- By Jim Evans
- Around Town
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| A few years ago, my heart stopped functioning properly. A cardiac artery was blocked, and I felt some strange and scary symptoms. The blockage was relieved with a stent, and the hospital that installed it included a detailed lecture to all such patients. They don’t want to see us again. Heeding that information has kept me healthy, and I want to share what I’ve learned. | ||
I’m rather partial to ravioli, which in restaurants or frozen food cases is much too high in saturated fat to be safe. The solution? I make it myself. It’s really not that hard, if you have the right tools. You’re getting the first look at a recipe I’ve developed that’s so good that non-dieters will gobble up your share if you let them.
The first week of 2015 is behind us! Countless resolutions are still wrapping up the anxiously ambitious minds of many. Gyms are overflowing with new members. Magazines and social media advertise overzealous dieting tips to lose the extra pounds gained over the holidays. Three days, ten days, two weeks detox regimes are setting a race for a big prize of all inclusive arrangements for better and healthier us. Numerous workshops and seminars offer jump start to, well- new everything! We are determined to change our bodies, our careers, our relationships, our lives... and as a result, we never quite get there. But there are effective things we can do.
The IthacaSTEM Advocates, an affiliate of the Ithaca Public Education Initiative (IPEI) has created an entrepreneurship component to the capstone pre-engineering class at Ithaca High School. With the help of community members, students have been taught and mentored as they develop a product idea before doing the research and design preparation for building a prototype. On December 18, students pitched their ideas to a panel of judges at the Business Idea Challenge Night held at Rev, the new business incubator in downtown Ithaca. The judges decided which teams would receive funding needed to buy supplies for their prototyping during the spring semester of EDD, Engineering Design and Development of the Project Lead the Way series of high school courses.
This Saturday at 7pm the second '
Millions of Americans who get their health insurance through work are benefitting from the Affordable Care Act, and millions of others have signed up for the Health Insurance Marketplaces and received financial assistance to lower their monthly premiums.
Lansing is a busy community, and we can't begin to cover everything that happens here. So it is inevitable that many things will be left out of this review. Consider this a 'taste' of activities that took place here last year. More of a smorgasbord, with manny offerings and events.
Not to be outdone, the Lansing Rod & Gun Club hosted its first annual Sportsman Show. Despite so-so weather the turnout was great, and the activities and booths were varied.
For 24 years local Vietnam Veterans of America's chapters have hosted an enormous bonfire at Myers Point to symbolically guide all those missing in action and lost on the battlefield back home. You don't have to be from a military family to be deeply moved by this annual ceremony. No matter how many times you attend, the Watchfire never fails to remind all of us how much our men and women in the military sacrifice to keep us all safe.
To drive that point home, our interview with Lansing Marine Robert Boda was a real eye-opener. He was part of the Fifth Marine Regiment, First Marine Division, Second Battalion, Fox Company on the front lines in the thick of the Battle of Okinawa, the last major battle before the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Soft spoken, with an enthusiastically positive attitude, Boda told us about his experience on the front lines in one of the most vicious battles in history. The interview was inspiring, as Boda quietly radiated his love for his family and his country.
The brewery at the Rogue's Harbor Inn had an eventful year in 2014. In May the brewery opened a beer tasting room, which is open weekends inside the brewery, which stands in the small building next door to the inn. In December the brewery changed its name from Rogues' Harbor Brewing Co. to Stouthearted Brewing. The change was prompted by a trademark infringement suit that was brought against the small Lansing brewery by the Oregon Brewing Co, AKA Rogue Ales in Washington state. Inn owner Eileen Stout says she would likely have won the lawsuit, but it would have been too costly to fight. The new name incorporates Stout's name with triple meaning -- think of it as Stout's stout for the stouthearted.
One of the more pleasurable interviews this year was with local farmer Pete Larson, who swapped his life as a high powered architect for a small, sustainable family farm. His familiy is the seventh generation to work the farm his grandfather worked when Larson was a child.
Of course the schools were as busy as always this year. It would be impossible to list all the activities on the Lansing campus, but here are a few of the highlights from each of the three schools. We include the elementary school halloween parade each year because it is so darned cute. Who can resist?
If you live in Lansing you probably don't need outside inspiration to be generous. But if you do, there is nothing more exciting than watching kids give of their time and talents and money to help their neighbors in need. Last month they were at it again, helping to sort a mountain of food, much of it donated by Lansing kids, for the Lansing Food Pantry. 
Boynton Middle School sixth-grade students in Vinnie Alcazaren and Keith Harrington's classes completed a four-week study of pandemics and geography with a culminating project that brought the 40 students to 4-H Acres on Halloween to practice their survival skills with Primitive Pursuits staff members. 'Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse: A Study of Pandemics & Geography' was partially funded by a Red and Gold Grant from the Ithaca Public Education Initiative (IPEI).
Did a couple of aliens named Silas and Sawyer try to blow up Earth by mistake? After crash-landing on Earth when they meant to go to Mars? We don't really know, but we do know they landed here and had to ask an Earth boy named Dalton where they had ended up. That's the pleasure of Casie Smith's '2 Aliens With 1 Bad Sense of Direction' -- that children act like children, and the aliens are, well, children.
A donor has challenged us with a pledge of $1,000 if we find a good home for Carter before the end of the month! He has been in the shelter for 6 months and everyone here knows he deserves a wonderful home! Carter is an adult dog (BONUS! Already potty trained!) of moderate energy level. While he is content with long and quiet walks, he has been known to engage in raucously silly play sessions any time he's offered the opportunity (a fenced in yard would be wonderful, but is not a requirement for adoption). When walked by a handler with consistent expectations, his leash manners are wonderful for a dog his size. After a good romp, Carter craves nothing more than to flop on the nearest available lap and soak up as many tickles as scratches as possible.
Washington, DC —U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) launched the Border Wait Time app Wednesday, making it easier for travelers to plan their trip across the border. The app provides estimated wait times and open lane status at land ports of entry allowing travelers to make an informed decision of where and when to cross the border. Wait times for pedestrian and passenger and commercial vehicle crossings are broken down by lane type (standard, SENTRI, NEXUS, FAST, Ready Lane, etc.). Travelers can download the app beginning today for free from Apple's App Store and Google Play.