Yesterday was a fairly quiet day in Dryden. The county legislature approved requiring apprenticeship programs of its contractors by a 9-5 vote. County Legislator Michael Lane is quoted at the end of the article supporting the measure, though they don't give a vote listing.
On Veterans Day, November 11th at 11:00 am, there will be a number of ceremonies honoring veterans, including one on the Dryden Village Green sponsored by Dryden Veterans Memorial Home.
A Freeville woman faces DWI charges after a one-car accident on Dryden Road near NYSEG.
On the opinion page, two Dryden residents share their comments. Suzanne Bury of Dryden writes of her concerns with the flu shot shortage. Charlie Hart of Freeville writes to suggest that manufacturing in the United States is ending: "The smart move is to forget about manufacturing and send your kids to school to learn something else -- and maybe this county would have other jobs besides retail."
Posted by simon at November 4, 2004 8:50 AM in Ithaca Journal , politics (local) , politics (national)
Simon, this is great. I don't get the Ithaca Journal very often. So, I appreciate the easy access you're providing to local news.
From US News and World Report 10/4/04: "manufacturing has had a strong recovery" producing goods valued at nearly $1.4 trillion last year. Outgoing president of the National Association of Manufacturers, Jerry Jasinowski, says, "It's just that the things that US factories produce are not, except for autos, packaged foods and medicines, typically the sort of thing you pick up at Wal-Mart. The big numbers are in the likes of aircraft, chemicals, electrical machinery -- and, of course, armaments."
I'm particularly interested in the county's requiring contractors to provide apprenticeship programs. My graduate work at Cornell's ILR School was in the field of apprenticeship training. It is an important way to provide training and job oppportunities. My reasearch was more years ago than I care to admit, but at that time too many apprenticeship sponsors used the program as a way to pay new workers very low wages and didn't provide much of the education stipulated in state regulations. I'll see if I can find out if that's changed.
Thank you, by the way, for all your work for/with Dryden Democrats. Let me know if there's something I can do in this sort of "down time." I'm not much good at talking to people. But I'm good at research and organizing and writing.