Category: Letters To The Editor

Questions for WSL Fire Department The WSLFD is hosting a “public” meeting June 14th on their plan to demolish the … Continued

Homeless Vets / Housing / Zoning Policies In the last few weeks, the Times Union has been reporting about “Group … Continued

Youth Sports Teach Life Lessons Spring sports season is in full swing and there is nothing I love more than … Continued

The Warriors Recently, NYS passed an edict that all school districts must basically purge any mention of Native Americans in … Continued

Keeping the Warrior Name To the People of the Averill Park Central School District: My name is Alessia Valente. I … Continued

Consider “No Mow May” There is a growing trend in New York and other states in the U.S. known as … Continued

North Greenbush – Route 4 Corridor On Monday, March 27, the Town of East Greenbush, Town of North Greenbush, and … Continued

North Greenbush Town Board Poised to Grant Moratorium Exception to Political Supporter The ink is barely dry on the North … Continued

Affordable Connectivity Program Did you you the federal government can help some of us with broadband costs? “The Affordable Connectivity … Continued

Affordable Connectivity Program Did you you the federal government can help some of us with broadband costs? “The Affordable Connectivity … Continued

Party Barn Collapses As many readers of the advertiser might have followed over the past two years, a large group … Continued

Disproportionate Impacts of Mining Operations in West Sand Lake I am writing to express my opposition to the proposed PDD … Continued

No Good Can Come of This The Sand Lake Town Board should reject the proposed expansion of the Hoffay/Rifenberg, Olsen, … Continued

Made In America In recent weeks I have seen several Letters to the Editor opposing mining. I bet you haven’t … Continued

Legislator Pay Raise Regarding the $32,000 legislative pay raise to $143,000, it’s not enough for New York to be first … Continued

Say No to Expanded Mining in the Town of Sand Lake! Mining operations in the Town of Sand Lake are … Continued

Do We Need Bigger Mines in Averill Park? Rifenburg Construction has submitted a sketch plan to the Sand Lake Town … Continued

PFAS Report submitted to Legislature A Report titled “A Forensic Analysis of the Spectacular Collapse of the Poestenkill PFAS Whitewash … Continued

Workshop Explores New Vision for Troy-Menands Bridge The New York State Department of Transportation is embarking on a Planning and … Continued

North Greenbush moratorium may invite lawsuits, damage single family home market North Greenbush’s town board recently approved a 12 month … Continued

Inflation Regarding “Inflation” why do journalists, politicians and financial analysts rarely tell the truth that “inflation” is an increase in … Continued

Turn over November ballot for bond proposal The November 2022 ballot will include candidates for multiple offices, but also a … Continued

Time for a Change   It is time for a change.  Remember just a little over a year ago? Inflation … Continued

Rezone of parcel for auto repair shop bad idea for North Greenbush On October 13, the North Greenbush town board … Continued

Rensselaer County should consider a DUI court I was sad and bothered to read the string of recent Times Union … Continued

Quackenderry Common in DeFreestville Part of North Greenbush Last week, there was a public hearing for Quakenderry Common project. This … Continued

Parking at North Greenbush Town Celebration North Greenbush is hosting their annual town celebration this weekend (9/9 – 9/11). Last … Continued

Climate Change and What You Can Do “Why is it so cold?? It was just a million degrees last weekend?”; … Continued

In Rensselaer County, it’s Time to Vote Again! Attention voters!  Did you know that in Rensselaer County there are congressional … Continued

Where Are the Pedestrian Spaces in North Greenbush? We learned at the start of the pandemic that pedestrian spaces are … Continued

State government allows Dunn dump to operate with expired permit The permit for the Dunn construction and demolition debris dump … Continued

Important Election – August 23rd August 23rd is a special election to fill the Congressional seat for the 19th Congressional … Continued

Trouble in Rensselaer County As a Brunswick resident, I’m no longer shocked to read another news article with excerpts from … Continued

Elise is for Tax Cuts! The inflation crisis caused by the Biden Administration has put a strain on all Americans, … Continued

Everyone has Value , Including the Homeless I have visited downtown a few times this past month and to my … Continued

Tax Scams Remain on the Rise The IRS is warning about tax scams which try to trick people and steal … Continued

Let’s meet in the middle I have met many political and judicial candidates over the years, but I have never … Continued

ZOOM meetings violate Open Meetings Law With respect to open meetings to conduct the public’s business in the state of … Continued

Poestenkill PFAS Investigation Update The New York State Departments of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Health (DOH) are working directly with … Continued

FOIL records expose CCCDW as DEC shill A “shill,” also called a plant or a stooge in this case of … Continued

FOIL release ties Seggos to Whitewash With respect to obtaining justice for the taxpayers of the APSD whose property, the … Continued

