Heaps of Happenings

LOCAL HEROES: a nameless customer in, and the proprietor of, the Palenville Market. Mr Nameless (by choice) found a large sum of money—greenbacks; a sackful-- in the store. He handed it over to proprietor Rick Van Buren, who told authorities and the local Press about the find, and held the money in the expectation that its owner would return and make a credible claim. Mr Van Buren waited from early March until just the other day. No claimant. So he gave the stash--we are not talking just about hundreds--back to Mr Nameless.

LOCAL BENEFACTORS: Elizabeth and Eric Rasmussen, of Acra. They gave their 142-acre Siuslaw Tree Farm to Cornell Cooperative Extension of Greene County. The acreage (formerly Lange’s Groveside Resort) is located along Route 23 just across from Cornell Cooperative’s Agroforestry Center--property which the Rasmussens previously had given to that conservation organization. The transfer of ownership was celebrated last Friday (and was nicely written up by Claude Haton in the 4/22 Daily Mail).

CASTING CALL. Actors are needed now for this summer’s performance, at Catskill Point, of the renowned and locally relevant play by Thornton Wilder, “Our Town.” It will be staged six times in July, in the Old Warehouse, under the direction of veteran GreeneLand thespian Joseph Capone, thanks to an Arts Council grant that was bestowed on a project aptly dubbed Classics@thePoint. Auditions will be held tomorrow (4/29) and Sunday, from 10 am.- 1 pm., at Columbia-Greene Community College. For details, ring 943-2680. To learn more about the play, google “Our Town.”

POSTPONED, from today (4/28) until August 14th , in Federal district court in Albany: sentencing of GreeneLand swindler Martha Ivery. Length of the prison term meted out by Judge Frederick J. Scullin (it could be as long as 35 years) will depend in no small measure on contents of a probation report covering multiple acts of fraud perpetrated in the guise of book publisher and literary agent. We may learn then whether it’s true that, even after being indicted, Martha tried to con another author. That would affect the credibility of her “contrition” plaint.

STALLED: that ambitious “Hamlet on Hudson” project—up-scale condominiums flanking an up-scale riverside golf course. It is by no means a done deal. The required approvals have not been granted by Coxsackie authorities, and promoter Mark Salomon, we understand, is rather far from being ready to apply for them. In the meantime, his Sleepy Hollow Lake neighbors are not enamored of Mr Salomon. It has to do with how he treated the residents’ association in connection with another development project.

INSTALLED, as of April 1 (as reported in Wednesday’s Daily Mail), as Catskill’s new postmaster: Leon Griffin, former customer service manager of the Newburgh post office. For Catskillians, a liberal dose of postmasterly customer service would be a treat. Mr Griffin’s predecessor, Don Stegall, was notoriously self-sequestered on the job. And his version of being community-minded consisted of operating extra-curricular businesses, such as trading cards and (until it was closed following a murder) a night club.

EXPIRED, of exhaustion, after 31 years at four different Catskill sites: Birdland Music. Proprietor Bill Trotman sold what remained of his retail stock to Mark Gordon, who owns seven music outlets in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Bill moved to Pittsfield, but plans to maintain the Internet part of Birdland’s business with the help of veteran Catskill assistant Missy Welsh. Next tenant of the storefront he vacated last Saturday, in the former Community Center building, could, might, may be, gulp, a book store.

STAYING, for the foreseeable future, contrary to local rumors, at 5 Old Main Street in Catskill: Tatiana’s. Proprietors Jimmy & Angie Giurgi do have ideas about putting condominiums on the present creekside location, and re-opening the restaurant on a Route 9W site in Athens, but those are long-term notions. So rife were the rumors about an imminent closing that the Giurgis resorted to advertising just to publicize the fact that they are still open. Nightly except Mondays. 943-1528.

DEPARTED, on April 14, for Orlando, after 42 months as executive director of GreeneLand’s Chamber of Commerce: Debbie Zetterlund. She was lured away by the glowing terms of an offer from former employer Emerson International, a commercial development company. Ms Zetterlund’s successor will not be Linda Overbaugh, who declined the offer; she’s too wrapped up in the accelerating transformation of ever-improving Catskill. To wit:

OPENING SOON in Catskill: A Muddy Cup outlet, across from the County office building. A MOD coffee shop in the Colterman Building. Retriever Roasters coffee-grinding and baked goods. Beginner’s Mind, an art gallery run by LeeAnne Morgan. City Lights (as in lighting). A Bower Bird tabletops (household goods) store. A bed & bath. A plumbing supplies store. And a promotional campaign touting Catskill as the mid-Hudson Valley’s home improvement Mecca.

OPENED, in a creekside cottage on Water Street, Catskill, that served in the nineteenth century as starting point for tourists heading by railroad to the Mountain House: a state-of-the-art recording studio, operated for Frank Cuthbert, the musical entrepreneur, by Bobby Eichorn, veteran recording engineer and record producer.

DAILY MAUL. ”The 110 Republicans showing up…was a good turnout, …Bogardus said.” *”Many of the bonnets were very unique….” *”Followed by Carolyn Kasper, who had eggs dangling from hers.” *The most unique was Elena DiPrima who used pastel bath scrubbies and hair clips.” *”Lashley stated he wrote his name on the check as if DSS had wrote the check in his name.” *”Karen explained that Brandy had been scene in the Catskill and Cairo areas….” *Wanted, for Hudson Valley Newspapers: clerical assistant in the Circulation Department. Part of the job, says the Daily Mail advertisement, is “computer imputing.”

April Scandals

FUEL PRICES. Can consumers do anything to combat the soaring cost of gasoline? One move that has been advocated could have some merit. It consist of boycotting ONE company’s retail outlets. Maybe that would force the target company to cut prices, thereby re-attracting customers, thereby forcing competitors to follow suit. The best target probably would be the biggest chain: Exxon AND Mobil—two brands that are part of one company. FULLA STERN. Latest candidate for premier GreeneLand sleazebag (after Martha, “The Snake,” various roofers and blacktoppers, the free-spending salvation-monger…) is Jared Paul Stern. A part-time resident (with “Snoodles” Gutman) of Oak Hill, Mr Stern, 35, was cited not long ago in a magazine story about trendy New Yorkers who are “trading the overcrowded, overpriced Hamptons for the simpler pleasures of the Catskills.” “Until recently,” said Shyama Patel in New York, “the Catskills were best known for crumbling resort hotels and...local ski hills…that draw busloads of day-trippers during the winter. But these days, as FOR SALE signs dot every other rambling dairy farm, big new houses crop up on newly cleared mountaintops, and Two Old Tarts does a brisk trade in almond croissants at the farmer’s market, it’s become clear that these sleepy, charmingly shabby environs are being rediscovered.”

