The Hayseeds blog, No. 254 for the week starting April 27, 2008.
April 13, 2008
Hayseeds No. 253
April 27, 2008
Hayseeds No. 254
May 4, 2008
Hayseeds No. 254
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“Diaz replied: "If you're willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do was get dinner and if you really want to join me ... hey, you're more than welcome.”
“The national moratorium on the death penalty ended this week with a landmark Supreme Court decision. The justices ruled that Kentucky's form of lethal injection is constitutional. Almost all the states that execute people use injection to do it.”
The Times Union has a nice run down of all the road projects planned for the summer.
“To fulfill duties, Paterson, who is legally blind, uses skills he has honed for making adjustments”
“With the cost of food and fuel rising fast, a group of city residents has petitioned Price Chopper and a local developer to keep the city's only downtown supermarket open, even if the property is sold.”
“A judge dismissed on Monday terrorism-linked charges against a college professor accused of illegally obtaining biological materials for an art exhibit protesting U.S. government food policies.”
“Governor tells agencies to fill only essential positions and threatens to withhold budgeted funds”
“Jones accuses Wiese of arranging for Sweeney's arrest as part of a smear campaign targeting his father, John Sweeney, at a time when the elder Sweeney was running for re-election. Sweeney, a Republican, won re-election in 2004 but lost the November 2006 election to challenger Kirsten Gillibrand, D-Greenport.”
The man who oversaw selling city scrap metal to fund lavish parties now is the man in charge of the Department of General Services.
The Common Council approved Mayor Jerry Jennings' pick to lead the Department of General Services Monday despite concerns over some employees trading trash for cash.
Nick D'Antonio won appointment to the $94,448-a-year job by a vote of 13-1. D'Antonio has been second in command at the department for about five years.
Some departmental employees and council members lauded the nominee for improving service and responding quickly to concerns. Others raised concerns about allegations in 2006 that D'Antonio cursed at former employee Roy Charland after he revealed workers were selling scrap metal for cash.
This kind of like hiring a bank robber to be president of a major bank, after it's well known that the bank robber stole money from the bank prior to his appointment. The city has more assets then most local banks, after all.
The city was supposed to make money for it's own coffers through the sale of unneeded scrap metal at the port. It was not supposed to be sold on lavish parties for DGS employees. It was the city's own money, furnished by taxpayers, that was stolen. And Nick D'Antonio and his employees got away with it.
I don't know exact amounts, but it's not acceptable when public funds are stolen, even if it was a relatively small money in the grand scheme of the public's money. To categorize it as "trash" is silly—it was a resource the city could have used for revenue, had it not been stolen.
I wonder if the Mayor stole property tax money to buy a yacht, if that would be categorized as just stealing "trash". Property taxes, are after all such a trashy-thing.
Read Council approves Jennings nominee in the Times Union.
“The General Electric workers trickled out of the factory Thursday and headed toward the island in front of the company’s sprawling Schenectady campus, where they joined the aging retirees who have rallied here for years. Holding signs that say “COLA NOW” and “Current Guaranteed Minimum Pensions,” the group marched slowly in a circle.”
“Public input is coming to an end this week on plans for a new Beech-Nut baby food plant to be built in Montgomery County’s Florida Business Park.”
The Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee says New York should join most of the western states that built their interstate systems later and go to mile-based exit systems.
Rather then getting off at Exit 37 of the Adirondack Northway to go to Plattsburgh, you'd get off at Exit 153. This way, if you got on at Exit 1 to the Northway (the interchange with the Thruway/Free I-90), you would know that it's you have 152 miles to go before reaching Plattsburgh.
That makes life simpler if you don't have a map and you know the new exit numbers.
Sen. Thomas W. Libous wants all interstate highways that run through New York state to convert from a chronological-based exit system to mileage-based by January 2010.
More than 40 other states have adopted the mileage-based system, which makes highways easier to navigate and reduces stress for drivers, as well as helps emergency responders said Libous, R-Binghamton, who's chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee.
"It's just time for New York to upgrade. It's time for New York to get up to the standards, with what other states are doing," Libous said Monday.
Wikipedia has an interesting article called Exit Numbers in the United States that compares how different states use different numbering systems.
Officially the NYSDOT is opposed to changing over the numbering system due to driver confusion and the sheer cost of changing all of the signs. They argue that money spent changing signs could be used to repair roads and not on such a dubious purpose.
The current system causes some problems, such as the infamous Thruway mis-numbering where if you are looking for Thruway Exit 21B to Coxsackie, don't be shocked that you won't pass it going south-bound until after you pass Exit 21A in a descending order.
| 23 | Albany | |
| 22 | Ravena | |
| 21A | Berkshire Spur / | MassPike |
| 21B | Coxscakie | |
| 21 | Catskill | |
| 20 | Saugerties |
That exists like that for historical reasons—the Berkshire Spur exit was added after the Thruway opened, and even later after the Coxcakie exit opened. The more correct solution would have been to make the Coxscakie Exit 21 1/2, but that's kind of strange by interstate standards. All these exits are about 10 miles apart, so it's not like they are overlapping or very close.
