Archive: Around Town

LOOKING DOWN FROM ABOVE:
A Public Program on
Mapping Potential Drilling Activity in Town of Lansing

How would the Town of Lansing look with active drilling in the area?

Wednesday June 29, 7:00-9:00pm
Lansing Middle School Auditorium
6 Ludlowville Road, Lansing

Presenters from the Tompkins County Council of Governments Task Force on Gas Drilling will provide a 'tour' based on assembled photos, maps and GIS interpretation to help Lansing residents visualize how the landscape has been affected in other regions and what it might look like here.


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Hey there my name is Noodle. I am a three-year-old domestic shorthair/ mix. I'm a loving girl who is looking for a loving home, so lease come and visit me at the SPCA to see if I'm the right cat for you!

Visit the SPCA Web Page

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The students and teachers of Ithaca’s eight elementary schools were out of their classrooms and exploring the Discovery Trail throughout the spring. Seven years ago the Ithaca Public Education Initiative (IPEI) wanted to make the cultural resources of the community part of every child's school experience. At the same time, the Discovery Trail wanted to reach all children in the Ithaca City School District (ICSD).  Kids Discover the Trail! (KDT!) is the result of the unique collaboration between these three: IPEI, the Discovery Trail and ICSD.

Every elementary class, from Pre-K to Fifth Grade, has the opportunity to visit one of the eight Discovery Trail sites each year, with Fifth Grade classes visiting two.  Sites are matched with grade levels based on the best fit for meeting grade level New York State Standards and for matching content areas.

Lansing High School Senior Class President Nina Lindberg was honored as the latest Tompkins County Distinguished Youth.  Nominated for the award by Principal Eric Hartz and senior class advisor Cathy Moseley, Nina is described as “a very accomplished young woman who has demonstrated leadership and commitment to her community throughout her high school career.

Nina was recognized for her many academic, co-curricular, and community service accomplishments—in music, art, history, sports, newspaper, and student government.   She also entered and won a statewide YouTube competition by creating a video urging Governor Cuomo to stop cuts to local school budgets—all these achievements while maintaining an academic record on the high honor roll.

Timothy J. Turecek will be joining the New Roots Charter School staff in the role of Dean of Students beginning in the 2011-2012 school year.

For Mr. Turecek, this is the next stage in a career in education that spans over 20 years.  “New Roots embodies all that I have fought for and believed in throughout my career as an educator,” he said.  Serving for the past seven years as Superintendent of Schools at Marathon Central School District, Mr. Turecek worked as a high school principal and as an English and Social Studies teacher in small, rural districts earlier in his career.

On an early June afternoon, Terry Byrnes, president of the Ithaca Public Education Initiative (IPEI) and Martha Frommelt, president of the Fine Arts Booster Group (FABG), visited Caroline Elementary School where they witnessed four examples of arts education. IPEI and FABG work in conjunction to facilitate community connections and support for students and teachers of the Ithaca City School District (ICSD).

At the front entrance, Byrnes and Frommelt admired the school’s version of the “Watershed Wall”, the district-wide public art installation and collaboration between FABG, ICSD and the City of Ithaca with many other organizations. It was unveiled in June 2010 near the Ithaca Commons.

Habitat for Humanity of Tompkins and Cortland Counties welcomed 34 riders from 'Bike and Build' on yesterday.  The cyclists are taking a pause from their 70-day long, cross-country trek to swing a hammer and help with construction the Habitat for Humanity house that is currently being built on Sperry Lane in Lansing.

Through service-oriented cycling trips, Bike & Build benefits affordable housing and empowers young adults for a lifetime of service and civic engagement.  Over the past 8 seasons, Bike and Build participants have donated more than $2.7MM; built for more than 80,000 hours; pedaled over 5MM miles; and engaged more than 1250 young adults in spreading the word about the affordable housing crisis in America.

The SPCA of Tompkins County has been awarded a grant for $13,000 from The John T. and Jane A. Wiederhold Foundation. The grant is designated for the purchase of equipment to be used by interning veterinarians completing onsite work to become certified in shelter medicine. The interning veterinarians are a part of a collaboration between the SPCA and Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine’s Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Program.

The grant will allow the shelter to purchase dental equipment, and intravenous fluid pump, two heart rate/oxygenation monitors, five surgery packs, a microscope and refractometer. This equipment will help reduce the length of stay of pets in the shelter due to medical holds, will decrease outsourced dental costs, and allow for the more immediate treatment of pets in need.

This year residents will be treated to fireworks on Cayuga Lake when the Lansing Community Council hosts fireworks at Myers Park on July 2nd.  The fireworks are part of an all night affair that promises two live bands and food as well as the fireworks.  The community Council hopes to make it an annual event, adding to an already impressive resume of community projects and events.

The event will kick off at 6pm with Backtalk Band and food provided by the Lansing Tops market.  The Ithaca Dixieland Jazz Band will perform at 8pm, and the fireworks will start around 10pm.  The event is being paid for by private donations.  Community Council President Ed LaVigne says $5,000 will cover the event and the donation to the Lansing cheerleaders and football team to be made in exchange for working at this event and the Lansing Harbor Festival in August.  That is a win-win situation for the teams and the Community Council, which needs bodies to help greet people at the park entrance, collect donations, and manage parking.  As of the beginning of this week the tally had exceeded $3,000, and LaVigne says he anticipates another $1,000 before the end of next week.

When Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source held a video competition this year Lansing High School students rose to the challenge, winning first place.

Last Friday it could be said with 100% accuracy that Lansing's R. C. Buckley Elementary School Principal Chris Pettograsso was all wet.  That's because she was dunked in a dunking booth 68 time, all to reward her students for reading two million minutes throughout the school year.  Friday was the reward, a carnival with games, fun, and reading.  Each kid got a book.  And a chance to dunk the principal.

"Being the great sport that she is, Chris Pettograsso agreed to do it," says Enrichment Teacher Patty Jennings.  "We challenged the kids to read two million minutes.  They kept logs, which they handed in at the end of every month.  A tally was kept in the school hallway so children could see how close they were getting to their goal."

Hey there my name is She-Ra. I am a one-year-old domestic shorthair/ mix. I'm a gorgeous girl who is looking for a loving home. So please come and visit me at the SPCA to see if I'm the right cat for you!

Visit the SPCA Web Page

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