Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
January 18, 2025
The Olympic Speed Skating Oval in front of Lake Placid High School is enjoyed by the community when the conditions are right, as they are now. Nancie Battaglia
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced in her State of the State address that she wants to spend $400 million spiffing up the area around the Capitol, including $150 million to remodel a once-admired State Museum and $200 million for unspecified other projects.
The Governor’s announcement came alongside news that the federal government finalized plans to shower the region with 825 million taxpayer dollars to establish a National Semiconductor Technology Center in Albany, touting it as a first-of-its-kind research and development center. And while not technically a giveaway, the U.S. Department of Energy is backing a $1.66 billion loan to Albany County-based Plug Power to build hydrogen facilities across the country.
No one in the Capital Region will take issue with the jobs and amenities such government largesse figures to create — the praise is flowing — but questions will linger as to whether this is normal or, more importantly, sustainable. Albany has needed a boost and a wealthy patron for a long time. It’s in tough shape. Let’s hope the Hochul money arrives and is used effectively for a substantive and optical makeover, and that it liberates private investment for a reimagining of the Capital City that helps bring it back to its deserved glory … at least enough to make Rebeca Lobo happy.
GET SERIOUS: David Brooks, a longtime columnist for The New York Times, has had enough of the stupidity so often on display on Capitol Hill. Ordinarily mild-mannered and analytical, he turned his full rhetorical fire on the Democrats who were questioning Defense Secretary-designate Pete Hegseth — a man Brooks writes is “in no danger of rising to the level of mediocrity.” Pointing out the many global challenges facing the United States, he writes, “If you’re a Democrat trying to sink a nomination, you would think you’d want to ask substantive questions on life-or-death issues in order to expose the nominee’s ignorance and unpreparedness. But did this happen at the Pete Hegseth hearing in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee this week? If you thought those kinds of questions would dominate the hearing, you must be living under the illusion that we live in a serious country. We do not.” Noting that the questions focused on Hegseth’s alleged personal failings, he adds, “Senator Tim Kaine tried to play the moral disqualification game, dwelling on Hegseth’s various adulteries. With Democrats’ having failed to defeat Donald Trump with this strategy, I admire their capacity for persistent losing.”
IT TAKES GALL: Erin P. Gall, who resigned as a State Supreme Court justice months after she was suspended and recommended for removal following a racist tirade in which she threatened to shoot Black teenagers at a high school graduation party, is back on the public payroll as an assistant attorney in Herkimer County, a rural enclave between Albany and Syracuse. Sylvia Rowan, who chairs the Herkimer County Republican Committee, told The New York Times that Gall’s behavior was something people “will probably frown at.” But, she said, “to question her ability in her job and what she did in that situation is different. ... I’m a firm believer in second chances.”
NUCLEAR REACTION: Global demand for electricity in the age of artificial intelligence is surging, spurred by a boom in investment in new data centers, the largest of which can have annual electricity demands equivalent to that of 400,000 electric cars. MIT Technology Review’s What’s Next series turned its gaze to the newfound interest in nuclear energy spurred by this new demand. “Nuclear had an incredible 2024, probably the most exciting year for nuclear in many decades,” Staffan Qvist, a nuclear engineer and CEO of Quantified Carbon, an international consultancy focused on decarbonizing energy and industry, told the publication. “There’s a big world out there hungry for power.”
EVIL LURKS: A school district in New York’s Hudson Valley is warning families about a scam in which degenerate criminals use artificial intelligence to mimic children’s voices, hoping to extort money from frightened and unsuspecting parents, the New York Daily News reports. Federal investigators call it “vocal cloning,” the creation of realistic-sounding clips of a loved one in distress. Meanwhile, the family of a Saratoga County girl who was kidnapped from a state park in 2023 and missing for 2½ days are asking Gov. Kathy Hochul to include money in the state budget to make sure child survivors have a dedicated advocate present during all questioning and proceedings, TV station WNYT reports. The proposal has the bipartisan backing of state Senator Jim Tedisco and Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara.
