Russian Mafia in Our Back Yards?

Does the Carver Laraway-Boris Jordan-George McHugh Connection Mean We Now Have the Eurasian Mob on our Doorstep?

The Russian Mafia, known in Russia as Bratva, the “brotherhood”, has been around since the Tzar’s days, but up to about the 90s was fairly limited to muscling businessmen and in the protection/extortion racket, and black markets. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the so-called Russian mob was expanded to include ruthless criminals from areas like Chechnia, Ukraine, and other areas until it became more appropriate to call them the Eurasian mob.

The Eurasian mob has been involved in everything from Russian industry, banking and insurance, vice and corruption, to collaborating with other criminal groups like the drug cartels in Central and South America, and even financing and providing guns to the South Italian mafia, the Camorra.

Louis Freeh, former director of the FBI, said that the Russian mafia posed the greatest threat to U.S. national security in the mid-1990s. In August 2010, Alain Bauer, a French criminologist, said that it “is one of the best structured criminal organizations in Europe, with a quasi-military operation.” It’s only gotten worse.

One example is Vyacheslav “Yaponchik” Ivankov, who was sent to Brighton Beach (NY) in 1992, allegedly because he was killing too many people in Russia and also to take control of Russian organized crime in North America. Within a year, he built an international operation that included, but was not limited to, narcotics, money laundering, and prostitution and made ties with the American Mafia and Colombian drug cartels, eventually extending to Miami, Los Angeles, and Boston. Those who went against him were usually killed.

Question: If Ivankov was a well-known organized crime figure and undesirable in his own country, Russia, how did he manage to get into the United States??? Who paid whom off? Where was our national security organization at the time? Where is our national security, Homeland Security, the FBI, now?

On June 7, 2017, 33 Russian mafia affiliates and members of the Russian mob were arrested and charged by the FBI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and NYPD for extortion, racketeering, illegal gambling, firearm offenses, narcotics trafficking, wire fraud, credit card fraud, identity theft, fraud on casino slot machines using electronic hacking devices; based in Atlantic City and Philadelphia, murder-for-hire conspiracy and cigarette trafficking.

On 19 February 2018, 18 defendants, members of the Russian mob, were accused of laundering over $62 million through real estate, including with the help of Vladislav Reznik, former chairman of Rosgosstrakh; one of Russia’s largest insurance companies. The Russian mob is involved in everything from real estate to banking to aluminum refining companies in Kentucky. (See the article, “Russian organized crime operates just about everywhere” by G. W. Abersold Ph.D. – March 13, 2018). Have they now found a home in Coeymans, a guest of Carver Laraway, at the so-called Coeymans Industrial Park. Will Coeymans be renamed “Russia on the Hudson?

Even the Times of Israel published an article, “US targets ‘Thieves-in-Law,’ Russian mafia royalty” (23 December 2017) and writes, “Washington seems to be confirming that the threat posed by the fabled “Russian mafia” from the former Soviet republics is a more organized one than previously supposed.” Gee! Didn’t you know that?

Russian Mob in Your Back Yard!

Well, Guess What? The Russian mob may be right in your back yard, in the Coeymans Industrial Park, in the grey building with no visible sign identifying what’s going on inside, the very building that houses the Curaleaf marijuana growing and processing operation headed by none other than Russian businessman, Boris Alexei Jordan, who is working in partnership with Carver Laraway and his lackey George McHugh.

This is the Curaleaf facility in the Coeymans Industrial Park
No sign on the building. You’d never find it if you were looking for Curaleaf. We identified it by the many vents on the building and a tiny sign on a door mentioning “Curaleaf Security.” We later confirmed with an employee outside the building.

Boris Jordan likes to talk about how he almost single-handedly turned the Russian economy, including banking and industry, around in Russia. But the boy-wonder, Boris Alexei Jordan, has only a B.A. from New York University, not very impressive credentials for a veritable miracle worker. So how does a guy with only an undergrad degree get to Russia and just start reorganizing things? There’s got to be more, much more to this story than meets the eye. We think we know what it is, too.

Jordan thinks we all came down with the last shower, it seems. Does he and his pals Carver Laraway and George McHugh really think we believe he’d get anything done in Russia without the backing of the powerful Russian mafia and Putin, who himself is closely connected with the Russian mob and mob money? Does Jordan, who blatantly admits that “business is done differently in Russia than it is in the USA,” and that bribery is an accepted way of doing business there, think we’re all stupid?

The Russian Bear Loves Dollar$!

Our question is also this: If he didn’t have mob connections and didn’t work with the Russian mafia and Putin’s crew, how did he stay alive over there? The answer is easy: He worked with them. They had him in their pockets.

It’s no secret that the Eurasian mob is getting more sophisticated and has entered the banking, insurance industries, and even aluminum refining in Kentucky. Jordan himself admits that now that billionaire bucks have bought off the United States government and legislatures, that pot is a major growth industry and a huge market. Jordan has carved out a chunk of that market and want’s us to believe that he’s the genius behind it all. He’s the front man, maybe, but he’s no genius and it’s not Jordan who’s behind it all.

The FBI and other law enforcement agencies in the United States have been aware of this growing problem since at least the 1990’s if not the 1970s but have done remarkably little to slow down the mob’s growth in the United States or even to keep their kingpins out of the country. We really should be asking Why?

In a Connecting Heights (PBS) interview, the interview starts out with a bit of background:

Boris Jordan was a key figure in Russia’s economic transition to capitalism in the early ’90s, assisting in the launch of the Russian stock market and the privatization of state assets. Later appointed chief executive of Russia’s Gazprom Media as well as general director of its NTV television network, Jordan was forced to resign in early 2003 under political pressure.

But there’s one key bit of information we haven’t shared: Boris Alexei Jordan is an American of Russian parentage. You see, his people emigrated from Russia after the revolution. He admits he grew up in a strongly Russian traditional home, went to Russian school, and he even speaks fluent Russian. According the interview transcript, Jordan says:

I was very interested in Russia. My family came from this country. I was educated in the United States at home as a Russian. I had a Russian education on Saturdays for Russian language and Russian history. My university education was based on U.S.-Soviet diplomacy.

[Editor’s Note: This is a bit confusing because at one point Jordan says his education was based on “Russian diplomacy” and a couple of breaths later says that his background was “Russian finance.” The man can’t keep his story straight.]

We also find it interesting that Boris Jordan entered the Russian economic scene in the 1990’s, a time when the Russian state was in a turmoil and the Russian mob was seizing the opportunity of a country in chaos to get its fangs into very vulnerable and influential business sectors. They obviously needed a plan and needed one fast: Enter Boris Alexei Jordan and a small team of other opportunists. You don’t just step in because a bunch of patriots invite you in, not in Russia. The mob doesn’t just let some hungry wannabe waltz in and take over what was theirs to claim. Jordan had to have mob support or he was a dead man.

One clue about the sinister connections is a statement made by Jordan in an interview, when he talks about setting shop in the Metropol Hotel in Moscow:

“We literally had to come in on a weekly basis with a suitcase of $25,000 or $50,000, or $100,000 in cash to just finance this whole operation and put it together.“

Jordan describes how he got things done, avoiding the word “bribe” and replacing it with “incentivize,” according to Jordan: Where’d he get the suitcases of money he was talking about in his interviews? Santa Claus? The Easter Bunny?

Where’d the suitcases of money come from? The United States has laws and rules concerning how much money leaves the country and Russia certainly has rules about the sources and destinations of US$. Where’d the money come from, Mr Jordan?

Was it Easter Bunny money in the suitcases?

In the end it was a very old, simple process that got these guys to agree. We had to basically, I wouldn’t say bribe, but incentivize them by giving them stock.

Shakespeare wrote: “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet?” In other words, a rose would smell just as sweet if you called it a cabbage. Well, bribery by any other name smells just as bad. Whether you call a bribe and incentive or not, it’s still a bribe. Sorry, Boris.

Doesn’t matter whether it’s in the Kremlin, Cuomo’s office, the NY state Senate or Assemby, or in Washington D.C., or George McHugh’s or Michael Biscone’s office.
It’s still bribery.

At another point in the same interview, Jordan responds:

“There’s an argument that I’ve compromised principles somehow by trying to adjust to doing business in the Russian environment…If you’re going to operate within this environment, if you’re going to have an impact on changing it, you can’t do it overnight. You can’t come in here and say, “For God’s sake, you have to follow the U.S. laws on securities for these operations.” You can’t do that. It’s just impossible…I’ve created a way of life for myself here [in Russia]. I’m living here with my family and my children for a very long period of time, and I intend to continue to live here. We are participants in an evolution and a change in this country…I’d love to change this country in two, three years, but I don’t want to make it look like the United States because, frankly, this country has tremendous things that are different from the United States.” [Emphasis provided]

That interview was conducted by PBS “Commanding Heights,” on October 3, 2000; Jordan was 33 at the time. There’s a lot going on in that background but we’ll gloss over it for now. Trust us when we say that it all supports our contention that Jordan is part of something much bigger and much more sinister than just growing pot.

We found another site that tells the story of how Boris Jordan does business. It’s a real eye-opener so do yourself a favor and read the article by Bill Browder, an American investor, “A true story of high finance, murder and my fight for justice in Putin’s Russia,” in which Jordan is a key figure.

American Investor Bill Browder, at war with Boris Jordan

Jordan was fired from his positions at Gazprom and NTV while in Russia. Apparently he stepped on Putin’s toes and had to go. Read the New York Times report at “American Financier Is Fired as Head of Russian TV Network,” Putin was angered by Jordan’s publishing premature reports of Russian troop movements responding to a Chechen terrorist attack on a Moscow theater that left 129 hostages dead. Jordan thought the report was ”exceptionally well done.” Putin’s response was, “journalists should not ply their trade ”on the blood of your own citizens — if, of course, those who do this consider these citizens to be their own.” The remark was widely seen as a jab at  Jordan and a NTV journalist, Savik Shuster, a Canadian citizen. Jordan’s operation gets 129 people killed and Jordan thinks it was “exceptionally well done.” Disgusting.

The Russian Mob – Boris Alexei Jordan – His American Whores (Carver Laraway/George McHugh) relaxing together.

In one interview with CNBC he openly talks about getting US laws changed. Now how do you think he gets that little tidbit done? He also says that the Candadian market for pot isn’t big enough; its the US that is the target. Does that get your gray matter fired up yet?

Our research has shown that more is written about him in Russian than in English. In fact, credibility is an issue here, and there’s an awful lot about Boris Alexei Jordan that is in-credible. But make no mistake about it: Boris Alexei Jordan is 200% Russian.

For an interesting perspective, see the article “How Russia Prepared Renaissance Capital Co-Founder Boris Jordan For The Cannabis Industry” by Javier Hasse and Alex Oleinic , Benzinga contributors.

But all of that aside, we have to seriously ask ourselves where our elected and public officials were when all of this was in the planning and ultimately got approved by someone. We’re thinking especially of those closest to us and our children, those elected officials and public servants in whom we place our trust to make good decisions and to protect us:

• Ravena Coeymans Selkirk Central School District & Board of Education: When they’re not spending tax dollar wildly or evading paying taxes, where were they when the Town of Coeymans was considering this pot growing and processing facility? Of all the public servants, we’d have expected our kids’ educators to have chimed in at some point along the line. But they don’t care about anything but their own interests and their pensions.
• The Coeymans Town Board and the Ravena Village Board: Where were the public comment sessions and were were the town and village officials while all this was being hatched? Weren’t they elected to protect the public’s best interests? Instead they put out the Welcome Mat to a Russian billionaire, his American whores, and the Russian mob. Great job!
• Where were the Churches?!? All the Jesus Loves You! freaks. All the Bible Thumpers! All the Faith and Family Values hypocrites? All the good church-goers that fill the church parking lots for 45 minutes every Sunday? Where were your pastors, your priests, your bishops, your deacons and elders when all of this was happening?
• Law Enforcement: Yeah, we know: All we can do is enforce the law! Poor excuse, dudes! Are you a bunch of brainless manikins? A bunch of remote controlled robots who get reprogrammed every time the politicians conjure up some hare-brained scheme? Just a couple of years ago, we recall and so do you, you and our corrupt judges were ruining peoples’ lives for a dime-bag of pot. Now you’re right in the middle of the corruption protecting the industrial pot-growers? If that isn’t an example of public corruption and the mob at work, what is. Can you defend yourselves?
• But the worst bunch are the state and federal legislators, the people some voters put in the New York State Assembly and the Senate, and the US House of Reps and US Senate. They’re the biggest failures, disappointments and criminals because they are the real Whores of Babylon, it’s that bunch of elitists who sold us out. They took mob money to legalize another drug plague. They criminalized tobacco, an American addiction, only to legalize marijuana, a foreign addiction. They all should be tried as traitors!
• And our final accusation is against YOU! Where were you when all of this was going on? Probably watching some sick sitcom like Mike and Molly while the rest of us were out voting, exercising one of our most important rights. It was your responsibility, your duty, your obligation to safeguard your children, their community, and their future. You FAILED! Your children’s blood is on your hands. We’ll be there to remind you when catastrophe strikes, if it hasn’t done already.

