Apparently, a lot lower than Syracuse… Hunched on the eastern edge of the Monongahela River only a few miles from bustling Pittsburgh, Braddock is a mix of boarded-up storefronts, houses in advanced stages of collapse and vacant lots. The state has classified it a “distressed municipality” — bankrupt, more or less — since the Reagan [...]

Those outside of the Syracuse media market probably haven’t heard the talk of the town around here: a large group of bald eagles has returned to the area, and is overwintering at Onondaga Lake. You can read a column by the Post-Standard’s Sean Kirst, a blog post with many comments, another blog post with more [...]

Obama Signals New Tone in Relations With Islamic World In a transcript published on Al Arabiya’s English language Web site, Mr. Obama said it is his job “to communicate to the Muslim world that the Americans are not your enemy.” He added that “we sometimes make mistakes,” but said that America was not born as [...]

As the dust finally begins to settle from the senatorial pick, the truth becomes plain: Chuck Schumer is the lord and master of the Empire State. It took a while. He’s churned through the equivalent of the entire Adirondack Preserve in press release pulp… stepped in every cow patty in the North Country… and visited [...]

A new president… Caroline Kennedy drops out… Kirsten Gillibrand drops in… Joe Bruno indicted… what a week! Where to begin? Herkimer County Progressive is happy at the choice of Gillibrand, although many would say she’s hardly “progressive.” Rochester Turning has a more nuanced view (with bullet points), which pretty much agree with my own. I [...]

Google Street View continues its march across the landscape; it now has most of Wayne County in its sights. It’s interesting to look up some of the old Erie Canal locations I’ve visited in the past. Here is a view of one of the oldest remaining sections of the original Erie Canal (aka “Clinton’s Ditch”), [...]

Now that Obama’s inauguration is over, criticism has inevitably begun — starting with the inaugural festivities on Tuesday. As has been reported locally, thousands of “lucky” attendees were inexplicably kept from their promised places — “silver” and “purple” ticketholders. This has produced an outcry — on the Internet, at least; the Facebook groups are a-flyin’. [...]

President Obama would like to stimulate the economy by investing serious amounts of money into infrastructure projects. If he’s looking for a top-priority public works project that needs a lot of attention (and cash)… here’s one he can’t fail to consider: New York City’s aging water system. Please. It needs help. Badly. There are aging [...]

New York State’s population loss rate has officially slowed. In what may prove a silver lining in the latest economic black cloud, New York lost fewer residents to other states in 2007-8 than during any year in at least a generation… Between July 1, 2007, and July 1, 2008, New York recorded a net loss [...]

Last month, I came up with a list of what I thought were the top 10 New York State stories in the very eventful year of 2008. Item No. 7 concerned the State’s moves to collect taxes from Indian-owned businesses. It could have surprised no one that the Senecas were going to communicate their alarm [...]