Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News

January 25, 2025

Photo of the construction on the ice palace in Saranac Lake, N.Y. Construction is well under way on the ice palace in Saranac Lake, N.Y., a staple of the annual Saranac Lake Winter Carnival, which begins this year on January 31. Nancie Battaglia

Dear Colleagues and Friends:

Remember way back in August, when Josh Allen was voted most overrated quarterback in the NFL by his peers?

If his play is any indication, he certainly seems to disagree.

All he did was pass for 3,731 yards and 28 touchdowns, rush for 531 yards and 12 more touchdowns and lead his Buffalo Bills to the doorstep of the franchise’s first Super Bowl appearance in more than three decades. Of course, to complete that journey, he’ll have to go to Kansas City and beat the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs, who ended the Bills’ seasons with playoff wins in three of the past four seasons.

The next showdown takes place Sunday evening at 6:30. The Washington Commanders and their sensational rookie quarterback, Jayden Daniels, start the championship game festivities with a matchup at 3 p.m. against the Philadelphia Eagles. Forgive Giants fans if their attention is elsewhere.

AGE OF GRIEVANCE: Those are the words Richard Edelman, chief executive of the eponymous global communications firm, used to describe the conclusions of  worldwide survey of 33,000 people that found an unprecedented lack of faith in governments, business leaders and the media, Bloomberg reports. Three-quarters of respondents across 28 countries said they worried that their pay would not keep up with inflation and 60 percent are worried about job losses. Only 36 percent said they believed things would be better for the next generation. More than half said capitalism does more harm than good, and a similar percentage of young adults say “disinformation, online attacks or violence to persons or property are an appropriate way to bring about change.”

PRICE SHOCKS: The combined threat of mass deportations with new tariffs could make many fresh fruit and vegetables luxury goods that are priced out of the reach of many U.S. consumers. That’s the conclusion of Harvard researchers who examined the potential impacts if those threats are carried out, based on an analysis of how fresh produce is grown and harvested and who is doing the work. The impact would be especially acute for foods that must be hand-picked, they write, basing their conclusions on data as well as interviews with farmers in Florida and California. Agriculture already is finding it hard to hire — in 2021, two-thirds of agricultural employers reported “some” or “a lot of difficulty” hiring workers, more than double the figure from the year before. Regardless of how this issue plays out, get ready to pay a lot more for your daily coffee — double-digit inflation looms for coffee drinkers in early 2025, Bloomberg reports. “Given the lag between wholesale and retail prices, the cost of your cup of morning heart-starter could increase by at least 20% to 25% in the next few months,” writes Javier Bias, whose specialty is energy and commodities.

STEP DANCE: Move over, Million Dollar Staircase; you’re about to be eclipsed more than 50-fold. The famous red sandstone staircase inside the Capitol in Albany, which features 444 steps, several intricate carvings and actually cost $1.5 million to build in the late 1800s, is a landmark and point of pride. The 77 outdoor steps that lead to the east entrance of the building, by contrast, are an embarrassing symbol of ineptitude, closed since 2015 while the state tries to figure out how to shore them up. The first time the state estimated the cost of repairs, in 2014, the figure was $17 million. Today, the New York Post reports, it’s $80 million, with still no project timeline established. “The Office of General Services has initiated a competitive procurement process to responsibly identify a contractor to make much-needed renovations to the Eastern Approach of the Capitol,” a spokesman for the governor said in a statement.

ON A ROLL: A day Jacob Tirado would never forget started inauspiciously — a 2-4 spare in the opening frame of a high school bowling match between two schools in the Albany suburbs, where the sport remains popular. The 16-year-old junior then did something those who witnessed it also will never forget — he bowled 35 consecutive strikes, and in the process set a national scholastic record with a three-game score of 890 (900, a perfect score, has been achieved only 40 times in the recorded history of the sport). “It was incredible just watching what was going on,” longtime coach Bill Carl told the Albany Times Union. “I’ve never seen anything like that in all the years I’ve been bowling, and I probably never will.” 

