Search Results for: Union Drive

Ward Stone — NYS Wildlife Pathologist Worked for the People

Editor’s Note: Ward Stone died on February 8, 2023 at the age of 84. Ward Stone was a friend of Save the Pine Bush and often spoke at SPB vegetarian lasagna dinners. Here are two letters which describe Ward. The first letter was written by long-time friend, Lewis Oliver and sent to many media outlets, but, never published. The second letter from Tom Ellis was published in the Altamont Enterprise. Dear Mr. Seiler: The front-page article about the death of…

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Washington – 01-27-07 Washington – 01-27-07 Home  | Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9 People as far as the eye can see Peace organizations table at the Mall Of course, this is what makes protests comfortable – Port-o-Potties! My favorite union SIEU 1199 Peace cheer-leaders Cheering for peace Cheer leading for peace Cheerleaders for peace World Can’t Wait Drive Out…

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NYS Climate Action Council

by John Wolcott ALBANY, NY: Here is a brief review of the Summary of the State Climate Action Council’s first public meeting on January 25, 2010 at the N.Y. State Museum was held pursuant to Gov. Paterson’s Executive Order 24. This was the first State Climate Action Council Public Outreach Meeting pursuant to Gov. Paterson's Executive Order 24 concerning measures to be taken to combat global warming. It's not too bad and compares well with California's unilateral actions and goes…

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Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission Proposes a New Plan – Mark October 18 to Attend Hearing

Maps available: A new graphic Pine Bush trail map is now available. The new map was produced using a Global Positioning System to record trail locations. The brochure includes a mural depicting many of the typical plants and animals, interpretive information and a summary of the Preserve’s public use rules and regulations. The Preserve guide and trail map can be obtained from the Albany Pine Bush office or at trailhead kiosks. (785-1800). Preserve Regulations: BICYCLES may only travel on the…

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Pushing and Pulling West: Pending Extensions of the Boundaries of the Pine Bush Preserve

Pushing and Pulling West: Pending Extensions of the Boundaries of the Pine Bush Preserve   Pushing and Pulling West: Pending Extensions of the Boundaries of the Pine Bush Preserve By John Wolcott A Little Background When I first started mulling over the notion of a Pine Bush Preserve in 1971, it was with the thought of the opportunity to set aside a large, more or less, continuous bi-city forest for the benefit of car-free city dwellers, stretching between Schenectady and…

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ALBANY: The State Employees Federal Credit Union (SEFCU) building and surrounding land, located in the center of the Pine Bush on Route 155, was traded for state-owned land at the Harrimon State Office Campus. In the late 1980s, Save the Pine Bush sued over the zoning approval given to SEFCU and won. Judge Robert Williams ruled in Save the Pine Bush’s favor citing the fact that the Generic Environmental Impact Statement prepared by the City of Albany failed to take…

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Blues Connection

by John Wolcott Click on map to see larger image Now: you can see it at a glance. The top topo map displayed here, is of the Karner Dune Field, the Type Locality of the Karner Blue Butterfy, in the Pine Bush, as it was way before Rte. 155 appeared. A unified field, fully connected west to east. This dune field is a grouping of sand dunes within the much larger Schenectady-Albany “Dune Belt.” All. of the cultural information has,…

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Moratoriums

by John Wolcott Guilderland just enacted six-month moratorium on development in the western part of town. The Town of Colonie is considering a moratorium in certain segments of town. As both Guilderland and Colonie contain Pine Bush, one would have expected the Pine Bush to have been included in the moratoriums as both town supervisors are on the Pine Bush Commission, but the Pine Bush was left out. Colonie, at least, has some conscientious citizens and an environmentally responsible board…

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Crossgates is a Bad Neighbor

by Lynne Jackson OK, Crossgates has been in the news a lot recently. Actually, they made it into the international news. Save the Pine Bush has received emails from out raged people as far away as Sydney Australia, and California. People are mad. To recap: On Monday evening, March 3, Stephen Downs and his son Roger, were stopped by a security guard at Crossgates Maul. They were wearing T-shirts which they had just purchased at the mall. Stephen’s T-shirt said…

