Finding Ulysses

It was just a little bit over a year ago that the new Movie Gallery store moved into Trumansburg. Now, the sign is up announcing that the store is closing. The sale is offering just 10 to 30 percent off on the price of used DVDs.

That’s because the Movie Gallery chain is part of a national chain. All the DVDs that this local store can’t sell will be shipped off to other stores around the country. That’s what happened when the store opened here, of course. The racks were quickly filled with used DVDs for sale, even though no one had had the chance to even look at them in Trumansburg yet.

There’s a national glut in DVDs right now, combined with a low demand for them from brick and mortar stores. The popularity of Netflix is running physical video stores out of business. Trumansburg’s older, locally owned Main Street video store closed at the end of the summer, with a much better going out of business sale. There’s still one video store in Trumansburg left - out by Not My Dad’s ice cream, and that may hold on for a while, but the business lessons seem pretty clear - video is out, and a main street business that’s locally owned and targeted to the community’s needs is going to be a lot more successful than a manifestation of a national chain.

What will replace the two defunct video stores of Main Street Trumansburg? I haven’t heard myself if there’s any word. Does anyone else know?

This was published in the Ithaca Journal this week:

“Police said Aramani’s arrest followed the arrest of three others for seventh-degree criminal possession of controlled substance, a Class A misdemeanor: Shane Jennings, 26, of 9610 Lodi Center Road, Lodi; Lisa Riley, 42, of 4380 W. Seneca Road, Trumansburg; and Ashley Riley, 21, 98 N. Applegate Road, Ithaca.

Two officers saw the three snorting cocaine in a truck behind the NAPA Auto Parts store at 1 Main St. in Trumansburg just after midnight Saturday, police said.

When they saw the officers, the trio quickly exited the truck and walked toward the Rongovian Embassy, a bar at 2 West Main St., police said. Meanwhile, the officers saw two lines of cocaine on a DVD that was resting on the truck’s seat.”

There was a time I thought of the Rongovian Embassy to the USA as a place for free spirits, creative types and all that. Now, when I think of the Rongo, I just think of intoxication - depressed people getting drunk, and buying drugs.

What a stupid, mind-wasting, uncreative way to spend your time and your money. Cocaine isn’t artistic or musical or freethinking. It’s just a slow suicide.

If you can’t even do something better than a DVD than snort coke on it, you’re really pathetic.

I’m not a cop. It’s not my job to bust you and send you to jail. I will tell you this, though: Trumansburg is a village of families and retired people. If you think you’re leading a life on the edge here, you’re really deluded. If you can’t get over your juvenile addiction, you can take your drunken, druggie behind and get the hell out of our town.

A brochure with an overview of the project, plus floor plans for each of the three schools is available at: http://www.tburg.k12.ny.us/admin/capital_project/index.htm.

The vote is Tuesday, October 23, noon to 9:00 PM in the Ulysses Historical Society.

With 83% of the funding coming from the State, the property tax impact will be .11 cents per $1000 of assessed value - starting in 2010 and continuing for 15 years. The project focuses on health and safety, energy efficiency, and ADA compliance.

This Thursday at 7:00 PM at the Trumansburg Fire Hall, Sylvester Johnson, who has a Ph.D in applied physics will give a one-hour presentation entitled, Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture, Justification for 80% Reduction of Emissions from 1990 Levels by 2050, and How to Do It. Johnson works with the Museum of the Earth just down the road, so he ought to have some pretty good ideas about how climate change is expected to apply to us locally.

Thanks to Back to Democracy for sponsoring this event.

The resolution considered by the Trumansburg Village Board of Trustees tonight, which would have requested state and federal representatives to work toward an inquiry into impeachable offenses by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney was not approved, but neither was it rejected. Instead, the vote on the resolution was deadlocked. Chris Thomas aligned with Rordan Hart to vote against the resolution. David Filiberto and Marty Petrovic voted in favor of the inquiry resolution. John Hrubos abstained.

The very large crowd in the fire hall was strongly in favor of the resolution, although there were some strongly dissenting voices. Pro-resolution activists also managed to gather over 150 signatures, while anti-resolution forces only got about ten letters.

Rordan Hart did not emerge from the meeting with shining colors, engaging in a very pointed and lengthy attempt to belittle one particular member of the village who was present in the room at the time, and bore the attack with quiet dignity. I seem to remember that Mr. Hart promised not to engage in such behavior during his recent campaign to be elected Trustee. Was it coincidence that another anti-resolution voice, in the form of a letter read aloud, engaged in brutal attacks against the same person?

