February 22, 2023

Ed Vallely, 2008-2012

Pete Tyler, 2017-2019

John Barber, 2013-2017

Dennis Nayor, 2019-2021

John Joly, 2021-Present

N EWS LINE

Cannabis Dispensary Location Announced

By Matt Dougherty

The o cial location of the rst recreational marijuana dispensary in the City of Ithaca has nally been announced.

e long awaited dispensary will be operated by William Durham, the owner of Binghamton based William H. Construction, which specializes in residential and commercial building remodeling.

Durham was previously convicted for possession of marijuana when he was 23 years old, which helped him qualify to receive one of three Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CUARD) licenses that have been approved for the Southern Tier region of New York.

rough the CUARD program, New York is ensuring that individuals from communities that have been most impacted by the criminalization of marijuana will have the rst opportunity to bene t from its legalization.

A er receiving his CUARD license in December 2022 Durham said, “It feels great. ere’s a lot of work to be done and I’m de nitely ready and willing to put in the work to make it happen. I just want to see this thing grow and it’s obviously going to fuel other activities and things that we’re working on. So, it’s really exciting.”

Durham has said that the name of his dispensary will be “William Jane” and that the state O ce of Cannabis Management has selected 119 to 121 East State Street — formerly Trader K’s used clothing store — along the Ithaca Commons as the dispensary’s storefront.

According to Durham, even though the location is a long way from Bingham-

Airport Town Hall

The Ithaca Tompkins International Airport (ITH) welcomes the public to attend a Town Hall event on Wednesday, March 1 at 5:00 PM in the Airport Terminal.

The event, which is free and open to all, will feature a discussion with ITH’s leadership

ton he is excited about the opportunity of breaking into the state’s new recreational marijuana market.

From the Chili Cook O to the Summer Concert Series, Downtown Ithaca is known for its events and Durham says that he is ready to take part in the action.

Durham recently said, “We’re looking into doing a lot of events. is place is actually known for a lot of events so we’ll t right in. We like to have fun. So, we’re aiming toward that crowd. We’re going to do a lot events, get autograph signings, and things of that nature. Bring people from di erent places so that way they can have fun, get to see what Upstate New York is like.”

In addition Durham said, “Being in a college town is going to be the greatest thing for me as far as having enough customers to actually sustain a business of this size. Looking at both schools, you’ve got Ithaca College, Cornell. ose two together I think will help out a lot as far as

the type of business we’re doing here.”

According to Durham, when the dispensary opens it will be the closest legal dispensary to the Bu alo, Rochester and Syracuse markets. Durham says he plans on selling a wide variety of cannabis products ranging from ower, vapes, pre rolls and edibles to cannabis-related merchandise and paraphernalia.

When asked about whether or not he is concerned about the existence of an unlicensed sticker store selling cannabis products a few storefronts down the Commons, Durham said that he wasn’t concerned and that he expects local municipalities to take steps to shut them down.

However, the local government in Ithaca has le the responsibility for shutting down these unlicensed sticker stores to local law enforcement. Given the sta ng shortages at the Ithaca Police Department and the hassle of sending o cers to shut down the shop, IPD has chosen to direct their nite resources elsewhere.

e City of Ithaca’s search for a permanent Chief of Police is entering its third year.

team regarding exciting changes happening at the airport, current and planned initiatives to attract additional service, how the community can help attract additional ights and airlines to ITH, and a discussion on Myths vs. Facts of airline service and travel.

Airport Director Roxan Noble expressed her excitement for the event, “We are really excited to invite the community to the Town Hall next month because it gives them an opportunity to learn more about what’s going on at the airport and how they can get involved.”

For more information, please visit yithaca.com

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The storefront formerly known for housing Trader K’s will now be the home of “William Jane” — the first recreational cannabis dispensary in Ithaca and one of three announced for the Southern Tier.

By Josh Baldo

Stewart Park to Receive $500K for Revitalization Projects

By Staff Report

Revitalization e orts in Stewart Park received a big boost recently, thanks, in part, to the advocacy of New York State District 125 Assemblymember Anna Kelles. With the support of Kelles, a total of $500,000 in New York State Economic Development Funds has been allocated from the NYS State Assembly for two separate projects in Stewart Park.

e rst project, a new Accessible Splash Pad and Seasonal Bathroom Building will complete the park’s Inclusive Playground that was constructed in 2020 with $1 million in NYS funding support, as well as support from local foundations, businesses and individuals. e new Splash Pad, which will feature a mural of the Finger Lakes on its “ oor” will be larger and more engaging, accessible, and more water e cient. e adjacent accessible Bathroom Building will feature a gender-neutral/family restroom with an adult changing table along with Men’s and Women’s restrooms.

e second project is an Addition to the Picnic “Large” Pavilion to house Stewart Park Day Camp equipment currently stored in the historic Wharton Studio/ DPW Building across the parking lot from

the Picnic Pavilion. e Addition will provide safer and more convenient access to camp bikes, canoes and art supplies for campers and sta . Also, construction of the Addition is a crucial step in developing the Wharton Studio Park Center, a yearround destination in the lakefacing section of the Wharton Studio Building that will feature exhibits about Ithaca and the studio’s role in early American moviemaking, and a cafe with terraces looking onto Cayuga Lake.

Anna Kelles says “Stewart Park has been a jewel of the Finger Lakes for more than a century, providing families and visitors enjoyment along Cayuga Lake.

e collaboration between Friends of Stewart Park, the City of Ithaca, Wharton Studio Museum, Tompkins County, and New York State to provide two vital enhancements to the Park will expand access, beauty, and joy. A new splash pad will provide children a wonderful, new and improved place to play and cool o in hot summer months. An extension to the Picnic Pavilion will add safety and utility, allowing summer campers streamlined access to camp equipment without having to worry about car tra c, and it will also pave the way for the Wharton Studio Park Center in the historic Wharton Studio Building. Ithaca prides itself on inclusive-

ness, and these improvements help move our community toward greater accessibility for all.”

O cial announcement of the funding took place ursday, February 9, 2023 at Stewart Park, with brief remarks from Assemblymember Kelles, as well as by Rick Manning of Friends of Stewart Park, Diana Riesman of Wharton Studio Museum, and Ithaca’s Acting Mayor Ducson Nguyen.

Since its formation in 2011, Friends of Stewart Park (FSP) has been working in partnership with the City of Ithaca, which owns the park, and with Wharton Studio Museum and other community partners to restore, enhance and improve Stewart Park.

“FSP’s partnership with the WSM, the City of Ithaca, Tompkins County, New York State and the Ithaca community to revitalize the park has been a great success,” says Friends of Stewart Park Executive Director Rick Manning.“

We are grateful to New York State for its past support of important park improvement projects such as the Stewart Park Playground and restoration of the iconic Cascadilla Boathouse, and now the Splash Pad and future Wharton Studio Park Center. We greatly appreciate Assemblymember Kelles’ interest and commitment to the park.”

With the support of Kelles, a total of $500,000 in New York State Economic Development Funds has been allocated from the NYS State Assembly for two separate projects in Stewart Park. (Photo Provided)

Big Transitions Are Coming to Common Council

By Matt Dougherty

The year has been set up for an interesting ending as every member of the Common Council will have their terms expire when the clock strikes midnight on December 31, 2023.

ere’s no doubt that the city is in a state of transition. e end of this year will bring an opportunity to reshape the Common Council in its entirety. e Working Families Party of New York is looking to capitalize on the situation by announcing endorsements of a slate of local elected o cials in Ithaca.

As a result of redistricting some of the individuals endorsed will be running to represent a di erent ward. For example, current 2nd Ward Alderperson Phoebe Brown has been endorsed to run for election in the 1st Ward.

e Empire States progressive third party has also endorsed 5th ward Alderperson

Robert Cantelmo in his run for Mayor, current Deputy Director at the Southside Community Center Kayla Matos for Ithaca Common Councils 1st Ward, Ducson Nguyen for another term representing the 2nd Ward on the Common Council, as well as Jorge DeFendini and Ti any Kumar to continue as the city’s 4th Ward representatives.

e NYWFP also endorsed Kathleen Bergin for Ithaca Town Justice.

Chair of the Tompkins County Chapter of the New York Working Families Party, Stephanie Heslop said, “ e Tompkins County Chapter of the New York Working Families Party is proud to endorse seven candidates for local o ce committed to climate resiliency, a ordable housing, public safety, and equal justice.”

Heslop continued saying, “Our candidates share the progressive values of Ithaca voters and will work to create a healthier, safer, and more equitable community for all.”

Director of the New York Working Families Party, Sochie Nnaemeka said, “We’re thrilled to endorse Robert Cantelmo for Ithaca Mayor.”

UPS DOWNS& Ups

In January the Ithaca Times received reports that the Regal Cinema movie theater on Catherwood Road in Lansing would close on February 15 as a result of their parent company Cineworld ling for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. However, that date has come and gone and the movie theater remains open.

Downs

Ithaca Police responded to a reported burglary and stabbing on February 20 at a residence in the 500 Block of East State Street. The victim is in stable condition but the identity of the suspect remains unknown. The investigation into this matter is currently ongoing.

Nnaemeka continued saying, “Robert has been a strong, progressive voice for his community on the Common Council and a long-time ally of the NYWFP. We look forward to working with Robert to fully enact Ithaca’s Green New Deal, which will improve the quality of life for working families and set a bold new standard for climate justice.”

e WFP press release announcing the endorsements said that “In the 2022 general election, over 13% of voters in Tompkins County cast their ballot for Governor Hochul on the Working Families Party ballot line, which was the highest percentage of any county in the state.”

While the Working Families Party is working on capitalizing on the transitory state Ithaca’s Common Council nds itself in — longtime Council member Cynthia Brock hopes to bring a sense of stability to City Hall by announcing that she will be running for re-election to seek a h term on the Common Council.

By the end of 2023 Brock will have spent 12 years as a member of Common Council, making her the most senior member of the legislative arm of local government. Brock, who has represented the First Ward for more than a decade, will face a challenge from Working Families Party endorsed Kayla Matos.

When asked why she thinks she would be a better representative for the 1st Ward Brock said, “I don’t think it’s about better or worse. I think we bring di erent skill sets, di erent perspectives and di erent experiences.” Brock continued saying, “I think contested elections are good for the city.”

Brock told the Ithaca Times that “there is a lot of transition coming up in the city” with the search for the rst city manager and police chief occurring in the same year that every member of the Common Council is up for re-election.

“I was thinking about this transition for the city and felt that I had something to o er in terms of both institutional knowledge and attentiveness to the nitty gritty of city operations,” said Brock.

In April 2022, Brock called for an ethics investigation into former Mayor Svante Myrick’s Reimagining Public Safety plan which resulted in a report that was released to the public in December 2022 outlining that no ethical violations were found. However, the attorney hired by the city cited a number of transparency issues that took place during the reimagining process.