Further downstate, where new exits opened in Ramapo they did it the right way, as they didn't have an A-exit open in the wrong location.
| 15 | I-287 |
| 14B | Airmonte Road |
| 14A | Garden State Parkway |
| 14 | Spring Valley |
| 13 | Palisades Parkway |
Read Interstate exits could get new numbers in the Binghamton Press Connects.
“The county Democrats' candidate screening committee interviewed District Attorney David Soares and potential challenger Paul Clyne over the weekend and opted not to recommend either for endorsement.”
That's what the New York Times is claiming today, with both papers likely to come under the control of Rubert Murodoch and his News Corporation.
At least for now, Newsday will continue as on as a seperate publication from the Post, but it will share content and editors, ensuring that Newsday will lose it's left slant, and be yet another conservative paper in our state.
“Candidates get their names on the ballot by filing designating petitions with the county Board of Elections. For Albany County DA, 2,000 signatures are required. A voter can sign only one petition. In other words, you can't sign a petition for both Soares and Clyne.”
“New York's lawmakers are sitting on a stash of $340 million in unspent discretionary funds, but the Paterson administration can't touch the money as it searches for extra cash.”
“Governor Paterson has sent the right message to the Legislature: Curb your spending, or there will be consequences. But now his challenge will be to make his actions match his words.”
“Having been born and raised in Albany and living there for a good portion of my life, I must offer my disappointment regarding the condition of the roads within the city limits.”
“ Coming from five generations of Ku Klux Klan members, 58-year-old "Ms. Ruth" sews hoods and robes for Klan members seven days a week, blessing each one when it's done. A red satin outfit for an Exalted Cyclops, the head of a local chapter, costs about $140. She uses the earnings to help care for her 40-year-old quadriplegic daughter, "Lilbit," who was injured in a car accident 10 years ago.”
“It took 4 million years of evolution to perfect the foot, and humans have been wrecking that perfection with every step since they first donned shoes, New York magazine's Adam Sternbergh says”
“Forty years ago, Columbia University was a frequent scene of demonstrations against the Vietnam War and the university's relationship with its surrounding New York neighborhoods. Now, scholars and many involved in those protests disagree about their impact.”
While quite certainly this was before my time, it still strikes my interest, as it shows how citizen activists can get the attention in of their government both in lawful and illegal ways.
“His perhaps-surprising conclusion: Government subsidies for the rural poor often make things worse. Instead, Polak teaches families and farmers — many of whom live on a dollar a day and own perhaps an acre of land — how to increase crop yields with simple technologies, such as cheap, foot-operated water pumps and inexpensive drip hoses for irrigation. And Polak argues that his approach can make a difference in impoverished communities in the U.S., as well as in developing economies.”
“The order banning outdoor fires and trash burning was first issued last weekend. Breslin continued the ban in light of the National Weather Service's forecast for continued dry weather and increased winds. ”
“Former employees of an Albany law firm that is under state scrutiny say they long questioned why some partners were listed as public employees rather than independent contractors who would be ineligible for a state pension.”
She has given many important projects in here district a little bit of federal money to get them going.
U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-Greenport, published a list of projects Wednesday she hopes will be paid for by federal tax dollars.
The earmark, or funding request list, was submitted to the House Appropriations Committee in March. It lists 72 projects worth $383.3 million. The list ranges from $50,000 for the town of Berlin to study its water system, to $17.5 million to renovate the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library in Hyde Park, Dutchess County.
Other highlights include:
$700,000 for the Hudson Headwaters Health Network to convert its medical records to electronic records (the health centers received $95,305 for that purpose last year).
$2.5 million to help build a hydropower plant run with wastewater in Malta, to be built by Advanced Energy Conversion LLC.
$244,000 for the Saratoga Springs Police Department to buy a SWAT vehicle and give officers tactical gear.
Gillibrand said she is one of only a handful of Congress members who posts the wish list on her Web site. It's hard to say exactly who else releases one.
Read Gillibrand releases earmarks list in the Times Union.
That's what the Times Union writes in an op-ed about the state legislature today.
“The day after learning of the possibility of a one-time tax, I contacted the town administration and met with Peter Gannon, Supervisor Mahan's director of operations. At our meeting I explained the process, timeline and the necessity of acting immediately if the town wishes to proceed.”
"Tonko, who now heads up the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, said he will attend the Albany County Democratic Committee's screening meeting for potential candidates Saturday, and has filled out a questionnaire related to that appearance.”
“State Assemblyman Bill Maze (R-Visalia) wants to ban pet owners from driving with animals on their laps. Last week, a bill that would do just that passed the state's Assembly Committee on Transportation. The state Assembly may take up the measure, which Maze wrote, next week.”
