News That Matters
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Good Friday Morning,

Michael Jackson turns 50 today. Killer!

Before 80,000 people in Denver last evening, in a speech that even the right-wing bloggers have called "Reaganesque" and that newspaper headlines have termed, "soaring", Senator Barack Obama accepted the nomination of the Democratic Party to be their candidate in this year's presidential election. That's one-third of this drama down with two to go. Republicans meet soon and then on November 9th it's over. Finally. And if you haven't noticed, (and not to notice means you've been on an interplanetary spaceship with a broken radio), this election has been going on for more than two years and has cost hundreds of millions of dollars so far with hundreds of millions more to come - and some of that from your tax-pockets - more. For all those dollars and all this time, do we know anything more about Senators Obama and McCain than we did two years ago? Um, no.

John McCain will announce his running mate at noon today. If he's smart he'll offer it to Hillary. Now, wouldn't that be something!

More than 272,000 Americans received foreclosure notices on their homes in July this year representing a 55% increase over July of 2007.

Memorial services scheduled for today in New Orleans to commemorate the destruction of that city from hurricane Katrina three years ago, were called off due to the impending onslaught of hurricane Gustav. Instead, the National Guard is moving into the city and evacuation orders may be issues tomorrow.

This is Labor Day weekend and according to the rigid schedule we're forced to live by, this marks the end of the summer vacation season. Next week children go back to school and traditional summer vacation spots sigh a breath of relief - hoping they've earned enough to get them through the winter.

[rant] Labor Day is supposed to be a celebration of our labors and yet the only people who can celebrate are white collar workers who receive a paid day off and blue collar workers willing to loose a day's pay. Everyone else - the mass bulk of laborers, are forced to work at shopping malls and fast food restaurants and whatever other commercial establishment will remain open for the day - and that means most of them - so that those white collar guys can catch up on their Christmas shopping... or something. (Limited Christmas displays are already going up in select retail outlets, by the way. If you see one, complain to management or do what I do, unplug them!)

When I'm President, a national holiday will mean just that. A HOLIDAY. Everyone is off and no one works. If you need gas or eggs or some other good or service you're going to have to plan to get it the day before or the day after. What's the point of having holidays if millions of American workers are, um, working? Oh, and we're getting rid of this Monday thing, too. Holidays will fall on their traditional days and General Washington gets his own day back. [/rant]

If you're not one of the millions stuck working on the Sabbath this weekend, make a point to stop in at the 3rd Annual Collaborative Concepts show at the Saunders Farm (Old Albany Post Road and Philipse Brook Road in Garrison) for the Grand Opening of this year's show. If you come between 2 and 4 tomorrow (Saturday), stop in at the reception tent at the top of the hill and say hello. I'll be there volunteering for the cause.

If you're heading out to the supermarket for BBQ supplies, look for a farmer's market or farm stand along the way. Use your dollars to support local agriculture rather than trans-national corporations who ship your apples from Argentina and Oregon.

And now, the news:

Putnam legislator sues sheriff after traffic stop
Unlikely Heroes: Goats Rescue N.Y. Bog Turtles
Rhinebeck deals with open space, affordable housing
Con Ed Installs First 'Green Roof'
Long-Debated Water Plant Takes Shape Below NYC
Clinton Letter on Gas Drilling in NYS
Britons drive to Greece on cooking fat
Doorstep Astronomy: Venus Shines Bright

Putnam legislator sues sheriff after traffic stop

By Susan Elan • The Journal News • August 29, 2008

Since taking office in January, Putnam's freshman county legislator, Anthony Fusco, R-Mahopac, has tangled with the county's head of Emergency Services, the Mahopac superintendent of schools, and fellow legislators over issues ranging from ambulance service to roadside signs.

Now Fusco, who moved to Mahopac from Eastchester about four years ago, is suing the Putnam County Sheriff's Department and Sheriff Donald Smith in state Supreme Court in Carmel following a routine traffic stop in March.

The lawsuit was the "only remedy to get at the truth," said Fusco, who is representing himself and has asked in court documents for reimbursement of court costs and "reasonable attorney fees."

The case is likely to cost Putnam up to $10,000 in court and outside lawyer fees, County Attorney Jennifer Bumgarner said.

Fusco's imbroglio with the Sheriff's Office began at 2:40 a.m. March 29, when a sheriff's deputy gave him a ticket. He was accused of failing to stop at a stop sign in Putnam Valley.

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Unlikely Heroes: Goats Rescue N.Y. Bog Turtles

by John Nielsen

All Things Considered, June 24, 2008 · The last of New York's wild bog turtles live in swamps that have long been sunny, mucky places full of low green plants and waist-deep mud pits. But an invading foreign weed threatens to transform the swamps and wipe out the turtle population.

The old-fashioned way to save endangered species such as the bog turtle was to build a fence around them to keep people and farm animals away. That method has been turned upside down in New York's Hudson River Valley, where domestic goats and cows are instead trotting to the rescue of the turtles and their murky swamp home.

