Ward Stone

As a follow-up to tonight’s Save the Pine Bush Dinner,Β  Ward Stone will be on WAMC’s VoxPop Radio at 2pm on 90.3 FM in Albany and wamc.org on the web.

I am delighted he will be back doing his advocacy and research — he knows his stuff and after hearing him stand at the lectern and speak for an hour,Β  I can tell you he is as sharp as ever.Β  He is still warning us and still telling us unpopular things,Β  much like Rachael Carson 50 years before him.

Being retired from state service, he doesn’t have to worry about pissing off politicians and people in high places — they can denounce and belittle him — but they can’t fire him again or take away his constitutionally guaranteed pension earned by his decades over hard-work to the people of New York.

Ward Stone is 76. He had some physical ailments but his multiple strokes haven’t taken away his energy or commitment to our environment. If anything, thanks to the past five years out of the public eye and recovery from his stroke, he’s in better health then before.

Nobody in powerful positions should write off Ward Stone. He has a lot more to do for our community in the coming years.

Snow Removal

During the Christmas Blizzard 1969, Albany spent $2 million on snow removal. They spent more during that blizzard for snow removal then they spent on police salaries in fiscal year 1970.

The state allowed Albany to float bonds to pay the expenses for the blizzard.Β  City taxpayers repayed the bonds through the early 1980s.

I wonder if Buffalo will get stuck paying for snow removal costs for this blizzard through the late 2020s.