The Kills move away from noise rock minimalism on their fourth album.

Ithaca's noise ordinance is riddled with absurdities, and should be repealed immediately for its ineffectiveness.

An apparent breakdown in communication among city officials may have led Ithaca police officers to enforce the city’s noise ordinance against an evangelical preacher last August in a way that had previously been deemed unconstitutional by a federal appeals court.

The “misunderstanding” will now cost the city $10,000 as part of a settlement it reached on Feb. 12 with Syracuse resident James Deferio, who sued the city last November, claiming that the city violated his First Amendment right to free speech.

In an effort to address the tense student-police relations in Collegetown regarding the City of Ithaca Noise Ordinance, Ithaca Mayor Carolyn Peterson assembled a group to discuss the issue. In attendance were Ed Vallely, the new Ithaca Police Chief, Nancy Schuler (D-4th Ward), Mary Tomlan ’71 (D-3rd Ward), Svante Myrick ’09 (D-4th Ward) and Student Assembly President Ryan Lavin ’09.

According to Peterson, she called the meeting after Lavin ’09,came to a Common Council meeting to address the problems with the noise ordinance and deteriorating student-police relations.

According to the City of Ithaca Noise Ordinance, a noise violation can be issued when a party or social event produces disruptive noise that carries at least 25 feet.

The City of Ithaca’s noise ordinance, which has recently been a source of tension between students living in Collegetown and the Ithaca Police Department, is being challenged for its constitutionality in federal court.

Syracuse resident James Deferio, a traveling Christian evangelist, filed a lawsuit against Ithaca last week, claiming that the city’s noise ordinance violated his First Amendment right to free speech and his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process.

Deferio alleged that while he was preaching his message on the Ithaca Commons in August, an Ithaca Police officer approached him and “explained that Deferio would have to lower his voice or stop speaking, because his voice could be heard 25 feet away,” which violates a City noise ordinance.