The mud pits that fill the region's swamps are actually a mess of hidden streams that the bog turtles use like freeways, says Jason Tesauro, who works for the Environmental Defense Fund.

Rhinebeck deals with open space, affordable housing

By William J. Kemble, Correspondent
08/27/2008

RHINEBECK - Town Board member Dod Crane has proposed forming an Open Space/Affordable Housing Committee to review needs in those two areas under the town's Comprehensive Plan.

The possibility of creating a joint committee to handle both areas was reviewed during a board meeting on Monday, when officials said the seven-member panel would be charged with making recommendations about updating town zoning laws.

"What I tried to do is develop some initial responsibilities ... some tactical things that I thought should get done in the near term, and then charter them with some longer-term responsibilities for open space and affordable housing," Crane said.

The committee would include of representatives from the Town Board, the town Planning Board, the town Zoning Board of Appeals and the town Comprehensive Plan Committee.

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Con Ed Installs First 'Green Roof'

POSTED: 11:17 am EDT August 28, 2008

NEW YORK -- More than 21,000 plants atop a Con Edison facility in New York City are helping reduce the building's energy costs.

It is the utility's first "green roof," an energy-saving plant system designed to improve air quality and conserve energy.

Con Ed said Thursday that the plants keep its three-story training and conference facility in Long Island City, Queens, cooler by absorbing heat and reducing the need for air conditioning. It projects that the green roof will save the building up to 30 percent in energy costs.

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Long-Debated Water Plant Takes Shape Below NYC

NEW YORK (AP) -- It requires enough concrete to build a sidewalk from New York to Miami and enough pipe to reach the top of the Empire State Building 140 times over. Workers carved out enough dirt from the ground to fill more than 100,000 dump trucks.

The colossal effort is a water filtration plant being built 10 stories beneath a Bronx driving range, a one-of-a-kind project intended to become a nearly invisible part of the city's infrastructure.

But the plant has been anything but hidden so far.

The plant's completion date has been pushed back six years, and its price tag, initially estimated at $660 million and pegged at $1.24 billion in 2004, is now $2.8 billion. Costs, delays, seven-figure fines and a brush with a high-profile Mafia case have sharpened criticism of the city's handling of a project that three city watchdog agencies and a group of community leaders are monitoring.

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Clinton Letter on Gas Drilling in NYS

Mr. Alexander M. Grannis
Commissioner
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
625 Broadway
Albany, New York 12233

Dear Commissioner Grannis:

I write to express my concerns about the potential environmental impacts of expanded natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation in New York. Given my concerns, I am happy to learn that the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) is committed to updating the Environmental Impact Statement for drilling in the Marcellus Shale.

Expanded natural gas drilling can provide significant economic benefits to landowners and local economies, and can help to increase domestic supply of a valuable energy source. However, drilling also presents threats to local water supplies, air quality, and roads and other infrastructure in the absence of adequate regulatory protections. Unfortunately, current federal protections are fairly weak. Oil and gas companies have been granted exemptions from compliance with certain provisions of important federal environmental laws, including the Clean Water Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Community Right to Know Act.

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Britons drive to Greece on cooking fat

ATHENS, Greece, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- A group of eco-conscious Britons said they have completed a 2,330-mile drive from London to Athens, Greece, using fuel made from cooking fat.

Participants said their environmentally friendly convoy was designed to call attention to the existence of cheaper and more eco-friendly biofuels, Kathimerini reported Thursday.

"There is no reason why Joe Public cannot do this, save themselves a bit of money and help save the environment because they are not using fossil fuels," the leader of the expedition, Andy Pag, 34, said at the British Embassy in Athens after the journey.

Pag said nine cars toured Europe for the 10-day "Grease to Greece" expedition. He said the cars relied on frying oil donated by restaurants and cafes they passed along the way. Pag said restaurant managers were enthusiastic about the project and were glad to put their "waste product" to good use.

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Doorstep Astronomy: Venus Shines Bright

By Joe Rao
SPACE.com Skywatching Columnist

Currently, the planet Venus is visible, albeit very low in the western evening sky right after sundown. Those with obstructions such as trees or buildings toward the west may not be able to see Venus yet, thanks to its low altitude. But this current evening apparition of Venus is going to evolve into a very good one in the coming days and weeks, so let's get into a fuller explanation of what is to come.

Venus passed superior conjunction (appearing to go behind the sun as seen from Earth) back on June 9. Initially, it was mired deep in the brilliant glare of the sun. Nonetheless, in the days that followed it moved on a steady course toward the east and pulled ever-so-slowly away from the sun's vicinity.

And now, during the last days of August and into early September, Venus has finally begun climbing up out of the sunset glow in earnest and is now about to reclaim its role as the brilliant "evening star," a title it has not held since the end of July 2007. Look for it now with binoculars shortly after sundown very low in the southwest. Venus will stand about 10 degrees high in the western sky at sundown (your clinched fist held at arm's length is roughly 10 degrees wide) and will touch the horizon just a few minutes shy of a full hour after sunset, giving less experienced sky watchers a chance to get a good glimpse.

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