Warren County needs to explain missing $3.3 million
Post-Star under new ownership; NCPR is successful in raising funds Trump cut
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Warren County is shrugging after losing $3.3 million in taxpayer money to a scammer.
Almost all of us have been there where we almost handed over the keys to our personal information. If it hasn’t happened to us, we know someone who has been a victim, so we can empathize.
But this was someone else’s money.
Our money.
Someone - or maybe many people - screwed up in Warren County.
While Warren County admitted it was the victim of this crime, it has not revealed this happened, and more importantly, what it is going to do to make sure it does not happen again.
When the Times Union tried to get the details about this incident, Warren County was less than forthcoming, saying it could not comment because there was an ongoing investigation.
That is not reassuring to taxpayers and might be construed as an admission that wrongdoing did occur, although there is no evidence of that.
Brendan Lyons, managing editor at the Times Union, has done some good reporting on the matter.
As a sidenote, this is why local newspapers doing community journalism remain essential and why they need to be supported.
Back in July, Peckham Industries in Putnam County — it has $4.5 million in contracts with Warren County to do paving, roadwork and culvert repairs — sent a letter via email and the U.S. Postal Service warning it was a target of bad actors impersonating their company to get payments redirected.
Sources told the Times Union that several Warren County departments received the warnings from Peckham back in July, but the Warren County treasurer’s office said it did not.
The treasurer’s office transferred $2.1 million on Dec. 12 and another $1.2 million on Dec. 22 to what it thought was Peckham Industries.
The T-U reported the imposter knew the exact amount of the bill.
So while the Times Union found evidence of the warning letters, Warren County officials insisted they had no record of the warning and refused to address the discrepancy when the Times Union brought it to its attention.
That is an unacceptable response from Warren County.
These “phishing” schemes are everywhere, and explaining the details of what happened here could be important for other counties, towns and villages to help prevent it from happening to them.
Apparently, someone in the treasurer’s office fell for the phishing scam. In this day and age, we all probably know someone who has been duped, just not for $3 million. It brings up questions about procedure. Do multiple people review wire transfers before they are sent out? And if there was a warning from Peckham, why did the treasurer’s office not receive it?
“These phishing attempts are highly sophisticated and may reference Peckham member’s names, specific invoices, and actual dollar amounts,” the company wrote in its July 21 letter, according to the Times Union. “While there is no indication that our internal systems have been compromised the accuracy of the information used suggests that customer systems or records may be affected.”
Christine Norton, who was elected county treasurer in 2023, wrote to the Times Union she was advised by the county attorney to refer all calls to the sheriff’s department.
That is unacceptable as well.
Norton is an elected official who should answer to the voters.
Warren County has been told it may be able to get $1.2 million of the money back, but someone needs to explain how it lost $2 million.
This type of crime is insidious and is a direct attack on regular people and businesses.
Imagine if the federal government used the resources it is using to chase immigrants out of the country toward fighting the scourge of cyber-scamming?
Instead, this administration has been cutting resources for cybersecurity.
That is also not acceptable.
Post-Star owners
The Post-Star has a new owner after David Hoffman, a Florida billionaire, took control Lee Enterprises with a $50 million investment.
Lee Enterprises purchased Howard Publications and The Post-Star in 2002 and, as with most newspaper chains, it has been a bumpy ride ever since.
Marcy Junck, a previous CEO and the outgoing board president, will step down and Hoffman will take over. Longtime CEO Kevin Mowbray has announced his retirement. It was Mowbray who was the vice president in charge of the Glens Falls property when Lee purchased Howard 20 years ago.
Nathan Bekke, another Lee VP who was responsible for Glens Falls at one time, has been named interim CEO.
Lee Enterprises currently publishes in 72 markets but has struggled in recent years to pay down its debt.
Supporting NCPR
It was a crisis in my eyes and apparently for many of you.
When the Trump administration cut public funding to PBS and NPR, small radio stations like North Country Public Radio were looking at a crisis situation.
The local journalism they do was in danger.
