Sept. 3, 2025

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Ithaca Men’s Soccer Opens Season With a Win Against Elizabethtown

By Arnau Phillips Vila

Saturday’s clash between Ithaca College men’s soccer and Elizabethtown College marked the start of a new season and a new era for the Bombers. Under new head coach Gabe Kuhn, Ithaca topped Elizabethtown 2-0.

On a sunny Saturday afternoon, the Ithaca Bombers welcomed the Elizabethtown Blue Jays to Butterfield Stadium for both teams’ season opener. In the first ever nonconference meeting between the two teams, Ithaca prevailed with one goal in each half.

Head coach Gabe Kuhn started the season with a very experienced lineup consisting only of juniors and seniors, but it would be his trust in the youth that would open the doors to the first win of the season.

After a cagey start to the game, in which most of the Bombers dangerous attacks came from wingers Liam Breslin and Cameron Wooten, senior Bryson Shaull would come up with a big save, midway through the first half to deny the Blue Jays.

With 8 minutes left in the first half, some good play on the right side of the Ithaca Bombers saw freshman Ryan Levy play a perfect through ball to his fellow first-year, Emile Antoine, who would slot it past the goalkeeper, Pedro Miranda, to break the deadlock as the Bombers would take a 1-0 lead into the half.

Despite the lead, coach Kuhn was not fully content with his team’s performance, senior and captain Gustav Bauerle explained in an interview with the Ithaca Times.

“At halftime, he was ripping into us about our effort. We listened to him, and we saw the difference in the second half.” said Bauerle.

The second half would, indeed, be much better as the Bombers came out of the break with a much higher intensity that the Blue Jays struggled to keep up with.

Ithaca enjoyed numerous chances to double their lead in the second half, but it wouldn’t be until a Blue Jay’s misunderstanding at the back would give Liam Breslin the chance to put the game to bed. A chance which the junior would not miss, wrapping up the game with 7 minutes left.

“We knew they were going to be physical,” Bauerle said. “We knew we had to bring our A game. I think what we’re really adapting to is the new culture.”

When asked about what changes coach Kuhn and his staff have brought to the team, Bauerle said: “We love coach Gabe, coach Dylan, what they’re bringing. We were a little bit antsy in the back today. Ike and I cleared the ball too many times, but

I think we’re learning slowly.”

He also spoke, with immense pride, about being elected as one of the captains for the upcoming season: “It means a lot, it goes

X Meet The Candidates for Ithaca Common Council and Tompkins County County Legislature

T he Tomkins Chamber of Commerce, Community Foundation and Ithaca Board of Realtors have announced a pair of events to give the community an opportunity to meet the candidates running for positions on the Common Council and County Legislature. The first event will take place from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, September 4, in the Borg Warner Room at Tompkins County Public Library. It will highlight the seven candidates running for the Ithaca Common Council. Due to limited capacity, interested attendees have

beyond the field that these guys believe in me. I’m excited to lead the team from the back.”

The Bombers hope to improve on last season’s record of 7-7-4, which included a Liberty League Championship Tournament quarterfinal appearance.

“We want to have belief. Belief in our system, coaches, players and the results will come. We know what we want, we want to win every game and the Liberty League.” explained Bauerle.

The Ithaca Bombers get off to a 1-0 start to the season. Ithaca’s 2025 schedule features a competitive mix of regional and Liberty League matchups with the next matchup being against Elmira College at Butterfield stadium, again, this coming Wednesday.

On the other hand, Elizabethtown College will host the Penn State Berks on Wednesday as well.

Arnau Phillips Vila is a Fall 2025 intern for the Ithaca Times. He is a senior at Ithaca College studying journalism and sports media.

ON THE COVER:

As the presence of Flock cameras across the City of Ithaca and Tompkins County grows, residents are pushing back by voicing privacy concerns and demanding further accountability from local officials. (Graphic: Kaiden Chandler/ Ithaca Times Intern)

at www.ithaca.com for

Call

been asked to register in advance if they plan to attend. There is no cost to attend.

There will be a second event focused on the running for positions on the Tompkins County Legislature seats, from 12-2 p.m. on Monday, September 29, also in the Borg Warner Room at the Tompkins County Public Library. An information page and registration link for that event will be shared at a later date.

Additional event information and a registration link can be found here: https://business.tompkinschamber.org/events/details/meetthe-candidates-forum-194000

jbilinski @ ithacatim E s com

s C ott M anson , a ssociat E p ublish E r F r EE lanc E rs : Barbara Adams, G. M Burns, Charley Githler, Stephen Burke, Bill Chaisson, Ross Haarstad, Steve Lawrence, Marjorie Olds, Henry Stark, Peter Rothbart, and Austin Lamb THE ENTIRE CONTENTS OF THE ITHACA TIMES ARE COPYRIGHT © 2025 BY PATHWAYS TO EQUITY, LLC. All rights reserved. Events are listed free of charge in TimesTable. All copy must be received by Friday at noon. The Ithaca Times is available free of charge from various locations around Ithaca. Additional copies may be purchased from the Ithaca Times offices for $1. SUBSCRIPTIONS: $139 one year. Include check or money order and mail to the Ithaca Times, PO Box 27, Ithaca, NY 14851. ADVERTISING: Deadlines are Monday 5 p.m. for display, Tuesday at noon for classified. Advertisers should check their ad on publication. The Ithaca Times will not be liable for failure to publish an ad, for typographical error, or errors in publication except to the extent of the cost of the space in which the actual error appeared in the first insertion. The publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising for any reason and to alter advertising copy or graphics deemed unacceptable for publication. The Ithaca Times is published weekly Wednesday mornings. Offices are located at 109 N. Cayuga Street, Ithaca, NY 14850 607-277-7000, FAX 607277-1012, MAILING ADDRESS is PO Box 27, Ithaca, NY

and

On Saturday, the Ithaca College Bombers defeated the Elizabethtown Blue Jays in the men's soccer season opener. (Photo: Arnau Phillips Vila/Ithaca Times Intern)

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By Mark Syvertson

QUESTION OF THE WEEK:

“WHAT ’ S YOUR FAVORITE LOCAL BAND?”

NOTE: If you want to be a participant in the Ithaca Times’ Inquiring Photographer column, email Photographer Mark Syvertson at marksyvertson photography@gmail.com

NYSDEC Renews Cayuga Salt Mine Permit, Advocacy Group Threatens Legal Action

By Philip O ’ Dell

Following a move by New York state regulators, the renewal of a major industrial permit for the Cayuga Salt Mine has drawn opposition from environmentalists who argue the decision threatens local resources.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) issued a five-year permit modification and renewal to Cargill for the Cayuga Salt Mine on Aug. 15. The permit for the mine located at 191 Portland Point Road in Lansing will expire Aug. 14, 2030.

The permit authorizes Cargill to continue mining operations and contains a modification allowing the company to store brine in the abandoned S3 portion of the mine.

The permit requires that brine saturation levels are continuously monitored and maintained. Additionally, daily measurements are required for both water inflow into the mine and its disposal, including the brine saturation levels of the discharged water before it enters the S3 main. The permit details specific conditions that Cargill must follow, including a requirement that mine activities do not affect the quality of ground and surface water. It requires Cargill to maintain a reclamation bond and general liability

insurance for bodily injury and property damage.

A licensed blaster must conduct and monitor all blasting with a seismograph. Blasting is only permitted 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and injury or property damage must be prevented. Cargill must engage in dust control and water supply restoration or replacement. And the company must hire an independent mining engineering consultant to advise NYSDEC and submit an annual report on non-routine incidents, updated mining maps and monitoring data. Cargill must immediately notify NYSDEC of incidents that could affect mine stability, natural resources or public health and safety.

Cargill’s permit for salt mining has expired, but the company continues to operate under a provision of the New York State Administrative Procedures Act that allows operations to continue while a permit is under review. According to Cayuga Lake Environmental Action Now (CLEAN), the provision only applies to the existing salt mining operations. The group argues that Cargill’s recent water storage activities on the same underwater lands are not authorized by either the expired mining permit or the Office of General Services. CLEAN insists that the water storage lacks legal authority and should stop immediately.

NYSDEC oversaw a public comment period that saw 143 comments submitted between Feb. 12, 2024 to Jan. 22, 2025 from citizens, municipal officials and organizations such as CLEAN. NYSDEC reviewed the company’s application submitted on July 3, 2023. After the application was considered complete, the public was notified in late 2024. Due to public demand, the original public comment period set to expire on Dec. 20, 2024 was extended by 30 days and officially closed on Jan. 19.

In NYSDEC’s responsiveness summary, the department received multiple comments requesting a rescinding of the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) negative declaration for the permit. Instead, commenters urged for a full environmental impact statement (EIS) of the mine.

An EIS is a detailed analysis required under New York State law for certain projects that may have significant environmental impacts.

Commenters argued that a comprehensive review would address the effects of the mining operations over time, and that a potentially catastrophic event, however unlikely, could necessitate an EIS. NYSDEC stated a rescinding of a SEQR

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Despite opposition from local elected officials and environmental activists, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has renewed Cargill’s permit for salt mining underneath Cayuga Lake. (Photo: Mark Syveterson/Ithaca Times)

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The Summit Redevelopment Gains Board Approval for Construction in Collegetown

By Philip O’Dell

Last week, the City of Ithaca Planning and Development Board approved the demolition of an existing apartment building to make way for a new one. The Summit construction project received final site plan approval from the board during its Tuesday, Aug. 26 meeting.

A final site plan approval allows a development project to move forward with construction. The project is in the CR-4 Zoning District, requires no variances and subject to Collegetown Design Guidelines.

Modern Living Rentals plans to demolish The Summit’s current 6,000 square foot, three-story structure, located at 201 Oak Avenue. In its place, the company will construct a new 43,725 square foot multifamily building containing 46 units with 91 bedrooms over five floors.

The new building will have four floors above grade plane, a habitable basement and porches or stoops on both street-facing facades. Project site improvements include dark-sky compliant building-mounted lighting, new landscaping and green space.

To consolidate the building’s design of its outside front stairs and handrails, company representatives submitted two plans. The first plan proposed consolidating the stairs and shrinking the handrails. A second version of the plan sought to eliminate handrails altogether by stretching out the steps, but the Ithaca Building Department confirmed that handrails were still required. This is because the steps, located between a walkway and a loading zone, would have a drop of 16 to 18 inches. Although not a means of egress, the steps must have handrails, but a separate guardrail is not required along the rest of the wall.

Board member Andy Rollman felt a railing along the walkway is needed to prevent people from falling or tripping.

City Planner Sam Quinn-Jacobs stated two project conditions include documentation of the staging plan needs approval by city engineering and fire departments and change of tree species on the property.

Board chair Emily Petrina said there is a condition to have the vibration monitoring plan approved by city engineering as well. Overall, she stated the facility will be located in a great area of the city.

