The City of Ithaca is in the process of making changes to the salaries of the Mayor and Common Council members ahead of the restructuring of city government that will take effect when the first City Manager assumes office in January 2024. As part of this process, the Common Council has also approved a salary range of $160,000 to $185,000 for the City Manager.
Earlier this month, Common Council members approved a $4,000 pay raise for themselves, increasing their annual salaries from $13,141 to $17,191. The increase was approved in the hopes that it would attract residents from more diverse backgrounds to run for local office.
During conversations to approve the increase, Alderperson Phoebe Brown said, “We are not going to get people who we want to see on this council if they can’t actually use this as a part-time job.”
The increase was calculated using the most recent living wage study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Living Wage Calculator, which found that a living wage in the City of Ithaca is at least $18.26 per hour. That is more than the living wage of $16.61 per hour that the Tompkins County Workers Center has recommended.
The Common Council approved the
increase following a discussion among members of the Common Council regarding how many hours of work get put into the job every week. Alderperson
Donna Fleming recommended a lower salary increase to $14,200, saying that she assumed most members work an average of 15 hours per week. However, Alderpersons Tiffany Kumer, Jorge DeFendini, and Phoebe Brown disagreed, saying they all work more than 20 hours per week. As a result, Kumar recommended a higher salary increase to $18,990. Following the discussion, the Common Council came to a compromise agreement that members work an average of 18 hours per week to perform the duties required by the job adequately.
The move to increase the salaries of Common Council members also came with a decrease in compensation for the position of Mayor, which will see a 75% reduction in workload next year as the City Manager will assume many mayoral responsibilities. The Mayor’s current salary is $61,489, but it will be reduced to $30,000 when the City Manager takes over. Additionally, the Chief of Staff position — which earns approximately $130,000 — will be eliminated as
The CCE Tompkins County Master Gardener Volunteer Bulb Sale is open! Order your bulbs online by October 1, pick them up from the CCE Tompkins County office and plant them in mid-October, and enjoy the colorful blooms in spring. The sale features spring blooming tulips, crocus, iris, hyacinth and numerous other gardener and pollinator favorites.
This is a fundraiser for the CCE Tompkins Master Gardener Volunteer Program. The Master Gardeners have curated a list of 25 of their favorite bulbs to span the bulb flowering season, different growing conditions (including deer pressure), and flower colors and sizes that will grow well in Tompkins County. Proceeds will benefit programming such as our gardening advice
the City Manager will take over many of the position’s responsibilities as well.
The pay reduction for the Mayor and the elimination of the position of Chief of Staff was approved by the public in the referendum to create the position of City Manager that passed in November 2022. At the time, the expected salary for a City Manager was estimated to be slightly higher than the Chief of Staff. However, the council was encouraged to significantly increase the compensation for the position by Ian Coyle — the consultant hired by the city to help conduct the City Manager search.
In an effort to advance the search process for City Manager, the Common Council came to a unanimous agreement on a salary range of $160,000 to $185,000 for the position. The average annual salary for a City Manager for a city of Ithaca’s size and population is around $161,000.
The consultant hired by the city to help conduct the search for City Manager encouraged the Common Council to set the top end of the range at $200,000 for the position to be competitive and attract the best possible candidates, but Third Ward Alderperson Donna Fleming said that she would be “pretty reluctant to go up to $200,000.”
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Growline, local Demonstration Gardens, and more.
Top-quality bulbs are from Van Engelen, the wholesale branch of the popular John Scheepers Inc. garden supplier. Pickup will be in the parking lot of CCE Tompkins County in October (shipping/delivery not available). Exact timing will be announced soon. Order online at cce-tompkins-county-bulb-sale. constantcontactsites.com.
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“We are not going to get people who we want to see on this council if they can’t actually use this as a part-time job.”
— Alderperson Phoebe Brown
The Common Council has unanimously approved $6.2 million in funding to make several upgrades to critical components of the Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Facility.
After more than three decades of service to the community, the Ithaca Area Wastewater facility desperately needs repair. The facility opened in 1987 and serves the City of Ithaca, the Town of Ithaca, and the Town of Dryden. Acting Assistant Superintendent of Water and Sewer, Scott Gibson, said that the facility is “one of the most important environmental technologies that the city has. It keeps the lake clean, and there’s a cost of doing business to ensure it functions properly and is within code.”
Among several other repairs, the facility requires a new boiler system that is expected to cost more than $2.7 million.
Gibson told the Common Council that if funding for a new boiler were not approved, then the facility would not be able to provide adequate heating throughout the winter. According to Gibson, “time is of the essence.” He continued saying
that the facility is “under capacity to heat for this winter” and needs funding to be approved “so that we can at least put an order in for the boilers and get that started as quickly as possible before winter sets in.”
The Common Council has approved an additional $3.5 million in funding for several other upgrades, including a new waste stack burner, sluice gate replacement, a new roof for the administration building, and upgrading the facility’s heating and cooling systems to operate on heat pumps in an effort to help Ithaca achieve the goals of the Green New Deal.
The current waste stack burner — which burns excess methane generated by the facility — is not up to code as it is located on the rooftop of the facility near the existing digesters and requires operators to ignite it by hand, which Alderperson Cynthia Brock has called “a serious health and safety issue.” In order for the
By Matt Dougherty
On August 28, one hundred days after the kidnapping of 34-yearold Ithaca resident Thomas P. Rath, New York State Police, the Ithaca Police Department, and the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office held a joint press conference to announce that investigations into the incident found that Mr. Rath was murdered in Tioga County.
During the press conference, New York State Police Troop “C” Commander Major Jeffery VanAuken told reporters that “as this missing person case evolved, it revealed a particularly disturbing and heinous series of events which ultimately revealed the kidnapping and murder of Mr. Rath.”
Ten individuals have been arrested in connection with the incident, and police
have indicated that more arrests will occur in the coming weeks.
At the time of the abduction on May 20, Rath was residing within the homeless encampments known as ‘the jungle’ behind Lowes and Walmart in the City of Ithaca. The encampments have been the subject of intense local debate regarding how to handle the growing homelessness crisis. They are also known to be a dangerous area as individuals acting outside of the law have used cover provided by unhoused residents as a way to hide from local law enforcement.
burner to comply with building codes, it must be moved at least 50 feet away from a combustion source. Upgrading the burner is expected to come at a cost of $739,100.
The sluice gate replacement is necessary because the facility’s current sluice gates “have deteriorated to the point where one has collapsed,” according to Brock. Upgrading the sluice gates will come at an expected cost of $168,400 and will help isolate the water flow into the headworks building.
Another $364,795 has been allocated to the facility to replace the roof over the administration building. Brock said, “The administration building roof is now 35 years old, has been repaired multiple times, and is in need of entire replacement.”
Brock explained that the City of Ithaca
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According to State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations Captain Lucas Anthony, an investigation into the disappearance of Rath was launched after a “check the welfare complaint” was received by the Ithaca Police Department on May 20. Anthony continued by saying that on May 31, more information was found
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The multi-billion dollar Cargill corporation has announced its decision to divest its ownership of the Cayuga Salt Mine. The Cargill Corporation has owned and operated the mine on the eastern shores of Cayuga Lake in Lansing, New York since it was purchased by the company in 1970.
The move is part of an overall company decision by Cargill to exit the salt mining business altogether. According to recent reporting from The Deal, the company is also looking to divest from the Whiskey Island Salt Mine near Cleveland, which mines salt underneath Lake Erie. Cargill has hired Deutsche Bank to help divest from the mines.
This comes roughly one year after Cargill closed and intentionally flooded their Avery Island salt mine in Louisiana. Before the decision to close the Avery Island mine, a roof collapse killed two miners at the facility. As a result of the incident, federal regulators cited Cargill for “aggravated conduct constituting more than ordinary negligence” at the facility.
The Cayuga Lake Salt Mine reaches a maximum depth of 2,300 feet, making it the deepest salt mine in North America. It spans more than seven miles underground, tapping into the salt reserves under Cayuga Lake. The mine produces 2 million tons of rock salt annually, about half of which is purchased by New York State to help keep its roads and sidewalks free of snow and ice throughout the winter.
