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- Yesterday
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With it being so dry so soon, I think we are in for another crappy year for gardens and growing anything in general.
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Full examination and all of it made public. I wouldn't trust the foxes to tell us everything is all fine in the henhouse.
- Last week
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Valid comparison..... There is a small handful of non-profit organizations seem to have enormous control over a lot of financial matters in the County. And there is a good amount of “cross-over” with many of the same businesses and individuals having seats on those various (unelected) Boards of Directors (CCIDA, STEG, even the Chamber of Commerce, etc). That's why there needs to be a full examination and accountability on the finances. It really isn’t a far stretch to believe some of these entities, given free rein, could have incentives to discourage growth and prosperity in some sectors. While some of those business interests have changed over the years, there’s been a rumor floating since the 1950’s that a few such influential Boards and “community leaders” were instrumental in preventing Ford Motors from opening a plant in Elmira.....due to fears of potential competition that may force them to raise wages/benefits for their own workforces.
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lesliesch joined the community
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JustAGuy joined the community
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The IDA is nothing but a public mafia operation at this juncture. The arena has always been a hilarious operation to me. Every politician associated with this place always got out at just the right time. Whether it be the two original kingpins Hughes and Iraci or Tom Santulli to even that clown Mike Krusen. He was better off losing the county executive race but had he wn they probably would have found a way to sweep this place under the rug. I always laughed at the public hate they forced on the Afrs. I'm not saying the Afrs were saints by any juncture but it's funny to me that ever since itcame under local control its no different then when they ran the show. Except at least the Afrs gave us hockey and usually good hockey at that. Now you're lucky if in a given year there will be hockey. I always fund it puzzling how Tom Freeman got a pass from the community. People said that guy was a billionaire. If that's true he's no different than any other billionaire nationally orglobally. Surewecould blame Afr but you have to blame the politicians and IDA. They all made the deal. It wasn't until this joint ended up in court that anybody found out who actually owned it. The IDA has always owned it and never paid a dime. I remember when Freeman got it and they decided to have the hockey team be a community entity only it was pure bullshit. The community responsible was nothing more than 20 "business" people who were nothing more than buddies of the chamber of commerce. Dudes who had no business running a hockey team and knew very little about it. Ask me how I know...let's just say I was related to one. It was never really revealed how Freeman got rid of it all other then everything ended up with the county. The dog and pony show later like 2 or 3 years. Then it was the spring of the year emperor Santuli was retiring. Allegedly they had a buyer. To the point of a press conference and a name drop and media attention. Then a month or so later it's like it never happened and we never found out why. Back to square one. They kept telling us they didn't want to be in the arena business. Yet here's are they don't wanna sell it and they want whoever buys it to buy it with sll the debt racked up by every other owner. I remember when they were first touting selling this joint. They said they had quite a few offers even with those who have NHL experience yet it's like 6 or 7 years later and no sales even close. They had someone running it. They just can't be happy. These guys were doing better than Robbie but it didn't even matter. This place us a classic example of your local government claiming they care about you yet they do the same thing the non local guy was doing from day one. Once all the local politicians were on the let's get rid of Afr train I knew the jig was up and I jumped sides on that. If you were a fan back in the day I think you would share the sentiment of I would take the years of Afr running the building back in a heartbeat. Yes the arena was in ruins but let's not act like with local care they've ever improved shot. Classic case of we were all better off not knowing the inside info on this place.
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I'm not too optimistic. They have that ARP money burning a hole in their pocket, and history is proven they love to throw good money after bad. They can't help themselves when it comes to this place. I don't mean to sound so pessimistic, but I'm sick and tired of this place failing over and over and over.
