May 10, 2023

F R E E / M AY 10 , 2 0 2 3 / V O L U M E X L I I I , N U M B E R 3 7 / O u r 51s t Ye a r

Online @ ITH ACA .COM

Starbucks Moves to Squash Workers Union COUNTY COUNCIL DEMOCRATIC PUBLIC SECTOR COMMON ADDRESSES COMMITTEE LABOR UNITES HOMELESSNESS & INVESTIGATES UNDER WORKERS INCREASES POLICE PARTY-SWITCHING COALITION CHIEF SALARY IN CAROLINE PAGE 4 PAGE 3

PAGE 5

BusinessTimes

ASPIRE FOR ANOTHER CANNABIS DISPENSARY PAGE 11

MAYFEST COMING TO CORNELL PAGE 15

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2 THE ITHACA TIMES / MAY 10–16, 2023

NEWSLINE County Democratic Chair Calls for Investigation into Town of Caroline Anti-Zoning Campaign

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By M at t D ough e rt y

he topic of zoning in the Town of Caroline has been a hot button issue for months and anti-zoning advocates have have recently come under fire after a video taken on February 11 surfaced on Facebook showing former Republican town council member Peter Hoyt advocating for anti-zoning Republicans to switch their party affiliation to Democrat to trigger a Democratic primary in an attempt to get pro-zoning Democrats off the town council.

The Tompkins County Democratic Committee (TCDC) has noticed a slate of anti-

zoning candidates running as Democrats and an unusual hike in the number of newly-registered Democrats in that town. As a result, the chair of the County Democratic Committee has called for an investigation into a partyswitching campaign in the Town of Caroline.

To make matters even more suspicious, there are no Republican candidates for Town of Caroline offices this year.

In the video Hoyt outlines a plan to trigger a June primary against pro-zoning candidates endorsed by the town Democratic committee.

Hoyt introduces the plan by saying, “I think you’re all aware that we’ve got a little DINO [Democrat In Name Only] thing.

ON THE COVER:

Many of us have jumped in already, myself included. The purpose of that is so we can vote in the Democratic primary.” Hoyt proceeds to direct attendees to a table to fill out change-of-registration cards, saying he’ll deliver them to the Board of Elections himself.

Following his request he says that those who choose to switch their party affiliation “can always change back later,” and that come November they can vote for whoever they want regardless of party affiliation.

Hoyt then explains that as newly registered Democrats, attendees can sign designating petitions for a slate of three anti-zoning candidates who will run as Democrats, thereby initiating a primary.

“I was hoping that we could start getting folks to sign [petitions] tonight, because we got a good crowd here,” Hoyt adds, but

T

he COVID-19 public health emergency was declared on January 31, 2020 to protect the health and safety of the public by shielding millions of people from losing access to health care coverage and covering some upfront costs for COVID-19 related health expenses. However, the requirement that states keep people enrolled in Medicaid ended on April 1 and the rest

of the public health emergency protections are coming to an end on May 11.

For the past three years, enrollees in New York’s Medicaid Program, Child Health Insurance Program (CHP), Dual Special Needs Program (D-SNP), and Essential Plan (EP) programs have not had to go through a recertification process, ensuring continuous access to health insurance coverage.

In the coming months, 3.4 million Medicaid enrollees in

T A K E

New York State will have to determine if they still qualify for their current health plan and renew their coverage, or if they need to shop for new options.

According to a recent study released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), 70% of Medicaid beneficiaries are unaware of this recertification requirement.

Meanwhile, the federal government estimates that 17% of Medicaid beneficiaries will lose their coverage because of it.

Before the pandemic, people enrolled in these programs would submit details on their annual income to confirm eligibility for health insurance coverage. When the pandemic started, Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which enabled beneficiaries to receive continuous coverage without reporting changes in income or other eligibility criteria.

When the public health emergency ends, enrollees will once again need to go through the recertification process to determine eligibility for coverage.

In addition to millions of New Yorkers potentially losing Contin u ed on Page 19

N O T E

Help Distribute $700,000 In Opioid Settlement Funds In Tompkins County The Tompkins County Opioid Task Force, a group appointed by the Legislature, is seeking community input on how best to use funds distributed to the County from recent Opioid Settlements.

A survey is now open through May 29 for community members to share input on how $700,000 can best be used in Tompkins County to address the issue of harm from opioids in the community.

The funds are being received following a settlement in 2022 between a group of state attorneys general and several large drug companies. The settlement is related to the role those drug companies played in the opioid crisis.

According to the CDC, the drug overdose epidemic continues to worsen in the United States. A majority of drug overdose deaths involve opioids. Locally, overdoses and drugrelated deaths have been on the rise, the

Starbucks workers protest union busting outside of East Seneca Street location in Downtown Ithaca. (Photo By: Ash Bailot)

NEWSLINE ....................................3-5 OPINION .......................................6-7 SPORTS ........................................... 10 BUSINESS TIMES .......................... 11 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT .......... 15 MUSIC ............................................. 16 FILM ............................................... 17 STAGE ............................................. 18 TIMES TABLE ........................... 20-22 CLASSIFIED .............................. 23-24

Contin u ed on Page 14

3.4 Million New Yorkers Could Lose Medicaid Coverage when COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Ends on May 11

By M at t D ough e rt y

VOL. XLIII / NO. 37 / May 10, 2023 Serving 47,125 readers week ly

Tompkins County Whole Health Department publishes local data related to overdoses.

The Task Force will use the results of this community survey to solicit proposals from community organizations to address the opioid crisis in Tompkins County. It is expected that the funds will be granted to several community partners, ultimately funding new and/or innovative projects and interventions to curb harm from opioids in the community.

ON T HE WE B Visit our website at www.ithaca.com for more news, arts, sports and photos. Call us at 607-277-7000 M A T T D O U G H E R T Y , M A N A G I N G E D I T O R , X 1217 E D I T O R @ I T H A C ATI M E S . C O M CH R I S I B E R T, C A L EN DA R ED I TO R , A R T S @ I T H A C ATI M E S . C O M A N D R E W S U L L I V A N , S P O R T S E D I T O R , X 1227 SPORTS@FLCN.ORG M A T T D O U G H E R T Y , N E W S R E P O R T E R , X 1225 R E P O R T E R @ I T H A C ATI M E S . C O M STE VE L AWRENCE, SPO RTS CO LUMN IST ST E V E S P O R T SD U D E @ G M A I L .CO M JOSH BALDO, PHOTOGRAPHER JOSHBALDO@GMAIL.COM LUC Y ALLEN, FRONT DESK FR O N T@ IT H A C ATI M E S . CO M J I M B I L I N S K I , P U B L I S H E R , X 1210 J B I L I N S K I @ I T H A C ATI M E S . C O M L A R R Y H O C H B E R G E R , A S S O C I A T E P U B L I S H E R , X 1214 L A R R Y@ I T H A C ATI M E S . C O M F R E E L A N C E R S : Barbara Adams, Stephen Burke, G. M Burns, Alyssa Denger, Jane Dieckmann, Charley Githler, Ross Haarstad, Steve Lawrence, Marjorie Olds, Henry Stark, Bryan VanCampen, and Arthur Whitman THE ENTIRE CONTENTS OF THE ITHACA TIMES ARE C O P Y R I G H T © 2 02 3, B Y N E W S K I I N C .

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MAY 10–16, 2023 / THE ITHACA TIMES

3

INQUIRING Public Sector Labor Unions Unite for Improved Wages and Benefits PHOTOGRAPHER I N E W S L I N E

By Josh Bal d o

WHAT IS YOUR SECRET TALENT?

“Finding four leaf clovers.”

– Diane H.

“Helping people find their home.”

– Havana J.

“The ability to turn any sentence into a song.”

– Chris W.

“The ability to ride a horse backwards and bareback.”

– Anne J.

“Blowing bubbles off my tongue.”

– Lauryn G.

By M at t D ough e rt y

thaca has become a hotspot for organized labor as public sector workers have pressured the city to increase their wages without reducing benefits as many workers are struggling to keep up with rising costs of living in a city that has made the top ten list for most expensive places to live in New York State.

The average salary paid out by the city is $65,886 and the median home value is $282,000 with median rental prices reaching as high at $1,900 per month. As inflation continues to impact the economy, public sector workers in the city have seen prices continue to rise, but they haven’t been able to say the same thing when it comes to their wages.

As a result, public sector labor unions in Ithaca have united to form an organization called the Ithaca Public Workers Coalition in an effort to put pressure on the city government to negotiate for increasing wages without reducing the benefits provided to its workforce. This local labor movement is coming at just the right time as a 2022 Gallup Poll shows that 71 percent of Americans approve of unions, with 40 percent saying that unions are “extremely important.”

Currently, unions have seen the highest level of nationwide support since 1965.

According to the coalition, the Department of Public Works (DPW) was recently able to settle a contract with the city which gave them increases in pay, but in order to come to the agreement the city required them to make concessions that resulted in reduced benefits.

4 THE ITHACA TIMES / MAY 10–16, 2023

City Executive Association President Jeanne Grace

Ithaca PBA President and Workers Coalition spokesperson Tom Condzella

will allow us to meet the city at the bargaining table on a much more equal footing.”

Public workers have criticized the city in the past for bringing lawyers to the bargaining table, which labor unions have taken as the city refusing to negotiate with them in good faith. The reluctance of the city to stop the practice of bringing lawyers to the table likely resulted in local labor unions looking to partner with statewide unions for increased support. However, the coalition has said that the city moved in the right direction by changing their legal representation at the bargaining table.

—The Public Workers Coalition President of the Ithaca Police Benevolent Association and spokesperson for the coalition The Public Workers Coalihas said he is proud of CEA tion has announced that the CEA has recently affiliated itself members for coming tougher to advocate for themselves with New York State United Teachers, which represents mu- and all public sector workers in Ithaca. “The CEA will now nicipal employees, in an effort fight for fair wages and benefits to “strengthen their ability to to ensure positions are filled, negotiate with city hall.” working conditions are safe, In response to this new and the best possible services partnership, CEA President are being provided to our comJeanne Grace said, “While our group of employees are subject munity,” Condzella said.

Public Sector workers in experts in a wide range of Ithaca have routinely comfields, none of us are negoplained about uncompetitive tiation or labor law experts. wages which has resulted in Affiliating with NYSUT has provided us with resources that staffing shortages in departAdditionally, the City Executive Association (CEA) and Ithaca Professional Firefighters Association (IPFFA) have been working without a contract since 2021 and 2020 respectively as they are still in the process of negotiating a new contract to make salaries competitive with surrounding areas while preserving benefits that the city is looking to reduce.

“Citywide, departments still struggle to recruit and retain police officers, firefighters, DPW workers and other important administrative workers and support staff.”

ments all across the city. The coalition has said that “Citywide, departments still struggle to recruit and retain police officers, firefighters, DPW workers and other important administrative workers and support staff.”

According to the coalition, these staffing shortages have resulted in work that was previously done by public sector workers at Ithaca’s Wastewater Treatment Facility being taken over by private contractors.

Hiring these private contractors has resulted in lower quality service at an increased cost for taxpayers.

The coalition has also expanded to include the Bangs Ambulance Workers United union, which was recently formed to respond to the needs of EMS workers in the City of Ithaca and Tompkins County. The new union is in the process of starting contract negotiations with the Bangs Ambulance Company.

In response to the Bangs Ambulance Workers union joining the coalition, Condzella said “Together we can accomplish a lot for our community, for public safety, and for our workers.”

According to Condzella, the efforts of the coalition have already started to make a difference as it has brought in support from the New York State AFL-CIO and the DPW was able to successfully negotiate a new contract. The CEA has begun to grow as a result of increased support. “We’re already starting to feel valued… we still have more work to do though,” Condzella siad.

That additional work relates to continued efforts to negotiate contracts for the CEA and IPFFA, along with efforts by the PBA to negotiate another contract before their current collective bargaining agreement expires at the end of 2023.

UPS&DOWNS

N E W S L I N E

Common Council Approves Proposals Addressing Homelessness and Increasing Salary for Chief of Police

By M at t D ough e rt y

Ups

5. Other incentives such as a shopping cart exchange and cash for trash program.

6. Low-barrier move-in packages and he Ithaca City Common Council assistance for moving from homeless to voted to approve several proposals housed. relating to addressing homeless7. Three enhanced, centralized housing ness, updating the city’s equity and justice navigator positions. statement, and increasing the salary for 8. Paid board positions for people with the Chief of Police during their meeting lived experience to monitor and approve that took place on May 3.

Common Council member George McGonigal Home Together Tompkins.

During the public comment period of 9. Professional development opportuni- In response, Common Council member the meeting, Ithaca residents addressed George McGonigal — who represents ties for people with lived experience. council members about the Home Tothe area where the encampments are The entire 48 page gether Tompkins Plan, located — said “Ithaca is not criminalizing plan can be found which has been created homelessness by providing people a place here: https://hsctc. by the Human Services to take a shower and use the toilet.” org/wp-content/upCoalition of Tompkins Common Council member Cynthia loads/2023/01/HomeCounty. A majority Together-Tompkins_Fi- Brock who also represents the area where of residents asked the the encampments are located said that nal.pdf council to not only The Common Coun- the council recognizes that housing is the endorse, but adopt the solution to homelessness, but that it takes cil also unanimously plan that would create a years to build and the city must take acapproved a resolution ‘Housing First’ model to tions in the interim to improve quality of to release up to $73,700 address homelessness in life for people living in the encampments. from the $100,000 the community.