Moscow on the Hudson

Kremlin and Red Square (Moscow), Law Office of George McHugh (Old Ravena News Herald Building), Coeymans Industrial Park, the News Herald Offices (the former George McHugh law offices). Moscow will soon be in Coeymans via the Coeymans Industrial Park!

 

Ravena Still Ignores Oaths of Office and Rights Protected by State and Federal Constitutions!!!

We have just received a report from a resident and property owner in the Village of Ravena. It looks like elected officials and public servants are again playing their Gestapo games and ignoring residents’ rights and the laws of this state and country. This resident is one of the few that actually came forward with his experiences. We have spoken to a number of others who have similar stories of Ravena’s targeting residents for everything from a children’s swimming pool on their property to “discarded rubbish,” without any further specifics.

Science has shown that incest can generate stupid people. That may explain Ravena Village Hall.

We have reported in the past about Ravena’s in-crowd and their total disconcern for the rights of residents and citizens. Here’s what our reader writes about one of the more recent violations of guaranteed and protected rights by our self-important public servants of nepotism, conspiracy, and conflicts of interests.

Our reader writes:

It’s been a long time since I’ve contacted the Editor and left a comment on the Smalbany blog. I think I’ll call this “Full circle.” Yesterday I received what appears to be two citations in the mail from the village of Ravena apparently notifying me of code violations.

For your information and as illustrations, I am also providing you by emailing you a copy of the correspondence and pictures of what the Code Enforcement officer is referring to. It’s pretty much self explanatory that Mr. Ron Hohman, so-called Zoning Enforcement Officer, is a bit ignorant and illiterate. He’s also in violation of his oath of office because he’s violated the protected rights assured by the New York State and the United States Constitution, both of which he’s sworn to support. I guess he’s overlooked the 14th amendment and the laws relating to violations of private property rights.

As you can see in one of the notices, he’s concerned about a vehicle parked in my driveway in the back of my building. The other violation” cites so called “discarded rubbish.” Any property in the back of my building is far from “discarded rubbish,” and I do take offence that Mr. Hohman, overreaching his authorities and unlawfully entering my private property, further offends me by describing my property as “discarded rubbish.” First of all, who is Mr. Hohman to decide what is “discarded” and what is “rubbish.” Being the curious person I am, I went to Ravena Village Hall to ask them what their official definition of “rubbish” might be, simply commenting that the violation is so vague, and I couldn’t find any “discarded rubbish” on my property.

Mr. Hohman’s notification of a zoning violation because I have an unplated vehicle on my property, in my driveway, and the suggestion that it is not operating or roadworthy, raised other questions. First of all, Is Mr. Hohman a qualified automotive mechanic? Did he make an inspection of the vehicle to determine whether it operates or not? Highly unlikely on both counts. I am also concerned that Mr. Hohman actually entered my property to obtain the Vehicle Identification Number from the registration sticker, something that is invisible from the street and you’d have to get up real close to be able to see it. In other words, Mr. Hohman trespassed on my private property to get the VIN. Violation of my protected constitutional rights and something that will have repercussions very soon in terms of criminal charges.

But what has the vehicle to do with the zoning status of my property? Obviously, Mr. Hohman and the Village of Ravena have opened a can of worms, AGAIN! I had and still have a lot of unanswered questions.

I have lived in the Village of Ravena for more than 25 years, I am a responsible property owner, and a participating member of my community. I am respectful and courteous to everyone. I think I’m not asking too much for respect and courtesy from my elected officials and our public servants. I reasonably expected the courtesy of a knock on the door, perhaps? Is that too much to ask, Mr. Hohman? On the day the notifications were issued, that is, if the date of August 1, 2018, is truthful, I was home all day and nobody knocked on my door, least of all Mr. Hohman from the Village, to get permission to be on my property or even to talk to me informally about any suspected violations. Furthermore, the only way to get any facts or information for both alleged “violations,” if they are violations at all, was that Hohman had to accessed my property to see what’s actually behind a 6ft fence! How does Hohman justfy this criminal trespassing? Hohman had to go to some trouble to see around the neatly arranged trash containers at the edge of my property.

Back to my “Full Circle” quote. The reason why I’m saying “full circle” because some 25 years ago the Ravena Zoning Board held a meeting and then a special meaning about my property without my knowledge or inviting me to comment, again yet another violation of the right of due process and fair hearing. Ravena has a long history of violating constitutional and protected rights: They accused me, tried me, convicted me, and then sent me my sentence without fair hearing. That’s Ravena for you. My attorney at the time, an now retired, read them the riot act in a letter informing them that their conduct was a gross violation of my constitutional rights. They have very short memories apparently.

You’ve written a lot about the Village of Ravena and the Town of Coeymans’ violation of citizens’ and residents’ rights without any form of due process or concern for the New York State or United States Constitutions and the Bill of Rights. They have sworn oaths to support the constitutions and thus to defend our rights and the laws of the state of New York and this great country, but they ignore their duties, their obligations, and their oaths of office. It’s become commonplace in Ravena and the surrounding area and it has to stop. We have rights as citizens and we all deserve due process and fair hearing, it’s guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and the Constitution!

I look forward chatting with you because you can’t make this stuff up, and the pictures and the violations speak for themselves.

Letters from Mr Ron Hohman, Village of Ravena Code/Zoning Enforcement Officer.

The laws simply do not use the word “rubbish”

We’ve done our research and wanted to know first of all what “discarded rubbish” is supposed to mean. There are two problems with Mr Hohman’s use of the phrase: Firstly, rubbish is not a legal term with a reliable definition. if you look for a legal definition of “rubbish” you’ll probably be redirected to the legal notion of “waste,” as in “solid waste” etc. The laws simply do not use the word “rubbish,” so we can say that the use of the undefined term in the notification has no legal impact or effect.

Resident’s Back Yard Seen from Street. No “rubbish.”

Waste is actually a subjective concept, because things that some people discard may be of value to others

In fact, our research shows that “waste” refers to unwanted substances that people generally tend to dump.  Depending upon the locale and common language waste is also sometimes referred to as rubbish, trash, garbage, or junk. One point is very clear, though, waste is actually a subjective concept, because things that some people discard may be of value to others. It is a natural part of the ecological cycle. It is created when living organisms take in materials and excrete them after use. Waste can be recycled by other living organisms. Discarded home appliances, kitchen waste, sewage sludge, manufacturing waste, packaging waste, old paint containers, biological waste, and hospital waste are all examples of waste. Waste is classified into different types based upon their sources and nature. Solid waste, biodegradable waste, hazardous waste, medical waste, e-waste, yard waste, construction and demolition waste, agricultural waste, and mining waste are the different types of waste.

Resident’s Back Yard viewed from 2nd floor porch. No “rubbish.”

Ravena Code Enforcement Officer Ron Hohman makes no sense.

Another question that arises is how Mr Hohman determined that whatever it is he is referring to as “rubbish,” or more properly put, waste, is in fact “discarded.” Discarded means “unwanted,” “dumped,” “junked,” etc. Fact is, Hohman has no way of knowing whether anything at all is “rubbish” in terms of being “waste,” and furthermore, Hohman has no way of knowing that the property to which his is referring as being “rubbish” has actually been “discarded.” Hohman makes no sense. But that’s not surprising for Ravena and its neighbors.

The other troubling question is Mr Hohman’s concern about a vehicle parked lawfully on private property and Hohman’s wild speculations that the vehicle violates the law by simply being in the resident’s driveway. Hohman does this without any further inquiry or discussion. That’s absolutely offensive by any standard!

The offending vehicle, parked lawfully on the resident’s property, in his private driveway.

In short, Mr Ron Hohman has his head up his arse because he is assuming with no factual basis that the vehicle on the resident’s property is an abandoned, junked, partially dismantled, etc. vehicle under the provisions of New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law!!!

We have personally visited the resident’s property to verify the images sent and to examine the correspondence received from the Village of Ravena and Mr Ron Hohman, Village of Ravena Code/Zoning Enforcement Officer.

Pull Your Head Out, Hohman!!!

We found the vehicle to be in good condition and would never qualify as abandoned, discarded, junked, or partially dismantled. In fact, it’s quite a nice vehicle. We are informed that it belongs to the resident’s daughter who has been saving to manage insurance, registration and putting it on the road. Is that a violation, we ask? We also suspect that Mr Hohman in his haste to get a violation while violating the resident’s protected rights and trespassing on the property, actually missed the dealer’s plates on the front seat of the vehicle. We didn’t miss them. Did you miss those plates Mr Hohman? Or do you expect that they should have been on the vehicle so that they could be stolen, and the Coeymans police investigation allowed to go cold without an arrest or recovery of the plates. 

Maybe Ron Holman has better credentials than a NYS licenced motor vehicle inspector; maybe that’s how he knows the condition of the vehicle. NOT!!!

Oh! Did we neglect to mention that the property owner’s son is an automotive mechanic with licences for several classes of vehicles as a State Motor Vehicle Inspector? And that he drove the vehicle to it’s present location? Did we fail to mention that insignificant fact? But then, maybe Mr Holman has better qualifications to determining whether a vehicle is junk or roadworthy. Got a response, Ronny-boy?

As for the “discarded rubbish” to which Mr Hohman refers, we were unable to find any discarded anything on the property, much less anything that would qualify as “rubbish,” “trash,” “garbage,” or “waste.” In fact, the pictures provided by the resident are clear and factual: There are household items belonging to the resident, his family, and his tenants, including several functional grills. There are some spare parts arranged on a workbench, a tire leaning up against the building, and several containers. No rubbish. Nothing that appeared that it should be discarded. In fact, what we saw had value, was usable, and had every right to be stored neatly in a resident’s back yard, on his private property, without being a nuisance or an eyesore to anyone, especially given the fact that it is actually surrounded by a six-foot fence!!!

So, in conclusion, we have to ask what Mr Hohman’s game is? Does he have an ax to grind? Does someone in Ravena Village Hall have an ax to grind? Does Mr Hohman have to justify his job and “create” violations where there are none? And why is it necessary for Mr Hohman to break the law and violate a resident’s, a citizen’s protected rights to cook up some sort of idiotic and unfounded “violations”?  We’ll be investigating these questions in more depth and will report on our findings. First of all, we’ll find out more about this character Ron Hohman and get some background on him. Something’s fishy here AGAIN and we will get to the bottom of the stinking pond called Ravena, and find out what the bottom-feeders in Ravena Town Hall are up to. Stay tuned!

We’ll get to the bottom of this.
The Editor

Editor’s Note: Unlike Mr Holman, Ravena’s roving public servant terrorist, we obtained the property owner’s permission to visit and view his property.