“I think it’s adding to the neighbor-

hood feel of Summit Ave, so I think it’ll be a great change,” Petrina said.

A company representative at the meeting thanked the board for the approval and said the company looks forward to the construction project.

The new building will include 46 apartments, 88 beds and amenity spaces, such as study rooms, a library, gym, lounges and sauna. The previous building at the site was demolished on Aug. 6 and construction on the new one is underway, said Charlie O’Connor, the director of operations for Modern Living Rentals.

“While I truly appreciate the history of the former boarding house for Cascadilla School and its unique character, my goal has been to bring the property to its highest and best use,” O’Connor said in a statement to the Ithaca Times. “The site is ideally located just a few parcels from one of Cornell’s main entrances—less than a one-minute walk to campus.”

He anticipates the project’s completion in July 2026. Leasing will start in August 2026 for the 2026–2027 school year.

“With Cornell continuing to grow its enrollment, projects like this play an important role in easing housing pressures on neighborhoods such as Fall Creek and Belle Sherman,” O’Connor said. “By adding student housing in the core of Collegetown, we can help maintain those neighborhoods for longer-term residents while still meeting student demand.”

One unit consisting of two beds and two baths priced at $3,795 per month is advertised as available beginning Aug. 1, 2026.

Planned senior housing and daycare building

The board also granted preliminary and

final site plan approval to Fisher Associates’ planned senior housing and daycare facility at 205-217 W. State Street.

Fisher Associates plans to replace the current single-story office building at 205 and 209-217 West State with a new fivestory structure. The project will combine the existing parcels, which form a flat, nearly half-acre city block bordered by South Geneva, West State and South Albany Streets. Currently, the site includes asphalt parking lots and a professional building, along with street trees and sidewalks.

The new 65,500-square-foot building is designed to house affordable senior apartments and a daycare. The ground floor will feature common areas for the daycare on the west side and amenities for the senior residents on the east. The upper four floors will be dedicated to approximately 56 one-bedroom senior housing units. Additionally, the proposal includes a new one-way, 12-space parking lot along the southern perimeter, a 445-square-foot covered playground, new site lighting, and container gardens along the northern side of the building.

The Ithaca Common Council approved the transfer of city-owned property at 205 West State Street to the Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency (IURA) for the project in April. The site is currently a vacant former doctor’s office and slated for redevelopment by Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services (INHS).

The project’s residential building is designated entirely for seniors aged 62 and older, with affordable housing units situated above a ground-floor daycare

Ups

Tompkins County Whole Health (TCWH) is reporting a decrease in fatal drug overdoses for the first six months of 2025. From January through June 2025, Tompkins County Medical Examiner reported a 77% decrease compared to the same period in 2024.

Downs

A bat spotted acting strangely at Buttermilk Falls State Park last week turned out to be rabid. Officials say it has since been removed from the area and had no contact with people.

HEARD

SEEN&

Heard

New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation announced starting September 2, 2025 park staff will be performing trail maintenance on the Black Diamond Trail between Perry City Road and Garrett Road. Sections of the trail will be intermittently closed between the hours of 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Monday –Thursday. Please use alternate routes during that time. The work is expected to last several weeks.

Seen

State Senator Lea Webb announced that Broome, Cortland, and Tompkins counties will receive over $700,000 in state funding through the Green Innovation Grant and the Wastewater Infrastructure Engineering Planning Grant, two key programs that support clean water initiatives in New York. Including $50,000 for the City of Ithaca for infiltration and inflow improvements study.

IF YOU CARE TO RESPOND to something in this column, or suggest your own praise or blame, write editor@ithacatimes. com, with a subject head “U&D.”

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Do you support the DEC's decision to approve Cargill's modified five-year permit? 14.8% Yes.

No.

I don’t care.

The Ithaca Commons celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Do you think the Commons has gotten better with age? Visit ithaca.com to submit your response.

The Summit redevelopment project at 201 Oak Avenue is set to bring 46 units to Ithaca’s Collegetown. (Photo: provided/City of Ithaca)

The Talk at

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Let The Coyotes Be

“After hearing and reading about the coyote sitting on Cornell Campus/Collegetown I did a little research.

Coyotes will adapt to their surroundings and while may prefer more open spaces can and will easily adapt to city living. Humans have reduced their habitat so severely they are forced into our communities to seek food. A female may be feeding pups.

I’m not advocating feeding them which would be a mistake. But if it is not displaying any signs of sickness please leave it be and let it find its own way.

No one should get close enough to a coyote to be bit.

I live in fall creek and have definitely noted the increase in wild life around me. Deer wander here. The rabbit population has very much increased. As well as skunks, groundhogs and possum. It is easy to see why as we watch so much construction everywhere in the area. Lots of boxes for humans to inhabit and less space for nature to flourish.

And less open spaces for humans to flourish. What was once a lovely small town where one could see the hillsides, observe the setting sun, walk in the woods and find little nooks of serenity is no more.” — Heidi Best, Ithaca

Tompkins County League of Women’s Voters Donates to Ithaca’s Menstrual Equity Center to Celebrate Women’s Inequality Day

“Every August 26, we observe the anniversary of the certification of the 19th Amendment, which granted some women the right to vote in 1920. In 1973, Congress designated August 26 as Women’s Equality Day. But this year, it feels hard to celebrate when reality tells us we are anything but equal in the United States. In 2022, the League of Women Voters declared this day to be Women’s Inequality Day, which we’ll carry on this year.

The fight for women’s equality has always been grounded in the right to vote, providing women voters the right to self-determination and the right to bodily autonomy. When women have fewer rights and access, we cannot call ourselves equal. In honor of Women’s Inequality Day, The League of Women Voters of Tompkins County has made a donation of menstrual products to the Menstrual Equity Center, run by the Downtown Ithaca Alliance. The Downtown Ithaca Alliance (DIA) opened the MEC outside their office in Center Ithaca in August of 2023.

The goal of the MEC is to make sure all menstruating individuals in Downtown Ithaca have access to affordable and sustainable menstrual products, menstrual health education, and supportive policies. It is one local step towards eliminating period poverty (the lack of access to menstrual products) through advocacy, community engagement, and partnerships.

The Menstrual Equity Center is open from 8:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. on Saturdays. The center is closed on Sundays. It is located at 171 East State St. on the Commons.

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization. Any person 16 years or older, whatever their gender, may become a League member. To join LWV of Tompkins County go to https:// lwvtompkins.org/“ — Tompkins County League of Women’s Voters

Silence Is Not Neutral: There Is Nothing Sustainable About Genocide

“Cornell University is one of the most powerful institutions in our region. Its silence in the face of overwhelming war crimes in Gaza — while it partners with military contractors and punishes students who call for peace — is complicity. Other elite universities have shown the same pattern: Columbia, when federal funds were threatened, chose to crack down on protest. Universities are choosing money over principle.

The atrocity in Gaza is staggering: over 61,000 Palestinians killed, millions displaced, food and water weaponized, hospitals destroyed. Israel’s own data showed 83% of war dead are civilians. People are starving

Voices Through the Gorges

because Israel has cut off food and water to Gaza. The United Nations declared famine in Gaza City — the first in the Middle East. Hundreds of aid workers and journalists have been killed. Bombs have left tens of millions of tons of carcinogenic debris, destroying farmlands and water supplies. In the first four months, Israel’s bombardment generated more carbon emissions than 26 entire countries produce in a year. These are not isolated tragedies but systematic acts, funded by U.S. tax dollars and shielded by institutional silence.

In Ithaca, the City Council passed a ceasefire resolution, and the County Human Rights Commission raised alarm. A few county legislators supported a resolution — but the Tompkins County Legislature as a body rejected it. That vote will be remembered. Our federal senators and congressmen have spoken of “humanitarian crises” while voting to send more weapons. Our state representatives have yet to speak at all. Words without action — or silence altogether — amount to complicity.

The genocide in Gaza must be stopped, and every voice of conscience must speak now. Every additional day, every week, every month that it continues is another day of complicity and our failure.

There is nothing neutral about silence in the face of war crimes. And there is nothing sustainable about genocide. Sustainability is not about recycling bins and branding — it is about protecting life itself.

As a grassroots organization grounded in climate and community resilience, we refuse to separate our work from global injustice. No one is disposable. We will not forget Gaza, and we will not forget those who chose silence.” — Zero Waste Ithaca

“There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says “Morning, boys. How ’s the water?”

And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes “ What the hell is water?”

—

David Foster Wallace, This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life

WE THE PEOPLE: A CELEBRATION OF PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY

Lessons Learned by an Activist in Ithaca

By Emily Adams

Iblame Bernie Sanders for making me politically active. Before Bernie, my political activism went only as far as researching the candidates on my ballot, and casting my vote. The choices on the ballot were rarely inspirational, and my vote didn’t seem to matter much because the winner was usually the person with the most money and name recognition. I did not feel empowered by my vote, but that didn’t really bother me. I lived a normal American life. Bernie taught me that feeling disempowered or even cynical is a choice, and it is a choice that people with integrity do not make. Despair is not an option. The billionaires and party leaders want us to feel disempowered, because it helps them hold on to power, but it is our civic duty to disappoint them.

I learned from fellow Bernie supporters how to engage in the system: how to carry and witness ballot petitions, how to motivate voters to turn out, how to lobby elected officials to work for the people rather than their big donors, etc. I helped form a statewide political action group (New York Progressive Action Network, NYPAN), I joined the local Democratic Party and later the Working Families Party. This year, I helped found Indivisible Tompkins.

Over the past ten years, I’ve grown a lot as an activist and I’d like to share some things I’ve learned.

It's who you know� A person who wants to succeed in politics needs to cultivate relationships and build their reputation. People who are known for volunteering in the community, being kind and fair, keeping their commitments, taking responsibility for their mistakes, working hard, etc., will gain real influence, especially at the local level.

If you are wealthy, you can buy your way into the halls of power� Wealthy people can be selfish, unkind, irresponsible, and have any number of character flaws, and it won’t matter. The public and their colleagues won’t like them or trust them, but they will do business with them, because money gives power. This is discouraging, but remember, despair is not an option.

Activism that is too confrontational can backfire� Bold actions can draw attention, and sometimes this is necessary. But being too aggressive or extreme can close doors. Reporters who ask tough questions lose access. Politicians in swing

HOMETOWN STORYTELLERS

Matt Dougherty Follows the Money Trail

By Austin Lamb

When Matt Dougherty arrived at The Ithaca Times in July 2022, fresh out of SUNY New Paltz with a journalism degree, he didn’t expect to be managing editor by November. But after then-editor Mark Levine left the paper, Dougherty found himself managing an alt-weekly at age 23 and providing most of the paper’s reporting.

In June, Dougherty left his position to move to Washington, D.C., and the Ithaca Times promoted reporter Maddy Vogel to be its youngest managing editor in its history.

