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New York hunters harvested almost 10 percent fewer deer in latest hunting season
ALBANY — Hunters harvested an estimated nearly 210,000 deer in the 2023-24 hunting season, down almost 10 percent from just under 232,000 deer in the 2022-23 season, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) recently reported. The 2023-24 deer harvest included more than twice as many older bucks (bucks two-and-a-half years old or […]
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ALBANY — Hunters harvested an estimated nearly 210,000 deer in the 2023-24 hunting season, down almost 10 percent from just under 232,000 deer in the 2022-23 season, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) recently reported.
The 2023-24 deer harvest included more than twice as many older bucks (bucks two-and-a-half years old or older) than were harvested in the early 1990s, and nearly five times as many than were harvested in 1969 when DEC first began monitoring the age structure of New York’s deer herd.
“Nearly 70 percent of the bucks harvested by hunters during the 2023-24 deer hunting seasons were two years or older,” DEC Interim Commissioner Sean Mahar said in the report. “This demonstrates the continued effectiveness of DEC’s Let Young Bucks Go and Watch Them Grow campaign, and the willingness of hunters to voluntarily pass up opportunities at young bucks to improve their future opportunities to harvest older bucks.”
The 2023-24 estimated deer harvest included an estimated 112,224 antlered bucks (adult males) and an estimated 97,557 antlerless deer (adult females and fawns of either sex). Statewide, this represents a nearly 4 percent dip in the antlered-buck harvest and almost 16 percent fall in the antlerless-deer harvest from last season, per the DEC.
“The decrease in antlerless deer harvest, which is approximately 15 percent lower than the five-year average, is concerning because DEC manages deer populations through actions that encourage harvest of antlerless deer,” the department said in its report. “Harvesting antlerless deer helps ensure deer populations remain in balance with available habitat and do not exceed levels of public acceptance that can lead to increased crop damage, deer-vehicle collisions, and other potentially negative deer-related impacts. Harvesting antlerless deer also helps ensure deer are able meet their nutritional demands for antler development, fawn recruitment, and body growth.”
The DEC said it is looking at various regulatory and non-regulatory alternatives to increase harvest of antlerless deer during future hunting seasons and encourages all deer hunters in the designated wildlife management areas to harvest at least one antlerless deer during the upcoming 2024-25 deer hunting season.
DEC’s 2023-24 Deer Harvest Summary report provides tables, figures, and maps detailing the deer harvest around the state and is available at: https://dec.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2024-05/2023deerrpt.pdf
MVHS CEO addresses Wynn Hospital concerns
UTICA — The Wynn Hospital has been making news — not all of it good — since it was just an idea, and not much has changed since the hospital opened its doors last October. Recently, MVHS made a series of announcements that once again sparked public interest and criticism in some cases. On May
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UTICA — The Wynn Hospital has been making news — not all of it good — since it was just an idea, and not much has changed since the hospital opened its doors last October.
Recently, MVHS made a series of announcements that once again sparked public interest and criticism in some cases.
On May 8, the health system announced a temporary pause in open-heart surgeries at Wynn Hospital amid concerns expressed by the New York State Department of Health.
MVHS then announced on June 5 that its Adult Day Health Care Program would close, effective June 7. On the heels of that, it announced its Senior Network Health plan would transition to another provider.
MVHS President/CEO Darlene Stromstad recently spoke with The Central New York Business Journal about all these announcements and more.
Talking about the Adult Day Health Care Program first, Stromstad said the decision to close the program was a business evaluation, based on declining interest in the program as well as ongoing staffing issues.
“We had a fairly strong program for many years pre-pandemic,” she says. That changed after the program was shuttered for several years during the height of the pandemic.
“We reopened it, but the volumes never came back, and we were never able to find the volume of staff we needed,” Stromstad says. It wasn’t feasible to keep the program going with such a low volume of participation, she adds. “We felt it was a decision we need to make.”
MVHS worked with participants to help them find new programs, and was able to move staff from that program to other areas.
The transfer of Senior Network Health, a managed long-term care plan (MLTC) has been in the works for several years and was the result of provisions enacted in the 2023-2024 state budget that requires all MLTCs to have a Medicare Advantage Dual Eligible Special Needs Plan (D-SNP) with three or more stars,
As a small organization, MVHS’s Senior Network Health didn’t meet the criteria and was faced with the choice of either folding the program or finding a qualifying organization that could take it over, Stromstad explains.
