Press-Republican

Local News

Discussion

PLEASE NOTE: There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

ALSO NOTE: Derisive name-calling of an individual or group will result in the entire comment being deleted. This includes the terms "stupid" and "idiot" and similar references.

Welcome to our new online comments feature. Before you can join the discussion, you must first register with Disqus and verify your email address.

Once you do, your comments will post after they have been reviewed by a moderator.

We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean.

Not all comments are deemed printable. Some are disqualified, at the newspaper’s discretion, for a number of reasons. Here are some typical practices to avoid in trying to get your comment printed:

There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

Don’t state as a fact something that is unsubstantiated or that our editors wouldn't know to be true.

Don’t presume someone’s guilt in a case when it hasn't been established by a court.

Don’t assail or impugn an identifiable individual or group. If you have that kind of criticism, sign your name and submit it as a Letter to the Editor. (There is some leeway on this in connection with public officials, but it is not unconditional.)

Don’t use profanity. This includes the term “tea bagger.”

Don’t be incendiary or tasteless. Those qualities are subjective, of course, and our editors will be the arbiters.

Do not identify yourself in the main content area of the article content form. Only by enforcing this rule can the moderators prevent unscrupulous commenters from falsely identifying themselves as someone they are not.

Don't type in all caps. It is considered the Internet equivalent of shouting.

In sports articles, do not criticize officiating.

Remember, moderators are not allowed to edit any article comments. If an article comment fails any of the above criteria, the entire comment will be deleted.

We monitor comments Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Approval of comments outside these times may be delayed.
comments powered by Disqus
November 6, 2009

Malone highway hearing put off

By DENISE A. RAYMO

MALONE — A hearing date was postponed to next week for the Town of Malone highway department bookkeeper who says he's in danger of losing his job.

Mark Besio was unable to secure legal representation in time for a hearing Thursday called by Town Supervisor Howard Maneely and attorneys the town has hired.

Besio is expected to be questioned about his release of documents to comply with a Freedom of Information Law request from the Press-Republican relating to the Town Council's suspension of Deputy Highway Superintendent Thomas Shanty.

Shanty, who was elected highway superintendent Tuesday over his opponent Ronnie Benware, was suspended for 30 days without pay on Oct. 14 after testing positive for drugs following a December 2008 collision involving the snowplow he was driving and a Jeep.

The Jeep driver was ticketed, but federal transportations laws require that those with safety-sensitive jobs like operating heavy equipment take a drug and alcohol test after such an incident.

Drivers with positive tests are not to get behind the wheel of any safety-sensitive machines until and unless they have been cleared to do so by a substance-abuse counselor.

However, Shanty told a labor-relations specialist in a deposition on Sept. 11, 2009, that he was back on plowing duties two days after the collision by order of his boss, Highway Superintendent Alvin Livernois.

He said he drove a plow or a sander on 14 different days to the end of 2008 and 10 days in January 2009.

He was cleared to go back to driving by a counselor until Jan. 15, 2009.

A majority of the members of the Town Council says they did not know Shanty failed the test even though they signed billing vouchers that spell out that an employee's drug-test result were positive and showed part of Shanty's Social Security number.

Maneely had been listed as a contact person to send drug-test result to, but he said he didn't get the results and that his name was somehow removed from the document that names the designees between December 2008 and October 2009.

Council members also signed vouchers for payment for Shanty's return-to-work order, which would not be issued unless someone had failed a drug or alcohol test.

Besio is to be questioned about documents he released under the Press-Republican's request and says some of the paperwork belongs to him so he can do whatever he wants with it.

But the town says Besio had no authority to give over any paperwork and that what he gave was confidential material.

In the meantime, the Town Council discussed cutting Besio's pay by $8,000 saying it is to bring his salary more in line with other clerical employees.

The issue was raised during a budget meeting Thursday, and the members said they will continue talks before making a final budget decision.

E-mail Denise A. Raymo at: draymo@pressrepublican.com

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Local News

Recent Article Comments
Albany Round-up

Photo of the Day
Strange News
Videos: Editor Picks
Police: Houston Found Dead in Her Hotel Room Paul Suffers Narrow Loss to Romney in Maine Recording Superstar Whitney Houston Dead at 48 Maine GOP Chairman Says Romney Wins Caucuses Palin Brings Anti-Washington Message to CPAC Obama Scraps Birth Control Mandate US Airmen's Killer Sentenced to Life in Germany Navy Names Ship for Gabrielle Giffords Raw Video: Deadly Blasts in Syria Romney Slams President Obama at CPAC Gingrich: Pres. Obama 'waging War on Religion' 5 Killed in Wrong-way Crash on I-10 in La. Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Obama Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal $25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses Pentagon: Allow Women Closer to Front Lines