Well, Coeymans! You can’t say we didn’t warn you!

Here we are in the middle of a pandemic! Meetings, group assemblies, even church gatherings are forbidden. No public meetings. You’re made anonymous and invisible because you have to hide your faces! The supermarket shelves are bare. Government and utilities are forgiving or suspending payment obligations, and providing safety nets! But George McHugh and his puppets in Town Hall are sticking it to you when you’re down, hurting, and unable to gather to protest. Lousy sneaks!

 

Looks like Coeymans Sole Assessor, Dawn DeRose, has either joined the rat pack or has been bullied into supporting their plans.

Reactions: Scott Searles, Repubican Highway Superintendent, chimes in to defend his keepers saying that Smalbany is blaming and lying. Mr Searles was instructed in what an anus is: ” The anus has eyes to see but is blind to reality; ears to hear but is deaf to truth; a nose to smell but can’t find the rats under his own nose; a tongue to taste but has none; and fingers to feel but has no sense and so has no feeling.” We’re guessing Mr Searles doesn’t know what an anus is.

Trevor Walsick doesn’t address the assessment problem but rants that “the residents of the town Coeymans realized by aligning with someone sick as yourself that Crandall and Dolan were a lost cause! Record turnout sealed the deal… The residents have spoken and you again solidified the win!!” Record turnout? The only “turnout” was residents’ stomach contents when they found out what the few voters who went out did to the Town of Coeymans. Mr Walsick is true to the second half of his name: SICK! But that’s fine because Trevor Walsick is a fake and a coward. His Facebook page features a car photo as the profile picture and he doesn’t have the balls to provide profile information. What that means is that Trevor Walsick is probably a nobody being impersonated by one of the Fiends of Coeymans, McHugh’s neonazis. Even if Trevor Walsick actually existed, he doesn’t own any property in the Town of Coeymans, so he wouldn’t have much to say, would he? That’s if he were real.

Neither Searles nor the fake Walsick seem to recall their darling McHugh during his single term as supervisor in 2001, left Coeymans with a 16% tax increase. Most of the fools who voted for him probably weren’t even in the area at the time; those who were probably drink Ravena water, which would explain the brain liquefaction. 

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But George McHugh, his puppet Coeymans Town Board, Zachary Collins, Brendon Lefevre, Daniel Baker, and Kenneth Burns,  and their town employees under their control are taking scandalous advantage of Town residents!

McHugh

Property owners are being slammed with incredible increases in their property taxes! Have you gotten your property tax bill yet? Some assessments have tripled. All of this during a pandemic when you can’t even go to a town board meeting to complain. All of this being done behind closed doors by your Friends of Coeymans!

You need to protest in numbers! You need to hit the streets! You need to organize! You need to put signs on your over-assessed properties pointing the finger at McHugh and his Town Board puppets!

Phil Crandall and Tom Dolan WARNED you about these bastards! Now you’re seeing it happen. Get ready for mass rape!

Flood Town Hall with Grievances! Send letters to your tenants telling them that because of the massive increases in property taxes, you’re going to have to massively raise their rents! Those tenants who are leasing, give them notice that their leases are going to be massively increased because of the Town of Coeymans sneaky, villainous behind closed doors robbery during a pandemic!

NOW THEY WANT A NEW TOWN HALL!!! WHY??? WHO’S GOING TO PAY FOR IT??? WHO’S GOING TO GET THE CONTRACTS??? Anyone who benefits from the McHugh mob’s corruption should be shunned by the community. No one needs their money enough to have to sell his or her soul!!!

We warned you well in advance of the elections! You saw the Friends of Coeymans thugs in action at Town Board meetings! You knew all about McHugh’s lies and his puppets, Collins and Lefevre’, we warned you about Daniel Baker, sockpuppet and turncoat polecat!.

Maybe you should be asking if Carver Laraway’s properties have been massively reassessed. Or Lafarge’s. Or Aaron Flach’s? Perrine’s. Misuraca’s. How about Zachary Collin’s family’s business properties? Ask Questions. Get answers!

If you are outraged at the dishonesty and sneakiness in Coeymans Town Hall, we want to hear from you at rcs.confidential@gmail.com. We’re prepared to organize and coordinate protest actions against McHugh and his pack of thugs and liars. Contact us about your property, how much your assessment has increased, and what you think of this scandalous breach of trust!

Yeah! They’re business friendly all right! That’s how they attract new residents and businesses: raise property taxes 300%. That’s the McHugh plan! Then when people cant pay their taxes, McHugh, Carver Laraway, Michael Biscone, the Collins fuel and excavation business, and all their coneys will be there to get your property real cheap, after the tax sale!

You all need to get Phil Crandall and Tom Dolan on your team and advising your committees! They knew what was going on and what was going to happen! They tried to tell you but you listened to the thugs and liars instead. Nice going, dumbasses!

Contact us at rcs.confidential@gmail.com and tell us your story. Then storm the News Herald and force them to print the truth for once!

And start writing to your fascist Coeymans Town Board and let them know what you think! And don’t forget your Coeymans Sole Assessor, Dawn DeRose. Ask her what she thinks she’s doing? Ask her why she’s jumped ship to join the McHugh mob? Ask her if she’s been bullied by McHugh and his mob or if she’s just one of them?

Now’s the time to get on Facebook and start getting the ball rolling for mass protests and flooding Town Offices with complaints!

• You need to get the word out about what McHugh and his mob are doing in Coeymans!
• You need to file your complaints and grievances with the Town; let them know how unhappy you are with them.
• Let your tenants know their rents are going to way up, thanks to McHugh and his thugs raising your property taxes!
• Ask McHugh and his mob if that’s what they call business friendly. You know, their slogan to get themselves re-elected. How does raising property taxes help small businesses and encourage people to settle in Coeymans? Wasn’t that what McHugh, Collins, Lefevre, and Baker promised to get elected.
• Ask yourself who McHugh’s tax hike is most likely to hurt? You or Lafarge? You or Carver Laraway? You or Collins Fuel (Zachry Collin’s company)?
• Ask yourself how McHugh’s backstabbing is going to encourage families to buy [overtaxed] property and settle in Coeymans. Wasn’t that one of their campaign promises?
• Ask yourself how many Coeymans businesses McHugh’s, Collins’, Lefevre’s, Baker’s and Burns’ lies are going to benefit.

 

Here is their contact information:

George D. McHugh – gmchugh@coeymans.org
Current Term Expires December 31, 2021

YOU’RE SCUMBAG LIARS!!!