“This is simply the state requiring that organizations our size do not continue to offer programs like this,” she says.
While other MLTCs in the same position decided to close up shop, Stromstad says MVHS didn’t want to do that and found a partner in VNS Health, which operates the largest MLTC in the state.
The transition from MVHS to VNS Health, which was supposed to happen at the end of 2023 but got held up by the state, has gone smoothly, with employees keeping their positions with the new organization and as little disruption to clients as possible, Stromstad notes.
As for open-heart surgeries and the cardiac program at Wynn Hospital, Stromstad wants to make one thing clear.
“The state did not shut down our cardiac surgery program,” she says. “The decision was ours to shut down the program.”
It wasn’t an easy choice, especially when MVHS — as are many other health-care organizations — is facing financial challenges now that federal pandemic aid has dried up, but “we recognized we had issues,” Stromstad says.
“We recognized this was going to be a reputational blow,” she says, as well as a financial one.
MVHS was issued an immediate jeopardy notification regarding the cardiac program. According to Cadence Acquaviva, a public information officer with the state Department of Health, immediate jeopardy is a term used by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to describe a situation in which a provider’s noncompliance with one or more requirements of participation has caused or is likely to cause serious injury, harm, impairment, or death to a resident or patent.
Once it receives an immediate jeopardy notification, a health-care provider is required to submit an acceptable plan to remove the immediate jeopardy, Acquaviva said in an email. The immediate jeopardy is removed when surveyors verify the approved plan has been fully implemented.
Prior to halting the program, MVHS had performed 299 open-heart surgeries in 2023 and wanted to improve the program, Stromstad says. It had two surgeons heading up the program, and MVHS was considering adding a third to round things out — as a surgeon must be available 24/7 for surgeries to take place.
Health care is a team sport, she says, and personality conflicts can be an issue. “We had some issues, and we’re working those out.”
In the meantime, while declining to go into detail, Stromstad confirms that MVHS now has just one cardiac surgeon, and that wasn’t enough to safely continue the program.
MVHS could have brought in locum doctors — essentially outside travel physicians —but didn’t want to put the program in the hands of people it didn’t know, she says.
Since halting the open-heart surgery program, MVHS is working with an outside organization to conduct a complete comprehensive review of the program and has a board committee overseeing the process.
The health system is actively working on a permanent solution that would involve adding cardiac surgeons to its roster. In the meantime, three structural heart surgical procedures have resumed at Wynn Hospital. MVHS expects the review to wrap up by the end of this month, with it taking several more months before the program is completely restarted.
Finally, going forward, Stromstad says the open-heart surgery program will have an external review every two years, “so I have outside eyes.”
For those opposed to the hospital, including a group called No Hospital Downtown, the recent news has sparked new criticism of Wynn Hospital.
“They have amped up their vitriol,” Stromstad notes. “It feels like we are in a constant war. It’s very demoralizing on our staff.”
While acknowledging the move to the Wynn has not gone as smoothly as hospital officials had hoped, Stromstad states, “I’m very proud of the work this organization is doing.”
In its early days, Wynn struggled with long emergency room wait times which kept both patients and ambulances waiting. Whether patients arrive on their own or are brought by ambulance, Stromstad says wait times are consistently dropping. These days, the average time it takes to complete the hand off from ambulance to emergency department — when the ambulance is free to return to service — averages 11 minutes, she says. At the same time, the volume of ambulance drop offs has increased from a out 65 a day to between 80 and 85 a day now. For patients that arrive on their own, the goal is a turnaround time of less than two hours.
“We’re making progress on all of those areas,” Stromstad says. And MVHS is making that headway despite being short of both staff and funds, she adds.
“MVHS and the bulk of hospitals in Central New York are all suffering post-pandemic financially,” she says. The cost of care has increased year-over-year by 17 percent, while reimbursement for that care has only increased 7 percent.
From fuel to food to medications, costs have gone up across the board, Stromstad notes. At the same time, government funding to help hospitals through the pandemic exhausted in early 2023. In 2022, the most recent year for which a Form 990 is available, MVHS had revenue of $104,558,940. Of that, $11,924,610 came from program revenue with $92,537,032 coming from other contributions and grants.
