CHEERS & JEERS: Sept. 28's best and worst

Editorials

September 27, 2007

Anonymous The Niagara Gazette Thu Sep 27, 2007, 09:03 PM EDT

CHEERS

• ECHOTA NEIGHBORHOOD: It’s a nice example of how actively getting involved can improve the quality of life for your neighborhood. D Street resident Bob Miller went from watching thieves break into his car to forming a new block club in the city. Weeks later, representatives from several city departments — police, fire, inspections and neighborhood services — walked through the Echota neighborhood to identify trouble spots — from overgrown trees to streets and sidewalks to places criminals could hang out without being noticed. They were followed by city crews who trimmed trees that were blocking streetlights and cited homeowners that don’t maintain their properties. A welcome sight for residents and a quick turnaround for a beleaguered neighborhood.

JEERS

• THRUWAY TOLLS: How’s this for logic: In an effort to deal with slower-than-expected traffic growth on the state’s highway system, the Thruway Authority is planning to increase tolls by 20 percent over the next four years. Better yet, the authority is looking into lessening E-ZPass discounts or getting rid of the service altogether. Simple logic says any kind of increase will mean even less drivers on the Thruway, except for those that have no choice — hello, Grand Island residents. All for tolls that were supposed to disappear way back in 1996. Fortunately this won’t happen without a big fight, but its just another example of how ridiculous this state, and its many legally separate authorities, really are.

• FRUIT TREE PLAN: There has to be a better way to deal with 1,600 to 2,000 fruit trees at Bond Lake that could become infected with the devastating plum pox virus. While state officials tested for the virus and found between 16 and 18 trees locally, none of them were at Bond Lake. Despite this, Niagara County officials are planning to tear them all down at a cost of nearly $50,000 — to start. That $50,000 does not include hauling away the downed trees. Then there’s the whole issue of restoration. Will the county plant new trees? We can’t imagine county officials sinking very much money into an effort to restore the trees. So then what happens? We get a huge clear-cut, ripped up field at Bond Lake? One alternative would be to do what they’re probably doing at every other orchard in the county — take preventative measures. According to county numbers it would cost about $15,000 a year to spray the trees. It seems more expensive in the long run until you consider that the fruit trees will probably spring right back up in that empty field and our county officials will be right back to square one.

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Editorials

EDITORIAL: Kudos on the STOCK Act
Rep. Louise Slaughter and a small band of colleagues in the House of Representatives deserve praise for their determination in putting a stop to a long-standing dirty secret in politics — that members of Congress have been making a boatload of cash by parlaying their official knowledge of the nation’s affairs into private fortunes on the stock market.

March 28, 2012
EDITORIAL: Bridge agencies push NEXUS enrollment
Securing the U.S.-Canada border has been a major concern, even more so since the devastating terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

March 7, 2012 1 Photo
EDITORIAL: Casino ban just bad manners
The recent decision by the leaders of the Seneca Niagara Casino and Hotel to ban state Sen. Mark Grisanti and his wife, Maria, from the premises, after a recent incident at the casino, seems childish and petty.

March 4, 2012 1 Photo
EDITORIAL: Postal service needs to get with the times
The U.S. Postal Service has been mailing it in for years.
It has stuck like an old postage stamp to a business model that was going nowhere fast, literally. Snail mail is still the USPS stock in trade, and it has increasingly earned its nickname. And for a poorly run operation, it certainly does cost a lot.

March 3, 2012
EDITORIAL: We’re all on the line with Nik Wallenda
Nik Wallenda will not be the only one walking a tightrope over Niagara Falls this summer.

March 1, 2012
CHEERS & JEERS: Feb. 24's best and worst of the week
It appears what we’ve been saying all these years is finally starting to sink in for county officials: What’s good for Niagara Falls is good for the county.

February 24, 2012 1 Photo
EDITORIAL: New NFTA plan a vast improvement
We were heartened to see that commissioners t the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority listened to the outpouring of public opposition to their plan to severely cut bus routes in the region.

February 19, 2012 1 Photo
CHEERS & JEERS: Feb. 17's best and worst of the week
It didn’t turn out the way anyone wanted it to Wednesday when Pascal Scrufari fell through the ice at Hyde Park Lake while attempting to retrieve one of his dogs.

February 17, 2012 1 Photo
EDITORIAL: Cuomo's gamble won't pay off
When he outlined plans for his second term earlier this year, Gov. Andrew Cuomo stated that the Empire State had long flirted and dallied with a potential economic engine — casino gambling.

February 16, 2012 1 Photo
EDITORIAL: On planes, trains and ... buses
The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority would be well served by taking a lesson from the late comedian John Candy and returning its focus to planes, trains and automobiles (buses, specifically) when evaluating a potential rate increase and bus route cuts to be announced later this week.

February 14, 2012 1 Photo
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