As the school year winds down, students are gearing up for what is often thought to be one of the highlights of high school, prom. While prom can be a great deal of fun, it’s so important that students know that in order to have a great time, they need to make safety a priority.
New York state has the unfortunate distinction of being a high cost of living state and when it comes to auto insurance, New York lives up to its reputation. Our auto insurance rates are among the highest in the nation. Although there are several reasons for our high rates, fraud plays a large part.
Because our parks are such important natural resources, it’s so important that we protect them and keep them pristine. That’s the goal of the third annual “I Love My Park Day,” a statewide event taking place on May 3 that aims to improve and enhance New York’s state parks and historic sites.
Library use has increased across the state. According to some of New York State Library’s latest statistics, visits to public libraries increased by seven million from 113 million to 120 million from 2007 to 2009. The number of items borrowed – books, ebooks, movies, magazines and more – has increased by more than 11%.
“Ethics reform” has been a buzz phrase heard in Albany and around the state a lot over the last few years and for good reason. Lately, there have been several high profile cases of wrongdoing by state officials. However, as is often the case in state politics, what is meant by “ethics reform” depends who is providing the rhetoric.
In an effort to recognize teachers who go above and beyond to help their students succeed, I will once again be honoring educators with my “Golden Apple” Award for Teaching Excellence. Last year, I was able to honor more than 40 educators from Oswego, Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties with this special program.
With the passage of the new State Budget comes a wide variety of changes aimed at creating new opportunities that will enable all New Yorkers to continue moving forward. Last week, I brought you news that my Young Farmers NY plan, aimed at encouraging more young people to enter careers in the agriculture industry, was included in the state’s new spending plan.
The 2014-15 New York state budget passed again on time for the fourth year in a row and we kept state operating spending at under 2% growth. The $137.9 billion spending plan contains some good news for New Yorkers but did fall short on other aspects.
Snow and cold aside, March is a “sweet” month. That’s because of “Maple Weekend,” an annual celebration held to promote New York’s maple industry. With 2.2 million taps, our state is the nation’s second largest maple producer with plenty of room for growth.
According to the most recent statistics I could find, in 2012, more than 600,000 children in the United States and Puerto Rico were victims of child abuse and more than 1,500 children died as a result of abuse or neglect. Even more tragic, these are only reported cases of abuse and neglect.
All Content Copyright Dot Publishing 2024. All Submissions Become Property of Dot Publishing All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.