Take Jared Paul Stern. On a rainy summer Friday, the Post’s ‘Nightcrawler’ is not working the phones or trying to figure out what he’s wearing to the evening’s shindig at Soho House. As is his new norm, Stern is at home in Greene County, where his girlfriend…is teaching him the joys of making brownies from a box…. Around the house, there are photographs of the years the couple spent renting, testing the waters from the South Shore of Long Island to New Canaan, Connecticut. ‘We loved Bellport,' says Ruth. ‘But it was too expensive.’

They finally [in 2002] bought in Oak Hill, paying about $200,000 for four acres and a 2,500-square-foot [“Carpenter Gothic”] fixer-upper. It’s a place where the most exciting group to join is the 12 Tribes, a local hippie cult.”

The work from which Mr Stern occasionally retreated was that of free-lance contributor to or part-time employee (depending on what story one reads) of The New York Post. His principal task was to find and shape items for that tabloid’s gossip section, Page Six. In that capacity, he took part in confecting items about the social activities of Ronald Burkle, a Los Angeles billionaire. Mr Burkle complained about inaccuracies. He complained to the section’s editor, to the paper’s editor and even to the publisher (Rupert Murdoch himself) as well as to Mr Stern. He got no satisfaction, even after he bought 60 shirts from Mr Stern’s clothing company. Finally he met with Mr Stern in a Manhattan loft, asked what he could do to avoid being plagued by bad gossip and to elicit good stuff, and was invited to retain Mr Stern for $200,000 down (“an initial kind of set-up fee to get everything rolling”) plus $10,000 per month. That proposal was voiced in the course of a conversation that Mr Burkle’s was videotaping secretly. According to Mr Stern, the proposal was not an extortion bid; gosh no; it was about inviting Ron to invest in the clothing venture as well as to retain JPS as media consultant. And anyhow, media sharks have blown the whole thing out of proportion. Last year Mr Stern was interviewed for a gossip-mongering blog site called Black Table. On that occasion, when asked to recall what it was like to be second in editorial command, briefly, of Star magazine (since re-named Us Weekly), with one Bonnie Fuller as chief, he showed his talent for doing what us sophisticates call dish.

Interviewer: [Is Ms Fuller] really the tyrannical raging twatzi that everyone says she is? Why did you quit? Stern: Twatzi doesn't begin to cover it (but nice try). Between Bonnie and her deputy dildo Joe Dolce the place is a soul-destroying black hole of despair. It's no wonder the assistants piss in her soup. (I know I did.) I did it for the money, which I knew was f--- stupid… Almost everyone who was there at the time has quit now as well; most of them are writing books about what a bitch Bonnie is.

As for Mr Stern’s clothing venture, it consists of putting a Skull & Bones emblem on tote bags and standard garments (polo shirts, tennis sweaters, silk ties), endowing the line verbally with “unique prep-punk sensibility,” placing the stuff in precious boutiques, and marking the items up up and awaaaaay. (There is no Yale connection. Mr Stern attended Bennington). In the aftermath of the extortion flap, GreeneLand's latest celebrity was interviewed at his bucolic Oak Hill retreat by Choire Sicha of The New York Observer. He claimed to be the victim of a set-up and the target of out-of-proportion, catty news coverage. At the same time he was manifestly relishing the prospects of appearances on talk shows, and perhaps a book; even a movie.

DEATH BY NEGLECT. The lethal abuse of 3-year old Egypt Phillips, late of Coxsackie, can be blamed on three parties. One is James Smith, paramour of Egypt’s mother and taxpayer-funded care-giver of Egypt. In the light of abundant evidence that he beat, shook violently, and otherwise abused that child, Smith was convicted in March of Egypt’s murder. A second guilty party is Tonya Rose, Egypt’s mother. While she was away at work she entrusted Egypt’s care to Smith (rather than to her own sister, who was available and had proved to be competent and caring). She kept Smith at home and ‘on the job’ after he had been barred legally because he evidently was abusing Egypt. She has been convicted of negligent homicide. The third guilty party evidently is The System. It is the procedures and/or the personnel of GreeneLand’s Child Protection Services agency together with its Social Services parent. Egypt was known to people working for those agencies. She became known to them in consequence of hospital reports about injuries that were interpreted authoritatively as products of abuse. Indeed, after the battered Egypt was hospitalized in 2004, procedures were set in motion that yielded the order prohibiting Smith from living in the Rose household. But Smith and Rose disregarded that order. AND NOBODY CHECKED. What is more, SMITH CONTINUED TO GET PAID, via Social Services, at the rate of $1100-plus per month, for his “service” as care-giver of Egypt and her two siblings. Egypt’s injuries—bruises; weight loss; retinal hemorrhage (strongest sign of violent shaking)--continued. During Smith’s trial Gene Beers, the responsible Social Services Department supervisor, was asked whether, following Egypt’s last hospitalization, a case worker had checked on obedience to the order of exclusion. Mr Beers did not know; he “supposed” so. Egypt Phillips is not GreeneLand’s only victim of institutional failure, in recent memory. Back in 2001, a man named Jose Serrano distinguished himself as a busy foster father. So active and effective was he, in the judgment of the Department of Social Services, that he was crowned at a special banquet, as Foster Father of The Year. In that same year he was convicted of sodomizing and otherwise abusing seven of the boys who were in his care. Complaints that eventually led to conviction had been voiced long before his activities were investigated. Since then the Social Services Department has acquired a new director: Kira Pospesel. We requested an interview with Ms Pospesel. We have been stonewalled. County legislators, we have been told, intend to review the operations of relevant departments in light of the Egypt Phillips tragedy. Stay tuned.

# STORY’S STORY. Although its main buildings were destroyed by last Thurs- day’s fire, the estimable Story’s Nursery is open for business. And it’s an ideal time, folks, to make sure proprietor Ken Thompson gets plenty. There may still be electrical problems, thwarting use of credit cards; bring cash.

IF DEAD, PLEASE CALL. “If you or a loved one was seriously injured or died as a result of using Advair, Servent, or Foradil,” says The Fox Law Firm of Dallas TX in nation-wide advertisements, “please call us today.”

DAILY MAUL. “After learning that Litchko was the driver of the car that hit the young woman, he also was arrested,” says a rookie reporter, demonstrating a weakness for dangling grammatical construction. In another recent item of our local daily, one "Stephen Shadely" is hailed as "renowned" interior designer. But his surname, like those of his brother and mother in Leeds, is Shadley.

YEAH SURE. Tannersville mayor Gina Legari, who has sole power to fill the current vacancy, says she does want the Village board to be full (=3 members) but does not feel like making her choice yet—not for a few WEEKS. (Reported by Jim Planck in Daily Mail of 4/8).

