38 Comments
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Tom LaBombard's avatar

Pataki brings up a tough choice. As he says, there are no bad guys in this debate. Both sides here have merit. We need the renewable energy that this solar project can bring just as surely as we need to protect the assets of the Adirondack Park. I tend to favor the development of the solar in cases like this, as I do not view them as an eyesore. In short order, they tend to blend into the landscape and in my view become attractive. I generally agree with Pataki and thought of him as one of our better governors. However, on this one, I disagree with him.

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Roseann Bischoff's avatar

What a beautiful tribute for a life well lived!

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Bonni Garvey's avatar

My sincere condolences on the passing of Ur BRO😉

I only have sisters but am very aware of how difficult it will Be as each of us passes (we R early 80s/late 70s.)

& will no longer Be here on earth w/our siblings!

Until we meet again in Heaven!

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Catherine's avatar

Although I disagreed plenty with Pataki, on this I agree. He expanded our State's Park while in office and I was very pleased with the preservation of lands even when others argued it cost too much. We see executive orders and legislation coming from the trump administration that will certainly harm The Adirondacks. Let's just pass on the solar farm and give the remaining wildlife a break.

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Janet Flinchbaugh's avatar

What an amazing tribute!

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Janet Flinchbaugh's avatar

Everyone could use a refresher course on this.

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Ray Agnew's avatar

Amazing story about Tom and his sister. Wish you three had been able to meet together!

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Dennis Maher's avatar

A note on the shooting of the DoorDash driver in Orange County. He was African. He was Black.

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Wendy Aronson's avatar

It' positively shocking to read (and I agree) that many Americans today have no understanding of the co-equal branches of government, what that is for, and of the constitutional guarantees of due process and separation of church and state. We used to have Civics class in school. We learned what America was and why it was such a special experiment. I'm depending on journalists - the "Fourth Estate," to instruct. We MUST educate ourselves and realize that we MUST somehow neutralize Donald Trump, DJ Vance, Elon Musk, and Stephen Miller.

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Ellen C Dinolfo's avatar

Wonderful story - and more wonderful that she shared with you!

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Bob Meyer's avatar

As for the constitution 101, Andy Borowitz made a great comment. I paraphrase. We will eventually get rid of Trump, but until we fix our educational system, we will continue to produce the uninformed and ignorant people who voted for him.

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Ken Tingley's avatar

Harsh! But considering the lack of a mainstream media source everyone is reading and can agree upon, maybe true.

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Bob Meyer's avatar

Ken,

You know, as well as anyone that the truth, particularly vis-à-vis the current political situation is often very harsh.

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Ken Tingley's avatar

Absolutely true!

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Wendy Aronson's avatar

Absolutely true. I went to an ordinary elementary school in a middle-lower middle class neighborhood in Brooklyn. I was a 6th grader in 1955. We were routinely assigned to read the New York Times (not My Weekly Reader) and present to the class an article you thought was important or interesting. I don't know if everyone went on to be an adult NY Times reader, but it was a good start towards understanding government and politics, and learning to appreciate journalistic credibility. Where did all that go? One shouldn't have to spend $60,000/ year (that's what it costs in NYC!) to send your child to a good private school to learn the basic foundational truths we learned for free at Brooklyn's P.S. 119 .

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Ken Tingley's avatar

My experience was a little bit later. My junior year of high school I took a course called "Current Events" and we read the New York Times for the first half-hour of class - we had to read two articles and one had to be on front page - I was already a big newspaper reader so this was the easiest class of my high school career.

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Wendy Aronson's avatar

Why are we failing at this sort of learniing? We aren't creating responsible citizens. One shouldn't have to have an exorbitant education to achieve that.

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Ken Tingley's avatar

Great question. This seems like it should be standard and consistent education throughout school.

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Barbara Green's avatar

Enjoyed your column today.

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Don Shuler's avatar

Thanks, Ken. Your writings touch, inspire, and shape up many lives, including mine.

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Don Shuler's avatar

Not only “shape up” but also “shake up”! 😎

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Maureen Reilly's avatar

It's true that we haven't taught Civics in school for some time. I don't know what made educators think it was no longer necessary to teach it, but it's very clear today that we need to bring it back. In the meantime, news outlets do indeed need to fill in those gaps for citizens who missed that opportunity. Mr. Trump is counting on that lack of information to do what he is doing.

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Upstate New Yorker's avatar

The rhetoric is that guns make people feel safer. So why do we keep reading stories about people shooting others who are not remotely threatening? Hmm...

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Patrice D's avatar

What a special adventure your work went on. Glad they shared with you and you with us.

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