For the last five decades, local environmental activists with groups like Cayuga Lake Environmental Action Now (CLEAN) have taken issue with a multitude of ecological risks posed by the mine — such as mine flooding causing salinization of the lake — along with the fact that Cargill has refused to complete an environmental impact statement for the site.
While the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has required Cargill to post a $3.5 million bond to insure the mine in the event of a potential flood, the agency has never required
Cargill to complete an environmental impact statement.
John Dennis, an activist who works closely with CLEAN, told the Ithaca Times, “In 2000, one of their consultants produced a bulky 2-volume Expanded Environmental Assessment, but it was not as rigorous as an [environmental impact statement] and when eventually released to the public many pages were redacted in addition to there being redactions within released pages.”
Dennis states, “After salt mining starting at the south end of both lakes in the early 1900s, both Seneca Lake and Cayuga Lake have been more saline (higher sodium and chloride levels) when compared to the other nine Finger Lakes.” Dennis added, “The best explanation is that these are the only two Finger Lakes with salt mining operations on their shores and underneath Cayuga Lake.”
In addition, Dennis says that “Cargill has never revealed to the public how much money they have earned from the mine over the past 53 years. Even our attempts to FOIL the amount of royalties paid to New York for mining under Cayuga Lake have failed. The replies come back with all financial data redacted.” Additional environmental concerns have stemmed from the Ithaca Central Railroad line that transports rock salt from the mine to Sayre, Pennsylvania. The railroad is owned by Watco, which leases the line from Norfolk Southern. Recently, CLEAN stated that on July 22, 2023, “Approximately 300 gallons of diesel leaked from one of the railroad cars that transport Cargill Salt, posing a significant risk to the local ecosystem and the surrounding communities.” The statement continued, “This incident underscores the urgency and importance of holding Cargill accountable for their environmental practices.”
Instead of divesting from the mine and selling it off to the highest bidder, CLEAN has advocated for the decommissioning of the mine. Program Manager Stephanie
Redmond has said, “We believe it is imperative to ensure that the Cayuga Salt Mine is appropriately decommissioned and that adequate measures are taken to safeguard our environment, in particular the mined area under Cayuga Lake.”
Dennis said that “Cargill should not be able to pass environmental liabilities on to a new owner.” He continued by saying, “Whether or not they are permitted to flood the mine at closure, they should be required to remove all equipment and introduced materials from the mine prior to closure.”
Co-founder of Clean, Brian Eden, has said, “No company without mining experience should be allowed to [assume Cargill’s state permits to mine]. The threat of a private equity firm reducing costs to make quick profits is unacceptable.”
In the wake of Cargill's announcement that it plans to divest from the mine, CLEAN issued a press release advocating for Cargill to post a “Financial Guarantee Bond of at least $1 billion” with New York State to “provide assurance and mitigate any future uncertainties that may arise,” from the mine.
The press release states, “CLEAN urges against a hasty departure or simply a sale of the mine. Allowing such an action would be irresponsible, considering the potential long-term impacts.” The release continued by saying that CLEAN “remains committed to ensuring environmental integrity and advocating for the well-being of the local community. State agencies like DEC and the Office of General Services should step up and take all necessary steps to protect our greatest natural asset.”
If Cargill does decide to decommission the mine, Dennis said that it should provide “generous severance packages and ongoing health insurance” for the more than 200 workers the multi-billion dollar corporation employs locally.
Dennis added that a portion of the present facility could be converted into a salt mining museum since the history of salt mining at the site is “fascinating” and stretches back more than 100 years.
Last week State Senator Lea Webb opened an office in Ithaca, marking the first time in more than a decade that a New York State Senate office has been located in Tompkins County.
Downs
On Wednesday, 08-23-23, at approximately 1:06 P.M., Ithaca Police Officers responded to the parking lot of Aldi’s at 505 Third Street for multiple reports of a person at that location who was actively attacking cars with a meat cleaver.
The Tompkins County Workers Center will be holding the 37th annual Labor Day Picnic on Monday September 4th at Stewart Park’s Main Pavilion from 11am to 3pm. Remember to thank the labor movement for weekends and child labor laws!
Seen
Bill Nye the Science Guy was seen playing ultimate frisbee with students on campus at Cornell University over the weekend.
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.”
N ext W eek ’s Q uestio N :
How
66.7% None.
23.3% More then $30,000.
10.0% Less then $30,000.
N ext W eek ’s Q uestio N : Do you want the Cayuga Lake Salt Mine to shut down? Visit ithaca.com to submit your response.
“Cargill should not be able to pass environmental liabilities on to a new owner.”
— John Dennis, CLEAN ActivistAfter five decades Cargill has announced plans to divest from the controversial Cayuga Lake Salt Mine in the Town of Lansing. (Photo: Robert Rieger)
Lodi Point Awarded Historical Marker
Come out and join the area as we celebrate and dedicate one of our “special” places. LODI POINT. Sept 1st is a family day and a children’s day and a day of reflection for all. The program will begin at 12 noon Rain or Shine. There will be no fee charged for Parking Set up your blanks, get out your lunch and lawn chairs and learn about the history of Lodi Point.
Special Guests and speakers include Devora Johnson: National Anthem, James Cover, Lodi Historical Society, Don Greule Sampson and Lodi FL Park Ranger, Fred Bonn FL’s Parks and Josh Teeter FL Parks Education and outran. Laurie Rubin the local woman who first envisioned the Lodi Point Tree Walk and Gary Emerson, Schuyler County Historian who will share about the history of boating on the lake and the legacy of Lodi Point.
Here was the first survey written when he visited the site ca 1790!
This will not be a long program but
you’ll be welcome to picnic and enjoy the park for the rest of the day and enjoy a beautiful sunset. We hope that parents will bring their school age children and let this be a nice deep breath of nature and local history before heading back to school. Pets are welcome on leash.
Please Come and Bring Friends to the Lodi Point end of the summer, Marker Dedication Picnic and Tree Walk ..... once again Friday, Sept 1st 12 Noon Spread the Word!
Robert Mark BrownRoads
Ihave to wholeheartedly agree with the letter last week that addressed the condition of the roads in the city of Ithaca. I have lived in Ithaca for eight years and the condition of the roads in the city has been abysmal for those eight years. When repairs are done, it is minimal either patching potholes only when a resurface is required, or when a resurface is done then not raising the manhole covers so that you destroy your front end when you hit the manhole. The bad condition of the roads is local to the city only. The town of Ithaca is always resurfacing roads on a regular basis before the condition deteriorates to potholes. The roads in the city deteriorate even more as you get closer to the universities.
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Tompkins County Whole Health (TCWH) is advising the community of an increase in cases ofLegionellosis. Legionellosis is caused by exposure to the bacteriaLegionella, and is a term used to describe multiple diseases, including Legionnaire’s Disease, Pontiac Fever and Extrapulmonary Legionellosis. Since June 2023, twelve (12) cases have been identified in the City and Town of Ithaca, and one death has been reported as of August 28.Symptoms of Legionellosis can include cough, shortness of breath, high fever, muscle aches, and headaches. If left untreated, this bacterial disease may cause pneumonia. People most at risk are those with a weakened immune system, current or former smokers, those with a chronic lung disease (like Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) or emphysema), or those over 50 years of age.
There is currently no established connection between the local cases, and the risk to the general public is low, though caution is advised for those most at risk. As is typical of Legionellosis, all of the local cases have required hospitalization and have primarily occurred in those over 50 years old and, most commonly, in persons who have other chronic health conditions. Legionellosis is not common but can be fatal. TheCenter for Disease Control states that one person out of 20 who are exposed to Legionella will become ill, and in rare instances it can cause death from pneumonia.
