web site about all the hydro dams and power in NY

Just doing research on my fave power supplier NYRI and and noticed another company that is supremely big in NY. It is a Brazilian/Canadian company from toronto (go figure who really owns this?) BRASCAN -- short for Brasil/canada (do they both speak Portuguese?)

Their website is so revealing that I can figure where there control center is for their dams. I might apply for a job as it is not so far from my home town. Do you folks need a systems administrator? I can work for food and rent. What else would I work for?

I just want to know -- are any of the investors from this Company involved in the NYRI powerline thingie?

nyri powerlines

I am not sure just what I am blabbing about. I am a bit confused about the news lately. I read from NYCO that the NIETC designation includes (my backyard) as one of the two high transmission lines for New York City.

I can't really find this in the news for sure.

For sure -- I can't really understand what is going on.


What are we going to do? Is the world screwing around with me because I go on vacation for a week or so?


Something is messed up. My guess is that is not me.

I have been in the Adirondacks and I see powerlines and I see dams. I see hydoelectic dams. I see canadian names on these dams. I see NYRI. I see Toronto. I see Brookfield. I see Brascam.




I see that my backyard is now designated an NIETC.

And what does that mean? Binghamton folks and Chenango Bridge people in particular -- how much do you want to fight and how much are you willing to move.

I am thinking of moving myself. I am afraid the Southern Tier looks pretty uninviting between the floods and the powerlines.

I suspect that is just want NYRI wants us to do -- just move please!!!!


NYRI -- move before we force you all to relocate.


The smartest will just want to get out of Bingo land as quickly as we can. Do we want to live in NIETC designation property?


I personnally think we are losers in the Southern Tier.


Get out.

Here is why:

the source


http://www.oe.energy.gov/DocumentsandMedia/Executive_Summary-Print.pdf

do your homework adirondack council

I just wrote an email to the adirondack council. Email is not dependable -- they do not even have any real email addresses on their website. Must be the administrative staff wants to be anonymous on their web site.

I read this quote in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise out of Saranac Lake and I am extremely disappointed in your organization. Brian Houseal is the Executive Director of the Adirondack Council.

"What happened today was good, Houseal told the Enterprise. He said its significant that the planning board has recommended that rezoning be tied to the APAs review of the project, ensuring that environmental impacts will be thoroughly studied. Houseal also said he's pleased to hear that the developers are negotiating over preserving more open space."

Mr Foxman is talking about selling a piece of 6000 acres to the Open Space folks. The Adirondack council is giving him a pat on the back for making this gesture. Instead of fighting the proposal, it appears the Council is coming to believe they have to give alot of land up for development to keep some preserved. Think about this as a strategy as it is a loser's method of compromising. Give alot away and save a little. The philosophy leads to a developed Adirondacks with some open space preserved for recreation purposes only.

Let me clue you in -- the entire 6,000 acres was offered to be state land years ago when it was first on the market. The DEC went to the Town and asked if it would be ok if the state acquired the entire property being sold by the Oval Wood Dish company. The state assured the town that payments in lieu of taxes would be made to the local governments so that no money would be lost. The town said they wanted no more state land in tupper lake. They wanted private development. They have enough state land.

This was reported in the Tupper Lake Free press. I can't quote the date -- I would have to go over to the Free Press Office and see if they still have this edition of the paper. Possibly the local library has it. The town records must show this in their town meeting. I have never seen this mentioned recently in the debate. Maybe it stings when people remember what could have been.

If the Adirondack Council is really "making nice" with the town and Mr. Foxman, please rethink your position. Take a look at what you are giving away here. Take a look at the precedent it is setting for other towns and other development in the works. If there are 10 more of these developments next year -- let's say 30,000 acres and they want to set aside 10,000 acreas as open space -- is this a triumph or a disaster for the Adirondacks?

another staggering development to watch 400,000 acres of wilderness in Maine

The Sierra Club and other environmental organizations are watching this precedent setting development plan in Moosehead Lake, Maine.

Hundreds of thousands of acres of land that is deemed empty by real estate developers is on the chopping block. One of the many recent articles can be found in a Maine publication .

Here is a quote from another web page. Subsitute Tupper Lake for Plum Creek and this will work for NY, too.

the Moosehead Lake region is a beautiful place. We wish to keep it unspoiled and wild and to keep it as much as we can the way it was when the white man first saw it. That is the way it should be kept. I once spoke to a young lady who was visiting there from Ireland. She spoke about how beautiful the area was and said that it reminded her of Galway Bay. We also want the North Woods to be the North Woods way it is. Plum Creek would or will destroy all of this. It will be gone forever. Moosehead Lake area will be gone from the way it is now. This will mostly benefit Plum Creek. Also I am from Piscataquis County. – Keith Church, Winslow

PUD/PDD for developing 6,000 acres in tupper lake -- all in Mr. Foxman's favor? where is the protection for Tupper Lake?