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Back to Square One should entail a full, transparent and publicly accessible audit and historical accounting of annual costs to taxpayers before the CCIDA makes any more decisions......and before any further funds are paid by the Legislature/Exec (including a hold on any currently approved ARP funds that have not been disbursed yet). There have been a lot of costs over the years – some more widely publicized than others. Here are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head: It was in the news in 1999 when the County Legislature forked over more than $1 million. Later, the CCIDA purchased the building for $3.5 million (including $1M allocated from Casella grant contributions). A large chunk of the County Room tax goes straight to the IDA for Arena operations every year ($103k for at least the past 10 years - so more than $1 million - and still counting). The nearly $1 million ($375k + $500k) approved from the County ARP funds were a little less public and listed on Minutes/Agendas as “budget transfers” to the CCIDA. None of the Arena owners have ever paid Property taxes (only sewer and special taxes, when they aren’t in arrears). This was even when it was assessed at a $17 million Market Value. That assessment has dropped dramatically over the years (to a low of $1.1 M in 2014, and now back “up” to $2.4M). At the new “depreciated” values of $1-2M....the County, City and School taxes on comparably assessed commercial add up to something like $40-60,000 in lost tax revenue every year, for over two decades. And I’d wager a guess that a full accounting would reveal a few more (hidden costs and expenses) that I’m not even aware have taken place year after year.
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Well great, back to square one with a giant building sitting empty in the middle of downtown.
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Read more at WENY News
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The Mammoth Fan Page saying that Donner moved out. I went by the arena today and noticed there was no lights on the outside advertisement and everything was taken out of the shop.
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Growing A Greener World: "Mason Bee Revolution"
Chris replied to Elmira Telegram's topic in Rural Life
Turns out 125 reed tubes isn’t a whole lot. Didn’t even fill one box, so I improvised and added natural materials: Im gonna hit Hobby Lobby and see if they have something similar, perhaps made of cardboard and cheaper. -
You and I are gonna get along well. I loved it, and have long said it was bad marketing that doomed it. And, it should have been John Carter of Mars. It would have gotten more attention.
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Honestly that John Carter film they did wasn't bad. The problem was the budget was so massive, and that super bowl ad that kicked off the advertising campaign was so awful. -
Elmira Man Charged After Pursuit And Crash In Tioga County
KarenK replied to Elmira Telegram's topic in Local News
I saw some pictures of the house and vehicle posted by the homeowners daughter. The fact that the driver is fine is amazing. Glad no one was home. -
Elmira Man Dies Of Injuries Sustained In Fire
Chris replied to Elmira Telegram's topic in Local News
You can bet on it. -
Fortunately I haven't planted a lot that I can't replace, but I hate to spend yet more money doing so. I still have about a bed and a half completely unplanted still.
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Elmira Man Dies Of Injuries Sustained In Fire
Kevin replied to Elmira Telegram's topic in Local News
I can't think of one much worse. Hopefully his pain was managed with drugs. -
It's supposed to be colder tonight. Mine looks like the survived last night, but I covered them in a nice black plastic for tonight. Hopefully they collect a lot of heat today and survive the night. Luckily I only have about a dozen plants in and the rest are waiting till this weekend or next.
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Yeah I was on the fence about if it was necessary or not. Glad I did, there was definitely a frost here last night.
