Gimme rewrite!

Two headlines in the Friday print edition that the Press Republican wishes it had back:
First,
Area student falls short at National Bee
Sheesh, Leo Lee just misses making the national semifinals (and getting some face time on ESPN), he's only in sixth grade, and the hed makes him sound like a disappointment. Any idea how hard it is to get as far as he did? Give the kid a break. Heck, give him a medal. (Besides, "Area student..." ventures dangerously into Onion territory.)
Then there was this one, about the Denver basketball coach:
Karl won't rein in his Nuggets
Eewww.

ht/tg

Hatin' on the city

It's always cheap when upstate pols do it, especially since New York City taxes pay for just about everything up here (despite local conventional wisdom), but Janet Duprey goes blue-light special with this:

Over the past few days, I have received several phone calls from people upset and/or confused about automatic "robo" calls they received asking them to call my District Office. I want to correct what I have been advised is misleading information on a recent vote I took on the New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) bailout. The implication is that I voted against jobs in the North Country by voting against this bailout.
Let me assure you that I have been and will continue to be a supporter of Bombardier, Nova Bus and their subsidiary companies providing subway cars and buses for New York City. My vote against the atrocities in the bailout bill will not affect the ability of these companies to compete on competitive and non-competitive bids for MTA contracts. For the Democrat Assembly Campaign Committee to suggest otherwise via robo calls is disingenuous.

Let's start with terminology. She calls it the "Democrat Assembly Campaign Committee." It's actually the "Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee." She's using the time-honored Limbaugh trick of using the word "Democrat" instead of "Democratic" in titles because political advisers like this guy think the "rat" sound at the end is ugly to voters' ears. It's so seventh grade. Also, "atrocities" is a word that should be reserved for war crimes, or irony, neither of which apply here.
There's a little logic problem, too. I'm sure she has been and will be a supporter of Bombardier and Nova Bus. But how does crippling the agency that purchases subway cars and buses lead to new purchases of such products? It doesn't. Bottom line is, a broke MTA means one less giant customer for the companies' wares. It's dishonest not to admit that.
The really irksome thing about the article, though, was this:

"..the Assembly voted to implement various fees and taxes on the people living within seven counties surrounding New York City to reduce the projected fare increases on city buses, subways and bridges. I hasten to point out that many of the people living and working in these seven counties seldom, if ever, use the various means of transportation in NYC. For instance, less than 2 percent of the MTA's ridership board trains in Orange County."

That last statistic is absolutely ludicrous. There are 11 million MTA riders. Using Duprey's number (which I'm skeptical of), two percent of that ridership would mean 220,000 people take the trains from OC on a daily basis. Orange County has an estimated 380,000 people, total. That sounds like a majority of Orange County residents use the train. In any case, those in Orange County who don't take the train benefit from less auto congestion, and cleaner air, thanks to those who do ride the rails.
And while the MTA definitely needs more financial scrutiny, I never heard Duprey in high dudgeon over this $800,000 "transportation" project, which transports nobody anywhere, and which a majority of Clinton County residents, let alone residents of any other county in the state, never uses at all.
There were plenty of honorable ways of defending her vote. Duprey didn't need to resort to cheap shots and head fakes.

Anti-gay robot

A digitized voice identifying itself as Brian Brown called from the National Organization for Marriage to poll me, asking if I agreed that New York State should ensure that marriage is between a man and a woman. I answered, "No," and the robot hung up. God help us all if these machines ever become self-aware.

Aaarrgh!

How I learned to love some losers, or stuff I wrote about the Pittsburgh Pirates, here and here.

Gillbrand on board

This is encouraging: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand sounds like a forceful advocate for more and better passenger rail to the North Country.

Gillibrand said a bill re-authorizing funding for transportation projects is being negotiated now, and rail service is a high priority.
"We want to advocate for some of our projects to be part of that bill. High-speed rail that would come straight up through the North Country to Montreal and straight west all the way to Niagara; that kind of investment is extremely exciting," she said. "We also want to do local rail. If we could have local rail, we could open up tourism opportunities."

