About 400 elementary- and middle-school students taking part in the Shenendehowa Inventors program will display their inventions at the former Cotton Market store at Clifton Park Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
A word to "ground_control" Since your comments were not deemed offensive enough to be removed, why don't you tell us what you think the right kind of Government would be.
There probably isn't room for your entire manifesto but take a crack at it. I would ask that you stay on the subject of paid on-line content and how that relates your distorted political views.
As a boy, I delivered the Union Star and the Gazette. The cost was five cents per newspaper. I can't imagine that a nickel covered the costs of printing and distribution. The advertisers paid the freight.
It seems that the sale of advertising space would still be the key to success. Some people would never get beyond the comics. Perhaps paid adds on the appropriate pages might be the way to go.
Obits, for example are in effect paid advertising. These and other paid content are only there because it's already been paid for. Charging readers to view either would be a detriment to their use thereby effecting advertising value, presenting a case of diminishing returns.
I seriously doubt that charging readers a subscription fee for on-line use is the answer to this or any other newspapers survival. Your current system works for me and I still pick up a copy at the news stand on occasion.
Being politically conservative, I might suggest less left leaning content, as a means of appealing to and holding a broader audience.
I don't know why the authorities don't get it. Simply put, higher fees will bring less use. Their answer, raise the fees again to recover the revenues lost because of lower use.
They need to ask themselves why even city people travel to the suburbs to do business. The answer is quite simple, plenty of FREE parking.
Downtown Schenectady will never be what it once was but if the people in charge keep going down this same road downtown Schenectady will be a ghost town.
This turn of events seems to be punishment for rejecting the first proposal. The threat or promise of triple+ increases for rejecting the proposed revision is more of the same.
We are in effect being told that we have nothing to say about the school budget and they (whoever they might be) are in control of our money.
I was among those who voted against the first budget. As insane as I believe the amount of money being spent is, I also have problems with how the money is being spent.
We all have heard the song and dance about state and federal mandates. While I'm sure that some of this is true, I also believe that our whole budget process is out of control, with union and administration wish lists becoming reality. There seems to be no effort to control spending.
How will I vote on the new proposal? I think I'll put their threats to the test and see if they (whoever they might be) can survive the outrage that should follow a 15.8% increase in an already outrageous budget.
To be clear, I am not a Catholic but have never believed that the celibacy requirement was realistic. It may in fact be at the root of many of the church's current problems.
Without a lengthy rehashing of those problems, I'll just say that the policy is only policy and not demanded by scripture. The church itself has waffled on the requirement over the centuries. It is true that the current policy has been "status quo" for about 800 years.
While I don't condone the priest's affair. In fact I know nothing about his specific situation. I think society would benefit if more families were raised by morally grounded parents.
I'm not really a fan of Carl Strock but I think he's on to something with this one.
There doesn't seem to be any test developed for this unknown position. We should at least know what the job requirements are and what an applicants qualifications should be. I suspect this "position" was tailor made for the applicant.
To be fair we might ask if any good has come from the office since it's creation. I am pretty sure that the school system already has a number of guidence counselors, and mental health consultants, so what exactly does a Behavior Intervention Specialist do. Are there records regarding work performed or progress made or at least a list of recommendations?
Since behavior problems seem unaffected by any measure I'm aware of, what are we getting for our money?
It may be time for for the school board to take a hard look at the budget process. It seems that the school budget for Schenectady is growing annually at a rate two or three times faster than the rest of the economy and for no apparent reason.
How long can this go on? Cut what must be cut to get the budget back to real world expectations. I'm not sure I'd recommend illimination of library and business courses. I've felt for years that more attention should be given to business and trade courses. Not every student is destined for college and they will all need useful occupations after graduating. I think the graduation rate would improve as well if more students were encouraged to take those options.
As for interscholastic sports, they are important to student morale and perhaps some of the more important programs should kept, while others might be illiminated. Regarding school psychologists, etc., they are costly frills. Unnecessary office positions can go as well. The swimming pool, for example was always an unaffordable option, which should never have been built in the first place.
If there are other options such as contract revisions or less ambitious building programs they might also be considered if there is any genuine interest in tax relief for Schenectady's citizens.
The "it's for the children" mantra is getting a little old. It's time for school system to tighten it's belt along with the rest us.
Today my wife bought a Sunday Gazette, as she usually does. There was no TV guide, another brilliant policy decision by your staff.
I assume it was a calculated decision related to the bottom line. I further presume it is to somehow preserve the value of your print and paid on-line publications.
You still haven't relented on your choice to force people to pay to view paid obituary notices. I've been recommending the Times-Union to people ever since and I believe the "Times" still has a TV guide in their paper, which by the way sells for less.
I now have one more reason to buy the Times and one less to buy the Gazette.
Posted on August 3 at 10:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)
A word to "ground_control"
Since your comments were not deemed offensive enough to be removed, why don't you tell us what you think the right kind of Government would be.
There probably isn't room for your entire manifesto but take a crack at it. I would ask that you stay on the subject of paid on-line content and how that relates your distorted political views.
On Should newspapers charge for their online content?