— Calvin Luther Martin, PhD . Richard Matt. Dead. Three slugs to the head. High velocity, trans-cranial lead therapy. (A pity it never occurred to the man to perform this procedure on himself. Like, maybe at age 15, if newspaper accounts of his youth are accurate. The man is reported to have had a high […]
“How do we thank 1200 police?” Read More »
— Calvin Luther Martin, PhD . The wind hucksters are back. In Chateaugay, Belmont, and maybe Burke. Just when it seemed the statewide Wind Energy gig had run its course, it wheezed back to life when Gov. Cuomo unexpectedly threw several hundred million dollars its way. (My guess is Cuomo did it to appease all the people he pissed off by banning natural
Is Burke hopelessly corrupt? Read More »
. — Calvin Luther Martin, PhD . Winter solstice. Christmas eve. And I am a hibernating bear, deep within the cave of winter dreams. All my life I have sensed a strange convergence between solstice and Christmas, like two vast planets wheeling into near collision. Then each slowly spinning off on its separate course into
— Calvin Luther Martin, PhD I was 17 at the time. In Southern California. A college friend, Mike Madden, had invited me to spend Thanksgiving with him and his family, since I couldn’t go home for the holiday. Mike and his mom lived with his mom’s dad, a retired medical doctor. I remember sitting in the living room with
Antidote to the (ghastly) world news … Read More »
Part 2: Light — Calvin Luther Martin, PhD . In the dark before dawn the woods are quiet and still, as if waiting. My wife sleeps nearby; I hear her rhythmic breathing. We are camped in the Adirondacks. Something has awakened me. I have no idea what it was. A moment later there is a
“I struggle with depression” — Part 2 Read More »
Part 1: Darkness — Calvin Luther Martin, PhD . “Midway in the journey of life,” begins the narrator of Dante’s “Inferno,” “I came to myself in a dark wood.” (Full stop. Take a breath. Now go on to the next paragraph. These notations are for me, by the way, not for you, the reader.) So
“I struggle with depression” — Part 1 Read More »
News Flash (November 5th) Andrea Dumas just won a seat on the Malone Village Board! New to political office, she ran against two incumbents — and prevailed over both. (We’re delighted to see Joe Riccio returned to office. He’s a wise and thoughtful man, and essential on that board. Brian Langdon did a creditable job as trustee, and deserves
Sisters Café: (Hopefully) Coming Soon to Downtown Malone Read More »
News Flash (November 5th) Charlie Gardner has won the Malone Justice position! Mark Gonyea ran a spirited campaign, and we hope to see him run again in a year, when Judge Lamitie regrettably retires. In the meantime, we encourage Mark to keep attending court sessions to hone his formidable skills even further. All the letters to
Why Charles Gardner should be Malone’s municipal judge Read More »
—Calvin Luther Martin, PhD I imagine it happening in the middle of the night. (These things often seem to occur in the wee hours, when no one’s around. At least, I hope that will be the case.) Nina and I are awakened by a huge crash. A tremendous boom. Like an explosion. Our house shakes.
