Must-see TV: documentary on Adirondacks
A new two-hour television documentary called "The Adirondacks" will introduce the natural beauty of upstate New York's 9,300-square-mile wilderness region to the nation.
The documentary was produced written and directed by Tom Simon of Working Dog Productions in Dobbs Ferry, with co-production from WNED-TV in Buffalo. Financial sponsors include both public and private sources: The Kevin T. and Betty Ann Keane Family, the state Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation, Adirondack Council, the "I Love NY" campaign, Ted and Lisa Pierce, Lyme Timber Co. and the Public Broadcasting System.
"The photography is stunning, the dialogue is engaging and the message is thought-provoking," said Chris Walsh, upstate regional vice president at Empire State Development. "It's a story every New Yorker should know."
"This is a spectacular showing — a glorious movie that should make every New Yorker proud," said Alexander B. "Pete" Grannis, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Conservation. "This is a great advertisement for New York. If you don't want to visit after seeing this movie, there must be something wrong with you."
The documentary will premier on PBS stations nationwide and on local station WPBS at 9 p.m. Wednesday.
Democratic opposition in the state Assembly will likely kill a Republican proposal to eliminate the state's three gasoline taxes this summer. But that hasn't stopped one area representative from calling for longer-term solutions to the high costs of energy.
Assemblywoman Dierdre K. Scozzafava, R-Gouverneur, says New Yorkers will continue to be held hostage to high fuel costs with no viable way to gain relief, nor alternative to which to turn.
"Ideally, we need to implement relief while working toward a long-term answer that eliminates our dependence on a commodity with an ever depleting supply and ever increasing cost," Ms. Scozzafava said.
She wants to redirect part of the revenue generated by gas taxes, car registration and license renewal fees for initiatives related to renewable energy.
"This is the only way a viable alternative to gasoline will be found, thereby lessening the economic squeeze on New York's hard-working families," Ms. Scozzafava said.
Rep. John M. McHugh, R-Pierrepont Manor, had plenty of good things to say about the personnel-related section of the annual defense programs bill, which passed the Personnel Subcommittee. Mr. McHugh is ranking Republican on the panel.
Among the highlights: the bill continues to expand the Army and the Marine Corps and provides a 3.9 percent pay increase for the military. It also maintains Congress's prohibition on raising out-of-pocket fees in the Tricare health insurance program — rejecting a proposal from the Pentagon.
Mr. McHugh did have one caveat: Although he praised House leaders for trying to come up with the money to avoid raising Tricare fees — the Pentagon budget presumes the cuts will be enacted — he said he is not quite sure yet how the leadership plans to accomplish this. It is the same issue that has dogged Congress each of the past few years.
Mr. McHugh's "Do Not Mail Tobacco" bill has passed the full House Government Reform Committee, following quickly its passage in a subcommittee. The bill can now move to the House floor for consideration.
It would bar the U.S. Postal Service from delivering cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and roll-your-own tobacco.
Mr. McHugh isn't announcing his earmark requests for fiscal 2009, but some of the possible projects in the Adirondacks are known, thanks to his neighboring congresswoman's list of requested earmarks.
Some of the projects Rep. Kirsten E. Gillibrand, D-Hudson, asked for include $500,000 for the Adirondack North Country Association, for economic development through green investment and development in the north country; $6.6 million for a new conference center at the Lake Placid Olympic Center; $2.2 million to replace sewer lines in Lake Placid; $1.1 million for a water filtration facility in Saranac Lake; $9 million for improved communications for public safety in Essex County; and $3.1 million for thermal sensitivity and powerful optics — called a Forward Looking Infrared System — for the helicopters used by the New York National Guard.
Compiled by Times Albany and Washington bureaus.
