First news budget 2 p.m. class

LOCALFIRST - As the community group Local First Ithaca completes its first year, the organizers are developing new campaigns to encourage consumers to support struggling local businesses. -- JACQUIE SIMONE

SLUMP – As rent costs rise and payments stay stagnant, Ithaca residents are having trouble making ends meet. Job losses and home foreclosures are forcing retired residents to go back to work, and driving many into soup kitchens for meals they can no longer afford. Ithaca's Loaves and Fishes diner attendence rose 16% over the past year, and the end is nowhere in sight. -- ALEXANDRA PALOMBO

PIZZA DUEL - Maverick pizza pionneer of Sammy's Pizza leaves in order to establish AmerItalia Pizzeria. Conflicts have thus come about due to the increased competition among pizza parlors in the Commons and questions regarding why the owner left Sammy's Pizzeria in the first place. FANBURG

INTEGRATIVEMEDCENTER
The Integrative Medicine Center (IMC) in Ithaca offers western and alternative medicine that is not covered by traditional health care providers. Founded in 2002 and recognized as a “pioneer of integrative medicine" in the nation, the center has been striving to raise awareness about preventative medicine in the community. BRIANA PADILLA

MUSIC – Local music scene in limbo. As one record store dies out, another is reborn. Future of music stores in Ithaca uncertain and unreliable. BY SARAH CRAIG.

YMCA -- The Local Ymca Is Building A New Athletics And Events Center. It Can Effect The Ymca Members And May Confuse Them On Where To Enter Or If The Construction Will Be Changing Ymca Hours. Finding Out When Construction Will Be Finished And What The New Facilities Will Include. How Employees Feel About The Reconstruction. Where Did The Funding Come From During These Times Of Economic Trouble? TORI MCCLURG

MARKET PARKING -- Limited parking keeps some away from the Ithaca Farmer's Market, but one local farmer proposes a creative solution: a shuttle boat that could take market visitors across the canal from Steamboat Landing to Cass Park, where there is more than ample parking available. EMILY STONER

HEALTH CARE -- The national health care debate comes to Ithaca on Tuesday night. Geoff Berman of Organizing for America will be holding a town hall meeting at the Aurora Street pavilion in the Commons to explain and answer questions about President Obama's proposal to overhaul the nation's health care system. About 100 people are expected to attend the event.
ZACH TOMANELLI

TARTS - The Queen of Tarts cafe in Ithaca will officially change ownership Friday. Because of the time demands of running the cafe, current owner Leslie Muhlhahn has sold the business to the Kadar family, who have previously owned other notable restaurants in the Ithaca community. Muhlhahn will keep her other food business, Just Desserts, while the Kadar family hopes to begin building upon the menu within their first weeks of ownership. -- MEG MALONE


FAIRY TALE CELEBRATION
ITHACA-The Kitschen Sink, a local art gallery and gift shop, celebrate their first year of business with a fairy tale reception, featuring local poets. "Where the Winged Spirit Lives," the shop's display of paintings, dolls and dwellings by local artists, is on display from August to September.
RINDFLEISCH

RESTARAUNTS AND ECONOMY
Local restaraunts have been transformed by the economic downturn. What has the receeding economy done to independent, small restaraunts? What struggles are chain corporations in Ithaca facing? While there are differences in how these competitors deal with the economy, the similarity remains that neither can say they have been unaffected... NICOLE LAWRENCE

CONSTRUCTION - Construction on State Street has been causing traffic confusion in the Ithaca area all summer. Now that both IC and Cornell semesters have started and construction still continues, commuter traffic has been disastrous. BY SAM RATHKE

HORSES - Four teenaged girls dressed in riding boots and khaki breeches stood along Wood Road, asking if they had seen a rogue horse wandering around. Back at If Only Farm, horse owner Susan Lowe made frantic calls to the sheriff's office. At some point during the dark, early morning hours of August 27th, three of Lowe's prized horses had escaped from the quaint, secluded farm. DABIR

CHARTER -- The New Roots Charter School celebrated its official opening Friday Aug. 28 with "Jazz on the Porch", a jazz concert featuring New Roots students and community members. Approximately 75 people attended the concert, which was held at the historic Clinton House--the location of the new school. The school's opening comes amid controversry stretching back to January over funds needed to support the school and underenrollment.
MAURA GLADYS

SOLAR - Cornell students display their 2009 solar house entry at the Great New York State Fair in preparation for this year's international Solar Decathlon competition in Washington D.C. The team, comprised of 150 Cornell students representing all six colleges and the Johnson School, is one of only 20 groups to participate. BATAILLE