News That Matters - January 13, 2010

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Good Wednesday Morning, What's in the News: Kent nursing home to pay $12,000 in state settlement over drug disposal East Fishkill land is best for police dog training, MTA says It takes a community to sustain a small farm 20 Massachusetts defines open meetings exemptions narrowly Texas school board keeps ban on boy's long hair A real worry: the Patriot Act Army Imprisons Soldier for Singing Against Stop-Loss Policy The League of Women Voters of Eastern Putnam County is holding a meeting at 6:30 this evening at the library in Mahopac. The League is not just for women, contrary to their name, but is open to anyone and everyone who values furthering the cause of local democracy, something Putnam County desperately needs. If you would like to contact the League email them at LWVEPC@gmail.com or call 845 520 6261. Once again this past Monday evening, more than a dozen people came from around the county to support Lori Kemp in Judge Spofford's Carmel court in a politically charged case where we already know the outcome, and once again the case was posted to a future date. I cannot urge the County DA enough to drop the charges, scurrilous as they are, and allow this woman a little peace in her life. Is it not enough that the Town of Carmel has wantonly disregarded her rights as a citizen? Is it not enough that the political weight of the county has been brought down on her shoulders for the crime of asking authorities to follow the law? Isn't it enough that her home and health have been deleteriously disadvantaged by all this? What more do you guys want? And, once you've beaten her into submission and broken her spirit (which, by the way is the point of torture in general) is that supposed to send a message to others who might stand up against developers and their elected shepherds who run this county by force of muscle and the abandonment of law and common sense? Is this county truly that corrupt? If you don't think what's happening to Ms. Kemp will not or can not happen to you think again. This county really is that corrupt and you're not doing a damn thing about it for fear of what they're doing to her will happen to you. While the Powers That Be are torturing her into submission and punishing her for daring to stand up for her rights they gain even more power from your silence. In yesterday's edition of the New York Journal News they ran 5 full pages of incidences from police reports. Imagine how different our communities would be if they ran 5 full pages of the positive things we do, our successes? Graduations, accomplishments, births, projects completed... There is more to life than drunk drivers and wasteful small-time marijuana arrests. What good things have you done that should be in the news? Last Friday I offered suggestion to those who did want to take their pants off in public and not just at the airport, that they join the 2010 No Pants Subway Ride. The event was global and took place in 43 cities in16 countries. This link will bring you to the Improv Everywhere (the organizers) website for their report from the New York event. The No Pants Subway Ride is not just a flash in the pan event. Improv Everywhere has been stunting across the country and around the world for years now and their antics never go unnoticed. One of my favorites was when they organized and arranged a wedding reception for a random couple outside the NYC clerk's office. I'd explain it, but the video is better. See that here. As reported here (and many places elsewhere), the nation of Uganda is getting ready to pass a law that would punish gay men and women with death which, as you good Judeo-Christians know, is proscribed in the book that sets the basis of your religious beliefs. (It also says that adulterers should be killed too, but I don't really see too much of that going around. A shame, really.) We now know there are three American anti-gay activists to thank for this and they are, Don Schmierer, Scott Lively and Caleb Lee Brundidge. All three had traveled to Uganda and held talks with government officials there about their belief that gays are either disciples of the devil, a choice in lifestyle or that they can be "cured". But now, they say, they are aghast at what their meetings have evolved in to. Well, thanks guys, but it's a little late for that. Rudy Giuliani is still on active duty but his memory sure isn't. During a weekend interview, while chastising Obama's response to the underwear bomber, Rudy claimed that there were no domestic terrorist attacks during the Bush Administration. While I can understand he might forget the government staged anthrax letters, how could he possibly forget 9/11? Something to ponder: How is it that when Republicans pass laws it's "good for the country". But when Democrats pass laws it's "regulation via taxation"? Or am I missing something pretty obvious here? The Teabaggers are planning a convention in February and rumor has it that they're paying Sarah Palin $100,000 to be the keynote speaker. The goal is to create a third national party, assuredly enough, the Tea Bag Party (TBP), and it's  something I'm all in favor of and you should be too. But an all white political party that can't spell or count? There will certainly be some early political successes but once people discover that TBP candidates dropped out of school in the 7th grade the nation will come to its senses and elect one as President. Heck, no one wants a President smarter (or darker) than they are. Right? I can see the billboards now: Ameruca! Elekt Bubba and Palin in '12 And what's the platform? Smaller government. Check. Lower taxes. Check. A national holiday for NASCAR Fans. Check. Making Budweiser Light the National Beverage. Check. On the downside would be the end of legalized abortion, the end of civil rights, a return to "separate but equal" and generally the end of sanity as we know it. But heck, we get the government we deserve and after being acquiescent for all these years I have to give credit to these guys for getting their shit together and doing something about it. About a year ago a 60' high dam back-filled with water and coal ash from a power plant in Tennessee collapsed spilling its contents for miles downstream creating one of the largest eco-disasters in our history. The Tennessee Valley Authority, who owns the dam and power plant, insists that coal ash is no more toxic than dirt and has refused to clean up the spill. That would be true if the dirt were from Love Canal in Buffalo or the Marathon Battery plant in Cold Spring, closer to home. For the record, coal ash can contain arsenic, lead, mercury and selenium. A citizens group called United Mountain Defense went down to Roane County, Tennessee recently and began setting up an air monitor downwind from the spill and did so because of a spike of health problems that the local community is now dealing with; Headaches, bloody noses and coughing in an otherwise healthy population. Within minutes of setting the monitor the site was swarmed by police, apparently notified by the TVA, improperly demanding photo ID's of everyone there (it was on private property) and then forcing the group to dismount and break down the monitor and leave the site. If the air is so clean, why the harassment? 60 Minutes ran an expose on the coal spill last year that can be found in two parts, here and here. There's a 130 million tons of coal ash generated in the US each year... That's a lot of dirt. Last weekend at the Cultural Center on Lake Carmel I co-produced an album release show for the local band, "The Farewell Season" which consists of Jack Dougherty and Claire Budzinski. The show also had several other local bands including "Alphabet Soup", "A Standard Protocol" and "Kid Jerusalem". What was unique about this show was that it was largely acoustic, a far cry from what these bands are used to doing, and it was great all around. Everyone had a good time, 70 local kids had something to do for several hours and the bands largely rose to the challenge of turning off the amps and actually being heard. I cannot encourage you all enough to allow your kids some independence and freedom, to encourage them to explore and learn - on their own, to grow freely when they're young rather than protect them from the things you fear and then thrust them into an adult world carrying your personal baggage along with them. They're smarter than you think and should be given the ability to prove it. And now, The News: Kent nursing home to pay $12,000 in state settlement over drug disposal East Fishkill land is best for police dog training, MTA says It takes a community to sustain a small farm 20 Massachusetts defines open meetings exemptions narrowly Texas school board keeps ban on boy's long hair A real worry: the Patriot Act Army Imprisons Soldier for Singing Against Stop-Loss Policy Kent nursing home to pay $12,000 in state settlement over drug disposal By Michael Risinit • mrisinit@lohud.com • January 13, 2010 KENT — Out of sight may be out of mind but it's not out of the water supply, especially when it comes to unused pharmaceuticals, said Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. "(The) convenient way is to drop them into a toilet in a home, into a facility, etc. You flush the toilet and you think it's gone," Cuomo said Tuesday. "It's not gone. It then goes into the water system." Cuomo made his remarks in announcing his office had reached a settlement with the Putnam Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Kent and four other health-care facilities in New York City's watershed to stop their disposal of pharmaceutical waste into the water supply of 9 million people. Under the agreement, the facilities agreed to no longer flush unused painkillers, antibiotics, anti-depressants, hormones and other drugs down toilets or drains and, instead, dispose of them with waste-management companies capable of handling them. The hospitals and nursing homes also agreed to pay civil penalties as part of the settlement, $12,000 in the case of Putnam Nursing and Rehabilitation. Read More East Fishkill land is best for police dog training, MTA says Michael Woyton • Poughkeepsie Journal STORMVILLE — A site in East Fishkill is the best location for a proposed police canine training facility, the Metropolitan Transit Authority says. MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said the authority looked at 20 locations, including a number of state-owned sites. "The reason why this property is so optimal," he said, "is because you need a large property to assure a suitable buffer." The dogs cannot use the same locations for scent work day after day, he said. The land is two parcels at 14 Perin Lane and 229 Seaman Road, owned by George and Kimberly Grieco. Pending approval, the sale price of the 71 acres is about $1.1 million. The MTA wants to conduct ongoing training for its 50-dog police force at the facility. It now uses the Orange County Sheriff's Office for dog