Editorial: My best Hugh Reynolds imitation
Hugh’s taking a few weeks off to soothe his fevered brow before things really start getting politically and budgetarily serious around here, so I will do my best to fill the void. It will be tough to match the master. Here we go! Hey, Mr. Sheriff and Mr. Comptroller, can’t we all just get along?...
Editorial: Pike Plan puff prohibition puzzles
The temptation to legislate good behavior is just about irresistible, but in the case of the Pike Plan smoking ban, the mayor and the Common Council should have resisted. Passing laws that are either unenforceable or can only be enforced sporadically or anecdotally isn’t a good idea. It promotes disrespect for the law in general...
Photos of Pike Plan planter vandalism
Hey, in case you are not hooked up with us on Facebook, here’s a link to an album of shots of the damage and cleanup attempt. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.505760292786679.138245.121554907873888&type=1 As of Friday afternoon, no arrests have been made.
Bard’s Clemente Course offers free immersion into timeless truth
They’re the great, eternal ideas which shape the way we think about our lives, our culture and ourselves, but for most of us, the window to learn about the “liberal arts” was open for a few early college years, if that window was even open at all. But now, Bard College, through its Clemente Course...
Editorial: Shayne Gallo is not cool with it
It may be Paul Padalino’s school district. It may be Mike Hein’s county. They may be David Lundquist’s hospitals. But it sure as Shinola is Shayne Gallo’s city, and if you are going to mess with it, he will not be happy about it, and he will not be cool with it. See, this is...
Editorial: Tyner or Schreibman?
Raging like the battle for the local liberal soul that it actually is, the race between Joel Tyner and Julian Schreibman for the Democratic line for this fall’s 19th Congressional District seat in the House of Representatives will be decided this coming Tuesday, June 26. There are a lot of different angles to this contest,...
Editorial: That shrinking feeling
Loss hurts. Before, during and after. Kingston found out this week that another blow is on its way, as it looks pretty certain that one of her two hospitals is going to get shut down. It’s not clear which one it’s going to be, nor is it clear how many really good jobs are going...
Drug raids net 101 arrests
In what was clearly the largest drug sweep/law enforcement operation in Kingston and Ulster County history, 101 suspects were taken into custody in the early morning hours and charged with a whopping total of 536 felonies. At a Saturday afternoon press conference at Kingston City Court, law enforcement officials from the state police, county sheriff’s...
Editorial: God, faith and the Wildcat offense
You know, I’m beginning to believe maybe there’s something to this 2012 stuff after all. How else to explain the arrival in Sodom of the Lord’s own quarterback, Tim Tebow, to the New York Jets? Actually, there are two explanations not linked to apocalypse prophecies: one, the Jets plan to go all-in on the Wildcat....
Editorial: Concepts ‘we’ like, or don’t
How, you may wonder, do “we” come to the conclusion of what to like and what to not in “our” editorials? It’s somewhat of a collaborative process between me, the editor of the paper, the writers and my fellow editors and our publisher, the guy who sits at the desk behind mine, Geddy. I certainly...
Editorial: Leadership and unintended consequences
Before I get into what I thought of Shayne Gallo’s speech, I want to talk about the Republican presidential primaries. Obviously, there are hundreds of commentators who actually know what they’re talking about on this subject, but I do want to point out something which hasn’t been pointed out too much: how the Citizens United...
Editorial: Kingston has its goat
And we may as well embrace it. The ethical debate borne of the painting of those red goats on them planters way back in the fall is one of those teapot-tempests which the argument over could fill up a whole semester of Philosophy 101. Were they art, or were they vandalism? Were they protest to...