Legionella bacteria does not spread from one person to another. People may become ill with Legionellosis after breathing in air droplets that contain Legionella bacteria. Legionella bacteria exist naturally in the environment and people often receive low-level exposure without contracting the disease. The bacteria grow best in warm water, including locations such as cooling towers, hot water tanks, large plumbing systems, and hot tubs or decorative fountains that are not properly maintained. Cooling towers are a common source of Legionella. While they are routinely tested and
inspected as required by the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), local towers are currently undergoing a thorough process of additional testing, review and, when deemed necessary by NYSDOH, disinfection. Whole Health’s Environmental Health Division is working with NYSDOH to monitor and oversee the testing and treatment of regulated facilities.
TCWH’s Director of Community Health Services Rachel Buckwalter stated, “We are sharing this general information about Legionella due to the increase in Legionellosis cases. We are awaiting confirmation of results which may assist in determining the source or sources ofLegionella bacteria. At this time no source has been officially identified. The community is advised to be aware of the situation, monitor their health for symptoms, and seek treatment if symptoms develop. Most cases of illness can be treated successfully with antibiotics.”
• Symptoms can include cough, shortness of breath, high fever, muscle aches, and headaches. If you develop these symptoms, consult with your healthcare provider.
• If left untreated, this bacterial disease may cause pneumonia.
• The incubation period (or time from exposure to first signs of illness) for Legionellosis generally ranges from two to fourteen days.
• Most cases of illness associated with Legionella can be treated successfully with antibiotics.
• Legionellosis has not been proven to be contagious from person to person, so quarantine or isolation of infected persons is not required.
• People of any age can get Legionellosis, but the disease most often affects older adults. People with underlying illnesses or with lowered immune system resistance to disease are also at higher risk. Severe illness rarely occurs in otherwise healthy people.
For the fifth year in a row, the annual Cardboard Boat Race to support Family & Children’s Service of Ithaca will set sail on Cayuga Lake this September. The fundraising event, held by Family & Children’s Service of Ithaca, raises money to support mental healthcare and related social services for individuals and families in Tompkins County. This year, the race will take place on September 10 at the Ithaca Yacht Club.
Unlike many other fundraisers, the absurdity and spectacle are part of the big draw of the Cardboard Boat Race. With participants challenged to build full-sized boats out of cardboard, duct tape, and glue (no foam or plastic allowed!), and then climb aboard their vessels to paddle around a floating racecourse in the harbor of the Ithaca Yacht Club, actually crossing the finish line is a secondary goal for many participants.
Last year, despite uncooperative fall weather and a steady drizzle, 30 boats took to the water, with competitors as young as eight and as old as sixty-eight, racing against one another as several hundred spectators watched from shore.
The creativity of the boats is always a highlight, with prizes awarded not just for the fastest boats in youth, high school, and adult categories, but also for the spectators’ favorite boat—and yes, even for ‘Most Spectacular Sinking.’
Past years’ boats have included a replica Titanic that intentionally split apart during the race, a horse-drawn chariot, a floating army tank, a classic VW bus, and even a giant shark mouth made to look like it was
surging out of the water to eat the crew.
The Cardboard Boat Race is Family & Children’s Service of Ithaca’s only fundraising event of the year. In 2022 the event raised $72,000, surpassing that year’s fundraising goal of $50,000, largely through sponsorship and spectator tickets. This year, the organization set a goal of $65,000 and is already three-quarters of the way there.
The money raised from the Cardboard Boat Race goes towards maintaining programs at Family & Children’s Service, subsidizing the cost of operating a community mental health clinic, enabling the agency to provide sliding-scale fees for service based on client needs, and supporting programs like Open Doors for Runaway and Homeless Youth, KinECT, and other community outreach programs.
“We’re proud to be a community mental health care center, and we’re also proud to be known for providing high quality mental health care that’s affordable and accessible,” said Josiah JacobusParker, the director of development at F&CS. “We have counselors who specialize in working with really young children and infants, as well as people who are at the opposite end of the life cycle. Everyone has mental health, and everyone faces mental health struggles at one point or another. We have over thirty counselors and social workers on staff who want to make sure no one is facing those challenges alone.”
The Cardboard Boat Race organizers are adamant that the event is so much more than a race. It is an opportunity for community members to come together and cheer each other on, help combat the stigma that surrounds mental illness, and feel surrounded by people who want to stand up for mental health care.
Boat registration is open to those aged 8 and above, until August 31st, and thanks to the event’s Admiral Sponsor, CFCU Community Credit Union, registration is free for everyone.
Registration: https://www.givegab.com/ campaigns/cbr2023
Our last column featured Lee Cook, who is training to become a program host on WRFI, Ithaca’s community radio station. At 19 years old she would be the station’s youngest.
Cook was much younger, only 13, when she started helping with the station’s “Rocket Morton Show,” answering the phone in the studio, occasionally selecting music and appearing on the air, which she still does.
It is a bit of a legacy bid. WRFI host Rocket Morton, also known as Mike Cook, is also known as Lee’s father.
Lee spoke of the show as not only “a bonding experience” between herself and her father, but more broadly of live radio as “an intimate experience” that links people and “builds community.”
In a subsequent interview for this column, Mike spoke similarly of music as “a bonding thing” and said “radio defines a community.”
As with Lee, Mike’s interest in radio started early. He grew up in rural North Carolina and radio was an important source of music, a passion of his, and a conduit to the wider world.
In high school, Cook aspired “to be a performing musician,” but understood the long odds against that as a livelihood. He pursued “another way to make a living around music” with an inquiry to the Columbia School of Broadcasting in the Washington, D.C. area.
That didn’t get beyond the initial phone call, Cook said, when “the guy I spoke to basically said I sounded like a dumb hick with no future in broadcasting.”
its long-running “Salt Creek Show,” a program of rural American music.
“He said I had the voice for it,” Cook said.
It was an ironic twist on the broadcasting school experience. Cook said the affirmation made him realize the value of “sounding authentic” versus “sounding professional.”
Cook did the show for about five years. He has been doing the “Rocket Morton Show” for about as long.
The Rocket Morton persona is not a character, per se: Cook communicates pretty much as himself on the air. But it is an homage to “passionate characters around music,” Cook said (he mentioned early Wolfman Jack as one example) and to programs that “champion people, promote the iconoclastic, celebrate things that are excluded.”
Cook describes his show as “musically free form” and almost “stream of consciousness.” He doesn’t need an antagonist to make the point, but speaks of online music services as “algorithms presenting things to you” as opposed to providing “an experience.”
Cook doesn’t object to entertainment for its own sake. But “an experience can make things even more entertaining,” he said.
Cook freely notes that his work in broadcasting has not involved remuneration; but he is philosophical about it.
Stewart Avenue is barely drivable. Maybe, the city is trying to tell the universities that they need to contribute more for the maintenance of the roads.
With the passage of the infrastructure
bill in Congress, I was hopeful that road maintenance might be a higher priority in the city. Alas, all I see are extended projects to rebuild bridges or the perpetual demolition of Titus Avenue. Meanwhile, the rest of the roads are like riding a roller coaster or driving into a hole. Welcome tourists.
Jim Meehan
That uncharitable assessment didn’t discourage Cook from getting involved with radio in college at Western Carolina University. What almost did, Cook said, was the lack of “choice” in the station’s programming.The limitations were antithetical to Cook’s wide tastes and his interest in broadcasting as a kind of “performance,” or artistic endeavor: an aspect daughter Lee also cited as central.
Years later, Mike moved to Ithaca. As an avocation, he said, “I was a punk rocker,” but he also had an interest in blues, jazz, country and gospel. Known throughout the music community, Cook was approached by someone at WVBR, the Cornell radio station, about hosting
“Love of money is the root of all evil,” he said, in an admirably accurate quote. (Reporter’s note: Most citations tend to omit the first two words, a significant shift in blame.) “There’s money to be made in radio. Talk radio gets people confused, distracted, angry. Then they can be influenced. Look at talk radio’s big sponsors: the oil industry, entertainment industry, pharma.”
Meanwhile, Cook said, “Online pummels you with ads, unless you pay a subscription fee. Everything is monetized.
