Free Republic

Greek archaeologists have claimed they have found the palace of Odysseus during excavations on the Ithaca island in the Ionian Sea. On Tuesday, the archaeologist, Thanasis Papadopulos, who has been leading the excavation team on Odysseus' home island for 16 years, said that he knew the right place of the remains since 2006. "We found the ruins of a three-level palace with a staircase carved into the rock," Papadopulos said, adding that they also found a well, dating back to 13th century BC, when the Trojan War is believed to have taken place. According to the archaeologist, the discoveries are...

Three Ithaca-area schools rank among the most gay-friendly colleges, according to a survey by a national nonprofit group focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) college students. Ithaca College scored five out of five stars in the Campus Pride Climate Index. Cornell University scored 4.5 out of five. Binghamton University scored well, too - ranking four out of five stars. The annual index has become a yardstick used in student and faculty research, campus organizing efforts and gauging LGBT student safety and inclusion. Ithaca College high score - only 19 of more than 230 schools ranked five out of...

Visitors to Ithaca come away with various impressions, focusing on the beautiful scenery, the liberal attitudes or our love of art. One theater reviewer from Washington, DC told readers Ithaca is a 'virtual Berkeley of the East.' Washington Times entertainment blogger Terry Ponick made that comment and many more while in town to see "Penelope of Ithaca" at the Hanger Theater. "It's like a trip back in time to the Woodstock Era here, with posters and adverts providing 'medical' marijuana even as the ubiquitous bikes seem at times to crowd out automobile and pedestrian traffic alike, writes Terry Ponick. Along...

ITHACA, NY–The administrators of a Facebook page set up to support Ithaca Police Officer Bryan Bangs are accusing Mayor Carolyn Peterson and other city officials of attempting to suppress the group’s free speech rights. Police officials are denying the accusation. Bangs was cleared by a Tompkins County Grand Jury in July of wrongdoing in the shooting death of Shawn Greenwood. The Grand Jury found that Bangs acted in self-defense while trying to arrest Greenwood, a convicted felon, under a warrant. Later that month, Bangs’ house was torched in an apparent arson. No one has yet been charged in that fire....

"WINE VENDING MACHINES of different kinds are spreading in different venues, which is great for consumers, wineries, and stores. A couple weeks ago I mentioned the Pennsylvania test market for buying bottled wine at kiosks (Wegman’s is one of the participating stores). "Corks & More, a wine store in Ithaca, is one of a handful of stores statewide that has wine-by-the-glass vending machines. You put your debit card in and get wine out by the taste, half-glass or glass. Ten vending machines dispense 40 wines, ranging from Opus One ($50 a glass) to Red Cat (75 cents a taste), with...

A Cornell sociologist is launching a new study to develop methods of identifying covert social networks, including terrorists who are preparing attacks, human traffickers and drug smugglers, among other groups. Matthew Brashears, assistant professor of sociology, has received a three-year, $797,000 grant from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency for the study that aims to help the U.S. government thwart terrorist attacks. "We're very excited to have a chance to do this kind of work," said Brashears, who wrote the grant proposal with sociology doctoral candidate Michael Genkin. "It's becoming very difficult in the modern age to interdict decentralized criminal activities....

ITHACA, NY--The City of Ithaca, Police Chief Ed Vallely, Deputy Chief John Barber, Deputy Chief Pete Tyler and the Tompkins County District Attorney's office discriminated against Ithaca Police Officer Chris Miller and other white male officers, Miller is alleging in a $17 million lawsuit filed in federal court May 20. The lawsuit alleges they increased their discrimination against Miller after he filed human-rights complaints and retaliated with baseless accusations, threats of indictment and termination, harassment, greater scrutiny, and unjustified and unlawful discipline, including a bogus investigation of him in 2009. The suit also names the Ithaca Police Benevolent Association and...

Last week, Janis Kelly announced the revival of monthly meetings for the City of Ithaca Republican Committee. Republicans have been absent from city politics for years, as local government has been dominated by Democrats and third party members. As committee chair, Kelly said the city’s current Democratic administration is setting Ithaca “on a path of unsustainable job-killing policies, regulatory overkill and financial foolishness,” and asked fellow Republicans to help restore bipartisan politics in Ithaca. Michael Sigler, chair of the Tompkins County GOP, said the primary goal of the monthly meetings is to get attendees more involved in political dialogue. Irene...

A teacher at Genesee Elementary School in Auburn has been arrested for stealing lunch money. Police say 37-year-old Alan Robinson of Ithaca, a third-grade teacher at Genesee, used children's subsidized school lunch cards to buy himself lunch, and then never repaid the students. Robinson would have kids bring their own lunch to school, and then use their personal ID numbers to buy himself lunch. According to a state database, Robinson's salary is $50,000 a year. The investigation began after a parent saw suspicious charges on her bill. Robinson has been charged with three counts of petit larceny and three counts...

