Free Republic

Thursday night was no celebration for Ithaca Police, who responded to multiple reports of violence throughout the city. At around 12:06 a.m. Friday, Ithaca Police responded to a report of a 25-year-old Ithaca man who was severely beaten with a baseball bat in the city.... At around 12:15 a.m. that same night, police were called to the Holiday Inn on Cayuga Street to respond to a physical dispute... Later that night, just after 1:30 a.m., Ithaca Police got a report of shots fired in the 600 block of Chestnut Street. Police say two people were driving when a person shot...

ITHACA, N.Y., Oct. 18 — Nestled in the hills near Cayuga Lake’s southern tip, surrounded by creeks, waterfalls and two of the Northeast’s more prestigious colleges, this city of about 30,000 has long prided itself on its cultural diversity. In 1997, the Utne Reader put Ithaca — where students from Cornell University and Ithaca College boost the population to about 50,000 — atop its list of “America’s Most Enlightened Towns,” trumpeting an environment-friendly business community and a local currency system intended to support city merchants. A popular bumper sticker here reads, “Ithaca: 10 square miles surrounded by reality.” But as...

NEW YORK A preacher found relief from a higher authority today when an appeals court ruled that Ithaca selectively used its noise ordinance to silence him in violation of his rights to free speech, equal protection and freedom of religion. The 2nd U-S Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ordered a federal judge in Albany to declare victory for Kevin Deegan -- saying it found the noise ordinance "cannot withstand constitutional scrutiny." Deegan had sued Ithaca, its attorney and its chief of police in a bid to strike down the ordinance in the college town 45 miles south of Syracuse....