“Acceptance, kindness, good humor, those things don’t pay.” But, Cook said, radio as a medium can provide those things. It’s free: no enrollment, accounts, passwords, fees; on community radio, not even any ads.
“You hear music, get information. No one can block you, interfere, tamper with you.”
It always feels like Cornell is the last college football team to take the field and this year that seems especially true. The Big Red does open its season later than most programs — this year, the team visits Lehigh on September 16 and Yale on September 23, and it won’t be until the September 30th Homecoming game that Cornell finally plays at home.
David Archer — C.U. Class of ’05 — is entering his 11th season at the helm after a year as an assistant at Farleigh Dickinson and 4 years as an assistant at his alma mater. Cornell's website states, “From student-athlete to assistant coach to head coach, Archer has seemingly always bled Big Red.”
I caught up with Coach Archer in his office just before he went out on the field for a late-August practice. I was aware that junior Jameson Wang was returning as the Big Red's quarterback, and I asked Archer just how crucial that leadership experience will be. He said, “Jameson had a good year in ’22. He led the Ivy League in total touchdowns last year. (14 passing, 8 rushing)” The coach was pleased to add, “Of our 22 starters on both sides of the ball, 18 are returnees.” Cornell’s Offensive captain will be lineman Micah Sahakian, and the defense will be captained by senior linebacker Jake Stebbins (a preseason All-Ivy pick, and a second-team pick last year).
Coaches are asked to make preseason predictions every year, and having known
Archer for a long time, wanted to “keep it real,” if you will. I asked him what promises he makes to the 100 or so players in camp, what he can’t promise, and he said, “We can’t promise results, but we can promise that trust in our process will pay off.” He added, “Our leadership and our mindset are as good as they've ever been, and if we start out 6-0, I have an expectation that we will be ‘on the edge’ for Game 7. If we start out 0-1, we’ll come out for Game 2 ‘on the edge.’” I asked him to define “ the edge,” and he said, “We define it as not heads, not tails, but the third side of the coin, where we are working, doing and being the best we can be. We advocate finding our personal and competitive edge, and living on it.” He expanded on the point, saying, “Ultimately, staying in the moment, and staying in the process are the only things over which we have any control. That’s what we can promise, that staying in the process will pay off.”
Archer pointed out that in the sport of football (unlike basketball, hockey and lacrosse), Ivy League teams have to get it right the first time around. He said, “Given there are no post-season playoffs and no bowl games, we have one shot.”
I told the coach I assumed that his time as a student-athlete at Cornell made him very relatable and boosted his credibility among his players, and he replied, “I tell every player that I was overwhelmed too at times, and that if anything feels like it's too much, they can call me. There is a
lot to process — academics, personalities, team chemistry — there are life lessons in all of it.”
Of the 18 returnees, nine have been projected to be All-Ivy picks according the the famed preseason prognosticator, Phil Steele Steele predicts that Stebbins will be a first-team selection, while Sahakian, Wang and return specialist Davor Kiser are likely
second-team picks. Steele’s predictions go on to say that tight end Matt Robbert, linebacker Connor Henderson and place kicker Jackson Kennedy are projected thirdteam picks.
Stebbins — a three time All-Ivy selection — was in the league’s top five in tackles, and is a two-time captain.
Sahakian is a seasoned veteran, having been on the field for 613 snaps last year, and having played both tackle positions.
Wang had quite a sophomore season, rushing for 559 yards, passing for 1,650 and ranking in the top 100 in the nation in 14 offensive categories.
Kiser, a second-team All-Ivy pick last year, had an electrifying 91 yard kickoff return for a touchdown, and hopes to add a few more to his resume this year.
Tillman was second on the team with 276 rushing yards, and had a 130 yard game before missing four games with an injury.
Bradley started all ten games last season, and was on the field for 705 snaps.
Robbert snared 31 passes for 468 yards and three touchdowns in 2022.
Henderson was a reliable defender, with 47 tackes and three pass breakups over the course of last season, and Kennedy was 7-for-11 on field goals — including a 45yard game-winner against Colgate. He was also a perfect 25-for-25 on PAT attempts. For more info, visit www.cornellbigred. com.
Awise man once gave me two Life Coaching tidbits: “Know Your Place” and “Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously.” Mike Toerper — Ithaca College’s head coach of football — talked to the same wise man.
Toerper and I talked about the upcoming season, and I asked him if he feels – now that he is entering his second season – like he is closer to running “his own program.”
Of course, when most coaches take the reins, they are coaching players recruited by someone else, and it can take a couple of years for it to feel like “their” program, but there is a different dynamic at play here.
Toerper replied, “Actually, I recruited many of the seniors and 5th-year players when I was here as an assistant (2017-2019), so I have known these guys since they were 17. “He added, “Those players are very special to me, of course, but so is every other player.”
That’s a lot of special. There are 124 players in camp this year, and a coaching staff of ten is tasked with assembling the puzzle pieces. I asked if there is a JV team, and Mike said, “We like to call it a ‘Developmental Squad,’ or our ‘Triple-A Program,’ and those guys will play in four or five contests this fall.”
As for knowing one’s place, Coach Toerper had this to say when I asked if it felt more like “his” program: “Ours is a shared program. Everybody has a piece, and everybody feels a sense of ownership. There is so much to it, and I see my job as just trying to keep it all aligned. Communication is our core value, and we try to get it across to the players that the priority should be to enjoy the journey.”
As for not taking himself too seriously, I was convinced that Toerper had learned that lesson when he told me, “I’m just the guy that answers the question you (sports writers) ask and takes the heat if we lose!”
Coach Toerper did not take a lot of heat in his first season at the program's helm, as the Bombers went 12-1 and did not lose until the Quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III tournament. Ithaca will open the 2023 campaign at Johns Hopkins on September 2 and take the field as the 9thranked team in D-3. Hopking starts the season ranked #18 and will be one of the ranked teams the Bombers will face this year. The other team will be SUNY Cortland (ranked #17), and the famed Cortace Jug will be held at Butterfield Stadium this year (November 11).
Ithaca’s roster includes 56 players who are juniors, seniors, or fifth-year players, 25 are sophomores, and 46 first-year players are in camp, preparing for the 2023 campaign.
Having all those returnees in camp generates a lot of optimism, especially when a returning quarterback has A.J. Wingfield’s resume. Wingfield has started 23 games as the Bombers’ field general, and the team has won 20 of those contests. The QB’s
touchdown-to-interception is impressive — 35 to 5 — and he has completed 69% of his passes while piling up 4,473 yards. Wingfield — the reigning Liberty League Offensive Player of the Year — also has 450 yards as a ball carrier and has scored seven touchdowns as a rusher.
In its preseason projections, D3Football. com has picked Wingfield as a Third-Team All-American, making him the sixth Ithaca College player to be recognized. The others are Nicholas Bahamonde (2022), Will Gladnet (2018), Jordan Schem ((2017) Sam Carney (2014), and Joe Scalise (2005).
Wingfield will have some seasoned help on offense, as wide receivers Sam Kline (19 receptions and 2 TDs in 13 games) and Julien Deumaga (24 receptions and 4 TDs) will return.
Also hoping to inject some excitement into the Bombers’ season is 1st Team All Liberty League player Anthony D’Addetta, who electrified the crowd last season with a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the Bombers’ victory over Bridgewater State. That was the most extended return in I.C. History. D’Addetta returned 30 kicks for a total of 858 yards and did double-duty
Continued on Page 19
By Steve Lawrence
In the 1960s, in Hamburg, New York, Dirk Dugan was a big kid with some big shoes to fill. Dirk’s father was a local orthopedic surgeon who had stormed the beaches in Sicily as an Army General Medical Doctor (Medic), wearing a red cross on his arm, carrying a lot of morphine and no weapon. A lanky 6’5”, Dirk was — no surprise — a standout in basketball, and he also played baseball and tennis. “I was big, strong... and not so fast,” Dugan recalled with a laugh.