training. Read More It takes a community to sustain a small farm 20 These days it seems the most popular person to be in the food system is the “local farmer.” Farmers markets are popping up everywhere, and their size and popularity grow all the time. Local food is trendy—even the First Family is in on it. But as anyone who has ever raised grain or livestock can tell you, the farmer is not the only person in the chain of players from her farm to your fork. In addition to producers, your food chain includes processors, distributors or transporters, and retailers. In other words, to have a truly local food system, we also need local butchers, bakers and millers, local truck drivers, local grocers, and a community that supports them in all their efforts. In the world of farm and food policy, we’ve paid a lot of attention to production end of the food system. It’s an obvious place to start. We have programs within the Farm Bill to develop new or “beginning” farmers, help them secure loans and down payments, and transition to organic agriculture. But most products aren’t made to eat directly out of the field. Even salad greens or apples, things we typically eat raw and straight from the field, must be washed and sorted before your local farmer will sell them. Read More Massachusetts defines open meetings exemptions narrowly A school committee can hold an open meeting on the overall competence of a superintendent even if the written performance evaluation is exempt from public disclosure, the Massachusetts high court has ruled. The Massachusetts Municipal Law Blog reported that Massachusetts' Supreme Judicial Court, reversing a lower court's decision, ruled that a school committee in Wayland should have met in open session to discuss the overall professional competence of its superintendent, but properly closed the portion of the meeting that dealt with drafting a written performance evaluation. The case began in 2005 when a newspaper reporter for the Wayland Town Crier filed a complaint against the Wayland school committee, alleging the committee violated the open meetings law when it discussed the superintendent’s performance evaluation over email and in two closed executive sessions, instead of in an open session as expressly required by the open meeting law. Read More Texas school board keeps ban on boy's long hair Associated Press The parents of a 4-year-old boy disciplined for having long hair have rejected a compromise from a Texas school board that agreed to adjust its grooming policy. The impasse means pre-kindergartner Taylor Pugh will remain in in-school suspension, sitting alone with a teacher's aide in a library. He has been sequestered from classmates at Floyd Elementary School in Mesquite, a Dallas suburb, since late November. After a closed-door meeting Monday, the Mesquite school board decided the boy could wear his hair in tight braids but keep it no longer than his ears. But his parents say the adjustment isn't enough for Taylor, who wears his hair long, covering his earlobes and shirt collar. His mother, Elizabeth Taylor, said she'll pull back Taylor's hair in a ponytail, acknowledging the style will keep him suspended. Read More A real worry: the Patriot Act Re "Don't let the feds take your house," Jan. 4 letter by Joseph R. Pastell, who warns of the U.S. becoming a "socialist republic": I ask the letter-writer and the other LoHudders who so consistently misuse the word "socialist" to help overturn the most harmful legislation ever passed by the U.S. government? No, not the health-care legislation, I'm talking about the Patriot Act, passed 98 to 1 by both so-called parties. This act supposedly made it easier for our "intelligence" agencies to work together to fight terrorists. You can see that hasn't worked. In fact, we've spent billions on bogus "safety" since 2001, not including time wasted at airports going through "security" that is consistently eluded and is staffed by low-wage, understaffed TSA workers. Read More Army Imprisons Soldier for Singing Against Stop-Loss Policy by: Dahr Jamail, t r u t h o u t | Report Army Specialist and Iraq war veteran Marc Hall was incarcerated by the US Army on December 11, 2009, in Liberty County Jail, Georgia, for recording a song that expresses his anger over the Army's stop-loss policy. Stop-loss is a policy that allows the Army to keep soldiers active beyond the end of their signed contracts. According to the Pentagon, more than 120,000 soldiers have been affected by stop-loss since 2001, and currently 13,000 soldiers are serving under stop-loss orders. Hall, (aka hip hop artist Marc Watercus), who is in the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, was placed in Liberty County Jail for the song (click here to listen to "Stop-Loss," by Marc Watercus), in which he angrily denounces the continuing policy that has barred him from exiting the military. Read More	Sign up to have News That Matters Delivered to your email inbox! Email: News That Matters on Facebook Support Our Sponsors TaconicArts.com Interior/Exterior House Painting by someone you can trust. (845) 225-2104 jeff@taconicarts.com Brown Ink Commercial Printing 600 Horsepound Road, Kent Lakes, NY 10512 (845) 225-0177 Greg Brown Joe Greico's Out On A Limb All types of tree work, all aspects of lawn maintenance, snow plowing, lot clearing, excavation, retaining walls, stump grinding. 82 Hortontown Rd. Kent Cliffs, NY 10512 greico@verizon.net T- (914)224-3049 F- (845)231-0815
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