This morning's Ithaca Journal has some positive news coming from the Town of Dryden. In Darts & Laurels, both the Varna Community Association and Dryden Sertoma praise those who have helped their community.
Varna thanks the Journal for its coverage of their benefit barbecue for Kim Rowland, and other media for their coverage, which led to a sell-out success.
Dryden Sertoma's thank you is a long list:
LAUREL: The Dryden Sertoma Club wishes to express their thanks to the following businesses for their support of our second Annual Dryden Sertoma Golf Tournament. Their generosity helped to raise over $3,200 for the Dryden, Freeville and McLean Fire Departments. Thank you to the hole-in-one prize sponsors: Staffords and Stone Travel. Thank you to the hole sponsors: HSBC-Triphammer Branch, RKG Plumbing, First National Bank of Dryden, Cayuga Press, Cotterill Agency, Family Practice Associates of Dryden, Dryden Food Market, A-1 Restaurant, George B. Bailey Insurance Agency, Merrill Lynch, Mullen's Body Shop, Conway Construction, Dryden Wine & Spirits, Dryden Mutual, American Homes, R.E. Shipe Contracting, Pall Trinity, Holtz-Nelson Dairy Consultants, LLC, and Jes-Styles. Thank you to those who donated prizes: Bell's Auto Care, Dryden Agway, Syracuse University, Todi's, Villa Vitale Pizzeria, Holy Smoke, Arnold's Florist, Specialty Trophy, Dryden NAPA, Tompkins Trust Company, Dryden Recreation, The Antlers, Dr. Cynthia Elberty, Sheri's Unique Boutique, Jim Whyte's Auto Service, Action Auto and Doug's Fish Fry.
TC3 gave awards to Dryden teacher Linda Bruno and Ithaca teacher Ray Cole for their work connecting TC3 and local high schools.
You can learn about how the land of New York's Military Tract, which includes Dryden, was distributed by the state after 1782.
There's also an article on Congressional candidate Ray Meier's position on stem-cell research. I have mixed feelings about the issue, but it looks to me like Meier is trying make both sides of the issue happy, while hiding his actual position from supporters of the recently vetoed Congressional bill to support federal funding for the research. The Journal cites a "press release issued by his campaign on Friday" (which I can't find on his campaign site or his State Senate site). They go on to write:
Meier, a Republican running for re-election to state Senate, voted in March in favor of New York State Senate Bill S.5999, supporting state-funded stem cell research.
This bill establishes a public umbilical cord blood banking program. Umbilical cord blood has shown great benefit to medical research because it is rich in blood stem cells. The concept is backed by the National Institutes of Health, Meier's office said, because adult stem cells have proven value in research.
The Republican senator stressed that he does not support cloning or the “destruction of nascent human life for research.�
That sounds to me like Meier supports the use of umbilical stem cells and adult stem cells, but not the embryonic stem cells the vetoed bill was about. When readers hit the Journal's headline, "Sen. Meier, GOP lawmakers support stem cell research," that's probably not the impression they're going to get, given the recent news. I don't know if the Journal fell for a creatively spun press release or if they just misreported the overall intent, but it's definitely worth reading beyond the headline.
Posted by simon at July 22, 2006 3:45 PM in Ithaca Journal , TC3 , history , politics (national)
I am nearly 100% sure that you're right--this is creative spin of an issue most people don't delve very deeply into. Meier's only public support is for adult and umbilical stem cell research. The veto may make this whole thing moot, of course.
The Bill can be reintroduced next January. If a veto proof majority that supports stem cell research is seated in Congress this coming January then Bush's veto will become moot. Meier needs to be asked the yes or no question -- would have voted in favor of the stem cell Bill that Bush vetoed. Right now, it appears that Meier would answer that question with a "no".