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Saturday Quote

“The innkeeper at whose place I had my meals informed me that one of his lodgers was an American general. Thereupon I expressed the desire of seeing that gentleman, and, shortly after, I was introduced to him. After the usual exchange of greetings … I ventured to request from him some letters of introduction to his friends in America. “No,” he replied, and after a few moments of silence, noticing my surprise, he added, “I am perhaps the only American who cannot give you letters for his own country … all the relations I had there are now broken … I must never return to the States.” He dared not tell me his name. It was General (Benedict) Arnold.”

French statesman Talleyrand described meeting Benedict Arnold in Falmouth, Cornwall, England in 1794

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NYS Coronavirus Update


March 27, 2020 – New York City, NY – Governor Andrew Cuomo entering a press briefing on coronavirus at Jacob Javits Convention Center, where a make-shift hospital is now complete. (Darren McGee- Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)

The first 1,000-bed temporary hospital is now complete at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan. The facility will fully open on Monday. Congratulations to FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers, the National Guard and the staff at Javits for their speedy work. They built an entire hospital in a week — an incredible achievement.

Schools statewide will remain closed until at least April 15th. The state will reassess whether to continue closures at that time. School districts will be required to continue child care, meal and distance learning programs.

The USNS Comfort, a U.S. Navy hospital ship, is expected to arrive in New York Harbor on Monday. It is a massive facility with 1,000 beds, 12 operating rooms, a pharmacy and a laboratory. The Comfort’s beds will be used for non-Coronavirus patients to free up hospital capacity.

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Village of Whitehall Posts Draft of Revitalization Plan


An artist’s conception of what the intersection of Route 4 and Route 22 could look like in the first draft of a revitalization plan prepared for the Village of Whitehall, by the engineering firm Chazen Companies. A traffic circle and monument dedicated to the founding of the U.S. Navy is envisioned. (Click image to see larger version.)

The Whitehall Village Board has posted on their website the first draft of a comprehensive revitalization plan. The plan tries to document the challenges that Whitehall faces, and the type of place Whitehall could be in 5 to 10 years, if the proposed changes take place.

By having a plan in place, the Village of Whitehall is in a better position to apply for grants to help it implement its objectives. The central questions facing Whitehall and its decline remain however. Why are businesses not coming to Whitehall? Why are school taxes so high and why have savings brought about by plummeting enrollment not been passed on to the taxpayers of the district? Why don’t the leaders of Whitehall see there is a direct correlation between the Village of Whitehall having the highest local tax rate in the county (not even considering the school taxes) and the decline the Village has experienced? Are the school district’s gross revenues outpacing its gross expenditures by roughly a million dollars per year having an effect on what people can spend on other things?

The plan does hope to capitalize on the almost 10,000 vehicles per day that pass through Whitehall on Routes 4 and 22. To begin, it envisions a roundabout or traffic circle at the intersection of Routes 4 and 22 with a monument dedicated to the founding of the U.S Navy which occurred in Whitehall.

It also envisions a pedestrian footbridge over the train tracks somewhere near the present Amtrak station which would connect Broadway (along Route 22) and Main street. This would allow residents to access the downtown park and businesses located on Main street without walking to opposite ends of Broadway to enter the historic downtown area.

There will be a public hearing about the plan on April 6, 2020.

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Video: Dr. Deborah Birx March 26th Comments

In the video below from Thursday March 26th, Dr. Deborah Birx, the response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, makes some very important points.

1.) She specifically notes that a recent report, which had predicted 500,000 deaths in the UK and estimated 2.2 million deaths in the United States, just scaled back its estimate from 500,000 UK deaths to 20,000. That’s a big change.

2.) Models or simulations predicting very high mortality rates, Birx said, don’t match the reality of what they’ve seen on the ground in China, South Korea or Italy. Birx said if you did the divisions according to the models, Italy should have 400,000 deaths. But she says, they’re not even close to that. Indeed, they are at 8,215 deaths and they appear to have started flattening their curve, with five successive days down below their peak on March 21.

3.) Dr. Birx also corrected another concern, saying there were enough ICU beds and “significant” ventilators available (even in NY state). She says that while the cases may be concentrated now in urban areas, there were other areas where it was not, and they can adjust to get equipment or patients to where they need to be.

4.) There is “no reality on the ground” where 60% to 70% of Americans will be infected in the next 8 – 12 weeks.

While everyone needs to be careful and be on guard, panic does no good. Please consider what Dr. Birx is saying.

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Huletts From Across the Lake


A view of Huletts Landing from the opposite side of Lake George taken on Thursday morning, March 26, 2020. Photo Credit: The Lake George Association (Click image to see larger view.)

Today, Pat Dowd, the Director of Communications for the Lake George Association, emailed some pictures from some of the surrounding communities around the Lake. All is very quiet. The above picture caught my attention so I asked Mr. Dowd if I could share it here. It was taken this morning from the scenic overlook from the west shore of Lake George. As you can see, there is still snow on the ground from this week’s snowfall. Many thanks to Mr. Dowd and the Lake George Association for obliging. For all of us riding out the COVID-19 pandemic, all pictures of Lake George are very welcome indeed.

