| 
"I used to wake up at 4 A.M. and start sneezing, sometimes for five hours. I tried to find out what sort of allergy I had but finally came to the conclusion that it must be an allergy to consciousness." - James Thurber
 Good Monday Morning,
I hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend, and that those who lost power last night after the storms came through have the lights back on again. I'd also like to thank the Schreiber's for their hospitality and to Arts on the Lake for the wonderful "Project Mercury" show on Saturday night (see image) and I'm looking forward to the Cabaret show coming this weekend with Nancy Johnston and Doug Coates.
The state has declared an "air action" day for today and tomorrow. This means, don't use your car and don't pollute and stay in the cool, indoors if you can. Temps are supposed to reach 96 by this afternoon with a heat index of between 100-104 degrees.If you know of anyone who is susceptible to this kind of heat or even think you do, check in on them from time to time. Heat waves kill - so be aware.
Those Lalor campaign signs. Okay, maybe I'm wrong, but don't most towns have rules about this form of visual pollution? Those signs have been littering the side of our roadways since before the school board elections in May and are still up today. Most municipalities have a set fine - per day - for violations of these laws and I urge towns within earshot to start charging those fines to the Lalor campaign. If the guy wants to be in Congress, the very least he can do is respect the voters. Those signs must go.
Don't forget that the Galef/Suozzi Sideshow Circus comes to Putnam Valley High School tonight at 7PM. Come on out and ask them why they've let the rich slide yet again. Demand a permanent solution, not the half-baked, politically easy schemes of caps and circuit breakers they've come up with instead.
I'm finally legal. No, I have my papers and a social security number so Assemblyman Ball can relax and call off the ICE agents. But as most of you know I dabble in house painting for a meager living in-between putting out this daily column. (There's a self-serving hint in there somewhere...)
In order to legally work in Putnam County I had to go through a process of becoming licensed and the total cost of that ran to almost $1200. Yes sir, that is a lot of money. And, what do I get for it? I get a nifty certificate and a card for my wallet and the county gets a lot. In other words, I get bupkis.
I don't get my name or business listed in a county-wide directory of licensed artisans, I don't get access to group health insurance. I don't get any financial assistance or business help from the county. In short, the only thing I do get is, well, that certificate and a card.
Here's what the process entails: I have to file papers with the county for which there is a $250 filing fee. I have to carry a cash bond for $25,000 which also costs around $250. I then have to carry a million dollar liability insurance policy naming the county on the policy at a cost of more than $600. Add all that up and the small businessman is already saddled with high costs before he can put his brush to wood. And if I'm one guy doing side-jobs or a major corporation the county fees are the same. That's clearly not fair and it's also clear the county is helping balance its budget on the backs of independent small businesses. $250? For what? Then let's talk about the cost of workers compensation...
Let's say I want to charge you $35 an hour for my labor and that of a helper. It's not much, cheap in fact, in this business. Once I add workman's comp my helper's ten dollar an hour salary is raised almost 60% after adding in the portion of taxes I have to pay as his employer including the workman's comp portion. Now I'm billing you more than $40 an hour. Now let's add my taxes and state mandates to that and my affordable $35 an hour combined labor rate comes in closer to $50 and I'm out of business. What homeowner can afford that? An easy whole house paint job might cost $6000. Now add in all the taxes and the workman's comp and that job may now run upwards of $8000. Imagine what the cost would be if I wanted to carry health insurance?
Taking everything in context and everything together it's no wonder there are so few licensed and insured contract workers out there. So I propose the following:
If the county is going to require all these registrations and high fees, then let's offer workers and their employers something out of it. What about opening the county's health insurance plan to those who register? Why not allow licensees to purchase their liability insurance and bonds directly through the county thus dramatically lowering costs? Why not produce a twice-yearly list of licensees that would be sent to every resident in the county? Can you think of a better way to "Shop Putnam" than by doing business with your neighbors? Is there something wrong with the county placing its resources into supporting its local home-grown business?
I understand why the county would like to see contract workers licensed. I do, honest. But at the same time the process and the costs for the little guy are exorbitant and we get nothing for it while the county, insurers and bond agencies rake in the bucks. There's something inherently wrong with this system and I urge the County Legislature to take make changes that are fair, that charge based on income or the size of the company, that favor Putnam residents over those from out-of-county and that encourage registration rather than discourage it.
--
And now, the news:
- Putnam Lake's future and improvements discussed
- Ball political ads an offense to vets
- Average Shoppers Are Willing To Pay A Premium For Locally Produced Food
- Geothermal energy system touted
- UK to give waterless washing machine a spin
- We should pay to drive, get mass transit for free
- Paying the piper: Higher gasoline prices will change the way Americans live, work and play
Putnam Lake's future and improvements discussed Michael Risinit
The Journal News
PUTNAM LAKE - A 1970s effort to abolish the Putnam Lake Community Council and establish a special taxing district around the lake to raise funds for maintenance pitted neighbor against neighbor, resident Henry Zemsky recently recalled.
Zemsky said a trip to the deli found neighbors degrading each other with epithets. Then, like now, the drive for forming a park district was driven by perception, he said.
"It was the same issue," said Zemsky, a former head of the Putnam Lake Community Council. "The perception was (the council) was a little group doing what they want to do."
