Sunday Opinion: Hazing. the sour economy, sales taxes and drug treatment
Morning, all. Here’s our weekly wrap of the opinion pages this weekend across the Greater Vaster North Country. Enjoy this gorgeous early fall day…
The Plattsburgh Press Republican is praising fraternities and sororities at Plattsburgh State for holding a week of anti-hazing programs as new students arrive on campus.
[T]radition is no justification anymore; hazing is, we know now, bullying, and Plattsburgh State is taking the responsible avenue in heading it off before it has a chance to begin.
Eighteen-to-22-year-olds barely out of their adolescence are not always graced with the perspective and insight to choose responsible behavior. The college is wise to drive this lesson home early.
We hope the anti-hazing fervor permeates not only Plattsburgh State but all schools on every level. If so, Walter Dean Jennings, who died too young and too senselessly, will not have done so in vain.
The Watertown Daily Times reacts to the huge upset in the New York City congressional race this week — a Republican stepped in and won the seat once held by Democratic firebrand and sexting fan Anthony Weiner.
New Yorkers were not repudiating Democrats or embracing Republicans. Instead they were reminding Washington that families are hurting. They need a vibrant economy that provides hope for a better tomorrow. They are telling Washington they are tired of the imposition of more and more regulation, which leads to less and less investment in our economy.
The Adirondack Daily Enterprise is arguing that the 2% property tax cap was a good idea, but that counties now need the freedom to boost their sales taxes to generate more revenue.
We support the 2 percent property tax hike but think the governor should relent on the side of sales taxes, letting counties raise their rates up to a maximum – perhaps equal to the state’s highest current sales tax rate. Sales taxes are inherently more fair than property taxes, and the money has to come from somewhere.
The Glens Falls Post Star is wrestling with the debate over what to do with a proposed new heroin-addiction treatment center in the community.
After learning of Conifer Park’s intention to establish a methadone treatment center on an out-patient basis for heroin addicts at its Elm Street facility, the city began the process of establishing a local law that would provide a 90-day moratorium on any methadone treatment facility, They also scheduled a public hearing for October.
The feeling seemed to be: We don’t want any drug addicts coming to our town. The problem is that this solution targets the cure rather than the problem.
The Burlington Free Press is urging voters to start thinking about the mayoral race, which is still six months away.
The city faces serious issues that demand the full attention of a serious mayor. The challenges facing the city calls for a mayor who is engaged with residents, responsive to stakeholders’ concerns, realistic in his or her assessment of issues and in tune with the values of the community.
The city needs to keep getting better, a better place where people want to work, live and raise their families; where businesses and innovation thrive; where the colleges are an integral part of the community; where diversity in all its forms is an asset; where the arts are encouraged and accessible.
Tags: opinion
New Yorkers were not repudiating Democrats or embracing Republicans. ???
Well, maybe not.
They just chose to send Washington a strong signal by electing a Republican into a 90-year-old Dem seat.
I’m sure they could have sent the same message by electing a Democrat into a Republican seat – like in Nevada. Oh, wait a minute. They elected another Republ…. there, too.
Hmmmm.
Maybe it’s the weak leadership Obama is showing.
Maybe it’s the hypocritical stance on Palestine.
Maybe it’s the $500B crony capitalism in Solyndra.
Maybe it’s the fact that the Republicans passed a budget, but the Democrat senate hasn’t passed a budget in 850 days.
Oh, it’s Washington, ok. With a capital “D”.
I don’t think the state has the right to tell local governments how to tax local citizens. I am certainly not a legal scholar but in my gut it just seems basically unconstitutional. If the state is concerned with local spending it should use the power that it does have which is the control over the state aid given.
What would we think if the federal government said well NY your state income tax is too high in fact you have to get rid of it.
Yeah, it has to be Obama’s fault that a Republican won a traditional Democratic House seat. There’s no possible way it could have been the unpopularity of Congress itself as that would be entirely too obvious.
Why or even how the Watertown paper thinks it knows anything about city politics is beyond me.
Ever since someone came up with the phrase, “voters are sending a message,” every crackpot news analyst uses the phrase to sound intelligent.
It don’t work. It just sounds stupid.