CHEERS to people who have come to make a habit of giving a tip to some of those who spend a year serving them in one way or another. We're thinking specifically of the beauticians, the gardeners — oh, all right, we'll throw in the paper carriers, too — generally, people who take special care of their customers' needs throughout the year. Some categories of workers are part-time or on the lower end of the pay scale, and for them, an end-of-year spiff is part of an important extra reward. The tip might not amount to a whole lot for the customers, but for the recipient, it cumulatively means a lot financially and even more professionally.
JEERS to vandals who are still at it on city streets in Plattsburgh. We've mentioned this problem several times in this space: Drunks finding their way home late at night in the Center City area can't seem to pass a street sign without giving in to the temptation to bash it, break it or make off with it. A recent accounting showed the city having had to pony up $2,889.45 to repair or replace these signs this year. Clearly, it is far more than a nuisance. The city is having a tough enough time paying the bills without having to come up with this needless expense. Furious residents demand more police protection, but it's expensive. The Police Department is doing its best to patrol during high-need times, such as weekend nights, while still seeing to security the other five days a week, 24 hours per. The area of most of the damage seems to be bordered roughly by Cornelia, Margaret, Broad and Wells streets, though other neighborhoods on the periphery have had a smattering of damage, too. We hate to assume it's all being done by college students, but, realistically, we know some of it is their work. Here's hoping that, when they return next semester, they'll exhibit a more consistent attitude toward citizenship — or else that they get caught and have to make an accounting to the police and, more importantly, to their parents.
CHEERS to WPTZ, News Channel 5, for its annual collection of toys throughout its televiewing audience for distribution to needy children. Somehow, the mistaken impression has formed in some corners that the toys are distributed only in Vermont, though collected in New York, as well. If you call up WPTZ's Web site, it includes directions for how to apply for the toys in sites throughout the region covered by the station's signal — including, of course, communities in New York. The collection has grown over the years to become an important component of Christmas for thousands of kids, and we tip our hats to the station and its on-air personalities who have offered up such compelling solicitations. They certainly embody the spirit of Christmas that permeates the region so delightfully.
Opinion
December 20, 2009
Cheers and Jeers: Dec. 21, 2009
- Editorial
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Editorial: A pair of aces among the Cards
How fitting was it for Bob Emery and Kevin Houle to achieve coaching milestones on the same day and in the same building.
- Editorial: Nurses, aides: a breed apart
- Editorial: The leather lung: where not to sit
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Editorial: A pair of aces among the Cards
- Cheers and Jeers
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Cheers and Jeers: Feb. 6, 2012
CHEERS to Dr. Anne Cahill and JEERS to drivers who don't signal for turns and changing lanes.
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Cheers and Jeers: Feb. 6, 2012
- Letters to the Editor
- Speakout
- In My Opinion
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In My Opinion: Behind the city lockbox program
AFSCME Local 788 has received the opinion and award of Arbitrator Kenneth J. Toomey denying the union's grievance of the city's Financial Lockbox, by which residents' water, sewer and trash payments can be routed to a Glens Falls National Bank subcontractor in Hicksville, Long Island, union President Denise Nephew writes.
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In My Opinion: Behind the city lockbox program