Forming a park district today is part of the continuing debate taking place about the lake, its present condition and its future. Both pro-district forces and status-quo advocates point to the recent proposal of placing a cell-phone tower on the lake's shore as the spark. The council signed a lease last year with Wireless Edge of New Rochelle to build a 130-foot tower near the lake's south end. The subsequent public hearings and discussions brought out hundreds of opponents who felt the tower would mar their lake shore.
Read More
Ball political ads an offense to vets As veterans, we were greatly disturbed to see recent paid political ads by Assemblyman Greg Ball, R-Carmel, appearing in regional newspapers. They showed Mr. Ball in his Air Force dress uniform saluting at a ceremony in Arlington National Cemetery. As your readers are aware, Arlington National Cemetery is a sacred burial ground to all Americans and should never be used as a backdrop for a political campaign.
The insult does not stop there - Mr. Ball went further, apparently computer-enhancing his name tag to make name recognition possible.
To some, these things may seem unimportant, but to combat veterans, these are cynical political tricks that are insulting to those who served. Shame on Mr. Ball.
Arthur Hanley
Southeast
The letter was also signed by John Folchetti of Patterson and Denis Castelli of Southeast. The writers are veterans of war, respectively, of Vietnam, Desert Storm and Vietnam.
Read Original
Average Shoppers Are Willing To Pay A Premium For Locally Produced Food ScienceDaily (Jun. 8, 2008) — New research suggests that the average supermarket shopper is willing to pay a premium price for locally produced foods, providing some farmers an attractive option to enter a niche market that could boost their revenues. The study also showed that shoppers at farm markets are willing to pay almost twice as much extra as retail grocery shoppers for the same locally produced foods. Both kinds of shoppers also will pay more for guaranteed fresh produce and tend to favor buying food produced by small farms over what they perceive as corporate operations, according to the study. “Our conclusion is that if a farmer wants to consider producing food for local distribution and marketing it locally, there are people who are willing to pay more for it,” said Marvin Batte, a co-author of the study and the Fred N. VanBuren professor of agricultural, environmental and development economics at Ohio State University. “We are not saying that we should be producing all of our foods locally, just that this may be a viable, profitable activity for farmers.”
Read More
Geothermal energy system touted 'Green' solutions are forum focus
By Christine Pizzuti
Poughkeepsie Journal
GARDINER - Ruth and Robert Scott made changes to their Town of Newburgh home in 1984 so they could use natural gas. Now, with those prices climbing, the Scotts once again find themselves on the edge of eco-friendly energy solutions that could keep some green in their wallets.
The retired couple attended a geothermal energy workshop Sunday at the visitors' center of the Mohonk Preserve, which is celebrating its 10th year as a nationally recognized Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, facility.
The workshop was hosted by certified geothermal engineer Charles Lazin, president of Altren, an alternative renewable energy group, who talked about how geothermal pumps can eliminate oil bills by bringing heat and cool air into the home using the natural energy available in the Earth's heat.
Read More
UK to give waterless washing machine a spin Mon Jun 9, 2008 5:22am EDT
LONDON (Reuters) - A washing machine using as little as a cup of water for each washing cycle could go on sale to environmentally conscious Britons next year.
Xeros Ltd, which has been spun out of the University of Leeds to commercialize the technology, said on Monday the new machines would use less than 2 percent of the water and energy of a conventional washing machine.
Plastic chips are used to remove dirt and stains from clothes, leaving them dry and reducing energy consumption as there is no need to use a dryer after the washing cycle, Xeros said in a statement.
Read More
We should pay to drive, get mass transit for free Why does our government force us to pay to use mass transit, but let us drive on the roads for free, subsidized by the government?
Nobody should be charged money to use environmentally friendly mass transit, which minimizes air pollution and damage to the roads, and which builds and preserves neighborhoods instead of growing strip malls and urban sprawl. That's backward. Instead, there should be a stiff fee every time a driver fires up the gas-wasting SUV or minivan.
In our governor's relentless campaign advertising, he keeps telling us this election is about the choice to move forward or go back to the past. Maybe it is. But he says his way is the future, and that's backward too. This administration has blown our budget and sold off much of our state to pay for I-69 and Major Moves, all of which involve building yet more roads and growing more urban sprawl. An administration that can come up with no transportation ideas more creative than gouging out more of our countryside and laying more concrete represents a past we have to leave behind. The future is in mass transit. And our leaders are ignoring it.
Tom Newby
Indianapolis
Go to Original
Paying the piper: Higher gasoline prices will change the way Americans live, work and play Published: Sunday, June 8, 2008 8:31 AM EDT
The marketplace is doing what the government could not — gotten people to drive more fuel-efficient cars and use public transit.
For years, Americans have been warned that they were too dependant on cheap, imported oil. And for years, efforts to impose higher gasoline taxes as a way of getting people to conserve (and to help fund road and bridge work) were roundly rejected. Likewise, calls to increase the mileage of cars and trucks were ignored. When it came to their cars and trucks, Americans liked them big and inefficient.
But now that the price of gasoline has topped $4 a gallon, Americans finally have gotten the message.
Sales of gas-guzzling SUVs and trucks have plummeted, as witnessed by General Motors decision to close four pickup truck and sport utility vehicle factories, while at the same time announcing a new small car that could get 45 miles per gallon.
Read More
| |