 

 

High Marks for the RCS Community Library

The RCS Community Library under the direction of Judith Wines is doing a pretty fantastic job of getting some really interesting programs out to the community. In fact, when requested, we published the public information on an unusual but apparently very interesting and needed program that’s found a home at the RCS Community Library, Thanatology Café, a program that offers the opportunity to talk about death, dying, grief, mourning and death-related subjects.

We’ve read a pretty nice post on the Thanatology Café blog that is complimentary of the RCS Community Library and it’s staff, and we really think RCS should take note of the fine work the RCS Community Library is doing for the community.

Our more than 300,000 readers know well that we have no qualms about being outspoken when it comes to our community and the Ravena News Herald, but truth be told the Ravena News Herald and editor Melanie Lekocevic apparently have been generously supportive of the library and the Thanatology Café program, if our observations are correct. Fair is fair and when the News Herald is on the up and up, we want to be the first to say Nice job! Thank you!

BUT…

Churches, Funeral Homes, First Responders

We do have some disturbing information though and we have verified it factually. Here we have an innovative program, Thanatology Café, sponsored by a reputable and highly-respected community organization, the RCS Community Library, and even getting the support of the Ravena News Herald but WTF!!!!! We have information that about 100 information packets were sent out to local churches and public service organizations, including fire departments, EMS, first responders, and police departments, including the Coeymans fire and rescue squad, the Ravena Hose Company, and the Coeymans Police Department, just to name a few, and it appears none of those organizations responded.

Local churches have their hands out for stipends whenever a local dies but almost every church in the area does not offer a bereavement education, a death awareness, or death education program…

What’s even worse is that the organizers (for the record the RCS Community Library hosts the program but does not organize it) invited local churches and pastors to announce the program and to post the attractive flyers to inform their congregations of the availability of the thanatology program, yet, according to the spokesperson for Thanatology Café, not a single one responded and there is no evidence that anyone from any of the local RCS churches bothered to attend the inaugural event. That does seem a bit strange to us and we’d like to hear from members of the congregations of local churches whether they even heard about the program from their so-called pastors. We find that strange because local churches have their hands out for stipends whenever a local dies but almost every church in the area does not offer a bereavement education, a death awareness, or death education program. We would think they’d jump at the opportunity to learn more about the program from the get go!

Why didn’t the local death businesses — Babcock Funeral Home, A.J. Cunningham Funeral Homes, W.C. Brady’s Sons Funeral Home respond?

And you’d think that the local businesses that make a bundle of money from local deaths, Babcock Funeral Home and A.J. Cunningham Funeral Homes, both right down the street from the library, would seize the unique opportunity to join in the death education opportunities offered by a program like Thanatology Café but apparently Sharon Babcock and the A.J. Cunningham staff had better things to do than join in a community educational program. We’ll be keeping an eye on our local death industry, you can be assured of that. Both Babcock Funeral Home and A.J. Cunningham Funeral Homes were provided with special packets along with W.C. Brady’s Sons Funeral Home (Coxsackie) and several other regional funeral homes were provided with special packets and invitations. We have the documents and we have the questions, too, Why didn’t the local death businesses respond?

People are more aware, more interested and willing to discuss the subject, the options and the choices…death and dying, living wills, advance directives, and funeral and memorial options

We’ve done the online research and find that Death Cafes, Death Salons, discussion groups about death and dying, hospice and palliative care organizations, healthcare organizations, special interest groups dealing with infant death, suicide, traumatic death, etc. are thriving and growing because people are more aware, more interested and willing to discuss the subject, the options and the choices, and are not waiting til the last minute to learn as much as they can about death and dying, living wills, advance directives, and funeral and memorial options.

Are they scared that Thanatolgy Café might rock their comfy little boats…get people to ask the important questions?

Can our churches, first responders, funeral homes be so petty as to get involved in small-minded turf wars at your expense?

Petty, stupid turf wars?

So we’re getting interested now, too, but especially why local churches, who are constantly preaching about death and whatnot, and local first responders and rescue squads, who frequently have to deal with death, and in particular, why the three main death businesses, Babcock Funeral Home, A.J. Cunningham Funeral Homes, and W.C. Brady’s Sons Funeral Home are so silent when an important program comes to the area. Are they scared that Thanatolgy Café might rock their comfy little boats, stir up some good and reliable information in the community, get people to ask the important questions? Maybe. We have learned that the Thanatology Café program will be providing a lot of information on pre-arrangements, available options and choices, how to go about creating your living will or Advance directive, funeral and memorial choices and recommendations, and much, much more. Stuff you need to know no matter what your age and information you’re not likely to get anywhere else.

Don’t you think you’d be getting a better deal from church, rescue squad, senior center and funeral home if they were better informed about death, dying, surviving, and the choices and options you should have? Can our churches and so-called pastors, our community funded first responders, local funeral homes, who cash in on the community’s ignorance and lack of information, be so petty as to get involved in small-minded turf wars at your expense? Looks like it. But keeping their heads tucked up a dark, wet spot won’t do them any good. Let’s hear from them. Let’s hear from our readers.

Town of Coeymans and
Town of New Baltimore

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Town of Coeymans

No, we haven’t gone AWOL on our watch. We’re working on a story about how the Phil Crandall/Youmans/Dolan mob are screwing town of Coeymans taxpayers. Didn’t we hear Phil Crandall say something about cutting the costs of local government, blah, blah, blah?

Well, apparently disgraced former village justice Phil Crandall, Psycho-bully Youmans and Dithering-Tom Dolan don’t think that cost containment applies to their cronies they imported when they took office. We’re talking specifically about the alleged overtime Crandall’s administrative clerk Nita Chmielewski is collecting hand-over-fist. It seems that old Nita is incompetent and doesn’t know what she’s doing — as if she ever did; nothing seems to change in the in-crowd in Coeymans — and she’s collecting a bundle for her incompetence and ignorance. Wonder if Mr Crandall, Mr Youmans or Mr Dolan can explain why their cronies get the overtime, while the Coeymans Police Department is consistently saving on costs, economizing, and coming in under budget under the professional supervision of a competent chief?

A contributor has demanded the production of certain documents that will prove the corruption in Coeymans town hall and the hypocrisy of Mr Crandall and his cronies

Stay tuned for the fireworks!

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Town of New Baltimore

There’s word out that something’s cooking in New Baltimore about the New Baltimore Supervisor of Highways and the Highways Department and indifference, negligence and dereliction of duty and responsibility.

Thanks to the double-dealing of the Greene County Independence Party Committee chairman George Ackerman and co-chairperson, Irene Beede, and their mismanagement of a very worthy candidate, Mr Alan vanWormer in the elections last November, Denis Jordan was re-elected by a single — Yes! 1 vote! — and despite the known corruption, crookedness, incompetence and ignorance that is the hallmark of his department, he didn’t go to jail but kept his office. But that’s New Baltimore and screwy-Louie politics run by incompetent political committees.

Do you actually think YOU elect these bozos?

We have information that a pretty big law suit is in the brewing that will be brought against the town of New Baltimore, the New Baltimore Highway Department and Denis Jordan for incompetence, negligence, and indifference by dereliction of duty and violation of applicable state laws. Seems Jordan’s friends get all the highway department services while others get the finger, and can watch their property values collapse because of poor road and drainage maintenance.

A collaborator is getting the information together and talking to the aggrieved parties and we’ll be the first to release the information.

One crook is going to cost an entire town a bundle. Go figure!

The Fickle Finger is Pointing to YOU, Dumbass!
The Editor

 

News Shorts to Keep You Updated…Briefly

Who Owns 84 Main Street in Coeymans Hamlet?

Update on our story Give them enough rope and the Coeymans Board expose themselves

That’s a pretty sticky question in Coeymans town hall these days. You see, as usual the facts are pretty illusive and vague, the Times Useless prints one thing, Coeymans town hall says another thing, the Coeymans town board just seems to be in a ping-pong match bouncing the question back and forth until they finally decide to call in Guess who? — the lawyers. The Coeymans town board has handed the question over to scheister David Wukitsch and Donald Zee to answer this burning question.

It seems that no one in Coeymans town hall can agree on who owns the property that was the subject recently of a New York State Department of Labor intervention and the town stopping Carver Laraway’s efforts to tear down a derelict building — but only after it was leveled to the ground — at 84 Main Street in the Hamlet of Coeymans.

This entire question of Who owns No. 84 Main Street? raises a number of questions about the competence of the Crandall town board, John Cashin’s and Santee Debacco’s competence as code enforcement officers for the town of Coeymans, and Who’s the rat in Coeymans town hall?

So we went to the assessment rolls to find out who owns No. 84. The SBL (section block number) for the property is 168.12-2-3 and it’s listed under Tax Exempt Properties and clearly shows the owner to be the town of Coeymans! Imaging that! The Coeymans Assessor lists the property as tax exempt and owned by the town of Coeymans. Now WHY? didn’t Mr Phil Crandall, supervisor of the town of Coeymans, or any of his board know that? And where was the town assessor and the two code enforcement officers while the meeting was going on? Your guess is as good as mine!

That raises other questions, too. First of all, Why was Carver Laraway demolishing a building that officially is owned by the town of Coeymans? That would make the town of Coeymans responsible as the owners for the demolition, wouldn’t it? And then it would make the town of Coeymans responsible for any contractors involved in tearing down the building. Right? So that leaves Carver Laraway out of the liability picture. But it also creates problems for the town of Coeymans like: The rat is in town hall and reported the demolition to the New York State Department of Labor, throwing in the town of Coeymans instead of Laraway. That would make the town of Coeymans responsible for any violations issued by the state and gets Laraway off the hook. That’s the doctrine of respondeat superior where the employer is liable for any unlawful conduct of an employee, including contractors. The only ones stupid enough to do something like this are Phil Crandall, Jim Youmans, Tom Dolan or even Rick “the Dick” Touchette, they all have a woody for Carver Laraway. But our guess would be that it was Tom Dolan; he’s the only one vile enough to do something that stupid and have it backfire on the town. 

And guess what?!? The violation is all about asbestos containment and the town of Coeymans has no local laws, rules or guidelines relating to asbestos!!! Now doesn’t that come as a surprise? Decades of asbestos in the news and Coeymans has nothing on the books about asbestos. 

We’ve asked for demolition permits issued for the past year, any Coeymans codes on asbestos, and any stipulations connected with sales of local derelict properties. We’ll keep you informed because the Ravena News Herald won’t and you can’t expect any truth coming from the town board.

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New Program May be Coming to the RCS Community Library 

With the A.J. Cunningham Funeral Homes moving into expansion facilities at 9 Main Street in Ravena, Ravena residents and residents in the greater Coeymans and northeastern Greene county have finally a choice, at least in death. The A.J. Cunningham operation has occupied the former Pero Memorial Chapel and have posted an A.J. Cunningham Funeral Homes sign outside but they’ve done little else. Not even a holiday wreath on the place. They’ve made the effort to elbow in on Sharon Babcock’s little captive empire of death but are they serious about succeeding in Ravena? We won’t waste space telling you about A.J. Cunningham Funeral Homes because they have a website at http://ajcunninghamfh.com/. Read about them for yourselves.

A New Trend in Death Awareness

A new death awareness is taking larger cities in Europe and the US by storm and they’re called death cafés. Death cafés began in about 2004, when Swiss sociologist Bernard Crettaz started hosting impromptu pop-up meetings called cafes mortals in Switzerland. Crettaz studies death in his research but the popular events spread like wildfire in Europe. In 2011, the events started in the United Kingdom and popped up all over London. North American death cafés began in Ohio, and are organized in New Mexico, Michigan, Vancouver, B.C., California, Illinois, New York, and elsewhere. The popularity of the events is a clear indicator that people want, need to discuss dying, death, and living in a safe environment where they can openly talk about life’s greatest mystery, death.

Well, discussions are underway between the organizer of Thanatology Café and the RCS Community Library to start the Capital District’s first death discussion group right here in Ravena. The RCS Community Library has been doing a tremendous job in creating new programs for the RCS community under the leadership of Judith Wines, library director, Carol Malewsky, specialist research librarian, and Bryan Rowzee, IT guru for the library, so the time is right to bring in a new program. So why not one as controversial and interesting as death itself.

