Man Assaulted During Pirate Days

Here is the story in today's WDT

Several things to take note of regarding this story.  Rumors of this incident have been spreading since that August 7th incident.  Why did it take so long for the story to make the paper?  There is also no time of the evening that the assault took place.  I think this incident is what tripped the triggers of the Village Board when they made their announcement at last Tuesdays VB meeting regarding drinking at block dances.  Board Bickers Bout Beer at Block dances

The Plot Thickens..... if it was not for someone giving a tip to the WDT about this story.....it might have been successfully buried deep in the police blotter........  who knows.

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Rockin' the Bay with the Beatles

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"There appear to be adults drinking beer openly in the streets of your village...what's up with that...in any event they look happy to be there, and I bet they spent some money, and maybe they'll bring friends the next time...before you know it you'll have thousands of them, being happy and spending money...better shut that down now!"

Classic Car Rally Alex Bay

As part of Rockin' The Bay......Over 50 classic cars traveled to Alex Bay for a rally that was held from 9am till 1pm today.  All the merchants were ecstatic with the large turn out of cars and all the people that came to see them.......

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Board Bickers Bout Beer at Block Dance

Audio from last Tuesday's Village Board Meeting

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"....It stands to reason that when you invite THOUSANDS of additional people in the village you are going to have a rise in  complaints and calls. Sounds as if part of your plan for security and enforcement does not include funds or a plan  to deploy  the appropriate amount of extra staff from Jefferson County Sheriffs and the State Police....."

"......This country has gone insane regarding alcohol.  Land of the free...NOT."

Results of the Caucus

Donkey's have been known to KICK

The Democrats gave the "nod" to Gary "Critter" Williams and Roger Jobson at tonight's Caucus.  27  Village Democrats attended and voted.  Thanks to those that came out and represented the party.














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"Great choices. I know Roger as a guy who teaches honesty, team work, and fair play to children. I know Gary as a guy with great business accumen. Both of them have high sense of duty and responsibility to their neighbors. Good luck to both of them bringing their great traits to the village board."


...If we had CNN, MSNBC or FOX they would be going on how it is a indicator on the Mayor's race next election cycle."

River Hospital Supports Riverwalk Project

Members of the River Hospital Board of Directors attended last night's village board meeting.  Those addressing the board were: Joe Russell, Ben Moore, and Craig Garlock.  I was amazed at how supportive the RH BOD is for this project.  Compared to the Doom and Gloom picture the mayor painted about the situation at the last meeting .  I think that the RH would be a powerful ally that would help the village make the Riverwalk more than anyone had hoped.  Craig Garlock took the time to draw up some very creative concepts that would incorporate a walk ON THE RIVER.  I have included those drawings in the audio/slideshow and will also include them separately for better viewing.  The mayor ended the meeting with the hospital saying,  thanks for coming and we will "look" at your proposal.  Personally.....the mayor better do more than look.......he better hug the RH BOD and their proposal.  Maybe the vb trustees can help him along so he makes the right decision.....Maybe you can help the mayor too.....

Conceptual drawing by Craig Garlock

From RH RW proposal

From RH RW proposal

From RH RW proposal

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Politics 101

I wonder what the local Republican Party thinks about one of their "own" choosing to display this group of signs.  Actually under normal circumstances this would be no big deal.  Except that Mr Derrigo is a Republican running for Village Trustee.  What next?  Changing political parties after the election?   Is there any loyalty or respect to the Party that is backing you?  Take note of the poor Matt Doheny sign.......

Do The Amish Wash Their Hands After Taking A Crap?

I got thinking about this after reading the article in this weeks T.I. Sun.  Ya know the one where Ron Thomson lets the Amish sell their baked goods within the "foot print" of his property.  What Ever!  But here are a couple of thoughts.  Remember Bake Sales in schools?  Most schools do not allow them anymore.  They can still have bake sales but the baked goods have to be store bought and hermetically sealed.  Hmmmmm....what in the world could be the reason for doing that?  Hello!!!!!!  MacFly!!!!!!!  It is called Hygiene and people are also afraid of tainted food.  Remember the days gone by .....trick or treating......razor blade in your apples and the poisoned candy scare in the 70's and 80's.  I remember when one Halloween was canceled because of all that Halloween Terrorism. 