Dirk’s dad had gone to Cornell, and was the baseball team captain, and in the younger Dugan’s words, “He was also into tennis, and my upbringing didn’t involve
the typical country club tennis background. We were more of a local swim club family, and I played Little League baseball, youth soccer, basketball and tennis, and I was All-League in the latter two sports.”
Dirk called his father — who was an avid tennis player — “a real spark plug for me in terms of my interest in tennis... especially when I became interested in beating people!” When Dirk was a junior in high school, his dad told him about a guy named Eddie Moylan. Eddie — the coach at Cornell — was a former Davis Cup player, was once a highly-ranked pro, and Dirk’s dad had played him and actually held his own. Following his father to Cornell, Dirk made the basketball team and he laughed again when describing himself as “the worst player on the worst team in the Ivy League!” His prospects looked brighter in tennis, as he was, at 18 years of age — ranked #18 in the East — but, he said, “We weren’t thinking I was a D-1 tennis player at that point.”
As a college player, Dugan found himself across the net from many of those country club players, and he recalled that “Most of those guys had played in fourhundred tournaments.” It was, Dugan said, “a short, 6-week season, played mostly on
4.50 5.00
clay courts, requiring some occasional snow removal,” and in addition to the Ivy schools, Army and Navy were on the schedule. Eager to improve his game, Dirk said, “I played all year. I went to Eastern tournaments, I played on the single court in Barton Hall, and (Professor and local tennis advocate) Roger Livesay and I would set up a net and play on the wooden floor in the Teagle Hall gym.” One of the first indicators that the hard work was paying off at the end of Dugan’s freshman year. “I entered the Colgate Intercollegiate Tournament,” he said, “and I won it.”
During the summers, Dugan worked on a farm, and “got stronger than I had ever been.” He often had to leave work early, as the tournaments he entered in
Buffalo started at 6 pm, and after a day of manual labor, the young upstart would change his clothes and step onto the court. In 1971 (the year before graduating from Cornell), Dirk qualified to play in
Ithaca will literally be surrounded by theatre offerings this fall.
Starting our “theatre crawl” downtown, we find Rachel Lampert stepping back into her producer shoes at the Kitchen Theatre Company as Producing Artistic Director for the upcoming season. Rachel writes, “It’s been a whirlwind getting ready for the 2023-24 season. I am delighted to return to lead the theater in these new and challenging times. We have a diverse slate of plays from an outstanding group of writers. We start with an up-andcoming writer Christian St. Croix and Monsters of the American Cinema. [Sept. 20 – Oct. 1] It’s filled with great scenes, monologues, duologues, and, yes! Monsters!
“For the musical tick, tick...BOOM! by Jonathan Larson [Oct. 18–29], the theater will transform into a Lower Eastside New
York apartment in the 1990s with the audience fully immersed in the action. Scheiss Book [Nov. 8–19] written and performed by Liba Vaynberg is an irreverent laugh riot with a huge heart.”
Spring 2024 will bring Pulitzer Prizewinner Martyna Majok’s Sanctuary City in a co-production with Rochesters GEVA Theatre (“Majok reveals the struggle to make America home”) and Lesley Greene’s playwrighting debut, The Turnaway Play, a compelling account of a research study of women who have had abortions.
The season is a homecoming of sorts: Emily Jackson (I & You, Count Me In) returns as Associate Producing Artistic Director. Her husband Tyler Perry returns as designer for Monsters… with Lampert directing, and frequent Kitchen actor Darian Dauchan (Death Boogie, The Brothers Size) playing Remy: “When his husband dies, Remy Washington, a Black man, finds
himself both the owner of a drive-in movie theater and a caregiver to his late husband’s straight, white teenage son, Pup.” Rachel’s long-time colleagues Stephen Nunley and Lesley Greene are also donating their expertise. (kitchentheatre.org)
Heading up to East Hill, Cornell’s Schwartz Center hosts the renowned performance artist Laurie Anderson for Cornell’s Arts Unplugged [Sept. 26]
Another highlight at the Schwartz will be a staging of Cornell alum Toni Morrison’s theatre piece Desdemona [Oct. 27 & 28].
Director Beth Milles writes, “We are thrilled to present Toni Morrison’s 2011 work Desdemona to honor the 30th anniversary of her Nobel Prize. Desdemona is a poetic response to Shakespeare’s Othello
By Bryan VanCampen
Cornell’s Cinema’s Molly Catherine Ryan took time to talk about a few film highlights in the new calendar, from the queen of midnight movies to a new series devoted to an Asian movie icon.
IT: What’s up this fall, Molly?
MCR: First up, we’re focusing on the pioneering film actress Anna May Wong, who is considered the first Asian-American Hollywood film star. Our five-part series is presented in collaboration with the Wharton Studio Museum and Cinemapolis in honor of Silent Film Movie Month in Ithaca in October. The series will feature two special silent film events with live musical accompaniment including the local group Cloud Chamber Orchestra, who will perform an original experimental score for “The Toll of the Sea” (1922) on Sunday, October 1. We’ll also have one
film downtown at Cinemapolis and a free lecture by Professor Shirley Jennifer Lim, who is both an esteemed Anna May Wong scholar and a Cornell alum.
What’s additionally cool about Anna May Wong is that she experienced these really significant technological shifts in the film industry, including the transition from silent to sound cinema and the shift from black-and-white to color. These advancements were actually pioneered locally by George Eastman at EastmanKodak in Rochester and Theodore Case in Auburn, an exciting way to highlight the importance of our region for the development of cinema.
IT: Your next series is near and dear to my heart�
MCR: Next up, we’re focusing on cult classics! Our Student Advisory Board and I spent the spring semester wrestling with the question of what a cult film is, and we’re excited to share with you an eclectic mix of weird and awesome films. You’ll see some well-known
titles like “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” (1975) as well as deeper cuts like Melvin Van Peebles’ “Sweet Sweetback’s Baddasssss Song” (1971). We really thought about the variety of cult practices that can accompany a film, the way this status can change over time, and the way cult communities are formed at the cinema.
IT: How about a few more?
MCR: Well, we’ll be showing “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” at the end of September. If I could tell you to mark your calendars for one event, it would be the return of the Invincible
to Sage Chapel on Wednesday, October 11 at 7pm. This year, they’ll be performing alongside the classic German horror film “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (1920), which is this amazingly spooky Expressionist film that is about murder and madness and the undead. We try to offer a little something for everyone.
It was originally created in 2011 by Morrison in collaboration with director Peter Sellars and singer-songwriter and activist Rokia Traore. It is an exploration of the complexities of this famous and historically challenging work.
“Desdemona exists in the imaginary space of the afterlife interrogating the pain and healing process (and possibility) of forgiveness across generations- spaces and characters… Desdemona will include student performers onstage performing alongside Malian singer Rokia Traore. Morrison’s work is an evocation and a reflection —centering on human intimacy and presumptions and wounds relating to race– –physical and spiritual violencepositing humility and humanity towards a space of forgiveness.”
Also at the Schwartz you can take in Jihae Park’s Peerless [Sept. 28–30], a “dark comedy about college admissions” directed by Angel Katthi ’24 as well as Love and Information [Nov. 17 & 18]. Directed by Carolyn Goelzer, this is a fascinating dive into our contemporary world of digital [dis]connection by one of our greatest
living playwrights, Caryl Churchill. (pma. cornell.edu)
Leaping on giant legs over to South Hill, Ithaca College Theatre enters its second year as part of the newly formed School of Music, Theatre and Dance. IC’s BFA program is a top ranked pre-professional training ground for actors and designers. IC opens with Sarah DeLappe’s physically thrilling The Wolves [Oct. 4–11], a coming-of-age story set among a girls’ soccer team, directed by Wendy Dann. When Dann directed the play at the Dallas Theater Center, one reviewer wrote, “the immersive quality Wendy Dann favors flatters the writing beautifully, and with action so fluid and talk so rocky momentum is on no kind of short order…. The juxtaposition of taut, stylistic staging and dialogue roughened for believability is a nifty and nimble brand of compelling.”
