In the world of Scouting the highest rank a boy can achieve is that of Eagle Scout.

It is rare, but Ss. Peter & Paul Catholic Church in Williamsville had 3 of their parishioners recently reach the rank of Eagle Scout. All three of the young men were in Scout Troop 85. They are; Robert Freeman, William Freeman, and Philip Glamuzina. Congratulations.

The Simpson’s family has been a staple on television for 17 years. This weekend a totally new Simpson’s movie made it to the big screen. To the amazement of film critics this film grossed 71 million making it the top moneymaking movie of the week.

Part 1:
Amherst Senior Center Budget

The Senior Center’s adopted budget for 2007 was $1,376,735.68 which was an increase of $123, 465. 80 over the 2006 adopted budget. It’s time the Senior Center’s budget is reviewed to evaluate how the funds the Town budget allots the Center are actually spent. Are our dollars being spent judiciously?

The biggest item in the Senior Center’s budget is for their highly paid administrators. The Executive Director, Mary Ellen Walsh, earned $84,276 in 2006. In 2007 she earned $86,181.69. This is an increase of close to $2000. What a nice chunk of change. It’s very nice for executive types to receive an increase of $2000 in a given year.

The Assistant Director earned $64,379 in 2006. This year saw the salary increased to $65,834.78. This is a nearly a $1500.00 raise in one year.

Then we have the Meals on Wheels Coordinator. This position paid $52,534 in 2006 but jumped up to $53,727 in 2007. The pay increase in one year was close to $1300 dollars.

The Program Coordinator for Senior Citizens pulled in $44,000 in 2006 then jump to $45,004 in 2007. This was an increase of $1000 in salary in only one year.

The Director of Volunteers pulled down $43,190.28 in 2006 but received over a $ 900 increase in pay in 2007.

The Food Service Manager did well by earning $ 42,088 in 2006 but in 2007 salary for this position was increase to $43,039.50. That’s a raise of about $950.

The Laborer Crew Chief earned $43,190.28 but in 2007 the salary shot up to $44,693.64, a decent increase of close to $1,500 in one year.

The Senior Center has 43 employees who utilize 40 phones. So far, through June, 2007, Amherst has spent $10,321 paying the Senior Center phone bill. In 2005 the Senior Center phone bill was $22,626. In 2006 the phone bill dropped from the previous year to $20,198. One has to wonder what the bottom line will be at the close of 2007.

NEXT: The salaries of the remaining administrators.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

The U.S. Economic Perpetual Motion Machine is in serious trouble.

Stock market jitters over sub-prime lending, declining housing, American car sales and the falling dollar seems to have the stock market hunting to find market value.

The mad rush to Dow 14000 was just a sucker rally and two-fool theory says you are either a fool for buying or a fool for selling, but stock market sharpies tell me even a dead cat will bounce once.

Tightening of credit results in a shrinking money supply and that means less dollars being spent and less demand driving the manufacturing market.

Gold hit a new high on July 24 of 684.48/oz. there is little doubt that the magic number of previous record $730/oz will soon be broken.

Gold and Silver has always been used as an indicator and hedge against inflation.

I have predicted 2 and 3 dollar/gallon gasoline, beware America will see 5 dollar/gallon gasoline.

All of these factors become a spiral as cost, taxes and earning ramp up and begin to feed on each other.

America may be in a recession.

Congressional testimony indicated most citizen’s earnings have not kept up with economic growth.

If your earnings and investments are not keeping up with inflation then your buying power declines.

Ask the candidates their solution to a declining American standard of living.

The only workable strategy is finding a higher paying job that maximizes disposable income.

Best to make the move to greener pastures, maximize your earnings, and work opportunities.

Danny G. Goe
515 Eastholm
Mexico, MO. 65265
573-581-3547
DGoe@itwebs.com
Non-exclusive print only

The voters of New York State elected NY State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer as our new Governor in November, 2006. There was a positive feeling flowing through New York State. The people felt Governor Spitzer would open new doors and windows to allow new life into our state government.

