For those of you interested in
Super Bowl pools: technically, they're not legal, but unless there's a
rake being collected nobody can be prosecuted, so go ahead (Olean
Times Herald)... 1/31
On second thought, let's see how we can massage the law to keep that
Buffalo casino open (AP)...
1/31
The verdict is in: teachers are
held unaccountable and it's way too easy for them to get tenure (Jamestown
Post-Journal)... 1/30
Now this is what I call "free range poultry" (Bradford
Era)... 1/30
Rollover in Allegany County... (our scanner's missing its power cord so
I don't have details.) 1/29
Somebody try to figure out what
this whole Rose Sconiers ruling is supposed to do: let's make something
clear-- the state of New York is not directly trying to collect taxes
on Indian nations. It is specifically banning the sale of any
cigarettes from any tax exempt organization, and that would include the
Senecas. Sconiers's "ban" on cigarette taxes (Buffalo News)
shouldn't, theoretically, affect that. 1/27
The so-called "better bottle bill" is back (Buffalo News)...
1/27
Hey, guess what? Even though the state is in a fiscal crisis,
government is still growing (Business
First via Buffalo News)... 1/27
David Bremiller Sr., 34, of East
Otto, arrested after brandishing knife in front of wife and kids (WESB)...
1/27
Interesting read on the minds of the Senecas regarding their
nonexistent right to sell cigarettes (Olean
Times Herald), Paterson still wants to negotiate (AP)...
1/27
IT'S OFFICIAL... KIRSTEN
GILLIBRAND IS YOUR NEW UNITED STATES SENATOR. At first,
this seems like it's actually a pretty good pick, possibly as good as
Higgins,
though as I read more I'm starting to sour a little bit, with regards
to her lobbyist ties. Plus,
it puts another Congressional district back into play for the GOP.
Congressmen like Gillibrand and Higgins know how to win more
conservative districts-- by running and acting as conservatives.
Political hackery, such as that used by and on behalf of Eric Massa,
will not win many elections.
UPDATE: Assembly Minority Leaders John Faso and James Tedisco (Tedisco
being the current one) line up as possible successors to Gillibrand's
congressional seat (Plattsburgh
Press-Republican) (Albany
Times-Union)... as well as... former Rangers goalie Mike Richter???
(Glens
Falls Post Star) 1/24
Former Senate Majority Leader Joe
Bruno indicted (Albany
Times-Union)... 1/24
IT'S
OFFICIAL: CLINTON IS NOW SECRETARY OF STATE AND OUT OF NEW YORK'S
SENATE SEAT... CAROLINE KENNEDY HAS REMOVED HER NAME FROM CONSIDERATION
AS HER REPLACEMENT... AS GOODELL WOULD SAY, DAVID PATERSON IS ON THE
CLOCK.
Accusation:
Paterson has already chosen Caroline Kennedy as Clinton's
successor, in exchange for helping Bloomberg get a third term as mayor
of New York... so says Carolyn Maloney, a would-be contender, along
with two other (presumed to be NYC-based) anonymous candidate (New
York Post)... 1/19 Other details: Cuomo was passed because he
didn't trust the state legislature to provide an acceptable candidate
to replace Cuomo. Why Brian Higgins' name has just vanished from
discussion, after weeks of being the leading contender outside Kennedy
and Cuomo, perplexes me. I'm thinking they don't even want an upstater in a statewide
office.
Domo
oregato, Spitzer Roboto: How
did I miss this little piece of lunacy?! Former governor Spitzer
suggests to Obama his idea for economic stimulus: robotics teams at
EVERY HIGH SCHOOL? So says WENY...