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Its not a Garbage Problem Its an Economic Problem

by Lynne Jackson ALBANY: Albany City Commission of the Department of General Services Willard (Bill) Bruce spoke at the May Save the Pine Bush dinner. Mr. Bruce began by showing slides of how landfills are constructed. He emphasized that the Rapp Road landfill is not just a dump, it is a highly-engineered structure and there is a great deal of infrastructure in the landfill. Components of the landfill He began with a photo of the electrical generation system which produces…

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The Crude Oil Threat to New York State: The Capital Region as the Focus of Oil-by-RailThe Crude Oil Threat to New York State: The Capital Region as the Focus of Oil-by-RailThe Crude Oil Threat to New York State: The Capital Region as the Focus of Oil-by-Rail

By Oily Bakken and Rude Crude In recent months, the media has carried stories about huge quantities of crude oil being brought into the Port of Albany from the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota by CP Rail, where it is stored and transloaded onto barges or tanker ships to be moved on to distant refineries. This petroleum is highly flammable, even explosive. There were 11 derailments of crude oil trains in the U.S. and Canada during 2013. Three of…

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by Lynne Jackson ALBANY, NY: The July SPB veggie lasagna dinner at the First Presbyterian Church was a forum for a bevy of politicians. Everyone came out to support Pine Bush preservation, a welcome change from previous elections. Candidates from Albany, most facing primaries in September attended as well as Ken Runion, candidate for Guilderland Town Supervisor who faces his challengers in the general election. First to speak was Marggie Skinner, Democrat, running for Common Council in the 9th ward…

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The road to justice is paved with truth

an editorial by Melissa Hale-Spencer, reprinted from the Altamont Enterprise, July 18, 2013 First they came for the socialists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me. — Martin…

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Crossgates Casts a Dark Shadow Over the Pine Bush

ALBANY, NY: Just when you thought it was safe to go to the mall, Pyramid Crossgates proposes yet another project to destroy Pine Bush and potential Karner Blue habitat. Albany City Hall was the setting for Pyramid to describe to the Albany Common Council Zoning Committee how its proposal to build a residence inn hotel on 3.72 acres adjacent to the one of the largest sites of Karner Blues will have no environmental impact. In 1998, Pyramid Crossgates illegally bulldozed…

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The Good News, The Bad News And The Ugly Truth

The Good News, The Bad News And The Ugly Truth The Good News, The Bad News And The Ugly Truth June/July 1995 By Daniel Van Riper Like it or not, Pine Bush preservation has become one of the major defining issues in the Capital District. Perhaps this is because it is a black and white issue. Are we in favor of maintaining and enhancing our quality of life, or should we close our eyes and let corrupt politicians give our…

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Study Links Lyme Disease, Rural Building

by Claire Hughes, Staff writer Excessive development of rural countryside, which leads to the loss of some animal species there, could be the reason the Capital Region and other areas of New York have seen recent spikes in rates of Lyme disease, according to a study being published this week. A group of researchers, including a biologist from Union College, have concluded in a paper to be published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that biodiversity loss contributes…

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Proclamation — Monday, February 13, 2017 to be: “Rezsin Adams Day”

WHEREAS: Rezsin Adams was born on February 13, 1927, and grew up in the Bronx; and WHEREAS: Rezsin is an unassuming hero, a woman of small stature who always has a smile on her face. However, she has been at the heart of Albany’s peace and justice movement for decades and was dubbed the “Grande Dame of the local peace and environmental movements,” by the Times Union in 2007, and she hasn’t slowed down yet; and WHEREAS: In her eight…

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Save the Pine Bush Fire Management Index

 Fire Management in the Pine Bush, Jan./Feb. 91 Man-Made Pine Bush?? Harvey Alexander Tells All ,Jan./Feb. 92 Recent News-Controlled Burnings in Pine Bush a Success, Times Union, Nov. 13, 1991 Fire? What Fire? Pine Bush Better Than Ever – July/Aug 99 The Pine Bush is a fire dis-climax community. It must burn to survive. The dominant species, the pitch pine tree, is adapted to fire and cannot reproduce without it. Currently, the Pine Bush is the only place in New…

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Fire is the Pine Bush’s Friend

On April 27, 1999 … a small controlled burn conducted by the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission got out of control. 65 acres of Pine Bush burned. The fire was intense enough to jump the four lanes of the New York State Thruway. No one was injured, no property was damaged. For the Pine Bush, this was great! The Pine Bush needs fire to survive. The Pine Bush has burned for 10,000 years. There is a great opportunity after this…

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