Secretary to the Supervisor (Isn’t this McHugh’s wife?!?)
Candace McHugh – cmchugh@coeymans.org

Daniel D. Baker – Council – dbaker@coeymans.org
Current Term expires December 31, 2021

Kenneth A. Burns – Council – kburns@coeymans.org
Current Term expires December 31, 2021

Zachary S. Collins – Council – zcollins@coeymans.org
Current Term expires December 31, 2023

Brandon L. LeFevre – Council – blefevre@coeymans.org
Current Term expires December 31, 2023

YOU BETRAYED US!!!

Sole Assessor
Dawn DeRose
Phone (518)756-8927
E-mail – assessor@coeymans.org

UPDATE FOR THE 2020 REASSESSMENT PROJECT

…AND YOU’RE SICKENING!!!

Editor’s Note:

FOR THE RECORD

As most of our readers know, we interviewed Mr Crandall and Mr Dolan several weeks before the elections, and we posted the full-text transcripts of the interviews. As for the reval of Coeymans properties, Mr Crandall had this to say:

“We, looked into a “reval” And it was due; it was overdue. It should be done every 10 years so now it’s 12 years. However, the businesses in Town were at approximately 85% of true market value (TMV) and home ownership was at 95% of TMV. That should all be at 100 percent. So, in essence the homeowners were partially subsidizing the businesses in the Town. So, with the reval coming through that will all be taken care of, there will be a fair tax rate for everyone. Some will go up a little bit, most will go down a little bit. But businesses will definitely have to come up with their fair share, where they should be.” [My underlining for emphasis]

For those of our readers who do not know what “reval” means, it’s short for revaluation. Revaluation rates are market rates from a specific point in time that are used as a base value to assess whether rates are too high or too low for certain categories of property, activities, etc. Revaluation rates are often referred to as “reval rates.”

Mr Crandall was up front in saying that the reval of town properties was overdue, and that businesses were going to carry their fair share. He also was honest when he said that some properties will increase “a little bit.” He emphasized fairness.

Mr Crandall also emphasized that larger businesses sucking the community dry and repeatedly asking for tax breaks and consideration under the PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) program were no longer going to get a free ride. Again, Mr Crandall emphasized fairness to property owners and small businesses.

This is all water under the bridge now but the complete interview transcripts are still available for anyone who wants to read them and learn what Mr Crandall and his Town Board planned to do. That was black letter commitment, and Mr Crandall knew that once he said something and it went on record, there was no turning back.

No one can say the same for Mr McHugh and his mob. McHugh refused to be interviewed and refused to debate. That should say it all. Now Coeymans residents and taxpayers have to deal with the reality of what’s happening in the town!

Our question would be to Mr McHugh: “How do you expect to attract more small businesses and new families to Coeymans when you have increased Full Market Values and Taxable Property Values?”

We will be watching the grievances and the final tax rolls very closely and we’ll compare 2018 and 2019 property values and assessments with the 2020 finalized tax rolls, and report on what we find.

The Editor

 

 

Christmas is Coming Early this Year: Crandall Interviews

The Crandall interviews were done yesterday evening, and will be published in three segments during the week of October 21-25, 2019. There’s a lot of great information in those interview questions, so the Smalbany blog want’s to get it out there in small doses. A short commentary on the interviews will be published in advance of the Interviews. Get the word out and send this link to all your friends and contacts: https://smalbanynewyork.wordpress.com/

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Only Cowards Hide Behind Silence and Lies

George McHugh has avoided debating Phil Crandall on at least three occasions. Crandall stated his willingness and provided McHugh with dates for at least 3 debate opportunities. McHugh has gone into hiding. His thugs, calling themselves “Friends of Coeymans,” are taking care of spreading the fear and the false facts (read: lies).

George McHugh was invited at least three times to be interviewed to answer questions about his background, the judgeship he doesn’t seem to want to talk about, his connections with LaFarge, Carver Laraway, Billy Biers, the Ravena News Herald, Mark Vinciguerra, the State Racing Commission, how he allegedly got fired by Carver Laraway, etc., etc., but he has refused to be interviewed. We wanted to know why he has to misrepresent the facts and talk gibberish in his campaign. All McHugh and his thugs can do is make wild vague statements without presenting any real meat-and-potato facts. We have the documents and the facts already, all we want from McHugh is his statements on what we have, but he’s running scared.

McHugh’s version of transparency is about as clear as mud; the same stuff he and his friends like to sling instead of arguing with facts and truth.

Mudslinging: promoting lies and making accusations against the opposing party in order to make themselves look better.
The McHugh campaign strategy supported by the Coeymanazi Clowns, Friends of Coeymans.

If McHugh Won’t Answer Questions Now, Do You Think He’s Going be More Transparent, Open, and Accountable IF Elected? NOT!!!

Why is George McHugh so terrified of debating or interviewing? 

We know why he’s so terrified of debating or interviewing. We have documents and facts to show that he’s a crook, a coward, and worse: a LIAR.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Wouldn’t it be great if liar’s did actually catch fire?

Zach Collins and Brandon Lefevre: Daddy McHugh’s got your Strings, Boys. Just Dance for Daddy!

So you think Georgie Boy is such a war hero? You think he’s God’s gift to Coeymans with his two young pups; “pups”.that’s short for PUPPETS. Georgie will be pulling their chains and their strings just like he’s doing now. They’re too young and gullible to see through his sneaky plan for them.

Zach Collins + Brandon Lefevre
Enjoy the dance, boys. Daddy McHugh will pull your strings.

For the Tanners and Driscoll-s, and the rest of the friendless and brainless who hang out on the Friends of Coeymans page, and can’t read between the lines of their propaganda, we’re providing you with a picture that you just might understand.

George McHugh and his thugs, Friends of Coeymans, are playing Coeymans voters like puppets on strings.  Dance little puppets! Dance!
Manipulating and controlling with threats and lies. Facebook has become Friends of McHugh’s weapon of mass destruction, and McHugh wants to make Coeymans Ground Zero!

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Read the Excerpts from Segments 1, 2, and 3 of the Crandall Interview:
Crandall Interview: Segment 1
Crandall Interview: Segment 2
Crandall Interview: Segment 3

Plus the Featured Resident Comment:
The Coeymans Clowns, the FoC, Are True to Their Reputation: Thugs

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If they want to be elected, we’re going to grill them! Re: George McHugh.

Incumbent Town of Coeymans Supervisor, Phil Crandall, has accepted our invitation to be interviewed, we are now negotiating a date and time for the interview.