The fall musical will be Disney’s Newsies (Menken/Feldman/Fierstein) [Oct. 25–Nov. 1], the beloved story of newsboys on strike against Joseph Pulitzer in 1899, bursting with high spirited choreography (here being created by Daniel Gwirtzman, direction by Cynthia Henderson with music direction by Jeff Theis). Notably, the original 2012 Broadway production included IC acting alums Jeremy Jordan as the lead Jack Kelly (scoring a Tony nomination) and Ben Fankhauser as Davy.
Finally, Marc Gomes directs Alistair McDowall’s X [Nov. 29 – Dec. 6]: a crew is marooned on a research base orbiting Pluto. Single tickets for all IC shows go on sale in mid-September. (tickets.ithaca.edu)
Swinging down to the inlet, a few blocks northwest of Wegmans, the Cherry Arts Collective opens its 2023–24 season with “Air Heart [Oct. 19–29], an aerial performance about the life of Amelia Earhart. Created and performed by Mara
Continued on Page 14
2023-24
Subscriptions and Single Tickets
Subscriber benefits: Significant Savings
Choose best available seats
Flexible exchange for no fee
New Subscribers save 50% over single tickets
For tickets and info: CCOithaca.org or call: 607-273-8981
Order online: NewDelhiDiamonds.com
No dine in. Order takeout by phone. Delivery through Doordash and IthacaToGo.
Mon-Sun: 11:30-3:00 p.m. Dinner: 4:30-9:00 p.m.
continued from page 13
Neimanis, the show has received praise around the country for the innovative and beautiful movement-based work that is performed on a 13-foot spinning airplane sculpture.” (thecherry.org)
For a chance to win a free entry, complete this Tiny Town Teaser by Puzzlemaster Adam Perl. Collect all 4 puzzles and name the song from a recently revived Broadway musical for a Merl Reagle Crossword Book. Submit your answers: CrosswordCompetition@hotmail.com
ACROSS
1 As we speak
4 Important stretch
5 “The Daughter of Time” author
DOWN
1 Not gross
2 Metal band?
3 Very, informally
1 2 3 4 5
A fundraiser for Tompkins Learning Partners on Saturday, September 23
To register: CrosswordCompetition.com
This past year, TLP helped adult students get a job for the first time, improve their employment situation, and pass their citizenship interview.
The Cherry Artspace also hosts other performance groups, including House of Ithaqua, who specialize in horror, the weird, and sci-fi. Artistic Director A.J. Sage will mount Jordan Harrison’s Pulitizer Prize finalist Marjorie Prime [Sept. 29 – Oct. 1; Oct. 5–7] at the Cherry.
A.J. writes, “Around the year 2060 advanced holograms of the deceased are available as ‘Primes.’… First and foremost I wanted to center Kristin Sad in a House of Ithaqua project as she’s among our community’s most talented actors. This play is uncanny at times but it’s both speculative fiction and a family drama more so than horror. I was so attracted to Marjorie Prime because it deals with artificial intelligence in a contemplative way, not a frightened way. Not ‘The robots are going to destroy us’ but rather ’Why can’t we cope with a human life being temporary?’”
In addition to Sad, the cast includes Sage, Marie Sirakos, and Mike Chen. (houseofithaqua.com)
Another regular tenant at the Cherry is the Lilypad Puppet Theatre, which produces family shows the first Saturday morning of the month September through June. (lilypadpuppettheatre.org)
As we hop north to the Hangar Theatre, we find Opera Ithaca in residence once
again. Artistic Director Ben Robinson writes, “…the second annual Opera Ithaca Festival [Nov. 4–12] …features Antonín Dvořák’s transcendently beautiful Rusalka [Nov. 10 & 12]; playing alongside a truly unique staged production of Die schöne Müllerin and Molly Joyce’s fabulous response, YousaidShesaidHesaid.” [Nov. 11]
Among the artists singing will be former Trumansburg native, baritone Geoffrey Peterson, performing Die schone Mullerin (Note: Opera Ithaca’s September production, Scalia/Ginsberg is sold out.) (operaithaca.org)
Speaking of the Hangar Theatre, which had a stellar if shorter 2023 season, Artistic Director Shirley Serotsky is gearing up for their 50th anniversary season in 2024. Subscriptions and donations are welcome anytime. (hangartheatre.org)
Staying north, we run over to Ithaca High School’s Kulp auditorium; in addition to school events, it will be the home of Running to Places’ production of Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach, Jr. [Oct 14 & 15]. Under founder and Artistic Director Joey Steinhagen, R2P “brings middle and high school students together from across Tompkins County and beyond to make friends and develop critical life skills through the art of theatre.” Participation is free, no youth is ‘cut’ from the cast, and attendance is also free.
Time to circle back to the heart of downtown. The Community School of Music and Arts’ Hamblin Hall plays host to several companies. Catch Lilypad in another guise as they present their first Slam Jamboree! [Sept 15 & 16] at CSMA, described as “a puppet variety show for adults!”
Coming in December at CSMA, Theatre Incognita returns to live theatre after a long hiatus, promising a beloved classic about family for the holidays. In the spring, look for their multimedia take on Macbeth. (theatreincognita.org)
There’s still more to keep an eye out for, though not all are in production this fall: Civic Ensemble, Triphammer Arts, Walking on Water, Trumansburg’s Encore Players, the Savage Club of Ithaca, Homecoming Players, Ithaca Shakespeare Company, as well as student-led productions in our ten square miles of theatre surrounded by reality.
Swinging through our area throughout the long weekend, the third annual Hupstate Circus Festival will bring dozens of circus shows, workshops, and meetups to Ithaca. The festival will feature over a dozen different circus shows from around the world and will be headlined by
Stars Above — a world class, all American open air circus that will be returning to Ithaca for the third time due to popular demand. Joining them will be artists and performing companies from Ecuador, Canada, Ireland, Ithaca, Rochester, Boston, Chicago, Vermont, and more — all bringing original circus arts to the Finger Lakes for a full weekend of activity for people of all ages.
Hupstate 2023 will present one of the largest gatherings of USA based circus companies in one place known to date. It is the only international all circus performance festival running in the USA. Hupstate aims to bring visibility to how vibrant, diverse, and exciting the artform of circus is.
Ithaca community venues are working together to make this festival as accessible as possible and include: Cherry Artspace, Hangar Theatre, Community School of Music and Arts, Downtown Ithaca Alliance, Cass Park, Press Bay, and the Allan H. Treman Marina Park. American Sign Language Interpretation will be available at many shows, and all venues are ADA compliant.
The program begins on Friday Sept 1st — Ithaca’s first Friday Gallery Night — with free performances on the Ithaca Commons, and circus inspired visual arts at participating galleries such as The Mink Gallery, State of the Art, Sacred Root Kava Bar, and Handwork Coop. Modern Vaudeville Press, the only circus specific publisher in the USA, will have a presence all weekend. Highlights also
include free programming in the Press Bay Backlot downtown with free circus shows and circus stations where people of all ages can learn circus skills all weekend. Workshops will be led by the People Watching Collective from Montreal, Canada.
Offerings include free and ticketed shows, indoor and outdoor performances, family friendly, and adult only shows. Additionally, the Big Red Juggle Festival will be happening in tandem at Cornell University - returning after a long hiatus and offering free juggling experiences for all.
The Festival is led by festival director (and Circus Culture founder) Amy Cohen, who has over 20 years of professional experience in circus and arts administration and was a Fulbright Scholar with research in contemporary circus. Media and design direction is provided by award winning circus photographer and artist Avi Pryntz-Nadworny. Daia Bromberg of Ithaca, NY supports as associate producer, along with dozens of Circus Culture staff, community members, and volunteers supporting the efforts on festival weekend.