Dawn breaks behind the Goddess Columbia statue atop the Soldiers and Sailors monument in Troy, N.Y. John Bulmer
NAME GAMES: Across New York State, schools have been changing the names of their mascots to comply with a State Education Department order to drop monikers currently considered to be potentially offensive. Almost two years after being indirectly called out by their hometown paper, the Whitesboro school district near Syracuse has acted. Their athletic teams now known as the Warriors are about to go the route of Cher, Madonna and Elvis. Henceforth, pending school board approval, they will be known simply as Whitesboro, the only school in Section III — and perhaps the state — without a nickname.
DELAYED GRATIFICATION: Turns out the white-collar job market has cooled off, and newly minted MBAs are feeling the chill. Twenty-three percent of job-seeking Harvard MBAs who graduated last spring were still looking for work three months after leaving campus, up from 20% the prior year and 10% in 2022. Most MBAs from top schools end up with good-paying jobs, but the three-month figure is closely watched because it signals hiring demand for corporate climbers in high-wage fields. Meanwhile, the latest Gallup survey of employee engagement found that workers, especially those under 35, are increasingly disconnected from their work. Overall, only 31% of workers reported feeling engaged at work, the lowest since 2014, and more than one in six reported being actively disengaged. Only 30% strongly agree that someone at work encourages their development. Workers under 35 reported a five-point drop in engagement from the previous year. It’s not just the rank-and-file — recent findings from The Conference Board suggest CEOs had lower confidence in their own industries in late 2024.
TRAVELS WITH JACK: Jack first showed up at Union Train Depot in Albany, N.Y., in the 1880s. He was a friendly pup, a terrier, and quickly found companions among the rail yard workers. Jack also discovered he had a taste for travel and adventure. So, he hopped in a baggage car and began many years of riding the trails. He visited New York City, Los Angeles, the Adirondacks, Maine and Canada and points in between. Jack seemed to know somebody at every station and at most of the newspapers along the way, too. Historian Maury Thompson introduces us to Albany’s legendary Railroad Jack.
NICE RIDE: Readers of USA Today have voted The Bobcat wooden rollercoaster at the Six Flags Great Escape in Queensbury, N.Y., one of the best new theme park attractions in America.
MORE GOLD MEDALS: A bipartisan group in the U.S. Senate and House reintroduced a bill this week to award Congressional Gold Medals to the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, which famously defeated the mighty Soviet team in The Miracle on Ice in Lake Placid and went on to win the gold medal two days later by defeating Finland.
TALK IS NOT CHEAP: A Philadelphia Eagles fan who was recorded yelling vulgar, sexist comments to a Green Bay Packers fan last weekend was fired from his job and banned from Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field after the video went viral. His former employer? BCT Partners, a management consulting firm focused on diversity, equity and inclusion.
CAUGHT DEAD: The feds are beginning to recover hundreds of millions of dollars in Social Security payments made in error to dead people, announcing this week an initial clawback of $31 million.
PAY TO STAY: Starbucks this week said it is adopting rules for customer conduct and reversing an open-door policy that has allowed people to use its bathrooms or hang out inside without buying anything.
ROYAL FORTUNE: Catherine, Princess of Wales, revealed this week that her cancer is in remission and that she remains focused on her recovery as she continues a gradual return to public duties.
PAUL VELLANO SR. was a dominating and powerful defensive tackle from Schenectady, N.Y., who teamed with fellow All-American Randy White to lead the University of Maryland football program to national prominence in the early 1970s. Before that, he was an all-state player for Bishop Gibbons High School. He played briefly for the Chicago Bears and for several years in the World Football League before returning home to co-own Vellano Bros., a construction supply company. A son, Joe, also played at Maryland, where he was an All-American in 2011, making the Vellanos one of four father-son duos to earn All-America honors for the same school (Archie and Eli Manning, at Ole Miss, are among the others). “Paul’s legendary,” a former high school rival, La Salle Institute coach John Audino, told The Daily Gazette. A member of the University of Maryland athletic hall of fame, he was 72.
