"The recent passing of Lucile Brewer, the founder and chair of the local advocacy group Citizens for Public Transportation, got me thinking about the future of public transportation, both here in the Capital Region and in the rest of the country. Before getting into what I see as current and future challenges facing public transportation services, I just want to say a few words about Lucile."
"I first met Lucile while working at my family’s restaurant, Calsolaro’s, in the early 1970s. Lucile was a regular patron, and sometimes I would have time to sit with her and talk about current events. Then, in the early 2000s, after being elected to the Albany Common Council, I re-connected with Lucile as she led the fight for a more effective and responsive public transportation system. Lucile recruited me to be a member of Citizens for Public Transportation and I experienced first-hand Lucile’s tireless efforts to advocate for people with disabilities, even as her own physical condition deteriorated. Lucile was an inspiration for me and her legacy will continue as we work to support and improve public transportation services. Lucile was, as headlined by the Times Union (Feb. 24, 2017), a “champion” for public transit."
"Damari Wayne reportedly got away with his first two carjackings. His third would’ve gone the same way, if it hadn’t been for the car’s meddling three pedals and stick shift."
"Cleveland.com reports Wayne, 18, is suspected of having tried to steal three cars in the span of ten days between Feb. 11 and Feb. 21. The key word, there, is “tried.” The third theft didn’t work out so hot when he and his buddy couldn’t figure out how to drive a manual transmission, despite forcing the car’s owner to coach them at gunpoint."
"Only an hour after the second robbery he’s accused of (itself only 10 days after the first robby he’s accused of), Wayne and his 17-year-old accomplice allegedly went after another vehicle. It was a Ford Mustang, according to ABC News 5, and the duo allegedly told the driver they’d kill him if he didn’t get out."
"A Sheriff’s department deputy wasn’t entirely certain a crime has been committed, and stated: “If we are looking into something, we need a victim. We don’t have a victim.”
"CHP officials seemed a bit more certain that some rules had been broken, including reckless driving and driving an off-road motorcycle on the highway. Though, really, this is sort of over a highway, right?"
"CHP officials were also concerned that they were unable to identify the rider conclusively, which would make proving even these misdemeanor charges difficult."
"In order to prevent anyone else from trying something this stupid, Caltrans blocked the access to the ramp with bulldozers pushing boulders and tree trunks."
"In many small towns across the country, there aren’t very many good jobs these days. Once there were factories that employed millions and paid decent wages. Today, young men are scraping by working at local bars or in lower-paid temp jobs. Many of these men are single, and new research suggests that those two things—their poor economic status and their singleness—are not unrelated."
"It’s no wonder, then, that the changes wrought by the disappearance of manufacturing jobs helped elevate the platform of Donald Trump, who won 67 percent of white workers without a college degree. Their malcontent comes not just from their economic struggles, but from the dramatic changes to their personal lives that the decline of manufacturing have created."
"The truth is that while auto jobs used to be good jobs, we now have more in common with workers at McDonald’s or Walmart. One-in-four of the 600 jobs at the Camaco plant are temporary positions that pay $10 an hour. Meanwhile, wages for all of the plant’s production workers are capped at just $12 an hour — with an 18-cent raise a year for a “living fee.” I haven’t even received that raise this year. Temp workers are often kept in limbo for up to a year before being hired on full time. And turnover at the plant is off the charts, with a manager recently admitting that 1,500 workers have cycled through the plant in the last two years. The company has been forced to hire three temp agencies to find employees, recruiting workers from as far away as Cleveland."