Fourth Ward representative Jorge Decontingency fund that A ‘Housing First’ Fendini expressed some skepticism about was set aside in the model prioritizes giving —Common Council member 2023 budget to address the city’s plan, but ultimately supported it people access to permaGeorge McGonigal homelessness. because it would provide necessary ameninent supportive housing ties for people in need.

The resolution called before tackling larger DeFendini said, “I personally have a for $60,000 of those issues relating to mental lot of issues with how we’re approaching funds to go towards leasing or renting a health or substance use. The National camping and staffing in sanctioned or portable toilet and shower station that Alliance to End Homelessness says, “The unsanctioned areas, and will be transported to Housing First approach views housing as we’ll have conversations the southwest part of the foundation for life improvement.” about that in the months the city on a weekly Following public comment, the Comto come…but in regards mon Council unanimously passed a resolu- schedule that has yet to to providing amenities be determined. It’s also tion to endorse, but not adopt the Home to support those who are Together Tompkins plan. Adopting the plan unclear who will take unhoused, I absolutely care of this facility, or would have committed the city to implethink it’s a good thing how much staffing costs menting the plans recommendation, many to do.” of which fall outside the purview of the city would be. Additionally, Following conversathe resolution called according to City Attorney Ari Lavine. tions about the city’s for $5,000 to replace The plan outlines nine priorities that response to homelessare essential to addressing homelessness in and maintain a dumpness, Tompkins County ster on the property the community without criminalizing the Legislator Veronica and $8,700 for a fence unhoused population.

Pillar addressed the around the city owned 1. A commitment to building 100 studio and 1-bedroom units of Permanent Brindley Street property —Common Council Common Council about County Legislature in an effort to prevent Supportive Housing member Phoebe Brown the redirecting Community the re-establishment of 2. Low-barrier shelter that uses a Recovery Funds initially campsites. trauma-informed approach to safety. granted to Second Wind A number of 3. A “housing surge” strategy and byCottages. According to Pillar, a portion of residents who spoke at the meeting were name list to better serve people living in the funds have been re-allocated to city skeptical of the city’s plan, saying that unsheltered locations.

4. Mitigation funds for business owners it indicates that the city could be moving towards criminalizing homelessness. and landlords.

Contin u ed on Page 14

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“Ithaca is not criminalizing homelessness by providing people a place to take a shower and use the toilet.”

“It doesn’t feel right” to have to convince a potential Chief of Police that Reimagining Public Safety is a good thing by giving them extra money.”

After losing in the opening round of the Ivy Tournament, Cornell men’s lacrosse (11-3, 5-2 Ivy) has drawn the No. 8 seed in the NCAA tournament. The Red will be hosting Michigan (9-6, 5-3 Big Ten) in the first round on Sunday, May 14 at 2:30 p.m.

Downs

For New Yorkers, living in one of the most expensive states in the country will make it even more difficult to reach their retirement aspirations. With increasing inflation and an uncertain economy, financial literacy has never been more important. A new study by Prudential shows while 70% of Americans intend to retire, 42% do not think they have enough savings to do so.

HEARD&SEEN Heard

The winners of the Mac N’ Cheese Bowl have been announced! The top spot for best Non-Meat Mac was Silo Food Truck.

First place for best Meat-Mac was given to Antlers Restaurant with Scooter’s BBQ. The award for most creative Mac went to Towers Marketplace at Ithaca College and the Kid’s Choice Mac winner was Monks on the Commons.

Seen

Sixteen year-old Dennis “Maliq” Barnes, the high school senior in New Orleans who received scholarship offers from 149 colleges and universities totaling $10 million has announced that he is taking his talents to Cornell University.

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.”

QUESTION OF THE WEEK Is the Ithaca City School District doing enough to address staffing shortages in the District?

5.0%

Yes.

68.3% No. 26.7%

Shortage are a nationwide trend.

The district can’t do anything.

N EXT WEEK ’S Q UESTION :

Do you think Starbucks is engaging in union-busting tactics?

Visit ithaca.com to submit your response.

MAY 10–16, 2023 / THE ITHACA TIMES

5

GUEST OPINION

Media Misinformation about Cayuga Heights Elementary School Runs Amok

By S a r a Wol ff, Robe rta Wa l l i t t, L au r a Br a nc a , M e ry l P h i pps , We st Fox, a n d Bet h Pa l l ac e

R

ecently, questions, assumptions and misinformation have been spread in Ithaca about why teachers are leaving schools (particularly Cayuga Heights Elementary School) and/or the Ithaca City School District. This misinformation creates harm and perpetuates racism. While it is true that teachers are leaving their schools at a higher rate than in the past, this is a nationwide phenomenon, for reasons exacerbated by the pandemic.

There is a history in Ithaca of large teacher turnover when a new principal is appointed, especially if this leads to a change of culture. This happened in the 1980’s when Bob Navarro became principal at Belle Sherman Elementary where there was almost 100% turnover. Turnovers are neither disasters nor evidence of poor leadership. Teachers have con-

tractual rights to privacy and the reasons why individuals choose to leave aren’t always provided; if they are, they are held in confidence by the union and school administrators. Despite the demand for answers to why ICSD teachers have left, data is not being withheld, it is simply not available. In the absence of facts, people have responded with more questions and conjecture.

Principal Sahasrabudhe is one of ICSD’s most beloved and effective educators and leaders. Ithaca has made a district-wide commitment to anti-racist, culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy, anti-marginalization curriculum, social-emotional learning and academic excellence through educational equity and inclusion. This wide vision is inspiring; the work of achieving it requires sustained, long-term investment in systemic change. It is not a zerosum game in which the quality of some children’s education and nurturance are Contin u ed on Page 14

The Talk at

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Molinaro Votes with the extreme right-wing

I

t becomes clearer with each passing day that, on the most critical issues, freshman Representative Molinaro (NY19) can be counted on to vote with the extreme right-wing of his party. With his recent vote on Speaker McCarthy’s MAGA-dictated “Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023”, Molinaro has again thrown in his lot with the House GOP deadbeats who refuse to pass a clean bill authorizing the Treasury to pay America’s outstanding bills. He joins those who would hold hostage the credit standing of our country, threatening to crash the world economy –and potentially costing millions of American jobs–unless the Senate and White House agree to draconian budget cuts.

These cuts reveal the radical agenda of the new Republican Party. In order to maintain the tax breaks they gave to billionaires just a few years ago, the GOP will slash healthcare for veterans, resulting in longer wait times for life-saving treatment and 30 million fewer outpatient visits. They will take Meals on Wheels away from one million seniors. They will cut nutrition assistance from low-income women, infants and children. They will scale back Biden’s recently enacted programs to address the climate crisis, and replace them with new incentives for fossil fuel production. They will shut down 125 air traffic control towers.

This is the hostage deal that Representative Molinaro voted for last week. His was the vote of a right-wing extremist, not the independent moderate he claims to be. I encourage him to instead support a clean bill raising the debt ceiling.

Mark Vian

Unaffordable Waters Rising in Ithaca

I

thaca is unaffordable for myriad reasons and if we don’t act quickly and collectively it’s going to get even worse. Along with hundreds of local residents I visited the open forum/info session at the IHS cafeteria on Wednesday, where representatives from FEMA, DEC, DPW and at least one insurance provider offered a fuller sense of what is coming, ahem, downstream, because of the new flood maps. Flood insurance will be required for any property with a mortgage 6 THE ITHACA TIMES / MAY 10–16, 2023

loan. So whether you rent or own, if you live downtown—it’s likely you’re about to get soaked—even if the floods never come.

Naturally, I contacted my insurance provider to seek a quote, and they got back to me with a pretty scary number, (let’s just say it was dangerously close to what I pay for school taxes—and my rep only quoted what I owe on my mortgage which is fortunately only about 20% of my home’s assessed value.) To make matters worse, my agent thought the quote was likely inaccurate since it’s based on the current maps— not in the 100 year flood zone, but will be in the new maps. I can only imagine what the new rate will be!

But lest I leave you thinking of running for the hills, I want to share that the one (and possibly only) bright spot amid the flotsam and jetsam of the chaotic cafeteria came in the person and presentation of our own DPW Superintendent— Michael Thorne—who commissioned a study and has produced a set of maps showing the significant impact that various mitigation efforts will make to help prevent flooding in downtown. (These efforts would include things like dredging the flood channel, building up flood walls, adding berms, etc.) Mike’s poster presentation was impressive, and his 4 pictures told quite a story. He was careful to say that the DPW maps aren’t precisely aligned with the new FEMA maps, they are mighty similar. Hopefully there’s a simple way to project the impact of “Mike’s Mitigation” onto the FEMA maps. I’d like to see that.

But what I’d really like to see is our community coming together to take collective action—because whether the flood comes or not, we know for certain that the flood maps are coming. And when they are adopted the banks holding our mortgages will require us to carry extra insurance or call-in our loans. Mike has a decent plan, but is waiting on FEMA grants.

Sounds like a good plan, if we had implemented it five years ago—before the new maps and the new costs get baked in.

So as for me and my house, I would prefer to spend my money on a solution, instead of a “fingers crossed” flood insurance. I would like to propose a community-sponsored bond program that will function as a kind of self-insurance so we can fund this project ourselves and spread the costs of mitigation over several years. As painful as any of this is going to be, investing in flood protection is far better than spending our money on flood insurance that we’ll have to pay forever—or at least for the life of our loans. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not Contin u ed on Page 7

OP-ED

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

Yes, We Protected Choice In New York. But The Fight Isn’t Over.”

How it All Began: Ithaca Free Clinic and Norbert McCloskey

By S e nat or L e a We bb

By M a rjor i e O l d s

J

une 24, 2022 marked the end of an era in the United States of America.

Roe v. Wade was overturned by an extreme, conservative Supreme Court, putting a once-settled constitutional right under threat for millions of women. As a candidate running to represent the 52nd State Senate District, I was gutted by the news, but motivated to work even harder.

I wanted one of my first legislative votes as a State Senator to cement a woman’s right to choose in our State Constitution and on January 24, 2023 – exactly seven months after that fateful day – that’s what I did.

With the recent ruling in Texas that invalidated the Food and Drug Administration’s 23-year-old approval of the abortion mifepristone, we find reproductive rights under attack again. And while many assume that because New York is a pro-choice state, we are protected, the truth is this decision could have massive implications for women across the state.

As the representative of a mostly rural district, I believe our largest hurdle in achieving true reproductive freedom in our state is inaccessibility. While our laws protect a woman’s right to choose, for so many living in under-invested communities, the lack of access continues to restrict women in rural areas and communities of color.

It is our obligation as legislators to not just protect the right to choose in our laws, but to do everything in our power to ensure every woman in our state has the means and the resources to exercise that right.

That is why, as Chairwoman of the Women’s Issues Committee, I’ve prioritized legislation that improves access to contraception and reproductive health care. That work starts by protecting the few facilities and institutions that curLETTERS TO THE EDITOR contin u ed from page 6

smart enough to know how high to raise the levees, whether they’re dirt or dollars, but like our successful sidewalk funding plan, I would like to see a self-funded flood mitigation plan. A person could run—or paddle, or swim for mayor on this issue!

rently operate in underserved communities like mine. My bill, S3609A – which passed the Senate earlier this year – requires the consideration of reproductive health services and maternal health care during the Health Equity Assessment Process. As upstate hospitals merge, close, or get bought out by larger providers, we must make sure women continue to have access to their reproductive health care services. This bill ensures exactly that.

As the representative of a Senate District with five major institutions of higher education, I understand that our colleges and universities play a major role in providing care. For many students, attending a university-run health clinic or hospital is the only real access they’ve had to medical care. I want to be sure reproductive health is included in that care. That’s why I introduced S4400, a bill that would require SUNY and CUNY schools to have at least one vending machine for emergency contraception. This will empower our students with the resources they need to make their own reproductive health choices.

My colleagues and I have worked hard to preserve New York’s reputation as a national leader in the fight to protect reproductive rights, and I’m proud of what we have accomplished thus far. But we cannot allow ourselves to forget that accessibility must be a priority as well. Far-right Republicans are working hard every day to limit a woman’s right to make decisions over their own bodies, so we must remain vigilant in our fight to defend those rights.

Senator Lea Webb served on the Binghamton City Council before being elected to represent the 52nd district of the NY State Senate, which includes Cortland County, Tompkins County, and part of Broome County. (hint to candidates) If we continue delay, inflation and insurance will drive the costs even higher. So let’s use the time we have to invest in a solution instead of waiting for a federal grant or worse, a federal bail-out. If we dredge our inlet, build our berms and raise our floodwalls, then bailing out our city will hopefully be a non-issue.

Tim Dean

(Back story from Beth Harrington, local do-gooder, member of the original planning group of the Ithaca Health Alliance, a visionary experiment, which changed our lives in this County: Beth: “The Ithaca Health Alliance planning group was very eclectic, with representation from almost every type of medical and holistic provider. (This was my first true introduction to alternative medical approaches.) We often met in tiny cafes and businesses that I never knew existed. At the time the Clinic opened, we were one of only 3 free medical integrated clinics in the United States. This was a social justice venture that lasted and had a big impact.” (Beth Harrington remains on the board of IHA, now 18 years since the planning group started.)

