Archive: Around Town

US Congressman Tom Reed (NY-23) announced a grant of $233,353 has been awarded to Sciencenter in Ithaca, New York through the Museums for America Program. The funding for the Museums for America program is disbursed through the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

"We care about ensuring our communities and children can benefit from enjoyable educational experiences such as the Sciencenter," said Tom. "With fair access to the funding they need, local museums like the Sciencenter can properly serve our communities and help support children's educational development. We were proud to fight for this funding and will continue to do so in the future."

New Roots Charter School will offer a hybrid plan of instruction tailored to student interests and needs in the 2020-21 school year, Superintendent Tina Nilsen-Hodges announced today.

"Our hybrid model will blend quality remote instruction with safe in-school learning experiences and outdoor fieldwork and community service projects. With a schedule and academic calendar designed to orient students to the rhythms of college and career, we can design unique pathways through the fall semester tailored to students' interests and needs, with the opportunity to redesign the spring semester as needed," she said.

The Lansing Central School District is one of the most equitable districts in New York State according to a new Wallethub analysis.  While it is well known that students from poor families face more challenges than their wealthier counterparts, the analysis shows Lansing is doing quite a lot to even the playing field.  The analysis looked at 675 New York State school districts to see which had the most and least discrepancies between rich and poor students.  Lansing ranked 13th most equitable in the list where lower ranking numbers show the most equitable districts and high numbers the least.

"If we ensure that all school districts have equitable funding, that will help to level the playing field for students in less affluent communities. It will improve graduation rates in previously underfunded districts and lead to greater rates of pursuing higher education and better future incomes,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “College graduates have $460 - $1,154 higher median weekly earnings than people with a high school diploma and no college experience, depending on the degree."

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Tompkins County Clerk Maureen Reynolds was recognized by NYS Senator Pam Helming Tuesday, in the Finger Lakes Visitors Center in Geneva, NY, as a 2020 Women of Distinction nominee.  Each year the New York State Senate recognizes women who make a positive impact in their communities.  Reynolds was nominated by Lansing Town Clerk Deborah Munson.

"This is an exciting time in women's history! 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage," Helming said. "Because of the brave women that came before us, women living in this great nation have the opportunity to vote and to have our voices heard!"

United Way of Tompkins County announced its grant allocations for the 2020-21 Community Care Fund (CCF), which supports essential financial stability, health, and education services for those living and working in Tompkins County. A total of $750,000 has been allocated to programs for the period of July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021. United Way volunteer reviewers, with the approval of the UWTC Board of Directors, evaluate local programs that can provide measurable, positive outcomes and that address identified priorities to meet community needs.

This year’s fifty recipients will administer eighty programs and partner with an estimated 1 in 5 residents as they work to reach their best potential. With 44% of Tompkins County residents earning less than the basic cost of living, these programs can make a significant difference.

Ahead of students' return to Ithaca next month, Cornell has launched a robust public health campaign that asks every member of the community to do their part to limit spread of COVID-19, on and off campus.  Through social media feeds, inboxes, signage blanketing campus and nudges from fellow Cornellians, the campaign will reinforce early and often the need for students, faculty and staff to adhere to essential protective behaviors including wearing face coverings, physical distancing and good hand hygiene.

"It's critical that we as a community do all we can to create an environment that does not create added risk for the more vulnerable among us," said Timothy C. Marchell '82, director of the Skorton Center for Health Initiatives at Cornell Health. "The public health campaign sets the stage for that shared effort by communicating expectations, increasing knowledge and calling upon everyone in the Cornell community to do the right thing during this global pandemic."

Tompkins County is currently in Phase 4 of reopening, which means more people are returning to work.  A local architecture firm, with offices in Ithaca and Syracuse decided to use a computer model to see exactly how safe the common studio work space in their Ithaca office would be when employees came back to work.  Holt Architects Principal Steve Hugo narrates two videos that show how one infected un-masked person coughing three times over a ten minute period could spread a devastating cloud of droplets over the first 30 feet of their common work-space area, and enough droplets to infect co-workers 50 feet away.  Hugo says the staff wanted to know whether it would be safe to remove their masks while working at their workstations.  The result?  Six feet of separation is not nearly enough for people who are not wearing masks.

The Museum of the Earth has been given the go-ahead to reopen by New York State, and is making health and safety its top priority. The Museum will be open to the general public starting August 8, 2020. New hours are 10 am – 5 pm on Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays.

The museum is featuring its “Bees! Diversity, Evolution, Conservation” special exhibit. The run has been extended through the end of 2020The exhibit explores their ancient origins, their immense diversity, and the ever-evolving drama between flowers and pollinators.

Tompkins County historian Carol Kammen has been awarded the 2020 Lehman Prize for Distinguished Service in New York History. She is being recognized for her career writing, promoting, and contributing to local community history. Kammen has served as county historian since 2000. The award is given annually as a part of the New York Academy of History's mission to promote and honor outstanding and life-long contributions to New York history, and is named for former New York State Governor Herbert H. Lehman.

When asked to reflect on her experience and achievements, Kammen stated, "I came to Ithaca in 1965, and sort of fell into doing history. My kind of history was not the kind of history people had done, until the 1960's it had been about old families, battles, and institutions, whereas I was interested in women, people of color and different ethnicities, and of mobility. Not only did people come and go, but people who came here moved around a lot. People's lifelong search for something better interested me."

Dateline July 22, 2005 - After a summer of consulting local community leaders and online experimentation the Lansing Star Online launched it's first issue, which featured the landmark Rogues Harbor Inn, an interview with then Lansing Schools Athletic Director Ed Redmond, a report on an controversial cell tower approval, and a new Harry Potter book at the Lansing Library (it was Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince).  That began what we hoped would be a five year run to match the tenure of our predecessor, the Lansing Community News.  Matthew Shulman, the editor of that paper which had ceased publication five years earlier, contributed our first editorial, figuratively handing over the baton to us.

He wrote, "To Lansing Star publishers, Karen and Dan Veaner, we offer our heartfelt wish that their enterprise be faithful and successful. To the Lansingites who will benefit from their efforts, we urge you to manifest your support of their efforts in every concrete way possible: letters, news tips, articles and financial aid. When Aline and I shuttered the Lansing Community News in 2000, a great part of our regret was that Lansing was again dependent on regional rather than local coverage. That local coverage is present once more."

United Way of Tompkins County (UWTC) recognizes that volunteers are the key to its existence and success, and that is especially true this year as the organization ended its fiscal year having raised over $2,000,000 for important funded partners. This achievement was made possible by the support of more than 50 volunteer board and committee members, as well as dozens of individuals who volunteered at special events and hosted individual fundraisers throughout the campaign year. Upon closing the campaign, UWTC recognized its volunteers' passion for both our community and the well-being of our neighbors as expressed through their dedication to United Way of Tompkins County and its mission. During the organization's Annual Celebration at the end of June, three awards were given to recognize volunteer leaders for their outstanding support and service:

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