More subtle, and also more interesting, was the suggestion, in Chris Thomas’s justification of his vote, that there would be dramatic community discord if the anti-resolution minority did not get its way, but that there would be no such discord if the pro-resolution majority was refused. The clear implication from Thomas’s comments is that the Republican minority is likely to cause trouble when it doesn’t get what it wants, while the Democratic majority is more tolerant and able to get along with neighbors regardless of the outcome of a political decision.

I wonder, is that the message that Chris Thomas intended to send? If not, how would he explain his worrying about discord upon passage of a resolution that was clearly supported by the majority of Trumansburg residents, when he had no similar concern about the ramifications for village unity upon denial of the majority’s will?

Care to comment, Mr. Thomas?

Tonight, at 7:00 in the Fire Hall, the Trumansburg Village Board of Trustees will hold a public meeting to consider a petition supporting a resolution that would encourage an inquiry into impeachable offenses by the Bush White House. It’s essential to note that the proposed resolution does not call for impeachment. It does not pass judgment on whether any crimes have been committed.

The proposed resolution merely notes that there is substantial evidence that leads to reasonable suspicion that high crimes and misdemeanors have taken place, and requests that our representatives at the state and national level support an inquiry to explore the charges. You can support the resolution without supporting impeachment. In fact, it makes sense to do so. After all, if you believe that no crimes have been committed, there will be no better way than an official inquiry to determine that you’re right.

This resolution ought not to be controversial. Why would it be controversial to investigate alleged crimes? That’s what our local police officers do all the time, and no one accuses the Trumansburg police of being divisive just for investigating accusations of criminal behavior in order to determine whether they have merit.

In fact, the resolution ought to be an instrument of healing divisions within our community and our nation by confronting long-lingering suspicions and resentments, through a process by which the facts of the matter can be thoroughly examined. Supporting this resolution is a way to replace accusations with facts. Whether you support President Bush or oppose him, that ought to be of interest.

There are some who, taking a small view of the matter, say that the Trumansburg Village Board of Trustees should not deal with matters that extend beyond our village borders. They are forgetting that it is the role of local government to inform, advise, and make requests to higher levels of government. State and federal governmental bodies cannot function effectively without the input of local governments.

It is also essential to remember that each and every member of the Trumansburg Village Board of Trustees has taken an oath of office. That solemn oath begins with the promise, “I solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States…”

The integrity of the Constitution itself is at issue in the allegations of criminal wrongdoing that underlie the resolution to be considered tonight. It is alleged that the President and Vice President knowingly violated the Constitution’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment, guarantee against unreasonable search and seizure of our persons and paper, the right to a fair and speedy trial, and the ancient legal right, continued under the Constitution, of habeas corpus. It is therefore not just the right, but the duty of every member of the Trumansburg Village Board of Trustees to consider the merit of this resolution, and not to dismiss it out of hand.

The comments of the public are welcome at tonight’s meeting. Pease attend. The text of the resolution is as follows:

VILLAGE OF TRUMANSBURG IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY RESOLUTION PETITION

BE IT FURTER RESOLVED, that copies of this resolution be delivered to Congressperson Michael Arcuri, Senators Charles E. Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton, State Senator George H. Winner, Jr., Assemblyperson Barbara Lifton, and the media.

It has been said that Back To Democracy is creating a divisive atmosphere in the village by bringing the impeachment resolution to a vote by the Village Board. I think there is some truth to this, and I apologize for that. Perhaps Democracy is not the most perfect system of government possible. There will always be a certain amount of discord in a functioning Democracy. Perhaps some Athenians complained of this, and would have preferred a return to autocratic rule. Winston Churchill said “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.” It could be argued that life would be easier under the rule of a benevolent dictator. George Bush would like to be our dictator as evidenced by his “unitary executive theory” and Dick Cheney would like to be the brains behind him, but the trouble is that the majority of the people don’t believe in his benevolence, and are not ready to give up on democracy. So we would like to use the tool of impeachment, that the founders left for us, to try to restore Democracy, and our Constitutionally Limited Democratic Republic. Participate in Democracy - this Monday 9/24 at 7pm at the Trumansburg Fire Hall. For more information go to http://trumansburgimpeachment.blogspot.com/