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"The V Files: The Shocking Legacy Of An 80's Sci-Fi Cult Classic
Chris replied to Elmira Telegram's topic in Pop Culture
I absolutely loved this show in the 80's, but of course didn't quite get the full implications of it until I grew up. The two miniseries were good, although the whole half-breed "star child" plot was stupid. It got even more stupid with the weekly series. I've read the books, including the one based on the screenplay more as Johnson intended. There was also a sequel he wrote that wasn't too shabby either. The 2009 reboot had such potential, but they dropped the ball on it. This article was really interesting, especially as a fan. I had no idea that the Robin we saw on screen wasn't the original actress they intended. -
Elmira Man Dies Of Injuries Sustained In Fire
Chris replied to Elmira Telegram's topic in Local News
Such an awful way to go. -
"The V Files: The Shocking Legacy Of An 80's Sci-Fi Cult Classic
Ann replied to Elmira Telegram's topic in Pop Culture
I remember watching this show and would watch again. -
Area police agencies will increase patrols to combat drunk, impaired, and reckless driving throughout this Memorial Day weekend. According to the New York State Police, the special enforcement period starts on Friday, May 26, 2023, and runs through Tuesday, May 30, 2023. Memorial Day is one of the busiest travel holidays of the year and police will be out in force to remove impaired and reckless drivers from area highways. Drivers can expect to see sobriety checkpoints and increased patrols by State Police and local law enforcement agencies during this holiday weekend. Troopers will be using both marked State Police vehicles and Concealed Identity Traffic Enforcement (CITE) vehicles as part of this crackdown to more easily identify motorists who are violating the law. CITE vehicles allow the Trooper to better observe driving violations. These vehicles blend in with everyday traffic but are unmistakable as emergency vehicles once the emergency lighting is activated. According to the Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research (ITSMR) at the University at Albany, 237 people were killed and 4,394 were injured in drunk driving related crashes in 2022. Another 237 people were killed in drug-related crashes. This initiative is partially funded by the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee (GTSC). The GTSC and the New York State STOP-DWI Foundation remind motorists that their “Have a Plan” mobile app (http://www.stopdwi.org/mobileapp) is available for Apple, Droid and Windows smartphones. The app enables New Yorkers to locate and call a taxi service and program a designated driver list. It also provides information on DWI laws and penalties, and a way to even report a suspected impaired driver. On Memorial Day weekend in 2022, Troopers arrested 213 people for driving while impaired, issued 13,688 total tickets, and investigated 808 crashes, which resulted in four fatalities. -
On Wednesday afternoon at approximately 3:15 p.m., New York State Police arrested 31 year old Travis S. Fedock of Elmira after a pursuit in Tioga County. According to New York State Police, a state trooper attempted to initiate a traffic stop after observing vehicle and traffic violations while in the village of Wavery. Fedock allegedly failed to comply and continued traveling out of the village on State Route 34. Fedock exited the roadway, went airborne and struck a front porch roof of a residence on State Route 34. The vehicle rolled off the roof and ended up on its roof on the front lawn. Fedock took off on foot and was taken into taken into custody by the Trooper. No injuries were reported. Fedock was transported to SP Owego where he was processed and then transported to the Tioga County Jail for Centralized Arraignment and Processing. He was charged with: Reckless Endangerment in the first degree, class “D” felony Fleeing an Officer in a Motor vehicle, misdemeanor Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the fourth degree, misdemeanor Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the seventh degree, misdemeanor
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On Wednesday afternoon, a Chemung County Sheriff's deputy on patrol in the Town of Southport noted a large amount of smoke coming from the area of South Main Street near the Southern Tier Logistics building. At the same time, fire companies were being dispatched to the same location for a structure fire and burn victim. The deputy responded immediately to offer assistance to the burn victim as well as responding fire departments. When emergency crews arrived, they found 55 year old Thomas Byrnes in the parking lot with burns described as covering a majority of his body. An employee was with Mr. Byrnes waiting for help to arrive. According to the sheriff's department, Byrnes ran TJ's Ultimate Auto Repair in a separate building from the Logistics property. When emergency crews arrived, Mr. Byrnes was conscious and alert, and was airlifted to a medical burn unit in Syracuse by Guthrie Air. However Mr. Byrnes later died as a result of his injuries. The fire remains under investigation and the sheriff's office is working in conjunction with the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and the Chemung County Fire Coordinator's office to try and determine the cause of the fire. Multiple agencies responded to the fire, including Southport Fire Department, Elmira Fire Department, Webb Mills Fire Department, Elmira Heights Fire Department. In addition to the Chemung County Sheriff's Department, Elmira Police, New York State Police, Erway Ambulance and Guthrie Air Helicopter were on scene.
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Read the rest of this article ( should be a freebie ) here.