In his email response to our proposed interviewer, Mr Crandall writes (September 3, 2019):

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“Thank you for reaching out to me in regards to an interview. I am happy to schedule that and should be able to get back to you after the holiday with my exact availability and some possible dates. Thank you again”

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We are now calling on Mr George McHugh, a candidate expecting to run against Mr Crandall this November, and hoping to take the office of Town Supervisor, and to take control of the Coeymans Town Council.

Our Reaction.

McHugh is campaigning behind an ambiguous campaign slogan, “Take Back Our Town,” which makes us wonder who is taking back whose town, and what’s going to be left for small businesses and for any remaining residents, after the so-called Friends of Coeymans all get their share of the post-election booty.

But in all fairness, we want Mr McHugh to have a fair opportunity to clarify some issues and to show that his commitment to transparency is no bullshit. Back to  our invitation to Mr McHugh. Here are our proposed questions for Mr McHugh:

Dance, Georgie! Dance for us, Georgie!

Proposed Interview Questions
George McHugh
Candidate, Town of Coeymans Supervisor

1. You were elected to be Town of Coeymans Supervisor back in 2001, served one term, and then did not run for a second term. Why was that?
2. The question of the Blaisdell Farm property and your housing project on that property has been the subject of a number of inquiries, particularly the fact that the property was annexed by the Village of Ravena at about the time you were Coeymans Town Supervisor, or shortly after you left office. Would you please comment on the circumstances of that annexation and how you benefited from it?
3. You were appointed to a federal administrative law judgeship. It would appear that you are no longer serving in that capacity. Can you tell us what happened to the judgeship?
4. Your campaign slogan is “Take Back Our Town,” from whom do you expect to take it back?
5. Who are the Friends of Coeymans? Do they have names?
6. According to our information, you serve in several capacities as a paid consultant or employee of the Carver Companies. Will you be resigning those positions if you are elected?
7. How will your cozy relationships with Carver Laraway and the Carver group of companies affect your fitness to be Supervisor of the Town of Coeymans?
8. You were outspoken in your opposition to the Town of Coeymans clean air law which purported to ensure good air and environmentally friendly air quality but you campaign on a promise to improve quality of life in Coeymans. That law was passed. How does opposition to clean air advocate quality of life for Coeymans residents?
9. In terms of improvement of quality of life, and other than opposing clean air, what other proposals do you have for QoL improvements?
10. In you campaign ads you suggest that you will do a number of things if elected. But our investigations show that you would not have the authority to make good on those promises, since most, if not all of those promises are state level powers. What do you have to say about that?
11. As former owner of the Ravena News Herald, can you please comment on your relationship with Mark Vinciguerra and the Ravena News Herald, now owned by V. as part of his Capital Region Independent Media?
12. Do you currently hold an ownership or financial interest in the Ravena News Herald?
13. What do you feel you can offer Coeymans that current Town Supervisor Crandall cannot?
14. What would be your major criticisms of Mr. Crandall and the current Coeymans Town Board?
15. Given the questions regarding the role of the Coeymans Police Department in the death of 19-year old Riley Kern: What would your plan be for the Town of Coeymans Police Department.
16. Hypothetically, if you were Town Supervisor, how would you good faith in responding to the many questions in the Riley Kern alleged wrongful death case?
17. There is evidence that acting Coeymans Police Chief Mr. Daniel Contento and Coeymans police officer Ian Foard had handled the Riley Kern investigation not only unprofessionally but professionally negligently. We are aware that you have been in contact and communicating with Mrs Kern about her son’s death. If elected, what would you as Town of Coeymans Supervisor, in cooperation with the Town Board that would be controlled by your group, plan to do to support Emily Kern’s efforts to get recognition for her son, and to make amends for the circumstances of his death?
18. What would be your five priority TO DO items for immediate action upon taking office, if you were elected Town of Coeymans Supervisor?
19. What would be your five priority TO UNDO items for immediate action upon taking office, if you were to be elected Town of Coeymans Supervisor in 2019?
20. Apart from any new industrial developments in the works, and given the small business situation in the Town of Coeymans, what would your plan be to encourage and to support small business creation and development in the Town of Coeymans, particularly in and around Ravena, the Hamlet of Coeymans, and the beautiful waterfront available to the Town and its residents and small businesses?
21. Will you be continuing your law practice if elected to be Coeymans Town Supervisor? If so, would you continue to provide legal services to Carver Laraway and the Carver Companies?

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Well, Mr McHugh and his running mates are running on a number of positions, one of them is transparency. Well, in our opinion, if transparency is such a big concern for McHugh and his group, then he won’t have much of a problem with our questions. Or will he? We’ll find out and when we do, you’ll know, too. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, please read our recent McHugh-related articles:

Russian Mafia in Our Back Yards?

Please don’t Mug Me! Just Pot Me!

The Russians are Coming!!!

To McHugh or Not to McHugh.

It’s your community, too, and we want you to have a say in all of this. That’s why we’re asking our readers to send us their questions for consideration. If your questions are selected, we’ll include them in the interview of Mr McHugh.

As we go forward with the interviews, we’ll post names and questions for the candidates we choose to interview, and ask for your inputs.

Of course, we’ll keep you updated and informed on how the candidates respond, and we’ll share their answers with our readers.

Please send your questions to rcs.confidential@gmail.com. You can also leave a public comment on this blog with your questions.

 

Stupid is as Stupid Does: Freakasaurus in our front yards!

Yup, The Inbreeding is Showing: Stupid is as Stupid Does

Please don’t waste our time with your stupid attempts to demonstrate your stupidity.

You are a Freakasaurus and the Smalbany Blog reports on freakasaurs; we do not publish freakasaurian bullshit.[1]

This is what to look for. Sometimes that actually look and act almost human.

As our more intelligent readers can appreciate, being a pubic forum and allowing public comment we get all kinds of visitors. Add to that the fact that we publish our email so that it’s easier for readers and informants to contact us. As you might expect, there are plenty of freaks who will abuse any and all opportunities.

Smalbany deals only in verifiable facts. Sometimes we get them by simply requesting the information, other times we have to use the Freedom of Information Laws to get the information. We interview informants to make certain they are real people and that they have real information. Only then do we go ahead with our investigations and finally, we publish what we find.

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But, as we mentioned above, there are plenty of freaks out there and we’d like to share just one example of one who tried to pass off what the freak thought would be bait. It failed miserably. But that’s not to say that we didn’t give the freakasaurus a chance to come through, as you’ll read below.