Regarding her priorities for the upcoming term Brock said, “Resiliency will be a focus for me. We need resilience in our operations and nances so that we can pay our employees a market wage and continue to provide top-notch services. We need resilience in our community so that families can a ord to live and work in Ithaca. We need resilience in our infrastructure and government so that we can continue to have clean water, safe roads and vibrant recreational and community programs. To do these things, will require a hard look at how we nance the City and what is sustainable over the long term.”

While Brock is looking to bring stability to the rocking boat that is local government in Ithaca, her colleague Je ery Barken has taken the opportunity to jump ship in search of calmer waters.

Barken has served on the Common Council since he won an uncontested election for an open ird Ward seat in November 2021. He has announced that he will be stepping down from his position in June.

HEARD SEEN&

Heard

Energy company Mirabitio has plans for a new service station in Ithaca. The proposal for the station would replace the current service station in the East Hill Plaza with a larger 6,600 square foot station that would include a Burger King, replacing the previous BK location that closed in December 2022.

Seen

The New York State Senate has rejected Governor Kathy Hochul’s choice to nominate Judge Hector LaSalle to the position of Chief Judge on the State Supreme Court. This is the rst time the Senate has rejected a governor’s nominee to the court.

IF YOU CARE TO RESPOND to something in this column, or suggest your own praise or blame, write news@ithacatimes. com, with a subject head “U&D.”

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

How much of your income do you spend on rent?

58.3% Less than 30%.

16.7% More than 30%.

25.0% 50% or more.

In the days following the United States shooting down a Chinese Spy Balloon the Air Force shot down numerous unidentified flying objects over U.S. airspace. Were these UFO’s just more spy balloons or were they ALIENS?!?!

Visit ithaca.com to submit your response.

Deputy Director at Southside Community Center, Kayla Matos has been endorsed by the Working Families Party to run for Common Council. (Photo Credit: Southside Community Center)

3rd Ward Common Council member Jeffery Barken has announced that he will be stepping down from his position on Common Council in June.

Longtime 1st Ward Common Council member Cynthia Brock has announced that she will be running for re-election.

“I was thinking about this transition for the city and felt that I had something to offer in terms of both institutional knowledge and attentiveness to the nitty gritty of city operations.”

—Council member Cynthia Brock

Solidarity Onstage

By Stephen Burke

There’s a sense of mutual joy and appreciation when Ellen Grady of the Ithaca Catholic Worker and Irish musician Karan Casey recount their long association concerning political activism and music.

Casey comes to Ithaca on ursday, March 9 to perform a bene t concert for the Ithaca Catholic Worker at the Community School of Music and Arts.

It’s maybe the sixth or seventh such concert by Casey over the years: Ellen wasn’t quite sure of the number in a recent conversation.

“It’s been a long time,” she said.

Ellen remembers the rst time she heard Karan perform, in Ithaca decades ago.

“At the end of the show she sang a song about El Salvador. At the time we were doing a lot of work around closing the School of the Americas,” a training ground in Georgia for Latin American military in terrorist tactics against political opponents and civilian populations. “A er the show I thanked her for that.

“A few years later I saw her in the audience at a Sharon Shannon show at the

In Support of the Caroline Zoning Law

By Don Barber, Former Caroline Town Supervisor

Bottom Line in New York. I went over to reintroduce myself from having seen her in Ithaca, and she said, ‘Right, Ithaca, where people thank you for doing political songs.’

“We talked and she expressed interest in the Catholic Worker and said let her know if we ever wanted her to do a bene t.

“We did, and so she did, and the money we raised funded a lot of people to go to Georgia for a mass protest to shut down the SOA. ere were 20,000 people there.”

“ e Gradys,” Karan said on the verge of her next appearance here, on a three week U.S. tour. “ ey’re an incredible family who do a lot of anti-war work and make the world a better place.”

In referring to the family, Karan includes Ellen’s three sisters, also active in peace work. An action in 2018 indirectly led to one of the songs on Karan’s new release.

Clare Grady is one of the Kings Bay Plowshares 7, a faith-based group of seven people who entered the nuclear submarine facility in Kings Bay, Georgia for a non-violent, symbolic destruction of

Continued on Page 7

Aer WWII, farming practices dramatically changed. Tractors replaced horses, synthetic fertilizer, herbicides, and pesticides were introduced. is resulted in e ciencies and amazing production yields, but not pro ts because prices dropped due to the glut of agricultural products. By early 1970’s the USDA was telling farmers to “get big or get out”.

Until this time, Caroline, like all rural upstate NY communities, was an agrarian community. ese technology and Ag policy changes caused many small farms to go out of business. During this transition, commodity price supports provided a safety net for those that stayed on. ese supports were gradually removed and with it, small farm pro tability and rural agrarian economy and community.

State and Federal governments have made it very di cult for small farms. When a Town proposes zoning, these farm families and descendants o en view it as taking of all they have le . ere seems general agreement to preserve what we have. ere is disagreement on how to achieve it. We need to recognize that our di erent lens are real.

As farms decreased, owners of vacant land leased to operating farms or sold for development. Caroline doesn’t have public water and sewer, so development has been a few residential cul-de-sacs housing tracts over several decades.

In the 1990’s, a subdivision was proposed in the Slaterville hamlet. Neighbors were very concerned. Without town subdivision regulations, the review process was handled by state and county agencies in their silos. Residents felt excluded. The Town Board adopted a subdivision law that mirrored the NYS law but inserted a local Review Board to provide a process for local engagement.

e introduction of subdivision law showed the Town Board that our community needed a process where all community members could engage in visioning Caroline. e Board created a Planning Board to foster community engagement and develop Caroline’s rst Comprehensive Plan in 2006. at plan

did not make an explicit recommendation for zoning.

As the remnants of Caroline’s agrarian economy continued to erode, development pressure was occurring in our neighboring towns. e Town Board adopted the Site Plan Review law, in 2014, for projects which could negatively impact things we hold in common: water, air, public infrastructure, and community character.

Since the 1970’s and at an everincreasing pace, State and the Federal governments have created policies and laws that allow corporations and the wealthy class to hoard more and more wealth from working folks. ese entities are looking for places to invest and are looking more and more to real estate. Tompkins County, with its hot real estate market, is inviting. ese investors buy lots and vacant buildings for commercial enterprises and buy up housing units and change them to rental property. eir interest is making money and is not the welfare and families of the community. Without public water and sewer, Caroline seemed to miss the initial onslaught.

But a formula business, a store or restaurant with standardized products, made its intention known to site a store on vacant farmland near many residences. is raised the ire of many residents. e Town Board created a committee to investigate legislative responses to extractive commercial development in rural areas. e committee recommended zoning as one approach. e Town Board created a Zoning Commission to recommend a zoning law designed for Caroline’s needs and vision. All citizens that applied were seated. When one listens to the interviews, we come away with the sense that these applicants had a healthy skepticism of zoning in Caroline.

However, once the Zoning Commission was formed, anti-zoning activities began. Anti-zoning comments were not presented constructively. e anger did illuminate fears which guided the Zoning Commission in constructing Caroline’s Zoning Law. We are fortunate to have had

nuclear weapons. Clare, in her 60s, faced 25 years in prison.

Clare’s sister Teresa went to Georgia to help with her trial. Traveling through southeastern Georgia, Teresa realized she was near the site of “the Weeping Time,” as it is known, the single largest sale of enslaved people in U.S. history: over 400 men, women and children enslaved by one plantation owner, sold at a racetrack during two days of torrential rain. e rain became a symbol for Black communities of their oppression, for which “even God wept.”

e event is memorialized especially strongly by the Gullah Geechee, an African American population who have lived for centuries in remote coastal areas of the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida. e group’s relative isolation over the years and its enduring community have led to its preservation of much of its history and heritage.

Karan said, “I got a text from Teresa. She was describing the countryside as she was on an Amtrak train through Georgia. Really, her text read like a song, so I worked up the words with Sean Og Graham, and we hammered into shape a song which we dedicated to the Gullah Geechee people of Georgia. ey continue to ght for the rights to their lands and for o cial recognition in the States.”

Karan’s publicity says that her tour “will premiere material from Karan’s new album, with songs that draw inspiration from a wide range of sources, from the personal to the historical to the political.”

Anticipating support for the concert, the Ithaca Catholic Worker newsletter writes, “ rough your generosity, you are part of welcoming and befriending marginalized people, advancing racial and economic justice, and speaking up for peace. Over the years, our Catholic Worker community has distributed thousands of dollars to people in need. ese gi s have no strings attached, no applications to ll out, it’s just neighbors showing solidarity with neighbors.

“And your gi will help reinforce the work of peace-making and resistance. We continue the Catholic Worker weekly peace vigil and other public witnesses against nuclear weapons, drone warfare and environmental destruction.”

e group’s goal, quoting Catholic Worker founder Dorothy Day, is to create a society “where it is easier for people to be good.” It is also helpful to create, when circumstances and resources allow, an event where it is easy for people to feel good, such as March 9th’s Karan Casey performance in Ithaca.

The Talk at

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Responses to “Cornell’s Tax-Exempt Status & Ithaca’s Bottom Line”

“Maybe this is too simplistic, but why can’t Cornell pay a percentage of the taxes based on the percentage of their services used? For example, say if they (and their students) use 70% of the city and county services, then they pay 70% of the total taxes.” — Magic Lamp

“Magic Lamp, if Cornell were to have the privilege of paying a tax amount equal only to the value of the public services they use, then to be fair, everyone else should have that very same option. at isn’t how taxation works unfortunately. Cornell needs to start paying property taxes like everyone else. ey’re a private organization (except the Ag school). ey own so much land and real estate. ey have a tremendous unfair competitive advantage against developers and local landlords who aren’t in bed with government. If Cornell had to pay property tax, then they would start selling o their unused or minimally used land. en that same land could be used more productively by the new owners. en due to market forces, the cost of living and running certain businesses in Ithaca and other areas where Cornell own vast swaths of land would be lowered.