I have gone off track.....  Oh, now I remember....Hygiene!  When was the last time you saw a sink and liquid hand soap or hand sanitizer on the side of an Amish Outhouse?  How about NEVER!  Ever had diarrhea or stomach cramps on the way home from a vacation?  I bet that is a real hoot.  Would you buy an Amish Tuna fish Sandwich?  Buy your baked goods from a business that promotes Hygiene and has a clean kitchen that you can see from the counter....that is my advice.  If you want to support the Amish....buy a basket, chair, or a gazebo.....

Something else you will not see in the Amish Bakery

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I dont have any Amish food in my house and never will......I work in a lab and have seen all those germs and bacteria that can't be seen with the naked eye.........EEEWWWWWW !!!!!!

Ick!

When I was on a safari in Kenya I would see cases of soda in the knee high refillable bottles sharing a ride on the back of an open truck with a variety of livestock . It then became apparent to me why the Kenyans drank out of these bottles with straws...

The ORIGINAL Riverwalk Plan

Cement beams were donated  for the section in front of RH

The following picture was the key element to the agreement between the River Hospital and the Village Board regarding the Riverwalk traversing hospital property.  The cement supports mysteriously vanished from the most recently developed plans for the Riverwalk Project.  And as quick as those cement supports disappeared.....so did any agreement between the Hospital and the Village.

I have more pictures that tell the real story of why the River Hospital was surprised  to find out that the original plans for the project had been changed.  Not just by a little......A LOT!  Listen to the audio and watch the slide show.....all the way to the end.




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Village Caucus

Registered Village Democrats are invited to participate in our Caucus to be held on:

August 26th 2010

7:00 PM

Village Community Room

110 Walton St.  Alexandria Bay NY

All others are invited to attend and observe only...

Resource: NYS Election Law {PDF file}

Rockin' The Bay

 














Morris & The Hepcats
Suns of the Empire
Magical Mystery Tour
The Honeybush Brothers
Dr Boogie

Sheriff John Burns

The following is an audio clip of Sheriff John Burns during a question and answer session.  This was part of the meet the Democrat Candidates night held at the Clayton Knights of Columbus on August 11th.  This event was sponsored by the River Town Democrats. Senator Darrel Aubertine and Assemblywoman Addie Russell also participated in the Q and A. I will be posting the audio of  Darrel and Addie answering questions from the crowd  later......

Tired

A friend sent this to me.  I thought it was an interesting essay....it should provoke some thoughts.  If it doesn't, then you better check your pulse....



A reply from email:

Before I forget, the "Tired" piece you had on the Circus was excellent. Dead nuts right on. Now to move on. I was up in A-Bay August 1,2, and 3rd and had a great time as usual. Stayed at the Rockledge, very nice people. I like going up to the Islands because it is a nice little get away and not that far. I tell everyone to go up when they ask about an idea of where to go.

But its always great to get away from the Buffalo area. You write about the parking issue. In Buffalo, the city has paid nearly $2 million in health insurance premiums for 152 deceased employees, some have been dead for up to four years, talk about idiots. And then this morning I put the 6:00 AM news on and hear about 8 people getting shot and 4 dead. This happened in the Downtown area, luckily this didn't happen in the afternoon, it happened at 2:30 am outside a bar/restuarant.

So thats why I like coming up to A-Bay. A nice little get a way , where the residents treat you nice. Proves to me that there are actually civilized people left in New York State. Never had a bad word to say about the north country.

You've Got NO Mail!

Mr. Lampman addressed the Alexandria Town Board last night.  Here is the audio of what he had to say.....





Channel 7 interview with Mr Lampman after the meeting.




 Kris Rusho from WWNY has more on this story.

Did you know?
"U.S. Postal Service® will continue to deliver mail addressed to a deceased person until we are notified of a change in delivery preference......"

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"I delivered mail down there for several months during the late winter and early spring. I do not see what the issue is at all. I could turn a school bus around down there (although we didn't go down into there) I see no problem turning a vehicle around, which we used to drive to deliver mail, or the noisey little mail truck. Maybe the Postmaster should concentrate more on getting the rural mail out on a more timely basis rather than worrying about something that is more the Town Supervisor's problem, IF, there really is a problem."

Village Dock Security Resigns

I have been going to the VB meetings for 3 years [+]  and the agenda format of the meetings has always been Pledge, roll call, public concerns, correspondence, minutes, payroll, trustee reports, old, then new business.  Last night a letter of correspondence was intentionally not read when it should have been.  It is an embarrassing letter and was saved to be read at the end of the meeting when there was just a couple of people to hear it.  If it was read when it should have been, there would have been more than a dozen people to hear it and I would have recorded the content of the letter.  But never fear.....I managed to get a copy of the letter ......

