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Guest Commentary

Lead and salt in our water, part 1

We live amidst wilderness, surrounded by lakes, rivers and streams. Those waters, fed by mountain snow and plentiful rain, ought to produce pristine drinking water. Unfortunately for the residents of Saranac Lake, that is not the case. Should you drink our village tap water? Is it safe? Well, ...

Is Adirondack tourism marketing more harmful than helpful?

Today, we got our Something About the Adirondacks magazine; it is stunningly glossy and full of very fit people doing all kinds of fit things. #YayFit. I have some questions, though. It seems/appears/looks like there are lots and lots and lots (literally parking lots, in some cases) of die ...

The rediscovery of civic nationalism

Public discourse in the U.S. today contains ideas I never could have imagined in the country we love. “Death of US democracy,” “impending civil war,” “failed state” ... the list goes on. That we seem to be approaching a sociopolitical crisis seems to be one of the few areas of ...

Champlain Hudson power project is a ‘win-win-win’

Last October, during Climate Week, Gov. Kathy Hochul referred to the Champlain Hudson Power Express project as a “win-win” because it will create thousands of good-paying jobs and help New York City wean itself off fossil fuels by replacing them with clean, renewable hydropower. I would ...

Reflecting on Jan. 6, 2021

One year ago, our elected legislators — members of the House and Senate, the vice president — barricaded doors and hid under desks as they came within yards, within minutes, of bodily harm. We saw young and old huddled together in fear for their lives and those of their staff. The U.S. ...

The hidden legacy of Agent Orange, part 2

The use of “rainbow herbicides” led to a 1984 class action suit by Vietnam veterans and their families against chemical companies that produced these defoliants. The suit alleged that Agent Orange exposure resulted in cancers, other serious health conditions and birth defects in children of ...