Note that in the interest of protecting the innocent, we have redacted any information that would have the potential of identifying the persons concerned. That is our standing policy until the facts are confirmed: at Smalbany, you are innocent until the facts indicate your guilt.

Here’s the original message from a freakasaurus calling him/herself “small[redacted]@gmail.com”:

“Someone from [redacted] and  [redacted]’s inner circle is paying to have the criminal records of them published as new on the internet and she is going to make flyers that [redacted] and [redacted] are the publishers of this website. She is actively getting the DEC involved to pursuit prosecution and getting the ATF to get a search warrant and pursue prosecution. Just a heads up and GOOD LUCK!!! “

Freakasaurus actually expected us to bite at the bait. Instead we responded:

“Thank you very much for your tip; we appreciated hearing from you and would like to comment below.

“First of all, if you have information about a possible or a real conspiracy to harm Mr and Mrs [redacted], then you have a moral duty to inform them of your suspicions or of the facts you might have in that regard. We gather from your message that you are at least familiar with them and would know how to contact them with the information or “Heads up!” as you call it.

“To leave them vulnerable to some scoundrel without letting them know the facts is immoral; we hope you will take appropriate steps.

“Second, let me clarify one fact: Neither Mr or Mrs [redacted] have any connection whatsoever with this site. They certainly do not own or write for Smalbany nor to they contribute to any of the content. So let’s put that tidbit to rest now and for ever.

“Thirdly, the information you provide anonymously is too vague to be of any use to us. If you have names, we need names. If you have facts, we need those facts. If you are familiar with this site, and it would appear you are, you certainly know that we don’t just publish speculation or common gossip. We need names and facts, and we will do our own fact-finding and verification.

“If you are really interested in getting the word out about some local dumbass with an axe to grind, please share details with us that we can verify.

“You write that “[S]he is actively getting the DEC involved to pursuit prosecution and getting the ATF to get a search warrant and pursue prosecution,” so we at least can guess that the villain in this story is a woman. That’s a start.

“Please provide us with details, what “inner circle” is it that you are referring to, what “criminal records,” how would the DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation???) be involved in such a plot, and Why? the ATF? You obviously know more than you are sharing, and we would be grateful if you would share more.

“First things first: If you feel that this is a genuine conspiracy to harm the [redacted]s, you MUST inform them even if it has to be anonymously. We cannot do that for you unless we have more to go on.

“Thanks once again and we hope to hear back from you soon. Please note that we do not publish the names of informants and any information provided is subject to verification or editing. Apart from the facts and the names of the individuals plotting this alleged conspiracy, you will remain a confidential informant.”

We think that was a very decent response, don’t you? And we’ve given Freakasaurus several days to get back to us but s/he has not done so. We have to consider the “tip” to be bogus.

Given the fact that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is probably one of the most corrupt departments in New York State government apart from the Executive Chambers (Office of the Governor) and the New York State Assembly and Senate, we wouldn’t wonder for a New York minute that the DEC could be involved in something so shadowy, so nefarious, so stupid as to get involved in a silly-ass conspiracy. But the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms)?!?! Freakasaurus has a very vivid, if not pathological imagination.

ATF agents “protecting” us.

The ATF has to be as big a joke as the DEC!!! According to the ATF website,

“ATF is a law enforcement agency in the United States’ Department of Justice that protects our communities from violent criminals, criminal organizations, the illegal use and trafficking of firearms, the illegal use and storage of explosives, acts of arson and bombings, acts of terrorism, and the illegal diversion of alcohol and tobacco products.”  [emphasis provided] [Source: https://www.atf.gov/, last accesed on July 22, 2019)

We have the Russian mafia in our front yards and the ATF is worried about “diversion of alcohol and tobacco products.”

Now that had to be one of the biggest jokes since Laurel and Hardy were dancing across the Silver Screen! So, the ATF is going to protect our communities “from violent criminals, criminal organizations, and illegal use and trafficking of firearms…and the illegal diversion of alcohol and tobacco products.” Well, that’s certainly what we all needed, another law enforcement agency to “protect” us. Yeah, they’re going to protect us from “criminals, criminal organizations…terrorism…and illegal diversion of alcohol and tobacco products,” while they’re building pot factories in our back yard that are very probably funded by the Russian mob and a Russian mobster!!! We have the Russian mafia in our front yards and the ATF is worried about “diversion of alcohol and tobacco products.” We have the Russian mafia in our back yards and the DEC is ignoring the contaminants and pollution being caused by Carver Companies and their dumping. You simply cannot make this stuff up, people! Either the DEC and the ATF have gone nutz or Freakasaurus thinks we all came down with the last shower. Maybe both.

Sgt Joe Friday and Officer Bill Gannon (Dragnet) rescue a Coeymans local from a DEC trap.

“How’d such shit-for-brains ever get beyond the evolutionary reject line?”

Given the amount of time and energy we spend getting information, responding to informants, following up on tips, and investigating, not to mention the writing and layout of the articles, we a justifiably pissed when some reptilian-brained freak wastes our reading time with such crap. But unfortunately this area is lousy with such remarkably stupid types that it would be hopeless to wish them to become extinct. The place would be a cemetery, a boneyard.

So, just look around yourself when you’re next in Shop’n Save, PriceChopper, a local yard sale, or even in one of our local churches and think to yourself, “How’d such shit-for-brains ever get beyond the evolutionary reject line?” But some did and they’re breeding locally.

[1] A freakasaurus is a freak of nature, a creature that did not have the good sense to go extinct 60 million years ago, and continues to walk the earth with only a primitive reptilian brain. They are caprophages (syn. scatophage, “shit-eaters”) and thrive in their local habitat. The only known habitats for the surviving mutant species are in the Albany County region — particularly in the city of Albany, Albany County Offices and state capitol offices —,  Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk region, and Northeastern corner of Greene County (Town of New Baltimore), while the brooding facility is maintained at the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District elementary, middle, and high schools.

Yes, Freakasaurus does exist. It was first used on StarTrek Voyager, Series 2 (1996):

 

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!

 

To McHugh or Not to McHugh.

It’s a dumbass question, actually.

The obvious answer is NOT McHUGH.

Would you trust a guy wearing a hairpiece like this?
Was it the Saratoga stripper who taught him that?

We’ve done some investigating and some research and have come up with the recommendation that George McHugh should not be a consideration for the office of Coeymans Town Supervisor. We’ll be giving the reasons for our recommendations this weekend, before the primaries, so stay tuned.

