When 56 men signed the Declaration of Independence, they did not envision “the pursuit of happiness” as a dedication to easier times and softer living. The memories of people tortured on the rack and burned at the stake were too vivid. Happiness to them meant the attainment of those “unalienable rights” that come with living in a nation where men and women need not fear if they choose to disagree with their government.
THE ISSUE Changes to the state Empire Zone program this year were retroactive.
OUR VIEW We are all for scrapping the Empire Zone program, but businesses deserved some kind of warning that the terms of the deal were about to change.
THE ISSUE Changes to the state’s drug laws allow judges to seal the convictions of offenders, a prerogative some legislators and prosecutors are not happy about.
OUR VIEW We place faith in judges to make sound decisions, and we expect they’ll seal convictions only when offenders truly deserve it.
Some local and federal education officials favor looking at a five-year graduation rate. There’s no need to lower the bar for the overwhelming majority, even if some students need more time.
With this year’s harvest of state wine grapes expected to yield a surplus, Cornell Cooperative Extension and New York Wine & Grape Foundation have partnered to help market the fruit to other states.
The state Senate’s current paralysis stems in part from the lack of a lieutenant governor. Even though it would not solve the immediate crisis, the state constitution should be revised to allow voters to elect a lieutenant governor when necessary.
GOP leaders who question and challenge President Obama’s Iranian strategy thus far would well remember their late Republican colleague William Henry Seward’s calm prescience in the face of opposition.
A 70-year-old law enacted to stop political corruption prevents civil servants who receive federal funds from running for office. With the amount of stimulus money being pumped in from Washington, the antiquated law needs an overhaul.
An intact skeleton that could date to the 1800s was found by a contractor digging a small trench at New Hartford High School in New Hartford, N.Y., on Monday night, New Hartford police chief Raymond Philo said.
Changes to the state Empire Zone program this year were retroactive. We are all for scrapping the Empire Zone program, but businesses deserved some kind of warning that the terms of the deal were about to change.
New York has too many governments and school districts, a major reason the state has the highest property taxes in the nation. A bill passed in the Legislature to encourage government consolidation is a good first step toward reducing property taxes, but it doesn’t go far enough.
In these tough economic times, there are those preying on senior citizens. Don’t fall for those too-good-to-be-true scenarios. And if you are targeted, report it immediately.
Just when you thought the New York State of Dysfunction couldn’t get any more, well, dysfunctional, along comes a coup in the state Senate. Talk about a mess.
The red and white cars keep getting smaller and smaller at Watkins Glen International, so Andretti Green Racing spent Tuesday doing something about it.
Saturday night in Texas, Marco Andretti was ticked off at his teammate Danica Patrick for racing him too hard at the end of the Bombardier 500. Tuesday afternoon at Watkins Glen International, they were working together trying to figure out how to dethrone the Chip Ganassi and Roger Penske teams when the IndyCar Series returns for the July 3-5 Camping World Grand Prix.
President Obama and the 111th Congress are currently debating a broad overhaul of the nation’s health care system with the expectation of House and Senate votes on legislation in early August, and finalization of legislation with the president’s signature in October.
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