Editorial: A too-generous policy
THE ISSUE:Albany has paid retiring employees millions of dollars for unused vacation time.THE STAKES:City taxpayers can no longer afford such a generous compensation policy. When your city is facing a...
View ArticleDavid Brooks: Desperately seeking leadership
We're in the middle of a remarkable shift in how Americans see the world and their own country's role in the world. For the first time in half a century, a majority of Americans say that the U.S....
View ArticleEnsure future of New York
A college degree opens doors to personal opportunity and success. But years of budget cuts to New York's public university system have made the path to a diploma even more challenging for students —...
View ArticleAllow all of America to enjoy King's civil rights legacy
The following appeared in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial:Fifty years ago, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work as the leader of the civil rights...
View ArticleEditorial: The hefty price of winter
THE ISSUE:The federal government has been asked to investigate this winter's skyrocketing natural gas prices.THE STAKES:A booming natural gas market has done nothing to flatten utility bills. Even...
View ArticleMaureen Dowd: CIA needs a refresher course
Washington Even "Homeland" never thought of a plot this wild.The CIA hacks into computers that Senate intelligence committee staffers are using in the basement of a CIA facility because the spy agency...
View ArticleBe an educated consumer in choosing health insurance
Since October, more than 590,000 New Yorkers have signed up for health insurance through New York State of Health.As CEO of the Mental Health Association in New York State, I can tell you that our...
View ArticleTime to channel 'give 'em hell' Harry
Let's face it: President Barack Obama let his opponents get the better of him when he accepted, with inappropriate hubris, the renaming of the Affordable Care Act as Obamacare. As Dutch political...
View ArticleEditorial: A circuit breaker, at last?
THE PLANS:The governor pushes a tax freeze, while the Assembly offers a more targeted break.THE CHOICE:What's better: an election year gimmick, or a program that helps those who need it? New York's...
View ArticleProposed cut helps the wealthy
Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposal to cut the estate tax rate and raise the level at which estates are taxed comes at a time when income growth of the wealthiest New Yorkers has skyrocketed, compared to the...
View ArticleVideotape evidence tells truth
Adrian Thomas demonstrated on videotape how he violently slammed his 4-month-old son to a mattress on the floor of his apartment. The child died a short while later. The videotape was made during an...
View ArticleSkating along the canal is a great way to experience life
The Champlain and Erie canals freeze early in Waterford, and skating on them helped me avoid hating this extremely cold winter. In fact, I'm kind of in love.I'm not a very good skater, and my only...
View ArticleGE addressed PCBs with diligence
The long debate over what to do about PCBs in the Hudson River ended 12 years ago. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered dredging and GE agreed to conduct the project, now 70 percent...
View ArticleEditorial: Wadsworth's risky plan
THE ISSUE:The state is proposing a unique financing plan for the new Wadsworth Center.THE STAKES:While this public-private partnership offers benefits, it carries some serious risks. It almost sounds...
View ArticleA guest in Crimea: More than a decade after the Soviet breakup, the...
Editor's note: The following story published April 18, 2004, in the Times Union's Travel section, along with the photos in this gallery. A sign in Cyrillic on top of the airport terminal came into...
View ArticleYouth an asset to school boards
School board elections are coming up in May. I'd like to call on all the young people out there to step up and do your community — and your alma mater — a favor: Run for your board. Your schools will...
View ArticleGMO labeling will undermine trust
Getting food to the plates of New Yorkers and those beyond our borders is the work and passion of the members. From those who produce the highest quality seeds, to those who nurture the seeds into...
View ArticleRex Smith: What Do You Want To Know?
Here are some things you wouldn't know if it weren't for state and federal freedom of information laws:• For years, Albany had a secret system to fix parking tickets, including bull's-eye window...
View ArticleCasey Seiler: In-depth study not required
You say the wheels of government grind slowly? Consider the case of Josephine Finn, a Sullivan County village judge who met with state lawmakers on Monday about joining the Board of Regents, and was...
View ArticleEditorial: GE's legacy on the Hudson
THE ISSUE:General Electric says the story of its handling of the PCB issue is just history.THE STAKES:We need to learn from it in order to not repeat the mistakes now and in the future. More than four...
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