The Problem With The Stream Rules: Video

The Lake George Park Commission is scheduled to say something at their May meeting this week, regarding their proposed stream rules.

I took this video a few weeks ago which demonstrates the loophole which I have been talking about.

The proposed regulations don’t accomplish what they set out to accomplish in so far as they exempt State, County and Town highway crews from cutting drainage ditches allowing salt and road runoff to flow directly into streams along their highway right of ways. The rules will effectively take 5000 acres of private property off the tax rolls but will do nothing to stop this.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1xFbJ7iQe8

Bits of Everything

Made in the Adirondacks: Coming Soon

Denton Publications has a story about an idea to create a logo that can be applied to things made in the Adirondacks.

Rachel Ray Returns to Lake George

She remembers where she came from. Here is a story from the Post Star about Rachel Ray returning home to Lake George for a fundraiser.

Washington County Puts Parcels Up For Sale

Washington County is really making an effort to cut back and raise revenue apart from hitting up the taxpayers. Read the Post Star article here.

Hudson River Dedging to Start this Week

The spot that they’re digging up is very close to the Washington County Building. Channel 13 reports here.

Now For Some History – 1902


Click on the image to see a larger view.

This is a picture of people waiting for the steamer to arrive in Bolton Landing in 1902. It’s always fascinating to see pictures of people getting off and on the steamships because they traveled in such different clothes than people travel in today.

This picture caught my attention for a couple of reasons. The men are all wearing hats and the women are all in dresses. It’s interesting that you can even see the horses with a carriage for luggage waiting in the back. It’s easy to forget but this was before the age of the automobile.

Bits of Everything

Champlain’s Astrolabe Now on a Keychain

The Times of Ti had an interesting story about a new keychain made in celebration of Samuel de Champlain’s Quadricentennial year. The keychain is made like an astrolabe which Champlain used in discovering the lake which bears his name. It was a astronomical instrument which was used in locating and predicting the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars; determining local time given local latitude and vice-versa; surveying; and triangulation. With no GPS, what’s an explorer to do?

No East Lake George for You

The Post Star reports that there will be no new village of East Lake George this year.

Ticonderoga Ferry Gets New Owners

The Press Republican reports that the Ti Ferry has been sold. This is a great trip over to Vermont from Ticonderoga if you’ve never taken it.

Is the Huletts Current the Best Blog Out There?

There’s a new invention coming soon that will revolutionize the Internet. You know the answer to this question already but if you want to learn how the Internet is about to change, click here.

A New Executive Order

Gov. David Paterson signed an executive order this week, that requires the state to conduct a public accounting on the fiscal effects of any new measure or rule affecting property taxes in New York.

Here is the press release from the Governor’s office and here is the actual executive order.

I contacted the Lake George Park Commission to see how this potentially impacts the new stream corridor rules but have yet to receive a reply. It appears from this language that it probably applies to the LGPC’s stream corridor rule making process.

No state agency shall recommend, propose, publish or submit any legislation or regulation containing a mandate without an accounting of the impact of such mandate on local governments, which shall include the fiscal impacts of such mandate, a cost-benefit analysis, documentation of input sought and received from affected local governments, and proposed sources of revenue to fund such mandate. Prior to the formalization of any such proposal, such accounting shall be provided in writing to the Secretary to the Governor, the Counsel to the Governor, the Director of State Operations and the Director of the Division of Budget; provided, however, that if such proposal is necessary to protect against an urgent threat to public health or safety, such proposal may be formalized and advanced without such accounting only upon the approval of the Director of State Operations and the Counsel to the Governor, provided that such accounting shall be completely promptly thereafter.

Bits of Everything

Wild Unsettled Lake George

The Adirondack Museum will open a new exhibit called, “A Wild, Unsettled Country: Early Reflections of the Adirondacks,” on May 22nd which will highlight the earliest artifacts from the Adirondacks. Many of these come from the Lake George area. The Adirondack Almanac has a nice piece about the exhibit here.

Those Comic Books Are Valuable After All

The Ticonderoga Cartoon Museum will open for the season Wednesday, April 15. This is a great trip for kids and adults alike. The Times of Ti has a story about it on their website. If you haven’t been in Ticonderoga in a while, this museum opened a few years ago and it’s a great local addition.

No More “Ice, Ice, Baby”


Just to let everyone know, the ice is out of the lake. It’s pretty much disappeared as of Thursday, April 2nd. From what we can see there’s no apparent damage. This means that summer is getting a lot closer.

If for some reason you miss the ice,
here are 12 videos
where you can see the original Vanilla Ice doing everything from boxing Todd Bridges, going crazy and destroying his best selling album, to even apologizing for his music.

Then again, maybe you’re glad the ice is gone.

Bits of Everything

Who Got One / Who Returned One

The Times Union had a nice graphic showing who got an absentee ballot by county and party affiliation in the vote for the congressional seat in the 20th district. Hopefully, if you were away, you returned yours.

Gaslight Village Project Gets $2.5 Million

The Post Star reports that the Gaslight Village project in Lake George Village got a big grant from the federal government.

We Love You – John Paul II

AOL has a heartwarming story about a man left for dead a few weeks ago, who attributes his recovery to miraculous intervention by Pope John Paul II. Watch the video attached to this story.

Bits of Everything

Your Property Just Got More Valuable

According to CBS 6 of Albany, the Lake George Land Conservancy has just finalized a deal for 350 acres and a half mile of shoreline on Lake George in the town of Putnam. This deal has been in the works for some time.

The Train Will Keep Running

The Albany Times Union reports that the recent budget deal restored funding for Amtrak’s Adirondack service from Albany to Montreal. Now if it could only run on time.

All Sides Agree: It’s Good Proposed Tax Cap is Gone

WNBZ has a story about how all sides are happy that the Governor’s proposal to cap taxes on state land has been eliminated.