Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News

January 11, 2025

Betsy Folwell, a journalist, humanist and Adirondack conservationist, died this week at 71. Read more about this remarkable woman in Lives. Nancie Battaglia

Dear Colleagues and Friends:

The ongoing devastation in the Los Angeles area is difficult to fathom, much less describe. Every gust of the infamous Santa Ana winds acts as a massive flamethrower, pushing wildfires that were consuming the equivalent of three football fields a minute, incinerating practically everything in their paths. Whole communities are ash, firefighters are exhausted, hydrants are running dry and the death toll is climbing. The images are apocalyptic, the losses staggering in what is expected to become the costliest fire disaster in California history.

Compassion knows no boundaries, which may explain why NorthJersey.com published a vetted list of aid organizations you can contribute to, if you’re so inclined.

FINAL SALUTE: Jimmy Carter, who may not have been America’s most beloved president but surely was among its most decent, was remembered as a man of faith and compassion this week at a state funeral attended by each of his five living successors. Carter, who lived longer and had a longer post-presidency than other U.S. president, died Dec. 29 at 100. The sons of his former vice president, Walter Mondale, and President Gerald Ford, whom Carter defeated in 1976, delivered remarks their fathers had prepared before their own deaths. President Biden, in his eulogy, recalled that Carter “taught me that strength of character is more than a title or the power we hold. It’s the strength to understand that everyone should be treated with dignity and respect. ... To young people, to anyone in search of meaning and purpose, study the power of Jimmy Carter’s example. Character, faith, love — a true patriot.”

FOOD SECURITY: President Trump’s return to the White House is driving a surge in interest in gardening, as budget-conscious consumers take steps to protect themselves against a spike in prices they fear could result from mass deportations and the imposition of substantial tariffs on Mexico, a top source of fresh produce in the U.S. More Americans are taking steps to generate their own food supplies, including in New York’s Capital Region, where Capital Roots, a nonprofit that runs 55 community gardens, saw nearly triple the usual number of new applicants for garden space after the election. “If new tariffs further drive up the already high cost of produce, we’d anticipate more interest in our community gardens,” Capital Roots CEO Amy Klein told CNN. “People are increasingly looking for practical, cost-effective ways to manage their grocery bills, and our gardening program provides a way for families to save thousands in a single growing season.”

WHAT MOOCHIE CAN TEACH US: Moochie the Kat is homeless. So are countless animals. But Moochie is different — he’s the subject of a new rock’n’roll musical that plays at Glens Falls’ Charles R. Wood Theater at 3 p.m. Sunday, a production that will have you feline all the emotions. It’s the touching story of two homeless humans and one determined kitty, all vying for a place on Dumpster Hill. The performance offers a poignant portrait of community, resilience, and survival — whether you're a cat or a human, the need for sustenance, shelter and affection is universal. A portion of ticket sales benefit Wait House for runaway and homeless youth and Feline Advocates Coming Together.

Ray O’Conor, left, and Joe Murphy after conquering another peak.

EXTREME FRIENDSHIP: The philosopher Martin Buber wrote: “All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” Here’s proof: Two guys 30 years apart meet each other on an Adirondack mountain climbing excursion. They share a thirst for adventure and forge a friendship, inspiring each other to ascend more than 400 mountains and hike over 4,000 miles of trail. Sounds like a great movie, doesn’t it? “An Above Average Day,” filmed in the Adirondacks and Vermont, tells the story of retired Saratoga Springs, N.Y., banking executive and author Ray O’Conor and college academic adviser Joe Murphy.

BRINGING KIDS BACK: Across the nation, chronic absenteeism in schools has been a major problem since the pandemic. But a pair of school districts in Upstate New York has found successful approaches to student retention and engagement. The Glens Falls School District is making significant headway in getting kids back to school with a case-by-case approach to the challenges many students and families face. “It's important to realize that every single student and every family has a different story and a different 'why' as to their chronic absenteeism,” Glens Falls school district official Kristy Moore told North Country Public Radio. And in the Norwood-Norfolk Central School District, near the Canadian border in St. Lawrence County, nearly half of the 950 students have missed two days or less this academic year, and 138 have perfect attendance. “We’re trying to build up a school culture in which students feel welcomed, feel excited to come to school, all of the things we try to do, our ‘flyer pride’ initiatives, our spirit weeks, are things that try to get students to want to be here,” high school principal George Biffer told WWNY.