Right now Cornell can buy land, pay no tax, then sell years later and realize capital gains with essentially no risk. at privilege needs to get revoked, especially now that they have proudly and publicly rejected meritocracy by discriminating based on perceived victimhood status, race, gender, and ethnicity in admissions, hiring, and promotion. ey do this foolishly in order to please the diversity, equity, and inclusion tyrants. I don’t think Ezra Cornell had that in mind when he said “any person any study”. It is hurting Cornell in the long run since Universities that do have a pure meritocracy will improve faster than Cornell will. You can already see this happening in Cornell’s ranking vs time plot.” — Richard Ballantyne

“Do not o end the big teat that feeds you!” — Nevin Sabet

“ is is an amazing article, thank you so much! Clearly we need to pass a bill

through the municipality as otherwise Cornell will always have the option of opting out, and that simply isn’t fair. De nitely check out the second image at the top -- the land Cornell owns in the area is massive, much more than Princeton owns in New Jersey, for instance.” — Hardy Gri n

“ e article does not seem to consider what would have to happen if the tax exemptions for Cornell (and IC) were li ed. e costs of the new taxes to be paid by Cornell must go somewhere and tuition and salaries at CU might be impacted. CU activity also generates a hug amount of sales tax for those who attend or work at CU. CU is the economic engine that keeps Ithaca economically stable and prosperous unlike most small upstate NY cities. And the costs to the City are high because the City spends too much and is less scally prudent than the surrounding Tompkins towns. Finally, it is state policy to exempt educational institutions for their academic property. Education is big business in NY. So stop attacking the hand that feeds you. By the way, the writer is no fan of CU’s wokeness or its lack of diversity of opinion. But, such as it is, CU is a positive good for the area and we should not force new costs on CU. ere are “no free lunches” and if CU pays more, those costs may be passed back to us in other ways.” — Henry Kramer

“Hi Henry, I appreciate your comments here over the years. You o en make good points, just like you did here today. Imagine this however; let’s say the City gives Cornell a break and makes them pay property tax at a discounted rate, let’s say just 25% of the assessed value of their property. Would Cornell up and leave for somewhere else? No way. ey have too much invested here. ey might have to trim o some fat but that would be a good very thing. ey could start with the woke studies departments and the anti-meritocratic DEI administrators. I agree with you that the City “spends too much and is less nally prudent that the surrounding Tompkins towns.” By what percentage could our property taxes be reduced if both the City were more scally prudent -and- if Cornell paid property taxes even at a 75% discount? Could our taxes then be halved? ink what economic boom we would have if people didnt have to spend so much on property taxes! Someone should run the numbers.

My fear is that if Cornell does start paying property taxes, then the Town and City of Ithaca still won’t reduce the tax burden on everyone else, nor would they cut spending! In fact, in all likelihood they would just waste most of the new tax revenue on anti-competitive crony

capitalist stu as well as social programs that just increase people’s dependance on government rather than promoting self reliance.” — Richard Ballantyne

“ at’s right, Richard! It looks like the city of Ithaca has the upper hand in this negotiation process. No contract - No contact!” — Nevin Sabet

“I would guess little can be done without either Cornell’s agreement or signi cant change in legislation. is is a situation where a massive non-pro t tail is wagging an undersized municipal dog. And it’s not just Cornell, it’s IC as well - and then the usual other non-pro t suspects, like various nursing homes, medical entities, etc.

But consider the following as at least a thought experiment:

Split all Cornell land into the a new city. Call it the City of Ezra, NY.

City of Ezra is responsible for the cost of all necessary services - sewer, police, re, you name it. Whatever is mandated that a City provide by the state of NY has to be provided by the city of Ezra, and Cornell is the only available pocket, so regardless of its tax status, there’s no one else to pay.

In particular, the city of Ithaca, the town of Ithaca - they’re o the hook except in as much as what is state mandated they provide.

If Cornell (through the City of Ezra) chooses to pay agencies of the city and town of Ithaca, or the County of Tompkins, to provide some or all of those services, that’s up to them to work out compensation, presumably at/above what it costs those agencies. If Cornell nds other, cheaper ways to do what is mandated, hey, that’s ne.

So it’s pretty clear Cornell ought to be stepping up far more than it does.

It would be interesting to know whether an Ezra-type solution is actually legally feasible (whether or not Cornell would be up for it). Whether it’s an actual NYS city, or some kind of separate municipal services district for which Cornell could be responsible.” — Neil omason

“ ank you for this piece. I’ve yet to see this many comments for any article in this publication in the past year. I suggest everyone on this thread as well as every interested citizen of Ithaca attend the March 1 council meeting 6PM at City. is issue applies directly to the paltry salaries and the disrespect toward our overburdened under paid city workers.

Community issues don’t get solved if the community is apathetic. We elected the council members so now get engaged in the process.

See you March 1 at City Hall.” — Lee Rogers

Ithaca Is Re-starting Its Search For A New Police Chief

By Matt Dougherty

The City of Ithaca’s search for a permanent Chief of Police to lead their Police Department is o cially entering its third year even though the search committee supported former IPD Lieutenant Scott Garin to become the police chief following a series of community forums held at GIAC in the fall of 2022.

e community forums saw current Acting Chief John Joly, Garin, and Binghamton Police Captain Chris Bracco answer questions from the public about why they would make the best chief of police at the Ithaca Police Department.

In December 2022, Mayor Laura Lewis announced that her nal nomination for the position would be current acting Chief John Joly. However, immediately a er this announcement was made several members of the Common Council came out publicly against the mayor’s nomination of Joly, saying that more change was necessary to make improvements at the department. e members included Cynthia Brock, Jorge DeFendini, Ducson Nguyen and Je ery Barken.

In an interview following the the rejection of Joly, 4th Ward Common Council member Jorge DeFendini said, “particularly with the reimagining public safety process, we’ve had a lot of head butting with the acting chief and those con icts have led to a lot of uncertainty and misinformation regarding the reimagining public process.”

In response to the criticism Mayor Lewis revoked Joly’s nomination and announced that she would be re-opening the city’s search for a permanent chief of police. Lewis did not explain why she didn’t follow the recommendation of the police chief search committee, which recommended Garin.

In a recent interview, Mayor Lewis said that the city has signed a contract to work

with an executive search rm to help nd the best candidate for a permanent police chief. According to Lewis, “we want to pay close attention to someone who has experience leading a diverse department, someone who embraces the reimagining public safety reforms that are much needed.” She continued saying that the search would be nationwide.

e Common Council has allocated $57,500 to pay for outside assistance from a search rm based in Rocklin, California known as Public Sector Search and Consulting Incorporated to assist the city in its nationwide search process during a meeting that took place in January.

e search rm website describes itself as a “boutique-style national search rm focused solely on recruiting top police executives for our clients.” It continues saying that their team consists of former police chiefs that prioritize inclusivity and transparency in the search process.

According to the website, “In every project, we o er our clients several strategies to incorporate the community into the search process.” Additionally, “In 60% of our searches, the hiring authority selected a candidate from a traditionally underrepresented group.”

President of the Ithaca Police Benevolent Association (PBA) omas Condzella is wary of a nationwide search because he and other PBA members would prefer the city to hire someone from within the department that already has connections to the community.

“It’s going to be challenging to nd someone who understands Ithaca and the challenges that this community is facing,” he said. “I’m not really supportive of bringing someone in from a di erent part of the state or country who doesn’t have connections to Ithaca.”

Mayor

ing forward with our police reforms, but also make sure that our basic needs as police o cers are met in terms of training and equipment.”

During a Community Police Board (CPB) meeting in December 2022, CPB Chairwomen Shirley Kane said that it doesn’t make much sense to do a nationwide search.

e City of Syracuse and Albany worked with the rm to hire a Chief of Police in 2018, and the City of Beacon in Dutchess County hired the rm for the same reason in 2020.

Condzella said that he would prefer the city to hire a police chief from within the department “because they have an understanding of the organization and ties to the community.” Additionally, he says that hiring someone internally would show that there is upward mobility within the department.

He added that the union would “like to see someone who is going to keep us mov-

Kane continued saying that she was “troubled” about the city “farming out” important responsibilities to outside sources. Kane said, “we farmed out the reimagining process, and now we’re farming out contract negotiation with an attorney. We farmed out an internal investigation for whatever may or may not have happened with the reimagining process. And now we’re gonna farm out a national search.”

In response to Condzella’s concerns, Lewis said “we’re not precluded from any outcomes. It may be someone from within the department or it may be a better choice to identify someone from outside. We’re completely open to considering and hiring the best candidate for Police Chief.”

PBA President Tom Condzella say’s that the city should appoint a Chief of Police from within the department instead of doing a nationwide search.

Laura Lewis has said that the city has allocated $50,000 to hire an executive search firm to aid in the city’s nationwide search for a permanent Chief of Police.

“It’s going to be challenging to find someone who understands Ithaca and the challenges that this community is facing. I’m not really supportive of bringing someone in from a different part of the state or country who doesn’t have connections to Ithaca.”

—President of the Ithaca Police Benevolent Association Thomas Condzella

Even though a nationwide search has been announced, Kane still thinks that a local selection is possible. “ ey’ve [started with nationwide searches] repeatedly at the county level and they always end up with somebody that’s already here,’ said Kane.

Condzella has commended the work that acting Chief Joly has been able to accomplish, but said the union has been seeking formal leadership since former chief Dennis Nayor resigned in the spring of 2021.

Condzella has said that the lack of permanent leadership “creates an unstable work environment.” He added that o cers look to the chief for direction and leadership. Without someone in that position to keep the department owing in the right direction, “there’s a serious trickle-down e ect.”

is trickle-down e ect has gotten worse over time as IPD continues to su er from sta ng shortages with no end in sight. Based on numbers from the fall of 2022, IPD was down to around 52 o cers with just 22 of them on patrol shi s. According to Condzella, that’s down from around 71 o cers in 2011. Some o cers have blamed the city’s reimagining public safety process on the inability for the department to attract new recruits because they feel like the community no longer supports the department.

In addition, the recent events regarding the chaos involved with nding a permanent Chief of Police have not helped recruitment e orts. In fact, the di culty related to nding a new Chief of Police is representative of the overall sta ng issues being experienced at the department. is caused one member of the

Community Police Board who could not be identi ed through Zoom to ask, “why would a nationwide person want to come here? I think opening a nationwide search is just spending more money and spinning our wheels.”

As a result of these sentiments, the City of Ithaca and Tompkins County have set aside $75,000 for the Community Justice Center to launch a holistic law enforcement o cer wellness plan to retain current o cers and attract new recruits.

e release announcing the o cer wellness plan said that in addition to receiving public input, the working group will be issuing a survey to law enforcement personnel and dispatchers to gauge what has positive and negative impacts on wellness as well as what tools and programs may be bene cial if o ered.”

e public can submit their input online through the reimagining public safety website. Residents have already begun to submit recommendations such as paid access or private mental health therapy and Brazilian Joy Jitsu training for o cers.

Regarding the wellness program, CJC Director Monalita Smiley said “Our community is best served when o cers are at their best. Our ultimate goal is to develop programs that reduce stress and promote wellness so that our o cers can perform their duties with clear minds and high levels of physical wellness.”

Smiley continued saying, “ is plan is under Reimagining Public Safety because we’ve seen too many times in this country examples of fatal outcomes and mistakes in part due to stress or anxiety.”

Condzella also expressed his frustration with the Mayor’s lack of transparency during the last search process.

“ e mayor did not explain her decisionmaking process in terms of what happened [in December] with Acting Chief Joly’s appointment,” Condzella said. “She didn’t explain why the other two candidates were

un t and she didn’t explain why the whole thing was declared a failed search.” is lack of clarity has le the public and former nalists for the position in a state of confusion, to say the least. In comments made to the Ithaca Voice, current acting Chief Joly said, “I will not be reapplying,” and “I have no interest in going through it again.” e current acting chief has called the city’s search process a “shit show.”

During previous comments to the Common Council regarding the botched search process in December 2022, Joly said “ e manner in which the mayor and members of this council have handled this selection has highlighted the underlying dysfunction within city government.” He continued saying that “this will directly impact our recruitment e orts. is public spectacle is not an example of function.”