The program is slated to start in early to mid-March 2016 and discussions are in their early stages but very encouraging and positive. We’d suggest that anyone in the greater capital district visit the Thanatology Café blog to learn more about the program. Once you find you are interested in joining the program, just let the facilitator know by leaving your contact information and your specific death interests in an email to thanatology.cafe@gmail.com. Of course, all communications are confidential.

Click on this link to read or download a brief summary of what Thanatology Café is, and is not. Click Here: Thanatology Café Announcement Post

 

 

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Coeymans Court Shuts Down for Two Weeks!
Justice in Coeymans ‘On Hold’

Sign appearing in Coeymans town hall town court office window. Justice suspended!

Who ever heard of such a thing? Coeymans court with two full-time (G. Dardiani) town justices George Dardiani and Kevin Reilly have suspended justice in the town of Coeymans for two full weeks! 

We don’t get it. Does that mean that pleas and tickets are suspended, too? We have a question also about conflicts of interest with the town justice, Kevin Reilly, who is being paid both as a full-time town justice and as a part-time court clerk. Sounds like that should be just wrong, doesn’t it? Well, suspending justice in the town of Coeymans is nothing new; but how can you suspend something that never was in the first place? We might well ask whether they suspended their paychecks too?

The only worse place is in Ravena village court where they make their own rules. Now who is running against that old pervert Harold “Hal” Warner — the same Hal Warner who stabbed his fellow village justice Phil Crandall, now Coeymans town supervisor, in the back — and his village supervisor, his wife, Nancy Warner. We see they’re both trying to get re-elected this coming March. Old Justice-bender Hal Warner is just a cash generator at your expense for the village. The prosecutor may want to propose a fine of $200 but old Hal wants to raise some money for the village so he ups the fine — at your expense — to $300 or so, unless, of course, you’re one of the insiders and then it’s a parking ticket. Could old Justice-bender Hal be out to embarrass anyone from David Soares office since Hal and Nancy’s daughter, Carmen Warner, was fired from Soares office for posting lewd images of herself and another female on Facebook? Carmen was later hired by the Biscone law firm. Part of the Ravena Incest Club. That’s a Ravena mindset: I’m gonna get you but I’m gonna make Ravena residents pay for it. Perish the thought! Would vendetta, revenge ever enter into a village official’s empty little pinhead? Answer: You bet your ass it does! Ask any Ravena resident whose name doesn’t end in a vowel!

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Bill Bailey Running Again?!?

Warner pair, Nancy & Hal, running again!

Unbelievable! The freak show continues in Ravena. Not only are we seeing two fossils, two major freaks, Nancy Warner and hubby Harold “Hal” Warner asking Ravena voters to show how stupid they can be and re-elect the vampire pair, we also have dithering dumbo Bill Bailey running again! But just to show how useless and ineffective he really is, both the Democraps and the Retardicans have cross endorsed Bailey! If you can read between the lines, that means that they can’t find anyone less threatening than Bill Bailey to be on the Ravena village board and neither the Democraps nor the Retardicans want to risk anyone with even half a rat’s brain to possibly get on the board to shake things up!

Bill Bailey Running Again

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Local Dentist May Have a Big Toothache

Update on our story Local Dentists. Are you being abused, taken for a ride in the chair?

You may have seen the glaring banner advertisement across the front page of the Ravena News Herald —not especially known for its ethics or its facts— placed by Coxsackie Dental Arts. Well, after all is said and done, Mr Kurt David Froehlich, the dentist operating Coxsackie Dental Arts, PLLC, may have a toothache of his own.

Coxsackie dentist Kurt D. Froehlich and Coxsackie Dental Arts may have a toothache of their own.

A local resident who visited Froehlich’s practice last year has filed a multi-allegation complaint for fraud, abuse, professional misconduct against Froehlich and Coxsackie Dental Arts with the NYS Department of Education, Professional Misconduct Enforcement, the NYS Attorney General’s Office, and the Greene County District Attorney, and the resident’s dental insurance company.

The resident has produced pretty convincing evidence that Ole Yanker Froehlich has been playing loose and crooked in his billing practices and his so-called care provided to patients.

Froehlich advertises a 15% discount for seniors and veterans but may charge up to 3-times what other local dentists charge for the same procedure. Pretty slick and shady if you ask us.

The complaint also alleges violations of professional licensing standards not only by Froehlich but also by two dental assistants employed by Coxsackie Dental Arts.

Coxsackie Dental Arts, PLLC is located on Route 9W in the town of Coxsackie. Our advice: Fraud and misconduct is rampant in the dental professions if the media coverage and the journal articles are to be believed. Even the American Dental Association, the ADA, has to admit that fraud in the dental office is a big problem and they have even published a manual on the subject. Be very careful selecting a dentist, insist on knowing what your dental care is going to cost and how much your dental plan covers; you are likely to be held liable for whatever your plan doesn’t cover. Ask questions, lots of questions. At the first sign of suspect conduct, contact the NYS Professional Misconduct Enforcement unit at the NYS Department of Education, Office of the Professions: New York’s Professional Misconduct Enforcement System.

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For your continuing support!
The Editor

 

 

Think Before You Vote. Or Pay the Price Later!

Jim Youmans and Tom Dolan are Losers!

WOW! This just in: We’ve acquired a copy of the October 26, 2015, Coeymans town board meeting. We will be publishing extracts of that meeting so that you can be aware of the stupidity of Youmans and Dolan, and you can hear for yourself what idiotic scoundrels they are. Or, you can go to Coeymans town hall and ask to listen to the recording, and decide for yourself! You be the judge! You’ll also hear residents telling Youmans and Dolan off for being such jerks, and for misleading the community. Tom Dolan, especially, gets a good whoop’n from one resident. You gotta hear the tape!

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We’re Here to Tell You What They Don’t Want You to Know!

Politics is all about character, or should be. But all we, as voters, get to see is the big smiles, hear the big promises, and get the nice-guy treatment. But what you see is not what you get. Let’s take a deeper look at what’s available next week in the voting booths. And you thought the Walking Dead was scary? Read on!

Give me [your brain, and then] your vote!

We’ve already covered the Coeymanazi bunch of recycled politicians running for election or re-election in the town of Coeymans. Anyone with the memory of a cockroach would steer far away from these accidents looking for a place to happen:

We’ve already reported in considerable detail on the terrible choices the Coeymans Dumbocraps under Tom Dolan have this November 3. If you missed the article, you can read it at   Go to the article link above for The Crandall, Dolan, Touchette Connection: Wanna Be Sick?

Phil Crandall: We’ve already pointed out his problems — we’ve already written about them — so we won’t go into that again here. Just go to the article link above for details.

Rick Touchette: A charter member of the Crandall “do-me-a-favor” club. He’s a loser, too. Ran last election time and lost. Why would you want to have him again? Check out the link above.

Jim Youmans: This guy is the proverbial “used car salesman” with a lousy personality. He’s mean, nasty, and most people in Coeymans town hall want nothing to do with him. He joined the losers’ club when he lost his bid for re-election to town supervisor a couple of years ago. And didn’t Youmans show his true colors when he stomped out of the October 26th town board meeting. Jim Youmans is now publishing CONFIDENTIAL town information on FACEBOOK (obviously Tom Dolan is leaking this CONFIDENTIAL town information DESPITE the town attorney’s (a Democrat!) caution not to publish it yet. Youmans received a copy of the confidential draft document from Tom Dolan, and now Youmans is wrongfully publishing the information on FaceBook, in order to sabotage the town and to take advantage of the Dolan leaks. Youmans lifted the copy of the CONFIDENTIAL document from Tom Dolan’s table at the October 26th town meeting. Isn’t that theft?

While Jim Youmans is a bully, he did a lot of his damage using his tool, Touchette. Was Touchette willing to be Youmans’ tool or was it just that Touchette was easy to use. Either way, it doesn’t speak too highly of Touchette, not that anyone or anything would.

And Why? hasn’t anyone yet asked about Jim Youmans arrest record. He’s a well known bully but hasn’t anyone but a very few, including his victims, questioned his fitness for public office with an arrest record for harassment? Our information and reliable sources indicate that he and perhaps his wife also, were arrested for harassment. Sort of goes along with the reputation as a bully, doesn’t it?

Tom Dolan: This dimwit has kept the lights in Coeymans town hall dimmed for years now. He has a long history of scandal and questionable behavior regarding votes and voting, and misusing his position with the Choices program in Ravena-Coeymans. He’s Dithering Dolan, the political failure who, when he’s not exchanging benefits for votes from ghetto residents, he’s renaming the town. This guy is useless and a member of the Crandall “do-me-a-favor” club, and one of the crooks who got Crandall canned from his job as Coeymans town justice and part-time Ravena village justice for violating the NYS Judicial Laws Check out the link above. And didn’t Tom Dolan leak a confidential draft from the Comptroller’s report on the audit done this year, clearly labeled “CONFIDENTIAL“? Can’t Dithering-Dolan read? And you can thank Dithering-Dolan for the fine choices he’s provided in terms of unelectables on the Dumbocrap ticket; Old Tom Dithering-Dolan is the Coeymans Dumbocrap chairman and picks the Dumbocrap candidates. Just buddies helping buddies out –it’s called political cronyism a.k.a. corruption!

If you don’t think Touchette and Youmans are losers, ask anyone in Coeymans town hall who were unlucky enough to have had to work with them when they were in office before! Ask people like former Coeymans town supervisor Henry Traver, who was so abused by Youmans and Touchette, that he had to ask the Coeymans police to be present to prevent mahem at town executive sessions. Traver was terrified of Youmans, and Touchette, sneak that he is, backed Youmans’ lousy and cowardly behaviour. Youmans was a bully and nothing has changed. Just what we need back in Coeymans town hall and the county legislature, more thugs.

We don’t want to mention the dirty politics that went on when the Coeymans democraps were collecting signatures or the scandal about the absentee ballots. How can a Dumbocrap sign a Conservative petition and have the signature witnessed? Ask his dishonor, Phil Crandall and his son-in-law, Anthony “Tony” Walsh.  We won’t mention the fact that Crandall’s son-in-law Anthony “Tony” Walsh, Jenna Crandall’s husband, falsely witnessed the illegal signatures on Crandall’s petitions. Basically the same ethical violations for which Crandall was brought up on charges. How can Crandall’s son-in-law witness his father-in-law’s petition signatures — without being present when the petition was signed? Walsh signed as a witness but, according to reliable witnesses, allegedly wasn’t with the candidate, his father-in-law, when going door-to-door; you have to be either a notary or member of the party, but Walsh, a registered Conservative, just let Crandall go off and do what he wanted. Van Buren Street in Ravena, absentee-ballot capitol of the world, seems to be home base for these crooks.

The Phil Youmans mutant. If you see this, go Republican!

Now here’s another juicy bit of news: Mike Albano was caught red-handed by Joe Vitello, candidate for Albany County Executive, tearing down Vitello’s campaign signs;  Mike Albano is Phil Crandall’s father-in-law! Albano was caught red-handed by Vitello himself! We’ll be interested to see if any charges are pressed. Go figure.

Phil Youmans, a Phil Crandall–Jim Youmans mutant, goes around putting his signs right in front of Stephen Flach’s signs so that Flach’s are not visible. Seems that Dan McCoy Supporters are doing the same thing to Joe Vitello’s signs, so that they can’t be seen. Doesn’t the RCS school district have places for retards like Youmans and Albano? Yeah, it’s called special ed kindergarten. Or Albany County Jail. You choose.

And we don’t want to mention insider Nita Chmielewski, former failed town supervisor,she’s hot for Crandall. Wonder if she’s got her beady crossed eyes on a job as “confidential” secretary? Well, if she does you know one thing for certain: With Crandall’s record of unethical conduct and Chmielewski’s character, nothing will be safe, much less confidential! Or maybe Nutty Nita has her eye on the budget office. Be careful here! Remember Nita Chmielewski resigned as town supervisor over the flack she got for publishing a 10% budget increase. But do we have to mention that that 10% was an error resulting from Nitas problem doing simple math? Maybe it’s just best to keep Nutty Nita and her buddy disgraced ex-judge Phil Crandall as far away from Coeymans  town hall as possible. What do you think?