The chickens can breathe easier: cockfighting ring in Dunkirk shut down
(Jamestown
Post Journal)... 1/17
In New York, it's pay to play, as
Senate candidates fork over $5,000 in favors to Paterson's campaign (New
York Daily News)... 1/17
Remember the Independence Party? Back when Tom Golisano ran it, before
it turned into a political weathervane and a magnet for incumbents who
got ousted in primaries? Well, Golisano's coming back, and this time
he's bringing Michael Bloomberg with him (New
York Post)... 1/17
BURN: Massa loses Transportation Committee seat, retains Agriculture
Committee seat, and gets an Armed Services seat he never asked for (Olean
Times Herald)... 1/14
OK, folks, here's the deal: I'm
back up and running on a regular schedule now and so it will be easier
for me to keep this site updated, so some regular features should
return in the coming days.
Good news, bad news: Democrat Assemblyman proposes state workers go to
a four-day work week (NY
Times)... but the bad news: health care and education, the biggest
money sappers of all, are exempt. The unions are demanding
negotiations. I say no. 1/12
PATERSON'S
STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS AND MORE AP
SYNOPSIS GIGLIO'S
REACTION - OTHER
LOCALS...
FULLER'S COMMENT: Somebody ought to suggest NHL Commissioner Gary
Bettman's name to Paterson and the legislature, and have him
demonstrate how he got the National Hockey League out of its hole. It's
just what New York needs right now. Tom Golisano, as owner of the
Sabres and a man with significant clout in New York politics on both
sides of the aisle, would be a perfect man for the task. (BTW,
Bettman's strategy: tie player salaries to revenue, starting with an
immediate cut of 24% and limiting salary to 54% of total ticket sales
and television contract revenue. To apply it to New York, apply that to
all
salaried state and school employees.)
The slow trickle: even accounting for inflation and population changes,
property taxes increase overall in the state by 25% over 13 years, and
upstate was particularly hard hit (Buffalo
Business First)... 1/8
Another local Democrat recommends Stan Lundine for US Senate (Olean
Times Herald)... 1/8
Where the Seneca's hearts are: the Catskills (Olean
Times Herald)... 1/8
The end of an era:Salamanca Press ends
publication as a daily paper, will begin once-a-week publication next
week... 1/3
And so the spin begins: Paterson sends a spin doctor, the Health
Commissioner, to Youtube to defend his proposed "fat tax." Yeah, it's
not about the money. Just like the cigarette taxes, it's for the
children. Riiight... (AP)...
12/30
Right now I'm working on compiling the best and worst news stories of
2008 in "The Year That Was 2008" which should be posted by New Year's
Eve morning... SHOULD be the operative word. Obviously it didn't
happen, and it won't happen tomorrow because of work.
Only in New York... or maybe Illinois:
Latest gossip from the "who replaces Hillary" department is that
Caroline Kennedy may have not done enough political favors for New York
politicians to get Hillary Clinton's senate seat, with Sheldon Silver
even trying to tie her to Michael Bloomberg! Gee, in Illinois, this'll
get you a federal investigation-- ask Rod Blagojevich about that one--
but not in New York.
'TIS THE SEASON FOR... FLOODS? Not quite yet, but check river levels (Salamanca)
(Olean)
(Gowanda)
(Falconer)...
12/25
"Glory to God
in the highest, and on earth peace, and good will toward men on whom
his favor rests." He is born. Merry Christmas from Fullervision.
IT'S
YULE LOG TIME... (even though channel 7 is ripping me off
tomorrow morning) 12/24 MERRY
CHRISTMAS, ETC.* FROM JERRY AND THE FAMILY... AND YES, IT'S A GRAY
CHRISTMAS
WITH ALL THE RAIN AND SO... NOT MY FAULT PEOPLE. BUT TOMORROW...
REMEMBER THE REASON FOR THE SEASON, AND IF YOU DON'T, I'LL REMIND YOU,
REST ASSURED.
WFV INTERNET RADIO SPECIAL:
Mannheim Steamroller's An American Christmas: 5-6pm & 11pm-1am
Christmas Eve, 6am-12n Christmas Day on WHAM
Westwood One's Christmas Special: Christmas Around the Country with
Tony Thomas, Christmas Eve 6-8pm on WUPY
Casey Kasem's American Top 40 Special: The Top 60 Christmas Songs of
2008 Radio, 9am-3pm Christmas Day on WTSS NOTE: These are not programmed into
WFV right now so you'll have to click the indvidual stations above to
listen to the shows.
