Stefanik takes credit for money she voted against

Front Page has its first brush with Artificial Intelligence

If there is any one piece of legislation you should know something about, it is this one.

In November 2021, HR 3684 - Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act - went up for a vote in the House of Representatives.

It provided billions of dollars in funding for infrastructure in large and small communities alike. That money is just starting to trickle out to local communities.

For years, Republicans and Democrats alike insisted a major investment in infrastructure was needed.

The legislation called for funding for communities large and small for roads, bridges; passenger and freight rail; highway and pedestrian safety; public transit; broadband; ports and waterways; airports; water infrastructure; power and grid reliability and resiliency; coastal resiliency, ecosystem restoration, and weatherization; clean school buses and ferries; electric vehicle charging; addressing legacy pollution by cleaning up Brownfield and Superfund sites and reclaiming abandoned mines; and Western water Infrastructure.

There was nothing controversial about this funding, but because a Democrat was president 205 Republicans voted against this measure in the House of Representatives. It passed 228-205.

Rep. Elise Stefanik was one of the Republicans who voted against the funding.

But since then, members of Congress who voted against the funding are now taking credit for it, including Rep. Stefanik.

She should be concerned about tendinitis for patting herself on the back so much this past week with a wave of postings by Stefanik on X, many from local officials thanking her for the funding.

There's usually nothing wrong with that.

But in this case, it's like thanking Santa Claus for your Easter basket.

Rep. Stefanik voted against the funding.

If you look on X, you will see that political leaders in places like Bolton, Rouses Point, Schoharie County, Poestenikill, Clinton County, Richfield Springs, Fulton County and Lowville fawning all over Rep. Stefanik for her help in getting this much needed money.

And that's just this past week.

The Village of Whitehall was recently given $2 million for a "sanitary sewer improvement project" to replace large portions of its century-old sewer system.

In a press release, Stefanik quotes Village of Whitehall mayor Julie Eagan and Town of Bolton Supervisor Ron Conover thanking her for money she did not want them to get.

These local officials are helping her perpetuate the lie.

"On behalf of the residents and taxpayers of the Village of Whitehall, I want to express my sincere gratitude to Congresswoman Stefanik," Mayor Eagan writes. "Her advocacy on behalf of her constituents in her district, including the Village of Whitehall, is unparalleled. These funds will provide a significant boost to the Village's ongoing efforts to bring our significantly deteriorating sanitary sewer system into compliance. I will be sure to let all our taxpayers know of Congresswoman Stefanik's victory for the taxpayers of Whitehall."

And this from Bolton's Supervisor Ron Conover:

"The Town of Bolton is pleased to have partnered with Congresswoman Stefanik's Office to secure this needed funding for upgrades to town infrastructure. This funding will be instrumental in ensuring a safe clean environment is available to all, that local taxpayers will not be overburdened, and that vital community infrastructure will be maintained into the future."

I hope that Mayor Eagan and Supervisor Conover also tell their constituents Stefanik voted against the money.

That's kind of important.

It appears that when Rep. Stefanik demands praise for funding she did not obtain, she gets it without reservation.

Rep. Stefanik has done this repeatedly since the legislation was passed and now she is getting help from local leaders and it's not right.

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Returning to March Madness

Joe Girard III transferred from Syracuse to Clemson for a fifth season this year with the hopes of returning to the NCAA Tournament.

He realizes that goal this afternoon when Clemson (21-11) squares off against New Mexico (26-9) in a 3:15 p.m. game.

Girard had an excellent year at Clemson and finished the year as the best free throw shooter in Division I. He hit 109 of 114 free throws (95.6 percent).

Girard finished second on Clemson in scoring with a 15.7-point average while hitting 96 3-pointers (13th in nation). Girard hit 96 of 226 3-pointers. His 3-point percentage (42.5) was 13th in Division I this year.

And it all started in Glens Falls.

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Artificial Intelligence strikes

I had my first brush with artificial intelligence stealing from The Front Page newsletter this week.

When I learned of Pete Puricelli's death while at the state basketball tournament on Sunday, I posted the information on Facebook with a link to a story I did on The Front Page in 2021 about his passion for baseball and his quest to visit all the Major League Baseball stadiums.

When I searched for his obituary later in the day, I found information on a couple of funeral websites that was remarkably like my column from 2021. It did not have any of the other regular information you would normally see in a death notice.

After calling up the obituary, I received a message that my phone had been infected with malware and I had to immediately download protection.

That's when I knew it was part of a scam.

I never clicked the link and it bothered me that my writing was being used as some sort of scam.

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Newspaper costs

More often than not, readers complain if there is too much Associated Press copy in their local news product. They want their local news.

Over my 40 years in the newspaper business, the goal was always to have as much local news as possible, but the newspaper was also committed to a robust national and regional report provided by The Associated Press.

Many readers did not understand the value of The Associated Press or how it worked. The AP is a non-profit cooperative that employs approximately 10,000 people around the world.

The AP is everywhere and provides an amazing comprehensive report.

So it was kind of shocking this week to hear that Gannett (200 newspapers in its chain) and McClatchy (30 newspapers inits chain) announced they are dropping their AP subscriptions.

That is a big deal.

That amounts to millions in revenue that AP will be losing.

The two chains announced this was about putting more into their local news reports, but I suspect it will go towards paying off debt.

When I was editor at The Post-Star, we routinely paid over $100,000 a year to get AP.

Journalism cost money.

My fear is that the cuts by the two newspaper chains will lead to further cuts at the AP and less information for the public.

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Supporting Front Page

Thanks again for continuing to support the work of Will Doolittle and Ken Tingley in covering our local communities as we try to do our small part.