By Kelli Kyle and John Stanley Since about 7:30 a.m., 12-year-old Samuel Smith has been stationed in the meeting-room turned-theater space on the third floor of the Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA) on State Street in downtown Ithaca. It’s a Saturday, and instead sleeping in, Smith is heading a community arts project, stacking dominoes for a cause. Throughout the day, community members wander in and out of the space, creating their own section of domino art. Later, Sm

By Faith Maciolek and Kelli Kyle Sitting in the Ithaca City Cemetery is a monument, featuring two columns deliberately broken at the top- a Victorian symbol of a life cut short. The grave belongs to the Heggie sisters, Charlotte and Mary, poisoned with arsenic by their mentally unstable mother Elizabeth in the 19th Century. The monument stands today as a memorial to the girls and their tragic story. This is one of the tales featured on the tour of the Ithaca City Cemetery. Du

By Kelli Kyle and Ciara Lucas The Moosewood Cafe in Ithaca recently removed the question about job candidates’ prior convictions from its employment application. This action is part of a larger movement known as “Ban the Box,” which advocates for fair hiring practices of formerly incarcerated people. More than 100 cities and counties in the United States have joined the movement in some form, including the cities of Syracuse and Rochester. On September 21, New York State enac

By Kelli Kyle and Olivia Cross The 2015-2016 school year has officially kicked off the Ithaca City School District’s 1:1 initiative that provides fourth through 12th grade students with Chromebooks and kindergarten through third grade students with iPads. The official announcement came in December 2014. The district said this move is a redistribution of technology. It leaves higher grade levels with Chromebooks and younger grade levels with iPads, relocated from the middle an