Today, the original list of 55 state parks and historic sites slated for closure were officially shut. For a while it looked like the legislature was going to get its act together and “save” them for another year, but everyone in Albany is so busy trying to make each other look bad that the parks [...]

Sometimes it is too tempting to write a long blog post about something, even when you don’t have the time. Yesterday I was wondering if it would be worth the time and effort to write out a transcript of the entire relevant portion of the dustup between my state senator, John DeFrancisco, and the Brooklyn [...]

The latest in the Paterson business… A key figure in the domestic abuse scandal bedeviling Gov. David A. Paterson told investigators that the governor phoned to enlist her help in quieting the accuser, according to a person with knowledge of her account. “Tell her the governor wants her to make this go away,” Deneane Brown [...]

Now that the reality of threatened park closures has had a day to sink in, maybe it’s time to take the public conversation beyond the understandable cries of protest and think about the future. The Post-Standard, like many papers around the state this morning, is looking into the costs of keeping the parks open, but [...]

A couple crazy suggestions here for closures on the official list… Bayswater Point State Park Beechwood State Park Bonavista State Park Brookhaven State Park Caleb Smith State Park Preserve Canoe Island State Park Cedar Island State Park Chimney Bluffs State Park Chittenango Falls Clark Reservation Cold Spring Harbor State Park Joseph Davis State Park Donald [...]

And what it would say if it wasn’t.

The State of the State makes one want to cry for help.

The Champlain Bridge left this earthly life at 10:04 a.m. Eastern time in a driving snowstorm. Watch its final moments here. This gentleman sums it up better than I ever could:

How to solve three of our state’s pressing problems in one easy step.

Joe Bruno, convicted on two of eight felony counts today. Another nail in the coffin of the Big Man era of Albany politics, or just a prelude to a successful appeal? The jury entered the courtroom at 4:16 p.m. and as they retunred a not guilty verdict on the first two counts and no verdict [...]