HI, NEIGH-BURR: Chris Stever wants the property next to his to expand his business in Utica, N.Y.,  and he’s apparently willing to do just about anything to get it. Let’s just say you should be very, very happy that this guy isn’t your neighbor, given the tactics he has employed in a futile attempt to coerce a sale, including giant signs and banners and near-daily video posts that get thousands of views. He even bought a residential lot in the upscale neighborhood next to where his foil, a doctor who is a respected kidney specialist, lives, threatening to bus homeless people to the lot. There’s a civil suit and two criminal cases pending.

LOGO, OH NO: Residents of Westchester County, N.Y., are mocking the county’s recently updated official logo, comparing it to the logo for the dating app Hinge. Both feature a squiggly line through the letter H. “This is so bad that it’s made me care about something I didn’t think I cared about,” one resident said, according to the New York Post. “Quite frankly, this is embarrassing. It’s a shame that money was wasted for this design,” another posted on the county’s Facebook page. “Trying to make sense of it and coming up empty-handed,” said another. You get the point. The county spent more than $100,000 for rebranding work with a company in Alexandria, Va.

LEADERSHIP CHANGE: Protect the Adirondacks, an organization dedicated to wilderness conservation advocacy, has a new leader for the first time in 22 years. Peter Bauer stepped down on January 1, succeeded by Claudia Braymer, a respected environmental attorney and former member of the Warren County Board of Supervisors.

MEMORIAL BRIDGE: A span that carries Washington Avenue over Interstate 90 in Rensselaer, N.Y., was renamed in honor of Casey Frankoski, a city native and member of the Army National Guard who was among three people killed last March in a helicopter crash while on a mission near the U.S.-Mexico border.

RELIVING HISTORY: Visitors to a Manhattan will be able to experience a full-scale replica of the secret hideaway where Anne Frank spent more than two years avoiding Nazi forces who occupied Amsterdam and where the 13-year-old wrote her famous diary. The exhibit will debut at the Center for Jewish History on January 27 and remain through April.

ROCKS TO THE RESCUE: Researchers are looking at a new way to enhance the capacity of oceans to store carbon: Adding rocks. Depositing acid-neutralizing alkaline minerals in the water, either in a crushed or dissolved form, allows oceans to absorb more carbon dioxide. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found ocean alkalinity enhancement to be effective and inexpensive.

FOR THE BIRDS: Bird feeders equipped with cameras that snap photos and capture videos are creating a new generation of bird lovers who are mesmerized by the closeups the devices produce. Bird Buddy has sold 350,000 smart bird feeders since 2022.

BARRY KRAMER was, by consensus, the best basketball player ever to come out of Schenectady, N.Y., a city that also produced Pat Riley, who would play in the NBA and build a Hall of Fame career as a coach. A first-team All-American as a junior at New York University, he was selected sixth overall in the 1964 NBA draft, but played just a few games before pivoting to the law, becoming a successful lawyer and, later, a judge, first on the Surrogate Court and eventually New York State Supreme Court. He served more than two decades on the bench before retiring in 2018. In 1989, he received the Silver Anniversary Award from the National Association of Basketball Coaches, in recognition of both playing ability and professional achievement 25 years after graduation. “He was just a great, great friend and man. I idolized him,” Riley told The Associated Press. “I can’t tell you how many people that grew up in Schenectady looked up to Barry Kramer,” Bob Pezzano, chairperson of the Schenectady City School Athletic Hall of Fame, told the Albany Times Union. He was 82.

