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The voluntarily homeless could alleviate a lot of the problem if some of them were willing to do this: There are numerous programs (aside from temporary shelters) that provide housing, assist with job placement, offer mental health and substance abuse help, and assist in applying for public assistance services. The recipients of those services just need to be willing to follow rules and put at least some effort into behaving like a civilized human beings. I've known far too many people facing "hard times" (including myself). There is help. New York State is abundant with help. But it's not (and shouldn't be) unconditional help. Whether the "hard times" are partially due uncontrollable circumstances, or purely from poor choices.....making more poor choices will never improve the situation. Not accepting help because one refuses to agree to the "conditions" (basic human behavior, in a civilized environment) is a choice. Well, just off the top of my head....I don’t dump trash and noxious waste into the river every day as a lifestyle. Instead I reuse/recycle whatever possible, and properly dispose of other trash. And whenever I can, I also make an effort pick up trash that people with no respect toss on roads and other public places. OH...And when a horrific fire breaks out, I don't make wild false accusations about local government "burning" stuff.

not much any County Legislator can do. you and as many neighbors you can muster, need to show up to meetings, with facts and numbers, and put those you all feel are in need of replacement on record for their positions. Once you have this, you can also choose candidates to replace them, and work hard at it, do not take one vote for granted. may not happen first election cycle, learn from it and plan for the following

Americans are arguing right now. And believe me, I get it. There is a lot going on. Everyone has differences of opinion. But I wondered if we Americans couldn’t put aside our disagreements for a moment, and agree on a few things we love. I’ll start. I love quilting. Quilting bees, quilting circles, quilting parties. Americans didn’t invent quilting, but it’s an American artform nonetheless. I used to watch my mother quilt with dogged persistence. Day after day. Month after month. She used birch-wood quilting hoops, and pieced recycled fabric together. She could take seemingly unrelated scraps and make art. My mother always said, “When life gives you scraps, you make a quilt.” Also, I love jazz. American fiddle tunes. And the way New Orleans smells on a summer morning, after tourists have spent all night urinating in the streets. Stetson hats worn non-ironically. Case knives, butter yellow, dual blades. Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly. Shemp is okay. The old men in cafes who still drink coffee in groups. And the young men who still idolize them. Boys who still ask Santa Claus for BB guns. And their little sisters, who steal their GI Joes because Barbie needs a viable love interest. Kids who still ride bikes. Children who play tag in their backyards, screaming and laughing, without ever once checking their phones. I love Waffle House. An American institution. Yes, I realize eggs are expensive right now, raising the cost of an ordinary omelette to about the same price as a Range Rover Autograph. But I will continue to eat Waffle House fare until my end. Namely, because I have eaten at Waffle House to benchmark the most important moments in my life. I ate at Waffle House the morning after my own wedding. After the funerals of friends and family. God willing, I will eat at Waffle House the day after my own funeral. I love baseball. Not just the game itself. I love the culture. I love how baseball terminology has crept into everyday vocabulary. “Just touching base.” “I’ll go to bat for you.” “He’s out in left field.” “You knocked it out of the park.” I miss the grungy AAA ballparks of youth. The smells of flat beer, cigar smoke, and meat-like rubber served on a hotdog bun. Back when the game was slow, and pitchers still batted. Davy Crockett. Louis Armstrong. Helen Keller. Dorothea Lange. Aretha Franklin. Andy Griffith. Groucho Marx. Lucille Ball. Laura Ingalls Wilder. Dolly Parton. Willie Hugh Nelson. And I love you. Whoever you are. In fact you’re what I like most about America. You’re a great person. No matter how different we might be. No matter how we might disagree. No matter how dissimilar our backgrounds. Maybe I am foolish enough to believe that, even though we appear differently, think differently, and believe differently, it is contrast that makes the scraps of a quilt truly beautiful. Sean Dietrich is a columnist, novelist, podcaster, and stand-up storyteller known for his commentary on life in the American South. His work has appeared in Newsweek, Southern Living, Reader's Digest, Garden and Gun, The Tallahassee Democrat, the Birmingham News, and his column is syndicated in newspapers throughout the U.S. He has authored fifteen books, and he makes appearances on the Grand Ole Opry. To learn more about Sean, visit his website at https://seandietrich.com

This will sound bad but: if you are going to throw unknown liquids at people bringing you food, go without a meal until you can act like a human being. If you start a fire in your cell put it out or you suffer the consequences. If you do something to yourself out of temper or spite, that’s on you, deal with the consequences. Temper tantrums are understandable in children but unacceptable in adults. No excuses, you’re where you are because of choices YOU made, deal with it. Enough is enough.