The health system’s expenses have escalated. Between the cost of moving, maintaining its two former hospitals until they are redeveloped, traveling nurse costs, and more, 2023 was “a really expensive year,” Stromstad says.
Staff remains an issue both from a cost perspective and from a staffing-level perspective. There was an increase in retirements during the pandemic, while other health-care professionals left positions at the health system to become traveling providers.
“We have about 220 travelers in our organization,” Stromstad says. She understands the popularity of being a traveler. “They make more money.”
Travelers typically work anywhere from 13 to 26 weeks at a facility where they are not only paid for their services, but also their housing and food. The role became popular during the pandemic especially because it allowed health-care professionals to use their skills without having to get involved in politics or other issues at the facility.
But for a health system, travelers are a necessary but expensive reality when it comes to filling vacant roles.
“Our traveler budget was over a million dollars a week over budget,” in 2023, Stromstad says.
MVHS is not the only health-care organization struggling since the pandemic, says Gary Fitzgerald, president and CEO of Iroquois Healthcare Association (IHA). Based in Clifton Park, IHA is a nonprofit regional health-care trade organization that represents more than 50 hospitals and health systems across 32 counties in upstate New York.
“The cost of labor is continuing to go up,” he says. “That has impacted hospitals financially.” Labor costs make up about 65-70 percent of total expenses, he notes.
According to IHA’s annual financial survey report released in January, vacancy rates at health-care facilities have increased 135 percent since 2019. The jobs with the highest vacancy rates are operating-room technicians at 28.4 percent, licensed practical nurses at 27.8 percent, and registered nurses at 27.4 percent.
Across all job titles, the average vacancy rate is about 20 percent, Fitzgerald says. IHA is actively working to reach young people at high schools, BOCES, and community colleges to talk to them about careers in health care, but it will take a while to generate the workforce needed, he says.
MVHS has its own efforts underway to find qualified, interested employees.
“MVHS continues to work to recruit registered nurses into the health system,” Senior VP, Chief Human Resources Officer Allison M. Wollen said in a statement sent to The Business Journal. “Sign on/retention bonuses are being offered to RNs, and wages have been adjusted to ensure they are market competitive.”
It’s been a challenge to convert traveling staff into full-time staff, she noted. “We continue to try and recruit travelers to become permanent staff, but the rich tax incentives, stipends, and ability to earn inflated wages will continue to create recruitment challenges that all hospitals are currently facing.”
As the state focuses on economic development with news like Micron Technologies coming to Clay, Fitzgerald says there needs to also be more public investment in health care.
“You can’t do economic development without a good health-care system,” he says.
Going forward, MVHS is focused on becoming an efficient machine without sacrificing any quality of care, Stromstad says.
MVHS is working with Guidehouse, a global consulting firm that works with both the public and private sectors. It consults with health-care providers to help them become more agile and financially resilient, according to its website.
Work started in January on a one-year project with Guidehouse to define efficiencies across areas including revenue growth and how departments are run, Stromstad says. It was important to tackle the project early in the life of Wynn Hospital before bad habits set in, she adds.
“It’s a real intensive project,” she notes. “We are trying very hard to just be an open book.”
Excellus parent, Capital region health insurer plan affiliation
It’s pending regulatory approval ROCHESTER — The Lifetime Healthcare Companies isn’t sure how long the review process will take, but it has plans to form an affiliation with a health-insurance carrier in the Capital Region. The Lifetime Healthcare Companies — the Rochester–based parent company of Excellus BlueCross BlueShield and Univera Healthcare — and
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ROCHESTER — The Lifetime Healthcare Companies isn’t sure how long the review process will take, but it has plans to form an affiliation with a health-insurance carrier in the Capital Region.
The Lifetime Healthcare Companies — the Rochester–based parent company of Excellus BlueCross BlueShield and Univera Healthcare — and CDPHP of Albany on May 22 announced plans to form an affiliation.
A spokesman for Lifetime tells CNYBJ that the firm’s officials “do not know how long it will take the regulatory agencies to review the proposal.” The Lifetime Healthcare Companies and CDPHP are two of New York’s larger health-insurance carriers.
Under the agreement, the health insurers say they will maintain their local brands and identities while “gaining economies of scale” through shared technologies, systems, processes, and resources as part of “one corporate family.”
