WRFI Community Radio News

Pilot Program in Tompkins Adds Emergency Responders— Emergency response times in Tompkins County should be getting shorter. State Senator Lea Webb was in Ithaca Tuesday to announce additional state funding for the county’s Rapid Medical Response program. The two-year pilot program operates three emergency response vehicles and employs nine EMTs. According to Webb, emergency response…

Cornell Undergrad Vote Supports Gaza Ceasefire, Divestment— Last week Cornell undergraduate voted in a referendum polling their views on a ceasefire in Gaza and divestment from 10 military contractors supplying Israel. According to the Cornell Sun, nearly 50% of eligible students voted. And votes for a ceasefire and divestment outweighed those against by nearly two…

Public Hearing on ICSD Budget Announced— Ithaca City School District has announced a public hearing on its proposed 2024-2025 operating budget. The meeting will take place May 14 at 5:30 p.m. at York Hall at Ithaca High School. Last week we reported on a 5-hour meeting during which the board heard from taxpayers concerned with…

Case Against Day Hall Protestors Conditionally Dismissed A case against Cornell student and staff protestors will likely be dismissed. Twenty-four members of the Coalition for Mutual Liberation who staged a sit in at Day Hall in March appeared before Judge Seth Peacock Wednesday. The charges will be dropped  provided the defendants don’t commit further violations…

ICSD Board Cuts Proposed Budget Ahead of May 21 Vote The Ithaca City School Board has made cuts to their proposed budget. According to the Ithaca Times, the adjustment was made after a 5-hour meeting with the public. Board members heard from a range of homeowners who spoke to the effect of rising taxes on…

Graduate students at Cornell are pushing the administration to act more quickly in negotiations with their union. According to the Ithaca Voice, last week about 200 graduate students rallied at Day Hall. Organizer Sadie Seddon-Stettler said that the university isn’t making contract negotiation a priority. The union maintains a dashboard showing the status of various…

Competing rallies were held at Cornell Sunday. One was billed as a “Jewish Unity” rally and featured speakers who decried what they say is a rise in antisemitism at Cornell and across the country. The other was organized by the Coalition for Mutual Liberation whose demands include that Cornell divest from what they call genocide…