Matt Dougherty

districts who speak their minds too clearly, can alienate important constituencies and lose re-election. Activists also need to consider the risks and tradeoffs of being too direct and too honest.

Activism with a smile is surprisingly effective It might sound old-fashioned, but in my experience it is entirely possible to disagree without being disagreeable. If RGB could be good friends with Scalia over many years, surely a left-of-center activist in Ithaca can be friendly with a Republican for 15 minutes, without compromising their principles.

Here are some tips for left-leaning persons in Tompkins County who want to be more active politically.

Don’t challenge Democratic incumbents lightly. When I was a young Berniecrat, I thought that challenging incumbent Democrats was admirable because it gives voters choices. But I’ve learned that challenging an incumbent from your own party is often perceived as an act of aggression and disrespect. A better approach is to talk to the incumbent early on and ask if they’d consider mentoring you and then supporting you in the future. Treat them with courtesy and they will likely return the favor.

Don’t be rude to elected officials. I know of several instances where leftwing activists have lashed out at *elected Democratic politicians* who actually *agree* with them on an issue, because the activist did not take the time to learn that they actually agree. Elected officials

Dougherty still provides remote reporting and editing for the Times as an associate editor, whether it’s monitoring local officials’ voting records or finding a local angle of nationwide political stories. “I'm a political junkie—I follow politics in my spare time,” said Dougherty.

Growing up in Carmel, New York, Dougherty said he was always a curious person. In high school, when a teacher praised a paper he wrote examining the impact of fossil fuel lobbyists on the government, Dougherty considered journalism as a career path. Dougherty also began following the influence of money in politics, specifically around environmental issues, after the 2016 presidential election, an event he said deepened his concerns about the Democratic and Republican parties, albeit in different ways.

Dougherty initially attended college for political science before dropping out, eventually finding his way to SUNY New Paltz to study journalism. “I was disenchanted with everything I was learning about politics and the corruption within it and thought, ‘You know what? I’m just gonna write about it,’” he said.

At New Paltz, Dougherty spent two semesters writing for The Legislative Gazette, a paper run by the school and operating out of the New York State Capitol. Dougherty drove an hour to Albany several days a week to provide coverage of health care policy, immigration, and the rising cost of living. One notable story was about why New York state, at the time controlled entirely by Democrats, wouldn’t pass the New York Health Act, a law which would create a universal singlepayer healthcare system for the state. It was no surprise, Dougherty said, that one of the primary reasons was lobbying from the health insurance industry.

been with the Times for three years, providing essential reporting and strengthening the paper’s connection with local activists and organizations.

While managing editor at the Ithaca Times, Dougherty appreciated his editorial independence, covering politics while unaffected by corporate interests he saw corrupting national media outlets. He also experienced firsthand the lack of resources and burnout that increasingly plague local newsrooms.

“I am a big advocate of accountability journalism and solutions-focused journalism,” Dougherty said. “And a lot of the time local newsrooms do not have the adequate resources in order to follow through on reporting like that.”

Many of today’s mainstream news outlets, Dougherty said, have become “entertainment slop,” particularly 24/7 TV channels such as CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. “That’s why accountability and solutions-focused journalism is so important, in my opinion,” he said. Dougherty prefers to follow the work of labor unions and grassroots organizers tackling issues such as environmental justice, tenant rights, and anti-war efforts.

To find national stories he can localize, Dougherty tracks reporting from major outlets such as the Associated Press, Reuters, NPR, PBS, and ProPublica. He also checks sites such as OpenSecrets for political donations from corporations and Super PACs. Vogel, who worked as a reporter at the Times under Dougherty for a year, praised Dougherty’s ability to build trust in the community and develop a base of sources for the paper. “When he is working on a story that he's really passionate

Emily Adams serves on the Steering Committees of Indivisible Tompkins and NYPAN, and is the chair of the local Working Families Party club.

(Photo: Mark Syvertson/Ithaca Times)

has

(Photo: Ithaca Times File)

IHS Grad Sposito Pivots to Golf at IC

By Steve Lawrence

Since taking over this column... gulp... 33 years ago this month... I have really enjoyed providing updates on local high school grads who carry their athletic prowess into the collegiate ranks. Usually, these athletes are competing in the same sports they were at Ithaca High, but that’s not the case for Chase Sposito.

Chase graduated from I.H.S. in 2022, where he was, as a lacrosse and football standout, a regular visitor to the athletic trainers. Never one to shy away from the big hits, Sposito was hitting the weight room really hard after high school, preparing to step up his game(s) at Ithaca College. I wished him luck, and was sorry to hear that he had suffered a bad shoulder injury and was facing a long rehab period.

Fast-forward to last weekend, when I saw him with a group of friends preparing to play a round of golf at

Cornell. As I watched him take a few practice swings, I said, “You’re looking pretty smooth. Are you playing a lot of golf these days?”

When I learned that Chase had put football and lacrosse in the rear-view mirror and was now the numero uno player on the Ithaca College (club) golf team, I was a bit surprised. I asked him if the numerous injuries he had suffered were the reason he switched sports, he said. “Well, that was half the reason. To be honest when you play a sport like football at the collegiate level, it becomes your job, so to speak, and I just lost the passion for it.”

This new athletic incarnation, Sposito offered, “Offers me a chance to to travel, to meet new people and to compete in tournaments on courses I have never played before.” He added, “I wish I had gotten more serious about it earlier, but I thought it was boring and I didn’t realize how fun it

was.” Asked if his love for the game would influence his post-Ithaca College plans, the senior Strategic Management major said, “I’d love to go somewhere warm and keep golfing as much as I can,” but he then shifted into the more serious mode expected of someone coming around the home stretch of their college experience and added, “but realistically, I’ll go where the opportunities are.”

As I saw Chase’s mental wheels turning, it occurred to me that his brother, Ryan, a 2025 West Point graduate now stationed at Fort Drum in northern New York, won’t be seeing his brother’s suitcase there for too many vacations, given the golf season is rather abbreviated. Unless, of course, Chase reinvents himself once again and takes up ice hockey.

Continued on Page 19

Ithaca High grad Chase Sposito traded in his pads and stick for a set of golf clubs at Ithaca College. (Photo: Provided)

Cayuga Health’s vascular care program expands, offers patients limb-saving procedures

Cayuga Health

Patients at risk of vascular disease, complex limb injuries and slow-healing wounds can now find specialty care in a new program with Centralus Health, an affiliate of Cayuga Health and Arnot Health. In January, the two health systems partnered to create Centralus Health, a healthcare network designed to meet the changing needs of the region. Eric T. Choi, MD, a vascular surgeon who sees patients at both Ithaca and Elmira, developed the new initiative at both hospitals.

Eric T. Choi, MD

Vascular diseases are common and can be serious health issues, particularly as people age or develop diabetes. These diseases can affect arteries, lymphatic vessels, and veins, causing conditions that reduce blood flow such as peripheral artery disease or varicose veins. Vascular diseases may also inhibit healing and cause pressure wounds, often on the feet. These slow-healing wounds are prone to infections. Antibiotics and wound care are used to resolve the infections. Persistent infections may require surgery to remove diseased tissue with limb-sparing techniques or, in severe cases, limb amputation. For patients with bone cancer or soft tissue sarcoma in an arm or leg, limb-sparing surgery may be an option unless amputation is necessary.

Dr. Choi works to prevent toe or limb amputations when possible using a coordinated team approach for treating vascular disease, limb injuries, and slow-healing wounds. Surgery is just one type of treatment. Patients will find a multi-specialty approach, including diabetes care, a cardiologist to manage circulatory problems, a nephrologist for kidney disease, infectious disease specialists to manage infections, neuropathy care from a neurologist, a foot and ankle orthopedist or podiatrist if surgery is needed, and a rehabilitation specialist to help patients recover and prevent future injuries.

“You just can’t tell a patient to see five different specialists, get ultrasounds, x-rays, CAT scans and blood tests and tell them to come back and we’ll come up with a treatment plan.” Dr. Choi says. “This program brings everything together in one place.”

The goal is to give one-stop care so patients don’t have to travel to many offices. Cayuga Health and Arnot Health are able to work together utilizing a high-tech medical record software called Epic. This Electronic Medical Record (EMR) allows doctors and patients to see test results, x-rays, medical notes, and treat-

ment plans all in one place. It also allows high-quality telehealth visits so doctors can check how well a patient is healing without needing an in-person visit.

Dr. Choi brings over 20 years of experience as a vascular surgeon, professor, and department chair for university surgical programs, and a new service to Centralus Health patients.

Both Cayuga and Arnot vascular surgeons have provided angioplasty and atherectomy to treat blockages in blood vessels for many years. Those procedures are most often used to treat patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) and coronary artery disease (CAD).

Preventing amputations of toes and limbs is a key part of a new program at Cayuga Health’s Cayuga Limb Salvage and Restoration Center at Cayuga Medical Center. The program provides a coordinated team approach to treating vascular disease, limb injuries and slow-healing wounds.

Eric Choi, MD received his medical degree from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, and completed residency and fellowship training at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, MO. He is certified in vascular surgery by the American Board of Surgery. He was most recently chairman of the Department of Surgery at St. Joseph’s Health Medical Center in Paterson, NJ. He sees patients in Ithaca at the Cayuga Heart and Vascular Center, 201 Dates Drive, Suite 101, Ithaca (607) 882-9068 and at Arnot Ogden Heart and Vascular Institute, 600 Roe Avenue, Elmira (607) 737-4130.

Ithaca Residents Voice Mass Surveillance Concerns as Presence of Flock Cameras Grows

A technology system intended to protect public safety is making some residents worry about their privacy rights

By Matt Dougherty

It’s been two years since Ithaca’s Common Council approved its 2023 budget, which included funding for installing automatic license plate reading cameras in dozens of locations around the city. The Ithaca Police Department currently operates a total of 22 cameras located throughout the city, with the latest being installed earlier this year. Now that the system is fully operational, residents that live near these cameras and drive by them every day are voicing their concerns.

The cameras are operated by Flock Safety, a security company that contracts with thousands of law enforcement agencies across the country. The City of Ithaca and Tompkins County worked together to in-

stall surveillance system with help from the state’s Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) program, which provided funding to the Ithaca Police Department and the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office “for equipment, overtime, personnel, focused training and technical assistance.”

The Sheriff's Office currently operates its own set of 22 cameras located throughout Tompkins County, and Sheriff Derek Osborne said more will be added along state roadways once approved. Cornell University also operates another set of seven cameras on its campus separate from those affiliated with IPD or TCSO. As a result, there are at least 50 of these surveillance cameras spread throughout the city and the county.

Local law enforcement has said that the cameras have already proven to be beneficial public safety tools. However, some residents are saying the benefits don’t make up for the system’s alleged violations of their right to privacy.

