How come we pay so much attention to sports at the expense of everything else? It’s a question we ought to think about now and then. Television personality Dr. Keith Ablow did just that the other day. He wrote an online commentary on why the behavior of the basketball coach at Rutgers was tolerated for […]
The late Robert B. Parker wrote dozens of splendid detective stories, many of them centered on Boston private eye Spenser. He also wrote three notable westerns. The other day I spotted a new Parker western at the downtown Albany library. How could that be, I briefly wondered, since Mr. Parker died  in 2010. Turns out […]
Want to encourage more people to ride bikes in and around Albany? Check out what “Bike Long Beach” publicizes there, in Southern California. Not too long ago Jim Lawrence, a member of the Albany Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission, was wondering what else could be done to encourage more routine bike transportation around town. I was […]
You almost have to feel sorry for legislators when they have to sit through endless public hearings even though their minds are made up on the issue at hand. With rare exceptions, witness after witness says pretty much the same thing, and legislators have to sit there and pretend to look interested. Friday’s four-hour hearing before […]
A few days ago we learned about another troubling wrinkle of Obamacare. From Washington, the Associated Press reported that people who get federal tax credits to help them buy private medical coverage may face higher tax bills. It comes about this way: Federal subsidies for buying insurance starting in 2014 will be based on income […]
Writers run the risk of going overboard now and then, or of using words that give the wrong impression. Albany City Manager Wes Hare knows all about this. He writes a weekly column and publishes it on the city’s website. During the last week in March he wrote from Afghanistan, where’s he’s doing an assignment […]
Answer to debt limit unveiled
This is how the Albany City Council plans to deal with voter approval of the debt limit initiative last month: At a work session on Monday afternoon it will preview the draft of an ordinance which the council could then enact on Wednesday. The outlines of the draft were agreed on — though not […]
Tags: Albany City Council, Albany debt initiative