Wikipedia: “In 1997, grass roots activists in Ithaca, New York organized by local innovator Paul Glover, began working with their community to address the issue of access to health care. Inspired by the examples of the Canadian national health care system as well as the collective approach to health care financing among the Amish, an idea dubbed the “Ithaca Health Fund” was born.”

“By 2004, the Ithaca Health Fund was a well-known local alternative to health insurance. Members primarily resided in Ithaca and Tompkins County, but the Fund had fairly wide representation across the state of New York. In 2005, New York insurance regulations forced IHA to end their membership program.

The Ithaca Free Clinic was established in 2006 to address the loss of the program.

IFC is open to the public, no membership is required to utilize Clinic services and all services are free. Today the IHA and its programs continue to operate with the same core mission and principles of its founders.”

Norbert McCloskey, executive director of the Ithaca Health Alliance (operator of the Ithaca Free Clinic) grew up in central Pennsylvania. The son of a teacher and nurse, Norbert came of age, married, and became a partner in a business in Bloomsburg, PA.

When Norbert’s business was sold in 2000 to a Fortune 500 Company, he and his wife Anne retired and began the life of nomadic grandparents, spending time savoring and caring for their 11 grandchildren in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York.

In 2012 when daughter Sarah and son-in-law Jay both received promotions at Cornell. Sarah announced that she must begin travel in her new position, and a new baby was on the way! Norbert said, “We could come and help out for 6 months.” For the next 3 ½ years Norbert and Anne cared for their grandchildren in Ithaca. When it was time for their little Ithacans to go to preschool, the McCloskeys realized they were in love with Ithaca.

“We had never lived in a place like Ithaca, where the community offered so much.”

In early 2016, former Tompkins County Administrator Scott Heyman suggested to Norbert that his experience as a former nonprofit executive made him a good candidate to become the first, full-time executive director for IHA. Now, over 7 years later, Norbert exclaims that the spirit behind the original plan to pool money and help each other, putting the needs of the membership first, is same spirit that drives the mission of the colorful project he leads. Since 2006, the Ithaca Free Clinic has surged ahead, even serving as a model option in the federal Affordable Care Act! Norbert: “The Ithaca Free Clinic has successfully integrated western medicine with alternative, holistic therapies, so that we can support and treat the whole individual. When IFC first opened, it was one of only three medically integrated free clinics in the U.S., meaning that visitors are treated by both conventional and complementary healthcare professionals.

A physician and a registered nurse are always on duty, with alternative providers onsite when available.”

“Several current providers are founding members of IFC. Dr. Robert J. Biermann, our longest serving medical provider, has regularly volunteered for 9 years. Volunteer Doctors, Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants, Contin u ed on Page 14

MAY 10–16, 2023 / THE ITHACA TIMES

7

Workers Shout Union Busting as Starbucks Closes Two More Ithaca Locations

By M att Dougherty

W

hen Ithaca became the first city in the country to successfully unionize every Starbucks location in April 2022 as part of Starbucks Workers United’s (SBWU) nationwide unionization effort, Starbucks retaliated by closing its most popular store in the city — located in Collegetown — and firing a handful of union organizers. On May 5, the corporation retaliated against union organizers again by closing two more Starbucks locations in the city on Meadow Street and East Seneca Street.

Now the only place Ithacans can get a taste of the new Starbucks Oleato — which tastes as bad as union-busting — is at the last remaining location in the city inside of the nearby Barnes & Noble.

This move comes weeks after Starbucks founder and CEO Howard Shultz testified in front of Congress to address allegations that the corporation has engaged in union busting tactics. It also comes a week after a Huffington Post article revealed internal conversations from Starbucks leadership suggesting that the corporation closed the Collegetown location in response to negative press coverage.

S ta r b u c k s w o r k e r s a n d t h e i r s u p p o r t e r s p r o t e s t S ta r b u c k s u n i o n b u s t i n g tac t i c s o u t s i d e o f It h ac a’s E a s t S e n e c a S t r e e t l o c at i o n ( P h o t o b y: A s h B a i l o t)

L a b o r e x p e r t s s ay t h at t h e s u c c e s s o f S ta r b u c k s Wo r k e r s U n i t e d r e p r e s e n t s t h e s ta r t o f a n e w l a b o r m ov e m e n t t h at h a s l e d t o a n i n c r e a s e i n o r g a n i z i n g n at i o n w i d e . ( P h o t o b y: A s h B a i l o t) 8 THE ITHACA TIMES / MAY 10–16, 2023

Starbucks has denied that negative press coverage led to the closure of the Collegetown location. Instead, the corporation fell back on claims that the location was closed due to maintenance issues such as an overflowing grease trap. However, workers have said that the grease trap has been an issue for years and action was only taken to close the storefront following a strike by union members that attracted nationwide attention.

“They didn’t care [before]. They cared all of a sudden now when we’re making national news,” said Kolya Vitek, a barista and Starbucks Workers United member who participated in the strike.

Local Starbucks barista Ellamae Robinson has worked at the Meadow Street location in Ithaca since January and recently told the Ithaca Times that corporate representatives arrived at the storefront and

forced workers to leave around 6 p.m. on May 5. They also notified employees that all Starbucks locations in Ithaca will be closing as of May 26.

“This is a result of the union presence in Ithaca,” Robinson said.

According to Robinson, the corporate representatives told workers that the store would be closing due to decreased sales and understaffing. However, Robinson says that the store is “staffed to run with limited operation times” and that it has also “had better sales than a lot of the stores in our area for the past year.”

Robinson also said that the move to shutdown the remaining two locations came as workers at the Meadow Street location were debating about holding another vote to decide whether or not they would keep the union. “Personally, I think that our store on Meadow Street wouldn’t

keep the union. I think that a lot of us don’t understand what it is,” Robinson said.

Robinson has said that much of the staff at the Meadow Street location have been hired more recently and don’t have connections to the staff members who originally voted to unionize. “A lot of the people that started the union are no longer there,” Robinson said.

That stands in contrast to the mindset of workers at the Commons location, who are “very pro union.” Robinson continued saying that “because we wouldn’t necessarily keep [the union] and the Commons location would, it would not look good to just close the Commons location down.”

Robinson says that it’s her opinion that Starbucks is making these moves to get rid of the union and reopen the locations with a fresh start in the coming years, since the corporation still owns the properties the locations are on.

Another employee at the Meadow Street location named Quinn said that they weren’t given any notice of the closure before it was announced on May 6. In addition, they said that they were told to reach out to union representatives about severance pay, but that Starbucks could potentially include a “no strike clause” that would prohibit workers from participating in strikes if they wanted to receive severance pay.

Quinn said that workers at the Meadow Street location “haven’t been actively participating in strikes as of recently” and that “fear of retaliation is definitely a big factor for what workers are choosing to do from this point forward.”

In response to news regarding the closing of the last two remaining Starbucks locations in Ithaca, Tompkins County Legis-

lator Veronica Pillar tweeted, “Starbucks is tripling down their union-busting in Ithaca by announcing the shutdown of all Ithaca stores.” Pillar’s tweet links to a GoFundMe campaign to support the workers who are losing their jobs in retaliation for union organizing. The most recent move will see an additional 40 workers lose employment.

Ithaca Common Council member Jorge DeFendini — who represents the city’s Fourth Ward — has also responded to the news saying, “This is criminal and disgusting. Starbucks was ordered by the federal government to reopen its store and rehire fired workers, and while dragging their feet on that, they plan to fire everyone and press the reset button. It’s obvious union busting and it should not be tolerated.”

Ithaca Common Council member Ducson Nguyen — who represents the city’s Second Ward — called the closing of the last two Starbucks locations “reprehensible” and “likely illegal.”

Nguyen continued saying “Like many locals I prefer getting coffee at Gimme, Press Café, Alley Cat, Nothing Nowhere, but plenty of people did frequent Starbucks and more importantly, our friends and neighbors are the workers affected. They fought for those jobs and labor rights.”

New York State Assemblymember Anna Kelles released a statement in response to Starbucks most recent action saying, “it was a point of pride for most of Ithaca that all of the three Starbucks locations employed unionized workers and that Ithaca was the first city in the country to have fully unionized Starbucks cafes.”

Kelles continued saying that she is “appalled by the consistently and blatantly anti-union actions of this multi-billion dollar

S ta r b u c k s w o r k e r s s ay t h at f e a r o f c o r p o r at e r e ta l i at i o n i s p l ay i n g a r o l e i n w h at w o r k e r s c h o o s e t o d o m ov i n g f o rwa r d . ( P h o t o b y: A s h B a i l o t)

D e s p i t e t h e S ta r b u c k s Wo r k e r s u n i o n s u c c e s s , t h e c o r p o r at i o n h a s y e t t o r e ac h a s i n g l e c o n t r ac t ag r e e m e n t w i t h a n y o f t h e u n i o n i z e d s t o r e s . ( P h o t o b y: A s h B a i l o t) corporation” and that she “appreciates the courage and fortitude of those that have fought and are still fighting for labor representation here for more than one year.”

Kelles concluded her statement saying that she “stands in solidarity with workers who chose to unionize, and will fight for accountability from corporations like Starbucks.”

Students at Cornell University have also started a campaign to pressure the institution to stop selling Starbucks products in Cornell Dining Halls and cafès by calling on University President Martha Pollack and Dining Director Paul Muscente to withdraw from the ‘Proudly Serving Starbucks Program’.

A statement in support of the campaign signed by students, faculty and community members said that “by selling Starbucks products…Cornell is actively using students’ tuition to support rampant unionbusting.” The statement continues saying, “If Starbucks wants out of Ithaca, Ithaca wants nothing to do with Starbucks.”

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has agreed with previous complaints that Starbucks engaged in union busting tactics and released an in-depth complaint against Starbucks in November 2022 saying that the board “found merit in the union’s claim” that the Collegetown location was closed in retaliation for union organizing. The NLRB ruled that the location had to be reopened and fired workers had to be rehired, but they gave no timeline for that to happen. As a result Starbucks has been dragging their feet as they rethink their options in the city.

Starbucks Workers United Organizing Director Jaz Brisack has said that SBWU has filed another unfair labor practice com-

plaint with the NLRB against Starbucks in response to the recent closings. However, those complaints will not be reviewed by the NLRB before the Meadow Street and East Seneca Street locations are set to close on May 26.

The last two remaining Starbucks locations in the city are closing along with 16 additional locations nationwide — the majority of which are unionized. Local Starbucks workers, many of whom are affiliated with SBWU, are in the process of planning protests that will be held to increase public awareness of Starbucks union-busting tactics as the May 26 shutdowns approach.

Starbucks Workers United represents 300 locations accounting for nearly 7,000 workers across the country. According to data from the NLRB, the union has won roughly 80 percent of its union votes.

Labor experts have called Starbucks workers unionizing campaign the start of a new labor movement that has inspired workers at other retail giants like Trader Joe’s and Home Depot to take similar actions. Data from the NLRB shows that the number of union election petitions filed with the board between October 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022 were up 58% compared to the first three quarters of Fiscal Year 2021.

The NLRB has issued 39 official complaints against Starbucks, encompassing over 1,400 alleged violations of federal labor law. The allegations accuse the company’s management of firing union organizers, slashing hours, and illegally threatening to deny pay raises and other benefits to unionized stores.

Starbucks has still yet to reach a single contract agreement with any of the unionized stores.

MAY 10–16, 2023 / THE ITHACA TIMES

9

Sports

From IHS to IC to Captain Homegrown Bombers Baseball Captain Leads Team to Playoffs

By Ste ve L aw re nc e

I

t seems like about a year ago that my friend Nancy “The Queen of Aerobics” Cool approached me – even more ebullient than usual – and told me, “I am so excited! My grandson, Gil, just committed to play baseball at Ithaca College. I can't wait to see him play there!”

Actually, a look at the Bombers' roster reminds me that my conversation with Nancy took place in 2019, and Ithaca College senior Gil Merod is wrapping up a very solid career as the Bombers' workhorse catcher. Well... maybe not.

I love watching young players come up through the local developmental pipeline – Cal Ripken and Babe Ruth leagues - represent the Little Red at Ithaca High, and then take their talents to play at the collegiate level. When they stay local, and friends and family and former coaches

can take in a lot of games, that's even better.

Right after the Bombers pulled out a best-of-three series against RPI – coming from behind to take the decisive third game and punch their ticket to the Liberty League tournament – Gil was asked if that was exciting, he replied, “Yeah, well, I would have liked to have seen us win it in two!”

After fall ball last October, the Bombers took a vote on who the team would select as a captain, and Gil scooped up every vote. Asked about his leadership style, Gil reflected: “I have never been that 'Fire 'em up' guy in the team huddle. I am more of a one-on-one guy – I like to pull a teammate aside and have a conversation. I'd rather try to show leadership on the field.”

Last year, as the Bombers were heading into tournament play, and Merod was preparing to play another few dozen games for the Elmira Pioneers, in a summer league

• From June through August • Connect with readers from Ithaca to Corning and throughout the Finger Lakes • Keep visitors coming back all summer long!

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mer,” he offered. “Make a little money, see what it feels like to be a functional adult.

At this point, it feels right to step back, but if I feel like a big part of me is missing, I can re-evaluate.”

How, I asked, will he re-evaluate if he’s a senior?

Gil clarified that while he is indeed a senior academically, he does have some remaining eligibility. There are several options in front of him – like attending Ithaca College's Park School of Commu-

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yo

Ithaca Tompkins International Airport

that draws some high-level college players.