Centralus sounds like an ED medication

My opinion: The emerging house hunting demographic is Gen Z. Millenials are pretty much established in the housing scene but they can be characterized by the following thoughts too. These generations are not really looking for that white picket fence, that ownership responsibility, the stay at a job for 30+ for the sake of loyalty and the retirement at the end where then they will travel and see the world. These generations are looking for someplace affordable to live in an area that calls to them on a different level. It isn't work/live/play as it was in my parents generation and mine to an extent. But it has become play/live/work. They are looking for areas where they can travel to and enjoy life now. They see the fleetingness of life and want to enjoy all there is to offer. They go to work to have money to spend on the fun. Yes, the needs but mainly they work for the weekend. If they find a location that they love to be at for the "play" then they might decide they want to live there and then find a job to go along with it. Rather than basing where they are going to live on the work they do, they base the work on where they decide to live based on loving to be there. With this in mind, affordable/market rate housing is what they are looking for as a "starter" home. These "kids" (anyone younger than me is a kid. I've gotten old lately) are also carrying with them some crazy college debt. My generation (I JUST make the Gen X generation category and I'm very happy for that) was one that was greatly pushed into college. That was the only way to go and you were throwing your life away if you didn't go (words spoken to me when I chose not to go to college after highschool but instead got married at 19 and started my family). The millenials to follow me and early into the Gen Z generations greatly continued that trend (thankfully the country is waking up to the great need of skilled trade workers). The credit worthiness and generational ties to the community that my fellow legislator aspires to have as a benchmark for how we do housing, simply does not speak to those entering the housing market search. They just want someplace they can lay their head that isn't going to cost them the opportunity to travel. They might not be able (nor want) to go to the bank and get that 30 year mortgage because they have the student loans coming along with them. 30 years ago....wait....that was 1994.....50 years ago, a 30 year mortgage was as much as these kids are carrying with them from college. They also are not looking for housing in the community they grew up in. The generational ties are not a driving force for them. I speak from the standpoint of having 2 children head off to college (they had very specific career goals that aligned with getting a college degree) and while I would love to think maybe my eldest will come back in the next couple years, she and her fiancee are looking at locations all over the country. They are looking for the place they WANT to live based on what it has to offer and then going to find the job. The ties of coming back home are not as strong as they use to be. Travel is easy. Keeping in touch with family is easy. There's no reason to simply come back to the ties because of nostalgia. We as a community have to rethink our approach. We have to build a community that draws people in and gives young adults and families things to DO. Once they find the area attractive, they then have to be able to find those affordable housing areas and fullfilling jobs. If we want our kids to stay/come back, we have to give them a solid reason. Building these affordable housing complexes is not a bad thing. (There are always going to be residents that don't want "X Y or Z in my back yard" no matter what is proposed.) Affordable housing does not mean crime ridden tenants or scum landlords. It can mean quality community members who are wanting to contribute to the area by being productive laborers and volunteers and board members and promoters. Its all about how WE present the community. If we provide the quality community to live in, we will attract the quality relocating neighbors.

CPR certification is just 1 part of being a certified lifeguard. Harris Hill and West Elmira are having issues finding certified lifeguards. It's actually a nationwide issue. They need to be able to know the difference between actual drowning which is quiet and oftentimes hard to see and a kid playing around. The insurance cost for a community pool using volunteers to watch swimmers versus certified lifeguards would be astronomical if they could even find coverage. I have fond memories of going to Brand Park and swimming as a child, but I wish they would hurry up and tear it down so I don't have to hear about it anymore.

My mint almost 3ft

This topic began with thoughtful, reflective questions of how to get more black people involved in their community: It's unfortunate that, in two weeks’ time, it’s transformed into declarations that white privilege is so entrenched in the Twin Tiers (and presumably the entire country according to Rev Jim Wallis)....that black people are helpless in any attempt to elevate themselves. I’m hearing that you believe that white privilege is an immutable condition. That it’s the cause of all problems for all black people? And for someone not to judge others based on race, to not see color as a factor... is a “white trash answer”? It makes me curious why you’d try to brainstorm ideas to improve black communities (or even join an all-white church) looking for solutions, if the problem is insurmountably baked into everyone’s skin color (which none of us have the power to change). Let’s just rewind the whole conversation..... Unless the systemic racism you assert is the root cause of black struggles is somehow escalating over time (rather than being alleviated by the 14th Amendment, the Civil Rights Act, Affirmative Action etc), it doesn’t explain your observation how/why the sense of “community” among blacks has declined. If we want to revisit that discussion of comparing and contrasting various “communities” (past and present --because as I said before, white "communities" have suffered significant decline over the years as well) to identify helpful ideas, then I’ll be happy to weigh in. I really would like to talk about ways to revive lost sense of "community.....but I don't see how a white woman like me in the rural outskirts of the county simply "accepting" the idea that whites are bad will make much progress in getting black people in Elmira more engaged in their communities.