News News Plus

GreeneLand, or a portion thereof, has gained a newspaper. Countering the national trend toward consolidation and extinction, The Coxsackie-Athens Courier came into existence March 23 in the form of a weekly that is richly endowed with local news & stuff. As described by Publisher/editor Richard G. Bleezarde, this Courier is cousin to The Ravena News-Herald and The Greenville Local and is “Devoted to the Best Interest of the People in Coxsackie-Athens and surrounding communities.” Eleven editorial, advertising and production staff members are listed; and the availability of a job in advertising is, well, advertised. The paper’s mail address is cacourier@brickrow.net. Telephone 756-2030 or -2087; fax 756-8555. As a local tabloid the newcomer resembles the Greenville Press (recent source of a headline promising “the tooth about fluoridation”). Credit for quaintness can be given to Courier obituaries, wherein decedents, surrounded by loving families, do not die but rather pass away or are called away by God. Not so quaint are such CACkles as “Voters casted their votes at the…school.”; “In a 14-0 vote, the Greene County Legislator unanimously voted….”; “lucky to have know him”; “requests to fix a drainage problems…”; and “Worth commented on clearing brush caused the water level to drop quickly.” Equally noteworthy is The Cairo Forum, a web site constructed recently, and elegantly, by local businessman Keith Graham who bills it as “a place to discuss what’s best for the town.” Would-be Forum participants are invited to register and in doing so to “agree not to post any abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening, sexually-oriented or any other material that may violate any applicable laws.” Participants also are urged to “Don’t hate, appreciate.” But there are heated exchanges aplenty, about the Town’s governors bestowing health benefits on themselves and about--would you believe?--“our fire company.” GreeneLanders who check out the Cairo site (http://caironewyork.com) may well be inspired to try similar ventures in their home towns. Indeed they could get seized with the idea of establishing a county-wide equivalent. Well, a Greene County Forum already exists. It has been characterized aptly by one its stalwarts as a low-volume e-mail list that is open to people who have an interest in sharing information to build trust and accountability in Greene County. Its web site http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GreeneCountyForum contains links to information about community demographics, regional development and open government. Forum members who own free Yahoo accounts can access much more information on the website, including the archive of messages and more links to information. People can join the Forum by e-mailing GreeneCountyForum-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. It needs an infusion of fresh recruits. Meanwhile, Catskill has been the locus recently of two new organs of communication. A Catskill Kids site was created by Village Trustee Forest Cotten, with astonishing speed and sophistication, to meet the felt need for a source of comprehensive local information about services—sports, arts, projects, events—for local youth. Here’s hoping the site can be sustained. Keeping up to date on scheduled happenings can be hard. Could www.catskillkids.org be adopted by C.H.S. computer techies? Then there’s Seeing Greene Fire, a blog that was launched on March 18 in response, ostensibly, to “the overwhelming out cry of GreeneLand Fire Fighters” against abusive leaders, especially in Catskill. http://seeinggreenefire.blogspot.com was created by a blogger who bills himself presumptuously as Sherlock Holmes. It is manifestly, explicitly modeled on Seeing Greene, is touted as a “subsiderary” thereof and as “a continuation”of the “original work” of Dick May, who is billed as “editor at large.” But Mr May, we have it on good authority does not know this “Holmes,” had no advance knowledge of outbreak of Fire, and does not relish the gratuitous Godfather designation. Early issues of Fire show a devotion to the Bandwagon Device, wherein the narrator invents hordes of screaming outraged Village voters and overwhelming GreeneLand-wide outcries. Also conspicuous is an excess of the one-eyed, skulking, one-track-minded verbiage that had poisoned the Comments section of Seeing Greene. Evident too, however, are touches of humor, a commendable avowed intention to illuminate fire company issues around the county, and (in the April 2 entry) a predilection for touching, eloquent words.

CONGRESSIONAL POLITICKING. Kirsten Gillibrand’s long-shot attempt to topple John Sweeney as 20^th District Congressperson looks serious, at least financially. A serious fund-raiser will take place in Manhattan on April 18^th, at a Park Avenue address, with multiple names of distinction heading the invitation list and Sen. Charles Schumer as special guest. Six days later and a few blocks away (on East 66^th Street), comes a Manhattan fund-raiser for Mr Sweeney, hosted by Mimi and David Forer.

JUDICIAL POLITICKING. The imminent removal of disgraced State Supreme Court Justice Thomas Spargo marks the end of one story and the start of another. Judge Spargo, whose territory includes Greene and other up-State counties, squeezed money out of lawyers who had cases pending before him—money earmarked for his defense against other misconduct charges, namely that he dispensed $5-value coupons and bought rounds of drinks while running for a Town judgeship; took on as a private client a district attorney-elect whose electoral victory was under legal challenge; and flew to Florida in 2000 to lead a squad of pro-Bush election recount saboteurs. Spargo’s departure (he is not contesting the State Committee on Judicial Conduct’s recommendation that he be removed) creates a vacancy. The successor will be appointed by the Governor on the advice of local party chairpersons. And among possible/plausible successors would be GreeneLand judge George J. Pulver Jr. He rates as a prospect in that he is a seasoned jurist (with lots of experience filling in as a Supreme), he’s not too old for the job, he has been a contender for promotion in the past, he graciously withdrew from contention in response to pressure from fellow Republicans, and GreeneLand deserves a ‘turn’ at filling the district vacancy. On the other hand, GreeneLand’s claim to preferment is weakened by its small size and hence its lack of political clout. Anyhow, if the Supreme Court job does go to Judge Pulver, (who was just re-elected last year), we expect an interesting, though subtle and dignified, scramble among GreeneLanders to succeed him. Among plausible or likely contenders for consideration we understand, are Tom Fori of Coxsackie, former Town judge; Peter Margolius, sitting Catskill Town Justice; and Terry Wilhelm, our district attorney. Fori and Margolius have been avowed aspirants for Pulver’s seat in the past. And Wilhelm comes into the picture because the office of district attorney often has served often as a route to the bench. (The career of our other county judge, Daniel Lalor, is a case in point). Now then, if Pulver succeeds Spargo, and Wilhelm succeeds Pulver, who succeeds Wilhelm? The most likely candidate, as an interim appointee, is Charles (“Chip”) Tailleur. He is Chief Assistant District Attorney under Wilhelm, and he held the same job under Wilhelm’s predecessor, Ed Cloke.

ON REQUEST. Correspondent “Dave” asks that this interrogatory be posted on Seeing Greene: What has happened to this country? Everybody was very patriotic when 911 happened. Raised the American flag as high as it would go, and proud! Now look around, the flags that were raised are still raised and torn/faded. The biggest offenders are public buildings. Look over the Rip Van Winkle bridge when you return from Hudson. Look at the village buildings in Catskill, Coxsackie, and Athens. Where are our patriotic citizens now? Why don't our elected officials say something? I ask every person that reads this to stand up and defend our FLAG! If you are flying it, do it properly! As a veteran I am offended.....

NEAT TRICK. “To unsubscribe,” says cyber-promoter Bruce A. Berman, “click here below.”

