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Guest Commentary

Where’s Wendel?

In an article published on Nov. 29, 2023, Saranac Lake Mayor Jimmy Williams told the Enterprise that the village was soliciting public questions about the emergency services complex proposed for 33 Petrova Avenue. The mayor was planning a public information session the following January, ...

Not as certain as some think

The latest of several guest commentaries published in this newspaper on Jan. 30 expressing doubt about human-caused climate change asks, “Are recent temperature records as certain as we think?” The question is interesting, so it’s worth answering here. Perhaps surprisingly, the short ...

School board: please do better

On Feb. 18, I attended and spoke at the Saranac Lake Central School Board Public Hearing regarding the closure of Bloomingdale School. I was one of many people in the crowd who read statements and asked questions of the school board. I was one of only two members from the community, of the ...

Thoughts on civic engagement

Boy, am I exhausted. Like most parents of young children, I work a full-time job in addition to parenting, and like most North Country residents, I also have two additional part-time jobs. When my family moved to the North Country in 2021, we felt strongly about moving into the Saranac Lake ...

Democracy is a verb

I have always favored win-win solutions to problems. It’s more work, but the results are usually worth it if neither side feels like a loser. Unfortunately, America is in such a profoundly desperate moment right now that there is little room for politeness. Indeed, there is nothing polite ...

The power of shame

On Feb. 25, 2019, the Enterprise published an opinion piece I had written. Its truncated title was in the form of a question, “Is Trumpism canary in coal mine?” In it I asked, rhetorically, if liberal democracy — that is, fairly elected representative government, accompanied by ...