Peter Masti: Masti’s been taking up space on the Coeymans town council and that’s all he’s been doing. No, wait a minute, he likes to write letters to the editor of the Troy Record. Troy Record! Why doesn’t he put his opinions in the local rag, the Ravena News Herald? Well, Coeymans voters, if you haven’t figured it out yet, this California-transplant unbeliever-turned-bible-thumper from Hippyville-California doesn’t have much use for you, unless it’s as a stepping stone. Maybe he’s trying to keep his crazy ideas away from the local voters because they’re too “California-crazy” and wants to have his say but far and away.

Learn more about these characters and why you need to stay clear of them in the voting booth by visiting our article at The Crandall, Dolan, Touchette Connection: Wanna Be Sick?

Matt-the-Mutt Miller Has His Beady Eyes on a County Legislature Seat

Don’t Let that Happen!!!

This blog has alerted the RCS school district, RCS taxpayers and RCS parents a number of times about Matthew J. Miller’s a.k.a. “Matt-the-Mutt’s” questionable morals and conduct. Matt Miller is a CROOK! We alerted RCS taxpayers about Miller’s deal with certain now extinct members of a former Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk board of education (under the Deluca mob) to be paid tens of thousands of tax dollars as “energy manager” for the school district. In other words, he told people to turn off the lights. This wouldn’t have been so bad if he weren’t DOUBLE-DIPPING! You see, he was also being paid FULL-TIME to teach, which he wasn’t doing either (see below). We guess that makes him a TRIPLE-DIPPING CROOK.

Matt-the-Mutt Miller is a Loser!

If that’s not bad enough Matt-the-Mutt Miller allegedly told his RCS students that he’s an ATHEIST. Being an atheist is not big deal but telling impressionable and sensitive young people about your problem is a big deal. Parents: Do you want your teachers telling your kids about their personal beliefs? You’re trying to teach your kids to have values, morals, maybe even be good Christians, Jews, or Muslims, and their teacher is telling them he’s an atheist. So, Mr Miller, what do you do when it comes to the pledge of allegiance? Remember “One nation under God”? Do you refuse to pledge? Or do you make believe and pledge? Or the US dollar, “In God we trust.” Do you get paid double-dipper dollars or in rubles? You’re worse than a simple hypocrite, you’re a crooked hypocrite.

Iff you check out Miller’s LinkedIn page at Matt Miller you’ll have to wonder if his campaign head shot isn’t 25 years old at least. Compare Miller’s LinkedIn photo with the photo from 2014 and you’ll have to ask when he got his facelift? But Matt-the-Mutt’s face really isn’t the issue here. The issue is whether he’s fit for elected office and that is a no-brainer: He’s not. He arrogantly lists on his LInkedIn page that he’s been 14 years Local Union president, 3 years Union Treasurer/PAC chair (PAC is the RCS “political action committee”), 6 years District Energy Manager he means the RCS school district, during which time he was double- or even triple dipping for at an average rate of $8,000 a year, stealing tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars!). He seems to be real proud of his teachers union connection; he says more about that than he does about the RCS central school district. But that makes sense; he’s probably used the district as much as he can and now wants to move on. Like now we thinks he’s going to get a seat on the county legislature for the 39th district. Only if real fools vote, and only then.

Matt-the-Mutt (2014)

Matt Miller (2015)

Matt-the-mutt wrongfully and improperly, Yes! cowardly, encouraged students to be uncivil and disrespectful when sending comments to a local blog, this blog, when he didn’t have the balls to comment himself. That’s what your tax dollars are paying for with Miller: an education in how to be  uncivil, disrespectful and deviant. Just like Matt Miller.

For years Matt Miller has been the local NYSUT (New York State United Teachers) sockpuppet in the RCS school district. He’s the teachers union representative in the district. But here’s where he gets he dubious distinction of being a triple-dipper at taxpayer expense: He is paid a full-time teacher salary but has a reduced teaching load so he can do his union work! So, do you think his union work is in your interests or the kids’ interest? Guess again! He works for the union and you’re paying for it! Triple-dipping crook Miller.

So, now Matt-the-Mutt Miller wants you, the town of Bethlehem, to elect him to be an Albany County Legislator. That’s just what the already crooked, corrupt Albany political machine needs like a hole in the head: another corrupt crook! So, go ahead, put the atheist, double-triple-dipper, union lackey Matt Miller in a legislator’s chair in Albany. You don’t have to be a nuclear physicist to guess whose interests he’ll be serving there: the union’s and his own!

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Pope Paul VI: “The smoke of Satan has entered the church through a small crack.” In Ravena’s St Pat’s RC, that’s a mighty big crack

And then we have Saint Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church in Ravena, the favorite watering hole for the Ravena-Coeymans Incest Club and the Coemanazi Coalition. St Pat’s is where “Dirty Hands Jerry” Deluca and Bottle-blond fitness club failure Cathy Deluca hang out. It’s where Phil Crandall, Rich Touchette and other “good Catholics” go to collect political capital and play the hypocrite in saint’s robes. It’s where Crandal, Touchette, Dolan and their kind go to hand out holiday turkeys as if they were their own, and getting credit for the generous gifts. Pope Paul VI made the famous statement that “The smoke of Satan has entered the church through a small crack.” In Ravena’s St Pat’s, that’s a mighty big crack that lets in the likes of the Crandalls, Touchettes and Delucas. And you wonder why churches are avoided by the honest and good people of the community?

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New Baltimore

Does anyone know any of these people running for office in New Baltimore? Does anyone know anything about these people who

Who are they?

are asking for your votes? We’ve lived here practically our entire lives and those names might as well be from Kansas! Well, pretty close: Arthur Fullerton is from Arkansas. Really!!!
Let’s start with the candidates for New Baltimore supervisor. We have the incumbent, Nick Delisanti. Delisanti is a pussy-cat in a business suit but is doing a sincere,  honest and decent job in town hall. Actually, the worst thing he has done since voted into the supervisor’s office is make the stupid statement, “Republicans appoint republicans.” We think he’s paid enough for that stupid remark, and if he’s smart he’ll be grateful for the non-Republicans who put him where he is.

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This just in: At the October 26, 2015, town council meeting Mr Delisanti and his team passed the preliminary New Baltimore town budget with no net increase and no more deficit; it’s balanced! (There is no longer an operating deficit as there was in 2012, 2013, 2014!). Only 1% pay increase to hourly-wage town employees. A slight increase in health benefits for employees and retirees, which was due to the insurer, not to any action by the board. Again, Delisanti and his team have kept the town budget under control. The final budget is slated for discussion and for final approval at the November 9, 2015, town board meeting.  Thank you!

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But Delisanti and his team have cleaned up New Baltimore Town Hall and have put policies in place to ensure transparency and accountability. Some people don’t like that. They call themselves New Baltimore Dumbocraps and they take their orders from witch-on-a-stick Diane Louis.

What Delisanti has done together with his team is clean up the crooked and incompetent mess left by two dumbocraps, Louis and O’Rorke, and their dumbocrap friends. Remember when the most recent dumbocrap, Susan O’Rorke, left town hall, all the computers were wiped clean of data, records either disappeared or were locked up tight and no one seemed to have a key. (We still wonder why those responsible for that didn’t end up in jail.) That’s an example New Baltimore dumbocrap transparency and accountability with town dumbocrap chairman Diane Louis’ clique. Those of us who watch the New Baltimore dumbocraps know what sneaks and crooks they are. New Baltimore Dumbocraps don’t do their business in New Baltimore town hall, they do it at (or under) the bar at the Boat House (the New Baltimore Dumbocrap HQ and town hall).

Arthur Fullerton is a Loser!

This is a good place to deal with another phoney running for public office: New Baltimore’s answer to Coeyman’s Jim Youmans: Arthur Fullerton. Some character with a mega-ego, Arthur Fullerton, another unknown, has been put up for New Baltimore town supervisor by the New Baltimore Dumbocraps, and is another Louis sockpuppet. Fullerton is from Arkansas (Bill Clinton’s state) and is a recent implant, a carpetbagger as they were called in years past, in New Baltimore. Fullertons’s big on stealing credit from others and using it to make himself look real pretty. Just look at his gimme-your-vote card we all got in the mail. Nothing about Fullerton just about his ancestors. Big deal!

Fullerton’s website is just as big a pile of bullshit as Fullerton is; full of rhetoric and lies and little real information for voters. Did you expect anything else from a Diane Louis lackey?

We said earlier that Fullerton doesn’t really represent anything substantial and his website says it all: He has a tab, a section on “Issues.” (click here to read Fullerton’s “issues“). The self-proclaimed communicator and consultant Arthur Fullerton apparently has no understanding of what issues are but he has enough issues of his own. His issues page is about as empty as Fullerton’s credibility chest! And if we rely on Fullerton’s press releases (go to “Press Releases“) to get some idea about Fullerton and his plans for New Baltimore, all we get is Fullterton’s concerns for cell phone reception and the New Baltimore town newsletter. Are those the biggest issues facing this town, Mr Fullerrton? Well maybe in Fullerton’s empty dumbocrap head. Some of us have bigger fish to fry (right now it’s keeping corruption and idiots out of New Baltimore town hall, starting with Arthur Fullerton!).

The problem with Arthur Fullerton is that he can’t get his facts straight or is an outright liar. Probably both. One example is the propaganda he’s been putting out about the New Baltimore town newsletter. Fart-face Fullerton claims on the website “Bring Back the New Baltimore Town Newsletter” but incorrectly and inaccurately that, “New Baltimore had a great informative town newsletter for many years. The current administration choose to kill it.” WRONG! That’s an example of Fullerton’s version of incorrect facts. It was actually the O’Rorke administration that eliminated the New Baltimore town newsletter, not the Dellisanti administration. It was Fullerton’s own party-partners, Diane Louis and Susan O’Rorke and their cronies who eliminated the New Baltimore town newsletter. So let’s get that little bit of misinformation corrected like yesterday!

Fullerton is not strong on issues. Actually, Fullerton hasn’t really said much about issues in the town of New Baltimore, has he? Well, except for the bid lie about the newsletter and that’s got to be one of the biggies we all are losing sleep over. Isn’t it? What’s Fullerton’s stand on getting Mr Denis Jordan to comply with the law and with town policies about spending and approvals for contracts? How about that one? But it’s unlikely Mr Fullerton will be much interested in stuff like that since Mr Denis Jordan is a party-pal.

Mr Fullerton is really a big bag of wind blowing warmly from Diane Louis’sagging butt. Fullerton is a paid-in-full, dyed in the wool member of the misinformation party, the give-it-all away party, the me-mine-it’s mine party, the New Baltimore Dumbocraps. So, if you like being misused, left out, and if you want to give away what little you have left to the New Baltimore incest club, Fullerton’s your man. Can you live with that?

Denis Jordan

Driving through New Baltimore you can almost guess where you’ll see a “Denis Jordan for Highway Superintendent” campaign sign.

And you can pretty much assume that where you see a Denis Jordan campaign sign that the property owner is on the Denis Jordan gift list; that’s the gift list that Denis Jordan has for people he likes to do special favors for at taxpayer expense. Most of us are on the Denis Jordan blacklist; the list of residents that Denis Jordan refuses services to despite the fact we pay taxes.

If you have a Denis Jordan sign on your lawn, you’re probably getting favors from him for your vote!

Denis Jordan has been a Dumbocrap fixture for years and has been misusing and wasting New Baltimore money and resources since he’s been superintendent. He refuses to obey the law when he makes purchases for the highway department. He makes deals with his friends. It’s easy to be a dumbocrap fixture if you’re stone ignorant and corrupt.

