Hayseeds No. 217

Times Union Accused of Abetting Troopergate.

It looks like State Republican Chair Joe Mondello is accusing the TU of aiding and abetting the false leaks about Senate Majority Leader Bruno.

They probably deserve some of the fault, although they were led on by some of Spitzer's staffers who were all to happy to try to do things to please their boss, Governor Spitzer. And of course, Bruno shouldn't get off scott-free—he was involved in activities that were questionable at best with his use of state planes.

So everybody screwed up here. But now it's time to go forward and get the people's business done. There is a time for naming calling, and trying to slit your neighboor's throat, but there also is a time to get things done in government.

Kosiur Refuses to Conceed.

It looks like Ed Kosiur never called or went to the Amedore to party to congradulate Amedore on this victory in the Assembly race. That's really too bad, as there should be some kind of respect for the American electorial process.

George Amedore won the election. The voters felt he was a better candidate to represent the wishes of Montgomery county and a good part of Schenectady County. We should respect that, and congratulate him on his victory. Now I would have preferred for Kosiur to win. But the voters choose elsewise.

I-35 Bridge Collapse.

People are still sorting out what happened last Wednesday night when a major truss bridge in Minneapolis-St. Paul area. This bridge failed during rush hour, as most of us know by now.

There are lots of reasons why bridges (and culverts) fail, and their failure is not as rare as we might expect. Usually though it's not a high-use structure so far up those big bridges that cross our major rivers.

Still it's pretty shocking to see such massive destruction so unexpectly. Every bridge is inspected every 2 years, and many in New York are inspected every year. Despite that, failures happen with or without much of a warning.

Steve Minick Resigns from State Energy Board.

He claims that he resigned to take a job in the private sector. In other words, as many people suspect, he's resigning for his threats and abusive language used towards people on the public service commission, in an effort to get Sptizer's goals.

Somehow I'm not surpised. It's another case of Spitzer's out of control staff, ruled by a Governor. Spitzer knowledgable about the issues and usually believes in the right positions, he's had a lot of trouble getting his agenda done.

It's disappointing that Spitzer has such a poor understanding of politics and getting things done in Albany. I always hoped that he would be an effective governor that got done many of the bold things done by previous governors.

Schenectady County Considers Repealing Koisur's Law.

The controversal sex offender law in Schenectady may be repealed only weeks after defeat of it's sponsor, Ed Kosiur and only days after it's suppost to go into effect.

This bill would prohibit sex offenders from living within 2,000 (or a half mile) from any place where children congregate such as schools, libraries, and parks—essentially banning sex offenders from all urban areas in the county if not most of the county.

That of course got civil libertarians a real rise, as did for rural folks who didn't want the offenders coming out where they live. Nobody wants to live next to a sex offender, and the fears stirred up by George Amedore probably was a leading cause why Ed Kosiur lost so badly in rural parts of Schenectady County (which 22% supported him to Amedore's 78% support).