ITHACA, NY-Two months after an Africana professor allegedly called two black graduate students “black bitches,” members and allies of the Africana community — undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and alumni alike — have begun to speak out more fervently about the issue. Earlier this year, Prof. Grant Farred, English and Africana studies, invited two of his advisees — both female graduate students who wish to remain anonymous — to attend a Feb. 5 and 6 conference at the University of Rochester entitled “Theorizing Black Studies: Thinking Black Intellectuals.” The two students arrived late to a conference panel, after which Farred...

So far this year, three Cornell students have leaped to their deaths in the famed gorges of Ithaca. This comes a year after a graduate from a decade ago was found dead at the bottom of one of them after having inexplicably returned to campus.

The City of Ithaca Common Council this month addressed the nationally contentious issue of immigration by unanimously passing a resolution on March 3 that calls on Congress to replace the enforcement-only policy, cease raids and provide a pathway for legal citizenship. Alderpersons Eric Rosario (I-2nd Ward) and Maria Coles (D-1st Ward) introduced the bill after working for months in conjunction with the Tompkins County Immigrant Rights Coalition, Catholic Charities Immigrant Center and Tompkins County Workers Center. The resolution condemns the current laws, stating that “our nation’s immigration system continues to be broken, with the federal government pursuing an ineffective enforcement-only...

Ithaca, NY — Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, will speak at Cornell University's senior convocation May 29. Pelosi, the first woman to be speaker of the House, represents San Francisco in Congress. The senior convocation, part of graduation weekend at Cornell, is open to the public.

NEW YORK — About half a dozen protesters greeted John Yoo, University of California Berkeley law professor and former deputy assistant attorney general, outside the Cornell Club on Tuesday night, where he spoke as part of a scheduled stop on a tour promoting his new book Crisis and Command. The protesters waved signs that read, “Torture is a War Crime! Prosecute!” and “John Yoo: War Criminal” and welcomed opportunities to speak to pedestrians about the issue as they passed by. The controversy stems from several memoranda authored and co-authored by Yoo during his time at the Department of Justice from...

ITHACA, NY--Somewhere, the late great Charles Schulz is rolling over in his grave. Schulz, the creator of the much-loved Peanuts comic strip (and a devout Christian), probably never envisioned a day when his characters would be appropriated for a “satirical story” about teenaged homosexuals. But that’s exactly what happens in the new play, “Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead," which the Ithaca Journal describes as “a satirical story that ... features characters from the ‘Peanuts’ comic strip gang in their volatile teenage years” It all begins with CB, Charlie Brown, who contemplates the death of his loyal dog,...

ITHACA -- A Tompkins County legislator is facing a misdemeanor charge related to an outstanding traffic violation. Martha Robertson, who also is the chairwoman of the legislature's public safety committee, said her arrest last week was the result of a paperwork mix-up and that the Ithaca Police shouldn't have taken her into custody, "They could've issued me a ticket right there," she said, adding that police refused her request to go to her house and see the paperwork. At the station, Sgt. Andy Navarro told her they were waiving her bail based on her community connections, and Patrick Kimmich --...

Piano Wreckage at Ithaca College Bethany Stotts, December 16, 2009 The Ithacan Online reported on Monday that person(s) had vandalized more than 60 pianos in college’s practice rooms over the weekend. And this wasn’t just scratches, it was violent vandalism: More than 60 pianos were damaged Saturday night in the first floor practice rooms in the Whalen School of Music… Sophomore Andrew Thomson, a composition and instrumental major, said he went into the first floor of the Whalen Center to retrieve some equipment and found damaged equipment in all of the practice rooms. “Two or three [pianos] were flipped completely...

Gannett News, so link only: http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20091015/NEWS01/910150392/Stimulus+creates+only+3.5+jobs+in+Tier+s+10+counties But the headline says it all.

Rally Decries Crimes of Columbus; Stresses Importance of Native Cultures October 9, 2009 - 4:02am By Margo Cohen Ristorucci Propped against a podium in Ho Plaza, a poster of Christopher Columbus sat with the message “Hate, Lies, Torture, Slavery and Oppression” inscribed along his face. Anticipating the Oct. 12 holiday, Native American Students at Cornell organized a rally yesterday called "Indigenous Day Rally: Rethinking Columbus." Alia Jones ’10, co-chair of NASAC, explained that the event was aimed to both challenge Columbus Day and to raise awareness about present indigenous communities. “Question: why should the United States of America celebrate Columbus...

ITHACA, N.Y. -- President Obama has announced his intention to nominate a native Ithacan and Cornell graduate to a key post in his administration. Mary J. Miller is up for the position of Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Markets. Miller grew up in Ithaca and received her bachelor's degree in government from Cornell. She is now the vice president of T. Rowe Price, a Baltimore-based investment firm. The post Miller is up for advises the treasury secretary on financial markets, government debt and credit and lending. Miller must first be confirmed by the Senate.