The definitions of PDD (Planned Developtment District) which is often called PUD:

Planned Unit Development (PUD) - A zoning designation for property developed at the same or slightly greater overall density than conventional development, sometimes with improvements clustered between open, common areas. Uses may be residential, commercial or industrial. The common property is owned and maintained by a homeowners' association for the benefit and use of the individual PUD unit owners.


I have to make some comments about proceedings. One comment is about the PDD (Planned Development District) the Tupper Lake is putting out. I heard that these plans actually protect the land as they provide a stricter zoning code -- but this comes from the folks that want to do the economic development. I am not clear on if they are better for the environment. The towns generally think a PDD is better for their own planning.

So, why is a PDD to be valid for 48 months? According to what I am reading from other towns, the PDD is up for annual review. If the developer has not made any progress, the PDD can be taken back -- rescinded. I see no mention of this in the paper. I have not gone to the meetings and do not know if this has been talked about.

48 months is a long time. I could buy and sell alot of properties in 48 months if I had a few million like Foxman. This is a long investment for Tupper Lake to make. I am not certain why they would want to commit to this deal for 4 years. If the ski lift does not open in two years, do you want to continue to offer Foxman this deal? Shouldn't you review this in mind of when Mt. Morris is reopened? Or do you want him to be allowed to build all his homes first?


Also, I have not read anymore about some of the very good comments made by Mr. Jack Delahanty: (quoted from http://www.wnbz.com/April%202006/042006.htm)

*********
Local attorney Jack Delehanty also spoke during the hearing, praising Storrin and the planning board for their efforts in creating the planned development district.

He also praised the draft amendment, but offered a suggestion. One section of the proposal requires a potential developer to state what their district would offer to the town, village, and community at large.

Delehanty said that portion might be too vague and susceptible to legal interpretation. He recommended the developer be required to give information on what the district would offer the community in terms of open space preservation, public trails and amenities, and affordable housing.

****************

Good comments -- but I see no open space promises from Foxman. He says he is discussing this with the Open Space folks. No legal language to protect Tupper Lake -- just discussion.

And there does not seem to be any legal language on opening the ski lift?

I do not see any of this reported? Is there anything binding Mr. Foxman to opening the ski lift?

Hello Tupper Lakers! Isn't the ski lift of utmost importance?




***************************************
http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/news/articles.asp?articleID=3664
Resort deal reached

By JACOB RESNECK, Enterprise Staff Writer


TUPPER LAKE — Following the advice of its consultants, the Tupper Lake Planning Board voted unanimously Thursday to recommend rezoning — with conditions — about 6,400 acres of land for the proposed Adirondack Club and Resort.

The Hudson Group, consultants retained by the town of Tupper Lake, initially advised against rezoning. But at Thursday’s meeting, held at in the town offices, Ron Miller of the Hudson Group told the planning board that his team had met Wednesday with the developers’ consultants and had drawn up a list of conditions both sides could agree on. If added as conditions to the rezoning, Miller said, he could recommend that the town rezone the nine parcels into a single Planned Development District.

The planning board agreed and added the following recommendations:

¯Rezoning the property is now contingent to the granting of a permit by the state Adirondack Park Agency.

¯The developers will rework the fiscal impact analysis information of the project’s effects on the Tupper Lake community.

¯The developers will provide updated information regarding a proposed private wastewater treatment facility.

Lead developer Michael Foxman said he was very pleased with the planning board’s recommendation and is eager to move forward.

“If we’re going to open a ski area for the ’07-’08 season — we’ve already missed out on the ’06-’07 season — we’re going to need the approvals to get the work done,” Foxman told reporters.

Planning board Chairman Jim Larkin said it is important people understand that rezoning the land doesn’t mean the town has completely signed off on the project; a full review before the planning board and town board will still need to be completed.

“It comes back to the planning board (as a formal application), and (then) we’ll go through all of the nuts and bolts of the project,” Larkin said.

After the meeting, Miller told the Enterprise that he agrees with that assessment.

“In my view, the rezoning doesn’t change the oversight of the town board,” he said.

In the planning board’s recommendation, which will now go to the town board for a pubic hearing, it stated that the developer will have 48 months to begin the project or else the parcels will revert to their original zoning.

The project also needs APA approval. Park agency officials in Ray Brook say they are waiting for an updated filing by the developer after rejecting the past two applications as “incomplete.” Foxman said Thursday that an updated filing is weeks away.

The proposed resort would include reopening the Big Tupper Ski Area, closed since 1999, and constructing hundreds of second homes around Mount Morris and on adjacent OWD Trust forestland. The project is widely supported for boosting the local economy, though critics have complained of its scale and potential negative impacts.

Sometimes described by town officials as a “moving target,” the proposal has gone through several significant changes. Until this week, Foxman had sought to finance infrastructure upgrades through town bonds that would be paid back by residents of his development. That’s now off the table, Foxman said.