BOB UECKER was affectionately called “Mr. Baseball” by Johnny Carson and the nickname stuck. No sport had a better ambassador than Uecker, who in addition to more than 100 hilarious and self-deprecating appearances on The Tonight Show had memorable turns as a play-by-play announcer in Major League (“juuuust a bit outside”), worked national baseball broadcasts, had a role in the 1980s sitcom Mr. Belvedere and was a pitchman for Miller Lite. But to fans in Milwaukee, he was much more — the beloved and enthusiastic play-by-play voice of the Brewers, his hometown team, for 54 years. The team, in announcing his death, called it “one of the most difficult days in Milwaukee Brewers history. ... There is no describing the impact Ueck had on so many, and no words for how much he was loved.” “We are grateful for this baseball life like no other, and we will never forget him,” baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said. He was 90.
DAVID LYNCH was a furniture builder, painter, coffee maker, composer, sculptor, cartoonist, and most notably, a filmmaker. Described by one critic as “the first populist surrealist — a Frank Capra of dream logic,” Lynch was best known for the radical and celebrated TV series Twin Peaks about the mysterious murder of a high-school homecoming queen, which debuted in 1990 and won three Golden Globes, two Emmys and a Grammy for its theme music. His films, which included Mulholland Drive, Blue Velvet, Wild At Heart, Elephant Man, and his 1977 feature debut Eraserhead, were known for their imitated but never duplicated “Lynchian” style, pulling “disturbing, surrealistic mysteries and unsettling noir nightmares out of ordinary life.” A childhood friend described him as cheerful and sunny, but always “attracted to dark things.” He received a Lifetime Achievement Oscar in 2019 and suffered in recent years from severe emphysema. He died five days before his 79th birthday, at his daughter’s house, to which he had fled during the Los Angeles wildfires.
“While members of the press have been made aware of the governor’s plan for the State Museum, unfortunately, the state Education Department has not yet been afforded the same courtesy.”
— JP O’Hare, a department spokesman, responding to news that Gov. Kathy Hochul intended to seek a $150 million legislative appropriation to revamp the diminished facility.
JUST THE FACTS: The New Hampshire Department of Transportation tried to be one of the cool kids on its social media, issuing a “Skibbity Weather Warning: Roads Are Slippery Sus This Morning!” complete with emojis, and “Locked In Alert: It’s giving Ick vibes this morning, Fam.” There were others. And yes, there were reactions.
Some of the linked material in Facing Out requires a subscription to read.
Principal Author: Bill Callen.
Contributors: Ryan Moore, Mark Behan, John Brodt, Kristy Miller, Jim Murphy, Amanda Metzger, Maury Thompson, Nancie Battaglia and John Bulmer.
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
Recent Posts
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
February 8, 2025
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
February 1, 2025
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
January 25, 2025
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
January 18, 2025
He Saw It All: Meet Jack, the Well-Traveled Railroad Dog
January 17, 2025
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
January 11, 2025
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
December 21, 2024
Mike Mazzone: A Musical Prodigy at Home and on Stage
December 17, 2024
When Glens Falls Taught the World
December 17, 2024
Two Good Banks, Two Good Neighbors
December 17, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
December 14, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
December 7, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
November 23, 2024
Facing Out: The Most Interesting News of the Week
November 16, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
November 9, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
November 2, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
October 26, 2024
Facing Out: The Most Interesting News of the Week
October 19, 2024
Facing Out: The Most Interesting News of the Week
October 12, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
October 5, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
September 28, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
September 21, 2024
Facing Out: The Most Interesting News of the Week
September 14, 2024
Facing Out: The Most Interesting News of the Week