Sept. 1-4
Events on the Commons, Printers Alley and elsewhere around the area
Some events free others paid www.hupstatecircus.org
In the development of the comic book genre, there are critical landmarks. Martin Scorsese saying that comic book movies aren’t cinema would be one such landmark, and another would be the arrival of Angel Manuel Sota’s “Blue Beetle”, the first DC movie that feels top to bottom like a Marvel ripoff, a classic example of how a movie that’s meant to feel unique ends up feeling completely generic; Blue Beetle may be played by a charismatic Hispanic actor named Xolo Maridueña, but his costume looks like a rip-off of Iron Man crossed with the bad guy’s outfit from “Ant-Man”, and now there are so many of these things in the culture that the creatives are literally choosing from column A and column B.
“Blue Beetle” is even more distressing given how much everyone involved wanted something different. Maridueña plays Jaime Reyes, a newly graduated college student, come home to live with his loving, scrappy family and get a job. What he gets instead is a blue symbiote suit that instantly fuses to his body, and within seconds he’s zipping around in space like Superman and Iron Man. Back on Earth, Susan Sarandon, the movie’s one A-list star, plays a woman embroiled in a hard-tech security company, determined to take Blue Beetle down, and in her words, rip the symbiote suit from his dead body.
Every time Manuel Sota and writer Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer get something interesting and funky going with Blue Beetle and his family — George Lopez steals the
picture as Jaime’s eccentric, paranoid uncle inventor — the rigid comic book structure always drags everything back to Sarandon and her goons, killing time twisting her moustache.
It doesn’t help matters that Susan Sarandon gives such a surface, cliched performance, but to be fair, she’s always better and more nuanced in every other film she’s ever done. (Reading between the lines, you can tell that comic book movies aren’t her bag — another landmark in the development of the genre.)
(Warner Bros. Pictures-DC Comics-The Safran Company, 2023, 127 min.
playing at Cinemapolis and Regal Stadium 14.
By Carol A. Henry
Who knew how involved baking a pumpkin pie could be. From a baker’s point of view, the recipe is simple to follow. From a pumpkin’s point of view, not so easy. After all, there’s the whole journey of growing and ripening before the transformation into pie. In her second picture book, Sue Heavenrich weaves science into her creative and colorful children’s picture book.
“The Pie That Molly Grew,” illustrated by Chamisa Kellogg and published by Sleeping Bear Press, uses “The House That Jack Built” rhyme scheme. Beginning with the planting of a single seed that Molly sowed, the journey of bringing a pumpkin to harvest comes to life for young readers, as well as adults.
“From roots and shoots to stems and leaves, this story shows how plants grow,” Heavenrich said. A former science teacher, Heavenrich wanted to make sure the plant science was accurate while keeping the language lively and fun.
“I started by asking questions, like what is the main function of a root or stem. Then I thought about different ways to explain it, and made an ongoing list of words and phrases that I referred to throughout the writing process.”
Illustrated by Charnisa Kellogg
Available in bookstores now
Book Release party Sat. Sept. 9 at Tioga Arts Council
continued from page 7
These are attributes, but do they justify the effort of broadcasting, of seeking to create community, when it's so easy just to go online for boundless content?
Here Cook was especially philosophical about his show. “It’s like a beatitude, a meditation, a prayer, a discipline. It’s an
Getting the facts right means research, and while you can learn a lot by reading books or online articles, sometimes you have to head out into the field. For Heavenrich, that meant going into her garden to answer such questions as: How prickly are the vines? What kinds of bees hang out in the pumpkin blossoms? And how big is a pumpkin leaf?
Last summer some of the leaves were large enough that I could have used them as shade hats,” Heavenrich said.
Heavenrich includes important and fun facts—“back matter”—about not only the pumpkins, but the important pollinators who help them grow. Oh, and a delicious pumpkin pie recipe.
“When I write a book for children, I’m also thinking about the adults who will be reading the book—and the questions a kid might ask,” Heavenrich said. “I want to provide information that parents and teachers and homeschoolers can use to explore beyond the book.”
Heavenrich worked as an environmental and community journalist for many years. Now she writes magazine articles and books for children and their families. When the ground is warm and the sun is shining, she plants pumpkin seeds in her own garden, and watches—and counts—the many kinds of bees that visit. And when it’s time, she confesses to slicing and dicing her own pumpkins, and mixing with spices to bake up her favorite kind of pie– pumpkin!
Illustrator Chamisa Kellogg is also an avid gardener and just as passionate about growing pumpkins—and making pie! Based in Portland, Ore., her work is influenced by her love for plants and nature, and she strives to make art that celebrates compassion, hope, and connec-
experience, and the passion for expression is something you know is real.”
Ultimately, Cook had an earthier sports metaphor for his effort. “It’s an act of defiance,” he said. “I’m like a nose guard in football with the radio.” He leaned forward and made a gesture of holding something tightly and protectively. “I might not win the game, but I’m getting to the goal line.”
tion. The Pie that Molly Grew was released on Tuesday, Aug. 15 in bookstores everywhere. A book release party and reading
will take place on Saturday afternoon, Sept. 9 at Tioga Arts Council with activities and cake. Pumpkin, of course.
Dona Roman had every intention of retiring, then thought, “Hey, I still have something to contribute.” Her resume posting on “Indeed” drew the attention of the Trumansburg Conservatory’s then-executive director Mark Costa, who realized that the job specifications fit her qualifications and experience to a tee — she had a had been a professor of theater and the director of the theater program at Sul Ross State University in West Texas for 15 years. Previous to that, she had been a professional actor, an administrator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Sales Manager at Apple Computer. Though located in Texas’ remote Big Bend country, Sul Ross was close to Marfa, famous for
its many artists and other creatives, not too different from the Finger Lakes area.
After years of living in the high desert at the McDonald Observatory where her husband, Brian Roman, was resident astronomer, the pair were ready to retire to an area with water, culture, an intellectual life, and with the many beautiful natural attributes that the Finger Lakes region offers, and after circling the country, they decided on Trumansburg and bought a home just outside of T’Burg in Ulysses)
Beginning with a glimpse of the area 30 years ago at a Galileo Spacecraft meeting in Ithaca, Brian had harbored a dream of returning to this area. Dona, who had grown up on lakes, fishing, swimming, and water skiing, was eager to return to greener surroundings. And water — the Finger Lakes — was key to their search for
a retirement home, and a place where they hope to entice their family to settle in. And so here they are.
Since her arrival at the Conservatory a year ago, Dona has worked hard to upgrade the Conservatory’s gallery space — she’s handy with a paintbrush, and her hardworking board of directors pitches in with everything from ushering events and putting together concert series, to joining her at the paint can. In addition, she has programmed the recital space for events many months out. There are now five exhibits scheduled for the gallery space, this coming year. She said, “My first approach was to build the events schedule. It did the job. In eleven months we almost doubled our attendance numbers from pre-COVID attendance. And because of dance program director Samantha Johnson, who worked with the schools to get the word out, the dance program has blossomed to serve 222 students. Board member Marina Delany has reinvigorated the arts program with classes for adults and children.”
Dona credits former director Mark Costa, still working with the Conservatory remotely and virtually, with keeping the institution in the black during COVID when many arts organizations struggled to survive, by mounting online concerts and other appealing virtual activities.
And, since then the Conservatory has been awarded a matching grant of $279,000 from New York State Council on the Arts
towards updating the handsome, monumental 1850s former church, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, upgrading, repairing, and rendering it accessible. The Conservatory, with a deadline of three years to raise the matching funds, has already raised $112,000 towards the project. The renovation is expected to begin as the funds are collected at the Conservatory.
The next major fundraiser is an event attracting local music fans as well as “from away” Grassroots regulars. Titled “Gems of the Finger Lakes: Grassroots Unplugged,” the weekend of September 9 and 10, features a dozen Grassroots bands playing on both indoor and outdoor stages at the Conservatory, plein air painting, magic, face painting, a food truck overseen by Grassroots regular Katy Walker, an auction of gems cut by internationally known Trumansburg gemologist/artist, Mark Oros, and plenty of food and drink for purchase.