Ithaca Police Chief Tom Kelly told The Ithaca Times, “Flock data has already proven useful in solving crimes by providing leads that would not have otherwise been available.” He added, “the system [also] helps reduce unnecessary police contact by focusing investigative efforts where they are most needed.”

Despite the crime fighting edge it provides local law enforcement, Ithaca residents like Anne Johnson, who lives in a neighborhood with several Flock cameras, say the cameras are an invasion of privacy.

“People have been upset because it feels like police surveillance in our neighborhood without anyone’s knowledge, permission or input,” Johnson said. “I live on West Hill, and my neighbors have become very concerned by the fact that IPD has installed four Flock surveillance cameras around our neighborhood.”

Johnson told the Ithaca Times that she and her neighbors feel like they can’t leave their neighborhood without having a photo of their vehicle snapped up and stored in Flock’s database.

“These cameras take a high resolution picture of every car that drives past and AI software records the make, model, color, decals

and other identifying information about the vehicle and stores it in a database,” Johnson said. “This database is search-able by multiple law enforcement agencies, as Ithaca shares its camera data with police jurisdictions all across the state.[...] Every time we drive out of our neighborhood, a picture of our vehicle is recorded and stored in a search-able database.”

These privacy concerns aren’t unique to Ithaca. Similar concerns in the city of Norfolk, Virginia, have resulted in local residents working with the Institute for Justice to file a lawsuit challenging the city’s use of Flock cameras. In February, a Virginia judge rejected the City of Norfolk's motion to dismiss the lawsuit, writing, “a reasonable person could believe that society’s expectations, as laid out by [United States Supreme Court case Carpenter v. United States], are being violated by the Norfolk Flock system.”

Chief Kelly responded to questions about Flock’s potential violations of privacy rights, saying, “Courts have consistently ruled that there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in public spaces, including roadways.” He added that IPD remains “committed to transparency and ongoing dialogue to ensure responsible use [of the Flock system].”

Despite the reassurances from local law enforcement, residents worry about the potential for the technology to be used to help federal immigration agencies track down undocumented immigrants as part of President Trump’s crackdown on immigration, which have resulted in record detainment and deportation numbers of people without criminal records. Residents also worry that the technology could be used to track individuals who travel across state lines to receive health care treatments such as abortions, which are being criminalized in many Republican-controlled states.

Reporting from 404 Media has found that local law enforcement agencies have been giving federal immigration agencies like ICE “side-door access” to Flock databases by performing lookups in their systems at the request of these federal agencies. This has allowed ICE to access Flock databases despite not having a formal contract with

the company. This practice has spanned both the Biden and Trump administrations, with the American Civil Liberties Union finding that Flock’s system in Denver, Colorado was "searched more than 1,400 times for ICE since June 2024.”

Additionally, 404 Media has reported that a cop in Texas, where abortion has been essentially banned, used Flock’s Nationwide Search function to look for a woman who was suspected of crossing state lines to receive an abortion. The search allowed the cop to access Flock databases in states like Washington and Illinois, where abortion is legal.

Democrat Congressmen Robert Garcia (CA-42) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) are currently investigating Flock’s “role in enabling invasive surveillance practices that threaten the privacy, safety, and civil liberties of women and immigrants,” as a result of these events. In response, Flock Safety announced that it would be pausing operations with federal agencies, rejecting searches for terms like “abortion,” “immigration” or “ICE,” and limiting their ability to use the

Ithaca residents say the Flock camera system has heightened local concerns about mass surveillance, raising fears that vehicle data could be misused or shared with federal immigration authorities. (Photo: Mark Syvertson/Ithaca Times)

Ithaca Police Chief Tom Kelly said the Flock camera system is used responsibly, stressing that data is deleted after 30 days unless tied to an investigation and cannot be used for immigration enforcement or harassment. (Photo: Mark Syvertson/Ithaca Times File)

platforms nationwide or statewide search functions.

According to IPD and TCSO, neither agency participates in Flock’s nationwide search function, and access to the database is restricted to the county and other municipal law enforcement agencies in New York state that have contracts with Flock.

“While Flock provides the capability for nationwide data-sharing among law enforcement, I have limited access to New York State agencies only. This ensures that our partnerships align with New York laws, including those protecting reproductive rights,” Sheriff Osborne said. “The tradeoff is that if we need to locate someone outside New York, such as an abductor or missing person, our tools are more limited [but] I made this decision intentionally, to alleviate community concerns and preserve local trust.”

Several residents took their concerns to Ithaca’s Common Council meeting on Aug. 6, where they asked the council to pause IPD’s contract with Flock — which costs $66,000 per year — and consider ending its affiliation with the service as evidence of loopholes within the system that have allowed abuses to occur have emerged.

“We urge the city of Ithaca to move to join the movement of

conscientious local governments who are choosing to stop engaging in unregulated mass surveillance,” said Ithaca resident Katie Church. “In light of evidence of loopholes that allowed abuses of the Flock system in other localities, we should pause the use and further installation of flock cameras until we have completed a thorough and in depth review of the risks and dangers to public privacy.”

Elbert County in Colorado was one of the first cities to stop working with Flock after county commissioners chose not to renew a contract with the company in December 2023. In June, community organizers in Austin, Texas, pressured the City Council to end its contract with Flock over privacy concerns after an audit of the Austin City Police Department’s Flock system found that “over 20% of LPR database searches lacked proper documentation or justification,” a violation of department policy. On Aug. 5, the Board of Trustees in the Village of Oak Park, Illinois, voted to cancel its contract with Flock after the state announced an investigation into the company's data-sharing policy.

Church said that the Common Council should also create a comprehensive surveillance data policy to guarantee that loopholes in

This map shows the approximate locations of more than 30 Flock cameras across the City of Ithaca based on citizen reports to the Ithaca Times. This is an incomplete list, as several camera sites have yet to be identified.

(Graphic: Matt Dougherty/Ithaca Times)

public safety surveillance technology don’t exist locally going into the future.

In response to these concerns, Chief Kelly has assured residents that department policy mandates that information stored in the Flock database “may not be used for immigration enforcement, for harassment or intimidation based on a protected class, for personal use, or sold to a third party company.” He added that IPD has not received requests from federal immigration authorities “for enforcement of immigration laws.”

While Johnson believes that law enforcement in Ithaca is adhering to local sanctuary policies, which prohibit local law enforcement from aiding federal immigration efforts and were reaffirmed earlier this year, she remains concerned that other municipalities that don’t have sanctuary laws of their own can share data obtained from Ithaca’s system with federal authorities once they have access to it.

“I do believe that Ithaca and Tompkins County are not sharing data with ICE, but the problem is they share their camera data with every jurisdiction in New York state that has these cameras, and many of these municipalities do not have sanctuary laws to protect undocumented immigrants,” Johnson said.

According to Flock’s transparency portal for the City of Ithaca, there are more than 100 external organizations that the city shares its Flock database with, and most of these organizations are other local law enforcement agencies in New York. The only federal agency the city shared Flock data with is the United States Postal Service, which has joined a Department of Homeland Security task force “geared towards finding and deporting immigrants.”

The Broome County Sheriff’s Office is included in the list of New York State law enforcement agencies that Ithaca shares Flock data with. In March, the sheriff’s office in Broome County signed a 287(g) agreement with ICE that allows local law enforcement agencies to enforce certain aspects of U.S. immigration law that would normally be enforced by federal agents, such as executing administrative warrants on removable aliens in[local jails, according to the ICE website.

Community members are urging Ithaca’s Common Council to pause or end the city’s contract with Flock and develop stronger surveillance policies to protect privacy and prevent potential misuse of data. (Photo: Mark Syvertson/Ithaca Times)

Ithaca resident Drik Trachy asked the Common Council, “What prevents a department affiliated with ICE through the 287(g) program [that IPD shares its Flock database with] from accessing Ithaca’s data on their behalf?”

Chief Kelly responded to these concerns, telling The Ithaca Times, “all agencies that access IPD’s Flock data must comply with the same strict usage policies, which prohibit unauthorized use or sharing — including with federal agencies for immigration enforcement.” He added, “any misuse can lead to immediate revocation of access and account suspension.” Kelly continued saying that IPD understands the community’s concerns, and that the Flock system is subject to monthly audits to ensure that it’s not being abused.

Sheriff Osborne responded to similar concerns saying that his department has been “recognized for strong internal policies that limit cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).” He added, “No one has demonstrated this commitment more clearly than I,” referencing his willingness to uphold local sanctuary laws while facing direct pressure from federal officials to comply with orders that would violate local laws.

According to Kelly, the Flock database only stores vehicle data for a 30-day period before it is deleted from the system, unless the data is linked to an active investigation.

“This retention period was set

to balance public safety needs with privacy protections,” Kelly said. However, residents like Johnson say that the 30-day retention period is still too long. While Johnson said that she personally wants to see the cameras removed, she added that alternative solutions could involve “restricting how long the data is retained.” Johnson pointed to a New Hampshire state law that went into effect in 2023 which mandates that “non-hit license plate capture data” can only be stored in the Flock database for three minutes before it’s deleted.

The ACLU has listed this threeminute limit as the best approach to take when working with Flock to ensure privacy rights are protected to their maximum extent, while they list the city’s current policy of allowing Flock to store data for “no longer than 30 days” as the “worst approach.”

In response to public concerns, Ithaca Mayor Robert Cantelmo said that he was “alarmed” by the stories about loopholes within the Flock system, and that he would like to hear from the administration in the future on “safeguards and implications for its continued use.”

In a statement to the Ithaca Times, Cantelmo said, “The Council has instructed the administration to bring forward an updated briefing on needs, usage, impact, and safety protocols associated with Flock.” He added, “We expect a robust discussion when those data are presented.”

Back-to-School: Student Immunizations Required Within First 14 Days

By Maddy Vogel

Tompkins County Whole Health is reminding the community of ensuring students are up-to-date with routine immunizations as students return to school.

“On-time vaccination is critical to provide protection against potentially life-threatening diseases and reduce the severity of illness,” Whole Health wrote in a press release.

Routine immunizations are required for any children attending day care and pre-K through 12 schools at public, private or religious institutions, unless they have a medical exemption.

Within the first 14 days of starting school, caregivers must show proof of their child's up-to-date vaccinations or provide a

valid medical exemption from vaccination. For students in the ICSD, school begins on Sept. 3 and 4. In New York, medical exemptions are only permitted when a child has a medical condition that prevents them from receiving a vaccine. There are no non-medical exemptions permitted.

Rachel Buckwalter, TCWH’s Director of Community Health Services, encouraged families to call ahead and make appointments for routine immunizations, stating that pediatricians tend to be busy this time of year.

“Plan ahead to avoid the rush and to avoid having your child excluded from school due to missing vaccinations,” Buckwalter said.