The Lifetime Healthcare Companies and CDPHP have announced their intent to affiliate with the appropriate government agencies.
If state and federal regulators approve the affiliation, the Lifetime Healthcare Companies would become the parent company of CDPHP, Excellus, and Univera Healthcare.
Excellus is Central New York’s largest health insurer. The Lifetime Healthcare Companies employs about 4,500 New Yorkers and serves 1.5 million members in the 39 counties of upstate New York.
Established in 1984, CDPHP is a physician-founded health plan that offers health insurance throughout New York. CDPHP covers an area with that includes Madison, Oneida, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence, Broome, Chenango, and Tioga counties.
CDPHP currently employs 1,400 people in the Capital Region and beyond and serves 400,000 members in 36 counties.
“As we celebrate 40 years of CDPHP delivering high-quality, affordable health care —and as I mark 16 years of leading this great organization — it gives me tremendous pride to announce our plans to partner with The Lifetime Healthcare Companies,” Dr. John Bennett, president and CEO of CDPHP, said in the announcement. “It was important for us to partner with a not-for-profit health plan that shares in our mission of driving better health outcomes, increasing member satisfaction, and controlling the rising cost of care in the combined communities we serve.”
The boards of directors of CDPHP and The Lifetime Healthcare Companies unanimously approved the affiliation.
“As a physician founded and guided health plan, the CDPHP board of directors knew it was important that we find a health plan that puts patient care first. I am pleased to say that we have found a likeminded partner with The Lifetime Healthcare Companies,” Dr. Michael DeVito, chair of the CDPHP board of directors, said in the announcement. “We look forward to working alongside The Lifetime Healthcare Companies as we continue our mission of providing access to high quality, high satisfaction care in the communities we serve.”
“We’re confident that The Lifetime Healthcare Companies and CDPHP will accomplish even more together with this affiliation,” Faheem Masood, chair of The Lifetime Healthcare Companies boards of directors, added. “The health insurers are likeminded in mission, and their shared commitment to our communities will help make health care better for us all.”
Working together, Excellus, CDPHP, and Univera Healthcare will combine resources; leverage best practices; and develop “new and innovative ways to improve the quality, affordability, and experience of care” for millions of New Yorkers, per the joint announcement.
“I’m excited to partner with CDPHP to work together on quality, affordability, and access to health care in our respective regions,” Jim Reed, president and CEO of the Lifetime Healthcare Companies, said in the announcement. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for the reputation CDPHP has built in the Capital Region and the work of the health plan. It just makes sense to partner with such a trusted, mission-driven not-for-profit whose culture aligns so closely to ours.”
UHS opens new Wilson Main Tower
JOHNSON CITY — UHS opened its new Wilson Main Tower on June 26, wrapping up years of work on the UHS Wilson Medical Campus where the tower will serve as the new “front door” of the facility. With its location facing Main Street, the Wilson Main Tower streamlines access for all individuals arriving at the
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JOHNSON CITY — UHS opened its new Wilson Main Tower on June 26, wrapping up years of work on the UHS Wilson Medical Campus where the tower will serve as the new “front door” of the facility.
With its location facing Main Street, the Wilson Main Tower streamlines access for all individuals arriving at the medical center including those seeking emergency care. Accessible via Harrison Street, the tower entrance will serve as the primary point of entry for patients and visitors and offers drop-off, pick-up, and valet services. Valet parking is available Monday to Friday from 6 a.m.-6 p.m.
The new emergency department at the Wilson Main Tower can be accessed via Baldwin Street with parking also accessed on the same street. The new emergency department entrance is through the doorway on the first floor of the parking lot. Emergency-department valet parking is also available Monday to Friday from 6 a.m.-6 p.m.
The new front-door design provides a centralized point of entry but also prioritizes patient convenience, making it easier for them to locate their appointments and navigate the campus. UHS ambassadors are on hand to guide patients and visitors to their destination.
The six-story, 183,000-square-foot Wilson Main Tower was the first expansion of the UHS Wilson Medical Center campus in more than 30 years. The $175 million project includes a new trauma center and emergency department, MRI suite, rooftop helipad, surgical support area, and four inpatient units featuring 120 private patient rooms.