Enlarge the Vimeo video so that you can read the letter.....





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From Facebook:
Don't they just realize that by not reading the letter and saying there is no correspondence until people leave embarrasses them more than actually having read the letter to begin with?

No Parking DENIED

This is not about the removal of parking spots in our village.  What outrages me..... is that a taxpayer placed his trust, believing that the trustee would do all they could do to convince the rest of the board those meters should be removed and made No Parking.  The trustee did NOTHING but frustrate this person....Listen and watch the audio........to discover which one of the trustee's sat around with his thumb up his butt and just watched.......





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Mr. Hoffman

Regarding Mr. Doheny:

Had there been such a thing as B.U.I., B.W.I., D.U.I and D.W.I....back in the days that our Declaration of Independence and later our Constitution  were being drafted....we would not have either.  Ben, Tom, John, Pat, and all the rest of the boys would be in the Hoosegow, or if you had been there.....you would have declared them all unfit...

Mr. Hoffman, I say to you......

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Pirate Days 8.7.10

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Secret Meetings for 2 Nursing Facilities

My imagination started working overtime as I read the article 2 Nursing Facilities Planned in County in today's W.D.T.  I took a couple of creative writing courses when I was in college.  I remember the professor saying "all good fiction is based on some facts"  "just enough of them to make the story believable".  The article starts out with this eye grabbing line:  "After months of secret meetings and feeding misinformation to the media, Community Assisted Living Corp. on Friday finally unveiled its plan......."  Man......this is some juicy journalism,  perfect for conspiracy theories, and drama.  The following is my piece of fiction based on the facts of the closing of  the River Hospital SNF,  as everyone knows them................{please read the article in today's WDT first}  Same story with a different slant reported on WWNYTV.com

This past February our community was shocked to learn that the River Hospital had been secretly planning to close it's 27 bed Skilled Nursing Facility.  You see....RH had been conducting it's own secret meetings for months prior to the info being leaked/announced to the media and the community.  At the same time Community Assisted Living Corporation was conducting similar meetings.  The Board of Directors at RH thought they were doing what was right.....being fiscally responsible and shutting down the SNF that was eventually going to "kill" the rest of RH. However, not all the BOD at RH knew that several of their BOD members were secretly meeting with the BOD at CALC.  In order for the feasibility study to show that the county needed more beds....the county had to show less beds!  So....the RH SNF was closed and poof.....there were 27 less beds available in the county.  The elderly were moved and all of a sudden any vacant beds within the county were full and now there was a waiting line to fill the beds when they were vacated.  The crisis of a shortage of beds was created.

What does RH gain from this? RH felt the heat when they forced family members out of the SNF.  All will be forgiven and forgotten when a  new 35 bed facility located somewhere along the St Lawrence river is built in the near future.  THE END!

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River Town Democrats

From Drop Box

Not Everyone Balked at Meter Removal

As reported in this weeks TI SUN....."Trustee's balked at the request" (for meter removal).

Not everyone Balked.....
Trustee Jarvis is in support of the removal of the parking spots.....and so was the mayor.  The 3 other VB trustee's {I suspect} would have, if put to a vote that night, would have voted NO against the removal of the parking spots. But now the removal is in limbo pending further research.  I certainly hope that anyone that wants to save those parking spots will attend the next VB meeting, on Tuesday August 10th.....your comments can be brought up at the beginning of the 5:30 meeting during public concerns....

Hey!!!!!  Something was missing from the article in the TI Sun..........

Not one mention of the trip and fall hazards on the downtown sidewalks.  Where did that portion of the story go to?  To negative to make it to print?  End up on the editing room floor?

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Tall Tale About A Rail

At the VB meeting on Tuesday July 27th, The DPW Supt. asked and  received permission to construct a stair rail for Riley's restaurant.  The picture below was taken today.  I am guessing that the rail was installed on Friday.  Do any of you know a welder that can fabricate a railing like that in less than 2 days.  Who ever did the work did a nice job......about a $500 job.  If the property owner is responsible for the sidewalk, and if the owner put in the stairs....then the owner is responsible for the railing not the taxpayers.  Why a wheelchair ramp was not put in instead of stairs is beyond me.  That is also discussed in the audio below....  I am also thinking that railing was fabricated way before the Tuesday VB meeting.  That was one Whale of a Tall Tale Told on Tuesday.....

From bad sidewalks 7.31.10

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DS said:
There are more than 5 things that do not comply with NYS Building Code/ANSI 117.1 shown in this photo. Is there a code book in the village offices?