Binghamton Police Captain Cris Bracco said that he might still be interested in reapplying for police chief, but that the city would need to assure him that he was being “seriously considered” for the position. It’s unlikely that he’ll reapply if the search process is as unorganized as the last one.

When asked how the city is planning on approaching the search process di erently this time Mayor Lewis said that the city is “approaching it considerably di erently by working with a consultant rm that has been involved in hiring police chiefs in other municipalities.”

It remains unclear what the terms of the agreement between the city and the consulting rm contracted to help nd a permanent Chief of Police are, but the Mayor has said that information will be made available shortly.

According to Lewis, the city does not have a speci c timeline in place for when the search would be completed but did say that she “fully expects and sincerely hopes that we will have a successful search by the end of this year.”

Current Acting Chief of Police at IPD, John Joly, has called the city’s search process a “shit show” (Photo Credit: Stella Frank)

Former IPD Lieutenant Scott Garin was the top choice of the police chief search committee, however Mayor Lewis disregarded their choice and selected John Joly instead. (Photo Credit: Stella Frank)

The City has allocated $57,500 to pay for outside assistance from a search firm based in Rocklin, California known as Public Sector Search and Consulting Incorporated to assist the city in its nationwide search process. The firm has previously worked with local governments in Albany, Syracuse and Beacon to hire their Chief of Police.

(Photo Credit: Public Sector Search & Consulting)

Community justice Center Director Monalita Smiley

Introducing Steve Fallon of Ithaca

HE KEEPS SUPER PRODUCTION GOING

By Steve Lawrence

Football fans of a certain age can look back at the 57 Super Bowls and recall how excited we were when a former Cornell player appeared in the Big Game. Ed Marinaro (Vikings), Derrick Harmon (49ers), Brian Walters (Seahawks), Kevin Boothe (Giants). While his involvement in thirteen Super Bowls has netted Tim Fallon Jr. far less fame – and far fewer bruises – his is still a really cool story.

Tim is a 1998 graduate of the Lehman Alternative Community School, and he told me “I have spent 20 years in live event industry, working on a variety of events that span from televised events, corporate events, private parties, and music concerts.” He added “Last week was my 13th Super Bowl, and I have done ten Super Bowl hal ime shows as project manager for on- eld scenic elements.”

Tim runs his own small company –Production Club is a one-man show - and he his wife, Debbie, spent many years living on the West Coast, but returned to Ithaca in 2019 – just before the pandemic dramatically changed the nature of entertainment. He explained that, “For the rst ten Super Bowls I worked, I was involved in the hal ime show, but in the last three I have been in charge of the production team for the team intros, the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, and the on- eld ceremony a er the game.”

Tim sent some behind-the-scenes photos, and it was amazing to see how many moving parts there are. Given these overlapping productions must unfold smoothly in such a compressed time frame, it must be a well-oiled machine. For example, to pull o the player introductions, the equipment lineup consisted of 10 carts, on special turf tires designed to roll on the eld without damage. ere

were also four ribbon li s, and eight of the carts had built-in video screens. Also, it took sixty-eight eld team members help push the carts (which had been designed this year to incorporate the cheerleaders into them) onto the eld.

Tim is a polished pro when it comes to event planning and management, he has worked big concerts, and he said, “I have been a technical producer, a staging supervisor, and we have done corporate events and large parties for 16-20,000 people in Las Vegas.” Speci cally addressing the Super Bowl, Tim said, “On average, there are about fourteenhundred people working on the hal ime shows and other productions, and it's always a balancing act, working with some incredibly talented designers.” He added, “Everything has to be placed in the exact moment, and we can't have one loose end. We really try to plan for every contingency, and we have a back-up plan for every back-up plan, in case things go sideways.”

While Fallon did enjoy being a part of the hal ime show for the rst decade of his involvement, he likes his new role as well. “It's fun to have a more signi cant role in production,” he o ered, “working in a 'bigger picture' position.”

CAROLINE ZONING LAW

continued from page 6

such a thoughtful and hardworking Zoning Commission. e just released law is limited, captures and protects the community we have today, and forthrightly addresses the fears expressed during the zoning law development process. I admit that I was skeptical that zoning could be structured to preserve Caroline’s rural character. I am impressed with the Caro-

Last Friday at the Moakley House about one-hundred members of the Cornell Hockey Association gathered for their weekly luncheon. ese Big Red fans shell out a signi cant sum of money to join, and many of them recall Head Coach Mike Schafer's time here as a player 40 years ago.

A trip to Lynah Rink on game night gives one a clear look – and high-decibel listen – to the phenomenon that is Big Red Hockey. is crowd o ers a glimpse into a di erent dimension of the Lynah Faithful, and it was really nice to get a behind-thescenes look at the relationship that exists between Schafer and those who help keep it all going. Despite the fact that Shafer is 30-plus years into his coaching career, he still gets red up when giving his weekly presentations, pointing his red laser at various points on the screen, getting excited when reviewing some plays, and exasperated when revisiting others.

When he stated that some players have a tough time being reeled in emotionally, it drew a laugh. Yes, Mike, we remember...

Check out more Super Bowl photos online at Ithaca.com

line Zoning law and see it as the pathway to keep what we value in Caroline.

Caroline has been changing in signicant ways over the past 70 years. e pace of change is accelerating now with outside interests seeing our town as a place to extract wealth. Acknowledging community consensus to keep Caroline as it is, community planning and development guidance is the pathway forward. I see zoning, speci cally designed for Caroline, providing future development with that guidance.

It looks simple on television but Super Bowl ceremonies are a really big production.

MOOG SYNTHESIZED

A New Look at Bob Moog and the Revolution He Started

By Bryan VanCampen

The right biography at the right time is like a pebble and the ripples it creates when tossed into water. e pebble represents the person’s life story, and the ripples represent dozens, even hundreds, of other lives and stories.

Released in September 2022, Albert Glinsky’s “Switched On: Bob Moog and the Synthesizer Revolution” (Oxford University Press) isn’t just the story of Robert Moog (pronounced “Mogue”), a kid from Flushing, Queens, who started making theremins and other DIY hobby kits in the basement with his dad, wound up chasing his Ph.D at Cornell, opened a storefront operation in Trumansburg, and revolutionized music forever with the creation of the Moog synthesizer and the Minimoog.

It’s also the story of a disparate crew of hipsters, Beats, academics and lm, TV and commercial composers who were making their own sounds. It’s the story of composer David Borden and his Moog musical group Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Company. It’s the story of the vacuum tube, made obsolete by the transistor. It’s the story of Moog’s many competitors, some unbelievably corrupt and low-rent, all struggling to come up with the next big thing in electronic music.

It’s the story of e Beatles, using the Moog to record “Abbey Road”, Keith Emerson of ELP coaxing unearthly sounds from his own Moog, and even e Monkees’ Micky Dolenz, who heard a Moog at the Monterey International Pop Festival and immediately put in his order. It’s the story of the creation of the soundtrack for Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now” (1979). (Coppola wrote a foreword for Glinsky’s book, and the audiobook version comes out this month.)

Glinsky delves into all aspects of Bob Moog’s life, some of it quite painful truths about his parents and his rst marriage to Shirleigh Moog. Moog’s artistic successes didn’t alleviate the stress of a lifelong series of nancial ascos; as many things as he got right with the Moog, Bob’s talent for business was wrong. He never made more than pocket change in spite of his innovations and his need to daydream, tinker and invent things. e man that everyone assumed was richer than Croesus was perpetually in deep debt and mortgaged to the eyeballs.

Albert Glinsky spoke to the Ithaca Times about Moog’s time in Trumansburg, whether he ever really mellowed, and how his name became a crossword puzzle clue.

AG: I’m assuming you’re doing this mainly because of the connection to Ithaca, right?

IT: Well, you wrote in the a erword that you made several trips to Asheville [North Carolina]. Did you spend time here as well?

AG: Oh, absolutely. In fact, in the spring of 2015, there was an exhibit in Ithaca on Bob Moog’s work, and it was a pretty extensive, multi-room exhibit, and I came up and gave a lecture. And a lot of people were there: Trevor Pinch from the Cornell faculty was there, and David Borden was there. It was fun; it was a fun lecture, and Bob’s instruments were all in the same room. When I was lecturing, they were all around me. And I took tons and tons of pictures; I went to his house outside of Trumansburg. And of course, I went to the Little Venice pizza restaurant, with the plaque outside saying it’s an historical site, the site of his original factory. We went inside and took pictures there with David Borden, who’s a good friend. He gave us a little tour, we went to the Falls just down the road, and we took pictures there, and Cayuga Lake, all over the place. And I’ve been to Ithaca, of course, a number of times for events at Cornell, things like that. While I was in Ithaca, I did an extensive interview with David Borden, and that’s where that comes from [in the book], the Ithaca City School District and David’s involvement with that; just the famous people that came through Trumansburg. But there’re so many Ithaca connections. e Ithaca Journal [excerpts] were the ones that reported on all the stages of Bob’s life and work in the community, as well as the Trumansburg Free Press. I combed through all kinds of databases for information on Bob and synthesizers.

IT: Did you get the sense that Bob mellowed, or was he still the same guy later in life? Put it this way, I sympathize with [Moog’s rst wife] Shirleigh.

AG: Oh, yeah, well, so can I. [laughs] It was horrible, just a terrible end. My wife

Arts & Entertainment

Cornell alumnus and Trumansburg Hero Bob Moog is the subject of author Albert Glinsky’s noteworthy new book. Continued on Page 15

New YA Novel by Local Pulitzer Prize Winner Introduced

‘THE CAT AGENT’ IS COMING TO THE TOMPKINS COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY

By Barbara Adams

Detective stories appeal to so many adults — why not to children as well? And what might happen if the agent in question is a small cat?

at’s the premise of “ e Cat Agent,” the posthumous children’s book by well-known Ithaca novelist and essayist Alison Lurie. (Her most celebrated novel, “Foreign A airs,” won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.) ough she’d published several books on children’s literature, most recounting folk and fairy tales from other cultures, this work, nished in 2012, was her rst written expressly for children.

Books for young and young adult readers have to hit precise markets, and Lurie was unable nd a major publisher for her cat tale before her death in 2020. So this past year her husband, writer Edward Hower, a co-founder of Cayuga Lake Books, proposed that this area press would publish the work. He edited the story and provided a foreword, and local artist Catharine O’Neill, who specializes in children’s books, provided the cover and illustrations throughout.

One reason for publishing this now, Hower says in his introduction, is “for Alison to have the chance to come alive on the page with a voice she had never used before…a voice few people heard while she lived,

a young voice which she, as an older woman, wanted everyone to know was still as energetic and eloquent as it ever was.”

“ e Cat Agent” will be featured on Saturday, February 25, from noon to 2 p.m, at a public reading held in the Tompkins County Public Library’s BorgWarner Room. Local authors Kenneth McClane, Peter Fortunato, Mary Gilliland, Jeanne Mackin, and Lamar Herrin will read excerpts from the stories. And the book will be for sale, with all proceeds going to the TCPL Foundation.