BESTY FOLWELL was a Wisconsin girl who found her heaven — her Adirondack life — in Blue Mountain Lake. N.Y. She held a lot of different jobs over the years but was known to most as the thoughtful longtime editor of Adirondack Life magazine. Immense natural beauty surrounded her, but she found sublime beauty in the people of Adirondack communities. Over the years, she and her husband Tom Warrington took on various projects, including running a general store, buying an old diner car that became a popular restaurant in Indian Lake, reviving the Indian Lake theater, and helping establish the Adirondack Center for Writing. She served on the board of the Adirondack Land Trust and created the Small Wonders Fund of the Adirondack Foundation that, among other things, will help fund EMT and paramedic training for Hamilton County residents. “I can’t find the reference to this quote and I’m going to paraphrase it, which is, ‘When an old man dies, it’s like a library has burned down.’ And that’s what I would say about Betsy,” remembered Martha Foley, a longtime friend and former North Country Public Radio news director. She was 71.

MARY ANNE KRUPSAK served two terms in the New York State Assembly and was a new state senator when she mounted a long-shot bid for lieutenant governor in 1974 against the wishes of party bosses and her eventual running mate, prevailing in a three-way race that included a political newcomer named Mario Cuomo, then seeking his first elected office. Elected with Hugh Carey at the top of the ticket, the state’s first female lieutenant governor grew disenchanted with her lack of substantive responsibilities and challenged Carey for the gubernatorial nomination in 1978, a race he won handily. She ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1980 and, a decade later, made another run for State Senate, a race she lost to the Republican incumbent, ending her political career. A native of Schenectady, N.Y., she was 92.  

PETER YARROW was one-third of the 1960s folk-music trio Peter, Paul and Mary, a group that produced six Billboard Top 10 singles, two No. 1 albums and won five Grammys. Their success helped lead an American folk music revival and gave an early lift to Bob Dylan, performing his “Blowin’ in the Wind” at the 1963 March on Washington, best known for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Yarrow co-wrote the group’s most popular hit, “Puff the Magic Dragon,” and continued writing after the trio split to pursue solo careers in 1969, including the 1976 hit “Torn Between Two Lovers” for Mary MacGregor.  In 1969, Yarrow pleaded guilty to taking indecent liberties with a 14-year-old girl who had come to his hotel room with her older sister to ask for autographs. Yarrow resumed his career after serving three months in jail. He was 86.

TOMIKO ITOOKA was born before World War I to parents who ran a clothing store in Osaka, Japan. At that time, her country was a rising imperial power that had just defeated czarist Russia in war and was embarking on expansion into mainland Asia. During her life, she saw Japan emerge as an Asian colonial empire, fall in fiery defeat in 1945 and rise again as an industrial giant and peaceful democracy. Believed to be the oldest person on Earth, she was 116.

“In any other context, we would be shocked if elected officials encouraged people to break the law and to cheat other New Yorkers.”
— Janno Lieber, chair of the Metropolitan Transit Authority, after a gadfly member of the New York City Council suggested on X that “a high-powered green laser pointer like the ones you find on eBay for under $30 can destroy a camera sensor” after the city’s controversial new congestion pricing tolls went into effect.

SICK OF IT: The mayor of a small town in southern Italy issued a proclamation declaring “Getting sick is prohibited,” and further instructing his constituents “to avoid contracting any illness that requires medical assistance, especially an emergency.” He told a local TV station that the proclamation was not entirely tongue-in-cheek, calling it “a cry for help, a way to shine a spotlight on an unacceptable situation” with regard to lack of healthcare resources in the community.

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Principal Author: Bill Callen.

Contributors: Contributors: Ryan Moore, Mark Behan, John Brodt, Kristy Miller, Jim Murphy, Amanda Metzger, Nancie Battaglia and Kristy Moore.

FACING OUT is what we do. We help companies, organizations and individuals work effectively with their most important external audiences – their customers, their shareholders, their communities, the government and the news media.  www.behancommunications.com

Facing Out features news and other nuggets that caught our eye, and that we thought might be of value to you, our friends and business associates. Some items are good news about our clients and friends, others are stories that we hope will leave you a bit more informed or entertained than you were five minutes ago. As always, we welcome your ideas and feedback. 

Let’s make it a conversation: mark.behan@behancom.com