“We do not plan to have any municipal financing whatsoever,” Foxman told the Enterprise.

Earlier this week, Foxman also announced that he’s negotiating with the nonprofit Open Space Institute over the future of acreage on the northeast side of the project along the Raquette River and Moody Pond area. Foxman offered no details at the meeting, noting that nothing of substance had been agreed.

“It’s just a discussion at this point,” Foxman said.

Several representatives of environmental groups attended the meeting. Adirondack Council Executive Director Brian Houseal said he was pleased with recent developments.

“What happened today was good,” Houseal told the Enterprise. He said it’s significant that the planning board has recommended that rezoning be tied to the APA’s review of the project, ensuring that environmental impacts will be thoroughly studied.

Houseal also said he’s pleased to hear that the developers are negotiating over preserving more open space.

“Now that Preserve Associates are negotiating with OSI,” Houseal said, “it’s a positive step towards protecting the backcountry.”

Tupper Lake Supervisor Roger Amell, who was present along with the full town board, said his board will set a public hearing over whether to adopt the rezoning at Monday’s regular board meeting.

“It’s going to take time,” Amell said of the regulatory process, “we’re not going to rush it.”

happy birthday bill frenette

I have many favorite people in Tupper Lake -- should I list them all? I probably should. But today I want to say happy birthday to one of them -- Bill Frenette, Racquette River (or Raquette -- let's get Bill to fix the spelling) Drive, Tupper Lake, NY.

Happy Birthday Bill. I see your picture almost everywhere -- you have been featured as a historical expert on the Adirondacks by the Tupper Lake Press.

But most importantly, we all know you work behind the scenes to advocate the Adirondacks for people like me. I am just the everyday New Yorker -- not rich, not extremely talented -- just in love with the Adirondacks. I can't wait for my visits to the Adirondacks in the fall, winter, spring and summer. Thanks Bill, for keeping the place available for me to visit and still beautful.

The residents benefit from your efforts. You do not promote the Adirondacks for an exclusive few. You help family. residents, and folks like me.




Thanks

tupper lake rescues a dog

I was shopping in Tupper Lake and looked out the store window to observe an old pickup truck pumping his brakes as he shimmied to a stop. I said " must be an accident out front". My husband is never one to miss a small town event, and he wandered out the door. A white dog is the cause of the brakes. The pit bull dog female is lost. My husband grabs the dog and brings it to the store. The two store keepers are thrilled to help rescue the dog. They do not want it to to be hurt in the street and they want to return it to the rightful owners. One of them says "Let's call the Tupper Lake Dog Pound Rescue". Myself and the second storekeeper say "No -- they only keep the dogs 5 days and then put them to sleep!".

So, the dog is leashed by these two friendly storekeepers. They will wait until the residents on the street come home from work (5 pm or so) and then canvass the neighbors for the owners. If no result, they will call the Saranac Lake Dog Shelter (ASPCA) for help.

So, Tupper Lake, your dogs will be rescued because the people of Tupper Lake will take care of it themselves -- as they always have.

NY will be getting new NIETC designation ? Looks like I will have to get my house on the market quickly

My house is about 60 feet from the new transmission lines. Ithaca -- here I come. I will happily accept some windmills and a toyota prious !

From NY Times

August 9, 2006
U.S. Lists Places Where It Could Force New Power Lines

By MATTHEW L. WALD
WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 — The Energy Department took the first step on Tuesday toward designating parts of the nation’s electric grid as “critical congestion” areas, which could force New York, New Jersey and other states to allow construction of new power lines that they do not want.

The department published a nationwide study listing places where transmission bottlenecks prevent power generation by distant plants with lower costs, and instead require the use of closer, more costly equipment.

These areas include the lower Hudson Valley in New York, where a company based in Albany wants to build a line from Utica to Orange County. Also included are the power-line corridors that link New Jersey to the west and south, and the Delaware River path, connecting Wilmington, Del., and Philadelphia to northern New Jersey. More broadly, the report mentions the Northeast corridor between New York City and Washington, and Southern California.

“If appropriate, I am empowered by the Energy Policy Act to designate certain corridors as national corridors,’’ said Samuel W. Bodman, the energy secretary.

If he did so, under law, the state or states involved would have a year to approve a power company’s request for a new line or changes in an existing one. If it did not, the company that wanted to build the line could apply to an independent agency, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which could itself authorize construction, overriding the state.

The department asked for public comment by Oct. 10, after which it plans to decide whether to intervene. Mr. Bodman said he hoped to decide by the end of the year whether to designate any corridors. The new system that lets the federal government override the states was part of the Energy Policy Act, signed by President Bush on Aug. 8, 2005. Kevin Kolevar, the director of the Energy Department Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, said the congestion report would be updated annually.

The congestion results in part from the restructuring of the electric industry in the last few years.