March Finale

ELECTION NOTES. Recent elections in GreeneLand villages were noteworthy for lack of contestation, for low turnout (occasioned by lack of contestation), and for retention of incumbents. Tannersville did have a contest for Trustee, with Linda Kline (Democrat) out-polling Kevin Tucker by 92 votes to 31. In Hunter, unopposed incumbent Michael Tancredi was returned by a landslide margin of 22 votes, those being all the votes that were cast. In Athens, two incumbents sought re-election, and both were successful, as could have been anticipated in light of the fact that they too were not opposed. Still, some Athenian voters went through the motions, giving 99 votes to Dominick Multari and 80 to Andrea Smallwood. Contests did occur in Coxsackie, drawing to the polls an almost respectable number of voters: 617, from a pool of 1790 eligibles. Victories were achieved by the two short-term incumbents (recent appointees, filling vacancies), Joseph Zanchelli (378 votes) and John Oliver (344), who out-polled Democrats John Benson (249 votes) and Crystal Palmer-Bull (193). Noteworthy about that outcome is the fact that the leading vote-getter had been Coxsackie’s most vocal, steadfast opponent of the prospective United Mobile Homes development. That distinction was disregarded in pre-election coverage of the race in The Daily Mail. It was disregarded too in the Mail’s editorial endorsing Mr Zanchelli and Mr Oliver. Readers were invited to believe that all four candidates were about the same in qualifications and in policy orientations. In Catskill, 438 of the 2300 registered Village voters turned out to settle contests for Village Trustee and Village Justice. Trustees Jim Chewens and Forest Cotten (both standing as Democrats) were re-elected by 302 and 270 votes, respectively, out-polling ex-Trustee Paul Rosenblatt (206 votes). Veteran Chuck Adsit won another term as Village Justice, with 288 votes to 124 for challenger Rita Landy. Chewens’s victory, and its size, came in the wake of sustained, anonymous, personal attacks from some Catskill firefighters, who used Seeing Greene’s open-to-all Comments section as vehicle. Their sorehead faction evidently is tiny.

OF POLITICAL ADVERTISING. Newspaper publishers do try to prevent the use of advertising for political ambushes. They try to block eleventh-hour attack ads, whose timing prevents the target from mounting an effective response. But some preventive policies are poorly conceived. Mr Cotten pointed that out recently, in a letter to Roger Coleman, publisher of Hudson Valley Newspapers. “Your policy on political ads,” he said, “makes no sense.” The rule is that copy for all political advertisements must be submitted by the last Thursday before a Tuesday voting day AND that those ‘final’ ads be re-runs of previous messages. One consequence of that policy, Mr Cotten pointed out, would be that a new “Vote Today!” ad suitable only for polling day would be unacceptable. Worse yet, if Candidate A submits an attack ad on the ‘final’ pre-election Wednesday, for publication on Thursday or afterward, his opponent is precluded by the publisher’s rules from mounting a retort. If he submits his reply by the end of the day on the final pre-election Thursday, it would be fresh material and hence would be unacceptable. “Thus,” says Mr Cotten to Mr Coleman, “your rule makes no sense”; “it does not meet your stated goal of preventing last-minute attack ads.” A “more compatible system,” says Mr Cotten, would be to notify all candidates that all their contemplated advertisements must be submitted no later than seven days before an election. On that ‘final’ day, all candidates are invited to review each others’ ads and, if they wish, to prepare, within 24 hours, “counter-ads.” “If they don’t come in and review the Ads, then that is their choice.” SCHOOL LITIGATION NOTE. Over in Dutchess County, the Rhinebeck School Board agreed recently to pay $151,500 in settlement of a lawsuit. The Board had been sued for damages arising from alleged sexual harassment of students by the high school principal, Thomas Mawhinney. The lawsuit was filed in 2003, in Federal court in White Plains. It charged that District officials had turned a blind eye to persistent complaints about sexual harassment of students by Mawhinney, and had participated in punishing a staff member who supported the complainants. According to the news story in the Kingston Daily Freeman, Mawhinney had been the target of complaints previously, and had been formally disciplined on that account. Also, when the Board eventually took up the current case, it placed Mawhinney on leave with full pay. These and other facts of the case, along with terms of the settlement (who gets what share of the payment) were furnished to the news media in response to inquiries and even ahead of specific inquiries. Question: Why cover this Dutchess County matter in a blog that is devoted to events in Greene County? Answer: the conduct of the Rhinebeck School Board serves to mark a contrast with the conduct of a GreeneLand school board. The Rhinebeck Board volunteered information about the existence and substance of a lawsuit against it, about the reaching of a settlement, and about the terms of that settlement. By way of contrast, the Catskill Central School District’s trustees, for all their pretensions to transparency of conduct, have never voluntarily acknowledged the fact that they were the target in 2004-06 of a lawsuit by an employee. They never shared with the public the news that they were being accused of fraudulently demoting or dismissing an employee, and of doing so as an act of punishment for his extra-curricular political activities. They did acknowledge (only when asked in a public forum, and only through their Superintendent) the existence of a settlement, but refused to discuss its terms. They accordingly did not confirm or deny that 35,000 taxpayers’ dollars had been given to the plaintiff, Stanley Dushane, or that Board members who were close personal friends of the plaintiff had participated actively in this decision. This apparent devotion to opacity seems to be evident in the report of the State-sponsored audit of the accounts of Catskill Central School District. The lengthyhg51-page report compiled by Alex Varga & Co. deals in broad categories with assets and liabilities and with revenues and outlays during 2004-05. In a pie chart it portrays seven types of expenditures, from Instruction (61.56% of all) down to Other (0.23%)—which is held to be differ from General (23.7%). Absent as a category of expenditures, or as a sub-category or sub-sub-category, is litigation expense.

MAUL NOTES. “MAN HOLDS REAL ESTATE HOSTAGE OFFICE FOR 3 HOURS” = top page-one headline, 3/28/06. *“HEAT SWELTER KNICKS with 111-100 win” * “If elected, …the faces on the Village Board will not change in the near future.” * “There are currently three seats up for re-election: Manny Amado, Carrol Mercer and Barton Wallace.” *“Local Law Three of 2006 amends the Dogs and Other Animals Law with the intent of deterring pet owners, especially dogs, from defecating on property, public or private, other than the owners. This is commonly known as the ‘pooper-scooper’ law.”

Paddy Patter

CONSERVED: two substantial parcels of riverside land, in Athens and Coxsackie. Thanks to the Scenic Hudson Land Trust, the State Department of Environmental Conservation, drawing upon the Environmental Protection Fund, will pay $879,000 for 61 acres of shoreline, tidal flats, grassland and woodland at Brandow Point, just north of the Cohotate Reserve. At Four Mile Point in Coxsackie, meanwhile,123 acres of land, much of it part of the Vosburgh Swamp, will be acquired by the State and reserved for recreation and conservation purposes. Management of both parcels will be handled by the Greene County Soil and Water Conservation District. On the occasion of the announcement of these acquisitions (and even more shorelands directly across the Hudson), GCSWCD executive director Rene Schaack said “When the GCSWCD focused its efforts on access to the Hudson River in the early 1990’s, there were only 41 acres of publicly accessible lands in Greene County that were on the river. We are very pleased that by working with partners such as Scenic Hudson, New York State, and others, we have had the opportunity to play a role in increasing riverfront public lands to over 400 acres, and we look forward to continuing to work with DEC to manage these properties into the future.” For more information, google scenichudson.