Jordan flatly refuses to comply with town of New Baltimore purchasing and contracts policies, which were put into place to provide voters and residents as well as auditors with transparency and accountability. These policies were put into place by the Dellisanti team when, to their horror, they found that previous administrations didn’t have any, ignored them if they had them, or just looked the other way when Jordan played his unlawful games with taxpayer money. After all, how was Louis and O’Rorke going to get their driveways plowed? And wasn’t it Jordan who refused to plow out the fire department’s driveways and parking lots? What does that tell you about Jordan?

Not enough for you to consider Alan VanWormer to replace Jordan? Read on…

Here are some snippets you’re probably unaware of about Mr Jordan:

• Denis Jordan has about 17 years with the New Baltimore highway department (Alan VanWormer has 25+).
• Jordan demoted Alan VanWormer from his position as deputy superintendent as soon as Jordan found out VanWormer wanted to run against him. We guess that Jordan is a big fan of fair play. NOT!
• George Acker, Independence Party county chairman, gave Alan VanWormer a promise of support and backing from the Independence Party; Denis Jordan’s signatures were thrown out. Denis Jordan failed miserably in the primaries.
• Denis Jordan has no respect for highway department employees (ask them!). For example, one employee had a heart attack, was transported to the hospital by ambulance, in hospital and Jordan throws a fit because the employee can’t come in. Another employee is diagnosed with thyroid cancer, on chemotherapy, has side effects and can’t come back to work as planned. Jordan asks him if he wants to keep his job. Is that the kind of guy you’d like to work for?
• Jordan orders highway department employees not to speak to a certain community leader if they see him. Jordan obviously never heard of the First Amendment or of common courtesy. We’re not surprised, he’s a dumbocrap.
• The famous Jordan-Halstead truck deal: A couple of years ago (during the Louis administration), Halstead bought some trucks from Denis Jordan. Halstead then sold the trucks back to the town. Smell any corruption here?
• According to the Office of the New York State Comptroller, in an audit the Comptroller found that Jordan’s department was in violation of the New York State General Municipal Law regarding highway spending, contracts and quotes required for purchases. According to our information, Jordan is pulling some illegal tricks and is still not complying with state laws.
• When summoned by the New Baltimore town council to answer questions on his spending and purchasing practices, Denis Jordan fails to appear but sends his attorney, Maeve Tooher, recently resigned (August 24, 2015) from the NB planning board, to respond for him. Tooher, in an outrageous display of ignorance and defensiveness, defends Jordan’s violations!
• Jordan submits to the New Baltimore town council a bogus corrective action plan.
• Jordan, together with former Dumbocrap Louis-lackey Susan O’Rorke decide that they are not going to plow the Medway Grapeville fire department property. Marylyn Woodhall, a close friend of Denis Jordan, together with Jeane Horne are on the Fire Board. The fire departments have had to get outside companies to plow. Fire district funds down the chute!
• Denis Jordan, while refusing to plow fire department property, still plows New Baltimore Conservancy dumbocraps’ parking lot for $1. (Still Wondering why the New Baltimore Conservancy is supporting Arthur Fullerton and Denis Jordan? The Conservancy is on the Jordan gift-list!)
• When we talk about Denis Jordan’s gift-list friends you might want to ask some residents on Washington Avenue why their buildings are collapsing because of poor roadway and drainage maintenance! Or ask a couple of New Baltimore residents why they still don’t have the collapsed culverts repaired (Ask Bernie Jones or Patty Hildebrandt, for example, what the response has been from Mr Jordan and his department).
• Since the 2013 Comptroller’s audit, the O’Rorke administration provided Mr Jordan with a computer so that he could comply with the New York state purchasing and contracts laws, look up bids, etc. (See the O’Rorke administration’s bogus Corrective Action Plan in response to the Comptroller’s audit. The Comptroller’s 2010 audit found the same issues as the 2013 audit. Nothing changed!). But Mr Jordan is still 100% computer illiterate. Why is that?
• We have foiled public access information from Denis Jordan’s highway department and have found that Jordan does not keep complete records! No records for drain or drainage work on Madison Avenue East or New Street in the National Historic District. None at all!
• Mr Jordan has a very special relationship with Peckham Materials (road paving materials etc.), but they’re not even in Greene County! But why would Jordan pay more for materials from Peckham than he would have to pay locally? Why does Jordan refuse to get bids and quotes for the materials? Answer: Because Jordan is incompetent, corrupt, and doesn’t know the first thing about contracts!
• Finally, even though the New Baltimore town council under Nick Delisanti has purchasing policies in place to ensure compliance with the law and to provide responsible management of taxpayer dollars and to provide taxpayers with transparency and accountability, Jordan is fighting them tooth and claw. He refuses to comply with the law and with policy. He’s even breaking down purchases into multiple orders and invoices to avoid having to get approval for the amount of the whole purchase. What’s the problem Mr Jordan? Got something to hide?

Denis Jordan is a Major Loser!

That’s why Denis Jordan needs to go on November 3. Jordan needs to be replaced by Alan VanWormer, who has more experience, has been with the New Baltimore Highway Department longer, knows the business, and will provide the  transparency and accountability we all fairly expect from an elected official but can’t seem to get from Denis Jordan.

We may never be able to uncover all of Denis Jordan’s corruption — there’s just too much and it’s been going on for far too long —  but at least with someone new in the job, we can keep an eye on what the new guy does in the highway department right from the start..

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VanSlyke vs Linger for Greene County Legislature:

Mr Jim VanSlyke is running for re-election to the Greene county legislature. Mr Pat Linger is opposing him. We think a statement made by Mr vanSlyke at a recent New Baltimore town board meeting sums up Mr vanSlyke: “As a county legislator we get some money that we can give away. I have to give mine to Catskill, Cairo and Windham, because there aren’t enough organizations in New Baltimore who ask for it.” (paraphrased by informant). We expect Mr vanSlyke to have his finger on the pulses of the communities in his territory and that he should know who they are and if they need support; vanSlyke should announce the availability of the funds and organizations could then apply for them. What’s wrong with you, Mr vanSlyke? What in hell are you doing, anyway?

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You can stop corruption! The Editor

59

 

We Specialize in Rubbish Removal: A Perfect Record

We’re cleaning up!

Since the inauguration of this blog as a reliable source of community information and as a catalyst for change-for-the-better of the communities in the R-C-S southern Albany county and northern Greene county regions, we have accumulated a long list of accomplishments, thanks to the contributions and support of the communities we serve. Here are just a few that we successfully pushed to rid our communities of trash:

• John Bruno as Mayor of Ravena: He’s history.
• We showed how Nancy Warner is a two-headed snake and hypocrite: She’s history but doesn’t know it yet.
• Tom Boehm and his cronies on the Coeymans town board: He’s gone and so are they (rest to follow).
• The dirty-hands-duo Dirty-Hands-Jerry Deluca and his sidekick Gregory “Dumpy-Dumplin'” Darlington: they’re both gone (but with their pensions, regrettably!).
• The illegal and unlawful Ravena Health and Fitness Center (and its failure manager, Cathy Deluca): it’s bye-byes for the RHFC and Cathy Deluca (see below).
• The Coeymans Police Department (but we do support keeping Chief P.J. McKenna in the capacity as law enforcement liaison to the Albany County Sheriff’s Department and the New York State Police; McKenna is a professional law enforcement officer with a great deal of experience and savvy.): it’s curtains for the CPD!
• The Coeymans incestuous gang of dispatchers: they’re passé.
• In New Baltimore, we worked to get rid of the democrap mob under Susan O’Rorke and get some new blood in New Baltimore town hall: we’re working to get some work out of the new egomaniacs in NB town hall now.
• Also in New Baltimore, we worked to oust the former town clerk for alleged abuse of office: we ended up with an initial political appointee, Barbara Finke (NB town supervisor:Nick Dellisanti  “Republicans appoint republicans.” — That was a really bad response, Nick!) who ran unopposed and is now in office — Well, almost, Finke seems to be away, absent, on vacation more than she’s in the clerk’s office (but that’s fuel for another article): Bye-bye next election.
• We exposed numerous local scandals in Ravena village hall including the incompetence of the village clerk (a Bruno appointee,Annette Demitraszek, and deputy-clerk Kristine Biernacki, Nancy Warner friends), the public works scandals and Henry Traver (we have some tidbits to share on Traver and his relationship with some of the hopeless hopefuls) and Sandy Debacco, the water scandals, the Ravena mayor and boardmember health insurance benefits scandal (full-time benes for less than part-time work!), and we’re still working on those.
• In New Baltimore we exposed the scandals involving Denis Jordan, NB superintendent of highways, and his unlawful labor practices, his non-existing recordkeeping, his misuse of town resources.
• In New Baltimore we exposed the problem of Joseph Tanner, animal control officer, being paid several thousands of dollars of taxpayer money while he works full time for the New York State Department of Transportation; he can’t possibly respond to animal control calls while working on a road crew!
• An the list goes on and on and on. Just search this blog and get the facts! We’re working on some great exposés at this very time. Stay tuned!

“Dirty-Dumplin'” Darlington as Busdriver

And speaking of Gregory “Dirty-Dumplin'” Darlington, former chief of the Coeymans police department. That same dirty cop who conspired with Nancy Warner and then Ravena mayor John Bruno to harass and persecute Ravena kids, how is it that the “Dirty-Dumplin’” was recently observed driving an RCS school bus?!?! How can the RCS school board allow that weasel who was such a savage to our children only a year ago should now be have access to our children on their school buses? Where are you parents? What’s that pervert doing on the bus with your kids? Is the “Dirty Dumplin’” that hard up for a job? Won’t his fellow weasel Albany County District Attorney David Soares give him a job? Nope. Even David Soares isn’t that stupid. Only the RCS board of education can claim to be that stupid. Check out this Family Guy busdriver clip.

Not to be used to support the illegal money-pit, the Ravena Health and Fitness Center!!!

As for the Ravena Health and Fitness Center: The Ravena town board refused to fund the Ravena Heaps and Fatness Center in 2015. We certainly applauded that move but had to ask Why did it take them so long? Almost a year prior they admitted it was failing and was a money pit. At a recent Ravena village board meeting we were appalled to have heard that the Village was looking into getting county/state funds to keep the money-pit operating for another year, presumably to keep failure Cathy Deluca in a job. Where were they going to get the funds? Well, they expected to get money from the money confiscated from drug dealers and placed in a fund for supporting communities etc. The Ravena village board had better think again. Here’s Why?

• We smell corruption and collusion in that announcement. Is that why we see Dirty-Hands-Jerry Decluca‘s New York State Association of Fire Chiefs official vehicle at Ravena town hall? Is he still misusing police information to shoe-horn his pet hippo into a secure position?
• We smell Nancy Warner still trying to keep her biatch-buddy in a job but still at taxpayer expense! It’s not going to work, Nancy. That money you’re greedily eying is earmarked for worthwhile community projects, not to keep your friends in play-money!

The Ravena Health and Fitness Center is dead, and it’s going to stay that way!

According to the local rag, the Ravena News Herald, the Albany County Sheriff’s Department was “interested” in taking over the Ravena Heaps and Fatness money pit! That’s absolutely absurd! To think that Craig Apple or anyone in the Albany County Sheriff’s Department would seriously consider taking over that dump is absolutely scandalous and political suicide! Warning to Mr Apple: Stay clear of the Ravena Health and Fitness Center or face election ruin!

But according to that same report in the Ravena News Herald, Ravena hasn’t heard a peep from Mr Apple or anyone in his department regarding the alleged “interest.” Maybe there still is some sanity in Albany County.

Here’s our promise: If the Village of Ravena or anyone associated with the Village of Ravena even tries to submit a request for funds or grant money, especially from money confiscated from drug dealers, the shit will hit the fan big time. We will obtain all applications and the names of all persons involved and expose them all. We will contact all regional community-based organizations, non-profit community organizations, non-government organizations an create an avalanche that will bury Ravena village hall. Once we’ve gotten the support of regional organizations, we’ll use that support to demand investigations, audits, and prosecutions from the Office of the New York State Attorney General, the Office of the Comptroller, and others. So think again, Ravena, the Ravena Health and Fitness Center is dead, and it’s going to stay that way! And if the Albany County Sheriff is so asinine to allow himself to get involved in such a scandalous and corrupt situation, he’d better start updating his résumé because he’ll be political HISTORY in a New York minute, and be listed as a political suicide!