Gil was experiencing that familiar conflict faced by many players – especially catchers – and he explained that while he loved his time behind the plate, he was hoping the team would bring in another catcher, as his body was really feeling it after carrying most of the load for the Bombers. Knowing he will have a lifetime to complain about sore knees, Gill dug in and played virtually non-stop from March through August... then he started fall ball at Ithaca College.

This summer will be different, Merod said. “I will be taking a break this sum-

SUMMER GUIDE 2023

e r A u

Choosing our local airport keeps load factors high and positions us for new service in the long term.

Ithaca High grad Gil Merod takes his cut as a leader on the Bomber roster.

ithaca com Info: Larry@IthacaTimes.com or 607-277-7000 x1214

BusinessTimes

Aspire Cannabis Dispensary Coming to Ithaca Business Briefs

Aspire Cannabis Dispensary Coming to Ithaca

By O liv i a Stan z l

T

he City of Ithaca is gaining another dispensary this year called Aspire, a not-for-profit owned by Challenge Workforce Solutions, which is an Ithaca based non-profit agency formed in 1968 that helps individuals with disabilities and other barriers gain employment.

In November 2022, New York State’s Cannabis Control Board granted 36 conditional adultuse retail dispensary (CUARD) licenses, only eight of which were awarded to non-profit organizations. These 36 were chosen out of a pool of 903 applicants. The approvals happened through the Seeding Opportunity Initiative, which will grant a total of 175 licenses, and up to 25 will go to non-profit applicants.

Ashley Burke, President of Aspire, said there is not a complete opening timeline available yet because Aspire’s design and build out plan is still being completed.

Burke said Challenge Workforce Solutions focus for over 50 years has been to help people with disabilities get entry level skills to get and retain a job.

“I think that's really important for people's mental health [to have a job], and satisfaction, you know, just their overall quality of life,” Burke said. “Having a job gives them the resources to have decent housing and provide for all their needs, but also that gives people a social experience.

I think having a job is just really rewarding for people and gives them that opportunity to be a part of the community and also to earn benefits and pay and gain really overall satisfaction.”

Burke said the organization went through an intense application process to gain their license.

Head & Heal Blotter will also be supplying product to the Aspire Dispensary (Photo by: Head & Heal, Blotter)

“It's really exciting,” Burke said. “We were pretty surprised that we were one of the first groups. We've done a lot of networking, we've met a lot of people, and everybody's been really helpful along the entire process, so we think that that's been really beneficial in getting us to where we are today.”

Currently, there are seven legal New York dispensaries opened, according to the state's dispensary location verification tool. Included is William Jane Corporation, which is located on 119-121 E State Street in Ithaca, NY. William Jane Corporation became the first conditional adult-use dispensary in Ithaca after it opened the third week of March this year. Other dispensaries currently opened are located in New York City, Binghamton, Jamaica and Schenectady.

Nora Marcus-Hecht, lifelong Tompkins County resident, said she is excited for Ithaca to gain dispensaries because it ensures consumers are getting safe products.

“I'm really excited about it,” Marcus-Hecht said. “I think it's really great. Ithaca has always just been a very accepting place about marijuana use. And I think having that legality and having a safe space where people can buy their marijuana is just incredible.”

To be eligible, applicants were required to “either have had a cannabis conviction themselves, or be the family member of someone who has, and have owned a profitable business.

Nonprofits were eligible if they had a history of serving cur-

Florist Farms will be one of the many local suppliers of fine cannabis product at the Aspire Dispensary. (Photo by: Florist Farms)

rent or formerly incarcerated individuals, including creating vocational opportunities for them; have at least one justice involved board member; at least five full time employees; and have operated a social enterprise that had net assets to profit for at least two years,” according to the New York State Webpage.

The Seeding Opportunity Initiative also granted Adult-Use Cultivator Licenses to hemp farmers that will sell their products at the state's approved dispensaries.

Aspire will be collaborating with farms like: Florist Farms, Head & Heal, Blotter,Ithaca Organics and Hip Crop NY. Through these brands, Aspire will sell flower, pre-rolls, vapes, tinctures, concentrates, gummies and rosin and hash, according to their April 10 press release.

Marcus-Hecht noted that despite most of the Ithaca commu-

nity being accepting of cannabis use, society's demonization of the drug makes it impossible to avoid the negative stigma that comes with weed.

“I think having it legalized definitely helps,” Marcus-Hecht said. “But I don't see that stigma really leaving.”

A March 2021 report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics showed that in 2018 there were around 32,000 people incarcerated because of cannabis.

Burke said this opportunity has allowed her to hear stories of those impacted by the war on drugs and mass incarceration.

“I've been to conferences and heard people speak and, you know, just hearing some of the stories behind all of this, it really is a great time to be involved,” Burke said. “And you know, we're just really excited about it.”

MAY 10–16, 2023 / THE ITHACA TIMES

11

Business Briefs IAED Welcomes Kellea Bauda as Director of Business Services

I

AED is pleased to announce a new hire. Kellea Bauda began Monday as Director of Business Services. In her new role, Bauda is responsible for cultivating and maintaining relationships with businesses, entrepreneurs, and referral partners; providing technical, financial, and site location Kellea Bauda assistance; managing IAED’s Revolving Loan Fund; and aiding administration of the Tompkins County Industrial Development Agency (TCIDA).

IAED President Heather McDaniel shared, “Kellea is a great addition to IAED. She has a strong background in finance and lending and her customer

B USINESS T IMES

relationship skills are unmatched.” McDaniel added, “I am confident she will do great things for businesses throughout Ithaca and Tompkins County.”

Bauda brings over 17 years of banking experience to her new role. Her most previous work focused on business relationships and commercial lending. She also has a background in engaging U.S. Treasury products to streamline business finances by managing cash, investments, and other financial assets. Bauda formerly served as VP, Business Banking for Chemung Canal Trust Company and Citizens Bank. She has also worked for Bank of America, Citifinancial, and First Niagara/ Key Bank.

Bauda graduated from SUNY Cortland with a degree in International Studies and Sociology. She is also a 2019 Leadership Tompkins graduate and has served on boards or committees of the YMCA of Ithaca and Tompkins County, United Way of Tompkins County, Lansing Youth Services Commission, and Racker. Bauda can be reached at kelleab@ IthacaAreaED.org.

and I can’t wait to see what the rest of 2023 holds for Brandmint!”

Brandmint Promotes Alexis Smullen to Account Executive

I

THACA, NY, April 18, 2023— Brandmint, an advertising agency with offices in Rochester and Ithaca, NY, specializing in creative and marketing technology, has announced the promotion of Alexis Smullen to Account Executive. In her new role, Smullen will manage client accounts, develop and implement integrated marketing strategies, and oversee operations at the Ithaca office.

Brandmint has fifteen employees and offers various communications services to its diversified clientele. Smullen earned a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Minnesota at Duluth and joined Brandmint in February 2022 as Marketing Assistant & Content Coordinator, later becoming Marketing Specialist and Account Manager.

Before joining Brandmint, Smullen held roles with Cornell University and Zynex Medical.

On Smullen’s promotion, Brandmint President Louie Maier shared, “Alexis deeply embodies our values at Brandmint, which is evident in her interactions with our clients, partners, and team. She constantly exceeds expectations and provides delight. She is a true asset and an emerging leader and I look forward to watching her grow professionally and personally in her new role with Brandmint.”

Smullen resides in Ithaca with her two cats, Luna and Jasper, and is active in the community serving on the Marketing Committee of the Downtown Ithaca Alliance.

Maier added, “I am so proud of our exceptional and dedicated team at Brandmint, which enables us to provide the utmost quality of service to our clients.

We continue to grow, learn, and expand,

New East Coast-specific Broccoli Variety Shows Promise

T

he Cornell University-led Eastern Broccoli Project, which built a broccoli industry on the East Coast worth an estimated $120 million over the last 13 years, has produced a promising new broccoli variety in partnership with Bejo Seeds, a Geneva, New York-based seed company.

The new broccoli variety, now undergoing commercial trials, is believed to produce good, high-quality yields – even under the stress of hot East Coast summers.

Tompkins Financial Corp. Announces Chief Financial and Chief Operating Officer Francis M. Fetsko to Retire

I

THACA, NY (May 3, 2023) – The Board of Directors of Tompkins Financial Corp. today announced that Francis M. Fetsko has communicated his plans to retire as chief financial officer and chief operating officer of Tompkins Financial Corp. in the fall of 2023, after twenty-seven years of service Francis M. Fetsko to the company.

While Fetsko will step back from his current role in the fall, he has agreed to remain with the company in a part-time capacity, as director of strategy development, through the end of 2024. The comContin u ed on Page 13

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pany will undertake a succession planning process to identify the best candidate to fill Fetsko’s role upon his retirement, which may include both internal and external candidates.

Fetsko joined Tompkins Financial in 1996 and has served as chief financial officer since 2000, assuming the additional role of chief operating officer in 2012 overseeing company-wide operations and technology. He is an executive vice president of the bank holding company, Tompkins Financial Corp., and a member of its senior leadership team.

In keeping with the values of the company and his personal commitment to community service, Fetsko sits on a number of civic and nonprofit boards.

The Ithaca resident is chair of the advisory board for the Kania School of Management at the University of Scranton, a board member of Ithaca-based Racker, an organization dedicated to supporting people with disabilities, and is past president of the YMCA of Ithaca and Tompkins County.

“Frank’s exceptional leadership and business acumen through times of economic change have been instrumental to our continued success as a high performing company,” said Tompkins Financial Corp. chair Thomas Rochon. “I would like to thank him personally, and on behalf of the board, for his contributions to Tompkins Financial Corp. which leave us wellpositioned for the future.”

Steve Romaine, president & CEO, of Tompkins Financial Corp. added, “Frank has led with integrity, vision and a deep sense of caring over his almost three decades with Tompkins. He has been a supportive colleague and mentor to his many team members, always willing to lend his expertise, wisdom and strategic perspective to enrich those around him and Tompkins as a whole. I am grateful for the value and continuity that Frank will bring to our company in his part-time transitional role as director of strategic development. I wish him well in his retirement as he spends time with family and friends and enjoys his many varied interests.”

“I have enjoyed a wonderful career at Tompkins and am pleased to have the opportunity to serve the company in a new capacity upon stepping down from my current role. I am grateful, not only for the opportunity to serve the company, but for the many colleagues and friends I have made along the way. I have been truly fortunate to spend so much of my life at a place that

shares my personal values and commitment to the community,” Fetsko said.

United Way of Tompkins County Announces Michael Ramos as President & CEO

I

thaca, NY –United Way of Tompkins County’s Board Chair, Scott Keenan, announces the appointment of UWTC President & CEO, Michael Ramos, effective May 15, 2023. Ramos has previously served as Executive Director of the Church Council of Greater Seattle since 2008 and is re-locating to Tompkins Michael Ramos County with this appointment. Keenan states, “Michael is a proven leader and has led meaningful change within the communities he has served. For decades he has been leading with passion, courage, humility, and a collaborative mind-set. We have the utmost confidence in Michael’s leadership and his ability to foster positive change within UWTC and beyond. Michael’s life work has proven that he will work collaboratively towards positive impacts with a focus on the well-being of our Tompkins County communities.”

Ramos brings with him an extensive background in non-profit leadership, as well as a focus on social justice and antiracism, having served as Social Justice Director for the Church Council of Greater Seattle previous to his appointment as Executive Director of that organization.

He has also been heavily involved in other non-profits in King County, having served on boards and committees such as the Regional Homelessness Authority, Affordable Housing Committee, Pandemic & Racism Advisory Group, Committee to End Homelessness, and Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, among others.

Ramos shared, “I am thrilled to join the team at United Way! I look forward to coming alongside the amazing work of staff, board, and community to create pathways so that all people may thrive in Tompkins County. Together, we can continue to serve as both catalyst for transformational impact and bridge for community-based organizations to flourish through collaborative partnership.”

The Board of Directors of the United Way of Tompkins County extends its deepest gratitude to Gail Belokur, who has served as Interim CEO since August 2022, and to the rest of the UWTC staff. Their unwaver-

ing commitment to United Way’s mission is an invaluable asset to our community.

United Way of Tompkins County will announce opportunities for the community to welcome Ramos in the near future.

Kick-off for electric mobility access project slated for May 16

C

ommunity stakeholders are invited to the kick off of Ithaca Electric Transportation Access (IETA), a project aimed at building a network of clean, electric transportation options to the city’s disadvantaged neighborhoods.

The event, structured as an informational meeting, is scheduled from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tues., May 16, at Coltivare, 235 S. Cayuga St. It will be hosted

by TCAT, the project’s manager, and its partners to include: Unbroken Promise Initiative (UPI); Ithaca Carshare; Ithaca Bikeshare; 211 Tompkins; the City of Ithaca; GoIthaca; Downtown Ithaca Alliance; and Golden Aspen Consulting of Ithaca.

The IETA plan includes the deployment of on-demand transit services provided

by TCAT and UPI in the city’s West End, West Hill, and the Ithaca Flats. The project also includes electric carsharing and electric bike sharing, along with sidewalk repairs, and the installation of EV charging infrastructure in the prioritized areas.