Children who are not fully immunized can only continue to attend school or pre-K if they are in the process of complet-

ing their immunization, following the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ catch-up schedule. If children fall behind or do not follow the immunization schedule, they are no longer considered to be “in process” and must be excluded from attending school.

Tompkins County Whole Health offers immunization clinics weekly on Fridays through the New York State funded Vaccines for Children (VFC) program. Clinics are open from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. by appointment. Children are eligible if they do not have insurance, are currently enrolled in Medicaid, have Child Health Plus, are underinsured (current insurance does not cover the vaccine) or are Native American or Alaska Native.

Children attending public and private schools in grades Pre-K through 12 have 14 days after starting school to comply with New York State’s immunization schedule. (Photo: Dominick Recckio/Ithaca Times File)

To read more on the recommended immunization schedule, visit www.cdc.gov/ vaccines-children/. To learn more about Whole Health’s Community Health Services, visit www.tompkinscountyny.gov/ health/immunizations or call the office at 607-274-6604.

FLY LOCAL, FLY LOCAL, REACH FAR! REACH

Defining Pathways to Equity as It Steps Into the Batter’s Box for Ithaca’s Future

By Roy Allen — Executive Director of Pathways to Equity and Director of Strategic Partnerships for the Ithaca Times

Pathways to Equity, a community based nonprofit, is the new owner of the Ithaca Times. Like Theodore Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena,” we dare greatly, striving to preserve a cornerstone of Ithaca’s cultural and journalistic identity. This acquisition is not merely a change of ownership — it’s a bold swing at reimagining how legacy institutions can endure and thrive for the community’s shared social purpose and economic prosperity.

Pathways to Equity stands in the arena of civic life, connecting people, generations, and institutions to forge inclusive prosperity. Our purpose is to inform and educate individuals, businesses and organizations about innovative economic

models that sustain communities. Our vision is a nation where shared equity drives enduring well-being, achieved by uniting government, business, education, nonprofits, and media in collaborative solutions. Like a batter eyeing the pitch, we focus on innovative strategies to ensure communities hit home runs in collaboration, sustainability and cohesion.

Impact Ithaca is Pathways to Equity’s bold pitch to preserve Ithaca’s legacy businesses—those 25+ years old that define the city’s soul. Facing a “silver tsunami” of retirements, these businesses risk striking out without succession plans, leaving civic voids. Impact Ithaca steps up as a “community trust for local enterprise,” offering tools like employee

ownership, nonprofit conversion, or new socially driven leaders to keep these institutions in the game.

The Ithaca Times, a vital piece of civic infrastructure, is their leadoff hitter. More than a newspaper, it’s a cultural anchor, connecting residents to decisions, stories, and each other. Pathways to Equity sees Impact Ithaca as a platform for dialogue, ready to swing for the fences in fostering community unity and resilience. (See www.impactithaca.com)

In a time when the cost of living continues to rise at a pace unmatched by entry-level wages, especially in urban creative hubs such as Ithaca, it has become increasingly difficult for young professionals to pursue meaningful work with-

out facing housing insecurity. Nowhere is this truer than in fields like journalism, where early-career positions are notoriously underpaid, if paid at all. In this context, the Rising Star Fund, a mutual aid initiative of Pathways to Equity, is designed to subsidize basic living costs for young creatives—beginning with aspiring journalists—offering a necessary and transformative intervention. We envision the Rising Star Fund as a vital mechanism to create equity, preserve diverse storytelling, reduce brain drain when young storytellers leave Ithaca for more money, and support the sustainability of publicinterest work in the media. Continued

NY’s Only Reproductive Rights Film Festival Returns to Ithaca

By Lorien Tyne

Coming back for a third year, the Reproductive Rights Film Festival is expanding to two weekends at Cinemapolis over Sept. 13-14 and 18-20. Every activity and film highlights the need for reproductive rights and choice and is completely open to the public and free to attend.

The festival is presented by End Abortion Stigma (EAS), an Ithaca-based advocacy group, and Grandmothers for Reproductive Rights (GRR!) a group from Portland, Maine.

This year, the festival features 11 films, seven screenings over five days, the winners of the inaugural Short Shorts film competition, and virtual panels. The kickoff event is a virtual panel on Sept. 9 but there is also another on Sept. 17. Both of the virtual panels are hosted via Zoom and those who are interested can register at the festival’s website.

In addition to the screenings and events, the festival’s organizers also put together a protest each year. Last year, participants gathered outside the Finger Lakes Pregnancy Care center, which organizers described as an “antiabortion center.” The protest is not included in the official schedule due to Cinemapolis’ policy on political content.

Sponsors who help the festival continue include Triphammer Arts Inc., Cinemapolis, The Office of Assembly Member Anna Kelles, Latino Civic Association of Tompkins County, Cine Con Cultura Film Festival, Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival, CloseToHome Productions, Diane’s Downtown Automotive, Documentary Studies and Production Degree — Ithaca College, Department of Performing and Media Arts — Cornell, LGBT Studies and Feminist, Gender & Sexuality Studies — Cornell, Central NY NOW, First Unitarian Society of Ithaca and Cornell Prison Education Program. More sponsors will be announced by the festival as the event grows closer.

Schedule

Virtual Panels

Both panels are on Zoom and those interested can register at ReproductiveRightsFilmFest.com

• Tuesday, September 9, 8 p.m. — All Means All: A Conversation on Abortion Access Throughout Pregnancy. Panelists in -

Protesters outside a pregnancy center, which is believed by participants to be an “anti-abortion center,” during last year’s Reproductive Rights Film Festival.

clude Dr. Shelley Sella, author of Beyond Limits and the first woman in the U.S. to openly practice third-trimester abortion care, and Erika Christensen, later abortion patient advocate and co-founder of Patient Forward.

• Wednesday, September 17, 7 p.m. — A collaboration with Conversations Across Screen Cultures, featuring members of the Abortion Clinic Film Collective.

In-person Festival

All 11 festival films will be followed by conversations with filmmakers and subject experts, which according to the press release, aims to create “space for audiences of all ages to exchange perspectives and engage in intergenerational dialogue.”

• Saturday, Sept. 13, at 3 p.m. —

“Connie Cook: A Documentary” and “The Deciding Vote” spotlight Central New York leaders whose legislation affirming abortion rights laid the foundation for Roe v. Wade.

• Sunday, Sept. 14, at 3 p.m. —

“Short Shorts” Competition Winners: “She Blooms”, “Baby Love”, “My Womb for Hire”, “Someone You Know”, and “the mystery that is her body”. Also screening: “Under G-D”, a documentary on the Jewish response to the Dobbs decision, and “62 Days”, the story of Marlise Muñoz, a brain-dead pregnant woman kept on life support against her wishes. Cosponsored by Cine Con Cultura.

• Sunday, Sept. 14, at 7 p.m. —

“Power Alley,” a Brazilian drama, follows a teen athlete’s struggle to terminate her pregnancy

under Bolsonaro’s regime so she can pursue a sports scholarship, highlighting solidarity and resilience in the queer community. Co-sponsored by Cine Con Cultura.

• Thursday, Sept. 18, 7 p.m. — Two films highlight the role of law enforcement: “In Accordance With”, a futuristic short on police intimidation of people seeking abortions, and “Zurawski v. Texas,” a documentary following women in Texas denied abortion care—even while facing life-threatening pregnancy complications—and the attorney fighting on their behalf.

• Friday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m. — Pregnancy during incarceration is featured in two films: “Winn” a short challenging U.S. prison practices of shackling pregnant women and placing them in solitary confinement, and “Fly So Far” a feature fight to end the decades-long imprisonment of El Salvadoran women for suspected abortion, miscarriage, or stillbirth under restrictive laws. Co-sponsored by Cine Con Cultura.

• Saturday, Sept. 20, at 3 p.m. —

“No Choice,” by local filmmaker Nate Hilgartner, offers a haunting yet prophetic tale of a young student who struggles to overcome financial and legal barriers to terminating an unplanned pregnancy.

• Saturday, Sept. 20, at 7 p.m. —

“No One Asked You” is a documentary about battling misogyny with comedy, following Liz Winstead, comedian and co-creator of The Daily Show, and her team as they travel the U.S. supporting abortion clinic staff and fighting stigma.

Arts & Entertainment

AIDS Ride For Life Gears Up for its 27th Year Around Cayuga Lake

By Lorien Tyne

Cyclists will be riding for a purpose around Cayuga Lake for the 27th annual AIDS Ride for Life this Saturday, Sept. 6. All proceeds from donations and registration fees go to the Southern Tier AIDs Program (STAP).

Participants choose which route length they want to ride, which ranges from 14 to 102 miles. The routes bring cyclists along scenic views and the 100 miles have seven pit stops with volunteers, first aid, restrooms, hydration, safety and gear support, and more. The halfway point pit stop also has lunch available. The shorter routes begin at specific pitstops and require participants to take a bus ride from Stewart Park. The journey around Cayuga Lake begins at Stewart Park Large Pavilion and

finishes at the Cass Park Pavilion where there will be music and food.

Registration now costs $50 for people signing up late, and is open until the morning of Friday, Sept. 5. On Friday, Sept. 5, participants can pick up essential event information at Stewart Park between 4 and 7 p.m. The full event schedule can be found on the One Cause website. Fees for participation cover the cost of

organizing the event so all donations can go to STAP. These costs include pit stop food, water, lunch, dinner, rental fees for equipment, rider T-shirts, rider gifts, toilets for each pit stop, bib numbers, medical supplies and other event expenses.

So far, 204 people and 29 teams have registered and 749 donations have been made to the cause. Event coordinator Kayla Thomas said that in past years the event

usually sees a surge in donations in the final weeks leading up to the day. So far, the event has raised $84,504 of its $200,000 goal and Thomas said organizers are anticipating raising between $130,000 and $150,000.

“Our fundraising goal this year was set intentionally high to challenge ourselves and inspire big thinking,” Thomas said.

Continued on Page 18

AIDS Ride For Life is an annual event where participants bike around Cayuga Lake to raise funds for the Southern Tier AIDS Program. (Photos: Provided)

determination must be based on specific criteria showing the action may have a significant adverse impact on the environment. The department said the current application only involves a change in water storage location to increase capacity and does not expand the mine area. NYSDEC’s review resulted in a negative declaration because no significant adverse impacts were identified. If Cargill applies for a future permit modification that expands the mine area, NYSDEC would evaluate it for potential cumulative impacts.

Commenters argued Cargill’s operations have not received the same scrutiny as other mining operations in New York because it has never been required to prepare an EIS under SEQR for its activities at the mine. One comment claimed to be aware of at least 16 instances where the DEC should have required an EIS but did not. In its response, NYSDEC stated there is no basis to reassess previously issued permit decisions and the only action under review for the application is the expansion of the water storage area. The permit approval comes after both the Tompkins County Legislature and Ithaca Common Council passed resolutions demanding NYSDEC require an EIS for the mine.