In another topic recently ("Chemung County Asks For Public Input On Future Plans"), I posted some of my thoughts on the Medicaid mandate. Here's the gist of that: We frequently hear local officials lamenting that the NYS (constantly growing) unfunded Medicaid mandates are the costliest burden on the county budget (I believe over 55% of the County’s overall tax levy). The Legislature regularly passes resolutions “urging Albany” to reverse the economic damage these mandates create without more state funding. Obviously imploring Albany to stop the mandates just falls on deaf ears, so we need to find ways to reduce the impact of mandates at the county/local level. Plan for FQHC (one that’s run by effective management – which Arnot has proven not to be) would help alleviate the costs to taxpayers for Medicaid services. Hooray. However, instead of just focusing on ways to reduce the healthcare costs of Medicaid recipients.....it’s just way more logical to reduce the number of Medicaid recipients in the County.....by fostering solid "living wage" job opportunities (particularly at HS/GED education and/or entry levels). With that in mind, why do we allow taxpayers (through tax breaks, incentives, etc) to subsidize businesses that perpetuate the need for Medicaid and other assistance? Why do some elected officials continue to shower praise onto STEG/IDA and other ‘negotiating’ entities for securing deals that “create jobs”.....that are beneath subsistence level, instead of providing fulltime, living wages with health benefits that would bring residents off the Medicaid rolls? The retail/service jobs rarely offer fulltime. Even many employees at some of the “manufacturing” employers in industrial parks around HHDS/Big Flats (Demets Candy, CemeCon, etc) rely heavily on short-term employment and/or hiring through Addecco/Manpower temp agencies with no benefits. Unless it’s doctors, RNs or other positions requiring a degree.....most jobs that Arnot health has posted online at the HS/GED level (CNAs, Patient Asistants, etc) are at or below $16/hr. And if health benefits are offered, it’s often sort of pricey for the wages in question. At $16-17/hr, the majority with any dependents (or single individuals working less than full time) are eligible for Medicaid. So after we've thrown bundles of money at companies to "create jobs", the county still incurs the cost of healthcare for their workers. The economic development agencies like STEG and CCIDA need to be persuaded to recruit businesses that will offer wages/benefits above the Medicaid levels instead of subsistence level or below. Unfortunately, the boards of those agencies have members who are “business leaders” that may not want to face wage competition if they bring some higher paying industry to the area. For example: The CEO of Arnot Health is on the STEG Board of Directors. How would he retain the HS/GED employees currently working for them at $15.50/hr (and likely eligible for Medicaid) if STEG was able to bring a warehouse to the area that would pay $22/hr ?

This right here. Now I can think of THREE candidates who are vocal and, judging by their social media posts, have a lot of ideas about how things should be done. So the obvious answer would be for at least one of those people to throw their hat in the ring. I'm gonna assume you meant they said "there never used to be." Which, of course, is a cop out used by municipalities across the county and beyond. I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "Well the way we've always done it..." That's great, but that was 20-50 years ago. Times change, let's do something different, especially if the old ways aren't working. All the more reason to run for their positions.

Welcome back! This place doesn’t have as much 'action' as some FB groups...but for me, the absence of drama and negativity is well worth it! I'm wishing you all the best for vanquishing the malignancy. I know how those clumps disrupt every life they touch.

He was a good kid. You could just tell. He was maybe 11. Twelve at the most. He was in the supermarket. He had his little sister balanced on his hip. You don’t often see boys carrying toddlers out in public. The kid was filling a shopping buggy. He was reaching for a bag of tortilla chips on the top shelf. I saw one of the older ladies in our aisle reach upward and remove a bag of Tostitos for him. They were Tostitos Scoops. The greatest invention by the chip industry, and perhaps the finest human achievement of the last century with the possible exception of penicillin. “Thanks,” the boy said. His buggy was nearly full. He had lots of adultish items in his basket. Coffee. Vegetables. Diapers. The older lady asked where the boy’s mother was. She asked this in a concerned, parental tone. Her concern, of course, is understandable in our modern day. You don’t often see kids wandering around by themselves anymore. During my youth, however, shortly after the close of World War I, kids almost never had parental supervision. We walked to school. Our mothers sent us to the store on errands. We hung out at the mall without supervision. We rode bikes into the woods, built campfires, constructed deathtrap treehouses, and made serious attempts at discovering new ways to break our own legs. We were feral. “Where are your parents?” said the older woman. “My mom’s waiting in the car,” he said. The woman’s brow furrowed. “She let you come in here by YOURSELF?” He nodded, then readjusted Little Sister on his hip. Little Sister had a snot bubble the size of a Canadian territory. “You’re GROCERY shopping?” the woman said. Nod. The lady was aghast. She wore the patented look of disapproval. “You shouldn’t be in here without an adult.” The kid didn’t reply. “Your mother should be with you,” she said in a half-scolding voice. “It’s dangerous. You’re too young to be by yourself.” “But,” the boy explained kindly, “shopping’s not that hard.” “That’s not what I meant. Your mother could get into a lot of trouble for leaving you unsupervised. This is unacceptable. Someone should tell the manager.” Little Sister’s snot bubble reached critical mass. The kid apologized. He looked embarrassed. He left the aisle and pushed his buggy to the cashier lane, often glancing behind him. Like he now realized he was doing something wrong. I watched him load items on a conveyor belt. I saw him use a credit card to pay. Later, I saw him in the parking lot. I saw the idling Honda that contained his mother. I saw Mom sleeping in the front seat. Then, I saw the middle-aged mother crawl from the vehicle. She was a skeleton. I saw her pale skin. The bandanna over her balding head. The hospital bracelet on her wrist. The bandage on the bend of her elbow. She was trying to help her son load groceries, but she struggled to lift a single bag. When they finished, the boy gave her a hug. And they held each other for a long time. Longer than a normal hug. Because, as I say, he was a good kid. You could just tell. Sean Dietrich is a columnist, novelist, podcaster, and stand-up storyteller known for his commentary on life in the American South. His work has appeared in Newsweek, Southern Living, Reader's Digest, Garden and Gun, The Tallahassee Democrat, the Birmingham News, and his column is syndicated in newspapers throughout the U.S. He has authored fifteen books, and he makes appearances on the Grand Ole Opry. To learn more about Sean or to purchase his books, visit his website at https://seandietrich.com