New York State has suffered for years because dried up politicians had and still have control of our state government in Albany on both sides of the aisle. New York State has leaders who never allow progress to interfere with the long drawn out methods they consistently use to get things done in Albany. The voters are beginning to realize how these rusty heavy weights wield the power they possess to control the politicians, thus legislation. These old clogs fear positive, progressive change because it would signal their demise

Change is what Governor Spitzer is trying to bring to our state. It is important to change the “old guard” from a “slow down” or “do nothing” government to one which will meet the needs of all of New York State now, not next year or next century.

Governor Spitzer is trying to convert the present leaders, who have lived in a Machiavellian world for a very long time, to leaders who will put the people’s needs above all else. In part this will mean they will have to give up a piece of their control to anyone who will make positive changes.

Yes, the political leaders in Albany need to be pushed off their thrones and replaced with people who haven’t been spoiled by the system, yet. WNY has taken a brutal beating from the present leaders in our Assembly and Senate. It is time we strike back and support Governor Spitzer’s effort to bring change to New York, especially in our WNY area. This is the area where change most needed.

Now the Governor’s time and efforts are being tied up defending his staff and himself from attacks from State Senator Joseph Bruno. What a waste of precious time. Senator Bruno isn’t a political angel. Yes, mistakes were made by some members of the Governor’s staff while they investigated him. Their mistakes stemmed from their vigor. These young “Kennedy type” staff members moved too fast and didn’t follow all the rules.

When investigating someone there are methods which should never be used to try to discredit them. In our political past these methods were abused by Republicans as well as Democrats which ruined the reputation of many good people.

If the rats of today’s politics aren’t found out now, history will surely dam their names forever.

PepsiCo Inc, the maker of Aquafina, bottled water with the attractive label showing off snow-capped mountains, will print clearly on the label that Aquafina comes directly from tap water. There isn’t a drop of spring water in Aquafina. If there were you would be paying a higher price for the product.

PepsiCo’s main rival for the fifteen billion dollar bottled water market is the Coca-Cola Co. Coca-Cola Co has 1/5 of the entire U.S. bottle water market with its Dasani brand. Dasani bottled water comes from the taps of many cities including Marietta, Georgia. The Cola-Cola, Co. doesn’t keep this information from their water drinking public.

The bottled water drinking population should remember they are paying for water from city taps, which could include Buffalo. Now the bottled water you’re drinking might taste very familiar.

The Republican Primary in September is really important to the five Republican candidates running for a seat on the Amherst Town Board. The five include Bill Kindel, Barry A. Weinstein, Guy R. Marlette, Roy L Wixson and Mark Klyczek. The three endorsed Republican candidates are Weinstein, Marlette and Wixson.

The three who garner the most votes in the Primary will be the credible candidates to win a seat on the Amherst Town Board in November.

If Weinstein, Wixson or Klyczek win each would have a single line on the ballot in November, the Republican line.

If Marlette wins he will have two lines on the ballot in November; the Republican as well as the Conservative line.

Bill Kindel already has the Conservative and Working Family endorsements.
If he wins the Republican Primary he will have three lines on the ballot in the November election. On paper this would make him the strongest Republican candidate for the Amherst Town Board.

My family went on a Disney cruise in May and the first thing that struck us was how persistent they were in having the passengers sanitize their hands at every opportunity possible. Before we could actually board we were stopped, handed a sanitizing sheet and asked to wipe our hands thoroughly before discarding the used wipe. There was also a foam hand sanitizing station available. Every time we went to eat - first wipe. You left the eating area - wipe. You went off the ship - wipe. You re boarded - wipe. It was comical at first but became second nature. Their purpose was to avoid cross contamination between passengers and avoid illness if at all possible. It worked.

“At a veterans’ hospital here, nurses swab the nasal passages of every arriving patient to test them for drug-resistant bacteria. Those found positive are housed in isolation rooms behind red painted lines that warn workers not to approach without wearing gowns and gloves.”

“Every room and corridor is equipped with dispensers of foamy hand sanitizer. Blood pressure cuffs are discarded after use, and each room is assigned its own stethoscope to prevent the transfer of microorganisms. Using these and other relatively inexpensive measures, the hospital has significantly reduced the number of patients who develop deadly drug-resistant infections, long an unaddressed problem in American hospitals.”
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