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Washington County Chairman ‘Calls Upon’ People to Stay Away

Washington County’s Chairman of the Board, Samuel J. Hall, issued the following on March 25th.

Washington County’s Chairman of the Board, Samuel J. Hall, today, March 25, 2020, calls upon our visitors, weekenders, second-home owners and short-term rental owners and those with rental listings to refrain from visiting Washington County during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

There are currently six (6) confirmed cases of COVID-19 (2019 Novel Coronavirus) in the County and we are attempting to proactively reduce further exposure as it impacts the County’s population and our limited health and public safety assets.

We are beginning to see an influx of travelers from outside the County who are staying at second homes and short-term rentals, like AirBNB and VRBO. We are also seeing people who believe that they will receive faster testing services by leaving their main residence and coming here. Washington County is already following one positive case in which a non-County resident arrived thinking they would receive better access to testing. Unfortunately, seeking refuge from the more populous areas will not protect you from this global pandemic.

Both Governor Cuomo and Washington County have called upon the populace to halt the spread of the COVID-19 virus by limiting their movements to travel that is absolutely necessary. That is the only way we can stop the spread and protect our families and friends from this dangerous virus that can be dangerous and even fatal to the elderly and people with underlying health conditions.

It is unquestionable that the number of exposed people will increase with a more mobile population. An influx of people, no matter where their original domicile, can only lead to more cases in Washington County, thereby overwhelming its resources.

Read the entire statement from Mr. Hall here.

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Please Read: COVID-19 Update Washington County NY

Governor Cuomo has announced that “New York State on PAUSE” plan, takes effect 8 p.m. Sunday, banning all non-essential gatherings of individuals “of any size for any reason.”

Also, all workers should stay home unless they fall into the list of essential businesses.

Washington County Board of Supervisors Chairman Samuel J. Hall has declared a State of Emergency for Washington County, effective as of 2:00 PM on March 16, 2020, and will remain in effect for the next thirty days, or until rescinded. The State of Emergency allows the county to continue facilitating the ongoing response to COVID-19 and to provide the County of Washington and local organizations with the flexibility needed to respond to this imminent threat to public health, safety and quality of life.

Updates can be found here:
http://www.washingtoncountyny.gov/coronavirus

As of 3/22/2020 3:30 pm

There are now 4 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Washington County

None of the identified COVID-19 positive patients are related or from the same household, all are from different geographic areas across the county. During the Public Health investigations, one of the COVID-19 positive patients self-identified as an operator of an in-home daycare facility. Once symptomatic they contacted Public Health and their family doctor for further evaluation and testing and ceased operating the daycare with notification of symptoms to the parents of those in their care. All of those in their care and with close physical contact have been notified and are now registered as PUIs.

While many in our communities would like to know more specific information about the COVID-19 positive patients and their locations, due to privacy regulations coupled with the county’s privacy policy, Washington County will not routinely release specific identifying information about patients (i.e., age, location) unless it aids in the Public Health investigation and identification of additional PUIs. Please remember, the identified PUIs and COVID-19 patients are under quarantine for 14 days from the date of exposure and are not out in the public. Public Health conducts a public health investigation on every COVID-19 positive patient and makes notification to those identified as having close personal contact with a COVID-19 positive patient

Most Washington county offices are closed.

PLEASE NOTE:
Send home or separate anyone who becomes sick.

If you identify a case, inform people who might have been exposed.
Continue to safely clean and disinfect all areas.

If you have been exposed to someone who may be sick, please stay inside and self-quarantine.

There are people in the community with weakened immune systems – please be considerate to all those you encounter. Please use social distancing at all times.

I have spoken to Huletts Landing Fire Chief & Safety Officer, Jay VanderPlaat, who wants people to know that treatment protocols have changed rapidly and that the personal protective required articles are in short supply or are back ordered from the county and/or state. Because of these requirements and the shortage of protective gear, local EMT’s may be unable to respond to COVID-19 or breathing issues and those so afflicted may have to wait for an ambulance during the current emergency.

This is an unprecedented time in the history of our nation, state and Washington County, including Huletts Landing. Please act accordingly.

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Spring Arrives


Narrow island seen in the distance from Huletts Landing on Friday, March 20, 2020. (The first day of Spring.) Most of the ice is now gone from Lake George. (Click image to see larger version.)

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Saturday Quote

I Watched a Blackbird
By Thomas Hardy

I watched a blackbird on a budding sycamore
One Easter Day, when sap was stirring twigs to the core;
I saw his tongue, and crocus-coloured bill
Parting and closing as he turned his trill;
Then he flew down, seized on a stem of hay,
And upped to where his building scheme was under way,
As if so sure a nest was never shaped on spray.

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Lake George Ice Breaking Up


The ice on Lake George is breaking up. (Click image to see full scale.)

Today, there are large areas of open water on Lake George as the ice begins to break up. Much of the lake north of Huletts is already open. While there is still ice near the center of Huletts and to the south, it should be gone shortly.

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State Plastic Bag Ban Begins

New York state has implemented, as of March 1, 2020, the New York State Plastic Bag Waste Reduction Act. New Yorkers were using approximately 23 billion plastic bags per year, with approximately 85% of this total ending up int the trash, recycling machines, lakes and highways.