Formerly, the grid was adequate because an integrated utility would build a power plant and the lines necessary to connect the plant to its customers. The power companies had a profit motive for building the lines, and generally had the expertise to do so, along with the argument that it was needed to keep the lights on.

Now, companies that serve customers buy their power from other companies that own power plants, in transactions managed by independent system operators. As transactions occur over longer distances, the buyers and sellers often find that the transmission is not available. And the responsibility for building lines has become less clear.




Some engineers say that the breakup of the old integrated utilities has reduced the reliability of the system and played a role in the biggest blackout in North American history, in August 2003. The question has not been studied by the government, and Mr. Kolevar said on Tuesday that he did not know when it would be.

Mr. Bodman said the problem was not restructuring, but simple lack of investment in the transmission system.

Lack of power lines will eventually affect reliability, according to the report issued on Tuesday. And new lines will be needed around the country if new wind farms and coal plants are built, it said.

The report also quoted an estimate by P J M Interconnection, which manages power flows in parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Ohio and Illinois, that congestion had cost electricity users more than $1.3 billion over the past three years.

It did not include a similar estimate for New York, but noted, “New Yorkers would benefit from improved access to low-cost power.’’ The state is dependent on oil and gas for about 35 percent of power production, which is half again as large as the national average.

china and new york have something in common

China used to send alot of their children to great NY schools. I am sure they still do. The State University of NY and the City Colleges in NYC offer great opportunity for all -- just a short residency required. The problem used to be -- what does the overeducated Chinese student do when they complete their education? At the time, there was no place for a chinese student to get a job in China (let's say for an example) business administration. The chinese students then would try to stay here in this country. Many already had family ties here. Not sure how many left and how many stay. Many are uncounted as they are not citizens.

I am talkng about the 1980 and 1990s in the above. Let's move forward to the year 2000 and above.

NY sends alot of their children to great NY schools. The State University of NY and the City Colleges in NYC offer great opportunity to all. The problem is-- what does the overeducated American student do when they complete their education? There is no place for the NY student to get a job in NY (let's say for example business administration, teaching, computer work, manufacturing of any kind) The NY students then will try to stay here in this state as they have family ties. However, most leave. Not sure how many leave and stay as no one keeps track of where our residents move.

windwills can look as bad a powerlines in adobe photoshop

Let's all use adobe photoshop to see what should be in future horror movies or our backyards.

NYRI or green power. Please give me a break from all the images using nothing but imagination.

Let's all deal with facts -- wind or DC transmission lines -- these images are just plain unbelievable.

NYRI wants to build DC transmission lines - one of the routes is 60 or so feet from my foundation. Maybe I should ask for wind power? No, I don't think I want any tower there -- I already put up with the RR tracks that were supposed to be transformed into a Rail Trail (according to my home builder)


Please, can we start having real pictures? But I will no longer recognize a real picture as I will now doubt every photograph.

little forests

Saturday, August 5th was a busy day at the Wild Museum in Tupper Lake. Many visitors went and walked the trails and exhibit hall. At 11 am there was a slide presentation on mosses (little forests) and at 1 pm there was a walk to see the real thing in the Adirondacks. The museum is a mixture of disturbed land (from building), an abandoned farm, and forest along the river oxbow with marshes. Many different types of mosses are available to study and touch. You must look closely to observe.


Robin Kimmerer, an biological ecologist from SUNY Environmental and Forestry School presented the information, her life's work and research. She has written a book, Gathering Moss which contains many of her ideas, which she presented yesterday with much enthusiasm

My daughter is doing a research project next year with Dr. Kimmerer. I have been hearing alot about mosses and research from her.

I came away from yesterday's lecture and walk with new appreciation for the little forests. I will be making a trip to EMS in Lake Placid very soon for an appropriate magnifying lense to observe the mosses and small creatures living in their world.

best weather for spiedie fest

Hot and muggy with thunderstorms is the usual for August and the Broome County Spiedie Fest. Finally a year with weather good for balloon launching has returned.

The picture is from the Press and Sun Bulletin. I needed something beautiful to dress up this post and was unable to participate in the Fest this year.

debates for governor to be at cornell

Everyone (?) is complaining that Spitzer and Suozzi have no more scheduled debates. But Spitzer has not said no to debates for governor -- only no more debating Suozzi. It looks like Suozzi is not being counted any longer and the focus is now towards October.

The League of Women Voters is applauded for their efforts for open government.



From the Ithaca paper

Cornell University will host debates between candidates for governor and United States Senate in the fall, the New York State League of Women Voters said.


Cornell will host the first of the four debates for governor. The event is scheduled for Oct. 18., but no time or place has been announced yet.


The Senate debate will be held on Oct. 3.


The League of Women Voters is sponsoring primary and general election debates for senator, governor and attorney general races. The Cornell debates will be for candidates running in the general election.