In this coming-of-age-as-an-agent story, Tom, who’s “twiceborn,” discovers that this means he’s one of the few lucky cats who really does have nine lives. With lives to spare, then, he can take greater risks, and in a dangerous and o en dysfunctional world, he realizes he has a responsibility to step up and protect others — through preventative sleuthing.

Cautious and clueless but resolute, Tom knows he’s a novice, but luckily, he has teachers and guides — other gumshoe cats like Lennie, the wise guy (a type Lurie worked into much of her adult ction) and Sophie, the patient and observant one. And of course, there’s his kindly sponsor, the veterinarian Dr. Nancy, who runs this feline-fueled crime-solving agency.

e cats are sent out on assignment into the neighborhood, watch and report back, and then either Dr. Nancy or the local police intervene at just the right moment. Tom’s adventures nd him negotiating with mice instead of devouring them; confounding furniture thieves and drug dealers; and braving an intimidating German shepherd, ultimately reuniting an estranged gay couple.

In between missions, Tom enjoys restorative vacations in a comfy home, spoiled by Susie, a little girl he met on his rst job. (No doubt a nod to Susanna, to whom the book is dedicated — Alison Lurie’s cat-loving granddaughter, who was the book’s original inspiration.)

e chapters o er a nice balance between intrigue and character development

Continued on Page 15

After the death of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alison Lurie, her husband found and illustrator, edited and arranged for the publication of her book “The Cat Agent”.

“The Cat Agent” will be introduced noon Saturday at the Tompkins County Library in a reading and release event.

Donkey Business

ONE MAMMAL GOES ON AN INCREDIBLE JOURNEY

By Bryan VanCampen

When I was a kid, “ e Wonderful World of Disney” on TV was always showing serialized versions of their nature documentaries like “ e Living Desert” (1953) and “In Beaver Valley” (1950), and when they weren’t doing that, they would show animal-centric features like “Old Yeller” (1957) and “ e Biscuit Eater” (1972), chopped into two parts and aired over two weeks.

“Eo” (Skopia Film-Alien Films, 2022, 88 min.), an Oscar nominee for Best International Feature Film, has some of the vibe of those Disney “True-Life” features, but much darker, as be ts the times we live in. “Eo” was originally intended for a week’s limited run at Cinemapolis, but the night I saw it, there was quite a substantial audience, and so “Eo”’s run has been extended. Inspired by Robert Bresson’s 1966 lm “Au Hasard Balthazar” (1966), Jerzy Skolimowski’s lm tells the story of our title character, a donkey born into a Polish circus.

Eo performs in the circus show every night with Kasandra (Sandra Drzymalska), who loves him and cares about him, and protects him against the circus’s cruel owner, who yells at Eo and whips him while the little donkey carts stu around the camp. But then a wave of anti-circus protestors gets the circus closed down and

NOTE:

Last week’s story about Oscar Shorts inadvertently omitted recommendations on the best in each category. ey are:

Animated Shorts

Pick: “An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I ink I Believe It”

Live Action Shorts

Pick: “An Irish Goodbye”

Documentary Shorts

Pick: “ e Elephant Whisperers”

RIP Raquel Welch (“One Billion Years B.C.”, “Fantastic Voyage”, “Bedazzled”, “Mother, Jugs and Speed”)

the government relocates all the circus critters to other farms and animal sanctuaries. Eo’s life doesn’t improve much, and he spends his days hauling equipment around, just as he did in the circus. One day, he has a memory of ash of his friend Kasandra, and just like that, Eo busts out and takes o across the country.

“Eo” mixes the simplicity of a classic fairy tale with all the ambiguous gray areas that inform the modern world we live in. In addition to the Bresson in uence, I was also reminded of Richard Linklater’s “relay race” plot structure used in “Slacker” (1991). Some of the people Eo encounters in his incredible journey are benevolent and friendly while others are violent and unkind. All of it seems chaotic and random, whether Eo is traveling with a dissolute rich kid feuding with his mother (Isabelle Huppert) or encountering a band of soccer hooligans during a post-game riot.

February25,202312:00PM-2:00PM

Although the credits claim concern about animal violence and that no animals were harmed during the making of “Eo”, parts of the lm are painful and difcult to watch, so if you are prone to being triggered by animal violence, please proceed with caution. And without spoiling the outcome, if you were raised on the American Disney happy ending formula with human and beast reunited at the end as triumphant music plays and the credits roll, think again. For some, “Eo” will play like “Night of a ousand Bambis”.

playing at Cinemapolis.

Recommended: “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (re-release) at Cinemapolis; “2023 Oscar Nominated Live-Action Shorts”, 2/23 at Cornell Cinema.

The public is invited to a free reading of Alison Lurie’s posthumous young adult novel, The Cat Agent, on Saturday, February 25th from 12pm to 2pm in the Borg Warner Room of the Tompkins County Public Library.

Copies of the book will be available for a donation to the TCPL Foundation.

Local authors Kenneth McClane, Peter Fortunato, Mary Gilliland, Jeanne Mackin, and Lamar Herrin will read brief excerpts from the book.

A reception will follow.

Eo the donkey takes a dark and dangerous journey in this Oscar nominee for best International feature film.

Eo, a donkey in a Polish circus, seeks a better life and sometimes-but briefly — finds it.

Syracuse Stage: Subtext and Supertitles Reflect on Two Women

By Barbara Adams

Mirrors can provide clarity and a sense of reality, something the protagonists of “Espejos: Clean” are both seeking and avoiding. Currently at Syracuse Stage, this compelling two-person drama is the theatre’s rst production in both English and Spanish, with supertitles for each. Written by Canadian playwright and actor Christine Quintana and directed by Melissa Crespo (“Yoga Play”), “Espejos: Clean” spins out in the lives and minds of two di erent women at a high-end resort in Cancún.

Adriana (Emma Ramos) is the efcient, no-nonsense head of the resort’s housekeeping sta ; she’s diligently worked her way up for years since arriving from her coastal town of Chetumal. She takes pride and comfort in a smoothly running

enterprise — bedsheets tightly tucked and a compliant, courteous sta .

One guest, Sarah (Kate Abbruzzese), here from Vancouver for her sister’s destination wedding, is Adriana’s mirror opposite. Much to the dismay of her sister and mother, Sarah is a total mess — sloppy, moody, disorganized and o en drunk. Her unreliability counters Adriana’s utter competence. She’s the kind of gringo tourist that the Mexican sta justly ridicule even as they silently serve.

Gradually their lives inevitably intersect, and these two young women from contrasting countries, classes and life experiences come to see how much they do in fact re ect each other. e actors both powerfully convey the personalities and shi ing moods of their characters, and each narrates in her own language — while supertitles translate rapidly overhead.

e play is constructed of their dual narrations, and the e ect is of being told a story even as it’s enacted. Interestingly, this feels dynamic and immediate, not indirect. And of course there’s the inevitable language play on misunderstandings, words comically mispronounced, and cross-cultural communication, both simplistic and subtle.

Adriana, for example, has much better English than she lets on; another way of keeping the upper hand while obliging. And Sarah, aware of the exploitative nature of tourism, keeps trying to apologize and behave decently, despite her alcoholic disarray.

eir encounters unravel in a stunning space, the palm-treed resort backdrop provided by scenic designer Mariana Sanchez: multi-leveled poolside decks and walls of pale gray-green tiles that lighting designer Colleen Doherty washes with fabulous color, especially shades of purple. e vast skyspace, drenched with light and rain, also takes us down the beach highway ashing with hotel signs (splendid visuals by projection designer Lisa Renkel, with stormy sound by Daniela Hart & UptownWorks).

Crespo, Syracuse Stage’s associate artistic director, has assembled a stunning all-woman design crew, including costumer Lux Haac, who shi s Adriana from creamy-crisp pantsuit to sexy lavender slip dress; and Sarah from imsy beach wrap to respectable summer frock.

e tiled setting is impeccably clean, and we come to realize that each woman has a secret that makes that immaculate space so appealing. It’s an orderly haven for Adriana, far from the chaos of her home life — til news arrives of her father’s death, news she keeps pushing out of her mind. And then, that evening, an extreme tropical rainstorm keeps the sta onsite overnight. While they

party, Sarah spies a scene between Adriana and her boyfriend, which she misreads, setting o her own anxieties.

Both women struggle to de ne themselves as whole — both have childhood memories of abuse by men; both have felt continuous, oppressive guilt for not su ciently protecting the other women in their family. is experienced reality gives the play its weight, but the unfolding is hardly predictable. In the second act, some scenes are vividly described, only for us to realize these are imagined scenarios (e.g., the two women becoming best friends), which the narrator then rejects.

Adriana and Sarah both avoid taking action, consider it and ultimately nd imperfect courage. In one near- nal scene, in the Chetumal graveyard, Sarah provides Adriana support, even though we recognize she represents a family member. roughout the play, the interactions between the women keep transforming, from distance to nuanced closeness, and with the duality of the languages, the overall e ect is fascinating.

“I make clean what was dirty,” Adriana says in a moment of self-a rmation. Facing their experiences, coming clean to themselves and others, breaking their isolation and learning to connect — this is what o ers these women redemption.

“Espejos: Clean” by Christine Quintana Syracuse Stage 820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse. Tues.-Sun., through March 5 syracusestage.org or 315-433-3275.

continued from page 5

members of Common Council. However, this process could change if the council approves a resolution that would require a special election to ll a vacancy instead of an appointment. If approved this wouldn’t take e ect until 2024.

Barbara Adams, a regional theatre and arts writer, teaches writing at Ithaca College.

“They'reacalypso/alt-

whichisobviouslywhatthe worldneedsmost…”

Housekeeper Adriana (Emma Ramos) and resort guest Sarah (Kate Abbruzzese) appear to be mirror opposites until they get to know each other. Photo by T Charles Erickson.

(as Tom gains experience), with the reader cajoled into identifying from the cats’ perspectives. ( e ground they tread, for example, is “underpaw,” not “underfoot.”)

Catharine O’Neill’s charming images further animate the action.

When Hower rst contacted O’Neill about illustrating the book, she thought it seemed liked an “interesting project — a book about cats, which I’ve always had trouble drawing.” But why? “ ey’re harder to draw than dogs,” she says, “because they’re snoutless.” Nevertheless, she persists. “I’ve pretty much always had cats myself…and I sketch my cat, Finnegan, every morning.”

Formerly a professional cartoonist, O’Neill says it was fun to once again be nding what was amusing in a drawing.

However comical and entertaining young Tom’s scrapes are to us, though, be assured he takes them very seriously.

“ e Cat Agent” reading and fundraiser free and open to the public.