Responding to Bill Baker’s Letter As a candidate for the Averill Park Board of Education, I would like to respond … Continued

Albany Airport improvements from Infrastructure Bill I have flown through Albany Airport a few times in the last two months … Continued

Where was the APBOE? As someone who has lived in the Averill Park School District for over seventy years, and … Continued

Stefanik Votes Against Helping Americans with Prescriptions At the end of March, the House of Representatives passed H.R.6833 – Affordable … Continued

Time for Seggos to Get the Boot Yes, people, in the wake of this bush-league, amateur-hour whitewash in Poestenkill in … Continued

Gas Tax Holiday We are all hurting from the spike in gas prices, so I was happy to see that … Continued

Schroeder for Board of Ed. My name is Jenaliegh Schroeder and I am eagerly running for school board. I am … Continued

North Greenbush approves $1.3 million funding that Rep. Stefanik funded against During the March 10, 2022 North Greenbush Town Meeting, … Continued

Will of the People Imagine, Rensselaer County resident, you vote in the next presidential election. Being from rural upstate New … Continued

On Keith Hammond’s Ethics Issues With respect to Andy Gilchrist and the subject of his major-league conflict of interest based … Continued

Crowley Letter Was Spot On In a letter in the Advertiser on February 3, 2022 from Poestenkill resident Bob Crowley … Continued

NDIS Have Finally Hit Rock Bottom Many participants who have had their NDIS Plans renewed or ‘rolled over’ have not … Continued

PFOA SAGA No. 9 – And Off Came the Wheels As the wheels come off this amateur hour whitewash taking … Continued

Is it really about safety? Nearly two years after the Covid pandemic began, we are still required to cover our … Continued

Quadruple Murderer Might Do Some Time Convicted killer James White was raging in Rensselaer County Court after his sentence of … Continued

CCCDW Notes 1st Anniversary of PFOA Discovery at Algonquin Middle School Poestenkill – In January 2021, water tests at the … Continued

PFOA Saga No. 7 – The aftermath As the dust settles from the hasty skedaddle of the NYSDEC, the NYSDOH, … Continued

Letter to the Editor New York State district attorney’s time and political power would be better served if she got … Continued

Sand Lake Planning Board Going Rogue Many of you have noticed residents of the Barnes Road neighborhood expressing heartfelt concerns … Continued

Hoosick Road in Brunswick: Over-development is the Disease, Traffic Jams are Just the Symptom Recently, a drive up Hoosick Street … Continued

PFOA Saga No. 3 – The “Bug-Out Boogie” As the most inept and slipshod “public health” investigation in the history … Continued

PFOA Saga, Pt. II – Source Searchers Stumped! Yes, people, totally buffaloed, baffled, stupified, mystified and flummoxed, and here we … Continued

PFOA Saga – It took a town What makes Poestenkill unique in terms of the groundwater contamination affecting the children … Continued

PFAS? Parts-Per-Trillion? What’s the Big Deal? PFAS compounds are a family of man-made chemicals including PFOA (polyfluorooctane acid) and PFOS … Continued

DOH confirms PFOS in Liberty Lane well Not surprisingly, and based on the lengthy record of intentional neglect here by … Continued

How my town became a DEC toilet. To understand this ugly history of the town of Poestenkill’s descent down into … Continued

New Housing Opportunities in Poestenkill My son Chip and I, residents of Poestenkill since 1968, are proposing a new type … Continued

NYSDEC, Environmental Injustice, and PFOA Any possible excuse that the NYSDEC was unaware of groundwater issues in the area of … Continued

A poor response to a serious concern-PFOA in Poestenkill I was somewhat surprised by Owen Goldfarb’s Editorial (The Advertiser, October … Continued

Fact-checking NYSDEC’s PFOA propaganda To establish a proper historical context with respect to understanding how we are being intentionally misled … Continued

The Advertiser Back in the Spring of 1983, The Advertiser ran an article on how my father, Ron, and I … Continued

Poestenkill PFOA briefing raised questions What did Poestenkill post on town website about PFOA? Algonquin school’s water “does not pose … Continued

PFOA in Poestenkill, Part VI With respect to the PFOA groundwater contamination issue in Poestenkill affecting the Algonquin Middle School … Continued

PFOA in Poestenkill, Part V As to Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin, who has no public health credentials,  intruding into … Continued

A Strategic Retreat by Troy Sand & Gravel? Troy Sand & Gravel Co. Inc. (TS&G) has discontinued its lawsuit against … Continued

Thank You, Dee Erickson  I am taking a few minutes to thank Town Board member, Dee Erickson, as well as … Continued