Originally published July 31, 2006

NY Times article the debate - Spitzer and Suozzi

Link to the real audio debate from NY1


July 26, 2006
Sole Debate for Spitzer and Suozzi Is Fiery
By PATRICK HEALY

Slashing into each other with pointed and personal attacks during their sole televised debate, the two Democratic candidates for governor sparred last night over tax cuts, gay marriage, the death penalty, marijuana, the Queens blackout, and even their own future presidential ambitions.

The leading candidate, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, faced attack after attack for the full hour from his rival, Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi, whose own goal of raising his profile may have been helped by a series of memorable disclosures, like his desire to become president and the fact that he does not own an iPod.

Mr. Spitzer, whose political strength has stirred talk of a presidential candidacy in 2012, said that he did not want to be president, but that he did have an iPod.

Following a debate format that was meant to tease out differences, Mr. Spitzer said he believed that private schools were better than public schools and that he could enact universal health coverage as governor. He also pledged to introduce bills to legalize gay marriage and to put convicted terrorists and “cop killers” to death, and said he opposed legalizing marijuana for medical use. Mr. Suozzi disagreed on all of those points.

The debate, which was carried by NY1 and other cable stations statewide, was seen by political analysts as a make-or-break moment for Mr. Suozzi, who has been lagging far behind Mr. Spitzer in public opinion polls and fund-raising. Mr. Spitzer agreed to just this one debate, and it was held seven weeks before the Sept. 12 Democratic primary, at a time when many voters have yet to focus on the race.

Reflecting their tensions, the two men apparently even squared off before the debate. Mr. Suozzi, defying the debate rules, planned to bring a policy briefing book on stage with him. When Mr. Spitzer saw that, he became “very hostile,” Mr. Suozzi told reporters after the debate, “and just started getting angrier and angrier and angrier.”

Mr. Suozzi said that Mr. Spitzer threatened to back out of the debate and accused him of “playing games.”

A spokeswoman for Mr. Spitzer, Christine Anderson, said Mr. Spitzer was “forceful, not angry,” and said he would participate only if Mr. Suozzi followed the rules.

During the debate, the two Democrats did concur on a few matters: They opposed a timetable to withdraw troops from Iraq, confirmed that each had smoked marijuana before, and had no problem with allowing children to have cellphones in schools.

As for leadership styles, Mr. Spitzer came across at times like the polysyllabic prosecutor he is and like the charismatic leader he wants to become. There were moments when he spoke in legalisms, like describing the “role of recusal” in some lawsuits, and moments when he wore his heart on his sleeve, using words like “pain and agony” and “tragedy” to describe the suffering of people who had lost electricity in Queens.

Mr. Suozzi, who shares Mr. Spitzer’s alpha male personality and sometimes relies heavily on charm, tweaked Mr. Spitzer for speaking in “a lot of legalese and technicalities.”

Yet Mr. Suozzi did some parsing of his own. He said his opposition to gay marriage had “a lot to do with semantics,” explaining that he supported giving the same rights to gay couples that married couples have — yet, as a Catholic, he saw marriage as a sacrament for a man and a woman.

Mr. Spitzer said that answer was not acceptable. “Semantics is not what this is about — this is about equality,” he said.

While Mr. Suozzi did not run up the score against Mr. Spitzer or deliver any knockouts, he did make some progress toward a goal that has proved elusive: highlighting his differences with Mr. Spitzer and appearing as a credible choice in the Democratic primary.

“New York State government is dysfunctional — both parties are rotten to the core,” Mr. Suozzi said in his opening remarks. He said Mr. Spitzer, as attorney general since 1999, had focused on high-profile lawsuits against Wall Street firms instead of attacking corruption in government.

“He’s never really focused on government reform,” Mr. Suozzi said. “It’s government that’s hurting us.”

Mr. Spitzer, who mostly smiled his way through Mr. Suozzi’s salvos, charged that some of the attacks were “flat-out wrong,” and accused Mr. Suozzi of breaking his pledge to run a clean campaign.

“Every day there’s been another press release which has personal vitriol — 80 percent of them have nothing but venom directed toward me, toward my family,” Mr. Spitzer said. “You called me King George. You said standing up to me was like fighting tyranny. Last time I checked, Tom, we hadn’t taxed any of your tea.”

Mr. Spitzer’s strongest substantive attack on Mr. Suozzi came over taxes. He noted that as county executive, Mr. Suozzi had once raised property taxes sharply, and accused him of having multiple plans for higher levies.

The two men also clashed over Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s supportive words for the chairman of Consolidated Edison, Kevin M. Burke, who has been assailed by Queens residents for not being upfront about the scope of the power losses in the borough. Mr. Spitzer said that when he heard Mr. Bloomberg’s supportive comments, “I was stunned that he said it.”