“Our goal is to level the playing field, to provide opportunities and improve the quality of life for those who are underserved – and that includes folks within the community who do not have vehicles - folks who live in places that a 40-foot bus can’t get to, folks that do not have the same access as other community members,” said IETA Project Manager Stephanie Freese of TCAT. “We want to make this happen with a fleet of smaller electric vehicles for on-demand - and a shared fleet of electric carshare vehicles and electric bicycles distributed throughout the community.”

Those encouraged to attend the May 16 event include West End, West Hill and Flats residents, non-profit administrators and representatives from local labor organizations and businesses. The event is family-friendly and will include food provided by Coltivare with mac & cheese, ham and cheese sliders, fruit, green salad, gluten free salad and non-alcoholic drinks.

The project is supported by a $7 million award from the New York Clean Transportation Prizes program, administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) in partnership with the NYS Department of Public Service (DPS) and the NYS Department

of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

The prize was awarded in November 2022 under the program’s Electric Mobility Challenge, to provide funding to projects that demonstrate electric mobility options that solve underserved community needs.

Help Us Find Ithaca’s Newest Businesses

T

he pandemic and post-pandemic period has left us with some retail vacancies. While we are heartbroken to see businesses close or leave, we also realize that this also creates an opportunity for new entrepreneurs and businesses.

This is where you, the public, can help. In your travels around upstate Gary Ferguson New York, help us look for and identify successful businesses that might also be a good fit for our Ithaca marketplace. Many of you visit surrounding communities here in upstate New York.

Keep an eye out for businesses that appear to be well managed and well patronized.

What makes a strong retail candidate for Downtown Ithaca? We look for businesses with street appeal, with solid products and goods, that would benefit our marketplace. We look for owners who are younger in heart and/or age, and for whom multiple locations may be worth the effort. We never seek to relocate anybody, but instead, have the business create a branch location in Downtown Ithaca.

The types of businesses we seek vary from year to year. Currently, we would love to see more apparel stores, particularly for women and children. We seek a footwear store, as well as more home goods opportunities. We are also very interested in finding family entertainment businesses that would translate to our marketplace. We are always careful to seek out businesses that differentiate from our existing shops. While we cannot and do not, control who rents in Ithaca, we can have control over who we seek out.

When you travel and you experience an independent retail store that you think might be a welcome addition to Downtown Ithaca, simply jot down the name, address, and any other distinguishing characteristics and send this information to us at the DIA (info@downtownithaca.com). If you are the gregarious type, talk with the owner/manager and tell them that they’d make a great fit for Downtown Ithaca. Then collect their contact information and relay it to the DIA.

MAY 10–16, 2023 / THE ITHACA TIMES

13

GUEST OPINION contin u ed from page 6

sacrificed in order to include and nurture others.

Principal Sahasrabudhe has contributed decades of work as an outstanding elementary school teacher. She serves as a strong member of the Equity Inclusion Leadership Council (EILC) and its Cultural Competency working group; as a Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA), she was instrumental in designing the ground-breaking professional development strands for educators to earn micro-credentials in Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching and cultural competency; Ms. Sahasrabudhe was the leader of the district’s Equity Teams for two years and mentored them through their PD and portfolio assessment in family engagement strategies, writing anti-marginalization curriculum, and integrating identity development into their classroom practice.

This leadership exemplifies the district’s mandate to become an anti-racist school which, by definition, requires change. The criticism by a small group of COMMON COUNCIL APPROVES PROPOSALS contin u ed from page 5

organizations such as Beverly J. Martin Families Together and the Finger Lakes Reuse Center.

Pillar also said that the county would be discussing the Home Together Tompkins plan next month.

Next the Common Council discussed updating its equity and justice statement that was last updated on December 2, 1998.

The measure passed by a margin of 9-1.

The Council then moved on to discuss a measure to increase the starting salary for the Chief of Police from $132,552 to $150,000 — with an additional $50,000 sign-on bonus that would be paid out over three years. The increase comes as a recommendation from Public Sector Search and Consulting, the search firm that has been hired by the city to help find the next Chief of Police.

Mayor Laura Lewis reminded council members that the mea-

white parents and teachers that has been directed at the principal, a woman of color, focuses on her leadership, which is pointedly anti-racist and based in restorative practice. If a stance is anti- antiracist, it is by logic, racist. It is clear that some of the white adults are not comfortable with changes to “their community” school.

We, the undersigned, are members of the Equity and Inclusion Leadership Council (EILC), which has been in existence since 2007. We are representatives from many community organizations, and higher education, as well as parents, teachers and staff from the ICSD. The purpose of the EILC is to ensure that all children and families are having their educational needs met in an equitable way. We write this letter to point out the misrepresentation by the media and also to celebrate the great strides toward educational equity underway at CHES. We ask community members to be more discerning stakeholders as they learn about changes in the school district.

There is an important election coming up for the Board of Education on May 16th. As the EILC, we strongly encourage stakeholders to exercise your power and vote to support equity for all.

sure wouldn’t automatically set the salary to $150,000 but that it provides the city with the flexibility to set the salary anywhere between $132,552 to $150,000.

Common Council member Phoebe Brown expressed skepticism about the proposal. Brown said that “it doesn’t feel right” to have to convince a potential Chief of Police that Reimagining Public Safety is a good thing by giving them extra money.

The Director for Human Resources for the City of Ithaca, Schelley Michell-Nunn, responded to Brown’s comments saying that “the intent of the language is recognizing that in order to bring about reform, it takes a certain skill, and we have to attract individuals who have that track record.” Nunn continued saying that “we’re also trying to attract someone to an organization that has some very serious issues…so we’re trying to incentivize the right person to take the job.”

After some debate, the proposal to increase the salary of the Chief of Police ultimately passed by a margin of 8-2.

14 T H E I T H A C A T I M E S / M A Y 1 0 – 1 6 , 2 0 2 3

HOW IT ALL BEGAN contin u ed from page 7

Optometrists, Herbalists, Acupuncturists, Chiropractors examine, treat patients, and refer patients to these available modalities. Dentists, Psychologists, Doulas, Massage Therapists, and Medical Specialists provide services for free or at discount for Clinic patients. Many undergraduate and graduate students at Ithaca College and Cornell provide invaluable volunteer support.”

“Every day at the IFC is different. We manage a huge caseload with minimal bureaucracy, so that funding raised is utilized to support clients. Three full-time staff (including me) and one part-time staff juggle all the paperwork, scheduling, reception, coordination of appointments for 600-plus patients who visit each year.”

Last month the Ithaca Free Clinic hosted an All-Children’s Lions Club Vision Clinic, with special support from the amazing Ithaca Lions Club and member Dr. Ted Bryant, much loved Optometrist. Norbert added: “With support of the ESSILOR company, we can provide stylish, well-built eye wear at no cost…

ANTI-ZONING CAMPAIGN INVESTIGATION contin u ed from page 3

“under New York State election law, you can’t even start signing until the 28th of February. And I’ve looked into it, it’s not worth trying to fudge it.” He asks attendees to provide their names and addresses on a sign-up sheet, “So we can come to your house and get the signatures for the three candidates.”

Since these comments were made, a total of 74 non-Democratic Caroline voters enrolled as Democrats during the reregistration period, from January 15 through February 14.

Tompkins County Democratic Committee Chair Linda Hoffmann has said that this is “an exceptionally large change of party affiliation rarely seen in the past.”

A total of 140 Caroline Democrats, including 53 newly-enrolled members, signed petitions for the anti-zoning candidates. A Caroline resident who submitted an anonymous news tip to the Ithaca Times

One family recently confided this was the first time their child had ever had a muchneeded pair of glasses!”

Norbert: “Contributions to the Ithaca Free Clinic are essential for the IFC to continue providing medical and related services. When you contribute to the Ithaca Free Clinic, you become a partner, investing in your own community.”

So, Norbert McCloskey, who agreed to help with the grandchildren for 6 months in 2012, is now beginning his 8th year as IHA’s executive director. “It’s an incredible amount of work to provide essential care for uninsured and underinsured neighbors, in this rich country where so many people have no other available medical care. But success stories buoy us up. I love this Clinic and the people with whom I serve, and the clients we serve…We welcome anyone who comes into the Clinic.

Patients tell us they feel respected, cared for and safe. Norbert adds: “The Clinic does not turn anyone away. Regardless of your circumstances, who you are or where you come from, if you have no health insurance, no problem! The Free Clinic is here to help!”

For more information about the Ithaca Free Clinic visit www.ithacahealth.org.

ney and the chair of the Tompkins County Republican Committee to look into the matter.

“This is a grossly undemocratic tactic aimed at confusing voters,” Hoffmann says. “Our party and our candidates stand for a set of values and beliefs. We welcome anyone who shares those values and beliefs. But we are offended by those who present themselves as Democrats while adhering to the values and beliefs of another organization. We urge Town of Caroline Democrats vote for the candidates —Tompkins County Democratic to who have been endorsed Committee Chair Linda Hoffmann by the town Democratic committee in the upcoming primary.”

The Town of Caroline Demoearlier this year. “The gist I got cratic Committee has endorsed from them was ‘look at me, I’m a Democrat now, wink wink nudge three incumbents: Mark Witmer for Town Supervisor and Kate nudge,’” the source said.

Citing New York State Election Kelley-Mackenzie and Tim Murray for Town Council; citing their Law § 17-102(4) and (5), Hoffexperience and hard work. All mann says encouraging people to change parties in order to swing a three support continued consideration of zoning for the town. primary is a violation of election If a primary is held, early law that can be prosecuted as a voting will begin June 19, with misdemeanor. She has asked the Primary Election Day on June 27.

Tompkins County District Attorsaid that the intent of the party switching campaign is to force through anti-zoning candidates “by manipulating the voter rolls to force a primary and bank on low turnout from actual Democrats.”

The source continued saying that they were told about the campaign by a lifelong Republican who said that they switched their party affiliation to Democrat

“This is a grossly undemocratic tactic aimed at confusing voters.”

International Chamber Music Festival on Campus May 19-23

By Jane D ie ckm ann

M

ayfest, Cornell’s International Chamber Music Festival opens on Friday, May 19, offering five concerts at Cornell University venues, complete with outstanding performers, some local, mostly from abroad. The founders and artistic directors, Xak Bjerken and Miri Yampolsky, from Cornell’s music department and with established international performing careers and musical friends everywhere, have been organizing and presenting this festival since 2008.

Returning this year are famed soprano Dawn Upshaw, along with her wife, Nikki Divall, ex-principal violist of the Australian Chamber Orchestra; local and equally famed period instrument pioneer, who put Cornell’s music department on the map, pianist Malcolm Bilson; cellist Steven Doane from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, who guest-teaches all over the world, here for the third time; Israeli-born Guy Ben-Ziony, principal violist of the Basel Sinfonietta and assistant principal with the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester in Berlin, on his third visit; amazing young clarinetist Moran Katz, winner of multiple prizes and competitions, who filled in at the last minute in 2022; and Xak and Miri’s son, Misha, part of a group of young local musicians in the 2017 Mayfest, back to play in two programs. A recent graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC), he plans to continue his studies there.

Newcomers include cellist Ariel Tushinsky and violinist Roi Shiloah, who along with BenZiony have made music with Miri since they were teenagers in Israel. They all studied with the same teachers and their mentor (now age 98) still comes to every concert they perform there. Playing violin is Russian-born Maria

Mayfest Cornell International Chamber Music Festival May 19-23 Cornell University concert halls Free parking on the Sage Lot (off Campus Road) and at Moakley House on Warren Road.for Barnes and Sage Chapel concerts mayfest-cornell.org/

Ioudenitch, at present on the NEC faculty and performing the Marlboro Music Festival in November. Her father is a good friend of Miri’s. And baritone Jean Bernard Cerin, a native of Haiti, recently appointed director of vocal studies at Cornell, will be performing.

According to the artistic directors, perhaps half of the music was suggested by the performers themselves and in joint consultations with everyone reachable by phone. Consideration is given to balancing of styles and choosing repertory where certain performers can shine. It’s also about sharing joy and promoting a sense of celebration and community. Among well-known composers, we will hear Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, Brahms and also Rachmaninoff (this year being the 150th anniversary of his birth).

Mayfest opens in Barnes Hall (7:30 p.m.) with soprano Dawn Upshaw singing “The Heavenly Life,” an arrangement of the final movement of Mahler’s fourth symphony, with clarinet Katz and piano Yampolsky. Then comes the “String Quartet in A minor, op. 35,” by rather unfamiliar Russian composer Anton Arensky, with an unusual setup of violin, viola and two cellos, played by Shiloah, Ben-Ziony, Doane and Tushinsky. Miri heard it last year in Israel performed by everyone here (except American cellist Doane) and sat through every rehearsal because it was “just so exquisite.” After intermission comes an exciting modern “Song Set” by composer Kurt Weill of “The Threepenny Opera” fame and composer-arranger Marc Blitzstein, who did the English adaption of Weill’s work. The vocalists, both terrific, are Upshaw and Cerin. An all-time favorite closes the concert, Schubert’s piano quintet called the “Trout” — so-named because the fourth movement uses as its theme Schubert’s song of the same name. Miri presented it in 2017 with young local players, including her son, Misha.

This time, the two are joined by Ioudenitch, violin; Divall, viola; and Tushinsky, cello. This is surely an audience-pleaser.

Here are more highlights of the festival: • Program II (Barnes Hall, 7:30 p.m.) features Chopin’s cello sonata, op. 65, and a violin sonata by Fauré, played by Shiloah and Yampolsky.