Founded in 1981, United Health Services, Inc. (UHS) serves Greater Binghamton and surrounding counties with medical, surgical, rehabilitative, and long-term care services at more than 60 locations including hospitals, primary and specialty centers, retail pharmacy services, senior living, and home care.
Cayuga County cancer patients can now seek treatment at Auburn Community Hospital
AUBURN, N.Y. — Cancer patients in Cayuga County can now travel to Auburn instead of either Syracuse or Rochester for specialized care. Auburn Community Hospital (ACH), in partnership with the Upstate Cancer Center in Syracuse, on June 12 formally opened a $15 million cancer center in Auburn. The 12,000-square-foot treatment facility is called the Upstate
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AUBURN, N.Y. — Cancer patients in Cayuga County can now travel to Auburn instead of either Syracuse or Rochester for specialized care.
Auburn Community Hospital (ACH), in partnership with the Upstate Cancer Center in Syracuse, on June 12 formally opened a $15 million cancer center in Auburn.
The 12,000-square-foot treatment facility is called the Upstate Cancer Center at Auburn Community Hospital, which is located at the intersection of Lansing and North streets.
The center includes radiation technology, software, and patient setup facilities. Auburn Community Hospital describes it as a “beacon of hope for individuals requiring advanced treatment.”
“Inaugurating the cancer center underscores our commitment to delivering world-class healthcare to Auburn and Cayuga County,” Scott Berlucchi, president and CEO of Auburn Community Hospital, said in the hospital’s announcement.
Berlucchi also noted that Auburn Community Hospital has evolved from a 99-bed hospital to a “comprehensive rural integrated delivery system.”
“This is a great day for the Auburn Community,” Andrew Bodewes, partner and founder of Park Grove Realty, said in a separate announcement from the firm. “Park Grove Realty is honored to partner with Auburn Community Hospital to bring this important facility to greater Auburn. Congratulations to Auburn Hospital and Upstate for this incredible initiative.”
Park Grove Realty is a Rochester–based real-estate development and management company. Besides Park Grove Realty, Ithaca–based Holt Architects, which has an office in Syracuse, was also involved in the cancer center project, Park Grove said.
“Projects like this Cancer Center don’t happen without partnerships that are singularly focused on a goal. I want to personally thank Andrew Bodewes with Park Grove Developers … Andrew and his partners agreed to build and fund this $15 [million] project and ACH will lease it back from them. Without their vision and generosity this project would still be just a dream,” Berlucchi added in the Park Grove announcement.
The center features a linear accelerator treatment vault, exam rooms, infusion rooms, consultation spaces, and office space.
Others attending the formal-opening ceremony included Dr. Robert Corona, president of Upstate University Hospital; Dr. Thomas Vandermeer, director of the Upstate Cancer Center; Dr. Komal Akhtar, director of the Upstate Cancer Center at Auburn Community Hospital; New York State Senator Rachel May (D–Syracuse); and Auburn Mayor James Giannettino.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) secured $2 million in 2022 for Auburn Community Hospital to purchase essential medical equipment for the center’s cancer diagnostics and boost the expansion of the hospital as it broke ground on the new cancer center. ν
VIEWPOINT: Understanding the Complexities of Long-Term Care
If your business closed today and was gone tomorrow, would Central New York miss it? What would the impact be on our community? An article in the Harvard Business Review I recently read opened with a similar question. Loretto, as the fourth-largest health-care provider in the region, is deeply ingrained in the fabric of our
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If your business closed today and was gone tomorrow, would Central New York miss it? What would the impact be on our community?
An article in the Harvard Business Review I recently read opened with a similar question. Loretto, as the fourth-largest health-care provider in the region, is deeply ingrained in the fabric of our community. We employ 2,500 individuals who deliver care to about 10,000 people of all ages, income levels, and care needs in Onondaga and Cayuga counties. If we closed our doors overnight, the individuals who rely on us would feel the impact. However, the second question really gave me pause. In addition to providing jobs and care, Loretto also plays an integral role in the regional health-care continuum.
Chances are you, or someone you know has experienced lengthy wait times in our local hospitals. If you haven’t, chances are you have read about it. William Paolo, chief of emergency medicine at Upstate University Hospital, was recently quoted by Syracuse.com, saying the only way to reduce ER wait times is to increase the number of available beds upstairs. It’s simple math — if there are more people coming into the ER than beds available in the hospital, you will wait either in the waiting room or in a “boarding” area. While seemingly independent from long-term care, these waiting times are connected to our work at Loretto.