CONVICTED last night, of murder in the second degree, by 12 GreeneLand jurors, instructed by Judge Daniel Lalor, following a nine-day trial and nine hours of deliberation: James B. Smith, 26. The jurors agreed with District Attorney Terry Wilhelm that, by reckless conduct exhibiting depraved indifference to the consequences, Smith caused the death of 3-year-old Egypt Phillips. Smith had been living in Coxsackie with Egypt’s mother, Tonya Rose, who had designated him as the official caregiver—paid by Greene County Social Services, at the rate of more than $1000 per month--of Egypt and her two sisters. He subjected Egypt to persistent abuse, and finally inflicted a blow that, on account of its nature and of dilatoriness in seeking medical help, proved to be fatal. Smith’s punishment can range from 25 years in prison to life. Sentencing is scheduled to take place on May 23rd.

ALSO CONVICTED, earlier, of criminally negligent homicide: the aforementioned Tonya Rose, mother of Egypt and of two other daughters (by different fathers). She put Smith in charge of the children while she was working at a WalMart, and kept to the arrangement even after he was formally barred from the household by order of Child Protection Services. She accepted a plea bargain in which her recommended punishment would be three months’ jail time if she proved to be a co-operative and truthful witness in the trial of Smith. In District Attorney Wilhelm’s estimation, she failed that test, thereby earning a substantially longer sentence.

FORMED, by some “library advocates” who, according to The Daily Mail (3/10) met recently at Catskill’s Public Library: “a library Friend’s [sic.] group,” led by Michael Maloney. An incipient “incorporation process” will “officialize” the group. Library Director Luisa Sabin-Kildiss is quoted as anticipating that “the Friend’s [sic.] will help us meet our goals.” A second meeting of the new “Friend’s” may have been held last Monday (March 13) but was not reported. “The Friend’s [sic.] are actively seeking new members” and, pending incorporation and 501©(3)status, “contributions to the Friend’s [sic.] group can be made to the…Library.” Noteworthy about this story, apart from assaults on literacy, is a tacit invitation to infer that establishment of a Friends of the Catskill Public Library is a new thing. That suggestion is grossly counter-factual.

FURLOUGHED, by Catskill’s Village Trustees, from participation in activities of the Catskill Fire Company: volunteer firefighter Joel Shanks. The action took place after Monday night’s public Village Board meeting. According to a letter signed by Board President Vincent Seeley, Mr Shanks is placed on “administrative leave while an investigation of your recent allegations is conducted.” He must “not participate in any fire company or firematic activity” and is “removed from the active firefighters list” although his “service time” is not affected. Mr Seeley referred to “allegations” made by Mr Shanks to Workforce New York (now under investigation) as well as to allegations made “verbally to individual Trustees.” Mr Shanks had complained that he was being subjected to harassment by fellow firefighters, including the company’s leaders, on account of their belief that he was the author of an earlier, anonymous, complaint to the Public Employees Safety and Health Bureau about safety violations. In an interview with Seeing Greene, Mr Shanks characterized the Trustees’ action as “further evidence of harassment." Other firefighters who have been investigated for alleged improprieties, he said, have not been similarly disciplined. The furlough order comes in the wake of the sustained maltreatment that prompted his complaint: name-calling (“rat,” “fink”) by top-ranking Catskill firefighters and their followers, urgings to avoid talking with Mr Shanks, deliberate avoidance of communication with him on the scenes of fires, intentional failures to record him as present during roll calls, assigning him tasks that belong to less trained firefighters, and even expressing the wish that his own house would burn down. Village Trustee Angelo Amato, however, told Seeing Greene that the unanimous decision in favor of administrative leave was not meant to be punitive and was “in his best interest.” (Other Trustees had not responded, by post time, to our request for comment). That interpretation was second by Fire Chief Randy Ormerod. The decision in favor of administrative leave, he said, was “for the safety and well-being” of Mr Shanks. Mr Amato and Chief Ormerod also voiced the opinion that the Trustees’ ruling did not involve a ban on completing a firefighter training course in which Mr Shanks was engaged.

MAULED: the English language, by the usual journalistic suspects. GreeneLand author/skier Peter James Quirk is credited with a novel called "Trail of Vengenance" and with creating a fictional protagonist who “digs up clues and lays the groundwork for a new novel” by Quirk, namely, this one. Ray C. Brooks of Athens became (on 3/11) a “Green” county legislator. “For years, a narrow, swinging bridge spanned the gorge separating the water park from the The Country Place resort, from which the Zoom Flume grew out of.” “After passing through the Public Safety and Finance committees of the county Legislature Monday night, lawmakers are expected to approve” a certain budget allocation. “In closing, Brooks said he would stay his platform when he runs for re-election.”

INVITED: Feedback (via the green "Dick May" below) as distinct from imbecilic comments. About the formerly free-for-all comments, a correspondent compared reading them with "going to a yard sale: You had to pick through alot of crap in order to find something good. There were several interesting points but, unfortunatly, the personal attacks and half-truths outweighed the value of the exchange of ideas and you did what had to be done bringing comments to an end."

Marching Along

BUZZING. Lexington beekeeper John Sturman recently “packed up a nuc [sic.] of bees” plus “smokers, veils, brushes, queen pheromone (2 kinds), and several jars of honey” and drove to Manhattan for apiarian art’s sake. There he induced the bees to land on the word IT demarcated in honey on the chest of graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister. Read all about it in the Spring 2006 issue of About Town (whose previous issue’s big story, crafted by a local hack, was “A New Catskill?”). Mr Sturman is vice-president of the Catskill Mountain Beekeepers Club (www.catskillbees.org).

GRANTED, to the Town of New Baltimore, by the State’s Environmental Protection Fund, for wastewater disinfecting equipment and hence for participating in the effort to achieve a cleaner, swimmable Hudson River: $37,400. It’s just a fraction of the nearly $2 million that was disbursed also to the Albany and Rensselaer county sewer districts, to the towns of Coeymans and East Greenbush and to the Village of Castleton, according to a Times Union report (Ken Thurman; 3/7/06), but it helps.

