Covering local government - there's always a surprise lurking

READING CENTER, Town of Reading, New York, USA - What was supposed to be a routine, go-to-meeting, take-notes-at-meeting, write-story-of-meeting evening turned into a major imbroglio that sent me to the law books, put me in contact with a lawyer specializing in open meetings and forced me to turn up the heat on some local politicians to get some answers.

And those politicians? They don't like heat very much.

Actually, not at all.

Chairman of the board

I can't report too much about it in this space right now. I filed a story, photo and video with a local newspaper (as their on-the-spot correspondent). But the story is basically that a long-planned presentation got canceled, precisely at the moment it was supposed to start.

Not very polite to the presenters, some of whom had driven some distances to attend and hear about the dangers of storing propane in salt caverns. Politics involved? Hoo-boy, yes.

When the presentation was canceled by the planning board, many of the attendees opted to head off to a Brewfest where money was being raised for their cause - keeping the propane storage project from being built.

The Brewfest was certainly better than going home and crying in a beer, for sure.

I retreated home to start the grinding process of contacting people for the story. But while I missed out on the Brewfest, I had Dr. Reisling to keep me company.

Tuesday, I will post the story, video and photos here, along with some commentary about how I put the package together.

The one-hour rule, pared down to fit a crazy summer schedule

WATKINS GLEN, New York, USA - When things get too complicated (too many things to do, seemingly not enough time), I revert to what I call the one-hour rule.

For one hour, I focus entirely on whatever task/issue/job I choose. And during that time, no checking emails, (or Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin). No going outside to check on the status of the slowly growing tomato plants. No endless trips to the teapot for just a little more beverage.

It is amazing what can be accomplished in a focused hour.

But that rule does take, well, an hour to implement and so today, an experiment is underway: do the same thing, but in half-hour chunks.

That leaves me approximately 22 minutes to finish this blog. That's an endless vista, almost.

On the writing front, here in upstate New York, I have been successful in publishing a dozen pieces in two local newspapers, the Elmira Star Gazette and the Watkins Glen Review and Express. Neither would be confused with the New York Times, but then, the vast majority of people in this town do not read the NY Times.

But they do read these local papers. And they read them closely.

Other good writing news: a national magazine - Dog Fancy - has taken a piece from me about our Mexican foster dog Mia, currently living with our amiga Laura outside Guadalajara, Mexico.

Even my half-written novel (The Talking Mime) is on the to-do list, with an August finish date, a half-hour at a time.

And one new book (long in planning) has crept into a priority position: 18 Hours to Madrid.

But that's a topic for another column.

I only have 15 minutes left, and I need to throw a few graphics in this piece.

The half-hour rule, rules.

Climbing back in the saddle, the writing saddle that is

WATKINS GLEN, New York, USA - Within two weeks of landing here in the reaches of upstate NY, it seemed like a good idea to find out if any local media would be interested in using me to write stories, take photos, or shoot video.

Seemed like a good idea.

After a few fits and starts, I have now completed four assignments for two different newspapers and with some local controversies flaring up (a major one surrounding natural gas, so pardon the flare pun), it's likely others may follow.

Here's two of the stories:
DEC says EIS is inadequate
Emergency plans? Not yet

The pay is extraordinary. As in extraordinarily low, compared to California rates. But as a way to get to know the communities here better, you can't have more entree than to show up with a reporter's notebook in hand and a camera.

Shockingly high water

And it's fun to go chasing around with the camera.

Today, as a major flood watch looms over the entire Central New York area, I went out and shot a few photos at a local marina, where Seneca Lake water levels are already reaching historic highs. For unexplained reasons, the people in charge of the lake level aren't letting much water out...

With 2 inches of rain predicted for this afternoon, comparison shots tomorrow morning of the ones taken today are in order.

In big waves, the gasoline pumps are swamped

Mark Singer talks about Donald Trump - fabulous...

Column writers wrap it, offer what columns they should have done

SACRAMENTO, Calif., USA - The columnistas of the column-writing class at CSU, Sacramento turned in collections of their work Monday, which included a section on columns they wish they had written, but didn't.

Some of those column titles included:

Insight into the life of The Hornet 
The Hornet needs more buzz
Car Flirting: Advice for the bored commuter
Remembering my grandmother's cooking
Lefties dominating a right-hand world
Ed has the munchies
How I got away with doing every column last minute
Miracles: Evidence of the supernatural
Watch out! Black man running

Over the course of the semester, each writer put together 14 columns of 650 words each, due Tuesday mornings by 8 a.m.

The class also had a string of guest speakers from off campus, including Marcos Breton, Jon Ortiz, Dan Weintraub, Claudia Buck, Bob Shallit and Rachel Leibrock.