The Forest Fire: May 15, 2012

Make The ‘Wright’ Choice

His story was too good to be true. He grew up as a New York Mets fan and was drafted by his favorite team in 2001, making his professional debut in 2004 at third base at Shea Stadium.

He has been the face of Flushing and with Jose Reyes now playing shortstop for the Miami Marlins, there’s one clear fact that should be carved in stone: The Mets must keep David Wright.

General manager Sandy Alderson is trading in signing big name free agents for building from within the Mets minor league system, hoping developmental prospects come along faster than expected. The Mets have indicated they want to cut payroll, but how far?

Around The Town With Lou: May 15, 2012

Editor’s Note: Lou Sanders, who has his journalism degree from NYU, and his wife, Grace, founded the Mineola American in 1952, giving the village its first successful newspaper. Lou and Grace have lived in Mineola for 58 years, and his popular column is a signature feature of this paper.

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Upbeat is the only way to describe Comptroller George Maragos’ report on Nassau County’s financial situation. He said that expenses have been stabilized in spite of increases in almost everything. Speaking at a press conference at Anton Newspapers he noted the raise in Medicare and health insurance. He was pleased that Nassau County has an A+ rating from Standard and Poor’s. We will get new revenue when 50 more red light cameras are installed and also with the Boot and Tow Program for those who have failed to pay their fines. Maragos also noted the new private bus service is, he claimed, giving us better service at a lower cost.

Editorial: Staying In-House Is The Way To Go

When Ernie Accorsi retired as New York Giants general manager in January 2007, fans were clamoring for the Mara and Tisch families to go after big-ticket names like Bill Parcells and current Kansas City Chiefs GM Scott Pioli to take the reigns of one of the NFL’s most storied franchises. Yet, in true Giants fashion, they stayed in-house and filled the void with an up and coming front office nobody: Jerry Reese.

Accorsi was credited with pinpointing sure fire NFL stars like John Elway and most recently, eight years ago with Eli Manning. It was a safe bet to say no one could make a mark like Accorsi in New York.

From The Desk Of NY State Senator Jack Martins: May 8, 2012

More Than Just A Tax Cap

I think people in neighboring states could hear New Yorkers breathe a collective sigh of relief this past week as we finally began to see the effects of our new tax cap.  More than anything else, property taxes have been the overriding issue in New York for many years, especially since they’ve grown on average more than 6 percent a year for 10 years, double the rate of inflation.

So, after leading the nation in runaway increases for so long, we finally hit the brakes in 2011 with a tax cap that had bipartisan support in both houses of the legislature. With limited exceptions, it holds increases in school and local property taxes to 2 percent a year, or the rate of inflation, whichever is less.

Editorial: A Telling Tale Of A League Based On Violence, Secrecy

I like to consider myself an NFL know-it-all, even with just two years experience covering a pro team. But in the end, like every person who decided to try their hand at crafting rhetoric for criticism…they started off as a fan. And as a former fan, I say the March 2 bounty scandal that’s surrounding the New Orleans Saints, which led to an indefinite suspension for defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and a one year ban for head coach Sean Payton, is a sad reality in a grueling, paranoid, secretive, alpha-male sport: There are skeletons in the NFL’s closet and they busted the lock.

Around The Town With Lou: May 1, 2012

Editors note: Lou Sanders, who has his journalism degree from NYU, and his wife Grace, founded The Mineola American in 1952, giving the village its first successful newspaper. Lou and Grace have lived in Mineola for 58 years, and his popular column is a signature feature of this paper.

Mineola is the home of William Donohue, the head of the Catholic League. He is a big, friendly Irishman, but if he feels that the rights of the church are under attack, he turns into a fierce opponent.

Editorial: The “Wonderful” Wonderlic

Right around this time every year, burgeoning college football players are setting up interviews, attending charity functions, performing at the NFL Scouting Combine and showcasing why they should be considered the next big thing until the NFL Draft. There are agencies out there that prepare, coach and mentor them for the exposure, the limelight and the glamour.

But there’s one thing that takes players back to their senior year of high school, an essential SAT for draft-eligible football players—the Wonderlic test.

From the desk of NY State Senator Jack Martins: April 24, 2012

Political Tea Leaves

Each day, including weekends, I receive emails from the Senate Communications Office that contain news stories from media outlets around the state. The emails cover just about everything that would be of interest to state senators and we’re asked to review them to keep abreast of developing issues. I actually kind of enjoy reading most of them. It’s like having all the key issues conveniently delivered every morning and it makes my job that much easier.

Most news “trends” come from unplanned events or circumstances. For example, a hurricane will naturally trigger stories for several days on emergency preparedness or our lack of it.  But I’ve been in politics long enough to read other stories and decipher that something’s happening behind the scenes, a story behind the story. These seemingly innocuous items are gently spun into the news stream to slowly start beating the drum of support for some upcoming issue or agenda.  

From the desk of NY State Senator Jack Martins: April 17, 2012

Playing It Again

New Yorkers said, “Play it again, Sam,” and we did. For the second consecutive year, your state government produced an on-time budget that puts the breaks on state spending and does not increase taxes or fees. You heard that correctly: holds spending in check with no new taxes or fees.    

We had been working very hard, noses to the grindstone, but frankly, I thought there’d surely be some last-minute hitch that would send us back to the drawing board. It’s always difficult reaching consensus in a state as large and diverse as ours. Thankfully, nothing so difficult materialized and we moved forward with not only an on-time budget, but a responsible one as well. However, before I highlight it, I’d like to share why this is so significant.

Around the Town with Lou: April 17, 2012

Editor’s note: Lou Sanders, who has his degree in journalism from NYU, and his wife Grace, founded the Mineola American in 1952, giving the village its first successful newspaper. Lou and Grace have lived in Mineola for 58 years, and his popular column is a signature feature of the paper.