Opinion

The Fresh Air Fund looks forward to celebrating National Volunteer Week every year. I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to our inspiring volunteers, hosts and supporters in the New York Lakes region. Their continued dedication to our New York City children is exemplary and truly embodies the spirit of National Volunteer Week, which is from April 23 to 29 this year.

This past summer, the expected closure of the FitzPatrick nuclear facility in Scriba was avoided. All 615 jobs were saved as a result of strong interventions by Governor Andrew Cuomo and his staff. Now, after all of this, New York State Assembly members (and some Senators) from the Downstate New York City and Long Island area are basically saying: “FOUL! We had no say in this!”

My name is Rachel LeVea. I am 17 years old and I am a 12th grade student at G.Ray Bodley High School. Nearly 10 percent of Americans in my age range are already smokers. Furthermore, 5.6 million Americans under age 18 will die early due to a smoking-related illness. On Kick Butts Day, I will declare that I will not be included in either of those statistics.

Last November at the city of Fulton budget public hearing I spoke. I said, “Zero tax increase. I can’t say anything bad about it and it seems to be great, but I will hold off on saying it’s great until next year and see how much you (CC) bond during the year. If you don’t bond anything then I will say it is a great budget” Well it didn’t take long to move what seemed to be great into the classification of “Fake Budgeting.”

Frank Castiglia would have the good people, who read his letters to the editor, believe that he has once again, and single-handedly, uncovered corruption and deceit within county government. Specifically, in his remarks dated February 13, 2017, that I recently read online at OswegoCountyToday.com. I would like to concentrate on the main point that Frank seems to be trying to make; whereby he has done a good job of creating “Fake News” himself, by insinuating an underhanded or shady deal is afoot.

I wonder if the attendees of the CC meeting that applauded the decision by the mayor and CC of the city of Fulton not to pursue the possibility of doing a feasibility study will be applauding with the very big possibility of losing state aid. The mayor has said how much money we could lose in state aid by dissolving. The feasibility study would have only said if dissolving was feasible.

Success…..one can at a time. I am a little behind in getting this thank you out, yet I can assure you that it has not left my thoughts. Life simply caught up after the holidays and I am now able to sit down and completely enjoy these next few minutes. I approached the Tops Supermarket in Fulton and manager Jim Monohan about running a second annual can drive to benefit Catholic Charities and the need for veggies in their holiday baskets.

We all remember that game when we were kids. Hide and Seek is played in government as you all know. I feel a need to let you know just how I found the most recent hidden item. Recently, the 911 Center requested an update to the Pictometry System. The costs of the update (that may be outdated one month after being done) is $198,000.

There are many reasons why it’s a bad idea to encourage kids to hurt and kill animals for fun (“Hunting, Fishing Education Has Place in Our Schools,” January 23). Hunting has driven numerous species to extinction or endangered status. The money generated by hunters’ license fees and other expenditures often benefits only the hunters themselves.