I wasn’t clear on what exact legislation they were concerned about either, My best guess is the overall budget bill that reportedly calls for $800M in “spending” cuts. If that’s it, they have extrapolated “cuts” to specifically meaning cuts in Medicaid spending.... And then further extrapolated that any cuts are a direct decrease in services (rather than stupid non-benefit related wasted like hundreds of thousands of dollars in inflated costs like the obscene lease our local SS office has been quietly paying to a billion dollar local realty company).

by Jeff Minick Actress, mother of two, and school activist Sophie Winkleman began her recent address on children at the 2025 Alliance for Responsible Citizenship Conference in London by describing a recent scene from a packed London bus. Standing over a young man and a young woman, both intent on their smartphones, Winkleman noticed that each was on a dating site, “reading profiles of men and women who presented as extremely similar to the two of them.” She concluded: "Our bus reached Piccadilly Circus and both happened to alight at this stop. I watched the two of them as they walked away from each other, one towards Shaftesbury Avenue and the other towards St. James’s. I don’t need to labour the point of what I witnessed with this couple never to be. They were side by side, both seeking companionship or love, but they didn’t even register each other’s existence." In the brilliant and passionate address that followed – I don’t use those adjectives lightly – Winkleman turned to the effects of smartphones and classroom technology on adolescents, which she called “the digital destruction of childhood.” She continued: "We left the doors to our children’s classrooms, their bedrooms and their minds wide open to the world. Perhaps we thought we were giving children the right to access everything which might be good out there, but instead we’ve given everyone else – the good and the bad, access to our children." Winkleman spends part of her talk examining data familiar to many parents: the horrifying rise in teen suicides and self-harm incidents, the massive increase of anxiety and depression among the young, the fact that 97% of Britain’s 12-year-olds now possess a smartphone, and that children ages eight to 18 now spend an average of over seven hours every day on one screen or another. She further notes, “Hospital admissions for children with eating disorders in the UK have risen sixfold in a decade, the ‘contagious influence’ of social media cited as a major factor.” Winkleman also cites mountains of evidence demonstrating that digital classrooms offer inferior education to those centered on teachers, books, paper, and pencils. “The Karolinska Institute in Sweden,” she told the audience, “recently published research concluding that, ‘there’s clear scientific evidence that tools impair rather than enhance learning.’ Sweden has taken note and been the first country to kick tech out of the classroom, reinvesting in books, paper and pens. They had the courage to admit that EdTech was a ‘failed experiment’.” So why, given this abundance of data and the visible harm screens bring to so many of the young – and to many adults as well – do parents and schools continue to pair the young with screens and smartphones? For parents, the social pressures felt by their children are a factor. “My friends all have iPhones, why can’t I?” Many parents also fail to understand that screens are addictive, electronic drugs in a plastic case designed to stimulate dopamine in the brain. As for classroom use, screens can reduce the duties of teachers while often better capturing the attention of students. Winkleman reminds her audience that childhood itself is at stake here. The playing fields of the imagination – books, backyard games, the engagement with others in face-to-face encounters, and so much more – are being rapidly replaced by digitalized games, social media, and the artifice of screens. Regarding education, she offers wise observations such as this one: "Reading books and handwriting work is a deeper, not to mention a calmer, way to learn. Screens manage to be both caffeinating and numbing – where books are decompressing and absorbing." Reading and handwriting are also harder in a good way. Friction and struggle are a necessary part of the learning process. Make everything too easy and it’s like feeding ten-year-olds puree when they need to chew. Jonathan Haidt is the author of the extraordinary bestseller, “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness.” Haidt praises Winkleman’s address as “the best talk I’ve ever seen on what computers and tablets on the desktops of children do to the child’s education.” His article includes the full video of the talk and a transcript. At the end of her talk, Winkleman says: f we want to produce a generation of responsible citizens, we must flip the current argument on its head. "Rather than constantly having to prove that screen use is blighting childhood, we should ask simply: where is the evidence to prove that it’s safe?" I would up that question a notch and ask, “Where is the evidence to prove that it’s beneficial?” Jeff Minick lives in Front Royal, Virginia, and may be found online at jeffminick.com. He is the author of two novels, Amanda Bell and Dust on Their Wings, and two works of non-fiction, Learning as I Go and Movies Make the Man. This article appeared on IntellectualTakeout.org and is shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