Photo of stunning ice patterns on the Tomhannock Reservoir.The recent deep freeze is creating some stunning ice patterns on the Tomhannock Reservoir and other water bodies in Upstate New York. John Bulmer

TO YOUR HEALTH: U.S. News and World Report has issued its 2024 ranking of the healthiest communities in America, and communities in New York’s Capital Region fare quite well. Saratoga County’s overall health is tops in the region with a score of 80; Albany and Warren counties follow at 79 and 75, respectively. U.S. News again ranks Falls Church, Va., as America’s healthiest community because of its walkability and bikability, high levels of education, lower smoking rate, longer life expectancy, and access to healthful food, among other factors. The Healthiest Communities rankings result from an examination of nearly 3,000 communities across 89 metrics in the 10 health and health-related categories. Population health and equity were the most heavily weighted categories, based on the assessments of more than a dozen leading experts on what matters most to a community’s health. 

WINE’S HANGOVER: Wine sales in the U.S. dropped about 6 percent year over year in 2024, continuing a downward trend that is causing grave concerns among those in the industry. “The baby boom generation embraced wine,” industry scholar and author Mike Veseth told NBC News. “We imagined that the generations that followed would keep doing that, but they haven’t.” Consumption of beer and spirits also is down in recent years, consistent with polling that shows more than 40 percent of Americans now consider alcohol to be bad for your health.

STATEN ISLAND SCOFFLAWS: Apparently a group in Staten Island thinks speed limits are for suckers, so they’ve covered speed cameras throughout the borough with artificial flowers. They call themselves the “Staten Island Beautification Squad.”  Never mind that New York City Department of Transportation research shows that speeding has been reduced by 94 percent in locations where there are speed cameras, or that streets with cameras installed in 2022 saw 14 percent fewer injuries and fatalities than locations without cameras, amny.com reports. Staten Island drivers were issued more than $22 million from speed camera tickets in 2024, the website Motor Biscuit reports.

SEEING FOR HIMSELF: New York State Assemblyman Edward Gibbs, who served 5½ years for manslaughter more than three decades ago, spent a night this week inside the Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County, which has become infamous for the fatal, videotaped beating of a handcuffed inmate in December. Gibbs, who is among 62 lawmakers who have called on Gov. Kathy Hochul to close the prison, said the prisoners he spoke to are frightened “after what they saw” happen to inmate Robert Brooks.

THE HALL CALLS: Japanese legend Ichiro Suzuki, who somehow was not a unanimous selection, headlines the 2025 class of inductees to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, where he will be joined by pitchers CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner, elected in his 10th and final year of eligibility. Both Ichiro and Sabathia, who won 251 games over 19 seasons, were elected on the first ballot by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Former Yankees closer Mariano Rivera remains, incredibly, the only player unanimously selected.

LUXURY HIDEAWAY: A $300 million members-only luxury doomsday bunker complete with robotic medical suites, lavish swimming pool, and fine dining restaurants is set to revolutionize how the rich and powerful can shelter themselves in an apocalyptic disaster, Realtor.com reports. The underground fortress, in Virginia, scheduled to be ready in the summer of 2026, will offer 625 memberships at $20 million a pop. The bunker is the work of SAFE (Strategically Armored & Fortified Environments), a Virginia-based company that specializes in secure property designs. The company plans similar bunkers in all 50 states.

01_Nuggets.jpgIVY-ADJACENT: Binghamton University in New York, considered the best public university in the Northeast, has been named one of the 10 “New Public Ivies,” alongside giants like Georgia Tech and the University of Michigan, by Forbes magazine. Binghamton earned praise for its affordability, academic competitiveness, and the success of its graduates.

WATCHING THE WORLD: U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik demonstrated a breadth of knowledge about global conflicts as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee considered her nomination for U.N. Ambassador. When the topic of border security arose, Stefanik pointed to a crime close to home – the murder earlier this week of a U.S. Border Patrol agent near the Vermont-Canadian border.

WELL-TRAVELED: A cat made three air trips in 24 hours between Australia and New Zealand after her cage was overlooked in the cargo hold. Air New Zealand said it would reimburse all costs associated with the cat’s travel and has apologized for the distress caused, the airline said in a statement.

