http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/ A forum for lively discussion about interesting newspaper topics and a look at the behind-the-scenes workings of the Press-Republican newsroom. en Copyright 2008 Sun, 04 May 2008 12:20:05 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss By JACK DOWNS Design Editor The more I look at issues around global climate change and our first, few, feeble attempts to do something about it, the more I realize that green is a complicated color. Here's an example: You are a green go-getter. You're reading this under the illumination of a compact florescent light bulb. In your driveway is a new flex-fuel car. And what's that in the back yard? Oh, it's a giant industrial wind turbine. Good choices, right? Yes and no. http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2008/05/its_not_easy_being_green.html http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2008/05/its_not_easy_being_green.html Sun, 04 May 2008 12:20:05 -0500 During my daughter’s freshman year at the College of Sante Fe, Nikki did a semester abroad in Belize. It was highly unusual for the college to allow freshmen to participate in the fledging program, but they were so short of students, the program would be cancelled otherwise. And, my daughter was desperate to depart an unusually dry New Mexico. I always told Nikki she was a water baby. She was born on Pensacola Bay and subsequently lived along the South China Sea, Subic Bay, Chesapeake Bay, Atlantic Ocean, Lake Champlain and back to our ancestral homelands on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. She and the desert were not a good mix, but Sagitarians chart their own course. It was a battle she won at 2. ]]> http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2008/04/an_odyssey_between_lake_champl.html http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2008/04/an_odyssey_between_lake_champl.html Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:55:27 -0500 By GERIANNE WRIGHT Staff Writer I’m behind the times, I’m not “with” it. I don’t own an iPod, a Blackberry, a Wii, Me or You. I barely own a cell phone. I pay as I go, contributing to Richard Branson’s Virgin empire. But I doubt there’s anyone who could come up with a legitimate answer when I ask what could possibly be so important that you’d have to bring your cell phone into the bathroom stall with you? http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2008/04/its_not_a_phone_booth_its_a_re.html http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2008/04/its_not_a_phone_booth_its_a_re.html Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:31:23 -0500 By LOIS CLERMONT News Editor Covering the car-fire death of a Plattsburgh man presented us with all kinds of ethical challenges. We first heard something had happened when the call went out over the scanner Wednesday afternoon. Photographer Mike Betts headed over to Sharron Avenue and called from there to say he could see the charred car and told us police said someone had died. Our crime reporter, Andrea VanValkenburg, was at County Court, so I sent Rachael Osborne over to start reporting the story. She hadn’t been there long when a distraught woman pulled up and told Rachael she had heard her brother had died. She was shouting about someone trying to kill him. Rachael asked the woman what her brother’s name was. Keith Primard, she was told. Rachael heard police confirm to the woman that it was her brother who had died. http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2008/04/tough_decisions_about_coverage.html http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2008/04/tough_decisions_about_coverage.html Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:46:04 -0500 By JACK DOWNS Design Editor Brimming oceans wash away Manhattan; monster hurricanes strike deep into the continent; vast droughts parch the South and West; killer heat waves bake the nation. The apocalyptic predictions of global climate change have the feel of a Hollywood blockbuster - a cast of billions, great special effects and a plot line just strange enough to make it all feel unreal. http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2008/04/does_global_warming_bug_you.html http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2008/04/does_global_warming_bug_you.html Wed, 02 Apr 2008 08:42:29 -0500 By GERIANNE WRIGHT Staff Writer OK, I’ll admit that I’m getting a bit long in the tooth. I haven’t been in Plattsburgh long enough to recognize items in the weekly “Look Back” column yet, but I’m getting close. That still doesn’t make me eligible for membership in the AARP. According to the association’s Web site, membership is extended to “people age 50 and over in the United States” or, apparently, anyone who will pony up the $12.50 annual dues. That’s not me. At least not yet, anyway, but AARP wants to hedge its bets and court me a few years early. http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2008/03/not_ready_to_join_aarp.html http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2008/03/not_ready_to_join_aarp.html Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:43:46 -0500 By JACK DOWNS Design Editor With winter reluctantly giving way to spring, I've been thinking about what our winters, and overall weather, will be like in the North Country over the next 10 and 20 years as global warming gradually but inexorably takes hold. In some ways, we live a charmed weather life in our corner of the Northeast: tornadoes are very rare and seldom fatal; hurricanes peter out long before they get here; mud slides are almost unknown; avalanches are rare, remote and small; floods are isolated and usually well predicted. Sure, we have snow and cold, but we're ready for it. But that