CLEAN response

CLEAN stated that it will review NYSDEC’s decision and consider all options to ensure accountability from Cargill, including legal action. In a statement, CLEAN opposed the permit, stating NYSDEC issued it without requiring an environmental impact statement (EIS) or holding a public hearing.

CLEAN raised concerns about Cargill’s plan to flood the mine with undersaturat-

ed brine wastewater. In public comments, the group’s experts stated that actions risks mine stability beneath Cayuga Lake. The group argued Cargill’s safety evaluations were inadequate and based on incomplete public records. CLEAN alleges that the storage of brinewater risks a potential mine collapse in the S3 Zone.

“The consequences of a mine collapse and subsequent flooding of the Mine would be catastrophic,” CLEAN experts wrote. “Even a minor roof collapse in the area beneath the Lake could lead to a rubble chimney, creating a hydraulic connection between the Mine and Cayuga Lake. A collapse event would threaten the Lake as a drinking supply for more than 100,000 people.”

CLEAN co-founder Brian Eden alleged NYSDEC is shielding Cargill’s mine from scrutiny. He believes DEC prevents public access to data necessary for an independent scientific review and access to data.

CLEAN co-founder John Dennis shared similar concerns about access to information.

“If Cargill’s operation of Cayuga Salt Mine is such a paragon of excellence, why is the DEC colluding with Cargill to release less and less information about the mine to the public?” Dennis said. “American Rock Salt is implementing continuous mining technology at its Hampton Corners Salt Mine, while Cargill is sticking with last-century use of explosions several times a day. The idea that American Rock Salt could gain a competitive edge by learning more about Cayuga Salt Mine is ludicrous.”

Geologist Raymond Vaughan stated NYSDEC ignored many detailed issues raised by commenters, especially those about the risk of a catastrophic mine collapse. He said NYSDEC’s regulations require assessing potential magnitude, setting, irreversibility, geographic scope and people affected by a potentially catastrophic event. Despite this, the DEC dismissed

concerns about a mine collapse as not “reasonably expected” to occur, he said.

On Thursday, Aug. 28, NYSDEC released a reply to Vaughn’s concerns stating: “DEC provides rigorous oversight of the Cayuga Salt Mine, including monitoring rates of water inflow, conducting annual site meetings that include underground examinations of the mine, and reviewing third-party expert analyses to ensure the mine remains in compliance with its permits and all laws and regulations in place to protect public health and the environment. DEC will continue its stringent oversight of the facility to ensure compliance.”

The Cargill facility is required to report annually on the source, volume, and storage location of its water inflow, a NYSDEC official stated. As permitted, water is pumped to an underground collection pond where it is saturated before being moved to abandoned sections of the mine. The water inflow outlined in the permit modification is unrelated to Cayuga Lake, while studies over 30 years found no hydraulic connection between the mine and lake.

The DEC previously told the Ithaca Times that the storage of water into abandoned portions of mines “is a common practice in salt mines throughout the world.”

Andrew Michalski, a hydrogeologist consultant, raised concerns on the stability of the mine’s roof rock. He said upward overstressing of the roof rock is similar to the conditions that led to the Retsof mine collapse.

The Retsof Salt Mine in Livingston County, N.Y. collapsed in March 1994, according to the Livingston County Historical Society. Groundwater filled the mine, creating a saline solution, or brine that traveled upwards through shale deposits, contaminating the local aquifer and nearby water supplies. An estimated 20 local wells became unusable or had run dry due to the contamination.

Agapito Associates was hired by Cargill to conduct a study to assess the mine and determined Cargill implemented best practices in safety and environmental protection.

Michalski said the Agapito study did not include overall mine stability in its scope. A specific risk associated with Cargill’s drilling into a brine pocket above mining panel U12. This action reduced the brine pressure, causing stress to transfer upward into the dolomite. He also questions why this “isolated” brine pocket has been discharging for over six years and requests data on the inflow rates and water chemistry.

about, he just does as much research as humanly possible,” she said.

In April 2020, Dougherty started a Substack newsletter, The Bull-Moose Note, to report on corporate influence of the government and news media. “I was like, why isn’t the government doing these things like universal health care right now, and there’s a pandemic?” Dougherty said. “And why isn’t the media reporting more about why the government should be doing this, how it would save a bunch of money, save people’s lives.”

Dougherty’s rationale was that there were interests in the government preventing it from passing progressive legislation, and interests within national media outlets preventing critical reporting of the government. Dougherty doesn’t see it as partisan to call this out, since he said this dynamic benefits both parties.

He added that it shouldn’t be considered partisan or unobjective to point out that policies such as universal health care would save tens of thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars annually when this is backed up by credible evidence. He believes prioritizing “objective” reporting often leads to coverage that gives both sides

of an issue equal credibility, even when one side doesn’t actually have credibility.

“You have to have reporting that backs up your position, whether it’s studies, interviews, meeting notes, you have to have something,” he said. To Dougherty, unbiased journalism doesn’t exist—every reporter is coming at a story from their unique perspective. What concerns him, though, is how easily misinformation can spread today.

“When you live in an information age, you can go find a source telling you whatever,” he said. “If you don’t have media literary skills to understand what sources are legit—anybody can create a website and start putting sh–t on there.”

Vogel said Dougherty’s coverage of local labor unions, Starbucks union busting, and the city of Ithaca’s adoption of good-cause eviction stood out to her.

“He’s really invested in making Ithaca a more affordable place to live,” she said.

“And he cares a lot about workers’ rights.”

As Dougherty forges his path as an investigative journalist, he hopes to continue holding institutions accountable for corruption and favoring those in power.

“Journalism is about giving a voice to the voiceless—trying to punch up, not punch down,” he said. “[To] expand people’s rights, not limit them.”

WE THE PEOPLE

continued from page 7

are human beings. They remember who treated them with respect — and who didn’t. Burning bridges over misunderstandings doesn’t help your activism.

Flex your muscles by mobilizing your activist group. Help your group do more than hold a rally or protest — organize them to take civic action, like cleaning a park or building a playground. This will build goodwill in the community toward your organization, and it will impress local officials. Anyone who has run a campaign or an organization knows that being able to “herd your cats” is no small feat and often determines success or failure. Be a good cat herder.

Just start. Join a group. Take an action and help others take action. There are many worthy groups in Tompkins County you could join. But most importantly, don’t despair. We can do this.

Emily Adams lives in Brooktondale, NY. She serves on the Steering Committees of Indivisible Tompkins and NYPAN, and is the chair of the local Working Families Party club. She works as a self-employed eldercare provider and is also supporting efforts to preserve Brooktons Market — a longstanding community grocery store and deli.

AIDS RIDE FOR LIFE

continued from page 16

In addition to the registration fee, riders must fundraise $100 to participate, which goes to STAP to fund services for people living with HIV/AIDS, others with two or more chronic illnesses, people who are LGBTQ+ Youth at the Identity Youth Center, or Syringe Exchange participants. Each rider who has registered gets a fundraising page and tools for outreach, including the ability to text their donors thank you and livestream fundraising.

Even after the event has concluded, riders can continue to collect donations from their fundraising webpages through December.

“The AIDS Ride for Life is more than just a bike ride — it’s a celebration of community, resilience, and hope,” Thomas said. “Every mile pedaled helps fund the Southern Tier AIDS Program’s vital services across the region, including HIV/STI prevention and testing, harm reduction programs, mental health and addiction support, housing assistance, and so much more. The Ride brings people together in an incredible show of support for our community, and every participant, donor, and volunteer is part of making that impact possible.”

CONSTRUCTION IN COLLEGETOWN

continued from page 5

facility. The apartments will primarily serve individuals and families earning up to 60% of the area median income (AMI),

SPOSITO PIVOTS TO GOLF AT IC

continued from page 8

After our interview, Chase and Ryan headed off to the Robert Trent Jones course at Cornell, joined by a half-dozen recent West Point grads, one of whom — Jake Morin — would become the Sposito’s brother-in-law the next day. The

PATH WAYS TO EQUITY

continued from page 14

Contact Roy@ithacatimes.com for more information.

The transformation of the Ithaca Times is Impact Ithaca’s grand slam. With strategic goals to:

• Rebuild trust through a community owned newsroom.

translating to a household income limit of approximately $46,000 for a single person and $53,000 for a two-person household, INHS Project Director Victoria Neenan said.

The project is estimated to cost around $26 million, with approximately $25

beautiful bride, Kylie (Sposito) Morin, was herself a fine athlete at Ithaca High, and as I watched her walk down the aisle, I envisioned her grandfather (and one of my best friends ever) Richie Moran looking on in Spirit. I knew what he would say, so I just said it for him. It’s Great To Be Here.

Staying up at Ithaca College, the fall sports season kicked off (good metaphor

• Co-produce content aligned with local priorities.

• Launch civic journalism training for youth.

• Host community events under the Impact Ithaca and Rising Star Fund brands.

Like Roosevelt’s figure in the arena, we dare to evolve, becoming a scalable model for legacy institutions. Through public forums, editorial campaigns, youth engagement, and an annual State of the

million allocated for the residential portion. INHS plans to apply for financial assistance through the state’s competitive Housing and Community Renewal (HCR) funding process in the fall. If the project is funded on the first application attempt, construction could begin as

for soccer coverage) over the weekend, as both the Bomber men’s and women’s soccer teams burst out of the gate to open their 2025 campaigns at Butterfield Stadium. The women were utterly dominant in a 2-0 win over Elmira, making the visitor’s goalie save 17 shots on goal to even keep her team in the game. Ithaca’s defense was fierce, allowing zero shots on goal. Allie McCabe and Kaelyn Fernam-

Community report, we aim to be a home run for civic collaboration, proving that even in the face of challenges, bold action can change the game. These efforts will ensure the Times remains a vital player in Ithaca’s civic lineup.

Pathways to Equity, exemplifying the “Man in the Arena,” stands undaunted in the batter’s box, stewarding the Ithaca Times toward a vibrant future. Through ideas like Impact Ithaca and the Rising

early as August 2026. INHS will own the daycare space and lease it to an independent childcare provider. The building will consist entirely of one-bedroom apartments, aligning with the demonstrated demand for smaller, more affordable units in the area.

dez both found the back of the net for the Bombers.

The men took on Elizabethtown for the first time ever, and also slammed the door on the visitors. Emile Antoine scored his first collegiate goal for Ithaca’s first tally of the season, and Liam Breslin added an insurance goal to start the season off in the “W” column.

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memories and desires while remaining rooted in her sage perspective.