Miri first heard it when Shiloah played it when both were probably 15 or 16; she never forgot how it was played and wants to repeat what she remembered. The “Duo Concertante” for violin and double bass by Penderecki, played by Misha Bjerken and classmate Isabella Gorman, is followed by a Robert Schumann trio, with Ioudenitch, Tushinsky, and Yampolsky.

• Program III (Moakley House, 3 p.m.) opens with selections by Mendelssohn, his sister Fanny Hensel and Brahms played by

Soprano Dawn Upshaw opens Mayfest singing “The Heavenly Life,” an arrangement of the final movement of Mahler’s fourth symphony, with clarinet Katz and piano Yampolsky.

Bilson. The G minor Mozart string quintet, K. 516, will be performed by Shiloah, Ioudenitch, Divall, Ben-Ziony, Tushinsky. Then smaller pieces by Robert and Clara Schumann and songs by Alban Berg, with Dawn and Xak, the G minor piano quartet by Fauré played by Ioudenitch, Ben-Ziony, Doane, Bjerken.

• Program IV (Sage Chapel, 7:30 p.m.; a free show) features contemplative music: “Lament”

by Frank Bridge with Divall, Ben-Ziony; an Arvo Pärt work with Upshaw, Divall, Ioudenitch; and the “Quartet for the End of Time,”

by Olivier Messiaen, written during his imprisonment by the Nazis and using the only instruments available, hence violin, clarinet, cello, and piano (Shiloah, Katz, Tushinsky, Bjerken). The chapel will be darkened and “candlelit” during the concert.

• Program V (Barnes Hall, 7:30 p.m.) presents the Schubert Sonatina no. 3 with Ioudenitch and Yampolsky; Brahms piano quartet in C minor op. 60, played by Shiloah, Ben-Ziony, Doane and Yampolsky; Rachmaninoff songs with Upshaw, Divall and Bjerken; and closing with Schoenberg’s special “Transfigured Night” — it has a special story, to be read before listening — with violins Shiloah and Ioudenitch, violas Ben-Ziony and Divall, cellos Tushinsky and Doane.

This year’s Mayfest brings families of performers (Xak and Miri and their son, Misha; Upshaw and Divall); of composers (the Schumanns, the Mendelssohn brother and sister), not to mention the loving and caring relationships of the participants, who are here to share special experiences with their audiences and with each other. As Miri says, the message in today’s cruel and often unfair world is love and forgiveness, delivered in beautiful music.

“This will move us and the world around us forward.”

Arts&Entertainment Arts& &Entertainment

Cornell Welcomes the World to Mayfest

MAY 10–16, 2023 / THE ITHACA TIMES

15

Music

Indigo Girl

SUMMER BUSINESS BOOSTER

Amy Ray Goes Country With Her Own Band

By Br yan VanC ampe n

I

f you missed the sold-out Indigo Girls show at the State Theatre of Target, reach and engage tens of Ithaca or saw it and want more, thousands Indigo’s Amy Ray is bringing the Amy R AV E L I N G T Hof E F Ivisitors N G E R L A K E Straveling T H I S S U M M Ethe R. ReachTyour potential customers on the go, Ray Band to the Center for the Arts of Finger Summer Traffic can be Yours! anywhere, at any time. O N LLakes I N E , M O Bthis I L E & Psummer.

R I N Our T Homer for a gig on Sunday, May 14th at ONLINE, MOBILE & PRINT Shouldn’t your 8 p.m.

Reach On-The-Go Tourists, Visitors and Area Residents message follow your ithaca Ithaca Seeks Bigger Amy Ray spoke to the Ithaca Times com with a Mobile, On-Line Ad Program. customers wherever Payment from Cornell they go? about early Ithaca shows, COVID-19 and Reach your potential guide working with other musical partners. on the Thecustomers Ithaca Times andgo, to the finger anywhere, at any time.

Ithaca.com reaches IT: Do you remember the early Ithaca lakes Extend your or advertising into the interactive Summer Contact your sales representative today email Larry@ithacatimes.com potential consumers Ithaca marketing landscape. shows with Indigo Girls?

Issue Shouldn’t your on their smart phones, for information about our digital print packages. message follow your Keep your message in front of prospects tablets, or computers.

AR: Oh, yeah. I mean, we’ve played in Ithaca Seeks Bigger customers wherever through the day.

Payment from Cornell Ithaca so much. One of my dad’s cousins com they go? and his wife lived there for a long time, so The Ithaca Times and I always hung out with them during the Ithaca.com reaches Extend your advertising into the interactive Target, reach and engage tens of thousands of potential consumers day…

Good times. marketing landscape. on their smart phones, Info: Larry@IthacaTimes.com or 607-277-7000 visitors x 1214 traveling the Finger Lakes this summer.

IT: The Haunt is no longer with us. I Keep your message in front of prospects tablets, or computers. through the day.

Online, Mobile and PrintCOVID killed it. think AR: Okay, Crazy. Yeah, COVID • Connect with 84,000 unique visitors each month to our Ithaca.com newswow. and entertainment site. Drive our online traffic to your website and Facebook page. really changed the landscape a lot.

• Summer Ithaca - Guide to the Finger Lakes. Full of interesting and informative content. 32,000 copies distributed at Cayuga and Seneca wineries, and your COVID time?

IT:Lakes How was information centers in Ithaca, Watkins Glen, Cortland, Seneca Falls and Info: Larry@IthacaTimes.com or 607-277-7000tourist x 1214 beyond.

AR: It was like everyone else’s, probContact your sales representative today at ably.

607-277-7000 or email ways, there was a long In some Larry@IthacaTimes.com for information about our digital/print packages. rest period that probably a lot of people needed. And in other ways, it was just hard to see everything happening, the suffering and what have you. It was, like, a lot. But I fared pretty well because I live in the woods and have a lot of space anyway.

IT: What do you get to do with the Amy Ray Band that you can’t do with the Indigo Girls?

AR: Well, I can do whatever I want with the Indigo Girls. You know, it’s not so much about that as it just… I started doing solo stuff back in 2000. And at that point, I was playing more with, like, a punk band. And it just wasn’t what we do. [laughs] And I started doing more country stuff, and this band has been together around 10 years. And we play more, like, country music. I mean, I could take these songs to Emily [Saliers] and she’d be great at it. I like collaborating with different people and I also like the independent scene a lot. I like playing in small venues and driving the van around and unloading and loading yourself and the process. I’ve always re-

TA R GTourists, E T, R E A Visitors C H A N Dand E N GArea A G EResidents Reach On-The-Go with a Mobile, On-Line Ad Program.

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16 T H E I T H A C A T I M E S / M A Y 1 0 – 1 6 , 2 0 2 3

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Amy Ray of Indigo Girls speaks on the importance of having side projects while in a long-term musical partnership.

ally liked that. So this allows me to have a whole different cosmos.

IT: There’s pros and cons to long-term relationships.

AR: Yeah, Emily and I have been playing together since we were 15, and we’ve known each other since we were 10. I’m 59 now, so it’s a long time consistently playing together.

IT: That’s deep stuff.

AR: And so one of the things that’s helped us maintain a partnership is the side projects that we do and the ability to kind of have our own space in our songwriting as well as other endeavors and not have it threaten the other person.

[Emily] is working on a couple of musicals right now, developing them with other people, and I do the solo thing. So we just have other interests, but we are touring all the time as Indigo Girls and putting stuff out. So it’s still very much relevant and part of who I am. It is all part of the same big picture; it’s just different collaborators and different venues.

When I do solo stuff, I’m really handson, and I’m advancing the shows and booking the travel and driving the van. [laughs] It’s a way to feel that experience and it really informs what I’m feeling in the Indigo Girls, too. Because I appreciate things more, and technical things, too. It’s just more knowledge.

Amy Ray Band May 14th at 8 p.m.

The Center for the Arts of Homer 72 South Main Street Homer, New York

Film

Girls Coming of Age Different Takes In “Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret” and “Polite Society”

By Br yan VanC ampe n

Y

ou probably know Abby Ryder Fortson best as Scott Lang’s daughter Cassie in “Ant-Man” (2015) and “Ant-Man and the Wasp” (2018). She proves she’s the real deal in writer-director Kelly Fremon Craig’s affectionate, empathetic adaptation of Judy Blume’s 1970 YA novel “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.”

Fremon Craig doesn’t update Blume’s story, keeping it set in 1970. This is good. I can’t see the narrative working at all in the age of smart phones and social media. As the film opens, Margaret (Fortson) comes home to New York City only to learn from her mother (Rachel McAdams) and father (Benny Safdie) that he has accepted a promotion, and the whole family will be moving to New Jersey just in time for the start of sixth grade. Just as Margaret comes to term with the move, she has to deal with a new school, new kids, new friends and all kinds of new challenges. She falls into a secret girls’ club where every girl is obsessed with the mysteries of cute boys, training bras and the intricacies of impending puberty.

Fortson is blessed with wonderfully expressive eyes, and as Margaret struggles to deal with her new life and the prospect of new friends, Fortson finds a million

“Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” (Lionsgate-Gracie Films, 2023, 106 min.) playing at Regal Stadium 14.

ways to look mortified. I admired the film because it deals honestly with Margaret’s struggle to understand religion without becoming a tract. By the time the film fades to black to the tune of Cat Stevens’ “The Wind,” I wept. The movie takes you back to the 13-year-old kid you used to be, that age when you found out that your friends and your parents were human and fallible, when everything that happened to you seemed so epic. The story has a lot of painful, truthful things to say about the nature of friendship.

The only aspect that bugged me is lazy song selection. We know from the beginning that we’re in 1970, yet we get too many needle drops on the soundtrack that we’ve heard too many times in too many movies and TV shows. Let’s face it — “Pulp Fiction” (1994) owns Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man” and should never be heard in another movie ever again. And frankly, I never need to hear Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky” again in any context. ● ● ●

One of the many pleasures to be had watching writer-director Nida Manzoor’s debut comedy “Polite Society” (Focus Features-Working Title Films-Parkville Pictures, 2023, 104 min.) is seeing a whole slew of new faces in front of and behind the camera. It’s the first film for Manzoor.

One of the flick’s stars, Priya Kansara comes to the table with UK TV and soap opera work on her resume.

In “Polite Society,” Kansara and Ritu Arya play sisters, Ria and Lena. Ria, the younger sister, wants more than anything to

“Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” and “Polite Society” take two different takes on the coming-of-age genre.

be a stuntperson, and Lena, the older sister, records endless Ria audition pieces on her phone. Lena wants to be an artist but is having some frustration getting what she wants on the canvas. When Lena gets engaged to the seemingly perfect young doctor Salim (Akshay Khanna), Ria sees her sister throwing away her artistic dreams to settle for dull domesticity. Plus, something seems off about Salim and his family. Ria makes it her mission to foil the relationship — and impending

“Polite Society” (Focus Features-Working Title Films-Parkville Pictures, 2023, 104 min.) playing at Cinemapolis.

nuptials — at any cost. With the help of her loyal school chums Clara (Seraphina Beh) and Alba (Ella Bruccoleri), the three teens set out on their own impossible mission.

“Polite Society” is a delightful crossover.

It mixes Bollywood musical rhythms with “The Matrix” (1999). Manzoor showcases the vibrant Indian culture in the heart of modern-day London. It’s a distinctly femaledriven narrative that allows all of the characters to be seen with all their foibles, flaws and good qualities. All the crazy balletic battling in “Polite Society” makes you wonder why there wasn’t any mixed martial arts in Jane Austen’s novels. The story allows plenty of room for unexpected twists and turns.

Contin u ed on Page 19

PEACHEY PRODUCE Mothers Day Sale Sat. May 13 8-6

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Get a free 10" hanging basket with $100 plant purchase Free Refreshments Hanging baskets, bedding plants, vegetable plants, succulents perennials, potted herbs, planters, potting soil, in-season produce, handmande crafts, maple syrup, local milk, cheese, brown eggs, baked goods, jams and jellies

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Open Mon.-Sat 8-6 Closed Sunday

Earlville Opera House Presents

Gibson Brothers

Celebrate Mother's Day with The Gibson Brothers, they'll treat your Mama right!

"Bluegrass reverence with a hint of rock May 12 @ 7PM refreshment" -Chris Paton, The Bluegrass Situation

$40/$36

Thank you to show sponsors: Community Foundation for South Central NY, NBT Bank, Preferred Mutual Insurance Company, R.C. Smith Foundation, Hamilton Community Chest, sfcu, Bruce Ward, Architect, Huff Brau, and Poolville Country Store

Masks optional. Check our website for latest Covid protocols Tickets available at: earlvilleoperahouse.com//315.691.3550 18 East Main St., Earlville, NY

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College students half off general admission with ID // Youth $10 (17 and under)

SPRING ‘23 SUPER SALE !!

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Shorts, Shirts, Swim Trunks + more Monday - Saturday 11am-5pm MAY 10–16, 2023 / THE ITHACA TIMES

17

Stage

It’s Complicated Families, Race Collide in Intense Syracuse Stage Drama

By Barbara Ad am s

F

EQUALITY FUN RUN WALK/RUN FOR RACIAL JUSTICE

Come join On June 11 from 10:00am-1:00pm to support racial justice!

-The fun walk will be held on the Ithaca High School Track -Come get treats and walk laps to support racial justice!

-As well as ice cream from Trimmers!

-If you don't feel like walking but want to donate there will be donation jars!!