Station Manager Mitch Teich responded with an update last week and told readers and listeners that the $670,000 in funding it lost for the next two years had almost been raised. The station was just $15,000 short.
“That’s incredibly heartening news. But it doesn’t tell the whole story,” Teich wrote. “Because not only do we need to close that gap, but we must meet our regular fundraising goal, as well. And it’s very possible federal support is never coming back. So we’ll need to find ways to permanently replace the CPB dollars that we used to purchase the national and international programs you depend on and enjoy.”
It’s a good reminder that we all need to continue to support the news sources we value.
“But you know what? In the face of everything, NCPR is finishing 2025 with optimism and a renewed sense of mission,” Teich wrote. “In the twelve months ahead, we will continue to tell the North Country’s stories. We’ll do all the things that have made us a key thread in the region’s cultural fabric for 57 years. And we’ll find new ways to connect the North Country and do right by this special community.”
That’s what community journalism does.
Crime stats
As a parent, I was thrilled when my son got his dream job at the National World War II Museum three years ago. I was not so thrilled it was located in New Orleans, which had the highest murder rate in the country at the time.
In 2022, there were 265 murders in New Orleans. This past year there were 120. That’s a lot more than Queensbury, but still, an improvement.
All crime in New Orleans fell for a third straight year, just as the National Guard was arriving to help combat crime.
The New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that national crime analysts say crime is down all across the country. And murders are down 20 percent.
Mardi Gras season
While doing some last-minute Christmas shopping at Walmart last week, my brother and I were shocked at the all bare shelves where the Christmas decorations used to be.
When I stopped by this week, my senses were overwhelmed by yellow and purple everywhere in what was once vacant shelves.
It was Mardi Gras season.
I picked up some decorations and readied myself for the excitement ahead.
Times Trump headline
The New York Times is known for its serious reporting and historic to-the-point headlines.
On Friday, it did an analysis of how President Donald Trump managed to keep himself constantly in the public eye during the first year of his second term.
The headline looked like this:
There were two full pages of analysis inside as the Times reviewed the first 329 days of his second term, covering more than 250 media appearances, 320 official appearances and more than 5,000 Truth Social posts or reposts.
I loved the headline.
NOLA fireworks
There were four of us together on the paddlewheeler Creole Queen on New Year’s Eve. It was an evening of dining, dancing and watching the amazing fireworks show over the New Orleans skyline.
It may be some of the best fireworks I’ve ever seen.
While my party was chattering on the deck in windy conditions and 43-degree temperatures, I reminded everyone that I had been on New Year’s cruises on Lake George when temperatures hovered around 0 degrees, so this was balmy.
Not dead yet
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
It was created to protect consumers from risky practices like those on Wall Street. Since it was implemented, it has held Wall Street accountable over and over again and gotten consumers their money back.
The Trump administration — and Republicans in general — have been trying to destroy the agency and its mission by gutting the department and retreating on investigations.
A federal judge ruled last week that the Tump administration’s attempt to stop paying CFPB employees was not legal.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled that CFPB employees could continue to receive funding from the Federal Reserve.
The New York Times wrote:
The future of the C.F.P.B. has been in question since Russell T. Vought, the White House budget director, who also serves as the consumer bureau’s acting director, began to dismantle the bureau in February,” The New York Times wrote. “In a notice last month, the consumer bureau described its own supervision department as “the weaponized arm” of the agency under its Biden-era director.
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.
"Someone - or maybe many people - screwed up in Warren County."
I would think this is primarily an issue of having sufficient internal security protocols in place as part of a routine vendor payment process.
For example, any organization -- government or private sector -- should have a protocol to ensure it's paying its vendors at verified bank accounts. Any purported request by a vendor to use a new or updated account number or a new payment method is a red flag and should trigger further investigation.
Time for the county to review its vendor payment process for security gaps.
According to multiple news outlets, both the Comptroller's Office and the FBI are conducting investigations into the thefts. I suspect that will take time. What the County divulges to the public may be limited because they don't yet know or there are multiple avenues to track. Either way, I hope those responsible are held to account.