It’s bad enough that even a rumor is even circulating that any Albany County department would consider taking over the Ravena money pit but to think that the suggestion is that the Albany County Sheriff would be willing to redirect confiscated drug money or any public funds to the third Cathy-Deluca-failure is pure insanity. Note that Mr Apple, and note it well.

Warner and her political cronies to misuse public property for their political ambitions…What’s next, campaign signs in the windows of Ravena village hall?

Nancy Warner and Bill Bailey represent all that is corrupt in Ravena — aided and abetted by Ravena “Mayor Mouse” Misuraca’s band of retarded sockpuppets. It’s an election year and the roaches are coming out big-time! Nancy Warner is flashing her fangs from her nag’s head, together with doddering mumbler Bill Bailey, “Mr Nasty” Jim Youmans, Graveyard Manager Rick Touchette, and several other failures. Nancy Warner is dead in the water but doesn’t know it. In fact, we were flabbergasted when we drove by the village gazebo during the village-wide yard sale and saw Nancy Warner, Bill Bailey, Rick Touchette all misusing public property in their electioneering! Misusing public property for party political campaigning is heavy duty unethical and illegal. That’s the same Nancy Warner who had the Coeymans police chasing local village kids when the kids were hanging out at the Gazebo. But it’s OK for Warner and her political cronies to misuse public property for their political ambitions. Right? WRONG! We’d also like to remind our readers, especially our Ravena readers, that it was Nancy Warner [with the support of Bill Bailey] who orchestrated the mindless scandal of creating the Ravena Health and Fitness Center — which we all now know was devouring more than $100,000 a year of Ravena taxpayer dollars before the Ravena board woke up and admitted it was a failure and a money pit —, and it was Nancy Warner, who hired known failure Cathy Deluca to be manager of the fitness center, and who ensured that Ravena village hall insider Robert Fisk managed to collect more than $40, 000 of Ravena taxpayer dollars for his used fitness equipment. And it’s that same Bill Bailey who wants to meter and charge Coeymans fire department for the water they use in responding to emergencies, putting out fires! And it’s the same Nancy Warner and Bill Bailey who want to turn off water to the hamlet of Coeymans. And, Yup!, it’s the same Nancy Warner and Bill Bailey who, for years, have been involved in the unlawful and improper water and sewer billing practices in Ravena. But now they’re looking for your votes! No Way José!

And let us remind RCS residents and taxpayers that it was Nancy Warner and Bill Bailey who upped the RCS Community Library’s rent an additional $600-700 a month to force the library to vacate the library space for the money pit Ravena Health and Fitness Center. And it was Nancy Warner and Bill Bailey along with former Mayor John Bruno and his puppets on the Ravena village board who were constantly threatening the RCS Community Library with eviction. Show us any other community in the civilized world that would do that to its community library!

Warner and Bailey: Illegal and unfair water and sewer billing, shadey bookkeeping, harassment of our kids, illegal and unethical campaign practices, abuse of the community library, supporters of the Cathy Deluca failure system a.k.a. the Ravena Health and Fitness Center, insider dealers. Do you still want to put them back in village hall?

Tom Dolan and Peter Masti of the Coeymans town board are also looking for election to political office. Tom Dolan is an abject failure and an embarrasment to the democrap party: he’s managed to lose his grip on every important issue and is waffler-in-chief on the Coeymans town board. Dolan has to go and like yesterday. He’s got a lot of negative baggage, too, like his alleged manipulation of voting through is Choices office. That’s going to follow him. And let’s not forget the favors he allegedly accepted from local town and village justices for his kids’ drinking and drug problems. He’s corrupt and is not above taking unethical and illegal favors.

Peter Masti misuses Holy Scripture because he misunderstands it — we don’t need to elect fanatics or more tunnel-vision in local government!

Now native Californian Peter Masti, who likes to remind readers of his many letters to the editor in the Troy Record that he’s a registered nurse, is a real dud. We’ve pubished some of his lunatic letters to the editor. Now we’d be the last to malign religion and spirituality, but Masti’s sense of god is perverse. He’s a literalist and fundamentalist (he uses the Bible as a weapon to control, that is, he misuses Holy Scripture because he misunderstands it.) He’s been an embarrassment on the Coeymans town board since he’s was elected. Fanatics and tunnel-vision have no place in our government and we need to start cleaning house at the local level.

“Cryptkeeper”Touchette Campaigning

And then there’s Rick Touchette. Touchette has a reputation for lying through is teeth but that’s no news in Ravena-Coeymans politics, much less in Albany democrap circles. We all know that Albany County is already a social and economic graveyard, and that Coeymans and Ravena are even deader. So it’s only natural that Rick Touchette, with his extensive credentials and experience in managing graveyards, should want to run for Albany County legislator. C’mon people, wake up and smell the decaying corpses we have running for public office. The irony of Touchette’s ambition as published in the Ravena News Herald (June 11, 2015) really made us laugh. Here’s a guy (Rick Touchette) whose entire experience is managing cemeteries and now he wants to legislate for Albany County. Now really, neighbors, isn’t that scarey? The Cryptkeeper wants to be your legislator!

Rick Touchette’s career is managing cemeteries. Like Ravena/Coeymans, Albany?

For some years now Touchette has been the executive director of the Albany [Roman Catholic] Diocesan Cemeteries, and if you’ve ever had to deal with that bunch of anal freaks, you’d steer well clear of Touchette.

Together We Can Do Better!
Take Control!
The Editor

25

 

Coeymans: Urgent Need for Blood!!! Here’s why…

Update: An inspection of the signs we reported to be blocking visibility at the intersection of Main St/Church St (Rt 143) and Westerlo St in the Hamlet of Coeymans shows that the offending signs have been rearranged following our report. We are pleased to note that Ravena/Coeymans officials read this blog and take its advice to heart. Maybe next time the geniuses will use their heads and save some trouble and embarrassment.

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Government Special Privileges, Political Correctness, Squashing Freedom of Speech, Government Spying on Citizens, Your Electronic Devices Tracking Everything You Do and Say, Dumbing Down of America. Thought Police and Big Brother is Here!!!
George Orwell was right!
Image source: Allriot. Visit the Allriot site for great tee-shirt ideas!

The Editor’s Summer Reading Recommendation: George Orwell’s novel, 1984. More on why in an upcoming article. View one of the original “1984” b/w film versions, made in 1956, at [click on the link ⇒]  “Original 1984” (or an original b/w version made in [click on the link⇒] “1954 1984“)or the trailer for the 1984 remake at [click on the link⇒] 1984 “1984”. The movie is incredibly prophetic and wakes us up to what’s actually happening today! Watch it or read the book and let us know what you think!

George Orwell’s 1984. Written in 1948, 1984 was George Orwell’s chilling prophecy about the future. And while 1984 has come and gone, Orwell’s narrative is timelier than ever. 1984 presents a startling and haunting vision of the world, so powerful that it is completely convincing from start to finish. No one can deny the power of this novel, its hold on the imaginations of multiple generations of readers, or the resiliency of its admonitions—a legacy that seems only to grow with the passage of time. Read the Huffington Post’s chilling article on 1984 at [click on the link ⇒] George Orwell’s ‘1984’ Book Sales Skyrocket In Wake Of NSA Surveillance Scandal.

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How typical! Right in front of the Coeymans Firehouse/Rescue building the very hazardous intersection of Main/Church Street (RT 143) and Westerlo Street in Coeymans Hamlet, right across from the Pieter B. Coeymans elementary school and right in front of the Coeymans Fire Company, some bunch of morons have cluttered the corner with signs that make it virtually impossible to see oncoming traffic on Main Street! Of course they need more blood! Do you think they could obstruct visibility any more completely?

We’d to know who the morons are who have cluttered this already hazardous intersection! Is this job security for the Coeymans Fire Department and the Rescue Squad?
Do you wonder that they urgently need blood?

Considering that Coeymans has a Coeymans Fire Company and Coeymans Rescue Squad. And considering that Coeymans has a police department, it’s incredible that none of these “public safety” groups has had the brains to remove these signs from the intersection to allow motorists to have a clear view of traffic and to safely enter Main/Church Street (Rt 143)! What a bunch of clowns!

Well, now the problem arises for Coeymans residents that when an accident does happen, and the lawsuits start coming in, we can safely say that the town of Coeymans’ liability will be invoked because of its stupidity and indifference in allowing the signs to be placed in such a position as to obstruct visibility and to adversely affect motorist safety. We’ll be watching.

Who are the morons who put all those signs on that corner, we’d like to know! And PUHLEEZ get some class; Coeymans Landing Celebration on the back of a cardboard box?!?! Can’t you people afford to at least get a piece of sign board? What a bunch of hicks!

Coeymans gets the Dumbass Award this time!

Coeymans Clowns
Coeymans Fire Company, Coeymans Rescue Squad, Coeymans Police Department
[Shown left to right]

15

Ravena Village Board is Cheating Ravena!

Stay tuned! We’ll be publishing the scandalous abuse of the public trust by the Ravena village board and their presumption to give themselves full healthcare benefits at the cost of thousands a month. How dare they be so arrogant and irresponsible to give themselves full-time benefits for a fraction of part-time work! Stand by for our full report.

 

Ravena gives Clerk-Treasurer Private Lessons @ $310/hour!!!

The Village of Ravena, that is, Nancy Warner, has hired an Albany accounting consulting firm, SaxBST, to provide Quickbooks training to Ravena Clerk-Treasurer Annette  Demitraszek paying the consultant doing the training, Lynda P. Smith, $175.00/hour and the other consultant, a SaxBST partner, Willard G. Reynolds, $310.00/hour. Question is: Why isn’t the village of Ravena using some of the less expensive training available? Question is: Why does the village of Ravena have to spend $18,000 for the first year fee to have SaxBST train Demitraszek when someone already with the knowledge should have been hired? Question is: Why hasn’t Nancy Warner, who claims to have 30 years in Ravena village hall training her so-called clerk-treasurers? Question is: If Nancy Warner is so damned concerned about “wasting taxpayer dollars” why is she hiring SaxBST at the rate of $300.00/hour?

Village of Ravena Accounting Principle

Why is Ravena Paying $310.00/hour or $18,000 a Year to Provide Private Lessons for the Clerk-Treasurer?

Nancy Warner, the Ravena village trustee, who is so concerned about wasting taxpayer money when responding to residents’ requests or problems, despite her gung-ho support of the money pit Ravena Health and Fitness Center that devoured more than $200,000 of taxpayer money, while paying fitness-center virus Cathy Deluca more than $60,000 of that money to run yet another fitness center into oblivion, has done it again!

We have received paperwork that shows that Nancy Warner has contracted an outside consultant firm to train her two sockpuppets, Annette Demitraszek and Kristine Biernacki, how to use  Quickbooks accounting software. That’s all well and good but here’s where it gets to be a scandal:

Nancy Warner and her cronies on the Ravena village board headed by Ravena mayor Bill “Mouse” Misuraca, Joel Coye, Keith Mahler and Bill Bailey, are spending what looks like $18,000 at a rate of $300.00/hour to the consultant firm to train the gals on site at the Ravena Village Hall.

We’re not only questioning the wisdom and the logic behind spending that kind of money on consultant fees, we’ve got an even better question for Nancy Warner: If you’ve been on board at Ravena village hall for more than 30 years, earlier as village clerk and then as village trustee, this “training” should have been done way back then. What this means is that until now, village accounting and bookkeeping was not being done correctly (the Comptroller’s audits have already pointed this fact out on several occasions). Why is it that village staff are being trained now and at such great cost to taxpayers? Accounting practices and laws don’t change over night; if the state does change practices and laws for villages and towns, they send out bulletins and advisories announcing the pending changes. Where was Ravena village administration when all of this was happening, Nancy? Bill Bailey? Were you asleep on watch? Wasn’t this your responsibility, Nancy Warner?