Mr. Suozzi, meanwhile, said he was “in no position to second-guess Mayor Bloomberg,” and he used an Italian expression to cast doubt on Mr. Spitzer’s view that officials should look into the blackouts and act on recommendations for improvement.

“Watch the hands; don’t listen to the mouth,” Mr. Suozzi said.

Mr. Spitzer also found himself on the defensive over an ongoing lawsuit to increase state funds for New York City public schools.

First, Mr. Suozzi assailed Mr. Spitzer for litigating the case; Mr. Spitzer said he could not pick and choose cases based on his personal preferences. Later, in response to a question, Mr. Spitzer said he had identified $11 billion in government savings to put toward ending the lawsuit and cutting property taxes. At the same time, Mr. Spitzer said that no one — including himself — could provide a “specific” dollar amount that would go toward public schools.

That answer drew a skeptical retort from Mr. Suozzi and the debate panelist who asked the question, Brian Lehrer of WNYC radio. Mr. Spitzer, for the first time, said that he would spend $4 billion to $6 billion on schools, while Mr. Suozzi said he would spend $2.5 billion.

Aside from the political cut-and-thrust, last night also gave New Yorkers a taste of some of the political questions that will confront voters this fall: Would Mr. Spitzer be so beholden to party bosses and health care unions that he would balance their interests with his promises to overhaul Medicaid and expand charter schools?

Would New York’s political culture, after 12 years of Gov. George E. Pataki, benefit from a shake-up that a bomb-thrower like Mr. Suozzi might provide?

For now, Mr. Spitzer has plenty of reason to feel confident: A Siena College poll on Monday gave Mr. Spitzer a 69-point lead over Mr. Suozzi, and he has $16.3 million on hand compared to Mr. Suozzi’s $2.8 million. Mr. Faso has $1.4 million in the bank.

tupper lake,NY in the adirondacks loves otters but hates dogs

The new Tupper Lake Wild Museum is very cool. It is time for the volunteers to look at how animals are treated in the village and town of Tupper Lake.




What is it about a town that says they love wildlife but hates pets? Maybe they only like to hunt the wildlife and assassinate the pets. Oh, I am not being fair. Let's collect "lost" dogs and kill them after five days.

Maybe part of that is that they keep the discarded pets at an old building at the closed dump (the dump has been closed for years so the storage buildings can be used for something!!!)

Owners of all pets that climb and use the trails anywhere near Tupper Lake. Be aware if your pet is lost it has five days to live.


And during that five days, if you are lucky enough to claim your dog -- it has been drinking gray water and living in conditions only a dump would love.

here are some quotes from the Tupper Lake Free Press ($.60 and you get the news) -- not on the web yet so you will have to go to Tupper Lake and get an old copy to verify my quotes. I can't copy and paste -- so excuse my typing:

Supervisor: Dog Pound Need Work ! (my comment : UNDERSTATEMENT!!!)

" The dog pound needs work!".

That was the report from the Town of Tupper Lake Supervisor Roger Amell last week during the monthly meeting . And no could agree with him more than Cliff Ave. resident Bev LaMere who as in attendance that evening.

Supervisor Amell told the board members that the building located at the town dump is in dire need of a new roof and other repairs that have been long neglected. He suggested, since the building is small, that the best course of action might be to tear it down and purchase a pre-fab building to replace it. (my comment: out of hot metal and not insulated for the winter!)


Newly appointed dog control office Denis Dechene was not in attendace that evening, but Mrs. Lamere praised him for the work he has accomplished at the town owned facility in the short time he's been there. (Comment: If it is so important to him why was he not at the meeting -- who will believe he cares?)


"He's water pressured the cement and spray painted it, cleaned the entire building and surrounding area and has done wonders there," she told the board. "He's done more than anyone I've ever seen there with your cooperation, it can be a beautiful building to house stray dogs."

Mrs. LaMere also advise the board the water at the dog pound, which the dogs drink, is gray, which is unacceptable.

Supervisor Amell said he was aware of the water situation and samples had been taken to be tested.

"He needs two little kennels, to to isolate the small dogs from the larger ones" Mrs. LaMere added.

"He's certainly done alot of work down there" Councilman John Button acknowledged, making a motion to purchase two kennels for the facility. (My comment: Go JOHN!!!! A motion that is not passed as there is no more mention of it in the article)

We're just not going to plant flowers!" Supervisor Amell joked. (My comment: THIS IS FUNNY?")

This week, Mr. Duchene expained that anyone who has lost a dog should check at the dog pound.

"I can only keep them for five days" he advise. "Then they're put to sleep. If a person wants to claim an animal, all they have to do is go to the town hall, pay a $10 fine and a $3 a day for their pet's room and board. (Comment: And why are we flying flood dogs from New Orleans to NY? Why are we not paying to save these dogs??????)

If they can show proof of an up to date license and a record of rabies shot, they can take their pet home."
(Comment: This is classic -- how many poor people that own dogs can do this "little" thing or want to?? So let's put their dogs to sleep!)