This is exactly right. It would also open up telecommuting opportunities, making it easier for people whose employers are based in Albany or New York City to extend the tether. On top of that, Plattsburgh already has a toehold in the growing mass-transit industry, and Gillibrand recognizes that better than some locals.
Best of all, she's not afraid of using government to do things for communities, a la her old mentor, Senator Pothole.

The senator also told Plattsburgh Mayor Donald Kasprzak that she would support efforts to secure funding for the city to close an old landfill, build a new water storage unit and fight the drug war. "It must be difficult having people asking you for money all the time," Kasprzak said.
"It's not. Especially if I can get it," Gillibrand responded with a smile.

Michael Jordan or LeBron James?

Who's better in his first six NBA seasons?
We decide, so you don't have to, on ESPN Insider. Subscribe today!

Swords to car shares

A former Nazi military base cuts back on the automobile. That's change Plattsburgh can believe in! Maybe the Saranac River Trail is a local start down a path to more car-free roads.
h/t CB

The greatest letter to the editor ever

Been working a bit, and a bit behind. But I've been itching to put this up, because... well, just read and learn:

Empirical evidence
TO THE EDITOR: Janet Duprey is wrong. This is an equal-rights issue, not a civil-rights violation or deprivation. She's confused by her own admission. Do we allow the condemnation of others to suddenly influence our decision-making processes? What basis/fact does she rely on to determine that she can support gay marriage/civil union law? None!

Two opposites attract and stand side by side, equal, not separated, always, fact. Two same men opposite another two same women equal four sames. They're already together and that makes them equal to one another not opposite the other equal, ever, fact. Two separate same sexes men/women together (not possible) verses one set of opposites that equals four against one, five against one, three against one and one half against one, something other than any of them? Which is it, could it be all of them?

Confusion. Even turning the sames 180 degrees just to separate them, allowing them to stand side by side, is not equal. Get out six magnets if you don't believe this. The equalibrium is disturbed forever. The laws of gravity prove the confusion. Everything is already equal. A united woman and man allowed this procreated fact, but the woman bore this fact. I'm her equal when I'm united with another of her equal procreated self. Until then I remain her opposite.

David Lapier

Plattsburgh

Salary crap

More than I ever wanted to write about the potential demise of the NFL salary cap, here, on ESPN Insider. Subscribe today!

Principal skinned

Give the Plattsburgh city school board this much: It put the excitement back in bureaucracy. After the school superintendent recommended Plattsburgh High School Principal John Fairchild for tenure, the board last month shot him down, 5-4, in the first vote of a two-step process (if the superintendent recommends, the board has to vote twice not to grant tenure--confused? You're not alone). Anyway, a huge outcry ensued. The supposedly apathetic modern teens of today staged a walkout on behalf of their principal. The Press-Republican's letters section drowned in pro-principal sentiment. Pro-Fairchild parents and students packed two subsequent school board meetings, producing this damn-I-wish-I-coulda-been-there moment:

Another senior, Kyle Maggy, chastised board members for what he perceived was a lack of focus and respect.
"I noticed board members seem more concerned with computers while people are speaking than listening," said Maggy, who requested that the board members shut down their computers while people were talking and pay attention.

I have no idea whether there was a good reason to deny Fairchild tenure. By law, board members are not supposed to publicly discuss personnel matters. There is literally no telling what motivated them. But Fairchild's supporters came up with plenty of reasons to keep him, like decreased dropout rates and improved teacher morale. Despite an overwhelming public show of support, the school board voted not to renew him again last night. This count was 4-4.

Voting no were Patricia Bentley, Dr. John Gallagher, Clayton Morris and Kevin Richardson, while Leisa Boise, Dr. Richard Robbins, Steven Sullivan and Fred Wachtmeister voted yes.

None of those votes changed from the first go-round on March 26. But one vote went missing. Who was that? Brian Herkalo. Let's assume he had a good excuse not to be there. Otherwise, it's a profile in cowardice.
By the way, many of the students at Plattsburgh High wore black today.