charm may be wearing off. http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2008/03/more_severe_weather_events_are.html http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2008/03/more_severe_weather_events_are.html Wed, 19 Mar 2008 08:35:56 -0500 By JOE LoTEMPLIO Staff Writer Well, I guess I’m probably not going to get my case of beer. Yes, Eliot Spitzer owes me a case of beer going back 10 years. http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2008/03/the_beer_that_wont_be_delivere.html http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2008/03/the_beer_that_wont_be_delivere.html Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:44:11 -0500 By JACK DOWNS Design Editor Here are two news tidbits for you: Some of the big investment banks are downgrading coal-company stocks, predicting a long-range slump in the carbon-heavy industry. New York is trying to decide how many miles of snowmobile trails to allow on state land in the Adirondack Park. Random headlines? Maybe not. For me, these two stories converge on a question: How should we _ as individuals, families and society _ invest in the future of outdoor recreation? http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2008/03/a_green_future_for_outdoor_rec.html http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2008/03/a_green_future_for_outdoor_rec.html Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:10:41 -0500 By ANDREA VANVALKENBURG Staff Writer PLATTSBURGH — And I thought I knew what being a state trooper was all about. I knew law-enforcement was a dangerous, yet much-needed job, one that brings authorities into a daily world of uncertainty — tumultuous situations, abrupt violence, car accidents, traffic stops and the potential for danger around almost every corner. I knew state troopers serve and protect. I knew they would go out of their way to lend a helping hand to those in need. But come to find out, there was a lot I didn’t know, or fully realize at least, and I’m sure there’s still plenty I don’t. http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2008/03/a_day_at_state_police_barracks.html http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2008/03/a_day_at_state_police_barracks.html Thu, 06 Mar 2008 08:38:17 -0500 By STEPHEN BARTLETT Staff Writer PLATTSBURGH — I’m in awe of children’s resistance and ability to cope with and adapt to emotionally trying situations. I’ve read the literature stressing children need security, love and guidance to blossom beautifully in life, but still, their ability to persevere, often more efficiently than adults, amazes me. http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2008/02/daughter_strong_during_tough_f.html http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2008/02/daughter_strong_during_tough_f.html Fri, 29 Feb 2008 15:47:06 -0500 By JOE LoTEMPLIO Staff Writer Things I’d like to see in the North Country but doubt I will. I’d love to see the “booze cruise” return to Lake Champlain. For a quarter of a century, colorful Captain Frank Pabst sailed merry customers around the lake at midnight, offering a fine steak and fine spirits. The cruise was immensely popular and became a rite of summer for many. http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2008/02/optimistic_visions_pessimistic.html http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2008/02/optimistic_visions_pessimistic.html Tue, 26 Feb 2008 14:26:54 -0500 By GERIANNE WRIGHT Staff Writer When I walked out of the house this morning, I had this feeling, like the hope of spring was in the air, but you know, in the back of your mind, it’s actually just one of January’s cruel jokes. We ought to be used to January’s sick sense of humor. It is, after all, named for the two-faced Roman god, Janus. But it was hard to find anything funny about January 1998 — sick or otherwise — when a tomb of ice encased the region and gave us future bragging rights akin to Buffalo and the Blizzard of ’77 (and ’79 and ’84 and ’88 and, oh, you get the picture). http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2008/01/januarys_sense_of_humor.html http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2008/01/januarys_sense_of_humor.html Sun, 13 Jan 2008 12:03:36 -0500 By JOE LoTEMPLIO Staff Writer It seems that the New England Patriots are not the only ones stealing signs these days. As happens every campaign season, candidates are screaming foul, accusing people of stealing their precious campaign lawn signs. After covering local politics for 22 years, I’ve heard all of the complaints. http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2007/10/tis_the_season_for_sign_steali.html http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2007/10/tis_the_season_for_sign_steali.html Thu, 18 Oct 2007 10:04:26 -0500 By NEALE GULLEY Reader/Designer Alrighty. Where to begin? Does it matter? It’s only a blog, after all. JK. JK. You know, that stands for “just kidding,” in the Web-type vernacular. I don’t want to be disrespectful. But why am I telling you this? You’re already here. Well, this is the first blog I’ve written in all my 25 years on Earth. I know, an impressive feat by modern standards. I guess I’m on the dark side of what all the fancy newspapers call “the digital divide” — one of those guys who doesn’t own a cell phone and still uses rabbit ears for TV reception. This despite working with thousands of dollars in cutting-edge computer software for a living. Maybe I’m sticking it to the man, and I am the man. Perhaps. http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2007/09/typus_manualis_the_virtues_of_the_common_typewriter.html http://blog.pressrepublican.com/weblog3/2007/09/typus_manualis_the_virtues_of_the_common_typewriter.html Mon, 17 Sep 2007 10:42:21 -0500