First of all, if you know very little or nothing about a candidate, why would you even think of voting for him. That goes for the entire McHugh flea circus. You have a pack of losers, literally, just look at Langdon and McHugh himself.

Remember this honey of a land deal. McHugh took good care of himself.
By the way, Darby Realty was run by one of his former wives. Get the picture?

But once we go through the Coeymans Town Board minutes and working session minutes for 2000 to the end of 2001, the two years McHugh was last in the Coeymans Supervisor’s office and finagling land deals for himself when he left office, and we look at some of his other phoney activities, as well as talking to some people who were very close to McHugh — literally in the same bed with him, you’ll see what a slime he really is.

We’ll also be examining his running — or should we say crawling — mates, if there’s anything really there to discuss. They’re all a bit of not much, if you get our gist.

We’ll also be reviewing the local news opinions of McHugh and his relationship with Carver Laraway and Carver Companies. An we’re not necessarily talking about his picking up one of Carver Laraways’ ex wives. We’ll have more to say about how he manages his domestic, his personal life and how that reflects on his ability to manage your lives from Town Hall.

We’ve got some good stuff for ya! The Editor

P.s. We’ll also let you in on how the Ravena News Herald has become McHugh’s whore — among the many local ones he’s added to his kennel — and why you shouldn’t trust a word printed in it about him.

We’ll also let you in on our demands to US attorneys and DAs to invesitage and report back on the British subject in the US on a visa and Why? the US granted a visa and authorization to a perv to operate a sex business in the US!!! Are we that hard up for businesses that the United States State Department and the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (Homeland Security) grant visas for pervs to operate their sex businesses in the US? SHAME ON YOU!

 

 

Mob Rule in America: The Myth Revealed and the Cover-up Discovered (?)

Anyone who doesn’t see a cover-up in this story needs to open their eyes!

A couple of months ago we reported on the death of a young man, 19-year old Riley Kern, just outside the Sycamore Country Club, on Route 143, when a local man, Travis Hagen,  driving a pick-up truck pulled out and caused the motorcycle Riley was riding to collide with the pick-up, causing fatal injuries to Riley, who died a couple  hours later in surgery at Albany Medical Center.

Here’s a touching slideshow for Riley

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We also reported that the Coeymans Police never did a required drug and alcohol test — a test required by New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law!!! — on the driver of the pick-up truck. The Coeymans Police never did an accident investigation or reconstruction. There was no follow-up and there was no investigation why the Coeymans Police and Coeymans police officer on the scene, Ian Foard, never did the drug and alcohol testing on the pick-up truck driver, Travis Hagen, or never conducted an accident scene investigation. We suggested a cover-up because of Hagen’s connections in the area.

Coeymans PD Ian Foard, a reject from the Mechanicville Police Department, a part-timer hired by the Town of Coeymans Police Department, and under the direct supervision of then acting police chief Daniel Contento, was not investigated. His report, which was full of contradictions and speculation, was approved by Contento without question.

People in this country tend to have very short memories. Here are some of the articles we posted on Riley’s death. You may want to revisit them:

• We Are Re-Opening the Case: Riley Kern, Young Man Killed in Coeymans Hollow, Sycamore Golf Course
• Riley’s Song: Verse Two – Update on Our Investigations.
• Riley’s Mom Responds: A Mother’s Perspective.
• The Editor Chimes in on Riley’s Song: What have you become, America?

Readers may also be interested in our article on the corruption in the Albany County Coroner’s Office. Read our article: Politics, Power, Patronage and Conflicts of Interest: The Albany County Coroners Office. Moonlighting undertakers who can’t even spell in an official document should not be doing medicolegal death investigations!!!

Why aren’t you asking these questions? Would you if it were your child?

Riley’s mother lives in Kansas and has desperately been trying to get to the truth, to find answers to burning questions. So are we!!!

We received this comment today, months after the accident, from the boy’s mother, who has been getting contradictory double-talk from just about every agency from the Coeymans Police Department, to the Albany County Coroner’s Office, to …. Well the list goes on. Where’s the Albany County District Attorney P. David Soares on all of this? Isn’t he the chief law-enforcement officer in the County of Albany. He’s been and continues to be a racist sack of manure, a weak, stupid, ball-less Oreo. Riley’s mom writes:

I am living the nightmare! After investigating the death of my son my conclusions are identical to all the info in this blog!!! And this is the first time I’ve read this article!! It’s all way to true. It’s painful! I can’t believe it’s been allowed to go on this long!! I’ve got all the documentation to support the subject of this article. I also have a feeling I won’t be seeing justice served, not in Albany anyhow. I can’t be the only victim, where the hell are all the fighters???!

Riley’s mom is referring to our article on the Albany County Coroner,  Politics, Power, Patronage and Conflicts of Interest: The Albany County Coroners Office. We responded:

You are likely not the only victim. The problem is epidemic not only in this region of New York but it appears throughout the county. People have despaired of their government, their elected officials; there is no representation except for self-representation from the individual to Capitol Hill! The media can’t be trusted to keep public servants and elected officials in line and, because the American people have lost all faith and trust in their government, they just don’t pull together to put things right. Blame it on the propaganda you see on the television, read in the newspapers, hear on the radio, blasted with in pop music. We have become a deranged, perverse, decadent, and very angry society. We are facing a terrible future because we stupidly allow ourselves to be manipulated and coerced, even abused by the very people in whom we have traditionally been taught and conditioned to trust: our elected officials, the church and religion, our neighbors.

The United States, the mythical “America”, has never been a land of law but a land of lawlessness, mob rule, whether the mob was a band of vigilantes lynching Irishmen, Italians, and Negros in the 20th century, the organized crime “mob,” or the political party mob. America is not run by the rule of law and never has been if you read history; it has always been the rule of the mob. But they don’t teach your kids history anymore or ethics or handwriting. Lady Liberty is weeping!!!

It’s starting to look like Nazi Germany in the US.
Some Americans have succumbed to the propaganda. Not us!

The boy’s father lives locally in Albany County. We suggest that he mobilize the boy’s family and friends and go on a letter-writing rampage, sending as many letters to state and federal lawmakers representing this area. We suggest that the boy’s father, family, and friends make an organized assault on the DA’s office and Governor Cuomo’s office, demanding an investigation!!! The police come under the Executive branch of government and the DA and the Governor head that branch.

We recommend that the boy’s mother start a campaign from Kansas to New York!!! She has Facebook following and had launched an apparently successful fundraiser on Facebook to defray the costs of the boy’s funeral expenses. She must get all those supporters motivated and activated and launch an assault on the Kansas Governor’s office to contact the New York Governor and demand an investigation of the boy’s death and the obvious cover-up surrounding the circumstances.