PFOA in Poestenkill, Part II As we Poestenkill residents affected by PFOA in the groundwater of what has been known … Continued

Barnes Road Party Barn As many residents of the Town of Sand Lake may already know the Supreme Court ruled … Continued

Letter to the Editor The political lynching that destroyed the reputation and career of Governor Cuomo without any solid evidence … Continued

We Deserve a Cleaner Environment The next few years are critical to the health and safety of Cohoes, Troy, Rensselaer, … Continued

Flash flooding devastated Rensselaer County last month. Are we ready for the next one? On Wednesday, July 14th, more than … Continued

Still Say No to Party Barn on Barnes I am writing to express my dismay, and anger, that our town … Continued

Highway Heroes We live on Oak Hill Road in East Poestenkill. On Wednesday afternoon it rained four inches in two … Continued

The Beast Among Us There is a monster that lives among us that has been there for years. He was … Continued

Who pays the price of “developer friendly?” So if  “developer friendly” benefits the developers by not enforcing the law pertaining … Continued

On being a “developer friendly” town And staying with the “developer friendly” practices of the various planning boards in Rensselaer … Continued

On Being “Business Friendly” First of all, let us be clear that issuing a permit without complying with the law … Continued

Never Let a Plague go to Waste Victor Davis Hanson I thoroughly enjoyed your article. Mostly because unlike the article … Continued

Barnes Rd Why is a party barn still an issue on Barnes Rd? The Supreme Court of the State of … Continued

Sand Lake Taxpayers Paying for Barnes Road party Barn’s Appeal The court has responded and determined that the town’s planning … Continued

Local Pharmacists Need Help Fighting Back Against Billion Dollar Pharmacy Benefit Managers Dear Editor: During the COVID-19 pandemic, local pharmacists … Continued

North Greenbush needs more electric vehicle chargers The Colonial Pipeline was hacked and shutdown in early May. The shutdown of … Continued

Investment Needed in North Greenbush Green Spaces In the past week the Times Union published two articles about capital district … Continued

Clean Energy Communities Program I am learning more and more about the Clean Energy Communities program that is available through … Continued

Lack of Trust Derails Poestenkill Money Grab Every story paints a picture, and so it is with the defeat of … Continued

Viewpoint – Positivity /Life’s Refreshing Ingredient What is it – Where is it – Why is it significant? There is … Continued

Why can’t Keith Hammond be honest? In the March 25, 2021 Advertiser, Poestenkill Supervisor Keith Hammond stated that by writing … Continued

To the Editor: Over 13,000 nursing home residents have died in New York in the past year. AARP has long … Continued

Why Poestenkill Needs a Contracted Ambulance Service Consistency of response time, mutual aid, and advanced life support are the elements … Continued

Vote NO on the Blank Check The Poestenkill Town Board held a meeting on March 4, 2021. As with all … Continued

Poestenkill – Vote NO on the Blank Check Taxing District, Part 6 $2000+ per call instead of $0. That’s what … Continued

Vote Yes on the Poestenkill Ambulance District When I read Councilman Hass’ letter in the Advertiser last week (February 11) … Continued

The Arts Are Still Happening in Sand Lake! While COVID-19 precautions still limit many community activities, the Sand Lake Center … Continued

Rensselaer County Leadership Exposes Seniors to Additional Risks Rensselaer County recently provided those over age sixty-five the ability to register … Continued

The Un-Silenced Majority Many of us watched in disbelief 4 + years ago when former President Trump won the election. … Continued

Poestenkill – Vote NO on the Blank Check Taxing District, Part 2 In the Jan. 21 edition of The Advertiser … Continued

Poestenkill – Vote NO on the Blank Check Taxing District In the Jan. 21 edition of The Advertiser Harold Van … Continued

Cuomo’s Summary of COVID-19 Contact Tracing Data Raises More Questions Than It Answers In the above titled report from New … Continued

Disappointed in My Burden Lake Neighbors I have lived on Burden Lake for the last 35 years & have always … Continued

Where Have All the Flowers Gone, Response I stand corrected on my date regarding the boat access on Glass Lake. … Continued

A Heinous Crime Was Committed A heinous crime has been committed and every time the detectives point to the most … Continued

Memoirs of an Amnesiac: Reindeer Games My wife, Carol, and I have been married 27 years. On one of our … Continued

Averill Park Capital Projects Proposal Ill-timed and Unnecessary We have lived in Averill Park for 34 years and been supporters … Continued

Democracy is the Vilest Form of Government If truth has any value over perception in today’s world, President Trump will … Continued

Stolen Biden Sign on Veterans Day We knew there was a chance that the Biden/ Harris sign we put at … Continued

Historic Preservation – Continued Sand Lake Town Historian Bob Moore’s recent article in The Advertiser reminds us that we live … Continued