GRANTED, by the National Endowment for the Humanities, through the “America’s Historic Places” program of the “We the People” initiative, to GreeneLand’s Thomas Cole National Historic Site: $40,000, for--as the application says--“conceptual planning and design development of a new permanent exhibition [including] an introductory audiovisual presentation, attendant interpretive panels, display of collection objects, printed educational materials, docent tours, and related public programs….” The exhibition will “address Cole's art-making process and the significant role his appreciation and interpretation of the American landscape had in shaping an emerging national identity.” The money will be used, then, to figure out what should be said and shown, where, in what forms. Then we’ll need another, bigger implementation grant. Regarding Cole’s influence, Raymond J. Steiner notes, in the March issue of Art Times, that “There was a time that it was something of a put-down to be called a “Hudson River Painter’—as if traipsing around the wilds of upstate New York was somehow…beneath the artist who took his craft seriously. [According to European canons, good artists might go on cozy] sketching tours…but only to get a taste of nature—not to immerse oneself in it, and especially not in the unkempt landscapes that skirted the Hudson River or were tucked away in the Catskill Mountains. Painting was a gentleman’s pursuit, and [artists and buyers alike felt] that it had little to do with the uncouth business of tramping through the forests like some rough backwoodsman. “Still, under [Thomas] Cole’s persistence and a growing belief that God might just really speak through nature, the New York City clique began to take a closer look at…those ‘wild men’ who sought their inspiration and motifs directly from the source.”

ADVERTISING NOTES. “New Ownership: Grand Opening Soon” says a West Bridge Street banner at Catskill Buick (& Pontiac & GMC & Cadillac) dealership. Which has been under new ownership for months. Also noteworthy is the campaign folder touting Paul Rosenblatt and Chuck Adsit as “Republican Candidates for Village Trustee & Village Justice.” Inside the fold are two panels devoted to Mr Rosenblatt’s credentials. The other two panels are blank. Moreover, a “Greene Pride” campaign will soon be launched by our Chamber of Commerce. It may reinforce the effect of what comes about when we use the terms GreeneLand and GreeneLander. NOT of local origin are classified advertisements (noted on WorldWideWords web site) for “a radio alarm saw” and for “salmon canopies.” .

MAULED, as usual, by local newsfolk: the English language. “The local investment in today’s youth has been a topic of question [sic.] ever since….” “Widewater has said they…would consider razing the building rather than demolishing it.”

HONORED at the latest Sundance Film Festival, with an important screenwriting prize, for the script of her GreeneLand-made movie “Stephanie Daley”: Catskill native Hilary Brougher. She also directed the film (starring Tilda Swinton and Amber Tamblyn), which was shot in Hunter, Tannersville (the high school), Phoenicia and Catskill (the courthouse, with Mayor Vincent Seeley visible in some shots, playing a pesky newsman). According to early reviewers, “Daley” is emotionally harrowing in places, but (or and) the location shots in GreeneLand are excellent.

BUSTED, inside the Greene County courthouse, for alleged possession of an illegal substance (marijuana): Joseph Vanleuvan, 24, of Valatie. Reporting for possible jury duty, he went through the magnetometer (electronic security), was adjudged by the deputy on duty to be packing pot in a cigarette box. Well, at least he did not have to wait all day before being excused.

FURLOUGHED, by order of the Roman Catholic diocese in Albany, pending disposition of a complaint that he abused a child sexually 30 years ago: Fr Jeremiah Nunan, pastor of Sacred Heart parish and of Our Lady of Knock mission in East Durham. According to reports in The Daily Freeman and The Daily Mail, local parishioners are skeptical of the charge and devoted to the pastor.

CHALLENGED, in Federal district court in Albany: the New York State Health Department’s revocation of the medical license of Martin Kosich, erstwhile private practitioner, physician of the Greene County Jail and director of the county Health Department. His attorneys are preparing to argue that the Health Department’s action came in the wake of hearings and rulings that deprived their client of due process of law and a fair shake. Argument on their request for a restraining order against the Health Department is due for submission by March 18^th. Revocation was imposed on February 24^th, on recommendation of a three-person Committee, after a series of hearings in 2005 that culminated in a “determination” of “demonstrated negligence and incompetence in the practice of medicine.” That evaluation was based largely on patients who were treated by Dr Kosich in a detoxification program at his Greenville private practice. The committee spoke of “slipshod and unprofessional” care, wherein

Respondent consistently failed to obtain adequate histories or conduct adequate physicals, did not order appropriate tests when needed, illegally prescribed methadone, inappropriately issued prescriptions for potentially dangerous substances, and failed to address a number of his patients medical conditions or refer to an appropriate specialist. By doing so, he put his patients at risk. Respondent demonstrated negligence and incompetence in the practice of medicine.

With regard to the procedures leading to that conclusion, the Committee said “The Respondent presented no expert on his behalf and offered no testimony to refute the Petitioner’s experts’ opinions, nor did the Respondent testify in his own behalf.” Neither did he submit documents. That version of history, according to the Kosich side, is wrong. James E. Morgan of Delmar, who with partner Sheila Galvin is representing Kosich, told Seeing Greene that “In large part, we were prevented from cross-examining their two ‘expert’ witnesses—who, incidentally, lacked expertise. Similarly, our attempts at presenting relevant documents, and at presenting our own witnesses, were thwarted.” Mr Morgan also assailed the Committee’s judgment that Mr Kosich lacked proper authorization to dispense and prescribe methadone.

WARNED, THREATENED, INVITED, DAMNED, at the Catskill Fire Company’s Tuesday meeting, by Village Trustee and quasi-commissioner Jim Chewens: perpetrators of scurrilous Comments following Seeing Greene entries, along with, perhaps, the permissive blog administrator. Mr Chewens said he’d just spoken with “a federal agent…who’s investigating this crap. We don’t know if we have criminal charges or a civil case yet, against Dick May or…these [anonymous, “sick,” family-bashing] bloggers….” Moreover, “the Attorney General has been contacted [and] they’re investigating with their computer team to figure out who these people are” and “we’re gonna find out” and “we’re gonna take care of business.” Mr Chewens invited listeners “who think I’m bluffing” about the investigation to check with Village Police Chief Dave Darling. The chief told Seeing Greene that nobody had asked for confirmation. He added that he has indeed received complaints about the blog (or Comments thereon), has received one formal complaint, has indeed contacted State and Federal agents. Techno-sleuthing may be under way. Good hunting.

BANNED, as announced in a special Monday (3/5) blog: Comments on Seeing Greene. Too many retardates took malicious advantage of the open door policy, scorning the spirit of Guidelines that were posted last Friday. Readers who wish to pass along messages to the boss blogger, with a view to investigation, edification, entertainment, denunciation or publication can do so by clicking the green “Dick May” below, or e-mailing dickmate@seeinggreene.com.

CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

I have just imposed a total ban on Comments. I have done so after seeing that my Guidelines as just published have been ignored; the comments are anonymous, scurrilous, cheap.... They bring the Seeing Greene enterprise into disrepute. I had hoped that they would be self-discrediting to their authors, but their volume and sleaze-bag character has not diminished.

In making that decision I am going against the advice of at least one correspondent who was deeply wounded by an anonymous comment (or two or three), asked for its removal, but at the same time urged me to keep allowing anonymous comments, as they were necessary for bringing to light some facts and issues that merit public attention. With that in mind I invite would-be tipsters, commentators, advisers and the like to e-mail me directly. They can supply information that may warrant publicizing through Seeing Greene.