I didn’t make it to the block dance last weekend — I was out of town, and the weather was kind of “iffy” anyway — and I was hoping that someone who’d been there would post a report on the blog. My home town used to hold block dances every week during the summer when I was in my early teens. It was great fun, a highlight of my week, a time to get together with my friends and listen to some good old rock ‘n’ roll and flirt with the boys. So I hope the Tburg dance was a success.
In case you didn’t get enough dancing last weekend, I thought I’d point out that the Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts has hired a dance teacher this year, and she’s got an ambitious slate of offerings: ballroom dancing, creative movement for 4 and 5 year olds, ballet for ages 7 to 11, beginning tap dancing, and Irish ceili dancing. Not sure of what the latter was (I was picturing “Riverdance” where you have the stiff back and hands at sides and ballet-pointed toes) I googled it, and learned it’s more like contra dancing, or square dancing. It sounds like fun and great aerobic exercise to boot! Plus you get to dance to all that great Irish music. Dance lessons start next week and go for six weeks, and I heard that the ballroom dance class may be reaching its limit. Well, if you have an interest in learning how to cut a rug (or move gracefully across the dance floor), give the Conservatory a call at 387-5939.
TCFA director Calista Smith has also lined up quite a selection of new music teachers, making it possible to study all kinds of instruments with private teachers. Did you know that at TCFA you can take private lessons in cello, flute, guitar, autoharp, banjo, fiddle, dulcimer, piano, violin and voice, as well as all band instruments?
Sometimes I think how cool it is that we have this resource for the arts in our community. How many communities our size can offer so many activities that feed the soul and spirit?

Press Release from the Ulysses Philomathic Library:
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Next in its 2007 speaker series, “The Creative Muse: Our Local Artists and Artisans Speak Out,” the Ulysses Philomathic Library welcomes world-renowned artist/blacksmith Durand Van Doren, proprietor of Durand’s Forge, offering a slide presentation on beautiful pieces of iron work. Van Doren’s award-winning art and utilitarian pieces are displayed in homes and galleries here and abroad, and adorn the gates of the Globe Theatre, outside of London.

Van Doren began his career in what he calls “a hippie commune in a small town near Cooperstown,” working for Silent Steam Iron Works, crafting wrought iron plant hooks; hanging plants had just become the darlings of home décor. He studied with master smith Frank Turley at his forge in New Mexico, and the day he returned to the Finger Lakes he established Durand’s Forge in a cowshed in Speedsville. He also worked for several years building George Rhoads’ kinetic sculptures, and has completed many commissions of his own, among them a large frog contemplating a shiny orb, centerpiece of a garden at Cayuga Medical Center, as well as a roomful of chandeliers at Cornell’s Willard Straight Hall. In addition to his work as an artist, Van Doren conducts several one-day workshops each year on the basics of blacksmithing at his Trumansburg forge.

He has donated to the Ulysses Philomathic Library, as a fund-raiser, a fanciful set of dragon-headed fire tools, whose retail value is $1,200. Prospective owners can purchase raffle tickets for $5 each, at the library.

The talk is scheduled for Thursday, September 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the library’s Melvin Community Room. The library is located at 74 East Main Street in Trumansburg. There is no charge for the event, and as always, refreshments will be served.

The T-Burg Central School Community Advisory Committee is hosting a presentation by architect Steve Moolin on the upcoming Capital Project, tomorrow evening (Wednesday, September 12) in the HS Library. The project will go to the community for a referendum vote on October 23.

The scope of the project is based on the District’s Five Year Plan, required by state statute, which reviews all occupied buildings in the District every five years. The plan has to cover all regulations — health and safety, handicap accessibility, energy efficiency — and establish priorities for maintenance and upkeep. More information on the 5 Year Plan is available at - http://www.tburg.k12.ny.us/admin/capital_project/index.htm. Information on the Capital Project and Vote should be available at the CAC presentation and on the District website soon.

A facilities committee, which included members of the community, has been working on the project for over a year. This is the first presentation to the public, outside of the Board of Education meetings. Since the public rarely attends BOE meetings, as riveting as they are, this is really the first opportunity for the community to learn about the project.

From attending the Board meetings, I can say that the project is focused on health and safety, energy efficiency, and preventative maintenance. Like other districts, Trumansburg has EXCEL aid and can take advantage of increased building aid that targets these types of improvements. Unlike past projects which included new building, I saw nothing “flashy” in the proposal. The major visual changes would be the addition of a new drop off loop at the Middle School, something that has been needed for years – as any stressed parent who has tried to navigate the current parking lot can attest to. Also, reconfiguration of entrance/office space in each building so visitors have to pass through a monitored entrance – an unfortunate necessity in this modern age.

Even with the additional aid, there is a tax impact to residents. I hope people will attend the CAC meeting to learn about the project and ask questions.