Backstory: an Ithaca Voice podcast

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music , YouTube or wherever you get podcasts. From the start, Asteri Ithaca was supposed to represent a bold response to Ithaca’s most pressing housing and economic problems. One hundred eighty one new affordable apartment units. A brand new conference center. A plan to provide housing to forty formerly unhoused fam...

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music , YouTube or wherever you get podcasts. In an old cemetery just behind East Hill Plaza, there’s a little known secret buried just a few feet underground. As we speak, they’re sleeping underground by the millions … not zombies, not vampires, but native ground dwelling bees. Cornell researchers believe it’s the...

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts. Today is Election Day in statewide primary races. While there's not as much on the ballot this primary, some of the offices up for grabs come November do come with a lot of power. Plus, some of the other headlines we've been following. We're trying a more "bite-sized" format this...

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts. Energy costs are going up. From gas prices to electric bills, it’s hard not to notice. But very soon, the electric and gas bill for the average Ithaca home could see an even larger increase. And yes, there’s lots of international issues that impact costs. But one of the biggest re...

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts. When Kathy Bernson moved to Ithaca, she was just looking for a quiet, artsy little town to settle down in. But like many, she soon learned that the housing market in Ithaca comes with a fair share of roadblocks. And when you’re 75 and on a fixed income, those roadblocks are even h...

This episode contains graphic descriptions of violence and makes reference to racist and sexist slurs. Sensitive listeners may want to skip this one. Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts. When does an act of violence become an act of self defense? Does the use of racist, sexist slurs make a verbal threat more credible...

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts. The Commons is the heart of downtown Ithaca. But some say that its heartbeat is a bit irregular. It’s a common complaint from some business owners and visitors, though not everyone agrees. The Downtown Ithaca Alliance, the organization representing businesses downtown, came out wi...

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts. Earlier this month, a man in rural Cayuga County was arrested by what are likely federal immigration officers. The incident was at least the third such arrest in the tiny hamlet of King Ferry in the past two months. Agriculture is one of the biggest economic driver for that area....

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts. Two years ago, voters in the Ithaca City School District rejected a proposal for a sweeping school district renovation project ... and by staggering margins. Meanwhile, the issues have only continued to pile up: Leaky roofs. Overheated classrooms. Science labs that are no longer f...

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts. We're back! For this inaugural episode of the second season, we’re returning to an issue that we’ve covered several times on Backstory: Flock cameras. Last spring, dozens of the artificial intelligence (AI) powered cameras began to pop up at intersections around the county. These...

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts. Editor’s Note: This bonus episode of Backstory was originally scheduled for Dec. 19, but a technical issue prevented it from being released until today. Former Ithaca Voice editor Matt Butler has been living and reporting in Ithaca for nearly a decade. This week, he's behind the m...

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts. Nurses at Ithaca’s only hospital are looking to unionize. They say they haven’t had a cost of living adjustment in two years, pension plans are being phased out and the hospital is often short staffed. And with the big changes since Cayuga Medical Center became part of a larger re...

Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts. Ithaca's top government official was asked to resign this week. The move comes, most recently, after a high profile budget snafu. But relations have long been chilly between City Manager Deb Mohlenhoff and the elected officials who appointed her. Almost two years ago, Mohlenhoff w...

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...