We also recommend that the mother motivate and activate all of the boy’s friends and family in Kansas, including his schoolmates to bombard the Kansas Governor, the New York Governor, lawmakers, the Albany County DA’s office and the Town of Coeymans demanding a thorough investigation of the circumstances surrounding the boy’s death.

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A Personal Comment from the Editor

As a local resident, I am deeply embarrassed and ashamed of how my neighbors have shut their eyes to this tragedy and so many other events and situations in this area. I have been writing this blog for about 5 years now, exposing every conceivable evil and crime imaginable. Almost a half-million readers worldwide support this blog. Imagine what readers outside the greater Capital District, even outside of this country, think of this area when they read our reports! Aren’t you people, residents of Albany, Ravena, Coeymans, New Baltimore, and the surrounding areas of New York deeply troubled, ashamed of what’s going on here. Aren’t you deeply guilt-ridden and ashamed that you continue to sit on your fat asses and do nothing while a select few destroy not only our communities, but our future and our reputation nationwide and internationally.???

Mark Vinciguerra, formerly of the Johnson Newspaper Group, now owner/publisher of the Ravena News Herald, supported Riley’s cause by sending Melanie Lekocevic to cover Riley’s memorial service at Feura Bush Town Park. The Town of New Scotland was outstanding in their support of Riley. Too bad we can’t say the same for the Town of Coeymans.

The News Herald story covering Riley’s memorial service in Feura Bush Town Park,  Remembering a life lost too soon, was the only coverage, the only mention in any media of the accident. We found it very strange that the accident wasn’t mentioned anywhere before that. Don’t you?

We hope that Mr Vinciguerra will continue his support of justice and Riley by joining us in the investigation of this shameful cover-up.

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The only way to fight mob rule and defeat it is to organize, mobilize, and neutralize. Riley’s family, friends, and supporters need to get seriously involved and start writing, fighting, and kicking some political ass!!!

Time to wake up, people!!!
You might be next…

 

Riley’s Stats: A near record week.

Since Smalbany published the first article about Riley “Jeremiah” Kern, the young man who was killed in a tragic motorcycle-pickup truck accident on July 27, 2018, the coverage of our investigations into Travis D. Hagen, 48, of Coxsackie, NY, and the Coeymans Police Department, specifically their botched non-investigation and cover-up of the facts of the accident, we have forced Travis Hagen and Coeymnans Patrolman Ian FOARD and acting Coeymans Police Chief Daniel Contento into the headlights. Their reaction: Well Foard and Contento are like deer in your headlights; they don’t know which way to go. Travis Hagen has simply crawled back into the woodwork.

The bad news is the Foard, Conento, and Hagen are still free and walking the streets. No one is safe.

The good news is that Riley’s case has gotten near record attention and interest on an international scale.
We thought our readers would be interested in the stats so we’re sharing them soon.

Reader Figures Have Gone Thru the Ceiling!

The four articles getting all the attention at the expense of other important issues in the region are:

• We Are Re-Opening the Case
• Riley’s Song: Verse Two
• Riley’s Mom Responds: A Mother’s Perspective.
• The Editor Chimes in on Riley’s Song: What have you become, America?

Those articles grew out of our interest and concern that a fatal accident on State Route 143 in Coeymans Hollow, practically on the Sycamore Country Club golf course grounds, received absolutely no media coverage and, when readers started asking Smalbany about the accident, Smalbany started asking questions. (See the footnote in our article, Three Articles on New Baltimore Scandals: Pick One or Read All.)

Riley was a local kid and attended RCS high-school until moving to Kansas with his mom and younger sister.. He had returned to New York, and was living with his father in Climax at the time of the accident. Riley was a very popular kid and had many loyal and loving friends in the RCS area. Riley was 19 when he died; his funeral was on his 20th birthday.

Whatever you want to call it, it’s open now!

When Riley’s mom contacted us and told us how so many obstacles were being put in her path, how many contradictions she was hearing, how the factoids didn’t seem to make any sense, we decided that she had gotten enough of a runaround and heard enough bullshit for one day. We know the area and the people involved, and we know their histories. We know what they are capable of and we knew that Riley’s mom didn’t deserve the treatment she was getting. She had just lost her son, and needed answers, not a runaround.

Hagen, Foard, Contento had opened a can of angry hungry worms and they were on the menu as of NOW!

(Image Credit: We gratefully acknowledge http://www.justoutsidetheboxcartoon.com for this very appropriate image. Please support their site and always give proper credit for images you may use.)

We’ll be publishing the updated statistics on Saturday, September 16, for the information of our readers. The interest shown is phenomenal. Now what we’d really like to see is all of our readers joining together in a show of support for Rye’s mom and his family. They are hurting in a number of ways and need our support. We’ll keep our readers informed in our updates and continuing coverage. Stay tuned!

Fact: Our posts are shared automatically on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook but those views are not counted here on WordPress. That means our numbers are even higher than our WordPress statcounter shows! On LinkedIn along almost 10,000 followers see our posts. On Facebook the figure might be tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or even millions! We get the word out!

 

 

 

The Editor Chimes in on Riley’s Song: What have you become, America?

The Editor Responds: What have you become, America?

This is what we’ve become, fellow Americans. It’s nothing to be proud of unless you’re some sort of pervert[1], which most of you are; you like watching without revealing yourselves or speaking up. You like lurking and thinking no one knows your’re there. You like fake names, fake profiles, fake pictures. You like Facebook and fake friends. You like online porn and … well, I’ll stop there. Am I right? Well, now that we can agree on a starting point, here’s where you can give some thought to what you have become —
and whether there’s anything left worth redeeming.