Over the past several years, we have taken risks to embrace and pursue our community-focused mission — to be a family of exceptional people who care for and about each other.
• When we experienced the COVID-19 pandemic, our swift actions, such as setting up a COVID facility and providing training for the National Guard, directly benefited the community by helping to decant patients from the hospitals.
• When there was a health-care worker shortage, our initiatives, such as providing wage increases, on-the-job education opportunities, and new work schedules, directly improved the health-care services in the community.
• When the needs of the short-term rehab patients in our community changed, our investment in our restorative care unit (RCU) directly addressed those needs and made room in local hospitals.
The long-term care industry has been challenged to get creative and innovate when it comes to care and funding. We have accepted that challenge — anticipating community needs, studying trends, and making meaningful changes. As a result, our facilities no longer resemble nursing homes from 10 or 15 years ago. Patients are younger and/or more complex, and they are coming from a greater distance. We recently had patients from Rochester complete rehab at one of our facilities. The restorative care unit (RCU) looks like a hospital floor, providing advanced wound care, treating patients with LVAD, and other highly complex care as a part of short-term rehab. As we continue to anticipate needs and observe trends, an effort to explore dialysis is underway to relieve our local hospitals. We continue to evaluate our on-the-job education and training programs, empowering employees to provide a new level of care — and earn more.
While the demands on long-term care facilities to innovate caring for our most vulnerable populations have become a critical part of our overall regional health-care network, it comes amid a funding crisis, explosive anticipated growth from Micron, and an increase in the aging population known as the “Silver Tsunami.” If community members are having to wait for health care now, how much more will they have to wait in the future? In CenterState CEO’s 2024 Economic Forecast for Central New York, Participants were asked to identify the biggest economic factors impacting Central New York businesses, one of which was “pressures on the health care delivery system as the population of the region increases.” I share that concern.
The outcomes of the most recently passed New York State budget continue to have significant financial impacts on our already strained nonprofit long-term care system. When you consider the limited rate increase that will not cover this year’s cost of living index, combined with the 10-percent cut to support of facilities and the CMI freeze — how we are paid for care — Loretto will experience a nearly $1.2 million loss in planned revenue in just one year. As the region’s leading provider of services for the Medicaid and underserved populations in Onondaga and Cayuga counties, as 75 percent of Loretto residents are supported by Medicaid, the impacts of this budget shortfall are long-reaching.
As a local leader in this industry, my aspirations are to continue innovating solutions, providing a high level of care to our patients, educating and empowering employees, and supporting hospitals. However, the reality is that this business of aging is still a business, and there is a limit to what Loretto and other long-term care facilities can do without financial support. Many have been forced to close their doors or sell to out-of-state systems due to financial limitations.
As I consider Loretto’s impact on our community, I look ahead with realistic optimism. Loretto’s leadership and employees are truly a family of exceptional people, and we have accomplished much together. However, stabilizing a business when funding opportunities are decreasing, and community needs are increasing is challenging. We must continue to take risks and embrace creativity and innovation to survive.
I am reminded of an observation made by John F. Kennedy: “The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word ‘crisis.’ One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity.” The opportunity is to deliver high-quality care in new ways. The danger is that our most vulnerable seniors will be left behind.
Kimberly Townsend, Ph.D. is president and CEO of Loretto and author of “Lifecircle Leadership” and “Lessons in Lifecircle Leadership.” For more information about Townsend, visit: DrKimberlyTownsend.com and LorettoCNY.org.
OPINION: Supreme Court fails to rein in deep-state coercion and censorship
First Amendment in Peril It is appalling that the Supreme Court failed to rein in the intelligence and law-enforcement agencies’ abuse of individual First Amendment rights in the Murthy v. Missouri case [with the decision announced on June 26]. The contorted logic that those in the federal government who abused their power with the worst
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It is appalling that the Supreme Court failed to rein in the intelligence and law-enforcement agencies’ abuse of individual First Amendment rights in the Murthy v. Missouri case [with the decision announced on June 26]. The contorted logic that those in the federal government who abused their power with the worst censorship operation in U.S. history should be protected under the guise that they did not voluntarily release enough details of their abuse for the plaintiffs to achieve standing, gives jet fuel to these agencies’ unchecked power to continue abusing the Constitution.