Actress Carolyn Michelle Smith, who plays compassionate care worker

Vanessa, served as a Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Performing & Media Arts in 2024-25. Part of the “ Worth a Watch” series. | 104 Willard Straight Hall, Cornell

Events this Week

9/3 Wednesday

Ribbon Cutting — The Waldorf School’s New Auxiliary Classroom

| 9:00 a.m. | Please join the Tompkins Chamber in celebrating Ithaca Waldorf School ’s exciting and new auxiliary classroom and office space. | 20 Nelson Road, Ithaca

Greensprings Garden Club | 10:00 a.m. | From May to October, volunteer with us as we divide perennials, mulch plantings, plant shrubs, pull weeds, pot perennials, rake leaves, spread gravel, and more. | Greensprings Natural Cemetery Preserve, 293 Irish Hill Rd., Newfield | Free

200 Years: Seneca Lake and the Erie Canal Waterways | 10:00 a.m.

| Join us at the Brick Tavern Museum and delve deep into Schuyler County ’s water transportation highway | Montour Falls

Science Together: Magnet Fishing | 10:30 a.m. | Sort and count the fish you catch! Science Together activities are designed for ages 0-4. | Sciencenter 601 1st St., Ithaca

Meet the Candidates Forum | 12:00 p.m. | Meet the Candidates! Join us for a Meet the Candidates Forum featuring those running for City of Ith | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street, Ithaca Good Grief Circle | 2:00 p.m. | The Age Well Center, 165 Main St., Cortland

“Because You’re Mine” —

Celebrating the Great Loves in Country Music | 2:00 p.m. | Direct from NYC! Join singer and multiinstrumentalists Matt Cusack and Allison Kelly. | Cortland Repertory

Theatre Dwyer Memorial Park, Little York Lake Rd., Preble

Read to Dogs at Newfield Public Library | 3:00 p.m. | Children are invited to the Newfield Library to practice their reading skills by reading to one of C | Newfield Public Library 198 Main Street, Newfield | Free Wednesday Market at East Hill | 3:00 p.m. | Don’t have time to get to the pavilion every weekend, or need a mid-week haul? We have you covered w | 330 Pine Tree Rd., NY 14850-2819, Ithaca

Know Money, Less Problems w/ Tompkins Connect | 5:30 p.m. | Learn to improve your financial well-being with Tompkins Connect! Presented and sponsored by The Str | The Strebel Planning Group, 944 Dryden Rd., Ithaca

LGBTQ+ Youth Group | 5:45 p.m. | Join us at LGBTQ+ Youth Group to do crafts, play games, and socialize. Whether your lesbian, gay, b | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street, Ithaca

The Writers’ Room | 6:00 p.m. | Work on your writing project in the company of other writers. | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street, Ithaca | Free

DM Brainstorming Group | 6:00 p.m. | A place for those who run tabletop role-playing games to brainstorm ideas, seek out tools and support. | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street, Ithaca

Astrology Meeting | 6:00 p.m. | We learn astrology together and would love to have you join us. All knowledge levels are welcome. | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 E. Green Street, Ithaca | Free

DJ Trivia with Dave Ashton | 6:30 p.m. | Join Dave Ashton for a challenging round of “ DJ Trivia” at Hopshire Farm and Brewery! Every Wednesday |

Hopshire Farm and Brewery, 1771 Dryden Road, Freeville | Free Trivia! | 7:00 p.m. | Trivia Night with Bob Proehl at Liquid State! | Liquid State Brewery, 620 West Green Street, Ithaca | Free

Fireside Sessions | 7:00 p.m. | Sit around the fire with acoustic ambience & libations | New Park Event

Venue & Suites, 1500 Taughannock Blvd., Ithaca | $25.00 - $30.00

Bad Books | 7:00 p.m. | In this blistering dark dramedy, a mother declares war against her local library and sets off a chain reaction of unimaginable consequences. | Kitchen Theatre Company, 417 W. State / W. MLK, Jr. Street, Ithaca | $10.00 - $55.00

Wednesday Open Mic Night at The Nocturnal Café! | 7:00 p.m. |

Free weekly Wednesday Open Mic night at The Nocturnal Café, Ithaca’s nightlife alternative, featuring music, poetry, dance and more! |

The Nocturnal Café, 103 S Geneva St., Ithaca | Free

Ithaca Men’s Soccer vs Elmira College | 8:00 p.m. | Ithaca Men’s Soccer vs Elmira College\n | Butterfield Stadium Ithaca Latin Wednesday | 9:00 p.m. | Get ready for the RETURN of LATIN WEDNESDAYS, Ithaca’s longest running and hottest weekly dance part | The Upstairs, 106 S. Cayuga St., Ithaca NARCAN Training with REACH | 12:00 a.m. | Join the REACH Project to learn how to recognize an overdose, respond to an overdose emergency, and | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street, Ithaca

9/4 Thursday

The Campus Club at Cornell Fall Open House | 11:00 a.m. | Women, come explore the 20+ activity groups of the Campus Club at our Fall Open

House on Thurs, Sept 4 from 11 a.m. –1 p.m. at the Ithaca Farmers ’ Market for all women who wish to enrich their lives. | Ithaca Farmer ’s Market 545 3rd St., Steamboat Landing, Ithaca | Free

Imaginary Landscapes | 12:00 p.m. | Imaginary Landscapes Paintings by Barbara Behrmann and Katrina Morse | State of the Art Gallery, 120 West State Street, Ithaca | Free GO ITHACA Open Hours | 2:00 p.m. | Join GO ITHACA for Open Hours at TCPL! GO ITHACA is proud to help transform transportation in Tompki | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street, Ithaca

Story + Craft | 4:00 p.m. | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street, Ithaca

Beginnings Summer Concert Series: Fall Creek Brass Band, with opener Yamatai | 5:00 p.m. | Bernie Milton Pavilion Center Commons, Ithaca | Free Summer Flower Workshop | 5:30 p.m. | Spend a relaxing evening on a flower farm, wandering through gorgeous dahlia rows and using tips to arrange your own bouquet. | Jenny Creek Flowers, 7048 Durling Road, Trumansburg

Kajuneju | 5:30 p.m. | Cider, food and live music every Thursday! Meet the band: Kajuneji is a seven-piece band with an alt | South Hill Cider, 550 Sandbank Road, Ithaca

Life Skills: Dollars and Decisions | 6:00 p.m. | An engaging 8-week course designed to provide the real-world money skills that kids actually need. | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street, Ithaca

Cornell Cinema: Familiar Touch | 6:00 p.m. | Writer-director Sarah Friedland’s coming-of-old-age feature compassionately follows the winding path of octogenarian Ruth’s shifting

DOWNTOWN ITHACA COMMONS’ 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4TH AT 5:00 PM

Public Sunset Cruise Discover Cayuga Lake | 7:30 p.m. | Enjoy a beautiful once in a lifetime sunset on Cayuga Lake! | Allan H. Treman Marina, 805 Taughannock Blvd., Ithaca, NY 14850, Ithaca

Mrs. Doubtfire | 7:30 p.m. | The M&T Bank 2025-26 Broadway Season presents MRS. DOUBTFIRE Thursday–Friday, September 4-5, 2025 | Clemens Center, 207 Clemens Center Parkway, Elmira

Killdeer Trio & Cozmic Typo | 8:00 p.m. | Killdeer Trio & Cozmic Typo

Killdeer Trio is an instrumental trio co-led by bassist Evan Jagels, dr | The Downstairs, 121 W. M.L.K. Jr. St., Ithaca

Cornell Cinema: Donnie Darko | 8:30 p.m. | Part of the “ Restorations & Rediscoveries ” series. | 104 Willard Straight Hall, Cornell

9/5 Friday

Grant Writing Tips for Funding from Foundations | 1:00 p.m. | Sustainable Finger Lakes, in collaboration with WE ACT, an environmental justice group from West Har | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street, Ithaca

Ithaca Gallery Night | 5:00 p.m. | A first Friday event where galleries and venues present new exhibits every first Friday of the month from 5-8 p.m. Ithaca Gallery Night openings are located in downtown Ithaca and Tompkins County. Free and open to the public. Please go to www.ithacagallerynight.com for details. | Ithaca Gallery Night, 171 The Commons, Ithaca | Free

Art House Night | 5:00 p.m. | The Ink Shop, 330 E. MLK/State St., Ithaca

Sarah Smelser - Hodophilia | 5:00 p.m. | Sarah Smelser | Hodophilia A hodophile is a lover of travel, a wanderer, someone who travels to escape, walks to learn about the world and to repeatedly discover oneself, and

the works in this show are inspired by such journeys—from the island of Greece to the hills of California and New M | The Ink Shop, 330 E. MLK/ State St., Ithaca | Free Busking for Justice/Naomi Sommers & Rick Manning | 5:30 p.m. | Naomi Sommers (vocals, guitar) and Rick Manning (vocals, fiddle, mandolin) share a love of bluegrass and folk music and their set will highlight Naomi’s original songs along with a few traditional songs and tunes. | Cafe Dewitt, 215 N Cayuga Street, Ithaca | Free Dead Sea Swirls | 5:30 p.m. | Join us for the South Hill Cider Golden Hour Music Series! | South Hill Cider, 550 Sandbank Road, Ithaca Li’l Anne and Hot Cayenne| 6:00 p.m. | Finger Lakes Cider House, 4017 Hickok Rd., Interlaken Pocket Bandits Live | 6:00 p.m. | Experience Ithaca’s favorite emerging progressive funk-fusion trio | Liquid State Brewery, 620 W. Green St., Ithaca | $0.00 - $15.00

Cornell Cinema: The Thin Man| 6:00 p.m. | Part of the “Screwball Comedies ” series. | 104 Willard Straight Hall, Cornell Chamber Music at New Park — 9th Season | 7:30 p.m. | New Park Event Venue & Suites, 1500 Taughannock Blvd., Ithaca | $10.00 - $35.00

The Rollin’ Rust — Album Release Show | 8:00 p.m. | CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS | Center for the Arts of Homer, 72 S Main St., Homer Cornell Cinema: Clueless | 8:30 p.m. | The film will be introduced by Elisha Cohn, Associate Professor in the Department of Literatures in English. Part of the “Jane Austen at 250 ” series. | 104 Willard Straight Hall, Cornell 9/6 Saturday

AIDS Ride for Life | 6:00 a.m. | Stewart Park and Cass Park Ithaca Children’s Treasure Hunt | 9:00 a.m. | While our full-size treasure hunt may not be a good fit for young ones, we’re teaming up with Ithaca | 121 Turtle Ln, NY 14850, Ithaca

IC — South Hill September Clean Up at South Hill Recway across from South Hill School | 10:00 a.m. | Welcome back to South Hill! Join the

Running September 3 through September 21st at the Kitchen Theatre KTC kicks off its 2025-26 season with a hot-button topic at the center of the game. After her teenage son brings home a “vile” book, a mother declares war against her local library, setting off a chain reaction of unimaginable consequences. This blistering, dark dramedy tackles censorship and parenthood with both hilarity and heart. (Photo: Facebook)