I have a problem with the narrative surrounding HALT like the bolded section that the author inserted above. The term “solitary confinement” is a politically charged slogan intended to fuel outrage from the public (and lawmakers who voted on the Act). There’s little debate over the “cruelty” of “Solitary Confinement”....but the practice of solitary confinement hasn't been in use for decades. Despite what Hollywood depictions like Cool Hand Luke would have you believe....inmates in the SHU are not locked in a dark room like animals with a steel door, under inhumane conditions, void of windows or isolated from human interactions. It simply means the most dangerous inmates aren't free to terrorize staff and other inmates. They’re provided with the basic necessities, clothes, hygiene products, books, paper, pen, etc. They get 3 hot meals a day. They have access to incoming/outgoing mail. They are monitored and visited by administrators and security supervisors multiple times per hour. They receive visits from medical staff, vocational, educational, mental health professionals and counselors. There’s a process in place that, as time goes on and they do not cause any problems, they are given more property and items and could even get a time cut.

Sounds like it's up to at least 10, maybe 12 facilities saying they'll join in. After all the closing for the past decade, I think there's just over 40 total. So it's not half yet....but a whole lot more than the two that it started with. Who know how long they'll hold up in freezing weather and no paychecks. It's a tough decision, but the working conditions have gotten terrible and they'd been mandating 24-30 hr shifts with current staffing shortages (even before the 70% memo). I don't blame them for saying "enough".

That is absolutely ridiculous, officer staffing should be at 100%. If it’s a matter of saving money let those elected fools in Albany take pay and benefit reductions. They’re not worth what they receive now.

safe to say this dead horse can finally rest in peace and the topic can be locked Brand Park Pool is being torn down today!

Kids today don't go out swimming. They stay inside their air-conditioned houses. Swimming pools were popular when it was hot and you didn't have air conditioning. It was a way to cool down. It used to be that everyone wanted to be a lifeguard. Now there is a critical shortage of lifeguards. We just need to face the fact that the community pool is as appropriate as a place to tie up your horse and buggy. It has passed.

Rightfully so. Most of these people paid thousands out of pocket or insurance has already paid and now they are screwed because the insurance wont pay again. On top of he was using outdated braces or brackets so most people are being told they have to start over. Luckily we got our daughters braces off and got her retainer but she was gonna finish out in Invisalign so now we will be paying out of pocket for those. I absolutely hated going there when he took over I did not like him whatsoever

Agreed. It seems like Margeson had the same 'transition' as Moss.....lot of arrogance and lack of transparency showed up once their titles were upgraded. Outside of elected offices, few (if any?) jobs anywhere in the country allow someone to decide entirely for themselves what salary that someone else is going to pay them. The rest of us can make demands and threaten to quit, etc......But we sure don't get away with disrespecting our employers by whining that we're getting "beaten up" if our employers want to have a critical conversation about our performance or ask us to report on their productivity or explain their actions.

My pet peeve is people who come in and say I can have so and so do the work for 50.00 well then take the work to so and so and get your 50.00 repair just remember you get what you pay for.

So this guy buys their kid a gun after law enforcement investigated threats he allegedly made online? Yeah I’m not too heartbroken about charging the parent in a case like this.

People that get food stamps and cash assistance should get a financial incentive after kid 2 to get their tubes tied.