September 7, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
August 24, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
August 17, 2024
Drew FitzGerald Joins Behan as Sustainability Advisor
August 14, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
August 10, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
August 3, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
July 27, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
July 27, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
July 20, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
July 13, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
June 29, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
June 22, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
June 15, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
June 8, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
June 1, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
May 25, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
May 18, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
May 11, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
May 4, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
April 27, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
April 20, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
April 13, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
April 6, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
March 30, 2024
Facing Out: The Most Interesting News of the Week
March 23, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
March 16, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
March 9, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
March 2, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
February 24, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
February 17, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
February 10, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
February 3, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
January 27, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
January 20, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
January 13, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
January 6, 2024
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
December 16, 2023
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
December 9, 2023
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
December 2, 2023
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
November 18, 2023
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
November 11, 2023
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
November 4, 2023
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
October 28, 2023
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
October 21, 2023
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
October 14, 2023
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
October 7, 2023
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
September 30, 2023
The Week’s Most Interesting News
September 23, 2023
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
September 16, 2023
Facing Out: The week’s most interesting news
September 9, 2023
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
September 2, 2023
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
August 26, 2023
Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News
August 19, 2023
August 12, 2023
August 5, 2023
July 29, 2023
July 22, 2023
July 15, 2023
July 8, 2023
July 1, 2023
June 24, 2023
June 17, 2023
June 10, 2023
June 3, 2023
May 27, 2023
May 20, 2023
May 13, 2023
May 6, 2023
April 29, 2023
April 22, 2023
April 15, 2023
April 8, 2023
April 1, 2023
March 25, 2023
March 18, 2023
March 11, 2023
March 4, 2023
February 25, 2023
February 18, 2023
February 11, 2023
February 4, 2023
January 28, 2023
January 21, 2023
January 14, 2023
January 7, 2023
December 17, 2022
December 10, 2022
December 3, 2022
November 19, 2022
November 12, 2022
November 5, 2022
October 29, 2022
October 22, 2022
October 15, 2022
October 8, 2022
October 1, 2022
“The Week What Caught Our Eye”
September 24, 2022
September 17, 2022
September 10, 2022
September 3, 2022
August 27, 2022
August 23, 2022
August 20, 2022
August 13, 2022
August 6, 2022
July 30, 2022
July 23, 2022
Ryan Moore Named CEO of Behan Communications
July 20, 2022
July 16, 2022
July 9, 2022
July 2, 2022
June 25, 2022
June 18, 2022
June 11, 2022
June 4, 2022
May 28, 2022
May 21, 2022
May 13, 2022
May 7, 2022
April 30, 2022
April 23, 2022
April 16, 2022
April 8, 2022
April 2, 2022
March 26, 2022
March 19, 2022
March 12, 2022