OLD GROWTH: A 5,900-year-old whitebark pine forest has been discovered due to the melting of alpine ice in the Rocky Mountains, NewScientist.com reports. Scientists found more than 30 trees approximately 10,170 feet above sea level — nearly 600 feet higher than the present tree line — while carrying out an archaeological survey on the Beartooth plateau in Wyoming.

SOUTHERN CHILL: A once-in-a-lifetime snowstorm crippled the Deep South this week, closing airports in Houston and shattering records in New Orleans, Mobile, Ala., and Pensacola, Fla., each of which was hit with at least 7½ inches. It was the first snowfall in New Orleans in 15 years. A fugitive on the run in Oklahoma ended his flight because, he said, it was too cold to continue, asking a stranger to call the sheriff and turn him in.

REAL HOCKEY: The U.S. Pond Hockey championships in Minnesota is drawing teams from around the world and nearly 3,000 athletes, who are playing with optimal ice conditions following a recent run of sub-zero temperatures.

02_Lives.jpgHEINZ KLUETMEIER for decades enlivened the pages of Sports Illustrated with his innovative and dramatic photos, including his iconic cover shot that captured the euphoric joy of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team after its victory in Lake Placid over the Soviet Union, the game universally known as The Miracle on Ice. It was one of more than 100 cover shots he produced for SI. Born in Germany is 1942, he moved to the U.S. with his family when he was 9 and realized he could make a living as a photojournalist when The Associated Press published photos of a young Heinz and his pet parakeet. He started shooting professionally at 15 with a camera his parents bought him, and would become a pioneer in remote and underwater camera technology. He was 82.

CECILE RICHARDS served as president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the country’s largest provider of reproductive health care and sex education, from 2006 to 2018, earning a reputation as a fierce advocate for women’s rights and reproductive freedom. She had been a labor organizer and a founder of a get-out-the-vote organization before her time at Planned Parenthood, following her mother, former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, onto the national political stage. She turned Planned Parenthood into a potent political organization, growing its base of supporters and volunteers from 2.5 million to 11 million and adding 700,000 new donors in the first two years of the first Trump administration. “Her legacy will be the countless lives she touched and the generations of women she inspired to follow in her footsteps,” former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrote in tribute. She was 67.

CARL R. DeSANTIS was not a native of the Lake George region, but you’d never know it. He was born in Passaic, N.J., but built a rich life of service in New York’s North Country. After serving as a mechanic in the Army Air Corps during the Korean War, he opened six Howard Johnson's restaurants and three other eateries. He was a member of the Lake George Park Commission, chair of the Warren County Republican Committee, and a confidant of elected officials at every level of government. He was 98.

DICK LELAND was president of Leland Paper Co., the third-generation, family-owned, Glens Falls-based supplier of paper and cleaning products until its purchase by W.B. Mason in 2019. But he was at least as well known as the longtime general manager of the Glens Falls Greenjackets semi-pro football team, service for which he earned national honors. He and his son Steven were among the initial inductees to the Glens Falls High School Hall of Fame for football. He was 81.

CATHERINE FERGUSON MAZZONE was Scottish-born and drawn to music as a young child. She studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and later at the Juilliard Opera Center in New York. She was a celebrated soprano who performed for audiences worldwide, including the Queen Mother, and worked with some of the most celebrated artists in music. She is survived by her husband, tenor Angelo Mazzone.

03_Almost Final Words.jpg“I want to become an environmentally sound city. I want to be the front yard of Albany, not the backyard.”
— Rensselaer Mayor Michael Stammel, on efforts to change perceptions about the small city across the Hudson River from the state capital.

04_signoff.jpgCOMPETITIVE IMBALANCE: The organizers of a World Cup ski jumping event in Germany rewarded the male winner of the qualifying round, Jan Haerl, with the equivalent of $3,290. The female winner, Selina Freitag, received, in her words, “a partner bag with shower gel and shampoo and four hand towels,” as well as a voucher for a weekend of spa treatments.

05_Bottom.jpgSome 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, 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 conversationmark.behan@behancom.com

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