Saturday, February 25, noon to 2 p.m, Tompkins County Public Library

101 E Green St,

always says that one of the things I achieved in the book was that the last chapter conjures up some tears, and yet after reading about all the horrible things that he did to his first wife, can you still love somebody after that? I tried to see the humanity in him. Around me, he was always very jolly. I still remember him sitting at a table in our kitchen, eating a meal that we had prepared for him; it was a pasta dish, and he said, “Ah, comfort food!” I remember he was invited to a special occasion; I was doing a book signing for my first book on [Leon] Theremin at Borders Books, and I remember that he was the guest of some people that were very wealthy, and they had a large home, and rather than staying at a bed and breakfast or a hotel or something, he and his wife stayed in this place. I didn’t hear him say this, but it was reported to me that he was very annoyed at accommodations and didn’t think they were good enough. And I thought to myself, “Whoa!” You know, they were holding a reception for him in the lobby of this huge house; it was like a mansion; it had one of these sweeping,

spiral staircase things that you see in old movies, going all the way upstairs. You know, it seemed like he had really great accommodations, but he was not happy with them. [laughs] I thought, “Hmm, that’s really interesting,” and I was surprised that he was in a bad mood about that. I think he definitely was always happy to take a back seat sometimes. But on the other hand, I felt that when he was challenged in any way, that’s when he got up his ire and was very angry and let people know. One great example from the book is when somebody called him and asked him to do a lecture on the MG-1, the Radio Shack instrument, and [laughs] he was furious, and he told either Time or Newsweek, I can’t remember which one —

IT: He said it was a faulty instrument: “I want nothing to do with it.”

AG: Right. Someone called the synthesizer his child, and he said, “It’s turned into an ugly bastard.” [laughs]

IT: Yeah.

AG: And that was quoted in the article, so that was typical of when he really got angry about people misinterpreting things, and he didn’t like the fact at all that a lot of instruments that had his name on them he had nothing to do with, which I can understand. I still run into

people all the time who say, “Oh, yeah, Bob Moog, I love my MG-1 or my Polymoog,” or something. I don’t know what to say. It’s like, “Well, I’m glad you do, but [laughs] he had nothing to do with it.”

e index may shock a lot of people who are fans of particular Moog instruments that he didn’t put his hand to, and there’s categories: “instruments and products that were made by Bob Moog” and “instruments not made by Bob Moog”. And a number of them on that list have Moog as the su x of the name of the instrument, you know.

IT: And the ood of record albums that used his name in the titles.

AG: Oh, gosh, yeah.

IT: You just kept volleying up these lists of goofy electronic album titles.

AG: I know, there’s so many, and then, the ones that, if you remember the “Genericide” chapter that talks about how Moog says that he became a “generic”, then you have these albums that come out that have “Moog” somehow either in the title, or they imply “Moog” [laughs] and there’s no Moog. It’s all ARPs or other instruments.

“Switched On: Bob Moog and the Synthesizer Revolution” (Oxford University Press), 2022

Music

Bars/Bands/Clubs

2/22 Wednesday

Deep Dive House Big Band hosted by Professor Greg Evans | 8 p.m. | Deep Dive, 415 Old Taughannock Blvd | Free

2/23 Thursday

Atwater After Hours Singer Songwriter Series with Sarah Noell | 5 p.m. | Atwater Vineyards, 5055 State Route 414

Brewhouse Blues Jam | 6 p.m.

| Hopshire Farm & Brewery, 1771

Dryden Rd | Free

Bossa Nova duo Biba featuring Jessica Custer-Bindel and Lynn Wyles | 7 p.m. | The Downstairs, 121 W. State St

2/24 Friday

Friday Night Music - East-West Blues Band Unplugged | 6 p.m. | Hopshire Farms and Brewery, 1771

Dryden Rd

MSZM Michael Stark & Zaun Marshburn | 8 p.m. | The Downstairs, 121 W. State St | $10.00

Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad w/ Felix Free | 9 p.m. | Deep Dive, 415 Old Taughannock Blvd | $18.00 - $25.00

2/25 Saturday

Live Music feat. Rob Ervin | 2 p.m. | Treleaven Wines, 658 Lake Road

Cast Iron Cowboys Residency | 7 p.m. | The Downstairs, 121 W. State St

THIS WEEK

2/26 Sunday

Sunday Afternoon Music: Wiles and Bindel | 1 p.m. | Six Mile Creek

Vineyard, 1551 Slaterville Rd

Jazz Jam with Docs’ology | 5 p.m. | The Downstairs, 121 W. State St | Free

G-Nome Project | 8 p.m. | Deep Dive, 415 Old Taughannock Blvd | $10.00

Concerts/Recitals

2/22 Wednesday

Elective Recital: Jack Schiefer, sax

| Nabenhauer Recital Room | 7 p.m.

POC Student Showcase | 7:30 p.m. |

Hockett Family Recital Hall, Gym Rd

Elective Recital: Ninth Position

Trombone Quartet | Nabenhauer Recital Room | 9 p.m.

2/23 Thursday

Midday Music: CU Music | 12:30 p.m. | Anabel Taylor Chapel, 548 College Ave | Free

Black History Month Concert | Ford Hall | 8:15 p.m.

2/24 Friday

GRAMMY-winning soprano Dawn

Upshaw (ADW Professor-at-Large)

| 7 p.m. | Barnes Hall, 129 Ho Plaza | Free

Junior Recital: Samuel Schorer, bassoon | 7 p.m. | Hockett Family Recital Hall, Gym Rd

The Bad Plus | 8 p.m. | Center for the Arts of Homer, 72 S Main St

Elective Recital: Marissa Kane, saxophone | Nabenhauer Recital Room | 8:15 p.m.

2/25 Saturday

Elective Recital: Ash Plummer, bassoon | Nabenhauer Recital Room | 1 p.m.

Opus Ithaca Concert for the Community: A Musician’s Journey | 2 p.m. | St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, 402 N. Aurora St. | Free Elective Recital: Jess Packes, ute | 2 p.m. | Hockett Family Recital Hall, Gym Rd

Elective Recital: Kayla Grady, double bass | Nabenhauer Recital Room | 3 p.m.

Elective Recital: Meghan Siergiey, clarinet | 4 p.m. | Hockett Family Recital Hall, Gym Rd

Senior Recital: Drew Martin, saxophone | Ford Hall | 7 p.m.| Drew has been a huge part of IC’s jazz program for 4 years, and this is sure to be a wonderful culmination of all his hard work.

Elective Recital: Grace Waterman, clarinet | Nabenhauer Recital Room | 7 p.m.

Elective Recital: Nathaniel White, cello | Nabenhauer Recital Room | 9 p.m.

2/26 Sunday

Elective Recital: David Castro, tuba and Nicholas Ionta, euphonium | Nabenhauer Recital Room | 1 p.m.

Elective Recital: Joy Greene, ute | 2 p.m. | Hockett Family Recital Hall, Gym Rd Music on the Lake: Raul Midón featuring Jennifer Hopper | 2 p.m. | Belmont-Jennings House, 1077 Taughannock Blvd | $65.00 - $120.00

Elective Recital: Chloe Beehm, soprano | Nabenhauer Recital Room | 3 p.m.

Beethoven and Brahms | 3 p.m. | First Unitarian Society, 306 North Aurora Street | $12.00 - $38.50

Elective Recital: Justin Lordi, bass trombone | 4 p.m. | Hockett Family Recital Hall, Gym Rd

Elective Recital: Noah Ceterski, viola | Nabenhauer Recital Room | 7 p.m.

2/27 Monday

Composition Premieres | 7 p.m. | Hockett Family Recital Hall, Gym Rd Trumpet Ensemble | Ford Hall | 8:15 p.m.

2/28 Tuesday

Elvis Costello & The Imposters | 8 p.m. | State Theatre of Ithaca, 107 West State St

The Crossing, Donald Nally, conductor: The Hockett Chamber Music Series | Ford Hall | 8:15 p.m.

3/1 Wednesday

Midday Music for Organ, David Yearsley: CU Music | 12:30 p.m. | Anabel Taylor Chapel, 548 College Ave | Free Regina Spektor | 8 p.m. | State Theatre of Ithaca, 107 West State St

3/2 Thursday

Cornell Concert Series presents Quartetto di Cremona at Bailey Hall | 8 p.m. | Bailey Hall, 230 Garden Avenue | $19.00 - $34.00

3/4 Saturday

The Wood Brothers | 8 p.m. | State Theatre of Ithaca, 107 West State St

3/5 Sunday

Dakhabrakha | 8 p.m. | State Theatre of Ithaca, 107 West State St | $25.00 - $45.00

Emily Scott Robinson / Alisa Amador / Violet Bell | 8 p.m. | Center for the Arts of Homer, 72 S Main St

Stage

Pirates of Penzance Preveiw | 8 p.m., 2/22 Wednesday | Hoerner Theatre, Dillingham Center, Ithaca College

| Shows Feb 22-Mar1. Contact Ithaca College for showtimes and tickets.

Encore Players Community Theatre Almost, Maine by John Cariani | 7:30 p.m., 2/23 Thursday

| Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts, 1 Congress St | See details below in Weekend Planner. | $20.00

Crankies for Kids! | 10:30 a.m., 3/4

Saturday | The Cherry, 102 Cherry St. | Two crankies with live music and puppetry: meet the Snail in Dreamland and hear the tale of The Biggest Beet in this dynamic show for kids! | $4.00 - $12.00

Art

Erin Miller: Casino | 1 p.m., 2/22 Wednesday | The Ink Shop, 330 E. MLK/State St | The Ink Shop Printmaking Center is pleased to present “Casino”, an exhibition of recent collages by 2022-2023 Kahn Family Fellow, Erin Miller. | Free McNeil Gallery | 2/22 Wednesday

| McNeil Building Gallery, 19 Main Street 1st Floor | Cortland Arts Connect invites the community to enjoy a new exhibit by local artists in the rst oor Art Gallery of the McNeil Building, 19 Main Street, Cortland, January 3rd through February

CREATIVE CORTLAND A Community

Visual Arts Exhibition Theme:

“CONNECTION” | 5 p.m., 2/24

Friday | Cortland Repertory Theatre - Downtown, 24 Port Watson St. | CRT Downtown proudly presents our 5th Annual Creative Cortland Visual Arts Exhibition, showcasing some of Cortland’s best visual artists! This juried exhibition continues to evolve as a platform for artistic and imaginative expression and appreciation. | $5.00 - $10.00

The Gallery at South Hill, artist talk by Brian Arnold | 1 p.m., 2/25 Saturday | The Gallery at South Hill, 950 Danby Road | Brian Arnold will give an artist talk on February 18th and 25th at the gallery from 1-2pm discussing his one person exhibit “Bright, Bright Day”. On the 25th Brian will also be signing his book along with giving a talk. www.southhillbusinesscampus.com/gallery-at-shbc | Free

Ithaca College Student Art Exhibit at PRWC | 2/28 Tuesday | Ithaca College, 201 Muller Center | The opening reception of a spring semester exhibition of Ithaca College Student art work will be held in the O ce of the Provost.