If anyone would like to adopt a dog, they can do so if it's not claimed withing the five day period. (Comment: I am going to make sure you extend this five day period if I have to lobby for a change in your law and involve every animal rights group that is in NY!)

According to Mr. Dechene, when he called for the results of the water test this week, he was informed that the sample was too old to be tested. (Comment: maybe he took the water sample from puddle they were really drinking from?)

"It makes no sense to clean and disinfect the place and then spray it down with contaminated water," he said. "The test should be done. There's just so much I can do." (Comment": yes I would say you can do nothing with this situation if there is no outrage in your town. And my puddle theory is likely the truth)

Mrs. LaMere also told the board members last week that the large heater in the facility blows steady during the winter months but there's a large space at the bottom of the door frame where the heat escapes.

"It"s really defeating the purpose," she said. (My comment: No it is not -- it is done on purpose)

The board members agreed that the building should be looked at (Comment: yes let's drive by some Sunday when we are really bored) and repairs made and again ackowledged the outstanding work Mr. Dechene has accomplished.

pee wee herman is coming back and telling jokes a 2 year old will love

He has a new show and he is making a comeback (or something like that) Pee Wee (aka Paul Reubens) appeared on Conan's show and told a joke:

Conan: A lot of people ask about your childhood, what was it like?
Paul Reubens: It was great, this one time my sister got a tea set, but she didn't
want it, so I thought great! I'll have it!
Then my dad asked me if I wanted to have a tea party and I raced upstairs and got
a small table and chair and my dad sat at it.
My dad asked where the tea was so I went and filled up the pot and he drank it (mimes blowing on the tea)
'This is the best tea I have tasted, any more?' so I went and got filled up the pot again.
(his dad tastes the tea again and complements him on it.)
This happened about three times and finally the forth time my dad asked me if there was any more tea and I said no.
'Why not?'
'The toilet is empty.'



The joke may be on us. Let's all ignore him -- but I suspect he will have an audience.

Somewhere I heard he was resident or lived in Oneonta, NY. Maybe he learned his jokes at the Old Royal, the Sour Grape, Copper Fox or one of the joints that used to exist for the college crowd.

Con Ed Sucks

My daughter just moved out of her apartment in Astoria, NY. My brother moved from Astoria to another section of Queens last month. Both are glad not to have to deal with the Con Edison power fiasco.

Astoria has a power plant, too. Proximity to a power plant is no guarantee that you will be provided for!

(photo is from newsday.com)

Hillary is visiting the south to build support. NY is just a launch pad, as we have known. But Arkansas is going to demand a lot less of a moderate image.


from this link: http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2006/07/16/news/01azhillary.txt


ROGERS -- Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., was guest of honor in her first Arkansas home on Saturday.

Clinton addressed a 700-member audience at the Arkansas Federation of Democratic Women's state convention at 1 p.m. Then the former U.S. first lady toured the Fayetteville public library, which is dedicated to the memory of one of her dearest friends. Then she stopped for a visit of her and husband Bill Clinton's first home together in Fayetteville, which is now a museum.

Throughout speech and the trip, to all sizes of audiences, the possible 2008 presidential contender expressed "amazement" at the growth and progress Northwest Arkansas has made "since I moved to Fayetteville 32 years and one month ago" when she became a professor at the University of Arkansas Law School and married Bill Clinton in the home at 930 California Blvd. in Fayetteville.

The convention was the first event held at the John Q. Hammonds Convention Center at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Rogers, organizers said. The facility was still unfinished in places and on the grounds. Every Democratic candidate for statewide office was there except for governor's nominee Mike Beebe. Beebe's wife, Ginger, did attend.

"It was shocking, and I was just overwhelmed" at the growth in the region, Clinton said. "I was amazed, not only at the growth I saw but at all the construction going on."

In her speech to the Democratic Women, Clinton's strongest emphasis was on energy. "The best thing we can do for the economy, for our security and for our environment is to have a real energy policy that began to move us away from our dependence on foreign oil," the senator said.


The oil companies do not need a subsidy to explore for more oil at today's prices, Clinton said. She has introduced a bill to take money paid in subsidies to a "strategic energy fund" for research. She compared the need for a national effort on fuels to the Manhattan Project with produced the atomic bomb and the space race with the Soviet Union. The government should also tax excess oil company profits and use it to fund fuel research.

"I hope you see Vice President Al Gore's movie, because it really does show the story everybody needs to see," Clinton said. "We've got to protect the earth. That's a value. People go around talking about values. What about the primary responsibility of being good stewards of God's gift to us of this earth?"

Betty Allred of Mountain View and other members of the Stone County delegation to the convention said they enjoyed all aspects of the senator's speech but they agreed most with a portion in which the senator said the middle class had suffered under President Bush's administration policies.