The suggestions need not (please!) be limited to fire company issues, although I certainly do wish to help to air what deserves to be aired. (Confession of bias: my paramount interest is in getting A Good Story). E-mails can be sent to me at dickmate@seeinggreene.com (yes, it's dickmate not dickmay) or at dickmate@mhcable.com.

Maybe in the future we can work out some way of having lots of comments that are freely contributed without requiring a censor.

Dick May

Comment Management II

When deciding how to run the Comments section of Seeing Greene, says a commentator, I should ponder the “intent” that actuates the blog. And if the intent is “to report on the events and activities in Greene County, and encourage discourse on and around those events,” she adds, then the blog “is sorely failing, with the Catskill Fire Department practically taking over the comment arena, no matter what subject you touch on….” Seeing Greene was launched back in December 2005 without clearly defined goals. Negatively, I did resolve to avoid the diaristic, narcissistic (“my day,” “my thoughts”) kind of blog. Positively, and vaguely, I aimed to focus on local events, to be entertaining, and to be critical and constructive without being relentlessly Serious. While hoping to elicit feedback, I had no initial thoughts about regulating posted comments. When called upon technically to choose between policies, I chose permissiveness--letting any and all comments get posted--because it was intuitively appealing, it was easy to implement, and I did not understand how to operate the filtering devices.

…you should run a tighter ship....The right to free speech…does not give one the right to verbally batter and abuse, not to mention numb up the entire audience by repeating and repeating the same accusations and denials, accusations, denials, etc., etc., etc.

Experience has shown that the permissiveness policy can be costly. Yes, it has contributed to catharsis for some GreeneLanders, and it has helped to expose some issues that might otherwise be disregarded.

The blog comments are basically a poor man's newspaper editorial…. Requiring names would stop the whistle blowers from disclosing information for fear of repercussions. Some of the comments have been a bit off base[:] Charecterizing an arrest as a conviction, personal attacks not related to the issues but more related to personality conflict. # I can tell you first hand that by making people post names, people will loose freedom of speech. I have from day one, spoke publicly about issues that concerned me and have always put my name to everything I say. All I have received for this is a great deal of harassment, threats, nasty comments, and a egged truck. When people have something to hide they will go to any extent to cover it up. People will be afraid and should be afraid of being blacklisted if they go against the grain. Around here it's not how smart or right you are it's who you are related to. # While some of the postings are malicious, it is possibly the only outlet for free speech in Catskill... I think it's worth a few grumblers.

The permissiveness policy also has enabled a few one-eyed individuals to virtually hijack the Comments section. Those individuals, while ranting about just one subject--the Catskill fire department--indulge freely in anonymous mud-slinging. Their snarling oafish slanders deter prospective commentators who are civilized, and they tend to bring the whole Seeing Greene enterprise into disrepute. Hence the calls for restrictions.

…you should screen all the comments into your email. The character attacks and personal attacks should not be made here. ... Most of the Officers and some of the Firefighters of the Catskill Fire Company have taken a direct hit with the slander and the fire service of Catskill and Greene County for that matter does not need this…. # … anonymous comments can be appropriate. However, I would suggest that you require some form of 'basic registration' so that if you see a continuing pattern of abusive language or character assassination, you can inform the 'sender' that further comments in that spirit will not be published, while also respecting their prior submissions as anonymous. # …you have an ethical obligation to block libel and slander (to the extent that you can detect them, anyway). So I am afraid that, wearisome though it may be, you should run comments through your own filter, delete the more tiresome anonymous postings, and censor the rest. [It] should be transparent; if you delete a sentence or a graf, say so, and say why. And the intent should be to promote free and open debate, with above all no interference with adverse comments on the blog or its author (the price you pay for setting up shop). But I think you can insist on civil and civilized conversation… Gratuitous vulgarity is tedious. # … If you have the ability to stop people from posting anonymous comments, then why have you not done that? The comments on your website are hurtful, harassing, and slanderous. The people who post do not make any attempt to publish the truth… So far, comments on your website have claimed our family has been involved in stealing money, committing arson, involved in wife swapping, and been convicted of crimes. None of these things are true … If this were your family, would you be as willing to let it continue? …please stop providing these individuals with a forum to publish their ignorant ramblings. These cowards should no longer be allowed to harass people and spread lies. They need to stand behind the falsehoods they print or stop printing them…. They know what they are doing is wrong. And so, Mr. May do you! … I ask that you do what is right.

Ah, but what policy would yield just the desirable results, with no negative side effects? To that question I have not been able to reach a confident answer. In the meantime, I have adopted an interim measure, consisting of

Guidelines for Prospective Commentators ***If you want to post a comment to the blog under your own name, click Comments at the end of a blog and, when invited to "Choose an identity," select "Other" and enter your name (and, optionally, your personal web page address or your street address) followed by your message. (Some of our anonymous commentators, I have learned, did not wish to be anonymous but did not know how to operate otherwise). . ***If you want to post anonymously, then, after clicking Comments and being invited to "Choose an identity," select "Anonymous" and write your message. ***If you have your own blog hosted at blogger.com or blogspot.com (sign up here: http://www.blogger.com/signup), then, under "Choose an identity" select "Blogger"and enter your blogger.com username and password, and write your message. ***If you want to send a message to the blogger rather than posting a comment, then, at the bottom of any blog entry or comments page, click on the green "Dick May." ***If you read a Seeing Greene entry and want to tell a particular friend about it, then click the envelope icon at the end of that entry. On the next page, enter your name & email address, type in the friend’s email address under "Friend's Email Address" and write your own comments in the Message box. ***If you want the Comments section of Seeing Greene to remain an open forum, then think hard before choosing to be a cowardly, slanderous, one track-minded, malicious and/or moronic contributor. In other words, abstain from writing messages that would shame the blogmeister into shutting the thing down.

Goings &

On the subject of Comment management, we are still collecting and sifting ideas. Meanwhile, news & stuff about GreeneLand:

GOING into history, at the end of this school year: middle school education at St Patrick’s Academy. The decision, says Principal Rita M. Kunkel, was prompted by steady decline in enrollment in the higher grades. In addition, there will be no 6^th grade schooling during 2006-07; but instruction in that grade probably will be restored in 2007, judging from the size of current 4^th grade enrollments. Get it?

GOING into retirement, at the end of this school year, from Catskill Elementary School:: grade 3 teacher Barbara McEneny. And rumor has it that she will not be replaced. Con-sequently, Grade 3 classes will be reduced from six to five, and number of pupils per classroom will balloon beyond 30.

GOING to Albany, in May, after passing rigorous test upon test, to become a State Trooper: Catskill police officer Paul Rosenblatt Jr. It’s a rewarding accomplishment. Salary difference between starting village police officer and trainee trooper is almost $30,000.