Peaceful Transition, Really? In response to Michael Roland’s letter 10/15/2020. Your article made me laugh! Peaceful Transition, Really! I know … Continued

Things you learn The sun is slowly sliding down towards the horizon in the west, Why the sun puts on … Continued

Peaceful Transition One of the hallmarks of democratic countries is that after elections there is a peaceful transition of power. … Continued

I don’t have the answers to yet I’m not afraid of dying I’m just not ready yet I still have … Continued

Vandals Lash Out After Vocal Hearing The Town of Sand Lake Planning Board held another hearing regarding the proposed party … Continued

Yearn To Learn Education is something we take for granted It’s how the seeds of wisdom are planted Everyone has … Continued

Just another tax! Dear Poestenkill Resident: It is time to pay attention to what Town Hall is doing. My school … Continued

Please Stop Your Nonsense! This letter is one that I have been avoiding writing. While I don’t think Poestenkill residents … Continued

CORRECTION: Poestenkill residents, your EMS system is not broken The letter to the editor titled “Poestenkill residents, your EMS system … Continued

Poestenkill Residents, Your EMS System is Not Broken There was a public hearing held by the town of Poestenkill on … Continued

My flower, my wife A rose may bloom red while a violet may bloom blue Yet no flower has ever … Continued

Memoirs of an Amnesiac: Butterflies from Heaven? When my Dad passed away in 1987, he and Mom had just retired … Continued

Why We Support an Open Dialogue With Ken Bailey… I am writing in response to the many opinions I have … Continued

What It’s All About When you’re young you’re more alert, You feel more than you know. We disregard our instincts, … Continued

COVID-19=FEAR Like Venetians at Mardi Gras Or robbers of banks,  We cover our faces with masks And join in their … Continued

Me They’ll dig a hole extra deep, Find the stoutest box, Pack in four yards of dirt, Plus some heavy … Continued

No Party Barn in our Neighborhood I have lived on this street since 1965. I am shocked and opposed to … Continued

No Party Barn in Our Backyard We are strongly opposed to the large-scale commercial project proposed be Ken Bailey. The … Continued

Barnes Road Area Neighborhood Association Dear Planning Board, Our family is strongly opposed to the large-scale commercial project proposed by … Continued

The Scope Of Hope You may not be able to grasp it And hold it in your hand But if … Continued

Takin’ Care Of Small Business You open up a business because it is your passion The American dream never goes … Continued

A Beast in the Wild   When I was a child  in the woods one day A frightful beast suddenly … Continued

Mere Shadows Maybe you noticed them… Three old friends of mine Sitting in lawn chairs Right alongside the parade route. … Continued

Memoirs of an Amnesiac: Baby Steps According to a fortune cookie, “Footprints on the sands of time are not made … Continued

Sabo Democratic Committee Slate Misleads A recent announcement of a slate of North Greenbush Democratic Committee candidates misleads voters as … Continued

Wearing Face Masks is Hard As we head into summer, wearing face masks is becoming increasingly more uncomfortable; they get … Continued

Memoirs of an Amnesiac: Small Miracles My first car was a 1972 MG Midget, which I bought when it was … Continued

No “Party Barn” for Barnes Road! To: The Planning Board: My wife and I have resided for over 30 years … Continued

I Can’t Tell You My Secret If you have a secret sin Take it with you to the grave. Fight … Continued

Corona Poem There’s No Place Like Home Don’t sit there on the couch and watch the bad news That will … Continued

Thank You Parents Dear Parents, First, I want to share my well-wishes for your health and well-being during these difficult … Continued

Memoirs of an Amnesiac: Llama Mama From my early childhood in the 1950s I recall a petting zoo, probably the … Continued

Maple Math Real life learning In Grandpa’s backyard: 4 trees + 8 taps Yields quite a bit of sap. A … Continued

Choice is the Key to Success I read an article in a national weekly newspaper a while back that sought … Continued

Memoirs of an Amnesiac: Early HVAC I was in my early teens when our house was back-fitted with central heat. … Continued

Podcasts – The Digital Gutenberg Revolution I’ve spent a lot of time listening to Jordan Peterson podcasts lately where I’ve … Continued

Another Bridge to Nowhere? Now how about that, would you, people? According to the latest word around town, the federal … Continued

Our Woods Are at Risk All over our towns and villages, our woodlands are at risk to development pressures. The … Continued

Cleaning Up Dog Poop After A Snowmelt “Woof! Woof! Black Dog, have you any poop?” “Yes, Mommy dear, there’s a … Continued

Australia Is Burning Australia is burning. The Amazon rain forest is burning. California fires grow larger. Aquifers dry up around … Continued