March 5, 2022
The Week: What Caught Our Eye 2
February 26, 2022
February 26, 2022
February 19, 2022
February 12, 2022
February 5, 2022
January 29, 2022
January 22, 2022
January 15, 2022
January 8, 2022
December 18, 2021
December 11, 2021
December 4, 2021
November 19, 2021
November 13, 2021
November 6, 2021
October 30, 2021
October 23, 2021
October 16, 2021
October 9, 2021
October 2, 2021
September 25, 2021
September 18, 2021
September 11, 2021
September 4, 2021
August 28, 2021
August 21, 2021
August 14, 2021
“The Week What Caught Our Eye”
August 7, 2021
July 31, 2021
July 24, 2021
July 17, 2021
July 10, 2021
July 3, 2021
June 26, 2021
June 19, 2021
June 12, 2021
June 5, 2021
May 29, 2021
May 22, 2021
May 15, 2021
May 8, 2021
May 1, 2021
April 24, 2021
April 17, 2021
April 17, 2021
April 10, 2021
April 3, 2021
March 27, 2021
March 20, 2021
March 13, 2021
March 6, 2021
February 27, 2021
February 20, 2021
February 13, 2021
February 6, 2021
January 30, 2021
January 23, 2021
The Week: What Caught Our Eye 1/16/21
January 16, 2021
January 9, 2021
December 19, 2020
December 12, 2020
December 5, 2020
November 21, 2020
November 14, 2020
November 7, 2020
October 31, 2020
October 24, 2020
October 17, 2020
October 10, 2020
October 3, 2020
September 26, 2020
September 19, 2020
September 12, 2020
September 5, 2020
August 29, 2020
August 22, 2020
August 15, 2020
August 8, 2020
August 1, 2020
July 25, 2020
Saving the Day: Ed Bartholomew’s Game
July 24, 2020
July 18, 2020
July 11, 2020
July 4, 2020
June 27, 2020
June 20, 2020
June 13, 2020
The Week: What Caught Our Eye 6/6/20
June 6, 2020
June 6, 2020
May 30, 2020
Coronavirus: Talking To Employees About Risk
May 26, 2020
May 23, 2020
Lake George History of Resilience
May 21, 2020
May 16, 2020
May 9, 2020
The Year The Kennedys Came to North Creek
May 8, 2020
April 25, 2020
April 18, 2020
April 11, 2020
April 4, 2020
March 28, 2020
March 21, 2020
March 14, 2020
March 7, 2020
February 29, 2020
February 22, 2020
February 15, 2020
February 8, 2020
February 1, 2020
January 25, 2020
January 18, 2020
January 4, 2020
December 28, 2019
December 21, 2019
December 14, 2019
December 7, 2019
November 30, 2019
November 23, 2019
November 16, 2019
November 9, 2019
November 2, 2019
October 26, 2019
October 19, 2019
October 12, 2019
September 28, 2019
September 21, 2019
September 14, 2019
September 7, 2019
August 31, 2019
August 24, 2019
August 17, 2019
Different Name, Same Great Experience
August 15, 2019
August 10, 2019
Noah John Rondeau: The Famous Hermit of the Adirondacks
August 9, 2019
August 3, 2019
Johnny Podres: Witherbee’s Hometown Hero
August 1, 2019
July 27, 2019
July 20, 2019
July 19, 2019
July 13, 2019
July 6, 2019
June 29, 2019
Portrait of an Adirondack Poet
June 28, 2019
June 22, 2019
June 21, 2019
June 15, 2019
Thomas Edison and The Prospect House
June 14, 2019
June 8, 2019
June 1, 2019
May 25, 2019
May 18, 2019
May 11, 2019
May 4, 2019
April 27, 2019
April 20, 2019
April 13, 2019
April 6, 2019
A Century Ago: A City on the Rise
April 4, 2019
March 30, 2019
March 23, 2019
What caught our eye - Mar 16, 2019
March 16, 2019
What caught our eye - Mar 9, 2019
March 9, 2019
What caught our eye - Mar 2, 2019
March 2, 2019
What Killed the Amazon Deal ... and What Can Be Learned
March 1, 2019
What caught our eye - Feb. 23, 2019
February 23, 2019
What caught our eye - Feb. 16, 2019
February 16, 2019
What caught our eye - Feb. 9, 2019
February 9, 2019
What caught our eye - Feb. 2, 2019
February 2, 2019
Things that caught our eye - Jan. 26, 2019
January 26, 2019
Things that caught our eye - Jan. 19, 2019
January 18, 2019
November 20, 2018
Winning the war for talent: Helping you catch rising stars
November 19, 2018
Who’s to Blame for Political Attack Ads?
November 1, 2018
October 9, 2018
Is that my pizza in a pothole?
June 14, 2018
Preparing for the Unthinkable: Schools Now Lead in Crisis Management and Communications
April 2, 2018
Great Obituaries Will Save Newspapers
March 8, 2018
New Website for Albany Diocese Created by Behan
February 7, 2018
Behan Team Helps Propel Second Statewide Referendum Victory
November 8, 2017
A Graduation Letter to My Kids
May 9, 2017
Donald Trump Is the Media’s Best Friend
May 5, 2017
United Airlines Does Not Have a PR Problem
April 13, 2017
What Do I Need in My Next Communications Chief?
April 6, 2017
Mark Behan joins board of directors of financial holding company
December 5, 2016
Your Firm Will Get Hacked — How Do You Respond?
September 9, 2016
10 Questions Every CEO Should Ask About Crisis Management
October 25, 2014
15 Tips for Effective Employee Communications
March 15, 2012