Archive: Around Town

A robot visited the Lansing Board Of Education Monday, when High School Physics Teacher Andrea Schneider brought the Lansing Robotics Team to report on their first year as an officially recognized club.  Team members Zach Wenzel, Matt Robinson, Thomas Galvin, Amanda Van, Elizabeth Barrett, Emily Schweitzer displayed their robot and laid out future plans.

"You have two minutes where we control the robot and 30 seconds when it is autonomous," said Wenzel.  "We had to use movable tubes, whiffle balls and smaller balls.  The robot had to collect the balls and put them into the tubes, then move the tubes into scoring areas."

On Friday, March 6th from 6AM-6PM WHCU Morning Newswatch host Lee Rayburn took over the radio station and offered a different restaurant and wine pairing every hour to listeners with the highest bid. All the proceeds went directly to the United Way of Tompkins County. Each restaurant had donated a $200 gift certificate and each winery donated a case of win or craft beer. The auction raised $5,350.00 and included a pledge from Overhead Door of Cortland.

"I am humbled and grateful for the generosity of WHCU's listeners," said on-air host Lee Rayburn." I am overwhelmed by the support that our local businesses give to the United Way's efforts. I am overjoyed by the difference that the United Way makes through its affiliate organizations and their daily work in creating a quality of life in our community that is clearly second to none."

Ithaca High School's FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Team 639 Code Red Robotics concluded their six-week build season at midnight on February 17.  Since January 3, the 75 Code Red Robotics high school students have worked from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. on weekdays and 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays with approximately 20 local technological experts who act as mentors to build a 120-lb robot to play a game that FIRST provides them with each year.  

On the first Saturday of January, FIRST released a video animation describing a game that each of the 3,000 FIRST robotics teams will build a robot to play during the following build season.  This year's game, "Recycle Rush", involves stacking recycling totes and bins, and placing pool noodles (representing "litter") on top.

Yeah, yeah environmentalists have their explanations of why we've had such a frozen winter all over America when global warming is supposed to be happening.  But the fact is Jay Ward figured out the real reason behind climate change almost 50 years ago.

Ward was known for his more famous creations, Rocky and Bullwinkle.  So little did anyone suspect in the late '60s that Ward would be the one to crack the mystery of climate change.  He laid out his theory on October 3rd, 1967 in a Super Chicken segment on the George of the Jungle Show.

by Ashley Fleming

Eeyore was rescued from an out of county hoarding case and had very little human interaction in his first couple years of life. He was put into a foster home to receive a little extra TLC and to avoid having him wait for his forever home in the shelter. While he was very nervous and scared at first, he is adjusting well and his playful personality has quickly emerged. Eeyore enjoys following his foster mom (and the other dogs and cat) around the house and wants to be included in whatever is going on. He is housetrained, but a little hesitant to go outside on his own. A fenced yard would be ideal in his new home so that he can race around and play. While at first he wasn’t too comfortable being pet and quick movements frightened him, he has improved and does allow his foster mom to pet him and scratch his back while they watch TV. Any adopter would get great satisfaction out of bringing this little guy even further out of his shell. If you’re up for the challenge and willing to help Eeyore reach his full potential, contact the SPCA adoption staff at 607-257-1822 ext. 221 to set up a time to meet him!

Visit the SPCA Web Page

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Over 300 members of the community of all ages gathered for the Ithaca Public Education Initiative (IPEI) Adult Spelling Bee on Sunday, March 1 in the Ithaca High School Wellness Center Gym. The 17th annual event featured 28 spelling teams of three adults each competing for the championship Fuzzy Bee trophy and raising $26,000 for IPEI's grants for teachers.

I.H.S. Bee-T-A, representing the Ithaca High School PTA, was victorious spelling "idiosyncratic" after Highway to Spell from Cayuga Radio Group misspelled it. Following four preliminary rounds with seven teams in each, four finalist teams advanced to the championship round including We Spell Krazy Good and the Bunco Bees. In addition, the Caroline Bee-tniks were recognized for having the Best Costumes and Most Spirit.  The ICSD Librarians known as #icsdlibs raised the most funds for their team entry.