Under former President Donald Trump, resisters in these same departments and agencies refused to release materials that the president ordered released via declassification with dire consequences.
As it relates to the facts of this case, Trump, should he win the election, should order the release of all pertinent materials that enable will plaintiffs to incontrovertibly prove their censorship occurred, and if the agencies refuse, fire everyone involved. Additionally, the House of Representatives should subpoena all involved government parties and compel them to provide further documentation and testimony under oath. We agree with Justice Samuel Alito’s dissent which noted that the record had sufficient evidence to uphold the injunction, and that ‘The Court… shirks that duty and thus permits the successful campaign of coercion in this case to stand as an attractive model for future officials who want to control what the people say, hear, and think.’
The Supreme Court’s cowardice in the face of a direct assault by the federal government on First Amendment rights using Silicon Valley cutouts is a black mark on an institution that the left is seeking to destroy. We can only hope that when the case continues in the lower courts, the record can be further established as to be uncontestable.
Rick Manning is president of Americans for Limited Government. This article is drawn from a statement Manning issued on June 26 in response to the Supreme Court decision in the Murthy v. Missouri case. The justices, by a 6-3 majority, ruled that the plaintiffs had no standing to bring the case against the Biden Administration, alleging that its communications with social-media companies to remove certain posts about COVID-19 violated the First Amendment and amounted to censorship.
OPINION: A Big Issue No One is Talking About this Election Year
Though the pace won’t really pick up until the fall, federal election campaigns are well under way. And we’re hearing a lot about a welter of key issues like abortion, immigration, the ethics of the Supreme Court, wars in Europe and the Middle East, and the like. But at a time when candidates should be
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Though the pace won’t really pick up until the fall, federal election campaigns are well under way. And we’re hearing a lot about a welter of key issues like abortion, immigration, the ethics of the Supreme Court, wars in Europe and the Middle East, and the like. But at a time when candidates should be engaging the electorate on the country’s biggest challenges, here’s something they’re not talking about: the national debt.
We’ve been in uncharted territory on this front for years, and the issue is only growing more pressing. It was super-charged by the pandemic, and total public debt in early June stood at about $34.6 trillion, which puts the U.S. among the top countries with the highest debt-to-GDP ratios. Given that we’ve made it this far without a crisis, it’s possible this could go on for years. But it’s equally possible everything could come crashing down a year or two from now, regardless of who is president.
Even if we escape a crisis, it’s growing harder to ignore the toll that growing federal debt is taking on Americans and our economy. Its sheer size is raising questions among debt-holders — investors and other countries chief among them — about the U.S.’s long-term reliability. Spending to service the debt dampens economic growth by diverting billions of dollars from more productive uses. And many economists argue that we’ve already reached the point where the sheer size of the debt has held back Americans’ financial standing. “There’s a palpable sense of not having the same opportunities we had before,” prominent economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin said at a conference a few months ago. “I believe a lot of that is the headwinds provided by debt.”
The problem is not that no political leaders are talking about the debt — some are doing so. Yet even when they do, it’s not an especially productive discussion. Instead, for the most part, they lob partisan charges at each other — and then continue to press tax cuts or spending increases of all kinds and descriptions. Politicians like to say that economic growth spurred by their pet policies will save us. But if it’s done so, we have yet to see it. The government is still spending far more than it takes in, which is why we have this problem.
What we really haven’t seen are politicians who are willing to level with us and ask us to face the challenges like adults. A big part of the issue we’ll have to confront is entitlement reform, especially to Social Security and Medicare. These are political third rails, yet as Baby Boomers retire, federal spending has had to grow to keep up with them — made harder because the share of wages subject to the payroll tax has been declining even as wage growth in certain sectors of the economy has boomed. At the same time, a series of tax cuts dating back decades — under both Republican and Democratic presidents — have contributed substantially to the rise in debt relative to GDP.
What we need to do is no secret: We must spend less and tax more. No wonder politicians aren’t talking about that this election season. But like a lot of problems, the longer we wait to act, the more disruptive any solution will need to be. Waiting until we’re actually in a crisis seems like a bad idea.
