Breaking News

Viewpoints

‘Governor And Allies Caught Circling The Wagons’

Albany at the moment may best be described by a few lines from All The President’s Men, “It leads everywhere. Get out your notebook. There’s more.” In fact, there was a lot more at the State Capitol last Thursday night when reporters from the New York Post dropped a bombshell scoop detailing a secret virtual meeting of top legislative Democrats and members of Governor Cuomo’s inner circle. The Post obtained an audio recording of the Democrats-only meeting and the story quotes one of the governor’s top aides, Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa, admitting that the ...

Warner Dam Repairs

As you drive over the Washington Street Bridge these days, you no longer see the big crane that was visible for much of the summer and fall. It was being used to assist in the repairs which now seem to be completed at the Warner Dam — though there is still construction fencing around the location. It seems that the job of the crane was two-fold: ¯ to lift and then replace the control gates as they were repaired, and ¯ to drive pilings that acted as coffer dams to allow access to the gates themselves. I was unsuccessful in my attempts at getting construction and repair ...

Ashes Of Hope And Life

“For you are dust, and to dust, you shall return.” Genesis 3:19 I have a rather eclectic history in churches — I’ve been to Baptist services, ecumenical services, a Catholic mass, as well as nondenominational church services. But I’ve probably told you that before, dear readers. The Body of Christ is a beautiful, living organism filled with diversity in belief, creed, and tradition. I feel as though I am like a magpie, holding onto all the beautiful things I have experienced from each denomination. The ebb and flow of liturgy — which someone once told me meant “the ...

We Deserve To Hear The Proof

An impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate is upon us, and constitutional questions arise. One is whether the chief justice must preside when a former president is being tried. Another is whether an impeachment trial may take place after the person being tried has left office. To answer both questions, let’s see what the U.S. Constitution says about impeachment and impeachment trials: ¯ Under Article I, Section 2, Clause 5, “The House of Representatives ... shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.” ¯ Under Article I, Section 3, Clause 6, “The Senate shall have the sole ...

Finding The Right Words

I’ve been trying to find the right words, my friends. To make everything make sense. To try to bring healing and reconciliation to our hearts, our homes, and our sorely divided nation. I’ve been praying for the right words to speak hope and life into a situation in which many of us only see doubt and darkness. But it came to me just now — Jesus has already spoken the right words. We don’t have to go very far to find them. He said “It is finished.” He said “Love your neighbor as yourself.” He said “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and ...

Our Winter Game: The Mouse, The House

Field mice like loose houses. Every autumn, they squeeze through the gaps in the plank walls of our farmhouse, which was probably built before the Civil War. Inside, the mice find shelter in the ancient crawl space attic and also between the lath-and-plaster ceilings and the (relatively) newer dropped, tiled ceilings. It’s a pretty good life for the mice, good enough to entice them to breed more mice. I do my best to see that each mouse’s good life ends with one bad day. So far this season, 14 of them have had those bad days. It might be perverse to keep track of the number ...