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Guest Commentary

Be skeptical of trail assumptions

I’ve been following the rail and trail debates in the paper for quite some time. As a business owner, I find myself bothered by the “projections” of the trail folks. They’ve done reports that are projecting the amount of folks that will come and use the trail. A better word for the ...

Ten years of wishful thinking

Ten years ago, the debate over rail vs. trail began in earnest, and the proponents on both sides are still going strong. The debate has been centered on the best use of the old railroad line connecting Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake. Many see this 34-mile stretch of publicly owned ...

Medicare for all is a fantasy

Not only did I work in health care in New York as both practice manager and subsequently as a department administrator, supervising clinics at New York University Medical Center, I have done medical billing and health care budgeting. Secondly, I am now a senior with a Medicare Advantage ...

New York’s parole merry-go-round

State-run parole and probation programs are designed to keep persons convicted of crimes — including a very large number of nonviolent crimes — out of prison. But in New York, according to a recent Council of State Governments study, “Confined and Costly: How Supervision Violations are ...

Hell was a place called Auschwitz

This week marks 75 years since Soviet troops stormed the gates of hell. Hell was near a Polish town called Oswiecim. Hell was a place called Auschwitz. Seven and a half decades later, the murder factory has all but passed from living memory, been swallowed by that great maw called ...

Going back to the rail system could help in a lot of ways

After reading a letter to the editor from Michael Wright in Damascus, Virginia, I thought, I have been there about six times; have I missed something? So I decided to do some research, and I called some local people and businesses in Virginia about the Virginia Creeper Trail. As I ...