• On September 12, 2018, 1,464 people read the articles “Riley’s Song: Verse Two” and “Riley’s Mom Responds: A mother’s perspective.”
• Since we posted “We are Reopening the Case” on September 7, 2018, to September, 13, 2018, we averaged almost 500 new readers a day with an average of almost 600 page views a day.
• In the period from “We are Reopening the Case” (September 7, 2018) to “Riley’s Mom Responds: A mother’s perspective” (September 12, 2018) we had almost 5,000 new readers on Smalbany Blog.
• We received a total of 18 comments of which 9 were from cranks with negative comments and 9 were from persons supporting Smalbany’s work on this one investigation.
• Of the total of 18 comments, 6 were from a sicko calling him/herself “Smalbany is full of crap” using an email “smalbanyisfullofcrap@gmail.com.”  2 were from a weirdo calling him/herself “Douche” and using an email “dickhead@gmail.com ; ”  both of these dingleberries were trying to get a moment of cheap fame in their low lives by stealing from the real issue. The remaining negatives included 1 from a friend of Hagen’s (you can imagine what that one had to say).
• The remaining 9 were from supporters: 1 from a close friend of Riley (JH), 5 from someone close to Riley, and a touching comment from Riley’s mom (which we published with her permission at “Riley’s Mom Responds: A Mother’s Perspective”). Two others were from a reader/commenter calling him/herself “Tompkins” and more concerned with the name of the road than with the subject matter of the article, and one kind “Keep up the good work” comment.

Do the math: That’s 0.0036% or 4/1000 or 1/250 meaning that only 1 out of every 250 readers got off their ass to make a comment one way or the other. As for the positive comments versus the negative comments, they were evenly divided 9:9. But only 0.0018 or 2/1000 or 1/500 = 1 out of every 500 readers left a comment pro or con.

We can’t believe that so many readers could have been so callous as not to even have left a condolence message for the family, or at least to have insulted Smalbany. Stated another way, we are at a loss that so few of the readers had the courage to have an opinion and share it!

We have to look at these figures and wonder whether Americans have become so dehumanized and so insensitive as not to have given a second thought to a terrible tragedy and a terrible injustice. Yes, readers, this is not only a terrible tragedy, the death of a young man just beginning his life, and a terrible tragedy for his family and friends, it’s a terrible stain on what we so facilely call a country of laws, a God-fearing people, a country founded on humane values, and a country that cherishes family values.

This tragedy is not just a personal tragedy nor is it a merely family tragedy, it’s a social tragedy, an American tragedy. Your responses tell us and everyone just simply viewing the Smalbany blog that Americans are all talk. This tragedy tells the world — Yes! The WORLD! These three articles have been read by people in Canada, France, Sweden, as far away as the Philippines and Dubai, and even in Texas! — this tragedy broadcasts to the entire world what hypocrites Americans are.

I wanna see the world with you
Come on and take me by the hand
Don’t even worry about it you’ll understand
I wanna see the world with you
The way you go out we follow
What’s better than us?
Better than us?
We don’t wanna to know

Riley’s Song[2]

Riley’s Song is a song about youth, love and future. It reminds us of the beauty of Riley “Jeremiah” Kern’s young life and saddens us that his has been cut short.

But our Riley’s Song is the tragic song of what America has become — or not become. Our Riley’s song is about injustice, incompetence, cronyism, cover-ups, infidelity, irresponsibility, lawlessness, favoritism. Our Riley’s song is about a society that has become so materialistic that it has lost all sense of morality and goodness but is so blind as not to even notice the weeping lesions all over its corrupt body.

Riley’s mom asked a question of one of our contributors just yesterday. It was a question about the Biblical prophet Jeremiah, so we had to pass it on to a theologian/clergyperson for a proper response. The fact that she asked the question had more to do with a completely different thought but sometimes things happen for inexplicable reasons. This is one of those things.

You see, she asked what we thought Jeremiah 22 meant. Jeremiah is one of the major Old Testament (First Covenant) prophets, a prophet who is revered as a major prophet by all three Abrahamic traditions: Christianity, Judaism — Jeremiah is so important that he has been made canon in Judaism—, and Islam. Not only is there a Book of Jeremiah, the Book of Lamentations is generally accepted as having been his work. Jeremiah is also known as the “Weeping Prophet,” because when you read his words describing and mourning the fall, capture and destruction of his beloved Jerusalem, and if you read Lamentations, you will hear Jeremiah’s anguish, and yes, tears, in his words. We even have an English word based on Jeremiah’s writings: “jeremiad,” a sad lamentation.

In his response, the Reverend explains:

Jeremiah sends a warning message:

“Doom to the one who builds palaces but bullies people, who makes a fine house but destroys lives, who cheats their workers and won’t pay them for their work, who says, ‘I’ll build me an elaborate mansion with spacious rooms and fancy windows and rare and expensive woods and the latest in interior decor.’” (Jer 22:13-14)

Woe, doom, to the one who takes wonderful care of themselves at the expense of others. Woe, doom, to the one who provides for their own luxuries or comfortable living at the expense of others who work for almost nothing.

We have become driven to get a good feeling without any effort — to make believe that everything is peachy.  Isn’t it right to try to get a good deal, to go where we can get the best deal for the lowest price? Isn’t it wonderful when we can cheat someone out of something and feel good about it, or get a new friend with a mouse click? We love to fool ourselves. When you get a compliment on that fake profile picture on Facebook, we often enjoy telling the story of what great bargain we are. Why is it, when we get something by cheating or screwing someone, we think we’re a smart? Why is it when we have so many virtual friends we actually think we are loved or liked? Is cheap and deceptive always better?

What if we would take a moment when purchasing an item to ask questions like “Why is this so cheap?” or when we accept a friend me invitation, ask, “I wonder who this person really is?.”

We, as a culture, are so absorbed in our consumption of things and entertainment, and even people that we ignore or forget what the actual cost is to ourselves, our own humanness, the rest of the world.  Think of this example, since we are a country that loves kids so much: Some countries are known to use and abuse child labor more than others, and those countries are big exporters to the USA, and Americans do love to get something cheap but they are less interested in knowing the history of the cheap; in other words, they suspend their condemnation of child abuse for a moment so they can enjoy their cheap.

We, as a society, find it very easy to suspend morality, values, ethics, humanity for cheap. But cheap is receiving the benefits without paying the cost involved.

This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. (Jer 22:3)

I hope that helps you to have at least a starter understanding of this great and sensitive prophet.

Somehow, the young man, Riley, picked up the nickname “Jeremiah,” and used it as his alter ego; it even appears on the cross, the roadside memorial, marking the place where he died. Now isn’t that something to think about?

