The stakes for the Allied forces in securing victory during World War II could not have been higher.
Entering Week 11 and I grow weary, as if I’m stumbling around inside an Edgar Allen Poe tale.
Nobody would believe three months ago that restaurant workers in May would be on the frontline, masked and gloved, risking their lives serving food in take-out lines as a pandemic raged around them.
Back in 2016, I had the honor of being commencement speaker for my alma mater, Royalton-Hartland. My speech was mostly on point, celebrating our school and community and the great students that came from them.
There’s no doubt that New York has been hit with a mind-boggling number of claims for unemployment insurance as a result of stay-at-home orders.
Dairy farmers just can’t catch a break!
Even as the state prepares for the complex task of restarting a virus-ridden economy, we are weighing the cost to keep nonessential businesses closed and the cost of human lives if reopening unfolds too quickly, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday.
In enduring this global health care crisis, the future we’re all looking forward to is one without the frightening prospect of severe illness and death.
Imagine being trapped alone in a small cell for two months with no visitors, knowing that a fire was raging outside your cage, getting closer and closer with each long, passing day.
This editorial was originally published in the May 10, 2015, edition of the Watertown Daily Times:
As state officials and community leaders determine how different sections of New York will reduce restrictions on commercial activity, businesses need to find innovative ways to promote their services to potential customers.
Seven weeks in and all I hear is the pitter-patter of little feet ...
State officials debated the merits of banning certain single-use plastic bags for two years.
Hospitals must not exceed 70% capacity. The virus transmission rate must not exceed 1.0%. There must be a 14-day decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations.
Some business owners have expressed concerns that a provision of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act could persuade employees who were laid off to accept only limited hours if asked to come back to work.
From afar, the COVID-19 pandemic is generating news of such terrifying magnitude that it is nearly too overwhelming to comprehend. Millions are suffering and thousands are dying. Economies are collapsing. The world seems out of control.
It was on a sun-kissed morning that Coco the squirrel found himself clinging for life against the base of an old pine tree.
They say politics make strange bedfellows. And, as it turns out, so do pandemics.
On April 22, 1970, more than 20 million Americans brought attention to the lingering environmental problems our society faced.
Some people seem to think the reboot of our economy will be a one-size-fits-all operation, that all parts of the nation will get well at the same time.
It has been a month since the first cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the four-county GLOW Region. The first cases were reported March 17 in Genesee and Wyoming counties. Livingston County followed two days later. With Orleans County announcing its first case on March 20.
(This column was originally published in 2012.)
It sounds cynical, but in the dominion of the coronavirus, throwing money at a problem is about the only gesture we have left.
As head of a political party that often promotes the necessity of limited government, it’s ironic that President Donald Trump bristles at the notion of adhering to these limits.
The United States fumbled testing for the coronavirus, that much is clear. New York state is lagging behind in testing, but is making strides to catch up. Gov. Andrew Cuomo is putting great stock in social distancing to slow the spread of the virus.
Sadly, it too often takes a crisis — be it 9/11 or a local catastrophe — to cause Americans to really celebrate the value that first responders bring to society.
The following passage, titled “Immortality,” was written by Frederick Buechner in his book “Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC”:
The best part of holidays is getting together with extended families.
Columnist’s note from Scott DeSmit: Since I couldn’t say it better myself, I decided to republish this, courtesy of HuffPost and Kelsey Taylor. Reprinted with permission of the author.)
State legislators somehow had the courage last year to resist passing a budget without expanding prevailing wages for more public works projects.
More than a few Jewish people have commented on the irony of celebrating a holiday with widespread plagues at its center during a global health crisis.
Separation because of the coronavirus pandemic is doing more than keeping us from socializing. In many cases, it has built a barrier between the public and their local news outlets.
Week three at home and signs that I am going mad ...
About two weeks ago, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and President Donald Trump tussled over the commander-in-chief’s groundless wish to “reopen the country” on April 12, Easter Sunday, and start getting people back to work.
For several days, Gov. Andrew Cuomo criticized federal lawmakers for passing a bipartisan $2 trillion bill to fight the coronavirus pandemic. The governor said the bill will provide insufficient aid to state governments.
Due to coronavirus concerns, a lot of families will be visiting grocery stores rarely if at all, feasting on caches that they had collected prior to the state’s shutdown of schools, non-essential businesses, and gatherings of any size.
Helping companies stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic was the goal of an economic stimulus plan enacted into law last week by federal legislators.
There’s never a good time to allow companies to pollute the ground, waterways and air.
Since 1992 it has been my job as a police beat reporter to bring you news of death and destruction and sadness and grief.
While certain travel restrictions between Canada and the United States are warranted to control the spread of COVID-19, they must not become so onerous as to thwart the free trade necessary for businesses on both sides of the border.
I’m sure you saw the rather sad news reports of families peeking into windows and waving at their loved ones who were, for lack of a better word, imprisoned in their Washington nursing home in order to prevent the spread, to the outside world, of coronavirus which had sickened so many reside…
San Francisco and six Bay Area counties, with a combined population of nearly 7 million, are under “shelter-in-place” orders directing everyone to basically stay inside their homes for the next three weeks in hopes of suppressing the rapid spread of COVID-19 across the region.
For two hours it stopped.
Back in 2016, the Bank of Japan shook up the markets when it announced that, for the first time, it would impose a negative interest rate on financial institutions. The move smacked of desperation as the once-proud archipelago continued to struggle against deflation, an economic battle it ha…
(Editor’s note: Due to the coronavirus, Scott DeSmit’s regularly featured column will not be running in its normal form. Instead, we have provided a column from 2004, hence all the old references to President George W. Bush. Enjoy.)
Public concerns over the global spread of the COVID-19 are certainly valid.
Public concerns over the global spread of COVID-19 are certainly valid. And with 16 people having experienced quarantine in Genesee, Livingston, Orleans and Wyoming counties and another 31 college students under a precautionary quarantine at SUNY Brockport where they were bused after being r…
During one of his daily coronavirus press conferences last week, Governor Cuomo said the following:
A few miscellaneous things as we wait for Armageddon ...
Elected officials in New York are tripping over themselves showing who can pander more to their constituents concerning record high-water levels along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.
It’s become obvious that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo considers local input on major projects affecting residents in upstate New York very annoying.