22 Friday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | Caregivers and their children are invited to join us for music, rhymes, movement and books. Storytime will be followed by a playtime from 11-12.
Spanish Storytime | 4:30 p.m., 11/22 Friday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | Children of all ages and their caregivers are welcome to join us for Spanish storytime - songs, rhymes, stories, and crafts - completely in Spanish!
Open House King Montessori Academy | 10 a.m., 11/23 Saturday | King Montessori Academy Preschool/ Family Day Care, 320 E. King Rd | Open House. King Montessori Academy Preschool/Family Day Care. Welcoming parents & kids 18 mos to 5 years. Learn how an a ordable, authentic Montessori pedagogy led by a certied Montessori teacher promotes your child’s healthy development, as a self-directed, lifelong learner. RSVP 607-342-4694. | Free Fossil ID Day | 10 a.m., 11/23
Saturday | Museum of the Earth, 1259 Trumansburg Road (Route 96) | Did you nd a rock in your backyard? Do you think it might be a fossil? Museum of the Earth is here to help!
Family Storytime | 11 a.m., 11/23
Saturday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | Children of all ages and their caregivers are invited to celebrate reading and build their early literacy skills at Family Storytime. We meet each Saturday for stories, songs and hands-on fun.
Family Workshop: Take Apart | 2 p.m., 11/23 Saturday | Sciencenter, 601 1st St | Bring the whole family and use various tools to take apart and explore the inner workings of electronics!
Science Connections: Naturalist Outreach | 2 p.m., 11/24 Sunday | Sciencenter, 601 1st St | Join us for a special Science Connections series in partnership with Cornell’s Naturalist Outreach Program featuring insects, reptiles, and birds!
Caribbean Night Fundraiser for IYSA | 5 p.m., 11/24 Sunday | Deep Dive Ithaca, 415 Old Taughannock Blvd | Get ready to experience a night lled with family vibes, drinks, food, and DJ Ziggy and DJ Double A at our IYSA Caribbean Night Fundraiser!
SIT! STAY! READ! | 3 p.m., 11/25
Monday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | Children are invited to practice their reading skills by sharing a story with a truly non-judgmental listener -- a dog!
Reading sessions will be held Mondays from 3-4 p.m. Children who attend 6
big-time technology small-town values or
sessions will earn a FREE book of their choice! | Free
Science Together: Flubber | 10:30 a.m., 11/26 Tuesday | Sciencenter, 601 1st St | Use a variety of tools to explore and make observations about the fun properties of Flubber! Science Together activities are designed for ages 0-4.
Early Readers Book Club | 3 p.m., 11/26 Tuesday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | Children in grades K-2 are welcome to join our Early Readers Book Club.
Notices
Common Council- Committee of the Whole Study Session | 6 p.m., 11/20 Wednesday | Common Council Chambers, 3rd Floor City Hall 108 E Green St | Trivia! | 7 p.m., 11/20 Wednesday | Liquid State Brewery, 620 West Green Street. | Trivia Night with Bob Proehl at Liquid State! | Free Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency (IURA) Board Meeting (in-person) | 8:30 a.m., 11/22 Friday | Common Council Chambers, 3rd Floor City Hall 108 E Green St |
HARMONY’S CHRISTMAS CRAFT FAIR | 11 a.m., 11/22 Friday | Dryden Fire Station, 26 North Street | Harmony UMC’s Christmas CRAFT FAIR
with LOTs of vendors and crafts for gift ideas. Food on site: various soups and chili, hot dogs and smoked sausages, and LOTS of delicious baked goods. At Dryden Fire Station.
Watkins Glen Community Blood Drive | 11:30 a.m., 11/22 Friday | Watkins Glen Community Center, 155 S. Clute Park Drive | Join us for a critical blood drive on November 22nd at the Watkins Glen Community Center in Watkins Glen, NY! | Free Slow Flow Yoga | 4 p.m., 11/22 Friday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | This is an all-levels Slow Flow style yoga class, adaptable for people with di erent levels of tness (it does involve sitting on a mat and standing up from the oor).
Ithaca Eagles Auxiliary Fall Bazaar | 10 a.m., 11/23 Saturday | Ithaca Fraternal Order of Eagles, 161 Cecil Malone Dr | Ithaca Eagles Auxiliary Annual Fall Bazaar | Free Ithaca Farmers Market-Saturday Market | 10 a.m., 11/23 Saturday | Steamboat Landing, 545 3rd Street | Open from 10 AM - 2 PM in November, visitors will nd 80+ vendors at our Saturday Market! No matter the weather, our covered Pavilion will keep you cool and dry while you shop!
FUNDRAISER for RICK & SUE QUINN - Chicken BBQ, Basket Ra e, 50/50 | 11 a.m., 11/23 Saturday |
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Locke Fire Department, 1050- 1060 Route 38 | CHICKEN BBQ, BAKE SALE, BASKET RAFFLE to help RICK & SUE QUINN after losing home to re. Please come show support! | Free
Food Pantry | 12 p.m., 11/23
Saturday | GYM-Southside Community Center, 305 S Plain St | RADA Cutlery Party | 1 p.m., 11/23
Saturday | New eld United Methodist Church, 227 Main Street | It’s a Rada Cutlery Party Nov 23, 2024 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM at the New eld Methodist Church. Door prizes, refreshments, and more! | Free
Sewcial Stitching Sundays at SewGreen! | 3 p.m., 11/24 Sunday | SewGreen, Press Bay Court 112 W Green Street, #5 | Join our little group as we knit, crochet, weave, handstitch, mend, and drink complimentary tea! If you have questions about your project, chances are someone here will know! Everyone is welcome! Every Sunday from 3 pm to 5 pm. Crafts are provided for children for $5 per child | Free
Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous | 4 p.m., 11/24 Sunday, 518 W. Seneca | Are you having trouble controlling the way you eat? Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA) is a free Twelve Step recovery program for anyone su ering from food obsession, overeating, under-eating or
bulimia. No dues. No fees. Everyone is welcome. Sundays 4pm. Contact 607351-9504 foodaddicts.org | Free A Letting Go Ceremony | 4 p.m., 11/24 Sunday | The Whimsy Mercantile, 2075 East Shore Drive | Join Shamanic Practitioner, Gretchen Gilbert, and shop owner, Jaime Hazard, for a monthly ceremony designed to help us leave behind the things that hold us back.
Ithaca Sunday Squares | 11/24 Sunday, 29 Auburn Rd | Ithaca Sunday Squares Lansing Community Center, 29 Auburn Road (Route 34), Lansing, NY 7-9 PM almost* every Sunday. We are currently planning to dance... Playful Yoga | 6:30 p.m., 11/25 Monday | The Whimsy Mercantile, 2075 East Shore Drive | Join Elizabeth Seldin for some playful yet relaxing yoga every Monday.
SPCA Board Meeting | 5 p.m., 11/26 Tuesday | Cortland Free Library, 32 Church St | Monthly meeting of the SPCA Board in the meeting room. Planning and Development Board | 6 p.m., 11/26 Tuesday | SingTrece’s Open Mic | 11/26 Tuesday | The Downstairs, 121 W M.L.K. Jr. St. | The Downstairs and SingTrece Publishing Production Presents Ithaca’s Best Open Mic for Singers, Rappers, Songwriters, Poets and Spoken Word.
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