IC Eco Reps, other students, faculty, staff, alumni, South Hill | Ithaca Danby Resilience Fair | 10:00 a.m. | Join your neighbors at the Danby Volunteer Fire Department to learn new skills, meet new people, and have fun! Created by people interested in building strong community connections, sharing skills and knowledge, and nurturing healthy relationships and well-being together. | Danby Volunteer Fire Department, 1780 Danby Rd., Ithaca | Free Drumstock 2025 | 11:00 a.m. | A free all-day music and arts festival taking place in downtown Geneva. This year’s festival features: Two stages of live music including national touring act Octave Cat (members of Lotus and Dopapod); Local and regional artists from across Upstate NY; Interactive art workshops, performance artists, and live painting; Local food, drink, and craft vendors; A creative, family-

friendly atmosphere celebrating Geneva’s vibrant arts scene.| E. Castle St., Geneva

Farmers Market Cruise Discover Cayuga Lake | 11:00 a.m. | Get the best of both worlds straight off the Ithaca Farmers Market dock! Enjoy the good times of the Farmers Market and Experience Cayuga Lake! | Ithaca Farmers Market, 545 3rd St., Ithaca, NY 14850, Ithaca

Family Storytime | 11:00 a.m. | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street, Ithaca

Kick-Off: Tompkins Treasure Hunt | 12:00 p.m. | Fuel up and start your adventure right! Join us outdoors at the Jewelbox for live music, foodtrucks, and exclusive hard copies of your very first puzzle. The event is open to the public, but the puzzles are reserved for registered participants. | 110 North Tioga Street within the

Tompkins Center for History & Culture, Ithaca

Chess Quest | 1:00 p.m. | Chess can help improve a child ’s development, so why not make it fun? Chess Wizard James Stone from Ithaca Chess Academy. | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street, Ithaca

The Early Years of Baseball in Cortland & Tompkins Counties | 1:00 p.m. | The Early Years of Baseball in Cortland & Tompkins Counties, presentation by historian/author Char | Central New York Living History Center 4386 US Rte. 11, Cortland | $0.00 - $15.00

Ithaca Football vs Johns Hopkins University | 1:00 p.m. | Ithaca Football vs Johns Hopkins University. | Butterfield Stadium Ithaca

Faculty Recital: Tristen Jarvis, double bass | 2:00 p.m. | Hockett Family Recital Hall, Ithaca College Ithaca Men’s Soccer vs SUNY Geneseo | 2:00 p.m. | Ithaca Men’s Soccer vs SUNY Geneseo | Carp Wood Field Ithaca

Autumn Art Fun | 2:00 p.m. | Let your imagination soar with local artist and teacher, Stiller Zusman. This is a drop-in program. | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street, Ithaca

Brass Transit | 4:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. | Since 2008, Brass Transit has toured North America steadily, dazzling audiences with flawless performances and spectacular attention to detail. Hits like “Saturday In The Park,” “25 or 6 To 4,” “ If You Leave Me Now,” “ Feelin’ Stronger Every Day,” and “ You’re The Inspiration” have left crowds in awe! | Preston H. Thomas Theatre, at The Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, Auburn

Cornell Cinema: Sorry, Baby | 5:30 p.m. | Part of the “ Worth a Watch” series. | 104 Willard Straight Hall, Cornell

KALEO — Mixed Emotions Tour | 6:30 p.m. | State Theatre of Ithaca, 107 West State St, Ithaca

Ithaca Dances of Universal Peace — September Circle | 7:15 p.m. | The Dances of Universal Peace are an interfaith spiritual practice using music and movement. | Foundation of Light, 391 Turkey Hill Road, Ithaca | Free

CHILDREN’S TREASURE HUNT

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6TH,

FROM 9:00 AM TO 1:00 PM

Ithaca Children's Garden, 121 Turtle Lane, Ithaca, | While the full-size treasure hunt may not be a good fit for young ones, the History Center is teaming up with Ithaca Children’s Garden to make sure there is something for everybody! Perfect for ages 8–12 (and younger with adults), this minihunt will send kids exploring the garden, each leaving with a gem of their own. To make sure no young hunter leaves empty-handed, please register. (Photo: Facebook)

Legends & Legacies Fleetwood Mac Tribute Concert | 8:00 p.m. |

As part of Notre Dame High School ’s 70th Anniversary celebration, enjoy listening to the iconic sounds of Fleetwood Mac. | Notre Dame High School, 1400 Maple Avenue, Elmira | $20.00 - $40.00

Whistlin' Dyl & Spice Rack | 8:00 p.m. | The Downstairs, 121 W M.L.K. Jr. St., Ithaca

Cornell Cinema: Paris, Texas | 8:00 p.m. | Part of the “ Robby Müller: Light Work ” series. In English and Spanish with English subtitles. | 104 Willard Straight Hall, Cornell

9/7 Sunday

Hilliard U.S. Vintage Grand Prix | 8:00 a.m. | Watkins Glen International 2790 Co Rte 16, Watkins Glen | $20.00 - $100.00

Science Connections | 8:00 a.m. | Join local science experts with handson activities and demonstrations. | Sciencenter, 601 1st St., Ithaca

Ithaca 5 & 10 race | 9:15 a.m. | Don’t miss out on Ithaca’s oldest foot race, presented by the Finger Lakes Runners Club! The Ithaca 5&10 course is a flat, fast loop through the Fall Creek neighborhood, starting and finishing at Ithaca High School. Run a single loop for 5K; repeat for 10K! Free 1-mile Fun Run for kids. | Ithaca High School, 1401 N. Cayuga Street, Ithaca | $25.00 - $45.00

Bluegrass Jam @ The Watershed | 12:00 p.m. | 1st Sunday of every month at The Watershed! Calling all Bluegrass musicians and jammers of all levels | The Watershed, 121 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Street, Ithaca Poetry and Music: Cayuga Lake Reveries | 3:00 p.m. | The Verb Takes a Walk along the shore of our lake. Test the waters with us! | Lansing Performance Hall, 1004 Auburn Rd., NY, Groton | Free Playwrights Jam | 5:00 p.m. | Lively readings of theatrical works in progress. Join as a playwright, actor, audience member, or all three! | Kitchen Theatre Company, 417 W. State / W. MLK, Jr. Street, Ithaca | $0.00 - $10.00

Cornell Cinema: It Happened One Night| 5:00 p.m. | Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert team up for laughs

as mismatched lovers in this early screwball comedy classic from 1934. Part of the “Screwball Comedies ” series. | 104 Willard Straight Hall, Cornell Jazz Jam | 6:00 p.m. | Jazz Jam First & last Sunday of every month at 6pm With DeWayne Perry! It ’s all about the music. | The Downstairs 121 W M.L.K. Jr. St., Ithaca

DJ Trivia with Dave Ashton | 7:00 p.m. | Join Dave Ashton for DJ Trivia every Sunday night at Crossroads in Lansing! Bring your friends and | Crossroads Bar and Grill, 3120 North Triphammer Road, Lansing | Free Cornell Cinema: Witches | 7:30 p.m. | In this personal and intimate film, writer-director Elizabeth Sankey uses her own story of being admitted to a psychiatric ward after the birth of her son to explore the unexpected yet compelling connections between perinatal mental health and the history and portrayal of witches in western society and pop culture. Part of the “ Doc Spots ” series. | 104 Willard Straight Hall, Cornell

9/8 Monday

Jazz Mondays with Dave Davies RhythmMakers | 5:30 p.m. | Join us every Monday at South Hill Cider for cider, food, and live jazz with some of the best local musicians! | South Hill Cider, 550 Sandbank Rd., Ithaca

Balancing Personal & Political Grief With the Pursuit of Joy —

A Poetry Workshop | 6:00 p.m. | In this workshop open to poets of any level of experience, we ’ll study a few published poems for the | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street, Ithaca

Queer Craft Club | 6:30 p.m. | Join other LGBTQIAP+ adults to do arts and crafts, hang out, and have fun. | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street, Ithaca | Free Participatory Contra, Square, and Circle Dancing | 7:00 p.m. | Ithaca Commons 171 E. State St./ Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Ithaca

Mythic Mondays | 7:30 p.m. |

Mythic Mondays: World Myth Open

Mic Join storyteller and host Jay Leeming for an open mic event in w | The Downstairs, 121 W M.L.K. Jr. St., Ithaca

CAYUGA BIRD CLUB MEETINGS | 7:30 p.m. | THE CAYUGA BIRD CLUB is

now holding their monthly meetings in person on the second Monday of the month. For information, refer to the bird club’s website: http://www. cayugabirdclub.org/ and go to the Meetings and Speakers page for information on the upcoming meeting. | Cornell Lab Visitors Center, 159 Sapsucker Woods Rd., Ithaca | Free

9/9 Tuesday

Ribbon Cutting — Grand Opening of | 3:00 p.m. | Join the Tompkins Chamber in celebrating the Grand Opening of Protagonist Books & Coffee! | Protagonist Books & Coffee 8 W. Main St., Dryden

Taughannock Live Music Series: Rosie Alaimo | 5:00 p.m. | Inn at Taughannock Falls, 2030 Gorge Rd., Trumansburg

LLC Formation Workshop | 6:00 p.m. | Join us for an immersive and hands-on workshop where a local attorney will walk you through the step | The Law Office of Serenna L. McCloud, Esq., PLLC 310 N. Aurora St., 2nd, Ithaca

Cornell Volleyball vs Colgate University | 7:00 p.m. | Newman Arena at Bartels Hall, Ithaca

9/10 Wednesday

“Billy Joel’s Piano Man“ WADE PRESTON | 2:00 p.m. | Wade returns in his 9th concert at CRT, but his first at the Little York Pavilion! A Broadway origin | Cortland Repertory Theater, 6799 Little York Lake Road, Preble

Chinese Bilingual Storytime/ 中英双语故事会 | 4:30 p.m. | Join us for a special Chinese-English bilingual storytime! Enjoy fun stories, songs, and rhymes in b | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street, Ithaca

Business After Hours at Atlas Bowl | 4:30 p.m. | Join us at Business After Hours! We are excited to join our host, Atlas Bowl, for their 10th Anniversary | Atlas Bowl 61 W. Main Street Trumansburg, NY 14886 *This venue is ADA accessible, Trumansburg | $10.00 Ithaca Field Hockey vs Cortland | 7:00 p.m. | Higgins Stadium Ithaca Worcester Red Sox at Syracuse Mets | 12:00 a.m. | NBT Bank Stadium 1 Tex Simone Dr., Syracuse

THE EARLY YEARS OF BASEBALL IN CORTLAND AND TOMPKINS COUNTIES

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6TH AT 1:00 PM

Central New York Living History Center, 4386 US Route 11, Cortland | Charles DeMotte has written several books on baseball and American culture. He will present on the rich and diverse aspects of baseball in these two counties from its inception to the period of the First World War. (Photo: Facebook)

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