Yeah! Nancy. That’s what we thought your answer would be!

Now, we know you’re just dying to know where the money for this irresponsible and insane spending spree is coming from, so we’d like to tell you.

The firm providing the training is the Albany accounting, taxation, and advisory firm, SaxBST, located on Computer Drive. They don’t necessarily provide “training” but are providing their services as consultants (consultants are astronomically more expensive than mere “trainers”). One of the partners, Willard J. Reynolds, who is providing “services” bills at the rate of $310.00/hour. The other “trainer”, Lynda P. Smith, who isn’t even listed on the SaxBST site, bills at a rate of $170.00/hour.
According to the papers we have received, per a document stamped “Received” by the “Town Clerk” on April 24, 2015, the Village of Ravena was billed $5,550.00 on November 30, 2014 for a meeting with “the mayor, 2 board members, Annette.” That invoice shows the proposed first year fee of $18,000 (less the $5,550 billed, leaving a balance of $12,450). The village of Ravena was billed $2,867.00 on December 31, 2014 for “meetings with Annette” and “in-office discussions and research” by Smith (15 hours) and Reynolds (3/4 of an hour). The balance of the first year fee on December 31, 2014 was $9,583.00. We can’t seem to locate the line item for these expenses in the 2015-16 Ravena Village Budget, so where’s the balance supposed to coming from?

Back to where the money was coming from to pay this extravagance. The SaxBST invoice for $5550.00 was vouchered and processed for payment on or around December 15, 2014. The SaxBST invoice for $2867.00 was received by the Village of Ravena on January 12, 2006, and approved for payment.

So where is the village of Ravena, Nancy Warner, finding the cash to pay for all of this. Well, we didn’t have to look far. All we had to do is look on the payment vouchers and then at the line items in the Village of Ravena budget, and match them up. You see, Nancy Warner and the village of Ravena board are tapping several other accounts to get their hands on the money. For example, to pay the $5550.00 they used $3885.00 from line item A1320.426 (Auditor-Contractual Services), $832.00 from line item F1320.426 (Auditor-Contractual Services), and $832.00 from line item G1320.426 (Auditor-Contractual Services). To pay the $2867.00 they used $2006.90 from line item A1320.426 (Auditor-Contractual Services), $430.00 from line item F1320.426 (Auditor-Contractual Services), and $430.00 from line item G1320.426 (Auditor-Contractual Services). They just barely made it in the 2014-15 budget but it doesn’t appear that they will in the 2015-16 budget because two of the line items: F1320.426 (Auditor-Contractual Services) and G1320.426 (Auditor-Contractual Services) don’t appear in that budget. So our question is: Where are they going to get the balance of more than $9,000 to cover the outstanding balance for the year’s SaxBST fees?

Click on this link to download the actual documents we are referring to: FOILed Ravena Vouchers

Now get this: Nancy Warner is the contact person shown on the correspondence from SaxBST. Annette Demitraszek, the assistant clerk-treasurer, a Bruno appointee and a Misuraca re-appointee, official Nancy-Warner-sockpuppet, is the village employee, the “authorized official” who is certifying and approving the expenditure. Now isn’t that delicious: Nancy Warner, who is so concerned about wasting taxpayer dollars, is having her cronies privately trained on site, on village time by consultants billing at the rate of $175/h and $310/hour!!! And guess who is certifying and approving the payment of the fat invoices? None other than the very person receiving the training and benefits: Annette Demitraszek, village of Ravena clerk-treasurer! Anybody smell a rat yet?

About $20 from Amazon or Barnes&Noble!

So we did a little research on Quickbooks training. You can get a 2-day mastery course for $499.00  and do it on line with Intuit, who has trained more than 2 million government and business clients and for $999.99 you can become a Quickbooks VIP member and enjoy extended benefits . We won’t go into the benefits of these programs but will mention that local community colleges have ongoing courses for Quickbooks in their continuing education programs. Why didn’t the dumbasses in Ravena village hall consider any of these options? Because it’s easier to sit on their fat asses in village hall and spend Ravena taxpayer’s dollars. That’s why.

Better still, buy the Quickbooks for Dummies — if Demitrazek and the Ravena village board can qualify as dumbasses, they’ll ace the dummies course —, available from Amazon or Barnes&Noble for the outrageous price of $20.00. Now why didn’t Nancy Warner think of that?

We’d also like to speculate that there’s something in this wild spending to benefit someone in village hall. Why would Ravena’s elected officials be so irresponsible and expose themselves to such scandalous ridicule if they weren’t getting something big in return. What’s in it for Nancy Warner, we’d like to ask? It just wouldn’t make sense being so irresponsible so openly if they weren’t getting something considerable in return. Kickbacks? Favors? We do know that Annette Demitraszek is walking away with knowledge obtained in private lessons by some pretty pricey tutors, and she’s doing it on your tab. It’ll look good on her résumé when she goes job hunting when Ravena taxpayers demand she be fired, and Nancy Warner’s brought up on charges.

Now don’t you think you should be attending village of Ravena village board meetings and asking some questions about how your money is being spent?

Nancy Warner: How to Manage Ravena Taxpayer Dollars
The Editor

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Ravena: The Scandal Continues

Henry Traver’s $11,000 Pay Raise is Scandalous. Here’s Why:

It’s springtime and you’ll be promenading along the dusty streets of Ravena, chatting to the music of passing heavy trucks,  deeply savoring the stench of diesel fuel, while Carver Laraway is hobnobbing with the New York State governor’s aides, trying to cut deals to repair at taxpayer expense the roads, especially Rt 144, damaged by Carver Companies’ trucks, and while Michael Biscone, Jerry Perrine and Larry Conrad are filling in wetlands with toxic fill and burying natural waterways. (Biscone and Conrad invented the boardgame, “Bury the Creek“.)  Where’s the DEC when Biscone, Perrine and Conrad are doing their mischief? Your elected RCS board of education members are spending your tax dollars hand over fist while putting their own homes up for sale to move out of the area. Yes, all you have to do is ask your RCS board of education president, James Latter, and board member Alice Whalen Why? Why did they run for elected board of education office if they were simply going to jump ship after doing their damage. YES! Ravena-Coeymans, you asked for it and you got it.

More smoke and mirrors regarding the failed Ravena Health and Fitness Center…When will we ever get the truth?

Now, it may be true that you weren’t even asked by the Bruno-Warner-Deluca trio whether you needed or even wanted to spend more than $100,000 a year on a substandard fitness center run by an mutiple-failure, Cathy Deluca. But John Bruno, Nancy Warner and Cathy Deluca made the decision for you and you had to live with it for more than two years. Now mayor William “Mouse” Misuraca and his sockpuppet Bill Bailey are telling us that two individuals want to invest private funds in the dump. Well, if there are that many whackos with too much money that they don’t know what to do with it, we can think of dozens of better investments. Asked by a local resident who the so-called interested parties were, the board couldn’t — or wouldn’t say. Why is that? What’s the big secret? What are you giving away now? Shouldn’t we know the name of the “investors“, the heroes who are going to save your political arses? Who may be going to save Ravena taxpayers from abject bankruptcy? Isn’t it our business who is interested and potentially going to take over a dead business in Ravena, a dead business that is still being financed by public tax dollars? We think so, and we want to know who these so-called investors are. Don’t you, residents, neighbors?

Question: If supporters of the Ravena Health and Fitness Center want to claim that the Fatness Center brings business to Ravena, can they explain Why? during the two years the Fatness Center has been operating, at least 4 businesses have closed their doors in Ravena? This includes Mr Aaron Flach closing his drycleaning operation and terminating the staff of the drycleaning business and the laundromat attendants. If that’s how the Fitness Center is attracting business, we’d better expidite closing Cathy Deluca’s playmen before the few remaining businesses pull up stakes!

When asked by a resident at the April 21, 2014, village board meeting: If the unidentified investors don’t take over the Ravena Health and Fitness Center, what will the village do with the equipment that the village of Ravena purchased from Bob Fisk for $40,000? Ravena village board member William “Bill” Bailey simply replies: “We’ll probably auction it.” And likely get ten cents on the dollar for it! Your tax dollars at work, Ravena!

Ravena village trustee Nancy Warner ousted from key positions…No longer supervising her husband’s court operations,  dirty village judge Harold “Hal” Warner. Too bad, Hal, this must mean you might be the one getting a stiff sentence.

But things are looking up when you consider that Nancy Warner is being sidelined and has been demoted. Good news is that she’s no longer supervising her crooked husband’s village court operations. Dirty-Judge Harold “Hal” Warner, Nancy Warner’s husband, will have to deal with another board member supervising his village kangaroo court operations. We’ll be watching to see if there are any improvements or, as we expect, it will be business as usual.

But let’s turn our attention now to the village of Ravena Department of Public Works, the village department that works very hard to avoid working. We recently reported that the village of Ravena Department of Public Works foreman, Henry Traver, has been awarded a more than $11,000 pay raise; he’s now going to make more than $60, 000 a year plus benes! How does the Ravena village board explain that one? Do you have mayor Mouse Misuraca’s telephone number? Give him a call or give one of those talking heads on the village board a call and ask why in hell are they rewarding a dunce?!?

Ravena board to dump more stone on village streets to be washed away …

Well, we also reported how, last year the village of Ravena Department of Public Works under foreman Henry Traver, dumped tons of stone on local Ravena streets, and we warned that it would be washed away or plowed away by spring. Guess what? Central Avenue in Ravena was one of those streets that they covered with the loose stone. Walk along Central Avenue today and you’ll see how our prediction came true. The stone is gone and you can see the old street surface. Your tax dollars at work. But now they’re planning to do the same thing on about a dozen other streets in Ravena. Why are you still reading this? Call Ravena mayor “Mouse” Misuraca and raise some hell!

Ravena storm drains filled to the grill with debris and dirt!

We’ve already reported on the dire condition of the fire hydrants in Ravena-Coeymans and we’re pleased to see that someone’s built a fire under some butts to get them serviced. That’s the good news. But while you’re taking your daily constitutional on the broken streets of Ravena, amuse yourself by the state of the storm drains. We recently surveyed the storm drains on Main Street and a couple of side streets and found that a number of them were filled with debris and dirt to within inches of the grill (see the picture below) !!!

Ravena Storm Drain Filled to the Top with Debris and Dirt!
Henry Traver’s Supposed to be Maintaining Them

We need to ask Ravena mayor “Mouse” Misuraca and his board of sockpuppets Why? are these storm drains in such a deplorable state? These drains must be maintained to keep water from eroding the streets and flooding our homes!!! So, instead of maintaining the storm drains, Henry Traver rides around in circles in the village vehicles, and the Ravena village board gives him an $11, 000 pay raise. Doesn’t Ravena see anything wrong with this picture?

Ravena-Coeymans isn’t alone when it comes to incompetent management of municipal, village and town infrastructure. New Baltimore is on a par or at least running a close second position in terms of incompetence and waste by the Highway Department under the mismanagement of Mr Denis Jordan, who has screwed up the drainage and streets in the Hamlet of New Baltimore to an embarrassing level. If it were Ravena or Coeymans Hamlet we’d be writing that it was a plot by Michael Biscone and Larry Conrad to get the homes condemned so that they could buy them up for a penny. But New Baltimore isn’t that sophisticated; New Baltimore is just incompetent. So if you were to take two dildos, throw them into a bag and shake them up, do you know what you’d get if you emptied the bag? Yup! Two dildos. That’s what we got in Ravena and New Baltimore wrecking our infrastructure and wasting our tax dollars; and they’re dressed up like Henry Traver and Denis Jordan.

Traver and Jordan Dressed as Bananas
The Editor

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Time to Goose the Moose! Make Ready the Noose!

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