Archive: Around Town

v14i47

Auburn - Senator Pam Helming recognized 20 veterans who live in Cayuga County and the Town of Lansing during a veterans recognition ceremony at Memorial City Hall in Auburn on Friday, November 30. The veterans were nominated by family, friends, and community members for the New York State Senate Veterans Hall of Fame, and they were among a total of 120 nominations Helming received for this prestigious award across the six counties that she represents.

The veterans from Cayuga County and the Town of Lansing honored at this event included Sgt. Danny Baker, of Lansing; Tech. Sgt. Franklin Bower, of Throop; Pfc. Gerald I. Burger, of Auburn; Cryptologic Technician 1st Class Philip Caci, of Auburn; Petty Officer 3rd Class Thomas E. Crawford Jr., of Auburn; Pfc. Phillip E. Cuddeback, of Throop; Master Gunnery Sgt. Todd R. Fischer, of Union Springs; Airman 2nd Class Leman F. Glimpse, of Montezuma; Staff Sgt. Jeffrey S. Girvin, of Port Byron; Spc. David Gould, of Fleming; Cpl. George Isaac, of Lansing; Sgt. 1st Class Karen Macier, of Auburn; Petty Officer 1st Class Stephen Rusin, of Auburn; Sgt. G. William Ryan, of Union Springs; Staff Sgt. Bruce Sharpsteen, of Venice; Senior Airman Paul E. Stryker, of Scipio Center; Pfc. Albin R. Tichensky, of Victory; Staff Sgt. Donald G. Wells Jr., of Port Byron; Tech. Sgt. Dana F. Wilbur, of King Ferry; and Sonarman 2nd Class John W. Wishart, of Lansing.

Dear Margaret: I have a friend who has put up a few crowd funding pages and advertises them on social media. I find it disconcerting that she puts these pages up to ask for money for various charities that she's never had that much of an interest in. It seems to be a way for her to call attention to herself. I really want to say something to her, because if I find it annoying, I'm sure others do. How can I broach this subject with her?
Tired of Being Solicited

The Sciencenter's Sagan Planet Walk is a 1 to 5 billion scale model of the solar system which people can traverse over 1.2 kilometers from the Ithaca Commons to the Sciencenter. The Sciencenter recently had the pleasure to partner with Becky Lane and Jacob Madden of Rev member company, VisionLab 360, as well as Cornell's Spacecraft Planetary Imaging Facility (SPIF), and Elmira Savings Bank, to enhance our Sagan Planet Walk. These enhancements include exciting augmented reality features at each station, as well as design upgrades at each station, and a new website.

The new augmented reality features bring a stunning life-like interaction to each of the Sagan Planet Walk's stations. Through the use of a smartphone app, available via The Apple App Store and Google Play, people can experience the stations in a fascinating new way. Users can point their AR-enabled phone at the kiosk and see 3D animated planets rotating before them. They can walk around the planets and see any moons in orbit, as well as listen to Bill Nye describe the planet, read information about the planet, and get directions to the next planet along the walk.

Local students awarded $25,000 Monday to Tompkins County non-profits through the United Way of Tompkins County' Youth and Philanthropy (YAP) program. YAP is an annual United Way program which features a student lead grant fund, leadership training, as well as education on advocacy. This year's cohort was made up of fifteen students representing four local high schools. Funding for the program is made possible through Triad Foundation, who provides the grant funds, as well as UWTC's Corporate Cornerstone Partners, who cover operating expenses.

Samuel Cariddi, 2018 YAP program student leader and 2017 YAP participant, helped open the ceremony with a brief overview of his experience. "I learned many skills—from money management to decision-making and team-building; all that will serve me well, far beyond the reaches of this program." Samuel is one of three student leaders, joined by Jisoo Ha and Natalie Irwin – all seniors and veterans of the YAP Program.

The Environmental Health Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB) Response Team of the Tompkins County Health Department is a NYS Department of Health Public Health Works! Nominee for 2018. The team includes:

• Clayton Maybee, Sanitarian
• Chris Laverack, Sanitarian
• Mikhail Kern, Sanitarian
• Becky Sims, Sanitarian
• Adriel Shea, Sanitarian
• Anne Wildman, Sanitarian

Did you know Americans create 25% more trash between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day? In Tompkins County, be sure to follow these tips to recycle more and lower your environmental impact this holiday season:

By Chloe Winter

My name is Milton! Please come in and meet me. Once I decide we are friends, I love scratches and leaning against you. I have lived outside my whole life, and am looking forward to a home where I can snuggle up and be warm indoors whenever I want to. I have been on a diet since I came to the shelter (I've already slimmed down quite a bit,) and so my adoptive family will want to continue that for my health. I can't wait for a fur-ever home!

Visit the SPCA Web Page

v14i46

Eighteen projects have received Women Building Community (WBC) Grants totaling more than $51,000, announced Liz Colucci, president of the City Federation of Women's Organizations (CFWO) board. WBC Grant recipients were recognized at an event Tuesday, December 4 celebrating the ways they will help to improve the lives of Tompkins County women and girls.

Colucci expressed: "The projects we have chosen to support will impact women and girls of all ages and cultures in many varied activities. These projects will impact very young, elementary age girls, to young women starting families, to senior women. Some will provide exercise, social opportunities, and pathways to access local support resources. Some will provide tangible goods -- a renovated community kitchen, repair supplies for elderly apartment dwellers, start-up packages of household goods for women moving from homelessness to their own home. The CFWO is proud to partner with these agencies to achieve these important goals."

Foodnet Meals on Wheels announced that it will be participating in the 2018 Subaru Share the Love Event as a member of Meals on Wheels America, one of four national Share the Love charitable partners supported through the promotion. From November 15, 2018, through January 2, 2019, Subaru of America will donate $250 for every new Subaru vehicle sold or leased to the customer's choice of participating charities. Participating Meals on Wheels America members, like Foodnet Meals on Wheels will receive a share of the donation raised by Subaru in their state.

"We are honored to join this campaign with our national affiliate, Meals on Wheels America," said Foodnet Executive Director, Jessica Gosa. We continue to be touched by the generosity of Subaru America, Inc. and the investment that the organization makes to a range of important community causes."

We all hear stories about folks who were not hired, or -- worse -- fired because of their postings on social media.  Or arrested.  Despite the fact that social media postings are, for the most part, public, people post personal information, or incendiary posts about politics, religion, or other people they know.  Depending on your settings your posts may or may not be public, but even if not -- the services like Facebook are saving your posts, and well... you never know.  Even if the companies are protecting your privacy (which is the opposite of what social media is for) there are always hackers.

What's a body to do?  A good first step if you use Facebook is to take a look at what you have shared on and what Facebook thinks it knows about you.  While it is hard to believe for a company that notoriously shares user information and encourages its users to do so, Facebook does make it easy to see what you have done on the service since you first joined.  I recently tried it, and got all my posts, friend requests, photos and videos, comments, likes, and account activity all in one downloadable ZIP file.  After unzipping, I simply loaded the index.html file into a Web browser and everything was easily available for viewing, all the way back to when I joined in 2008.

National Influenza Vaccination Week highlights the importance of flu vaccination for the best protection against the flu. The CDC recommends a yearly flu vaccine for everyone 6 months of age and older as the first and most important step in protecting against seasonal flu viruses. If you haven't gotten your flu vaccine yet, now's the time!

The flu can make even healthy people very sick. It can also cause serious complications for children younger than 5, pregnant women, people 65 years and older and people with certain chronic health conditions. Flu vaccination can reduce flu illnesses, doctors' visits, missed work due to flu, as well as prevent flu-related hospitalizations and death.