See also: NoradSanta.org --
NORAD tracks Santa Claus on his flight.
Remember that big hullabaloo about
Time Warner Cable and channel 4 that left most of Western New York
except Little Valley without CBS for a month back in October? Well,
Little Valley's cable provider, Atlantic Broadband, is about to do the
same, but don't worry: it appears we'll be getting the Erie CBS
affiliate instead (WESB)...
12/22
WANTED...
SOMEONE TO RUN AN ICE SKATING RINK: Sources tell Fullervision
that Audrey Snow, the Little Valley village recreation director, has
quit her position after not being allowed to hire an assistant to run
the ice skating rink (that job, previously given to various people on
an annual basis, was lumped into Snow's job description when she was
hired)... village officials were spotted operating the rink this past
Saturday afternoon as a stop-gap but there is currently nobody to run
the rink permanently, particularly on evenings. Fullervision will have
more details as they become available. (FV Exclusive) 12/18
Eric Massa is scared the Indians
will hold up the 219 expansion if Paterson follows through on the tax
deal, so he opposes it. He's also siding with the Seneca talking
points, as he said in a visit to Little Valley yesterday (Olean
Times Herald)... 12/18
Semi-pro football coming to Cattaraugus County in summer 2009, but
don't cheer too loudly: the team went 0-10 last year (Olean
Times Herald)... 12/18
Regarding
the budget... I don't remember who said it, but someone put it best:
nickel-and-diming this state to death and turning it into a "tax hell."
The New
York Post points out that there are 137 new revenue increases in
the budget, including revoking the sales tax exemption on clothing
(4%), revoking the cap on gasoline taxes (although at current prices,
there will be no impact in most places), 4% taxes on digital downloads,
4% taxes on movies, 24 cents a gallon tax on beer, 4% taxes on cable
and satellite TV, 4% taxes on haircuts, 18% taxes on non-diet soft
drinks, 4% taxes on bus, rail and taxi rides, an extra 16 cents tax on
cigars, and the end of the school tax rebate system. Surprisingly, his
bottle bill proposal ISN'T part of the budget-- yet. And yet, in this
time of fiscal crisis, David Paterson wants to increase welfare and
decrease anti-fraud measures. In his twisted mind, he sees this as less
taxes than an income tax increase. Let me put it this way: Sheldon
Silver loves it and is even considering throwing on a broad-based
tax on top of it. THIS IS EXACTLY
WHAT I WAS AFRAID OF WHEN THE DEMOCRATS WERE VOTED IN ON NOVEMBER 4.
Yes, I have comments on Rod
Blagojevich's arrest on trying to sell the senate seat to be vacated by
President-elect Obama, but I'm a little overwhelmed by everything, so
give me a little time.
We're apparently buying a lot of stuff from Canada lately (Buffalo
Business First)... 12/11
Well, we found out how much crap the city of Salamanca will put up with
before they shut down the skate park (Salamanca
Press)... 12/11
Woman found dead, man found drunk in Salamanca, both found by hunting
party (WLEA)
(Salamanca
Press)... 12/11
THE DEAL IS OFF: "Gang of Three,"
Malcolm Smith break off deal, state senate is up for grabs again
(AP)... 12/11
Yet another bill awaits the governor's signature to try and prevent tax
free sales by the Indians (AP)...
12/11
Cuomo wants to eliminate your local government to help Long Island (Newsday)...
12/11
...while Thomas Suozzi wants to close your schools, regardless of how
far away the next closest one is (Gannett)...
12/11
A "cow tax?" Let me put it this way, the environmentalists' latest plan
to levy a $87.50 fee on beef cows and twice that ($175) for dairy
is so far left, even Chuck Schumer is against it (Olean
Times Herald) (Plattsburgh
Press-Republican)... 12/10
Tragedy in Olean (Salamanca
Press)... 12/9
For the complete Fullervision
Archives, check this page.