Tag: Albany

  • Issue:

    Which way New York? 

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    Democratic and Republican analysts consider the consequences as U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik declares her candidacy for Governor. — By Maury Thompson read more

    Which way New York? 
  • Issue:

    On the rails, serving travelers with flair

    He was as nimble as a circus acrobat, as gregarious as a politician and, at least in the estimation of one canine, as fashionable as a stage actor. “That’s Conductor Frost, the best fellow that ever lived,” a railroad passenger told a reporter for The Mechanicville Era in 1883. The popularity of Charles Frost, a read more

    On the rails, serving travelers with flair
  • Issue:

    Long-serving agent of a Slate Valley lifeline

    GRANVILLE, N.Y. The Granville Sentinel was rooting for the hometown underdog. “In the gold watch voting contest of the Albany Journal for the most popular railroad station agent appears the name of J.H. Reynolds of this village, and who has received thirty-nine votes,” the Sentinel reported on Aug. 8, 1890. “Mr. Reynolds is not likely read more

    Long-serving agent of a Slate Valley lifeline
  • Issue:

    Benefits and hazards of a one-party Albany

    Remember when Albany meant gridlock? For so long, New York’s state capital was the place where even simple problems couldn’t be solved – and where good ideas went to die. Then came November’s election, which upended Legislature’s balance of power. That balance has for decades, except for one brief period, included an Assembly controlled by read more

    Benefits and hazards of a one-party Albany
  • Issue:

    A chance to fix Albany – or a risk to cherished rights?

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    In N.Y. vote, a chance to fix Albany — or a risk to cherished rights? A coalition of labor unions and other groups has been distributing lawn signs urging a No vote on November’s question of whether to hold a state constitutional convention in New York. Groups supporting a Yes vote say they don’t plan read more

    A chance to fix Albany – or a risk to cherished rights?
  • Issue:

    In water crisis, states reveal differing political cultures

    It hardly comes as a surprise that when faced with a crisis, Vermont’s state government would perform a whole lot better than New York’s. We already knew, from so many news stories over the years, that Vermont still functions as a representative democracy – and that New York has, well, Albany. But it’s still a read more

    In water crisis, states reveal differing political cultures
  • Issue:

    Backdrop of scandal sets stage for lulus

    At first blush, the recent kerfuffle over legislative stipends hardly seems to rank among the biggest or worst of Albany scandals. After all, it’s been barely a year since longtime Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison after being convicted of lining his pockets to the tune of $5 million. read more

    Backdrop of scandal sets stage for lulus
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    Albany’s culture on display in Hoosick Falls water case

    After so many years, Albany’s distinction as America’s most corrupt and dysfunctional state capital has become so familiar that it’s no longer clear whether each new outrage makes much of an impression on the average New Yorker. Consider that the two men who were the state’s most powerful legislators at the beginning of last year read more

    Albany’s culture on display in Hoosick Falls water case
  • Issue:

    Hives of controversy

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    As bees vanish, critics build a case against a class of pesticides By TRACY FRISCHContributing writer   Ross Conrad, a former president of the Vermont Beekeepers Association, works with his bees at Dancing Bee Gardens in the town of Cornwall. Conrad is among the beekeepers in the Northeast who’ve become convinced that honeybees are being read more

    Hives of controversy
  • Issue:

    Oil pipelines on wheels — Risks increase on region’s rail lines

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    Risks increase on region’s rail lines as traffic through Albany port grows By TRACY FRISCHContributing writer   While environmental groups have made opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline in the Midwest a cause célèbre over the past five years, rolling pipelines of oil have quietly been established in a lot of communities closer to home. read more

    Oil pipelines on wheels — Risks increase on region’s rail lines