Kingston Times letters (5/18-24)
Topics include: VanBlarcum is misinformed, lawmakers’ transphobia, Ulster County nepotism, Parkinson’s Awareness Walk.
Voices
To bolster local economy, we must build on our assets
Were I in charge of economic development around here, I’d focus a lot more than is being done on attracting the most tech-savvy New York City millennials to Ulster County, whether they be in the motion picture and sound recording industries, in other information services, or elsewhere.
Hugh Reynolds: Ulster County’s phantom workers
As if Ulster County taxpayers doling out $77.8 million a year in county property taxes weren’t enough, County Comptroller Elliott Auerbach revealed last week that some $2.2 million goes to line-item vacancies.
Relativity in five minutes: Einstein’s bullet points
Special relativity was evolutionary and isn’t that hard to understand. But general relativity theory seemingly came from outer space; it had very little precedent and was truly an act of genius.
Nods to the past align with the technology of the future at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds
In the Hudson Valley, ag still rules! A big early-20th-century barn has popped up at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck, reminding passersby on Route 9 that there’s much more there than the midway at the annual Dutchess County Fair.
Hugh Reynolds: Faso’s political sin
Congressman John Faso knows all the rules. Over a 30-year career, he may have invented some. But he has repeatedly defied and/or ignored the cardinal rule. Faso has allowed opponents to define him as a lily-livered wimp afraid to confront his constituents face to face.
Commentary: Who’s Faso working for?
He campaigned as a New York-style moderate, like his predecessor Chris Gibson, but so far he’s voted more like a fire-breathing arch-conservative.
Letter: Adjunct professors get short shrift
The pay is ludicrous — I’m teaching four courses in this spring semester for $10,000. For a typical class size of 20 students, that works out to a per course instructional cost of $125 per student, or $500-625 for a typical semester course load of 4-5 courses taught exclusively by adjuncts (and they do teach over one-third of the courses at New Paltz).
Accent on New Paltz: Helping others to help themselves
Not a day goes by without hundreds of Ulster County residents being helped by the staff and volunteers at Family of New Paltz and its parent organization, Family of Woodstock.
Letters: Vote ‘no’ on Meagher; ‘Raise the age’ a mistake
Selections from the May 4 edition of Kingston Times.