-There will also be a raffle with prizes from local businesses!!

-Proceeds will go to the Southside Community Center supporting racial justice!

About the Southside Community Center Since its incorporation in 1934, the Southside Community Center, Inc., continues to affirm, empower, and foster the development of self-pride among the African-American citizens of greater Ithaca. Through forums and activities in education, recreation, political and social awareness, the Southside Community Center is a community resource center. They serve as a vehicle to develop an appreciation for the contributions and presence of those peoples of African descent in the greater Ithaca community and in the larger world community.

Questions?

If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at izabel.laforge@icsd.k12.ny.us

18 T H E I T H A C A T I M E S / M A Y 1 0 – 1 6 , 2 0 2 3

amily ties are seldom simple, and Syracuse Stage’s latest production, a world premiere, explores just how labyrinthine they can be. “Tender Rain,” written by Syracuse’s resident playwright Karl Bass and directed by Rodney Hudson, is set in the small-town South of the 1950s, where a middle-aged white banker is having what we’d now call a midlife crisis.

I can’t recall what this distress was seen as back then (when I was a naïve young white girl in a segregated Southern town), but I know the male code was generally to submerge emotions and above all maintain a sense of control. And Bass’s Milton Millard does exactly that: He avoids his unhappy, hypochondriacal wife, Dolores, as much as he can; distractedly carries on an affair with a garrulous hairdresser, Mary; and finds comfort only when being ministered to by Ruthie, the now-elderly Black woman who was his second mother.

The drama unfolds from these four central figures, whose present conflicts stretch back a generation or two. Moments from their past come to life onstage, tracing youth and passion, social taboos and survival skills. The play’s intense second act reveals several surprises that are disturbing, and not entirely unanticipated. But the characters’ extensive interconnections are sometimes so convoluted that it’s a challenge to follow them. (A family history chart, like that projected in Tom Stoppard’s “Leopoldstadt,” would be welcome.)

“Tender Rain” has a surfeit of plot, perhaps better suited to a multi-generational novel than a play. And key points are at times lost in rapid or too soft-spoken dialogue.

The scenes, both past and present, serve ultimately to bring Milton (and consequently all those whose lives he touches) into a new place: His escapism runs its course; he

“Tender Rain,”

by Kyle Bass, directed by Rodney Hudson. With Brian Dykstra, LeeAnne Hutchison, and Marjorie Johnson.

Syracuse Stage, 820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse, through May 21.

Performances at 7:30 p.m. with 2 p.m. matinees Saturdays and Sundays.

Milton Millard finds comfort in the ministrations of his caretaker Ruthie in the Syracuse Stage production of “Tender Rain”.

faces feelings and buried past truths. There is for him a kind of rebirth, a redemption — symbolized by the cleansing rainfall — the tender rain — that he’s drenched in.

That single line of rainfall, which occurs more than once, is impressive, especially as Milton walks through it gratefully. The stage itself, by Se Hyun Oh, lit by Dawn Chiang, is otherwise maximum minimalism: a few open wooden frames suggesting furniture. In contrast, the rear projections are a curious mix of old black and white photos and colorful fields. And completing the stretch from abstract to specific, Tracy Dorman’s excellent costumes are perfectly period, from Milton’s uncomfortable starched white shirt to Mary’s bouffant floral skirts and pristine gloves.

The chief effect of the spare set is to put the focus on the actors, and among them, dramatically as well as thematically, Milton dominates. He’s played with complexity and power by Brian Dykstra (familiar to Ithaca audiences for his work at the Kitchen Theatre). An old-school masculinist, Milton’s not a likeable figure, but we come to appreciate his struggle.

His distraction, Mary Honeycutt, a “cosmetologist” as she says, is clearly not of his class; and in small towns, the limited field somehow always yields the most nuanced and invidious social divisions. Mary wants more of Milton, and of life, and she oversteps repeatedly, prying and probing. Jenny Contin u ed on Page 19

TENDER RAIN contin u ed from page 18

Strassburg renders her as unsympathetic, with a grating voice and a manner so irritating we wonder why Milton lasted this long.

As his long-suffering wife, Dolores, LeeAnn Hutchison moves from sickly and grieving to articulate and prepossessing. It’s an engaging performance, but the range of her personality and its shifts, as scripted, seems off.

Something about the four main character types is too close to an actual ’50s drama (or melodrama); the classism and

sexism remain unexamined, so unobserved we’re not sure what new perspective this narrative hopes to offer.

And even the play’s approach to its central racial themes feels dated: Marjorie Johnson is formidable as Ruthie, whose complex relation to Milton’s family encompassed playmate, nanny, surrogate mother, midwife, and even abortionist.

But her role suggests what’s now considered “the Magical Negro” trope. With her unwavering faith in God, Ruthie is the spiritual center of Milton’s world, and she nourishes, guides, admonishes, and finally redeems him — she is the total caretaker of the white man at this story’s center. Yes,

he loves and respects her above all others, but the individual that Ruthie might be is lost in her theatrical representation as Black savior.

Because they’re so briefly sketched, the other actors in minor roles — Eric Lockett, Devereau Chumrau, Niall Powderly — offer glimpses of authenticity we can’t quite see in the three central women, who are finally weighted down by their types.

After the play ends, it’s Dykstra’s fierce commitment to Milton’s anguish that still resonates.

MEDICAID COVERAGE CAN BE LOST

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, it will take a year to fully realize the impact of Medicaid disenrollments and the end of covering COVID-19 related health expenses will see increased costs for testing for those with insurance.

Uninsured people in most states have already been paying full price for testing, so not much will change for them. However, New York was among 15 states that provided uninsured people with free testing but this measure will come to an end on May 11.

GIRLS COMING OF AGE contin u ed from page 17

I’ll spoil one, so if you don’t want to know, stop reading now. Salim’s mother Raheela, played

by Nimra Bucha, sees Ria’s suspicions a mile away and turns out to be an action badass in her own right. “Polite Society” is a fantastic showcase for a movie full of talented relative unknowns.

Recommended: “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” is playing at Cinemapolis and Regal Stadium 14, “How to Blow Up a Pipeline” available on Amazon Prime and iTunes.

Barbara Adams, a regional theatre and arts writer, teaches writing at Ithaca College.

contin u ed from page 3

health care coverage, Tompkins County Public Health Director Frank Kruppa has said that when the public health emergency ends, “financial payment for all COVID-19 expenses related to health care will no longer be covered and we will shift back to our pre-existing systems where they will be co-pays and those without insurance could face added costs.”

MOTHERʼS DAY IS MAY 14TH!

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SPORTS contin u ed from page 10

nications as a grad student, and suiting up for the Bombers again - or transferring and charting a different course.

In any case, Gil is aware that when the time comes, it will be an adjustment. “I do know it will be tough,” he stated. “In many ways, my baseball career has been a main connection with my parents, as they have helped me navigate the various challenges and obstacles I have faced.”

The (by some definitions) senior knows that this is no time to get too wrapped up in sentimentality, as there are tasks at hand. The Bombers will be the No. 4 seed in the Liberty League Tournament and will play No. 1 Rochester at 1 p.m. on Thursday. No. 2 Skidmore and No. 3 RIT will play in the other contest as part of the double elimination championship.

In Merod's words, “The amount of talent we have is head and shoulders above what we had last year. We have found our most productive offensive lineup – one through nine are all hitting over .300 – and our pitching staff can be dominant at times. It was encouraging to see us come back in Game Three and win it. It's nice to see it flow.”

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MAY 10–16, 2023 / THE ITHACA TIMES

19

Music Bars/Bands/Clubs

5/11 Thursday Michael “Mijail” Martinez & The Cantina Ramblers | 5:30 p.m. | South Hill Cider, 550 Sandbank Road Singer Songwriter Series with Rachel Beverly | 6 p.m. | Atwater Vineyards, 5055 State Route 414 | Free Nahko | 8 p.m. | Deep Dive Ithaca, 415 Old Taughannock Blvd

5/12 Friday Friday Night Music - Cielle on Solid Ground | 6 p.m. | Hopshire Farms and Brewery, 1771 Dryden Rd

5/13 Saturday Deep Audio Groove Freeze and Priest Saturday Sessions Electronic Music | 4 p.m. | Bernie Milton Pavilion, Center Commons Nate Gross Band - Artistic Expression | 5 p.m. | Trout Ponds Park , 44 Spring St. | Free FRIGHT: Hair Raising Rock and Roll! | 6 p.m. | The L, 116 Breesport Rd | $23.00 - $39.00

5/14 Sunday Jazz Guitar Brunch with Dennis Winge | 10:30 a.m. | Antlers Restaurant, 1159 Dryden Rd. | Free

5/15 Monday

THISWEEK

Mondays with MAQ | 5:30 p.m. | South Hill Cider, 550 Sandbank Road

Wonder Monday - Michael Decatur | The Downstairs, 121 EW. M.L.K. Jr. St. Concerts/Recitals

5/11 Thursday Student chamber music recital: CU Music | 3 p.m. | Barnes Hall, 129 Ho Plaza | Free Jazz Repertory Ensemble: CU Music | 7 p.m. | Klarman Hall, 232 Feeney Way | Free

5/12 Friday Cornell Center for Historical Keyboards Salon: Roger Moseley and Ariana Kim | 5 p.m. | A.D. White House, 121 Presidents Dr | Free Steve Daniels & Special GuestsNightingale JAZZ Benefit Concert | 6 p.m. | Center for the Arts of Homer Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers Spring Concert 2023 | 7 p.m. | Ithaca College Ford Hall, Whalen Center for Music | Free

5/13 Saturday OSFL’s Season Finale and Closing Concert of the Schumann Festival | 7 p.m. | Clemens Center, 207 Clemens Center Parkway | $10.00 - $50.00 Mezzo-Soprano Lindsey Weissman | 7 p.m. | Christ Episcopal Church, 1392 Main Street | Free Cayuga Chamber Orchestra: Finale! | 7:30 p.m. | Ford Hall, Ithaca College, 953 Danby Rd | $12.00 $38.00 The 2023 Chopin Masterclasses: Recital I | 8 p.m. | Barnes Hall, 129 Ho Plaza | Free

5/14 Sunday Cornell Concert Series Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra at Bailey Hall | 3 p.m. | Bailey Hall | $29.00 $39.00 Finger Lakes Chamber Ensemble Mother’s Day Concert | 4 p.m. | First Unitarian Society of Ithaca Church, 306 N Aurora Street | $10.00 - $25.00 The 2023 Chopin Masterclasses: Recital II | 8 p.m. | Barnes Hall, 129 Ho Plaza | Free Amy Ray Band | 8 p.m. | Center for the Arts of Homer, 72 S Main St

5/16 Tuesday Sold Out - Richard Thompson | 8 p.m. | Center for the Arts of Homer, 72 S Main St

Stage ComedyFLOPs Presents All You Can Eat Improv | 7 p.m., 5/10 Wednesday | The Downstairs, 121 W. State St | ComedyFLOPs presents All You Can Eat Improv, a live, entirely made-up show based on your suggestions. We do our shows in support of local non-profit organizations so join us for laughs and music as we raise money to support a local organization. $5.00 suggested donation. | $5.00 Cornell Swing Dance: CU Music | 7 p.m., 5/12 Friday | Lincoln Hall B20, 256 Feeney Way | Swing Dance hosted by the Graduate Swing Dance Society and the Jazz Ensemble, directed by Paul Merrill. Dance instruction at 7pm with live music at 8pm from the library of such bands as Chick Webb, Count Basie, Glen Miller, Les Brown, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman.

Donations taken at the door. | Free

Bees Knees Burlesque Academy Presents... | 7:30 p.m., 5/12 Friday | Cortland Repertory Theater Downtown, 24 Port Watson St | Who Framed Roger Rabbit Burlesque Show.

18+ | $25.00 Performance Art Workshop Series: Getting Jiggy With It | 4 p.m., 5/16 Tuesday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | Have you ever wanted your own theme song when you enter a room?

In this workshop, you’ll learn to walk the walk and talk the talk!

Benefit My State Variety Hour | 6 p.m., 5/17 Wednesday | State Theatre of Ithaca, 107 West State St | Featuring Sam Nelson of X AMBASSADORS, Richie Stearns and Friends, The Ithaca Ballet, Running To Places, Galumpha, Southside Community Center’s CUMEP & more | $25.00

Art Visit the Exhibit Hall | 10 a.m., 5/10 Wednesday | The History Center in Tompkins County, 401 East State Street | Walk through local stories and discover the history of Tompkins County Open Hours Our Exhibit Hall is open Wednesday-Saturday 10am-5pm throughout the year.

Time, Art, Love, Money : 45 years of work by Steve Carver | 11 a.m., 5/10 Wednesday | corners gallery, 409 East Upland Rd | TIME, ART, LOVE, MONEY is a sampling of over four decades of work produced by painter and illustrator Steve Carver.