The Omni Center for Peace hosted a demonstration outside, but organizers said it was not a protest against Clinton but a peaceful demonstration asking for her help to end the war in Iraq.

Clinton went from the speech to a tour of the Diane D. Blair Library in Fayetteville. The city's public library is named after Blair, a professor in the University of Arkansas' political science department and a "dear, dear friend" of the senator, Clinton said. Blair died in 2000 and the library was named in her honor after a contribution in Blair's memory by attorney James B. Blair. The library is an architectural showcase that won the library of the year award in 2005 from Library Journal Magazine.

"I loved the library, and she (Blair) would have loved it too," Clinton said after the tour. "It was very emotional for me, because she would have lived in it. She would have been reading to kids and helping out." Clinton was guided in her tour by retired university professor Ann Henry, a longtime friend, and members of the library board and staff.

The day's tour ended with her return to the house on California Boulevard, across the street from the former location of Fayetteville's Boys & Girls Club. There she met with friends such as Woody Bassett and Rudy Moore. She took more than 20 minutes to watch recordings of campaign ads from Clinton's political career, which she said she enjoyed thoroughly.

Surrounded by an entourage of Secret Service agents, staff, admirers and reporters, Clinton took a few minutes in the house and in a meeting room at the library with friends. This was her first trip to Fayetteville since a book-signing appearance in 2003, according to the senator's staff.

Clinton said after the tour she was trying and would continue to try to be bipartisan in her dealings with fellow members of the Senate and House members, but there were "matters of principle, such as the attempt to privatize Social Security, that I can't give ground on."

In her speech, Clinton told Democrats there were gains to be made among Republicans. The message she has heard from former opponents among voters, she said, is they "didn't sign up for all this. For some, it's the deficit. Five years ago Bill Clinton has a balanced budget. Now the administration's bragging about what is in fact the fourth largest deficit in U.S. history."

"For others, it was wanting to privatize Social Security. For some it's Iraq. No matter what one thinks of the beginnings of it, there's no doubt it's been mishandled. For nearly everybody, it was Hurricane Katrina. How could we do this? Even in foreign countries, people asked, how could that happen in America?"

Clint Reed, director of the Republican Party of Arkansas, said Clinton was using the "Howard Dean method of attacking without putting ideas or proposals forward. The president has signed tax cuts that have made our economy strong where our state has almost a $500 million surplus. The president is prosecuting the war on terror, and it's my recollection that Senator Clinton voted for sending troops to Iraq. She's trying to have it both ways. As for Katrina, that was a natural disaster. Everyone understands and agrees, Democrat or Republican, that there are bureaucratic issues the administration has dealt with and are dealing with."

Related links

pipelines and powerlines

The NYRI powerline is drawing people together and awareness is extending into other areas. One of the results is that the counties along the path of the powerlines has set up an organization to meet and strategize. This approach is a very powerful tool in dealing with the applications by NYRI to the NY Public Service Commission, and down the road - the DOE.

Lessons learned from the experience of the Millenium Pipeline. The Broome County government actually voted for a tax break for the Millenium Pipeline! The Pipeline is similar to the NYRI proposal in that the benefits of the delivery were downstate and not local to Broome County. We were giving the owners a tax break when there was absolutely no benefit to us as citizens of Broome County.

I am glad the editors of the Binghamton Press are keeping abreast of the developments with the Pipeline - -and also pointing out the overall effects on the region.

Because the Tioga County Legislators voted against the Tax abatement, it nullifies the vote by the Broome County legislators. We in Broome County no longer have to subsidize the company building the Pipeline. Thank you Tioga County!!!!

It means about 1.99 million a year in taxes (projected) according to the article. Not a little sum.

So, please Broome County -- starting talking to the other county governments on a regular basis. It benefits us all.

http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060715/NEWS01/607150314/1001/ARCHIVE

Senators Clinton and Schumer speaks out against NYRI

News from http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/Clinton_NYRI-13Jul06.htm

New York senators call on Energy Department to reject NYRI application for “national interest” transmission line

Senator Hillary Clinton Thursday urged the U.S. Department of Energy to reject the application of New York Regional Interconnection, Inc. to be designated as a "National Interest Electric Corridor." Designation of the proposed NYRI route would trigger federal siting authorities granted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

The power line would run from Oneida County to Orange County.

"I am extremely concerned about the potential environmental and economic impacts in communities along the proposed NYRI route," said Clinton.

“The DOE should slam the door shut on NYRI's efforts to avoid the public and thorough state process,” said Senator Charles Schumer.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 requires DOE to issue a national transmission congestion study for comment by August 2006 and every three years thereafter. Based on the study and public comments, DOE may designate selected geographic areas as "National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors." Upon the Secretary of Energy’s designation of national interest electric transmission corridors experiencing electric transmission capacity constraints or congestion that adversely affects consumers, the Commission may issue permits to construct or modify electric transmission facilities under certain circumstances.