GOING to foreclosure auction: an exceptionally pricey property; at Sleepy Hollow Lake, at 5 Gunpowder Road, defaulting mortgagee being one Jacqueline Upright. Her telephone is disconnected. Amount of lien is said by the plaintiff (Deutsche Bank) as $331,779; and 88 cents; plus interest and costs.

NOT GOING to Baghdad, to train police officers: Athens police chief (and former Catskill chief) Roger Masse.

GONE, from Catskill’s Home Depot outlet: Mark Ashley, first manager when the place opened in 2004. He has moved on to the company’s Wappinger Falls outlet. Acting manager is another here-from-the-opening operative, Amanda Todd.

GONE, from public school teaching in Catskill, after 37 years, on account of ill health: Barry Hopkins, artist and foster father of the splendid Greater Sense of Place program. Barry received, and well deserved, a fine write-up by Jim Planck in the Daily Mail of Jan. 27.

GONE, from Lacy Ford (& Lincoln & Mercury & Subaru): J. C. Berzal, erstwhile manager of the used car department. His successor is veteran salesman Jerry Landi. Hence the banner headlines on newspaper advertisements: “Under New Management.” The Lacy boys are still in charge, or will take charge when they get back from winter quarters in Arizona.

GONE from the boys’ locker room Catskill Middle School, since last September, according to a story-sniffing Seeing Greene correspondent: one toilet. It has not been replaced. And the pipe (says our story-sniffing reporter) has not been capped. Equally odious, we are told, is fact that urinals in the boys’ toilet don’t flush. COMING: Movies. “ NancyMcPhee”or “Match Point” at Catskill Mountain Foundation theater in Hunter (263-4702). “Doogal” or “Date Movie” at Community Theater in Catskill (954-2410).

MAULING. “Calendar of Events” published last Saturday (2/18/06) in GreeneLand’s foremost daily newspaper listed events of the previous day (2/17). And in another recent issue, readers were invited to ponder the news that “police were continuing to vehemently search for the suspect….”

APPRECIATING. On this very date, 171 years ago, an adoptive GreeneLander responded to wintry weather with these words:

“My soul dwells in a mortal tenement, and feels the influence of the elements. Still I would not live where tempests never come; for they bring beauty in their train.

I sign not for a stormless clime,

Where drowsy quiet ever dwells;

Where crystal brooks, with endless chime,

Flow winding through perennial dells.

For storms bring beauty in their gtrain:

The hills below the howling blast,

The woods all weeping in their rain,

How glorious, when the storm is past.

So storms of ill, when pass’d away,

Leave in the soul serene delight:

The gloom of the tempestuous day

But makes the following calm more bright.

--Thomas Cole

Ethics of Blogging

Today’s blog, instead of providing news & stuff about Greene County, is about the proper conduct of blogs. It deals with two issues of propriety and policy. REVISIONS Posting a blog is much like publishing (printing and circulating) a newspaper column. But there is a big difference, and I have, well, exploited that difference. If I make an error in print--say something that is counter-factual or that otherwise is, by my lights, regrettable--I cannot erase it. I can only publish a subsequent “Correction” or “Clarification.” But with blogs that is not true. Having posted a blog, I can go back and change the words. I can revise, delete and add, leaving no trace. Thus, the text of what you now are reading could be different tomorrow, but tomorrow’s readers would not know that. If you read today’s text and then go back tomorrow for a second look, you might notice a change but, unless you had made a print-out of your first reading, you would be hard pressed to prove that the second-look text differs from the original. post Last Saturday at around noon, for example, I posted a fresh installment of Seeing Greene. (It was wrongly billed as a Friday posting). An hour later, I went back in to the blog site’s “Dashboard,” entered my password, brought up that posted blog, hit Edit, and made two textual changes (discarding the pretentious word “decoction” in favor of “dish” and changing an erroneous election date from “March 21” to “March 28”). A day later, alerted by a reader of Saturday’s posting, I re-entered the site, brought up the already-posted and –altered text., hit Edit again, and made another alteration (of the erroneous name “Joseph Cropsey” in favor of “Jasper Cropsey”). Accordingly, there have actually been three ‘editions’ of one posted blog. In the absence of print-outs made by readers, however, solid evidence of the changes is not available. Substantively, those changes were trivial. They served the salutary purpose of giving readers more accurate information. They also served the purpose of enabling the author to look less like a dope. But one can readily imagine cases in which power to alter a text seamlessly over time is power to deceive and to evade the consequences. I could commit libel and then erase the evidence. To do that strikes me as being dishonest. It is unethical. But at the same time, leaving intact a text or paragraph that is corrigibly wrong, or is otherwise unfortunate, seems undesirable even if it is not unethical. For this conflict, a happy resolution seems to be available. It is possible to make to make desirable changes in already-posted texts while avoiding duplicity. The method consists simply of notifying readers, explicitly, in the text itself, whenever a textual change has been made. That is what I resolve to do from now on. COMMENT MANAGEMENT Seeing Greene has become the site, or pretext, for a lot of comments from readers. These are visible to readers who choose to click the word “comments” at the end of a blog posting. The volume started to build seriously last October and shows no sign of abating. (As of 9 am. This morning, last Saturday’s posting had attracted, or had served as pretext for, 144 comments). Most of them have been anonymous. Many of them come from feuding local firefighters. Some of them are malicious, abusive, moronic, defamatory and/or otherwise irresponsible. As custodian of Seeing Greene, I bear a measure of responsibility for the comments (good and bad). I am responsible to the extent that I have made access to the ranks of posted comments freely available, when I could impose controls. So: should I take remedial action? What action would, on balance, be remedial? Those questions are not meant to be rhetorical. I am in the market for advice. And to facilitate the provision of advice, I shall sketch procedures that a blog-meister COULD adopt. 1) No change? Let the chips fall where they may. Do not spend time being a censor. 2) Post a disclaimer? Leave the door completely open, but post a declaration (at bottom of each blog entry or at top of the Comments section) disavowing responsibility for the tone or content of readers' comments. 3) Slam the door? As a technical matter, it is as easy to ban all comments as it is to permit all comments. 4) Be a Moderator? As a technical matter, again, I can direct that all prospective comments on Seeing Greene be routed to my mail box, so that I can decide which shall be posted. It would a wearisome business, but feasible. And it could implemented in the context of posted statements about criteria of selection. Thus, prospective commentators could be notified that: --5a. No anonymous comments shall be posted, and all signed comments (authors’ names readily verifiable) shall be posted. --5b. All signed comments shall be posted, and consideration will be given to posting comments by authors who identify themselves to the blog-meister, request that their comments be posted anonymously, and give good reasons. --5c. Preference will be given to comments that are related to matters addressed in a given blog or to constructive suggestions about GreeneLand matters. If you have an opinion about what course of action in the way of comment management would be best, please let me know—and give reasons. It can be voiced as a Comment on Seeing Greene or as an e-mail to dickmate@mhcable.com , signed or anonymous. # Suggested reading: see “Blog Rage” by Jim Brady: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/11