Living in Dryden

Coral grows in Dryden

This morning's Ithaca Journal visits Reef Encounters, exploring the colorful world of coral growing in a Freeville basement. Owner Steve Lowes talks about what's involved in growing coral, the difficulties facing coral reefs in their natural habitat, and the powerful filtration work coral performs on the surrounding water.

Governor Pataki vetoed another $3 billion from the state budget, eliminating the $750 million in rebate checks I discussed earlier as well as SUNY and community college capital projects, costing TC3 $2.4 million toward its master plan amendment.

Much as it pains me to agree with Pataki, I can't really argue with this in a year when the budget would have increased the state's growing debt even despite a large jump in tax revenue:

"There are a lot of new programs that are perfectly good programs... (but) they are not fiscally sustainable."

I'm also curious if this will end some of the state's back-door borrowing:

He eliminated a $200 million fund for "pork-barrel" or pet projects in lawmakers' home districts such as baseball fields, Flag Day parades and local halls of fame.

The editorial reflects on the end of trash-burning and the county's accepting more recycling and electronic waste:

In the meantime, the more raw materials that can be salvaged from the waste stream and the more pollutants that can be kept from landfills and burn barrels, the better this planet is for every thing that shares it. Recent steps by the county Board of Health and the Solid Waste Management Division offer great promise to do just that. For those efforts, we all ought to take a deep, cleaner breath and say "thanks."