WRFI Community Radio News

Happy Friday! After the headline news, you'll hear a live interview with Cherry Artspace Artistic Director Sam Buggeln about the company's next livestream play, "Hotel Good Luck" streaming live from the State Theatre of Ithaca February 12 - 22.

It is post-Inauguration Thursday.  After today's headline news, you'll hear an interview about a new virtual musical theatre production that will be available for streaming from February 12th to February 20th, 2021.   WRFI News Contributor Pamela Tan speaks to Walking on Water's Theatre Producer Priscilla Hummel about the tasty production, written by Rachel Lampert and Larry Pressgrove....

Happy Wednesday! After the headlines, you'll hear poet Amanda Gorman's reading of her poem, "The Hill We Climb" from today's inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Then, we're joined by Fingerlakes1.com National News Editor, Gabe Pietrorazio, who speaks about reporting on the historic event just two weeks after the insurrection on the Capitol. To finish out our show,...

Happy Tuesday! After tonight's headline news, you’ll hear an interview of local physician Dr. Jamie Loehr about the FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccines. More at wrfi.org/news.

Happy Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day! in recognition of the holiday, Greater Ithaca Activities Center held its annual MLK breakfast over the weekend - in a virtual setting. WRFI News Contributor Peter Champelli caught up with GIAC Executive Director Leslyn McBean-Clairborne about the event, and what MLK day means this year in particular.

After tonight's headline news, WRFI Contributor Fred Balfour joined us to discuss his experience receiving the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. More local news and community stories at wrfi.org/news.

Happy Thursday! After the headline news, you’ll hear another tale from a Trampoline story slam competition. Today’s story is from WRFI Volunteer Peter Bakija who participated in Trampoline’s 2016 event “Seven Deadly Sins”

After tonight's headline news, you’ll hear a report about the Cayuga Bird Club’s 2021 Christmas Bird Count. More on WRFI.org/news.

Today is Tuesday!  After the headline news, you'll hear a speech by Carla Minet, Executive Director of the Center for Investigative Journalism in Puerto Rico.  Minet's speech is from the 2020 Izzy Awards, hosted by the Park Center for Independent Media at Ithaca College.   The Izzy Awards honor outstanding achievements in independent media.  In its 12th year, the Izzy Awards ce...

Happy Monday! After the headlines, you’ll hear a conversation with Helen Chang, a New York Sea Grant Coastal Resilience Specialist with Jamaica Bay. Chang speaks about New York City and climate change, and how coastal cities are threatened.  Locally Sourced Science Contributor Aidan Mahoney produced this interview which first aired on the January 5th edition of Locally Sourced Science. 

Happy Friday! On tonight's program, you'll hear an interview with Ithaca Voice reporters Anna Lamb and Matt Butler. WRFI News Director Michayla Savitt talks with them about the biggest local stories of 2020, and what topics they're keeping an eye on in the new year. Plus, the latest headlines impacting Tompkins and Schuyler counties.

Happy Thursday! On this edition of WRFI Community Radio News, we hear audio of  Leslyn McBean-Clairborne delivering her acceptance speech after being reelected as Tompkins County Legislature Chair for the second row. We also hear a bear-y entertaining story from Audrey Baker, from her Fall 2020 performance in Trampoline’s “4 and 20 Blackbirds” virtual storytelling competition.

This is headlines only edition of the program as we cut away for WPFW's coverage of the pro-Trump coup attempt.

Happy Tuesday to you! On tonight's show, WRFI Guest Contributor Josh Durso ( Fingerlakes1.com News Director) speaks with Brad Walworth with Cayuga Addiction Recovery Services about its continued programming amid the pandemic. That and the latest headlines impacting our communities.

It's the first Monday of 2021! Today on our show, you'll hear how one college student is managing a pain disorder during COVID-19 and an unusual school year. WRFI Contributor Tessie Devlin produced this story about Madolyn Laurine, and their shared experiences with invisible disabilities. This piece first aired in October 2020.

Happy Wednesday, the last Wednesday of 2020! After the headline news, you’ll hear excerpts of the Ithaca Southside Community Center virtual Kwanzaa celebration. WRFI News Director Michayla Savitt excerpted the pieces for radio. You can find a link to those videos at our website, wrfi.org, under the archives.

Liz Moran, Environmental Policy Director of the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) discusses her group’s concerns that some New York State municipalities have been granted permits to use liquid waste from fracking, for deicing of roads. Plus headlines, weather, COVD updates, and more.

Its the last Monday of 2020!  During tonight's news, you'll hear an episode from the podcast, "Audio Interference", from the Interference Archive, based in Brooklyn, NY.  Today's podcast is from the "Archiving Abolition" series, made in collaboration with Survived and Punished New York.  This group works to eradicate the criminalization of survivors of domestic and sexual violence a...

Its Wonderful Wednesday!  On today's show, you'll hear Candice Limper's interview of Dr. Alison Stout, a Veterinarian and Graduate Student at Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine.  During this segment, Dr. Stout discusses her research on feline coronaviruses and how pet owners can avoid passing SARS-CoV-2 to their cat companions.  She also talks about the concept of "one health"...

Its Tuesday!  Tonight's news features a report on the Social Justice Intensive, an afterschool program hosted at the Youth Farm Project in Ithaca, New York.  The program makes social justice education a collaborative effort between the program's leaders and the youths who participate.  WRFI Contributor Jimmy Jordan produced this piece, that aired initially in November 2020.

WRFI Intern Tessie Devlin reports on grassroots efforts  to have Cornell University better support Indigenous students and acknowledge the university’s founding on native land. Plus an episode of the podcast "Audio Interference", all that and more after today's headlines.

Happy Friday! After the headline news, you'll hear 2020 Izzy Award winner Lawrence Bartley talk about his publication, "News Inside".  Bartley's print publication is supported by The Marshall Project and is distributed in hundreds of prisons and jails around the country.  Izzy Awards are presented by the Park Center for Independent Media.  To learn more, visit www.parkindymedia.org.

Happy Thursday! After the headline news, you’ll hear a tale from last week’s “Trampoline” end of year storytelling competition. Then, you’ll hear WRFI Contributor Peter Bakija's interview with the winner of that event, Marissa Slocum.

Happy Wednesday! After the headline news, you’ll hear a conversation with a researcher on a grant from the National Science Foundation to study how urbanization may affect the evolution of coat color in the Eastern Gray Squirrel.

Happy Tuesday! After the headlines, WRFI contributor Fred Balfour talks with the rabbi and two members of Ithaca’s Temple Beth-El about the eight days of events currently underway.