I See You 2023 | Ithaca College and Cornell University Printmakers | 1 p.m., 5/10 Wednesday | The Ink Shop, 330 E. MLK/State St | I See You 2023 showcases the talent of printmaking students from Ithaca College and

DOROTHY COTTON JUBILEE SINGERS- SPRING CONCERT “WALK TOGETHER CHILDREN” FRIDAY, MAY 12TH AT 7:00PM

Ford Hall, Ithaca College| DCJS are so excited to present a concert full of some of their standard repertoire, as well as some additional spirituals and gospel favorites, and some fantastic new pieces. A free concert - come see the amazing talent the group has to offer! (Photo: Provided)

20 T H E I T H A C A T I M E S / M A Y 1 0 – 1 6 , 2 0 2 3

Cornell University, featuring a diverse range of printmaking techniques. | Free Johnson Museum: Illuminated Letters | 3:30 p.m., 5/10 Wednesday | Newfield Public Library, 198 Main Street | Explore one-of-a-kind Medieval hand-written illuminated manuscripts from 1100 to 1600 and design your own letterforms! Weds, 5/10 3:30 pm. Info: 607-564-3594, newfieldpubliclibrary.org | Free Bubbletrees and the Forest Fantasia | 12 p.m., 5/11 Thursday | State of the Art Gallery, 120 West State Street | Daniel McPheters is showing his Bubbletrees and the Forest Fanatasia show filled with intriguing images of trees and forests at State of the Art Gallery. | Free Young Adult Art Open Hour | 4 p.m., 5/11 Thursday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | TCPL is inviting Teens 13+ and Young adults 19 - 24 to a weekly open arts hour in the Makerspace.

World Collage Day Party | 5:30 p.m., 5/11 Thursday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | Join artists, art centers, museums, galleries, schools, and communities across the world to celebrate World Collage Day. McNeil Gallery Exhibition: “Painters Painting Painters” | 9 a.m., 5/12 Friday | McNeil Gallery 17-29 Main St. 1st floor hallway | Description A new exhibit “Painters Painting Painters: A Portrait Exhibit” is on display at the McNeil Gallery. | Free Michael Sampson’s “Figure Sessions” | 5 p.m., 5/12 Friday | The Gallery at South Hill, 950 Danby Road | “Figure Sessions” is a collection of paintings done over the last two years working directly from the model. | Free Entre Sombras / Between Seams | 1 p.m., 5/13 Saturday | The Cherry Gallery, 102 Cherry St | Entre Sombras / Between Seams is the newest Cherry Gallery installation, come view these wonderful works at the Gallery on Saturday and Sunday afternoons!

Clay and metal teen after school | 4:30 p.m., 5/17 Wednesday | Metal Smithery, 950 Danby Road | Join us for the exciting after school program for middle and high schoolers at The Clay School and The Metal Smithery!

Film Student Film Screening | 5 p.m., 5/12 Friday | Cornell University, 144 East Ave | A screening of student’s work and PMA Ph.D. candidate Waylon Wilson’s documentary Tuscarora Beadwork.

Cinemapolis 120 E. Green St., Ithaca May 12-18 Contact Cinemapolis for showtimes. New films listed first.* (Additional films not announced as of presstime, please contact Cinemapolis for more info.)

Book Club: The Next Chapter* | Four best friends take their book club to Italy for the fun girls trip they never had. When things go off the rails and secrets are revealed, their relaxing vacation turns into a once-in-alifetime cross-country adventure.| 108 mins PG-13

Special Events TRAMPOLINE: Freedom | 5/11 Thursday | The Downstairs, 121 W. M.L.K. Jr. St. | Show up. Sign up. Tell a 5-minute personal story, without notes, based on this month’s theme: “FREEEEDOM” and be judged by your peers.

Spring Writes - Reading/Discussion: On the Outskirts of Genre | 5:15 p.m., 5/13 Saturday | Buffalo Street Books, 215 North Cayuga Street | Register one time for all Spring Writes events here ! | $27.00 Spring Writes with Jennifer Savran Kelly & Richard Mirabella | 5/13 Saturday | The Downstairs, 121 W. M.L.K. Jr. St. | Jennifer Savran Kelly & Richard Mirabella reading and conversation for Spring Writes Literary Festival On the Outskirts of Genre Writing and Publishing Queer Debutes in Upstate New York 5:15 Spring Writes - Show and Tell: The Craft of Revising | 2:30 p.m., 5/14 Sunday | Buffalo Street Books, 215 North Cayuga Street | Register one time for all Spring Writes events here ! Writers Sorayya Khan, Leslie Daniels and Amy Reading will offer a glimpse into their revision process on this show and tell craft panel. | $19.95

BEES KNEES ACADEMY’S NIGHT OF BURLESQUE

MAY 12TH & 13TH AT 7:30PM

Cortland Repertory Downtown, 24 Port Watson St., Cortland | CRT Downtown proudly hosts a new production from Cortland’s own Bees Knees Burlesque Academy titled “Who Framed Jessica Rabbit?” An 18+ show. (Photo: Provided)

building fun! Each session we’ll have a challenge & a game.

Clay and metal teen after school | 4:30 p.m., 5/17 Wednesday | Metal Smithery, 950 Danby Road | Join us for the exciting after school program for middle and high schoolers at The Clay School and The Metal Smithery!

Notices One-on-One Tech Help | 12 p.m., 5/10 Wednesday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | Book a librarian or volunteer technology tutor for help with digital downloads, such as borrowing eBooks, or basic computer questions.

Spring Writes - Group Reading: Join Six Local Writers | 3:45 p.m., 5/14 Sunday | Buffalo Street Books, 215 North Cayuga Street | Register one time for all Spring Writes events here ! | $9.99

Philomathic Library, 74 E Main Street | Trumansburg author Rebecca Barry will help you find your creative spark in this three-session writing workshop series! Call to register - 607-387-5623 | Free

Books

Book to Film Club | 5:30 p.m., 5/16 Tuesday | Montour Falls Library, 406 W Main St | Book titles will be available to checkout from the library and some DVDs; places to stream movies are listed above. Read and watch on your own, then visit us online and/or in-person to discuss. | Free

Poetry Open Mic | 6 p.m., 5/12 Friday | Ithaca Community School of Music and Arts, 330 East State Street | Read your own poetry or a poem from a favorite artist, or come to listen and stay updated on literary events and happenings at our monthly open mic.

We feature poets on occasion.

Friends of the Tompkins County Public Library Spring Book Sale | 10 a.m., 5/13 Saturday | Regina C. Lennox Building, 509 Esty Street | The sale is ready for you. | Free YA Book Club reads Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo | 4:30 p.m., 5/15 Monday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | Join us this month to discuss Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malindo Lo, which won the Stonewall, National, and Asian/Pacific American Book Awards for Youth Literature.

Jumpstart your Creativity! | 11:30 a.m., 5/16 Tuesday | Ulysses

Comic Book Club Meeting: General Body Meeting | 7 p.m., 5/16 Tuesday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | Seen any good action-adventure movies lately? Read any good comic strips or books, either online or on paper? Want to help design a business card for the Comic Book Club of Ithaca? Come join us for a fun survey of the current pop-culture fan world! | Free

Kids Preschool Story Time | 10:30 a.m., 5/11 Thursday | Cortland Free Library, 32 Church St | Stories, songs, and activities with a different theme each week. All ages are welcome but this

program is designed for children ages 3-5 yrs. Registration is recommended for each child.

Tyke Tales Story Time | 11 a.m., 5/11 Thursday | Lodi Whittier Library, 8484 S Main St, | Join us for Story Hour!

Snacks, crafts, stories...we can’t wait to see you! | Free Spring Baby Storytime | 10:30 a.m., 5/12 Friday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | Caregivers and their babies are invited to join Cassie for songs, rhymes, movement and books at the park next to the Henry St. John Building at 301 S. Geneva St. TCPL AAPI Craft and Play: Jianzi | 4 p.m., 5/12 Friday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | In celebration of AAPI month, TCPL is offering a free Jianzi craft and play event for families and youth ages 7 - 14. What is Jianzi? It is one of the earliest forms of soccer/football.

Lego Club | 10 a.m., 5/13 Saturday | Ulysses Philomathic Library, 74 E Main Street | Drop in and show off your building skills at this open Lego build.

For children of all ages. | Free Second Saturday Family Fun | 10:30 a.m., 5/13 Saturday | Cortland Free Library, 32 Church St | Join us as we read stories, listen to music,

play games and eat snacks. Program geared to ages 3-8 yrs.

Puppet Show with Dusty and Dott | 10:30 a.m., 5/16 Tuesday | Newfield Public Library, 198 Main Street | Family Storytime hosts Dott & talking dog Dusty--read together, games, dance & humor! . 607-564-3594 | Free Baby/Toddler Time | 10:30 a.m., 5/16 Tuesday | Cortland Free Library, 32 Church St | Rhymes, stories, and songs designed for children from birth to age 2 and their caregivers. Registration is recommended for each child.

LEGO Build Night for Families | 5 p.m., 5/16 Tuesday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | TCPL is inviting families to a weekly LEGO build night! Buckets of LEGO will be provided for participants to borrow for their builds.

Spanish Storytime | 4 p.m., 5/17 Wednesday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | Children of all ages and their caregivers are welcome to join us for Spanish storytime - songs, rhymes, stories, and crafts - completely in Spanish!

Lego Club | 4 p.m., 5/17 Wednesday | Cortland Free Library, 32 Church St | Registration is required each month.

Please sign up for one day only.

Come join our Lego club & have some

Bridge Club of Ithaca | 10 a.m., 5/11 Thursday | Bridge Club of Ithaca, 16 Cinema Drive | Bridge Club of Ithaca offers casual play with instruction for players at all levels Fridays 9:30-12pm at the Club, 16 Cinema Drive ($5 fee) | $5.00 - $7.00 Healthy Cooking Basics | 5:30 p.m., 5/11 Thursday | Cornell Cooperative Extension | Join SNAP-Ed for FREE cooking classes covering the basics of cooking and healthy eating. Each week will focus on different topics to simplify nutritious eating. | Free Habitat for Humanity Women Build Weekend & Homebuyer Application Event! | 8:30 a.m., 5/12 Friday | Hancock Street Plaza parking lot on Third Street in Ithaca , Hancock & Third Street | Habitat for Humanity Women Build Weekend & Homebuyer Application Event! | $0.00 - $30.00 80s Prom Fundraiser for REACH Medical | 8 p.m., 5/12 Friday | Deep Dive, Deep Dive 415 Old Taughannock Boulevard | REACH stands for Respectful, Equitable, Accessible, and Compassionate Healthcare for All. Join us on May 12th for our first REACH Medical 80s Prom! Dress in your 80s best and come support local harm reduction. | $15.00

Citizen Preparedness Training | 10 a.m., 5/13 Saturday | Enfield Community Center, 162 Enfield Main Rd | A key component of the training is the distribution of NYS Disaster Preparedness Kits to attendees (one per family). The training is offered free of charge, but all participants must register in advance at: www.prepare. ny.gov.

Sunday Morning Meditation | 9 a.m., 5/14 Sunday | Foundation of Light, 391 Turkey Hill Road | Sunday morning meditation, free and open to all.

Ithaca Chess Club | 12 p.m., 5/14 Sunday | DeWitt Mall, 215 N. Cayuga St | The Ithaca Chess Club meets every Sunday from 12 noon to 4 pm, at the Dewitt Mall (first floor above the shops, office area). The club is free and open to everyone, all ages and all skill levels. Play other chess lovers, and get free chess instruction. Details at the club website: IthacaChessClub. com. | Free Ebook Basics | 10 a.m., 5/15 Monday | Southworth Library | Learn about the LIBBY program and app to download ebooks and audiobooks from the library. We have over 35,000 items available for free use with a valid library card. The classes are free and require no computer experience.

Register by calling the library at 607844-4782. | Free Estate Planning Council of Tompkins County | 11 a.m., 5/16 Tuesday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | Location Information Tompkins County Public Library 101 East Green Street Ithaca, NY 14850 Steps to Homeownership with Visions Federal Credit Union | 5:30 p.m., 5/16 Tuesday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | May 1, 2023 is New Homeowners Day. To celebrate, please join us for a for a presentation where we can show you all the events you will encounter on your own journey towards homeownership.

AMY RAY BAND

SUNDAY, MAY 14TH AT 8:00PM

Center for the Arts of Homer, 72 S Main St, Homer | Bummed about the second postponement of the Indigo Girls show at the State? This might be as close as you can get until October. One half of the legendary duo brings her band to Homer this week in support of her solo album that celebrates her Southern heritage. (Photo: Provided)

SUNDAY, MAY14TH AT 3:00PM

Bailey Hall, Cornell University | Join the Cornell Concert Series this Mother’s day! Join RPO for a lively program directed by Andreas Delfs (pictured), including pieces from Chabrier’s España, Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, and soloist cello-virtuoso, Zlatomir Fung! (Photo: Provided)

MAY

1 0 – 16 ,

2 0 2 3

/ T HE

THISWEEK

CORNELL CONCERT SERIES ROCHESTER PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Virtual Mid-Day Mindfulness Meditation | 12:15 p.m., 5/10 Wednesday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | This is a 30-minute meditation session led

by Anna Salamone RN, LCSW, certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction teacher.

Cortland YMCA/BorgWarner Mother’s Day 5K | 9 a.m., 5/13 Saturday | Durkee Park | The Cortland County Family YMCA’s presents their annual Mother’s Day 5K road race sponsored by McNeil & Company.

ITHAC A T IME S

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Town & Country

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Phone: Mon.-Fri. 9am-5pm Fax: 277-1012 (24 Hrs Daily)

Internet: www.ithaca.com Mail: Ithaca Times Classified Dept PO Box 27 Ithaca NY 14850 In Person: Mon.-Fri. 9am-5pm 109 North Cayuga Street

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