From a compassionate human standpoint, I think all of us want to help those less fortunate. Reality is, there are those that want help and they seek the programs and are willing to follow the rules of those programs and get serious about getting out the of the situation they are in. Then there are those that simply do not care. No amount of facilities or programs will be able to help them if they don't want the help. Those are the ones that need the "tough love" of being either forced to get clean in a mandatory rehab facility or else need to be in another type of facility that will protect the rest of the community from them. There are those that are dangerous or if not dangerous, simply do not have any respect for their fellow humans. I see many call for a shelter. That we don't have enough shelters. So let's get hypothetical - because I would truly appreciate the feedback and civil conversation about the problem we have in this county - state - country. I am open to realistic ideas. (And just because it really was a slap in the face hearing comments from last week's city council meeting, I would like to remind anyone reading this that I did request the city council come speak to the county legislature and when Mayor Mandell came to present the struggles the city is facing with the homelessness, I asked point blank what can we as the county do to support the city. The answer was "I don't know. Our hands are tied. It's a nationwide epidemic." - or something along those lines. So if anyone would like to suggest again that we don't care, that we haven't had conversations, please feel free to reach out. Just because we don't all advertise everything we do off camera for the community doesn't mean we are sitting back doing nothing. End rant.) Back to the hypothetical. Let's say we take all the remaining ARP money in the county and surrounding municipalities and build/renovate a building for a homeless shelter. Enough space for every homeless person in the county. Grand idea. This would be a county facility. Now what? There will have to be security because we know from experience without proper security, there are issues which is why Catholic Charities closed down the shelter a couple years ago. There was safety concerns with the staff. Many of those seeking the shelter don't want to follow the rules, which is why some (not all) are in the situation they are in. They don't want to be productive in the community. Next, it will have to be staffed. Even if there are no programs run from that facility, there has to be staff - janitorial. Food service. Medical possibly. Secretarial type. The building has to be maintained. Plumbing. Heating. AC. Regular repairs. Where is the funding coming from? Again, we can use ARP money to start, but that's not going to keep things going for long. How much are you willing for your taxes to go up for the county to run these facilities? Or the city? It is better for us to support the non-profits who have the organization structure and programs to handle these shelters. They are better suited to go after non-direct taxpayer funds and grants from philanthropic types. They are also less bound by certain policies that have been put in place than a gov't entity would be. The county, the city, the police forces are bound by these policies that say we can do X but not Y when it comes to the individual rights. Whereas, a private facility that someone goes to voluntarily can make it a condition of the stay to go out on litter detail for example. If a group of people have a vision, get together, start a non-profit, go after funding, make it happen. Stop demanding that the government do it all and then have a fit when taxes go up. The government *should* be there to keep order and protect citizens from threats, domestic and foreign. Period. The church and philanthropic entities *should* be there to support the community in all other ways. Since the day of the government taking over the welfare aspects of society, it has been a disaster. This is not a left/right, blue/red thing. It comes down to wanting the idealistic in a very non-idealistic world. No matter the desire to help, there are limitations.

Looks like skies will be fairly clear for the Perseid Meteor shower Read More here

If they don't like what is or is not offered they can always go back where they came from and deal with that.

Forget a splash pad it should be set up as a safe space for drug users to get fresh needles and have a safe place to use I hear Ithaca has these places maybe we should to.

As it was stated on EiC, Totally.

Well that's a novel idea!!

This was Kevin's idea and a great one at that. It offers seniors a chance to see the Oak Ridge Boys for the final time and not have to deal with traffic.

You might notice a few subtle changes as I'm sprucing the place up a little. In addition to changing the background pic, I also changed the names of a couple forums to give them a little more color. One borrowed from iElmira and another borrowed from the early days of this site. With help from @AndyI'm also sprucing up the way the site url shows up when shared on social media. I'm just waiting for the internet to catch up with the change.

You said this back on page 1 of the discussion. It's the closest you've come to identifying "systemic racism" you seem so certain of. Not only is it not relevant to the original topic of “Race in the Twin Tiers”.....the statistic of 13% of Congress is just about an exact representation of the (12.5%) black US population. And to draw back locally (what specific “systems” are locally oppressive or punishing skin tone, etc)... Political representation here in the Twin Tiers also seems proportional....the black/white 1:6 council member and 1:8 school board ratios are in proportion with the 11-12% black population in Elmira. The (85% white) Elmira City Council voted unanimously to honor Allen and Berry with the bridge re-naming. And this month’s arrests by the CC Sheriff don’t appear to be racially disproportional:

This is looking north on Huck Finn road, itself north of Horsie. On the left you have the Pennsylvania Railroad, currently the Catharine Valley Trail, in the middle you have the prism of the Chemung Canal, and on the right in the brush is the Elmira and Seneca Lake Railway. https://www.facebook.com/schuylerhistory/photos/a.206553156054798/4522750174435053/?paipv=0&eav=AfYjX9khz_S0yb5gI2Yd-i0HZl-8fl6U07PLT4KaYqeI0k9Omy_vymt4rsYzBR3Zxvs&_rdr

On Wednesday, June 19, 2024, at 1 PM, there will be a ceremony and ribbon cutting at the southside of the Madison Avenue Bridge. This ceremony will be in honor of renaming the Madison Avenue Bridge to the Allen-Berry Bridge. Earlier this year Elmira City Council passed a resolution to rename the bridge after A'don Allen and Bessie Berry, two local leaders who made great strides for the city's black community. You can read more about both of them at this story from WETM news.

