BONUS: Federal budget will hurt North Country
NYT deep dive on police suicides is an important read for all of us
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It is pretty obvious the 21st Congressional District has no representation in Congress.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, who was re-elected for that role last November but checked out soon after being nominated to be U.N. ambassador by Donald Trump, was bumped for that job because her loyal vote was needed with the Republicans thin majority in the House of Representatives.
This past week President Trump's proposed 2026 budget was revealed with cuts to programs that have helped seniors, families, local governments and small businesses.
Sen. Chuck Schumer said the budget with be devastating for upstate New York.
Rep. Elise Stefanik's spokesperson - she apparently couldn't be bothered to address the issue herself - said that Schumer was "desperate fear mongering."
The Atlantic staff writer Annie Lowrey's story ran beneath the headline "The Republicans' makes no sense" and went on to sum it up this way:
"Whatever the final numbers, the budget will skewer the poor and squeeze out crucial long-term investments in energy, scientific research, medical advances, and children," Lowrey concluded. "Fewer kids will get meals, supportive educational services, and summer-enrichment programs; fewer loans will go to builders in distressed communities; fewer states will be able to make investments in new roads and clean air; fewer universities will research cancer cures. Over decades, the country will be poorer. That’s the trade-off."
Talking about going back in time.
North Country Public Radio's reporting indicated many of those losses will strike the North Country hard.
Here's what NCPR found:
The Northern Border Regional Commission would be shuttered. It has distributed over $48 million to the North Country for 78 projects across Upstate New York since 2008. It includes funding for bridge replacements, programs to bring doctors to upstate, building of accessible trails in Lake Placid, a physical space for the Essex Food Hub in Westport and a new community health clinic in Lewis County.
Rep. Stefanik should immediately address those communities - they are her responsibility - on how they should deal with these losses.
But it is unclear whether Stefanik will have the time to fulfill her obligations while considering a run for governor.
NCPR reported the Trump budget eliminates all federal funding for the
Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. The program helps families and senior citizens pay for their heating costs during the long North Country winter. Those cuts would impact 1.8 million New York families who received some $400 million in aid in 2024. Some 14,000 families in St. Lawrence County alone received $8.6 million in heating assistance in 2024.
Trump also cut the budget of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration by nearly $1 billion (15 percent) despite a raging opioid program in rural communities. NCPR estimated New York State would lose nearly $100 million in funding to battle the opioid epidemic. During his first term, Trump declared the opioid epidemic a public health emergency, so what changed?
The budget also reduces housing and rental assistance for low-income families, seniors and people with disabilities by consolidating funding into one block grant administered by the states. Over 500,000 New Yorkers rely on that assistance and it is unclear how cutting 40 percent of that funding will affect them.
NCPR also found that The FAA's Essential Air Service (EAS), which subsidizes flight service to rural and underserved communities, would be cut by 50 percent in Trump's budget. Airports in Ogdensburg, Massena, Plattsburgh, Watertown and Saranac Lake rely on EAS funding. The money supports flights to Philadelphia, Boston and Washington, D.C.
Finally, NCPR found that grants and research programs to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) would be cut by $1.3 billion on the Great Lakes and include $200 million for weather satellites and infrastructure in New York communities.
Schumer called the cuts "seismic" and would affect how the government monitors the health of Lake Erie and the ability to forecast winter storms in Western New York. I hear they have some bad snowstorms in Buffalo.
Since Rep. Stefanik has not held a Town Hall meeting in years - although she has been making regular appearances in the Capital District for Republican fundraisers - this seems like a good time for her to address the communities she serves about how they should address these budget cuts, get family members help for addiction issues and pay of heating their homes.
After all, it is her job.
Buy a ticket
For the first time, I have a stake in the success of the Adirondack Theater Festival with the dramatic reading of my play The Last American Newspaper from July 25-27.
For three decades I've been attending ATF plays and they are often the highlight of my summer entertainment.
So many of you have been buying tickets to see The Last American Newspaper and I know many of you are not regular ATF subscribers so I thank you.
With the current administration cutting funding dramatically to the arts - including ATF - I'm asking each one of you to pick out one more show during the season and purchase a ticket.
Try it out for one night. You will be surprised.
I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed. Buying a season ticket is even better.
Thanks in advance.
Really? Really?
Brian Stelter, CNN's media reporter, reported Friday the White House has fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden by email. She was the first African-American Librarian of Congress.
Donald Trump has fired a librarian as he continues to try to ban books that don't agree with his view of history.
We are all in trouble.
Back the blue
If you want to understand the lives of police officers on the front lines of law enforcement, you might want to read Jamie Thompson's deep, deep dive into the suicides of police officers.
I spent most of Friday morning reading it and it's a tough read, but it is also important reporting.
Thompson, who has been writing about law enforcement for more than two decades, interviewed dozens of police officers, psychologists, academics, advocates and family members about the police officer suicides.
Consider this one shocking fact: More police officers kill themselves each year than are killed by suspects.
Thompson reports that law enforcement officers are 54 percent more likely to die by suicide than the average American worker.
It's a long read, but if you really do "back the Blue" you should read it.
Ken Tingley spent more than four decades working in small community newspapers in upstate New York. Since retirement in 2020 he has written three books and is currently adapting his second book "The Last American Newspaper" into a play. He currently lives in Queensbury, N.Y.
I downloaded Trump's 2026 budget request that's before Congress now. It's focused on disabling, disassembling or destroying hundreds if not thousands of agencies and programs. This budget was submitted by Russell Vought (you know the guy who said he wanted to "traumatize" federal employees) to Trump. It's clear that their intent is retribution and to remodel and reshape America into a dystopian society. Many of the reasons behind their budget cuts mention Democrats, Biden and New York in particular.
Stefanik will, of course, say nothing about these cuts that will harm her constituents. But, then again, when has she really cared about her constituents since the rise of MAGA and Trump?
She's all in with the corrupt cruelty that Trump and his MAGA minions are inflicting on so many.
The last thing we need is a maga governor