Stec vows to stop “drive-by shootings
Have we ever had a drive-by shooting locally?
The Front Page
Morning Update
Tuesday, December 7, 2021
By Ken Tingley
One of the advantages of holding an elected office is that you get to mail out campaign-style flyers at the taxpayers’ expense.
They all do it.
They have all done it, so it wasn’t surprising when I - and I’m sure most of you - received mailers from State Sen. Dan Stec and Assemblyman Matt Simpson this past weekend.
Stec’s flyer was titled: “Taking action to protect our communities.”
Finally, I thought.
Someone was going to be proactive about the Covid-19 infection rate in our communities.
But when I turned it over, there was nothing about the virus problem, or about how the hospital ICU is packed with Covid patients and elective surgeries have been canceled.
Instead, Dan Stec was promising to address crime in our communities.
He vowed to “discourage efforts to defund the police.”
He promised “tougher penalties for drive-by shootings.”
He promised to address the “disturbing spike in violent crime.”
I wondered if Mr. Stec had moved to New York City, or at least a bad part of Albany.
In my 30 years living in Glens Falls and Queensbury, I don’t ever recall a drive-by shooting. And remember, I worked at the newspaper for 32 years. In fact, random violence just doesn’t happen around here.
But to be sure, I checked the the crime statistics for 2020 where I found that Warren County had exactly two incidents of violence with a handgun. Washington County also had two incidents.
The reality is that the 45th Senate District that Stec represents is almost entirely rural and has some of the lowest crime rates in the state. The reality is that Stec should not have much of a problem making our communities safer because they already are pretty darn safe.
The “defund the police” issue about which we have heard so much about in larger cities across the country in the past year, has not been brought up locally as far as I know, so Stec is addressing an issue that does not exist locally.
Secondly and perhaps more importantly, “defund the police” does not mean eliminating police departments. Perhaps, Sen. Stec should watch the recent “60 Minutes” piece that explained the proposals regarding police reform. Police officers have actually requested and welcomed social workers as part of the community solution to address mentally handicapped citizens, the homeless and those with addictions. By investing in social workers to handle those problems, it allows local police officers the time to do police work and public safety while professionals handle these other problems.
I suspect Sen. Stec knows this, but yet there in his flyer is a full color photograph of Sen. Stec shaking hands with a police officer and promising to protect our communities and those police officers.
I think we are more in danger of marauding deer or an occasional rampaging bear in Stec’s district than a violent criminal. Dan Stec is just reading from a political script.
Asemblyman Simpson wasn’t much better.
Simpson’s flyer was titled: “Supporting our veterans in Albany” and announced that he stands by “our men and women in uniform.”
Is there anyone in the history of politics who has been opposed to helping veterans?
We paid for that message, too.
We pay for Simpson’s salary and his advertising budget.
Yet, the most pressing problem of the day is that Covid-19 is going unchecked in our communities and the leaders we elected to keep our communities safe are shirking their responsibilities.
In the photo in Simpson’s flyer, he is shown with his arms around two veterans. All three of the veterans are older. None of the people in the photo are wearing a mask.
JG3 in Big Apple
Joseph Girard III, the all-time leading scorer in New York State history, Glens Falls native, and starting junior point guard for Syracuse University, is off to a great start this year.
Girard has shown confidence shooting the ball from long range and has been more aggressive in looking for his shot. He is averaging just over 15 points a game after eight games.
Girard hit the winning free throws against Indiana last week, then played a key role in helping the Orange upset Florida State on Saturday.
Syracuse is off to a 5-3 start and will be playing Tuesday night in Madison Square Garden against a nationally ranked Villanova squad.
I will be making the trek to New York to see it all in person.
Hill Country Observer
If you haven’t had a chance to check out the story on my new book in the Hill Country Observer, here is the link.
Maury Thompson, a well known colleague of mine from The Post-Star, did the interview for the monthly Washington County publication. Fred Daley, another former Post-Star alumnus, now runs the Cambridge newspaper.
Book signing
Matt Rozell, the Hudson Falls author, has been kind enough to grant me use of his space at the Troy Shirt Factory in Glens Falls to do a book signing this Sunday from noon to 1:30 p.m.
So if you need a copy of “The Last American Editor” or want to buy a copy for that special reader in your life, I will be there along with Matt, who also had a new book out.
Hope to see you there.
Not nearly enough of them: that is, drive by the vaccine clinic and get a shot.
<b>Prosecutors in the recent Michigan school shooting by a 15-year-old student also have filed manslaughter charges against the shooter’s parents, whose gun he used. This should become standard practice for school shooting cases when the young shooters are armed only because of their parents’ carelessness.</b> St. Louis Post-Dispatch via Times Union
Sounds like a good trend to me. There should be a lot more prosecution for people who irresponsibly secure their weapons. I wonder if Dan Stec would agree. Doubtless, not. It might slow all those drive-by shootings, tho.