BONUS: N.Y. growing again, but not in rural areas
Gillibrand warns North Country Stefanik is wrong about Medicare cuts
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The Times Union posted a fascinating deep dive on the state of New York's shifting population. It explores which communities have gained, which have lost and how that has changed upstate communities.
T-U editor Casey Seiler described "Shifting New York" as "another widescreen look at the impact of political and economic choices, this time examining regions across the eastern swath of the Empire State."
Or our neck of the woods.
The work is primarily the work of Hearst fellow Ashley Soebroto who examined census data on communities with the greatest shifts in population.
Here is some of the things the series addresses:
- Communities in New York that have grown or withered due to population shifts.
- The impact of deindustrialization.
- The role immigrants have played in reviving unexpected pockets of upstate.
- How prison closures are affecting upstate communities.
- Colonie's success as one of the state's fastest growing suburbs.
- How Saratoga County continues to grow while other parts of the state shrink.
This is the type of community journalism you are missing if you do not subscribe to a newspaper.
What caught my eye in this story was how the state's population is starting to bounce back after nearly a half-million moved away during the pandemic. The focus is local-local focus on small communities in upstate that are struggling.
The T-U reported that more than 100,000 have moved back, but it also found that many smaller communities upstate are still experiencing serious population loss. One of those communities was Fort Ann, which experienced a 23.4 percent drop in population.
There were several others who lost as much of a third of their population in the North Country while the Capital District began to grow again with Global Foundries contributing to growth in Halfmoon and Stillwater.
The series also found that 17 percent of the state's population is 65 or older, a 30 percent increase since 2010, while fewer women are having babies.
Perhaps the most important information was highlighting a report from Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli that said rural areas need tailored solutions.
The T-U pointed out, "For example, with challenges to accessing health care, it recommended that more rural outpatient clinics and treatment centers need to be created, as well as the expansion and improvement of telemedicine."
That seems to be the opposite of what the Trump administration is proposing with Medicare.
Rep. Elise Stefanik should give the series a read because these are the types of issues she should be addressing rather than her next movie politically.
I urge you read the complete series. There is a lot there.
Gillibrand visit
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand visited Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake Monday where she disputed that the "Big Beautiful Bill" that Rep. Elise Stefanik voted for in the House of Representatives will "strengthen and secure" health care in the North Country.
"This Big Beautiful Bill is not a big beautiful bill, it is a big beautiful betrayal," Gillibrand told North Country Public Radio's Emily Russell.
As many as a third of North Country residents are enrolled in some form of Medicaid.
After voting for the bill, Stefanik said the changes to Medicaid would prevent ineligible people from enrolling. She bragged about being the deciding vote.
"There's no evidence to support (Stefanik's) statements," Gillibrand said. "We don’t have a scourge of medicaid fraud in this country. We have a lot of low-income families who can’t afford healthcare.”
Gillibrand also warned that the Medicaid cuts could put a strain on hospitals all across the North Country.
"Here in the North Country, the numbers are very troubling," Gillibrand told NCPR. "Over 2,600 jobs could be eliminated right here in this congressional district, while about 44,000 people would lose their health insurance and 19,000 people would lose access to nutrition benefits under the SNAP program.”
New Chapman exhibit
The Chapman Museum's latest exhibition opened on Saturday.
The exhibit, "Chapman Yearbook: 60 years of Collecting" highlights six decades of preserving, interpreting and sharing the stories of the Glens Falls/Queensbury communities.
While newspapers are often said to be the first draft of history, yearbooks certainly are a contributor.
The Chapman is open Tuesday thru Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 12 to 4 p.m. on Sundays.
Summer Walking Tour
The next Glens Falls walking tour is scheduled for Friday, June 20 at 11 a.m.
The hour-long tour will explore the history of the buildings, businesses and people that shaped Glens Falls. The tour will explore parts of Bacon Street, Sherman Avenue, Union Street and more.
Participants can park in the Chapman Museum parking lot off Bacon Street.
Tours are $15 ($10 for Chapman members). A minimum of four is required for each tour and be limited to 15. Registration is required. Call 518 793-2826.
Acid rain
CNN reported this week that the Environmental Protection Agency has been telling staff in the Midwest to "stop enforcing violations against fossil fuel companies" that produce the pollution that leads to acid rain in the Adirondacks.
You may remember that the Department of Justice has cuts most of its environmental division as well, leaving no one to file lawsuits to stop the policy.
Acid rain may be making a comeback over the next four years.
Voice of value
If you are not aware, Iran does not have freedom of the press. It has state-run media. When things happen in Iran, citizens of Iran only hear what the government wants them to hear.
In the past, they could rely on Voice of America radio to get them the truth.
So when Israel attacked Iran this week, there was a need for the Iranian citizens to understand what was happening to their country and why. Except, the Voice of American's Persian-language service had been sidelined by the Trump administration.
Politico reported that the administration realized the need for VOA and sent out an urgent email to the 75 full-time employees in the VOA's Persian wing to report back to work and pick up their roles providing counter-programming to Iranian state media. They had previously been placed on administrative leave and reduction in workforce (layoff) orders had begun arriving in recent weeks.
Not anyone can fill these jobs because they have to be able to speak Persian/Farsi, so these employees were valuable.
The question was whether they would return after Trump eliminated their jobs by executive order.
Patsy Widakuswara, the VOA's White House bureau chief, told Politico this move is a perfect example of why the entirety of VOA should be brought back.
“After months off the air, we’ve already lost a lot of audience and credibility,” said Widakuswara. “They should bring us all back so we can respond to breaking news in all parts of the world.”
“It just shows how idiotic they are, consistent with this firing and rehiring pattern that has cost Americans who knows how many millions of dollars,” one VOA employee on administrative leave, said on condition of anonymity to Politico. “This is the real fraud, waste and abuse.”
Pew study
CNN's Brian Stelter pointed out an interesting study by the Pew Research Center that found this:
"Republican news consumers have a more compact media ecosystem" than Democrats. "They rely to a large degree on a small number of outlets and view many established brands as not trustworthy. Democrats, on the other hand, rely on a wider number of outlets."
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.
Regarding Medicaid cuts, you know who in NY21 will be hurt most by the Medicaid cuts? All the rural white men working blue collar jobs, with payment in cash, under the table - no taxes, no social security, no retirement savings. You know, the ones who voted for this because they didn’t believe in government.
They (and their families) have been using Medicaid for health care…. The so-called “big beautiful bill” will force these men to work “on the books” and pay income and social security taxes. They’re going to have to pay for health care (for themselves and for their families) and when their hospitals start closing, they’re going to pay even more. Some are going to die.
They fu$ked around and now they’re going to find out.
Sadly there will be a ton of collateral damage. People who saw this coming and voted against it are going to be impacted too. Maybe us. Reminding us all that the government isn’t the enemy. The government is US - taking care of each other, taking care of our communities and taking care of our nation. Together. THAT is what our government is.
Community leaders and voters are in a state of denial on many issues that are driving loss of population. It’s really pretty simple: if people can’t find jobs that pay a living wage or housing they can afford, they move. And communities die. Raising taxes to cover loss of revenues exacerbates the problem. It creates a doom loop. With the rise of remote work, lower cost areas should be focused on attracting smart development of affordable housing.