New York State Legislature held a public hearing on banning boys under the age of 12 from playing contact football. It is driven by a concern and fear of head injuries. In high school players are prohibited from making head helmet to head helmet contact.

Parents learned of the head injury problems by watching what had become of professional football players, who lost their minds, and in some cases their lives when they committed suicide. Everyone at the hearing, but one, who testified warned of the damage that contact football will do to some athletes for the rest of their lives. The exception was from USA Football. From what he said, I would never let him in the same state or country as any of our young boys. Their health and well being was not a concern of his.

Because of head health issues less students are playing 11 man football, five of the MHAL schools, Ellenville, Onteora, Spackenkill, Millbrook and Dover, now play eight man football.

There used to be four or five wins on the Highland schedule. No longer and the Huskies against a much tougher schedule has a 1 and 7 record this season.

New Paltz Suicide

Thirty years ago New Paltz had its last teen suicide that I am aware of. In this situation, the student had always wanted to go to the Air Force Academy and sought a nomination from Congressman Matt McHugh and got it. The student had the full support of his family and would be the first student since 1966 high school valedictorian Sid DuBois to attend the Air Force Academy.

But for this student there would be a problem. In the spring of his senior year he was making plans to attend the academy when his girlfriend informed him that if he would not attend college with her at the University of Buffalo she would break off their relation. After a lot of thinking, he wrote the Air Force Academy that he had changed his mind and would be attending the University of Buffalo. That fall they went to Buffalo, and a month later she broke off the relationship, and a month later he was found hanging in his room. He was just 18.

Losing Your Shirt on Lotto
If you buy a $1 Lotto ticket and then check your numbers on a Thursday or Sunday on the internet you can learn your odds at winning. On average every 46 weeks you will get three numbers and win $1 or spend it on a new ticket, or every 256 weeks, draw 4 numbers and win $40. Imagine spending $46 to win $1, or $256 over 256 weeks (5 years) to win $40. or if you do not spend the $1 at the end of 10 years, you will have $520. I will take the $520.

Your chances of winning at the Highland Hose fall barbecue are about 1 in 50 and you will win a lot more than $1.

Married Priests
Pope Francis has been asked by the Bishops to allow priests to be married again. Over 1,000 years ago not only they, but Popes were married. Pope Francis said nothing about the nuns. Highland had a popular nun, Sister Loretta when St. Augustine’s school was open. St. Joseph’s in New Paltz, too, had nuns when its K-8 Catholic School was open. I knew one of them. I think she would have been a great mother.

Only once when I was growing up did anyone bring up the subject, and he was the Dominie, Reverend Gerrett Wullschlegger of the New Paltz Reformed Church on Huguenot Street. The Dominie did not understand how the priest could go through life without being wed?

I believe having married priests would help the Catholic faith get through its difficulties and help the priests relate better to parishioners issues of raising children and having a family. I believe this is a positive issue to discuss.

New Paltz does not have a Republican party
When I was voting early in New Paltz, it was a surprise when looking at the ballot that there were no local Republicans running in town races. New Paltz has become a one party town and it has been at least a decade since a Republican was elected.

I looked up and down the ballot, however, and could not find anyone on the Republican line. With the college New Paltz has close to 20,000 people. That is a huge political hole in a county with about 280,000 people. New Paltz is a turnover town, with a turnover government. I was relieved when I recognized the name of long time Democratic town justice James Bacon.

I did not know either of the two Democrats, who are running for the office of councilman. But I do know of or know candidates, who are running in Lloyd and Marlboro.

Climate change is destroying the United States
Effects of Climate Change are appearing faster than scientists anticipated. Currently it is showing up with the worst Santa Ana and most ferocious winds in the known history of California. In the last two years California has had its deadliest fire storms.

Former Governor Jerry Brown said, “California is burning while the deniers fight the standards that can help us all. This is life and death stuff.” Computer models are constantly upgraded with new more destructive targets as wind, rain, flooding and heat wave records. Already new fire storm records are projected for California.

Atop these growing and worse storms comes a growing FEMA cost, which will be paid for by the taxpayers of the United States one way or another, including a record breaking deficit year.

63,000 New Yorkers moved to Florida for the moment

Last year 63,000 New York residents made a permanent move to Florida or so they think. In their future is Global Warming, which at some time in the future will make cities like Miami uninhabitable. My sister sold her condo in Tampa, which was on a second floor when the first floor started to have water problems. Now she rents in Florida during the winter. At some point in time, that building will be worthless.

All indications are that in the future Florida will be hit with far worse hurricanes. This year it got a pass from Hurricane Dorean, which destroyed the Bahamas. Maria leveled Puerto Rico.
Then there are the rising oceans.

Remember when Warren Buffett said his secretary had a higher tax rate than he did?
It turns out that the Trump tax cuts did a such good job of cutting the taxes of millionaires and billionaires that their tax rates are lower than a lot of people in Ulster County. Among the beneficiaries is Donald Trump. The locals are now carrying on their hard working backs the billionaire-like Koch brothers.

A different way at looking at this issue is “America’s richest 400 families now pay a lower tax rate than the middle class.” Again this is Trump’s gift to the M and B club. Because of the gift for the first time in a century ,tax wise the wealthy are the winners. “While Trump vowed that middle-class families would be helped by the tax overhaul, experts say most working-class families saw only a minimal benefit, while the wealthiest citizens got the lion’s share of breaks. In fact Trump tax cuts turned the tax system on its head.”

Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has a plan: a wealth tax, and already you can hear the screams from the M and B crowd, which has been ripping off America. If Warren is able to get her tax increase passed, and Trump, who would be injured by it, might veto it, if he still is president. Would he? You bet. He is already making a big tax cut profit off of us, so why cut off this revenue stream.

But if Warren is elected president the tweets will be going day and night from Mara Lago. A fair question is where in the vote on the Trump tax cuts were the Republican senators and congressmen. I thought they would be working for us. Their gift to us is a deficit that is growing at a record speed and just hit $23 trillion.