News That Matters - The Hell is Frozen Over Edition

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Jeff Green

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Jan 1, 2014, 11:26:57 PM1/1/14

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Telling it like it is for 10 years and counting...

G'day mates.

Happy 2014 to those who count using the Gregorian system and congratulations to Maureen Fleming for becoming the new Supervisor for the Town of Kent.

First the weather. Then the hell.

If you live in my hood the NWS is now promising a winter storm for tomorrow afternoon through Friday morning. Six to ten inches of snow are possible and based on the temperatures, (mid 20s dropping through the teens,) thanks to those freaking Canadians, it should be light and fluffy and suck for building snow forts and other manly arts. It's not going to be that windy up here, 15-25 mph, so while there will be some blowing snow it won't be like the mess they're going to get down on Lawn Gyland.

But it's going to get cold.

The forecast low for Carmel right now is -7F on Saturday morning with wind chills to -15F which would break a record for the day. That afternoon, temps should rise to a balmy 16F by evening and into the mid-upper 30s come Sunday afternoon.

On Monday the cold breath of Justin Beiber will return on a puck smacked by Wayne Gretsky so that the high temp on Tuesday, as of this writing, will be 16F and, 7F by Wednesday morning.

Here's the lowdown - and you have to listen to this:

If you have pets that hang outside or live in an unheated garage or crawl space, bring those critters in! If they want to go out on their own, fine, let them. But be ready to let them in when they want in. (Acosta loves when it's below zero out there... don't know why and I've stopped calling him as he comes in when he's ready and that's usually after his second rabbit breakfast.)

Don't buy all the freaking milk and bread in the store! There will be deliveries. This isn't 1814.

Warm your house now. Turn up the heat before it gets cold to warm the walls and floors and all your furniture. Then, as the temps begin to drop, turn your thermostats back down to 65F or lower and your heating system won't have to work as hard. Feel free to set your thermostat at 72F if you're a fan of hydrofracking and Canadian tar sands or you voted for George Bush II.

Take your largest cooler and set it outside, open. Let it snow in there a few inches so that if the power goes out you have a controlled temp space for your perishables. The stuff in your freezer, including that bag of frozen peas you've had in there since you moved in 7 years ago, can just sit out in the snow.

Don't bitch if the snow plows don't get to your street first. Jeez. If you have to go out, don't. Whatever your plans are, Cancel Them. Stay home. Stay off the streets and enjoy the downtime. If my buds in the highway department tell me they got complaints I'm coming to your house and pissing on your lawn. Enjoy the extremes that Mother Nature brings us (or that God hand-delivers if you're one of the one-in-three Americans who don't believe in evolution).

But most important. quit the panicking and chill out. A snowstorm is cool, there's no doubt about that!

Now, The Hell:

This is a copy of my Letter to the Editor concerning an upcoming illicit government appointment as it appeared in last week's Putnam News Times.

Dear Editor:

Within a few days, if it has not already, the Putnam County Legislature will select a legislator to represent the majority of the Town of Kent for the seat held by outgoing Legislator and Chairman Richard Othmer Jr.

It’s not like they didn’t know that Legislator Othmer was stepping down from his office; they knew last summer as did we, and certainly within enough time to have held an election for his seat. But they can’t control the government if the public is allowed to select its own representation, and so they’ll do it for us and tell us that it’s good.

From a political perspective, the handful of people who run this county must assure their control, and so it’s logical that they’d take this action. But from a moral perspective, their actions undermine the very basis of our democracy and they’ll do it with their eyes wide open and a chuckle and back-slaps all around and know that regardless the outcome, they’ll remain in power.

Will the person they select do a good job? Who knows? They haven’t been vetted in an election. They didn’t send out flyers or mailers, they didn’t go door-to-door asking your permission, and we simply do not know who they are. But we do know one thing: Whoever is selected will owe their primary allegiance to the political machine that selected them – and not to you. You can be assured that the person selected will be of the local political class and unlikely to speak to power in your favor.

It’s entirely possible this will all turn out just fine for you and me…but don’t you think we should have had the choice? Don’t you think that with the several months between Othmer’s notice of intention and the last election there could have been an election to replace him? In a right world there would have been; but in Putnam County the powers-that-be would never give it a thought.

If you feel as I do that the actions of the County Legislature are an affront to democracy, why not contact them and say so. It probably won’t change anything, but at least they’ll know they’ve been outed and are not taking this action in a vacuum – that you’ll be watching and listening and your trust level in their ability to govern effectively has been further undermined by their own actions. You can reach them at:

40 Gleneida Ave., Carmel, New York 10512;
845-808-1020; (fax)
845-808-1933; or
putc...@putnamcountyny.gov

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