Film

French Collaboration in the Holocaust: The Story in Film & Fiction | 7:30 p.m., 2/22 Wednesday | Temple Beth-El, 402 N. Tioga St. | Professor Schwarz will explore the roles of both documentary and imaginative lms in exposing the active collaboration of the Vichy government with the Nazis in the deportation and murder of the Jews living in France. | Free

Cinemapolis

120 E. Green St., Ithaca

Feb 24-March 2 Contact Cinemapolis for showtimes. New lms listed rst.* Close*| The intense friendship between two thirteen-year old boys Leo and Remi suddenly gets disrupted. Struggling to understand what has happened, Léo approaches Sophie, Rémi’s mother..| 104 mins PG-13 Emily* | Emily imagines the transformative, exhilarating, and uplifting journey to womanhood of a rebel and a mis t, one of the world’s most famous, enigmatic, and provocative writers who died too soon at the age of 30.| 130 mins R

Cocaine Bear* | An oddball group of cops, criminals, tourists, and teens converges in a Georgia forest where a 500-pound black bear goes on a murderous rampage after unintentionally ingesting cocaine. | 95 mins R 2023 Oscar Shorts | The collection of 2023 nominations in the Animation, Live Action and Documentary short lms will be shown on various dates.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH CONCERT

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23RD AT 8:15 PM Ford Hall, Ithaca College | A special ensemble concert

THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE OPENS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24TH AT 8:00PM. CONTACT THEATER FOR ADDITIONAL SHOWTIMES. Hoerner Theatre, Dillingham Center, Ithaca College The

performed by students and faculty from IC’s School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. (Photo: Provided)

famed Gilbert and Sullivan musical is the next show in the school’s 2022-23 season. (Photo: Provided)

Of An Age | Set in the summer of 1999 as an 17-year-old Serbian born, Australian amateur ballroom dancer experiences an unexpected and intense 24-hour romance with a friend’s older brother. | 99 mins R

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon | 2000 lm starring current Oscar nominee for Best Actress, Michelle Yeoh.| 120 mins PG-13

EO | Follows the journeys of a donkey who encounters good and bad people, experiences joy and pain, exploring a vision of modern Europe through his eyes. | 88 mins NR

Women Talking | Do nothing. Stay and ght. Or leave. In 2010, the women of an isolated religious community grapple with reconciling a brutal reality with their faith. | 104 mins PG-13

Cornell Cinema

All lms are shown at Willard Straight Hall on Cornell campus.

Solomon King | 2/23, 7:00PM

| Solomon King is a long-lost, independently nanced, Black urban crime drama written, directed, and produced by Sal Watts. Shot in Oakland, CA in 1973 with a cast of mostly non-professional actors, a stunning soul-funk soundtrack, and incredible costumes from Watts’s own “Mr. Sal’s

Fashion Stores”, the newly restored lm is a time capsule of a bygone era. A Star is Born | 2/24, 7:00PM| 1954 version with Judy Garland.

2023 Oscar Shorts: Live Action | 2/23, 9:30PM

The Runner| 3/1, 7:00PM | Part of Cornell Cinema’s ongoing series on Revolutionary Visions in Iranian Cinema and Restorations & Rediscoveries. Amiro is an 11-year-old orphan living alone in an abandoned tanker in the Iranian port city of Abadan. He survives by shining shoes, selling water, and diving for deposit bottles, while being bullied by both adults and competing older kids.

Special Events

Ithaca Loves Teachers | 8 a.m., 2/22

Wednesday | A variety of events in Downtown Ithaca.

Sports

Ithaca Men’s Lacrosse vs Oneonta | 4 p.m., 2/22 Wednesday | Higgins Stadium |

Cornell Women’s Tennis vs James Madison University | 6 p.m., 2/24

Friday | Ithaca, N.Y., Reis Tennis Center

Cornell Men’s Lacrosse vs Lehigh University | 12 p.m., 2/25 Saturday | Ithaca, NY, Schoellkopf Field |

Ithaca Women’s Lacrosse vs SUNY Brockport | 1 p.m., 2/25 Saturday | Higgins Stadium |

Cornell Women’s Basketball vs Yale University | 2 p.m., 2/25 Saturday | Ithaca, NY, Newman Arena at Bartels Hall |

Cornell Men’s Tennis vs Indiana University | 2/25 Saturday | Ithaca, N.Y., Reis Tennis Center |

Cornell Men’s Tennis vs Oklahoma State | 1 p.m., 2/26 Sunday | Ithaca, N.Y., Reis Tennis Center |

Cornell Men’s Tennis vs Ohio State University | 2/26 Sunday | Ithaca, N.Y., Reis Tennis Center |

Ithaca Men’s Lacrosse vs Lycoming College | 4 p.m., 2/28 Tuesday | Higgins Stadium |

Ithaca Women’s Lacrosse vs SUNY Cortland | 4 p.m., 3/1 Wednesday | Higgins Stadium |

Ithaca Women’s Lacrosse vs No.

13 SUNY Cortland | 4 p.m., 3/1

Wednesday | Higgins Stadium |

Ithaca Women’s Lacrosse vs No.

13/13 SUNY Cortland | 4 p.m., 3/1

Wednesday | Higgins Stadium | I

ENCORE PLAYERS COMMUNITY

THEATRE PRESENTS ALMOST, MAINE BY JOHN CARIANI

THURSDAY, FEB. 23 THRU

SUNDAY FEB. 26 AT 7:30PM

Books

Sweet Reads at the New eld Public Library | 6:30 p.m., 2/23 Thursday | New eld Public Library, 198 Main Street | Join us Thursday, February 23, 6:30 pm. Let’s talk about the books we are reading over dessert! Contact us: 607-564-3594, email new eldlibrary@ gmail.com or visit https://new eldpubliclibrary.org/sweet-reads/ | Free Book Launch & TCPL Fundraiser: The Cat Agent by Alison Lurie | 12 p.m., 2/25 Saturday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | Pulitzer-prize winning author Alison Lurie’s posthumous young person’s novel will be launched at a fund-raising event for the TCPL Foundation in the Borg Warner Room of the library. Local authors will read from the book, and copies will be available. Free & open to the public. Children welcome. | Free

The Communion of Shadows by Gordon Bonnet - Book launch | 3:30 p.m., 2/25 Saturday | Buffalo Street Books, 215 N. Cayuga St | Gordon Bonnet has been writing ction since he was six years old, with a passion for storytelling and a deep love of the written word. | Free Book Launch: In The Fall They Leave by Joanna Higgins | 2:30

p.m., 2/26 Sunday | Bu alo Street Books, 215 N. Cayuga St. | There will be a reading, discussion, signing and refreshments. A suspenseful, morally complex work about a young student nurse at a Brussels clinic whose experiences during the occupation of Brussels becomes a means for personal growth and artistry. | Free The Loneliest Places: loss, grief, and the long journey home | 4 p.m., 2/28 Tuesday | Tompkins Cortland Community College Forum, 170 North Street | Eleven years ago, Rachel Dickinson’s son Jack Gallagher died by suicide. A travel writer before Jack died, Dickinson eventually began to write about her journey through grief. Her book was published last Fall. She will share some of her journey, read, and participate in a Q & A session.

Kids

Spotlight Africa! | 4:30 p.m., 2/23

Thursday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | Tweens (kids ages 9-12) are invited to learn about the beauty and diversity of the continent of Africa - its folktales, its cultures, its people.

Winter Baby Storytime | 10:30 a.m., 2/24 Friday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | Caregivers and their babies are invited to join Cassie for songs, rhymes, movement and books. Following storytime each week, we’ll have a baby playtime from 11 am - noon.

Family Storytime | 11 a.m., 2/25

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 every week at Family Storytime!

February Drag Story Hour | 11 a.m., 2/26 Sunday | Bu alo Street Books, 215 N. Cayuga St. | Join BSB for a glittery and glamorous Drag Story Hour led by our very own queens, Coraline Chardonnay & Tilia Cordata! They’ll be sure you and your little ones will have a fun and exciting time together. | Free

Music for Little People | 12:30 p.m., 2/28 Tuesday | First Unitarian Society of Ithaca | Free and open to the public in February, Emily Richards will o er weekly preschool music classes for children 3 to 5 years of age with parents. Tuesdays from 12:30pm-1:15pm in the Arch Room running February 7,

14, 21 & 28. Sing, play, dance, explore instruments, and connect through music. | Free

LEGO Build Night for Families | 5 p.m., 2/28 Tuesday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | TCPL is inviting families to a weekly LEGO build night! Buckets of LEGO will be provided for participants to borrow for their builds.

Notices

Candor Historical Society Talk -- Mapping Tioga County | 7 p.m., 2/22 Wednesday | Candor Fire Hall |

Over the last ve centuries, this land has been claimed by at least six di erent nations, and even since becoming part of the United States, our county has been claimed by up to four states, and several di erent counties and towns. | Free

Ithaca Young Professionals - Friday Night Social | 7 p.m., 2/24 Friday | Liquid State Brewing Company, 620 W Green St | Come socialize with other young professionals in the Ithaca area & make new friends! | Free Food Pantry | 12 p.m., 2/25 Saturday | GYM-Southside Community Center, 305 S Plain St |

Ithaca Chess Club | 12 p.m., 2/26 Sunday | DeWitt Mall, 215 N. Cayuga St | The Ithaca Chess Club meets every Sunday from 12 noon to 4 pm, at the Dewitt Mall ( rst oor above the shops, o ce area). The club is free and open to everyone, all ages and all skill levels. Play other chess lovers, and get free chess instruction. Details at the club website: IthacaChessClub. com. | Free

One-on-One Tech Help | 10 a.m., 2/27 Monday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | Book a librarian or volunteer technology tutor for help with digital downloads, such as borrowing eBooks, or basic computer questions.

Dryden Senior Citizens Lunch | 11:45 a.m., 2/27 Monday | Dryden Veterans Memorial Home, Route 13 | The Dryden Senior Citizens will meet on Monday, February 27, 2023 at the Dryden Veterans Memorial Home, Route 13, Dryden with lunch served at 12:15 p.m.

Trumansburg Winter Farmers Market | 4 p.m., 2/28 Tuesday | Trumansburg Fire House, West Main St. |

OPUS ITHACA PRESENTS “A MUSICIAN’S JOURNEY” - CONCERT FOR THE COMMUNITY

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25 AT 2:00PM St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, 402 N. Aurora St., Ithaca | Featuring Opus Chamber Orchestra and Jazz Combo, Odyssey

(Photo:

Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts, 5 McLallen St, Trumansburg | Welcome to Almost, Maine, a place that’s so far north, it’s almost in Canada. One cold, clear winter night, as the northern lights hover in the star- lled sky above, the residents of Almost, Maine nd themselves falling in and out of love in unexpected and hilarious ways. (Photo: Provided)

Choir, and Opus Ithaca Faculty Pianists. This concert is free and open to the public.

Provided)

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Town

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MONTICELLO CENTRAL SCHOOL SCHOOL

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EOE

SPECIAL EDUCATION SUMMER SCHOOL

SUMMER SCHOOL TEACHERS AND TEACHING ASSISTANTS NEEDED

OCM BOCES has the need for the following summer school sta from July 10, 2023 through August 18, 2023 and set up day on July 6, 2023.