Think of how this all began: In an article published on August 4, 2018, “Three Articles on New Baltimore Scandals: Pick One or Read All,” just days after Riley’s death, we added just a simple footnote. Just a footnote, asking the question:

“Is this a cover up to protect a prominent Ravena family? Doesn’t the young man’s life mean anything or do we just sweep the whole thing under the carpet? We need to start asking questions. The 20-year old man is not just another raccoon, Mr Contento!”[3]

Putting all of this in a sort of perspective, most of our readers will recall a scandalous incident that occurred last March 2018, in the Village of Ravena, at Faith Plaza shopping mall. The incident involved two Coeymans police officers in two Coeymans Police Department vehicles harassing and running over a wild raccoon in full view of dozens of witnesses. The incident was videoed by a witness and appeared on Facebook and YouTube; it went viral and created an international uproar. Not only that, a petition was started called “Justice for raccoon killed by officers from Coeymans Police Department” which was signed by more than 110,000 people! The incident was addressed at the Coeymans Town Board Meeting on March 22 by no less than 5 angry citizens, some coming from as far away as Amsterdam, NY (about 50 miles from Ravena). The speakers were interviewed by local television and print media and the interviews broadcast on the evening news. The story was picked up by a large number of newspapers nationwide. It was a real scandal and it was about the inhumane treatment of an innocent wild animal.

Justice Demanded for a Raccoon. It’s a start.

Smalbany covered the story because it was just another nail in the Police Department’s coffin.

Perhaps we’re being unfair and perhaps we’re missing something. But if 110,000 people will come forward and sign an online petition and leave their comments demanding justice for a wild raccoon, and leave their comments expressing their outrage, what have we been missing in the Riley P. Kern case? Are we missing something or are we trying to avoid the perversion, the ugliness staring us directly in the face?

110,000 signatures, almost as many comments for a raccoon. Almost as many outraged comments. Coverage nationwide by numerous newspapers. Coverage by local print and television media with interviews. Outraged citizens appearing to make public statements at a public Town of Coeymans town board meeting on the record. What are we missing here?

We at Smalbany are not missing a thing, ladies and gentlemen. We are fully aware of what’s going on locally and in society. The real question is: “What are YOU missing?”

Perhaps this Smalbany blog, these articles on Riley, are in fact a jeremiad, bitterly lamenting the state of society and its morals in a serious tone of sustained invective, and even containing a prophecy of our society’s imminent downfall.

Perhaps the questions we are asking are going over your heads. Perhaps you are so far gone that you can’t even understand what we are pointing at and saying: “Wake up! This is a sickening state of affairs! Say, DO something!”

Riley Parker “Jeremiah” Kern is dead. Riley Parker “Jeremiah” Kern was a young human being, a young man, good, kind, handsome, talented, smart; he had a wonderful future ahead of him. Riley Parker “Jeremiah” Kern was killed under clearly suspicious circumstances in a freakish accident. Riley Parker “Jeremiah” Kern is crying out for justice, the justice that even a wild raccoon was able to obtain.

Riley Parker “Jeremiah” Kern has become a symbol full of meaning of what we are, have become, but can yet redeem as human beings.

Take responsibility.  Meet your obligations. Demand Justice.

 

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[1] Gotcha! You probably read pervert and went off on a tangent. Well, that’s only because you never got a good education. But that’s the subject of another article. Here’s what a pervert is and how we are using it here: A pervert is someone who has detoured from or altered from their original course, purpose or intendment, their meaning, or state to a distortion or corruption of what was first intended. Human beings were allegedly intended or created to be divine images of Good and Justice. Now can you admit you’re a pervert?
[2] Riley’s Song, Featuring VACAY, Alex Zaichkowski & Shane Harte. Album Songs From The Next Step, Season 3, Volume 1.
[3] Mr. Contento is Sgt Daniel Contento, acting chief of police in the Town of Coeymans. When we refer to a raccoon we are referring to an incident that became an international scandal: Two Coeymans police vehicles harassed and killed a wild raccoon in a public parking lot in full view of dozens of witnesses. We covered the incident in our articles “We are speechless! OMG! Coeymans Police Caught on Video Again!” and “Follow-up Report: Coeymans Raccoon Incident. We still have our doubts!, “ and two other follow-up articles: “Truth be Told: On the Heels of the Coeymans Town Board Meeting” and “Officer Identified!!! Coeymans PD Steve Prokrym Involved in Raccoon Scandal!!!”

 

We Are Re-Opening the Case: Riley Kern, Young Man Killed in Coeymans Hollow, Sycamore Golf Course

Just when they thought they got away with it!

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The Facts are Pointing to a
COVER UP!!!

As you may recall, we wrote in a July article, “Three Articles on New Baltimore Scandals: Pick One or Read All,”, asking “Did you know?” about the case of a young man who was involved in a fatal motorcycle-pickup truck accident in Coeymans Hollow. We wrote:

Editor’s Sidebar: Town of Coeymans. We’ve received reports of a fatal pick-up truck — motorcycle accident that occurred during the evening hours of Saturday, July 28, 2018, on Route 143 in the Town of Coeymans. The operator of the motorcycle, a 20-year old man was killed; the operator of the pick-up truck was allegedly Ravena resident Travis Hagen. Strangely nothing has appeared in the local media about the accident. We have contacted the Coeymans Police for confirmation facts but have not received a response. A reader has informed us that he, too contacted the Coeymans Police acting chief, Daniel Contento, and was told only that there was an accident and the police investigated and reported it to the DMV. Is this a cover up to protect a prominent Ravena family? Doesn’t the young man’s life mean anything or do we just sweep the whole thing under the carpet? We need to start asking questions. The 20-year old man is not just another raccoon, Mr Contento!

This is Riley and a Companion.

Read more about Riley at
Ryan Parker Kern ♥ August 4, 1998 – July 27, 2018 ♥
and leave a note of support and condolence for his family and friends.

At the time, we were suspicious that the accident didn’t get a single word of coverage on any media, and we asked Why?

Since we published that very small bit of information, we’ve received contacts from people who have read the inconspicuous item and have contacted us with a huge amount of information and many, many questions.

In the meantime, we have received some information on Travis Hagen that points to a cover-up in the case of the young man’s death. At the very minimum, a number of people involved in the investigation of the accident and reporting the so-called “facts” are going to have to answer a lot of very unpleasant questions very soon!

Travis Hagen, 48, of Coxsackie. Driver of the pick-up truck.

There are still people in this community who think they are above the law

We are now re-opening the case and will be publishing the information as it’s verified for you, our reading public, to be sickened and outraged by what’s going on in the RCS community and what’s going on in the Coeymans Police Department. There are still people in this community who think they are above the law and can get away with trying to hide a crime. We’re here to make certain the truth gets out and they are brought to justice.

Click this link to read Riley’s mom’s response to detractors of Smalbany: Riley’s Mom Responds: A Mother’s Perspective.

Unconfirmed witness reports indicate that there are inconsistencies in the Police Incident Report. Is there a possibility that the driver of the pick-up truck was … !