Backstory: an Ithaca Voice podcast

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts. We're putting out this "mini episode" for now because we hit some unforeseen production delays. Look out for a new full episode next week. Until then, here's some of the other stories you should know about. Access a time-stamped transcript by clicking the button with three lines o...

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts. Fifty years ago, the very last car drove down the stretch of State Street that would later become the Ithaca Commons. It was followed by bulldozers, backhoes and dump trucks, all to make way for the pedestrian mall we know today. Today the Commons serves as the backdrop for some o...

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts. Voters in Tompkins County headed to the polls this week to elect new local and county representatives, joining millions of voters in thousands of other local races across the country. This week on the podcast: a conversation from the newsroom on the biggest takeaways from Election...

Episode notes Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts. Part I: Surprise! There’s an unexpected two million dollar hole in the city budget after an accounting software error. What does that say about the city’s fiscal management? How will officials make up the deficit in what is already a tough budget year? Part II: In ca...

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts. The debate over a proposed artificial intelligence (AI) data center in Lansing just got a lot more complicated. Town officials are considering a moratorium that could slow or block the project, but it might have some collateral damage. Town residents are split on whether the morat...

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts. Part I: There’s a growing push against Flock, an AI powered system of cameras and gunshot detectors that allow police to track vehicles that they suspect to have been involved in a crime. But despite the pushback, it looks like the county is planning to keep the cameras up for at l...

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts. Part I: The Ithaca City School District and the union that represents its roughly 600 teachers have been on a nearly four month hiatus from labor negotiations. Ithaca Teachers Association members have been without a contract since June. Meanwhile, the rhetoric has been heating up....

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts. This week on the podcast, a public spending double feature! Part I: It's everyone's favorite time of year again: county budget season. Tompkins County is looking to tighten the belt. So what’s on the chopping block? What’s behind the budget crunch? And what's the best way to get i...

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts. Part I: The head of Ithaca City School District, unexpectedly, was just approved for a contract extension. That’s despite the fact that Superintendent Dr. Luvelle Brown said last year he was not interested in extending his contract amid mounting public criticism. It’s not the firs...

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts. The artificial intelligence (AI) industry is growing … and so is the demand for the power-hungry banks of computers that power it. Now there’s a plan to use the infrastructure in an old coal-fired power plant on Cayuga Lake to power a data center. TeraWulf, the main company behind...

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts. In 2023, the City of Ithaca and Tompkins County inked deals with Flock Safety, a company that provides Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered license plate cameras for law enforcement. The project received a state grant, and installation began earlier this year. Now there's over 70...

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts. There’s a huge government office complex planned for downtown Ithaca and it's been years in the works. But outside of county government, few people seem to know about the project. The county's "Center of Government" complex would take up a significant part of a downtown block. Con...

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts. Part I: New York State wants Ithaca’s local wastewater treatment plant to make major and expensive upgrades to its treatment process. But local officials say all the necessary repairs could potentially double sewer bills . . . and they want the see hard data to prove that the wast...

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts. Part I: For years there's been deadlock over plans to bring basic services — like showers, lockers and charging stations — to people living in the homeless encampments on Ithaca’s West End known as The Jungle. But that's about to change. The city is turning a former Burger King re...

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts. Last August, officials and developers celebrated the opening of Asteri, a massive, multiuse building in the heart of downtown Ithaca. The project was supposed to put a dent in the city's housing crisis and boost downtown businesses and hotels. But a year later, the building's owne...

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts. Part I: Ithaca's city owned dams are in poor shape and there may not be enough money in the bank to fix them. There's been little discussion of the matter among Common Councilmembers so far. What does that mean for Ithaca's water supply ... and everyone living downstream? Part II:...

Part I: An ambitious project to provide permanent supportive housing for some of Ithaca's most vulnerable has garnered renewed scrutiny after an alleged arson attempt last month. The downtown building, Asteri, has also become the subject of a disproportionate number of calls to law enforcement since it opened last year. Now, local officials are seeking accountability. So what's next for the buildi...

Part I: President Donald Trump signed the "Big Beautiful Bill" into law July 4 — and with it, some of the largest ever cuts to federal Medicaid spending. The program provides health insurance for about 15% of Tompkins County residents. Megan Zerez and Ithaca Voice Editor-in-Chief Matt Butler go over the cuts and what they might mean for us locally. Part II: Potential harms to rural and small city...

The New York State comptroller is in the process of auditing the City of Ithaca's financial management processes. Meanwhile, the city remains without a credit score and is years behind on its routine yearly audits. Updated federal flood risk maps were released last month for Ithaca. More properties will require flood insurance, which could drive up housing costs. The city's more renter-heavy, work...

Tuesday was primary election day in the first countywide local elections since President Donald Trump's second inauguration. We analyze the races and talk about the winners — and winning issues. However the general election shakes out, county, city and town governments are poised to see significant turnover come January. With looming threats of federal spending cuts on Medicaid and other programs,...