Sept. 9-10 Trumansburg Conservatory
5 McLallen Street
Tickets $45/day; $80/weekend Earlybird (before Sept. 7) $35/day; $60 weekend tburgconservatory.org
All performers and other participants are donating their services in support of the Conservatory’s role in the arts and arts education — dance, music, theater, fine arts — with its outreach in Tompkins and surrounding counties, a powerful cultural asset to the Finger Lakes region.
“Gems of the Finger Lakes: Grassroots Unplugged”Dona Roman, Executive Artistic Director, Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts, has big plans for it. (Photo: Provided)
to 80% of their health insurance costs.
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Even though the Common Council decided to approve a lower salary range than was recommended by the consultant, the City Manager will still go on to be the highest-paid position in the city. The next highest-paid position is the Chief of Police, who earns an annual salary of $150,000.
It is important to mention that these salaries do not include the additional cost of optional fringe benefits offered by the city, such as subsidizing health insurance costs. According to Alderperson Fleming, if a member of the Common Council opts into their benefits, the city has an obligation to spend an additional $22,000 to cover up
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would allocate $1,853,534 towards the total project — about 57% of the total cost. The Town of Ithaca will give $1,326,083 — about 40% of the total cost, and the Town of Dryden will be allocating $64,228 — about 1.98% of the total cost. According to Brock, “authorization of this project is contingent upon action by all wastewater partners, committing their percentage of reimbursement shares to the joint activity fund allocated per the joint sewer agreement.”
While he admitted that the renovation cost was high, Gibson said that “repairs like this have to be done on an almost 40-yearold facility.” He said that the cost of renovations has continued to increase as projects frequently result in realizing that additional renovations must be made. “By the time you get through the spaghetti network of piping that runs the boiler plant at the wastewater plant, a lot of times you find better efficient ways to run the system,” Gibson said. He added, “By the time we were done, we were a million dollars in the hole.”
While discussing the proposal, Mayor Laura Lewis said, “These are big numbers. This plant has tremendous needs…and we have known for some years that there is a need for repair.” Lewis added, “These are much-needed renovations that also address our sustainability goals.”
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as a receiver, catching eight passes for 99 yards and two scores.
On the defensive side of the ball, the backfield will have some experience, as Dback Tamir Rowser returns, having record-
In addition, when salaries increase, so does the cost of benefits provided. As a result, the cost of benefits will increase for Common Council members and decrease for the Mayor. While salary agreements have been made, City Attorney Ari Lavine has said that the new wages for Mayor and Common Council members won’t be made official until they are approved by the Common Council at their upcoming meeting on September 6. Additionally, the salary range for City Manager won’t become official until October 6, when the Common Council will vote to approve the draft amendment to the city charter that will legally authorize the transition to a city manager form of government.
In regards to upgrading the facility to align with the goals of the Ithaca Green New Deal, Gibson said, “We’re talking about taking our entire administration building off the boiler loop and putting it under a heat pump system, which is what a lot of folks are doing with residential and commercial buildings now.” However, he continued saying that those upgrades cannot be done unless renovations are made to the roof.
Gibson told the Common Council that “these aren’t significant improvements to the plant where we’re suddenly running a different process that we had never thought of before; these are to repair things that exist today.” He added that “after 20 years, these things accelerate and compound, and before you know it, you’ve got a big ticket item in front of you.”
According to Brock, “The revenue that would pay for this debt comes out of our water and sewer fund, so this is not a debt that is attached to the city in terms of our general fund.” She added that revenue will come from water and sewer fees that pay for facility operations and capital projects.
Brock continued by saying that “one of the benefits of the sewer system is anybody who flushes a toilet, regardless of whether [it’s] a church or school or nonprofit, will pay [their] sewer fee. So this is a very egalitarian process, and it is also essential to make sure that Cornell is paying appropriately for those fees.”
ed 16 tackles in 12 games last year, as does fellow corner Ryan Salisbury, who had 13 stops. Junior Jake Connolly looks to come back as strong as last year, when he had 36 tackles in 13 games, as does linebacker Ben Stola, who played in all 13 games and was credited with 43 tackles.
For more info regarding scheduling and tickets, visit www.ithaca.edu.
TEN
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that indicated that Rath “had at one point been in the residence at 70 Benjamin Hill Road in the Town of Newfield.” He added that a search warrant was executed on that location on the same day. Two days after the search, more than 80 police officers and volunteers conducted another search of the area surrounding the 70 Benjamin Hill Road location. In total, more than 40 search warrants were executed in various places.
Significant developments occurred on August 3, which led to the location of Mr. Rath’s remains. “Mr. Rath’s remains were located on state-owned lands in the Town of Candor in Tioga County, buried in a shallow grave,” Anthony said.
Anthony told reporters that the first arrest in connection with the incident occurred on August 16 and that the most recent arrest occurred on August 24. Ten defendants have been arrested, and police say more arrests will happen in the coming
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the NCAA tournament at the University of Notre Dame, and he and his sister piled into her VW Beetle and made the trip. They stated with a high school friend of hers (who took the photo accompanying this story), and upon arrival on Sunday night, Dirk, needed to get ready to play, so, he recalled, “I asked a lefty carrying a T-2000 (state-of-the art tennis racquet in the 1970s) to warm me up.” The guy turned up his nose, but reluctantly obliged. Dirk would later come to realize that the lefty — a guy named Jimmy Connors — had a propensity to turn up his nose at a lot of people. “I won two rounds at that tournament,” Dugan said. “I beat a ranked player from Stanford named Stanley Pasarell, who said I was ’the best player he had ever seen,’ and then I beat a guy from Colorado,and he actually started crying. That when I realized that this must be important to some people.”
Dugan would lose in the third round to a player from India’s Davis Cup team, and he would later go on to play the wellknown pro named Vitas Gerulaitis, who later put forth the statement that Dirk “had the best serve I have ever faced.”
Dirk’s upward trajectory as a tennis player would — sadly — end soon thereafter. “During my senior year,” Dirk recalled, “my elbow went bad, and I stopped developing, and I stopped winning.” In 1972, he had surgery, but it wouldn’t be until nearly 50 years later that he would discover that
weeks. Two defendants have been charged with Murder in the Second Degree, and nine have been charged with Kidnapping in the First Degree.
According to Anthony, since the murder occurred in Tioga County, “the prosecution will occur in the Tioga County Court under the direction of District Attorney Kirk Martin.”
When asked to explain the cause of death, police were reluctant to reveal that information. “We’re gonna hold off on that because the investigation is ongoing, and we don’t want to compromise anything right now,” VanAuken said. However, VanAuken did mention that this was not a random act of violence and that the defendants were people that Rath “was familiar with.”
Anthony said, “Some of these details will have to wait for court, unfortunately. It is an ongoing investigation, more arrests are coming. So some of that information is limited as to what we can release at this time.”
the procedure was not the success it might have been.
Dugan went on to Medical School at the University of Buffalo, specialized in orthopedics, and had a long and esteemed career as an Ithaca-based surgeon. He still won a half-dozen Tompkins County titles, and in his words, “I kept John Gorsky in shape.” Gorsky’s name is also synonymous with local tennis excellence, and the two played together for 50 years.
In 2019, Dugan consulted with a young and progressive surgeon who discovered that the initial surgery had — if you will — left some unfinished business. Dirk underwent a follow-up surgery on his long-compromised elbow, and lo and behold, it was a success. He has retired from his medical practice, and he is back out on the circuit, playing in the Houston National Indoor Tournament (hard court) for the past 2 years, and will also be playing in some clay court tournaments in Florida. He’ll was scheduled to play in a grass court tournament in Philadelphia in August, and he said, “I’ll be playing both Singles and Doubles. I have great Doubles partners — Tom Jaklitsch (Cornell ’73) and Al Hughes. Both are ranked in the Top 20 nationally in Singles, 70 and over..
This tennis Renaissance is a pleasant surprise to Dugan, who told me, “Sports Medicine and Orthopedics keep improving, and having been there helps me in my own journey. My agility is actually improving.” He added with a smile that was equal parts gratitude and ruthlessness, “I got a second life, and I’m back to trying to beat people!”