Every fair has a carnival, but carnivals do not have fairs The difference between a fair and a carnival is what happens away from the grandstands and midways. What I mean by that is years ago a fair was where the community got together and had fun and took a break from their day to day duties. Did you know they judge almost everything at a fair. Even if you are not a farmer, you can enter things to be judged in the Chemung County Fair . Do you like to paint? Well they have a judging for oil & acrylics and separate one for water colors Maybe you just like to draw, got a class for that. You like to take pictures? They have a black & white and a color class you can enter. None of that interests you what about Ceramics, woodcraft, macrame, crocheting, embroidery or hand knitting? Guess what, we have classes for all those. You like to make quilts or other type of clothing? We got you covered! Cakes, Pies, cookies, breads? Guess what? All can be entered! For these categories in addition to the sample submitted to the display building a separate plated sample needs to be dropped off at the AG building with my name written on it for a separate judging. 😉😉 Maybe you have a fantastic garden, why not enter some of your flowers, fruits and or vegetables? Come on, we want to see you tomatoes and cucumbers!! You have no garden, but you have a house full or maybe just 1 really cool plant! They judge them also. These things are just a few of the many things they judge in addition to the cows, pigs, rabbits, chicken, guinea pigs and jackalopes! Well, maybe not jackalopes! It is easy to enter also. First thing you have to do is pay a $15 fee to join the AG Society. Then you pay the entrance fee. I know what you are saying it is probably expensive to have things entered, but if I win I will be rich. (Insert evil laugh while rubbing hands together) Well, no and definitely no! After you join the AG Society the fee to enter things that are not alive is between $.30 and $.70 with somethings up to a $1.00. The winner wins a different amount based on the category but for most it is between $2 and $5. So you will not be rich, but if you win you get a cool blue ribbon and bragging rights for a year. I mean who doesn't want to brag they have the best houseplant in the county for a year? You can enter as many categories as you want. A like to the exhibitor guide is below The first link is the animals and the other stuff starts at the 2nd link. I would love to see people I know enter and win the categories. If you need any help in entering for the first time or the 20th the first page has contact information for the superintendent of your category.

As there is always intelligent conversations happening in this forum, I thought I would share this publication from the New York State Association of Counties. It is a bit dated (2019) but gives a nice basis of understanding of what the local goverments have to deal with when budget season arrives. We are a few months out from the 2025 County budget discussions yet good conversation and feedback is always appreciated. https://www.nysac.org/media/mipozilb/state-of-state-mandates-2019.pdf

I am willing to talk to anyone interested in running against him. I do not know if he is planning on running in 2026. I've heard conflicting information. I would love to see a page full of candidates for all seats at all levels. We passed the terms limits for Legislature and Executive and now we have to prove that quality candidates will step forward. One of the opposition arguments was no one steps up to run. I am talking with others to put together a candidate bootcamp type of program. Whatever level of government, we need to help candidates navigate running campaigns. BUT we also need recruitment at all levels. Finding those willing to run who may not have thought about it or who feel like they don't have what it takes.

The problem with this statement is the belief that because one is white, they are immune to the effects of racism. A quick Google search gives the following definition: Racism-Noun - prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized. To answer your question, yes, I have experienced racism for simply holding a young black man to the same standards as everyone else in the group. He didn’t like the rules, didn’t feel he had to follow them and immediately accused me of treating him differently based on his skin color. Not “whoops I’m sorry,” not “oh I should follow the rules like everyone else,” even as I tried to explain the reasoning for them. Nope, “I think you’re racist.” And then proceeded to do something that could have been both dangerous and disastrous for me and/or my family here in the community and I had to take actions to protect them as well as myself. The assumption was because I was white, I must be guilty of being a bigot. All because some young man didn’t feel like he should have to follow the rules like everyone else. Now, I understand your experiences with racism may be different than mine or other white folks here. But that doesn’t mean we can’t experience it in some way. Therefore it’s not unique to one ethnic group or another.

And can we have a conversation without it turning to ,so called, white privilege or me being called a racist if you’re not willing to listen ? I will tell you up front though , I have lived around Elmira all my life , went to the Elmira schools , raised a family in what some would call the “projects “ . In my 70 years I have seen it all , heard it all and felt it all (yes physically) . So if you are here to speak of the downtrodden as being only or mainly people of color , no I don’t think a conversation can be had as there a whole lot of the white community in the same situation.

