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Web changes reflect growing reader use

Posted by editorial | 10/03/08

Visitors to the Spotlight Newspapers Web site may have noticed that some changes have taken place recently.
In an effort to produce an online community that promotes interaction and discussion of the local news we report, we’ve added a login feature for posting comments to our stories. This non-invasive login simply asks that you submit a name and valid e-mail address to post comments to our stories. We at Spotlight Newspapers feel that this quick login procedure will add a level of accountability that wasn’t present in our previous comment system.
The new comment system has some other benefits as well. Readers can now not only post to particular stories, but also reply to particular comments other readers have made...

CATEGORY: General Society

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Graffiti law won’t make a mark

Posted by editorial | 10/03/08

Graffiti law won’t make any mark
In September, hot on the heels of legislating what kinds of fats its citizens could ingest, Albany County officials decided to regulate the sale of certain paint and art items in order to curtail vandalism, most notably graffiti.
The law, which passed unanimously in the Legislature, calls on merchants who sell spray paint, broad-tipped markers and etching acid, to require customers to present identification proving to the clerk that they are 18 years of age or older.
As was noted in Spotlight Newspapers in the Sept. 3 editions of our Albany County papers, for some stores, implementation of the law meant nothing, as the stores already had policies in place to monitor the sale of these items...

CATEGORY: General Society

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More rails, more trails

Posted by editorial | 10/03/08

It’s slow; time-consuming; strenuous for some, exhausting for others; frustratingly inefficient, if you’re inclined to think about it in those terms; and was outdated as a form of transportation the moment man laid eyes on a camel.
It’s walking, and we should be doing a whole lot more of it. For our health, for the environment and for the towns and cities we live in, we should be putting one foot in front of the other a little more often.
Most of the municipalities in our coverage area seem to think so, as well. Albany, Saratoga and Schenectady counties all have initiatives to make communities a little more pedestrian-friendly, and have started creating countywide pathway programs and inter-county pathway exchanges...

CATEGORY: General Society

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Lighten up, Albany County

Posted by editorial | 08/14/08

Albany County is regulating baked goods.
Starting next year, all fried foods served in restaurants and other food service establishments in Albany County must be cooked in oils that are free of trans-fats. Six months later, the ban will extend to desserts and all baked goods.
The details of the phase-out program came a year after the County Legislature unanimously passed a resolution banning trans-fat and called on the county health commissioner and Board of Health to devise a plan.
This will not affect the flavor of the food, supporters say, but for some reason, we at Spotlight Newspapers are left with a bad taste in our mouths...

CATEGORY: General Society

TAGS: trans fats, Albany, Spotlight

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Power to the people

Posted by editorial | 08/08/08

Regardless of your motivation, it’s time to start living a little “greener.”
Whether it’s because of the environment, because of your wallet, or both, the time has come to embrace the movement to use less energy and be more parsimonious with our resources for one simple reason: There is no sense in not doing so.
Say the term “green living” around some people and they’ll turn various other colors with disgust. That’s fine. To some extent, the green movement has been co-opted by those both for and against for political manipulation. But to adhere to the principles of the energy conscious is a win for those on either side.
Energy is money...

CATEGORY: General Society

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Public displays of opinion

Posted by editorial | 07/25/08

We ask a lot from our elected officials, more so than from ourselves, really.
We ask that they be flawless in their character; that they be sound in their judgment; and that they be held accountable when they make mistakes.
And while we should — they command more power over our lives than we like to think — we must also ask ourselves to elevate our own standards for accountability in dealing with local government.
Recently, Spotlight Newspapers has had a slew of anonymous tipsters, unnamed sources and those wishing to have their identities withheld. When we have used these sources in print — and it has been sparingly and with much deliberation — we have done so for the protection of the individual...

CATEGORY: General Society

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Middling school

Posted by editorial | 07/18/08

Let’s get one thing straight: If your job responsibilities change, but your salary, benefits and work hours are, by all accounts, the same, you have not been demoted.
On Monday, the Guilderland Board of Education decided not to overturn Superintendent John McGuire’s decision to transfer high school social studies teachers Matt Nelligan and Ann Marie McManus to Farnsworth Middle School in a 7-to-2 vote.
Nelligan and McManus, whose department was the subject of some arcane (and apparently very limited in scope, as no other department took part) “cultural climate inquiry,” are accused of creating a “locker-room mentality” and a “boy’s club” within their department...

CATEGORY: General Society

TAGS: Guilderland, schools, Nelligan, McManus, McGuire, Weisz, Farnsworth

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