Webb’s link to county gov’t seat in Herkimer worth strengthening

Most are familiar with our national, state, and town governments, and how the systems work on each level—more or less. And we understand the powers of each body.

A fourth level that tends to be more obscure, yet is still extremely important to our country’s inner workings, is that of county government.

Most in the Town of Webb, including myself until just a few weeks ago, are shaded from the activity of county government. The media covers the other three levels of government, but with Old Forge being so far from the Herkimer County seat we can feel disconnected from our county legislature.

Recently I was invited to attend an internship put on by Cornell Cooperative Extension in Herkimer for four different sessions over two months.

I had the good fortune of participating in this opportunity and, two months later, I can say the program successfully cured my case of mild apathy for county government. Continue reading →

Herkimer County needs spokes branching from Webb’s tourist hub

This spring break it was my choice to hit the road up and down the east coast, spending a trip with my parents.

We decided to visit colleges throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region, planning on gracing eight institutes of higher learning with our presence. Spread over just an eleven day trip, this meant we could kiss a stress-free vacation goodbye.

First on the list was

Gettysburg College, in the famous Civil War battle town. Since the interview and tour of campus were scheduled for Monday, March 26th, the preceding weekend we headed down to poke around the small city.

Playing tourist for a while certainly reminded me of my hometown Adirondack Mountains.

The people in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania live to serve travelers and visitors just as a large portion of the population does in Old Forge.

In Adams County, there are twenty-one townships. One of them, Cumberland Township, which surrounds Gettysburg, has roughly 5.6% of the county’s population (i.e. – About 1 in 20 people live there).

Simple math would show this to be a roughly proportionate: Cumberland represents 1 of 21 townships, and 1 out of 20 people live there.

But is the value of Gettysburg proportional? Continue reading →

Sports & Politics: Notoriety rises, falls with funding levels

Most anyone who knows anything about winter sports has heard of Lindsay Vonn… but I’m sure few have heard of Marit Bjoergen—in our country anyway.

Bjoergen, the most dominant female Nordic skier in the universe, does not gain anything near the American publicity that Vonn, the downhill queen of the world, captures daily.

This is the story of most cross country skiers’ lives, unfortunately. Our sport, equally as athletic and entertaining—as fans in other countries will attest—does not gain the attention it deserves.

Why? Anyone familiar with the two sports’ reach in the United States understands that it is due to one factor: money.

Money drives publicity and participation, which in turn drives the knowledge and popularity of each sport. Continue reading →

U.S. to celebrate birthday of its first monumental figure

On February 22nd, next Wednesday, our nation will celebrate the 280th birthday of George Washington, our first president, for his life as a great man and the contributions he made at our nation’s founding.

Several of his policies ensured our country’s continuance and safety.

These included a financial plan that eliminated debt from the Revolutionary War, and a foreign policy agenda that ingeniously included treaties with no one. Continue reading →

State of the Union themes meander between inspiration and futility

The President’s State of the Union address, an annual tradition typically delivered with grace, never ceases to interest me.

This past Tuesday, President Obama gave his third such address to Congress, complete with summaries of his administration’s successes, descriptions of current issues the nation faces, and outlines of some bold plans.

Predictably, he steered clear of topics that may hurt him in the upcoming presidential election.

The standard bombardment of handshakes and hugs greeted the President as he made his way to the podium. Seated behind him were Speaker of the House John Boehner and the Vice President Joe Biden. Continue reading →