No, I wouldn’t. I am who God intended me to be. I applied for a job, was hired for that position, then I was told I couldn’t have that job because I was the wrong color. I was a white woman and the organization had to hire a black woman. I can truthfully say I was disappointed but I didn’t get angry. I had already learned that life isn’t always fair no matter who you are. Another time, the President of the company I was with at that time once told me he didn’t want to hire me because I was fat and fat people were lazy but the Vice President saw something in me. People of color aren’t the only ones to experience discrimination because there will always be someone who has biases no matter who you are. What matters is how you handle those situations and yourself. You can’t let someone else’s ignorance be the deciding factor in how you live your life, you keep trying.

All good question! Of course, it's also a challenge for any residency for the 'unhoused' to balance residents' freedom/independence against basic rules of safety and conduct. Many choose to remain unhoused rather than be subjected to policies that prohibit drugs/weapons, etc. (And no one can be forced to accept services for drug treatment or mental health). Also, the fact that New York State own the property. Local communities have no authority to decide the fate of closed prisons....and NYS takes years and years to approve any use for them. Bayview (prime Manhattan real estate off Chelsea Pier) has sat empty since 2012. Warren Buffet's family foundation couldn't get approval to invest $50M to use it to offer services for formerly incarcerated women. In our own backyard, Monterey Shock facility has languished to the elements since it closed in 2014.....with NYS declining all kinds of proposals over the years to purchase it for anything from rehab facility to tourism.

Great idea, housing-wise, but would you do to keep these folks busy/entertained/occupied? How would you get them to/from work, assuming they'd be interested in becoming productive members of our community? Would you work with C-Tran on designing a special route to the former correctional facility, so that its new residents can get to/from work on time? Who would pay for such route, if that was to happened? The campus is far from any main drag and/or any commercial activities. The homeless aren't wealthy enough to afford their own transportation. Would YOU like to live in a concrete block with very little sunlight? Methinks not.

Look, even if it comes back guilty they’re going to appeal, giving him time to get back out on the campaign trail. The whole thing is a joke. The court, the political system, all of it.

One of the few aspects of social media (and the internet in general) that I believe is appropriate for the government to address......is holding adult subscribers accountable for activity that they allow children to engage in. No child is allowed to enter into a contract with a cell service or ISP. It’s the parents who own every device and agree to TOS for the services those devices transmit over. They are answerable for all content generated or stored therein. If those adults provided children access to any 'tangible' adult product (alcohol, etc), they would be held accountable. Starting over a decade ago with the first camera phones. If whoever owned that phone faced child pornography charges when a kid shared naughty pics via “sexting”.....parents would have found a way to stop it from happening really fast. Either by closer monitoring, or taking the device away. If a parent hands their 10yr old the keys to their car.....they are legally liable for any consequences that result. The same applies to children who bully or threaten other kids. If adults who “own” the device/service being used for those purposes are subject to prosecution, they will take action to prevent their kids from doing it.

They have been here for years. That's why fast food is cheaper than healthy food gotta fatten up the lil piggies to make them taste better.

As you may or may not have heard Wheelock Rides closed their doors over the weekend. Why does that matter? That happens to be the same company that has been contracted to provide rides for the 182nd Chemung County Fair. We have already reached out to different companies including a well known one in the area. Once a new one has been found and a contract signed I will let you know. This will not stop the demolition derby, truck and tractor pulls from still going as planned. The contract for the concert has also been signed already so The Oak Ridge Boys farewell tour will also go on as planned.

For the record.... Although I believe it’s wrong for Moss to shirk the ACFR reporting, I tend to agree with the other point he made in his letter: If the County taxpayers are stakeholders (“owners”) of any facility or venue that has operating expenditures and revenue, the operations and financials of said facility need full transparency and accountability. This has been the case since.....forever. The Airport, Park Station and the Nursing Facility are county-owned "operations" that draw revenue from utilization. And all of their personnel decisions and expenditures are transparently reviewed and approved by the Legislature. Their revenue/expense books are transparently included in County financial reporting. Example: The Aviation Director's appointment (and his salary) are approved by the Legislature, and if he wants to pay someone to wax the floors at the Airport.....that process is subject to oversight and approval. The same premise should apply to the Arena (as well as the Fairgrounds Community Center, once it comes to fruition). However under CCCR, we don't know who appointed Robert Kramarik Marketing & Sales Director for First Arena. Is the “operating team” made up of volunteers or are they salaried positions? We also don’t know how events like “Cabin Fever” are funded. We know they had “carnival activities” (like inflated attractions and giant games). But no idea if those attractions were donated by a sponsor, or if the Arena put out for bids.....or if the Marketing Director has the authority to hire Bobby K Entertainment if he wants. On a final note: Just as Moss seems determined to clash with the Legislature, there are also a few Legislators who continue to look for reasons to clash with Moss. I think most of the public has had enough of the bickering and tit-for-tat attacks between the local branches. And we do appreciate those Legislators who don't engage in that petty power struggle.