NYS Legislature Wants to Buy More Land for State Parks

The Albany Times Union reports that the NYS legislature has blocked Paterson's plan to fund the reopening of some fifty-five state parks. Paterson had proposed using $6 million of the state's Senate proposed $222 million Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) to get the parks open, but your elected officials said "Ah, NO!" One of the primary functions of the EPF: the purchase of land for preservation. Hmmm...

Raised From the Dead

After a much needed sabbatical, a time for personal reflection, a reprise for quiet contemplation, a spell of soul searching, and a deep rooted desire to find myself, SouthernTierPolitics.com is back. I'll do my best to provide at least one post a day. Enjoy!

Paterson Loses Bisons Home Opener

I took my kid to the Buffalo Bisons Home Opener today, where Gov. Paterson was on-hand to throw out the first pitch, along with Sen. Chuck, the Buffalo Mayor and the Erie County Exec. Paterson was unmercifully booed in the pregame ceremony by the largely unemployed crowd (who else can go see a baseball game at 3:00pm on a Thursday). Perhaps Paterson will be the fall guy for the Bisons poor play today and for the remainder of the season. He is, after all, culpable for all bad things that happen to New Yorkers.

Allegany State Park Trees Granted Stay

If a tree falls in the woods and there's nobody around to hear it, does it make a sound? Who cares, as local tree-huggers have successfully blocked the state from entering into commercial logging contracts at Allegany State Park. What on the surface seems to be a victory for the environmentally conscious, actually is another decision counter to the needs of the Southern Tier.

It's an unpopular opinion that state parks and forests are a hindrance to local economies, but the evidence is clear. They lock up tens of thousands of acres, drastically diminishing the potential tax rolls of towns and counties (most do nothing to add to the local economy). Phillips Creek State Forest, in my "neck of the woods," is a mostly unvisited area of 2,709 acres that consumes parts of the towns of Alfred, Ward and West Almond in Allegany County. Here, what was once rolling fields was reseeded in the 1930's to weed trees such as red pine and scotch pine. The original plan for the forest involved careful stewardship, including thinning and selective logging. Unfortunately, since the state wiped the land off of the tax rolls, the trees have been abandoned and left to strangle each other. The end result is an absurd expanse of toothpicks planted very neatly in rows upon rows, as far as the eye can see, appearing nothing like what one would think a forest should.

So now that the state has wrestled land from its rightful owners, environmentalists have blocked them from properly caring for the forests. Commercial contracts would enable the DEC to profit from the appropriate care-taking of state lands. Only two other options remain;: either the state will ignore the health of the forests at Allegany State Park, or the costs of providing such care will be passed on to the people of Cattaraugus County.

Read the Article

Steuben County: Tammany Hall of the Upstate

Who is Steuben County's Most Notorious Criminal?

Hornell Principal Colleen Argentieri, who has been charged with forging loan applications...

Jim Griffin, Director of the Hornell Industrial Development Agency, who's income has recently come into question through a state audit...

Gary Dye, the Dansville Town Employee accused of crashing a street sweeper while under the influence of alcohol...

or

Steuben County Coroner Michael Powers, accused of supplying his step-son and his friends with a half-keg of beer

Massa Invests in Depressed Real Estate

The Olean Times-Herald reports that Rep. Eric Massa will hold a town hall meeting on Saturday prior to the opening of his Olean district Office. The meeting will take place at John J. Ash Community Center at 10:00am. To read the article, click here.

In addition, Roll Call, the Capital Hill publication that congressmen read in order to see themselves in print, reports that the fight for the 20th district congressional seat will have a direct impact on Massa. Click here to read the article.

As an Aside:

I sent an email to Massa's office three weeks ago requesting to be placed on the mailing list for his press releases and have not received a reply. I'll call tomorrow and post the results.

Cohocton Officials Blow Off Landowners

Cohocton landowners who have leased their land to FirstWind (the windfarm developer) will have to start complaining to someone new. The Cohocton Town Board has announced via press release that they will no longer be answering complaints regarding the wind farm from people who have entered lease agreements with the developer.

The decision primarily stems from the complaints of Hal Graham, who leased his property to FirstWind and has been very vocal, and has filed complaints with the Code Enforcement Officer, the Town Board, state elected officials, and FirstWind itself.

Did Graham honestly believe that the wind turbine(s) placed on his property would play "Bali Ha'i" during the day, remain silent at night, and emit the sweet smell of lavender? Of course not. His best recourse now would be to take his royalties from FirstWind and use them as a down payment for land in Hartsville or Prattsburgh, two towns who are watching the circus in Cohocton unfold very carefully.

Read the Hornell Tribune Article

Dansville Street Sweeper Drunk at the Wheel

The Hornell Evening Tribune reports that a drunk Dansville Town Employee crashed a street sweeper yesterday. Gary Dye, 42, of Fremont, was charged with Driving Under the Influence, Failure to Keep Right and a seatbelt violation. Apparently the sweeper overturned, causing head lacerations to the reveler and sending him to the hospital. I, for one, have never seen a street sweeper travel faster than 2 mph; I'm interested to know exactly how drunk you have to be to flip one over.

Read the Article

Swain to Close, Town's to Blame

Swain Ski Resort owner Philip Saunders announced today that the operation will close effective immediately. Assets will be liquidated in August unless a suitable buyer is found. In the announcement today, Saunders was quick to criticize the Town of Canaseraga and its voters, claiming that lack of local support was a large contributor to the companies failure.

“I’m done screaming and done complaining. If we are going to get somebody else down here (to operate the resort) it is going to take a new level of cooperation between the town and the school district ... I’ve never been to a town with as many obstacles as there are to overcome than there are in this one,” said Saunders.

Saunders, a very successful businessman, noted that Swain has been operating as a "charity" for years, operating with as much as $600,000/yr in losses. What's really going to be missed is the near $1,000,000 in annual payroll that was paid to county residents, now out of work.

Jamestown Post-Journal "Also-Ran"

In a moment of self-satisfaction, I am happy to report the Post-Journal's follow-up on Southern Tier Politics' initial report on Obama's cigarette tax, a full 18 days after our article!

See the Southern Tier Politics Original

See the Post-Journal Article