The day the river destroyed Malone Read More »
“10,500 [municipal] governments in the State is unsustainable!”—Gov. Cuomo . . Now that “dissolution” of the Village of Malone has been rejected by voters, we must take the steps necessary to ensure the village’s financial survival. RiverCityMalone.com urges all local government officials to watch this short video of Gov. Andrew Cuomo explaining that: (a) NYS
Governor’s message to Malone: “Consolidate services!” Read More »
—Nina Pierpont, MD, PhD Two financial issues are driving the question of village dissolution: high taxes in the village and the fear that the village may become bankrupt within a decade. There is a common perception that the village has mis-managed its budgets and departments by allowing contracts/salaries/benefits to become recklessly generous. Indeed, there is
The Village of Malone needs to restructure taxes, not dissolve itself Read More »
. —Calvin Luther Martin, PhD Does this man look worried to you? (Notice the furrowed brow and hand gestures—a dead giveaway.) In fact, he is worried. And you should be, too! That’s why he’s running for Malone Village Trustee—as a write-in candidate. (More on the “write-in” procedure, below.) A year ago, Pat & Liz Ward
Patrick Ward opposes dissolution Read More »
—Calvin Luther Martin, PhD There was once a brave little boat named “Malone”—a vessel ship-shape in every way. Smartly fitted, seaworthy, and manned by a crew of two: first mate on oars and skipper at helm. With a dream and a star to steer her by, crew and captain launched themselves on uncertain seas. Meanwhile
—Calvin Luther Martin, PhD This is a story about a Malone neighborhood which is saying “No!” to violent behavior and violent language in our neighborhood. It’s a story about a neighborhood group which is pushing back against the “trashing” of our community by young men and women and teenagers (and even, believe it or not,
Village Police: Yes or no? Read More »
A local news anchor who was criticized by a viewer for being obese decided to use her morning news show to directly address her attacker. WKBT anchor Jennifer Livingston, from La Crosse, Wisonsin, responded to a letter she received chiding her for not being a ‘suitable example for this community’s young people’ – particularly
Powerful video against bullying Read More »
Editor’s note: Take a look at this video. “Heart & Soul Planning” for communities like Malone. It’s a program run by the Orton Family Foundation, Middlebury VT. My thanks to Boyce Sherwin for bringing this to my attention. . . Unlock Your Potential: Heart & Soul Community Planning from Orton Family Foundation on Vimeo. In
“Heart & Soul Community Planning”: Blueprint for Malone? Read More »
“Virginia Developer Is on a Mission to Revive His Town” (Roanoke VA) . Editor’s note: Could Roanoke VA become a model for Malone’s “renaissance” (rebirth)? Read the NY Times article, below, and see what you think. There are interesting parallels between Roanoke, which is far larger than Malone, and Malone. John Mills (Malone’s “Painted
“Place-Making”: Reviving downtown Malone! Read More »
—by Hugh Hill, Malone Village Trustee & Executive Director, Malone Chamber of Commerce . Checklist of Economic Opportunities: (1) Develop our tourism economy by creating a modern and effective marketing effort funded by a fee collected from lodging visitors and managed by a private sector board of directors based on the proven record of success
Re-Imagine Malone (Part 2) Read More »
“Re-imaging Distressed Communities: A Strategy to Reverse Decline and Attract Investors” . —by Catherine Toups* and James H. Carr† (Spring 2000) Recasting the image of a community is a potentially powerful tool to promote revitalization in distressed inner cities. While neighborhood leaders and redevelopment professionals struggle with the overriding tasks of earning community trust and
Re-Imagine Malone! Read More »
—Calvin Luther Martin, PhD Write down that phone number. I’ll explain why, shortly. In Part 1 of this series, we examined Malone’s drug epidemic, with emphasis on the abuse of “psycho-therapeutics.” That being the name for prescription medicines for pain or attention problems or sleep problems or panic attacks or anxiety. Many of the psycho-therapeutic
Death by Drugs (Part 2) Read More »
Malone’s drug epidemic and what to do about it —Calvin Luther Martin, PhD . Let’s call him Sean. I mean the young man in the image, above. Not so long ago he looked like the picture on the left. Now all that’s left is the ponytail. His parents received it in the mail soon after
Death by Drugs (Part 1) Read More »
—Calvin Luther Martin, PhD In Part 1, we surveyed Malone’s history and decided (I hope) to stop wringing our hands over the closure of the factories and mills. (They closed all over America, after all. The chances of a town hanging on to its factories in the last 30 years were about as good as
Malone in the 21st Century (Part 2) Read More »
A Malone “with hope and promise” . . —Calvin Luther Martin, PhD . In 1918, a local journalist named Frederick J. Seaver published a learned and exhaustive history of Franklin County. It’s fascinating reading. Not quite a hundred pages into the book, Seaver asks wistfully, “What of the future?” To which he cautiously replies, It
Malone in the 21st Century (Part 1) Read More »