When most people think of opera they think of lavish productions with enormous sets, rich costumes and lighting, virtuoso tenors and the proverbial fat lady singing.  Opera Ithaca, the region's new professional opera company, breaks those stereotypes.  With its first production under its belt and another due to open March 28th has hit the ground running.  General Director Zachary James and Artistic Director Lynn Craver say they are bringing an intimate version of professional opera to Ithaca.

"We want to do something exciting and visceral," James says.  "There is something really thrilling about opera in an intimate space.  Imagine 20 people singing at once in the Lehman Theater.  Your whole body is going to vibrate in the audiance."

The Tompkins County Solid Waste Division has received a nearly $15,000 waste reduction grant from the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute (NYSP2I). The grant was accepted by unanimous vote at the February 17th meeting of the County Legislature.

The project – Save the Food: Cooking Up a Food Waste Prevention Campaign for Tompkins County – will further the County's goal of 75% waste diversion by the end of 2016.

by Ashley Fleming

Odie was a stray brought to the shelter by his finder, who already has several cats of her own. Odie tested positive for FIV; cats who test positive can and do live perfectly normal lives, just as long as non-FIV felines. Odie's rescuer reported that he is sweet and friendly, though a little skittish in noisy environments On the other hand, Odie himself is pretty vocal - perhaps he just likes to make his own noise! Nevertheless, we feel Odie would do best in a home without children, given his concern with noises. If you are interested in taking this beautiful boy home, Odie would be dee-lighted!

Visit the SPCA Web Page

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If you are a fan of WHCU's Morning Newswatch you are in for a treat.  The show usually runs from 5:30am to 9am, but next Friday (March 6th) you can listen to host Lee Rayburn on 870 AM and 95.9 FM all day long.  The very first News Talk WHCU Wine & Dine Radiothon will be an extension of the show, with all the national and local news, regular features, local guests Greg Fry and the WHCU News Team.  And listeners will get to bid on 13 Wine & Dine packages to benefit United Way of Tompkins County.

"This is a chance to be local all day long, and for that I am grateful," Rayburn says.  "It's an opportunity to give back to the United Way, and when you consider how much they give back to our community it's totally worth it.  And to see some of our favorite restaurants stepping up and contributing, and the audience that bids on these restaurant and wine pairings."

Lansing High School students have their eyes on raiding thousands of dollars so that children with cancer can go to camp with other kids like them at no charge.  That is what Next Friday's (March 6th) Night of Life is all about.  The Night of Life committee will be hosting a chicken barbecue and a basketball game that pits seniors against faculty, with the proceeds going to Camp Good Days and Special Times.

"The goal of Camp Good Days is to have the program be free of charge for kids," says Night of Life Committee President Ben Eisenhut, a senior.  "So we raise money to offset the cost.  We ask everybody on the committee to solicit local companies in the hope that three quarters will get donations.  This year we're hoping to get about 30 to give, on average, $100."

The most sensitive and challenging times for our immune systems are the periods of the year when seasons change. Here in the northeastern part of the States we witness and endure harsh polar temperatures for a good portion of winter. Even the most robust and healthiest organisms have quite the task to keep up with climatic factors such as harsh wind chills, extremely dry air, and daunting cold. Yet spring is at our doors and, same as nature, our bodies are waking up to renew and shed off winter burdens. The immune system, exhausted from winter, has a hard time smoothly picking up a new budding flow of energy and many of us are getting respiratory infections such as cold, flu, sinus infections, and sometimes even bronchitis and pneumonia.

In theories of Chinese medicine viral and bacterial infections are described as a 'Wind attack'. Various climatic factors describe particular diagnosis, so wind can be cold in nature (viral infections) or hot (bacterial infections). Same as the wind in nature, colds and flu have sudden onset and relatively short duration of symptoms, but can be debilitating and cause complication if not addressed properly or if immune system is already compromised.