Everything from weeding to light landscaping. Salary negotiable. Starting date also negotiable but when weather permits. (607)2773380 or (607)351-1777(cell).

SPECIAL EDUCATION SUMMER SCHOOL

OCM BOCES has the need for the following summer school staff from July 10, 2023 through August 18, 2023 and set up day on July 6, 2023.

• Special Education Teachers

• Teachers of the Deaf

• Music Teachers

• Speech Therapists

• Teaching Assistants/Interpreters

• Physical Therapists

• Occupational Therapists

• School Nurses

Sites are at various locations through Onondaga and Cortland County. Interested applicants apply online at: www.olasjobs.org/central.

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SPEECH THERAPIST – Part Time

SUMMER SCHOOL TEACHERS AND TEACHING ASSISTANTS NEEDED

• Special Education Teachers

• Teachers of the Deaf

• Music Teachers

• Speech erapists

OCM BOCES is looking for experienced Teachers and Teaching Assistants. Looking for teachers certified in the following areas: English 7-12, Math 7 & 8, Science 7 & 8,

OCM BOCES is looking for experienced Teachers Teaching Assistants. Looking for teachers certified following areas: English 7-12, Math 7 & 8, Science

• Teaching Assistants/Interpreters

• Physical erapists

• Occupational erapists

• School Nurses

Algebra I & II, Geometry, Earth Science, Living Environment, Chemistry, Social Studies 7-11, Participation in Government,

Sites are at various locations through Onondaga and Cortland County. Interested applicants apply online at: www.olasjobs.org/central

Economics, Physical Education, Special Education 7-12, Library

Media Specialist, Spanish, and Health

For more information regarding this summer school posting, please visit our website at: www.ocmboces.org EOE

OCM BOCES Special Education program has the need for a part-time Speech erapist, to be located within Onondaga and Cortland County area. Successful candidate will provide direct speech and language therapy services to students enrolled in school aged programs based on creative implementation of research based best practices. NYS Licenses in Speech Pathology required. Experience working with school aged students preferred. Applications accepted online only. Register and apply at: www.olasjobs.org/central

Algebra I & II, Geometry, Earth Science, Living Environment, Chemistry, Social Studies 7-11, Participation in Government, Economics, Physical Education, Special Education 7-12, Media Specialist, Spanish, and Health

For more information, visit our website at: www.ocmboces.org EOE

Sites are at the following locations: Wellwood Middle School, Cortland Jr. Sr. High School, Cicero-North Syracuse High School, and Camillus Middle School. Register and apply at:

Sites are at the following locations: Wellwood Middle

Cortland Jr. Sr. High School, Cicero-North Syracuse School, and Camillus Middle School. Register and

SPEECH THERAPIST –PART TIME

OCM BOCES Special Education program has the need for a part-time Speech Therapist, to be located within Onondaga and Cortland County area. Successful candidate will provide direct speech and language therapy services to students enrolled in school aged programs based on creative implementation of research based best practices. NYS Licenses in Speech Pathology required. Experience working with school aged students preferred. Applications accepted online only. Register and apply at: www. olasjobs.org/central. For additional information, visit our website at: www.ocmboces.org EOE

TEACHING ASSISTANT

OCM BOCES Special Education program has the need for a part-time Teaching Assistant in the STAR program at Cincinnatus Central Schools, Cincinnatus, NY. Successful candidate will provide programming to students with special needs under the direction of the Special Education teacher. NYS certification as a Teaching Assistant required. Applications accepted online only. Register and apply by at: www. olasjobs.org/central. For information please visit our website at www. ocmboces.org EOE

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$64.99 for 190 Channels + $14.95 High Speed Internet. Free Installation, Smart HD DVR Included, Free Voice Remote. Some Restrictions Apply. Promo Expires 1/31/2024. 1-866-595-6967

HOME REPAIRS!

Never Pay For Covered Home Repairs Again! Complete Care Home Warranty COVERS ALL MAJOR SYSTEMS AND APPLIANCES. 30 DAY RISK FREE. $200.00 OFF + 2 FREE Months! 1-877-434-4845

HOUSE CLEANING

Good References. Call For More Information.

607-532-4243

MOVING OUT OF STATE?

Licensed and insured, full-service, nationwide movers. Call now to get a free, instant price quote on your next move. 1-866-590-6549

SPECTRUM INTERNET AS LOW AS $29.99

BRANDON GOT YOU BEHIND?

Single Ch 7 Bankruptcy $999.00, Call Mark “The Hammer” Gugino at 144 Bald Hill Road Spencer, NY at 607-319-0766. We also do Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, Auto Accident Injury, Divorce and Family Court at $150.00/hour, Wills, Estates, Real Estate Closings. E-mail BK@twcny.rr.com and www.1000islandslaw.com

MEN’S SPORT WATCHES WANTED

Advertiser is looking to buy men’s sport watches. Rolex, Breitling, Omega, Patek Philippe, Here, Daytona, GMT, Submariner and Speedmaster. The Advertiser pays cash for qualified watches. Call 888-320-1052.

FINANCES

GET DIRECTV, $64.99/ MO FOR 12 MONTHS

Comes with CHOICE package. Save an additional $120 over 1st year. First 3 months of HBO Max, Cinemax. Showtime, Starz, and Epix included! Directv is #1 in customer satisfaction (JD Power & Assoc.) Some restrictions apply. Call 1-888534-6918.

HOME IMPROVEMENT

Never Pay For Covered Home Repairs Again! American Residential Warranty covers ALL MAJOR SYSTEMS AND APPLIANCES. 30 Day Risk Free/ $100 OFF POPULAR PLANS. 833-398-0526

ROOF ? WINDOWS ?

BEAUTIFY YOUR HOME

With energy efficient new windows! They will increase your home’s value & decrease your energy bills. Replace all or a few! Call now to get your free, no-obligation quote. 844-335-2217.

Teaching Assistant

DISH TV $64.99 FOR 190 CHANNELS + $14.95

High Speed Internet. Free Installation, Smart HD DVR Included, Free Voice Remote. Some restrictions apply. Promo Expires 1/21/24. Call 1-866-566-1815

GUTTER GUARDS AND REPLACEMENT GUTTERS INBOUND

Never clean your gutters again! Affordable, professionally installed gutter guards protect your gutters and home from debris and leaves forever! For a FREE Quote call: 844-499-0277.

SUMMER SCHOOL TEACHERS AND TEACHING ASSISTANTS NEEDED

OCM BOCES Special Education program has the need for a parttime Teaching Assistant in the STAR program at Cincinnatus Central Schools, Cincinnatus, NY. Successful candidate will provide programming to students with special needs under the direction of the Special Education teacher. NYS certi cation as a Teaching Assistant required. Applications accepted online only. Register and apply at: www.olasjobs.org/central

Call to see if you qualify for ACP and free internet. No Credit Check. Call Now! 833-955-0905

805/Business Services

BATH & SHOWER UPDATES

Updates in as little as ONE DAY! Affordable prices - No payments for 18 months! Lifetime warranty & professional installs. Senior and Military Discounts available. Call: 1-866-370-2939 (AAN CAN)

BCI WALK IN TUBS ARE NOW ON SALE!

Be one of the first 50 callers and save $1,500! CALL 844-514-0123 for a free in-home consultation.

PLACE

ARE YOU BEHIND $10K OR MORE ON YOUR TAXES? Stop wage & bank levies, liens & audits, unfiled tax returns, payroll issues, & resolve tax debt FAST. Call 888-869-5361 (hours: Mon-Fri 7am-5pm PST) (NYSCAN)

Do you need a Roof or Energy Efficient Windows & Help paying for it? YOU MAY QUALIFY THROUGH NEW RELIEF PROGRAMS (800) 944-9393 or visit NYProgramFunding.org to qualify. Approved applications will have the work completed by a repair crew provided by: HOMEOWNER FUNDING. Not affiliated with State or Gov Prgrams. (NYSCAN)

Your ads ONLINE at Ithaca.com

BEST SATELLITE TV

With 2 Year Price Guarantee! $59.99/mo with 190 channels and 3 months free premium movie channels! Free next day installation! Call 888-508-5313 (NYSCAN)

For more information, visit our website at: www.ocmboces.org EOE

BOCES is looking for experienced Teachers and Assistants. Looking for teachers certified in the areas: English 7-12, Math 7 & 8, Science 7 & 8, & II, Geometry, Earth Science, Living Environment, Social Studies 7-11, Participation in Government, Economics, Physical Education, Special Education 7-12, Library Specialist, Spanish, and Health at the following locations: Wellwood Middle School, Jr. Sr. High School, Cicero-North Syracuse High and Camillus Middle School. Register and apply at:

AAM

ALL ABOUT MACS

Macintosh Consulting

http://www.allaboutmacs.com

(607) 280-4729

ANIMALS

LAND & SEA

FingerLakesAnimalRights.org

CLEANING SERVICES

RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL JANITORIAL* FLOOR * CARPET

INDEPENDENCE CLEANERS CORP

607-227-3025 / 607-697-3294

Everyone Is Welcome Shop at the COOP

Full Service Grocery Store

GREENSTAR FOOD CO+OP

770 Cascadilla St., Ithaca

For rates and information contact front@ithactimes.com 277-7000

FLYITHACA.COM

Convenient-Clean-Connected

Get e New Ithaca

Times Mobile App

Available in Appstore & Google Play

ITHACA NEWS

Delivered to your inbox every day

Ithaca Times Daily

Text ITHACA to 22828 to Sign up

LOOKING FOR WORK

WE ARE HIRING VISIT US ONLINE www.wgaforchildren.org or call 607-844-6460

THE WILLIAM GEORGE AGENCY

Boost your Business in the new year

Call Larry at

607-277-7000 ext: 1214

Find out about great advertising ad packages at: Ithaca.com & Ithaca Times

Men’s and Women’s Alterations for over 20 years

Fur & Leather repair, zipper repair. Same Day Service Available

John’s Tailor Shop

John Serferlis - Tailor

102 e Commons 273-3192

New, Used & Vintage Instruments & Accessories

ITHACA GUITAR WORKS

DEWITT MALL

607-272-2602

Ooy’s Cafe & Deli

201 N. Aurora Street

Ithaca, NY 14850 (607) 319-4022

** Peaceful Spirit Tai Chi **

Yang style all levels

Fridays 3-4 pm

at NY Friends House

120 3rd St., Ithaca

607-272-0114

PIANOS

Rebuilt, Reconditioned, Bought, Sold, Moved, Tuned, Rented Complete Rebuilding Services No job too big or too small

Ithaca Piano Rebuilders (607) 272-6547

950 Danby Rd, Suite 26 South Hill Business Campus, Ithaca

REAL LIFE CEREMONIES

Every life story deserves to be told, and told well. Steve Lawrence, Celebrant 607-220-7938

WEGMANS FOOD MARKET

NOW HIRING

607- 277-5800

500 S. Meadow St., Ithaca

JOB.WEGMANS.COM