So, if American politicians are reluctant to bring it up on the campaign trail, American voters will need to make sure they do by pressing them on the question at campaign events. And if they give you any answer that doesn’t include both efforts to rein in spending and to make sure that revenues rise to meet our needs, don’t accept it. You deserve a clear-eyed view of the problem, not partisan talking points.
Lee Hamilton, 93, is a senior advisor for the Indiana University (IU) Center on Representative Government, distinguished scholar at the IU Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies, and professor of practice at the IU O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Hamilton, a Democrat, was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years (1965-1999), represent
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday unveiled new renderings that give Syracuse residents their first glimpse of the new safety and access enhancements coming to the Inner Harbor and Northside as part of the Interstate 81 (I-81) viaduct-replacement project’s third contract. The six renderings depict improvements to North Clinton Street, new bridges along
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SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday unveiled new renderings that give Syracuse residents their first glimpse of the new safety and access enhancements coming to the Inner Harbor and Northside as part of the Interstate 81 (I-81) viaduct-replacement project’s third contract.
The six renderings depict improvements to North Clinton Street, new bridges along Bear, Court, and Spencer Streets, and pedestrian and cyclist enhancements that connect residents on the Northside to the Empire State Trail.
The renderings are available online at: https://www.governor.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2024-06/Syracuse_I-81_Viaduct_Northside_Inner_Harbor_renderings.pdf
The renderings were on display at a Northside/Inner Harbor open house on Thursday evening at OneGroup at 706 North Clinton St. in Syracuse.
Visuals show a new gateway to the city’s Northside and Inner Harbor, focusing on a reconstructed North Clinton Street that will include new pavement, sidewalks, a shared-use path and on-and-off ramps from future Business Loop 81, per Hochul’s office.
Renderings also include a preview of the three replacement bridges on Bear, Court, and Spencer Streets. These structures will be longer to fit over the expanded future Business Loop 81 and feature new sidewalks. Additionally, a shared-use path will be included on the Court and Spencer Street bridges.
Pedestrians and cyclists will have improved access to the Empire State Trail through a new shared-use path constructed north of West Bear Street. A view in one of the new renderings shows the existing shared-use path along the Empire State Trail, south of West Bear Street, reconstructed and with amenities that include a bike repair station, bike racks and seating.
The third contract of the I-81 project — under construction in the Inner Harbor and Northside — is an extension of the work already underway in the northern and southern interchanges of Interstates 81 and 481 and is supported by federal funding from the federal Infrastructure Law, Hochul’s office said.
Utica National Insurance Group’s first woman CEO ready to start position
NEW HARTFORD, N.Y. — Utica National Insurance Group is ready for its first female CEO Kristen H. Martin to take the reins on July 1 when Richard P. Creedon retires after 26 years with the company. Martin joined Utica National in 2001 as an examiner before several promotions including corporate secretary and executive VP in
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NEW HARTFORD, N.Y. — Utica National Insurance Group is ready for its first female CEO Kristen H. Martin to take the reins on July 1 when Richard P. Creedon retires after 26 years with the company.
Martin joined Utica National in 2001 as an examiner before several promotions including corporate secretary and executive VP in 2013, director of underwriting operations in 2014, and executive VP and chief operating officer in 2016. She most recently served as president and chief operating officer.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to lead an amazing team and work closely with the independent agents who represent our company toward one goal — to help our insureds protect what’s important to them,” Martin said in a news release. “At the same time, I’m excited about helping our company continue to grow, be successful, and contribute to the wellbeing of the communities where we live and work.”
Under her leadership, Martin said the Utica National Group Foundation will continue to be actively involved in the community supporting events like the Utica National Kids Run and Boilermaker 5K race in Utica and aiding nonprofit organizations through grants and volunteer efforts.
Martin holds a law degree from Albany Law School, a bachelor’s degree in economics and government from St. Lawerence University, and the Associate in Claims professional designation. She has been active in several community and academic organizations and was elected to the New York Insurance Association’s board of directors in 2020.
Creedon, who served as CEO and chairman of the board, will remain chairman of the board following his retirement.
The Utica National Insurance Group is a group of insurance companies providing personal and commercial insurance products and services sold through more than 2,500 independent insurance agents. Its principal company, Utica Mutual Insurance Company, was founded in 1914.
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