The City of Troy, New York, "Where Henry Hudson Turned Around."

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

CLUB 21

Whazzzup in the Twenty-First:

BUHRMASTER AND VASQUEZ IN COURT

From The Times Union:


21st Congressional candidate Republican Jim Buhrmaster’s legal challenge of opponent Steven Vasquez’s petitions was adjourned in state Supreme Court in Albany until Wednesday morning. The two sides met with Justice Roger McDonough in chambers this morning and agreed to the adjournment.

Buhrmaster’s spokesman Josh Hills said Vasquez’s attorney and spokesman, Warren Redlich, needed time to gather witnesses in the case. Redlich, however, said it’s up to Buhrmaster to prove his case, and that Vasquez’s side might not call any witnesses.

Redlich said after reviewing the original petition, he’s confident that Vasquez can’t be knocked off the Sept. 9 primary ballot. He said 106 signatures are likely valid, which is about 40 more than Vasquez needs to stay in the race.



STECK:


Albany County Clerk Thomas Clingan is the latest elected official to endorse Phil Steck in the race to succeed retiring Congressman Mike McNulty. First elected to the county-wide post in 1988, Clingan is a popular elected official in Albany County, which is expected to represent over 55% of the 7 county vote in the September 9 Democratic Primary.


Steck also went after the oil speculators:


Democratic congressional candidate Phil Steck said today that Congress should reform the Commodities Future Trading Commission (CFTC) before departing for the summer. He said that action is needed immediately because a great number of financial news reports continue to suggest that the price of oil will reach $200 by the end of the year. The price of oil was in the $20 range when George Bush took office in 2000.

“Speculation on the energy futures market is like the Wild West. The average consumer doesn’t really understand exactly how the market works, and speculators are raking in huge profits reminiscent of the heyday of Enron,” said Steck. “Oil companies and their lobbyists are writing our energy laws and have stifled reform on this issue in Washington .”

A number of economists have said that this energy speculation continues to drive up the price of oil, which is having a devastating effect on American consumers. They believe that speculation alone is to blame for $20-$60 additional in price per barrel.


SHAHINFAR ON THE MIDDLE EAST:


Darius Shahinfar, Democratic candidate for New York's 21st Congressional District, today issued the following statement on the Bush administration's recent Middle East policy shifts of a "time horizon" troop withdrawal in Iraq and tentative steps to restore diplomatic relations in Iran:

"After years of intransigence, the Bush administration has finally begun to follow the advice of the Democratic Party and do what is necessary to bring greater stability to the Middle East.

"The Democratic Party, Senator Obama and I have been calling for action on troop withdrawals in Iraq and opening high level diplomatic talks with Iran for months. These common sense solutions to stabilizing the Middle East, lowering gas prices here at home, and bringing an end to this reckless war will help renew America's promise to its citizens and to the world."


BROOKS HITS THE AIRWAVES:


Democratic Congressional Candidate Tracey Brooks tonight launched her television ad campaign delivering a message of standing up to the Republicans in Congress and making government accountable to people again.

"I am not like the other candidates in the race," said Brooks. "I have a different kind of hands-on experience working in our communities at the Schenectady Family Health Center, in the Community Services Corps, as a Girl Scout leader and basketball coach, and working with our families to help solve the very real and growing problems they're facing."

Brooks continued: "That's why I'm running for Congress – to help solve these problems, to take on the Republicans and special interests in Washington, and to make government accountable to the people once again. I have focused my campaign on the issues important to working families like providing affordable health care for all, standing up for a woman's right to choose, ending the war in Iraq and reinvesting that more than $12 billion a month here at home, and addressing those skyrocketing gas prices."


Finally, The Sanctuary for Independent Media is offering a free summer camp this week. Too bad it's already Wednesday:


For the week of July 28 through August 1, youths in North Troy
will get a chance to combine the things they love into a learning
experience geared toward multi-media communication skills they need.
Weekday mornings between 9 and noon, kids will gather at AME Zion
Church (103rd Street at 5th Avenue in Lansingburgh) to work with
poets, dancers, bike mechanics and chefs as the raw material for
their experiments with video making and computer animation. The
Sanctuary Summer Media Camp is free for the 25 young people who pre-
registered, as are the breakfasts and lunches kids get every day.

"This is the first year we've done this--the response has been
incredible," said spokesperson Steve Pierce. "Everyone involved is a
volunteer and thrilled to participate. If we can get the funding in
place, we'll offer an expanded program next year."

Activities include:

MONDAY Poetry workshop, video scavenger hunt
TUESDAY Dance workshop, video production
WEDNESDAY Bike workshop, computer animation
THURSDAY Audio for video production
FRIDAY Food sculpture, final presentation

The camp is being organized by the non-profit Media Alliance, which
operates The Sanctuary for Independent Media in North Troy
(www.mediasanctuary.org). Co-sponsors include AME Zion Church, the
Troy NAACP, 518 Positive Reinforcement, Troy Bike Rescue, Holy
Serenity Church of God in Christ, the Honest Weight Food Coop and
made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts and
hundreds of individual contributors. Food is provided by the
Nutrition Consortium of NY State Summer Food Service program of the
NYS Department of Health through the Rensselaer County Unified Family
Service--Department for Youth.


No word yet if Commissioner of Public Works, Bob Mirch, has phoned Homeland Security.

We also tracked down Brian Premo's website. We were using Yahoo and couldn't find the site. Then we Googled Premo. Don't tell anyone.

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