Facing Out: The Most Interesting News of the Week

October 12, 2024

Photo of snow dusting the treetops on Mount Colden in the Adirondacks.Yes, that is snow dusting the treetops on Mount Colden in the Adirondacks, the 11th-highest of the High Peaks. Nancie Battaglia

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Nearly a thousand people a day relocated to Florida in 2023, continuing a trend that has lasted about a decade. You have to wonder how many of them are rethinking that decision after Hurricanes Helene and Milton nailed the state back-to-back, bringing with them deadly storm surges, tornados, widespread flooding and billions in damages.

Of course, because we’re so steeped in politics that evidently nothing else matters, there’s been an extra-thick layer of stupid on top of everything else, so much that FEMA found it necessary to set up a website to debunk conspiracy theories. All the nonsense was making recovery efforts even more difficult.

George Orwell, you were a brilliant, brilliant man.

As always, if you want to help, the Red Cross is a good place to start.

LOCAL CONTROL: A New York State judge this week ruled that the state’s efforts to force local municipalities to hold elections in even years violated the state Constitution, calling it “inherently a local issue” that is “unconstitutional as specifically prohibited by Article IX of the New York State Constitution.” Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon, among the plaintiffs who challenged the Even Year Election Law, said in a statement, “The decision today is a clear and decisive victory for the voters. As out-of-touch legislators in Albany are constantly passing unfunded mandates and crippling regulations, the decision today made crystal clear that home rule law is still a vital component of the New York State constitution.”

LAST HAUL: Jim Payne started delivering the mail by boat in the Adirondacks 70 years ago, filling in when his father, who had a contract with the postal service, needed a hand. He took over the family boat livery business in 1959 and kept right on delivering, bringing letters and packages to camps on Sixth Lake and Seventh Lake deep in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, a service that once was a necessity but has become something of a novelty. Now 87, he just made his final deliveries, and the last boat deliveries ever for that route; the postal service is dropping it now that Payne has retired. Syracuse.com rode along on his final day. “I’m gonna miss it,” said Linda Raymond, whose father used to drive the mail boat for Payne.

GOLDEN MOMENT: U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, whose district includes the Olympic facilities in Lake Placid, N.Y., is co-sponsoring legislation to award three Congressional Gold Medals — the highest civilian honors — to the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” U.S. Olympic hockey team, which defeated a dominant Soviet Union team and went to win the Olympic gold medal in Lake Placid. “Our North Country community is proud to be home of this historic and inspiring event and as we work to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 'Miracle on Ice' this legislation honors our Olympic victors for their legendary achievement,” Stefanik said in a statement. If the bill passes, North Country Public Radio reports, the three medals will be given to three different locations: the Lake Placid Olympic Center, the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth, Minn., and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs. 

TIKTOK TIMEBOMB: TikTok executives spoke candidly about the many dangers confronting children who use the wildly popular short-video app and dismissed as spin some of the steps the company took in an effort to dispel concerns, according to internal communications and research that was meant to be redacted and kept confidential but was published in Kentucky court filings. Attorneys general in 14 states, including Kentucky, filed suit this week alleging that TikTok was designed with the express intention of addicting young people to the app. The suit filed by the Kentucky AG included faulty redactions, which Kentucky Public Radio copied and reported. Rather than express regret, TikTok attacked the messenger, huffing “It is highly irresponsible of NPR to publish information that is under a court seal.”

Photo of round bales of hay.Another sure sign that winter is approaching: large, round bales of hay in a field in Halfmoon, N.Y. John Bulmer

STICKING TOGETHER: Fans of Siena men’s basketball no doubt recall fondly the years when Fran McCaffrey was head coach, a period in which the Saints won three consecutive league championships, won 20 or more games four years in a row and even picked off a couple wins in the NCAA Tournament. They may also recall that the McCaffreys had young children at the time. Fast-forward 14 years and two of the three McCaffrey sons now find themselves at Butler University in Indianapolis, one as an assistant coach (and boyfriend of Caitlin Clark), the other as a transfer player. A third McCaffrey son, in his senior year of high school, has committed to play for Butler next season.

LAUREATE’S LAMENT: Geoffrey Hinton, who learned this week that he would share the Noble Prize in physics for his decades-long work that is the basis for many artificial intelligence technologies in use today, used the announcement to renew his warning that AI systems could escape human control with potentially catastrophic consequences for humanity. By 2023, The Wall Street Journal reports, Hinton, a revered figure in the world of AI, had become alarmed about the consequences of building more powerful artificial intelligence. “We’re in a situation that most people can’t even conceive of, which is that these digital intelligences are going to be a lot smarter than us, and if they want to get stuff done, they’re going to want to take control.”  

THAT’S AWKWARD: Former President Donald Trump has been hawking $60 Bibles that include copies of the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and Pledge of Allegiance. “This Bible is a reminder that the biggest thing we have to bring back in America, and to make America great again, is our religion,” he says in a video promoting the “God Bless the USA Bible.” The Associated Press reports that the books were printed in China for about $3 apiece. Meanwhile, in Oklahoma, the superintendent of public schools in the state was forced to walk back a solicitation for 55,000 Bibles in public school classrooms that, oddly enough, seemed tailored to the exact specifications of the “God Bless the USA Bible.”

01_Nuggets.jpgHAPPY TRAILS: Jean Raymond, who served nearly 37 years as the elected supervisor of Edinburg, a small town in Saratoga County, N.Y., retired the day after her 81st birthday. “My kids have been after me for quite some time,” she told the Albany Times Union. “I gave myself a present.”

LEAVING LEGEND: Rafael Nadal, who played tennis with a physical intensity that made him a champion but also led to injuries that increasingly kept him off the court and diminished his game, announced his retirement this week after 22 Grand Slam titles, including a record 14 on the red clay of the French Open.

FEEDING TIME: A woman in Washington state who left food out for raccoons for decades called authorities after what had been a small group expanded to dozens of critters milling about, waiting to be fed. “Somehow the word got out in raccoon land, and they all showed up to her house expecting a meal,” a spokesman for the local sheriff’s department said. “The normal raccoons that she feeds are nice, but the new ones showing up scare her.”

GENEROUS GIULIANI: Andrew Giuliani, son of Rudy, is arguing in court that two Georgia election workers who won a $148 million defamation judgment against his father can’t come after four Yankees World Series rings that were given to Rudy Giuliani when he was the New York City mayor because they were gifted from father to son in 2018.

MIDAIR TRAGEDY: The pilot of a Turkish Airlines flight en route from Seattle to Istanbul suffered a medical emergency and died on board, forcing his co-pilot to make an emergency landing Tuesday in New York.

02_Lives.jpgETHYL KENNEDY married Robert F. Kennedy in 1950 and was by his side when the Senator was assassinated in the kitchen of a Los Angeles hotel shortly after winning the California Democratic presidential primary in 1968. She raised their 11 children alone after his death, several of whom became prominent in their own right, including a lieutenant governor of Maryland, a member of Congress, a prosecutor and a filmmaker. Long active in social causes, including the Coalition of Gun Control, Special Olympics and the Earth Conservation Corps, she was a dedicated protector of the family’s legacy whose faith carried her through waves of tragedy that, in addition to her husband, included the deaths of her parents in a plane crash; the deaths of two sons, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren; and the assassination of her brother-in-law, President John F. Kennedy. She met Robert Kennedy through his sister Jean, her roommate at Manhattanville College. She was 96.

LUIS TIANT was known as much for his showmanship, funky windup and horseshoe mustache as he was for his excellence on the pitching mound, where he was a four-time 20-game winner and three-time all-star. His best season was in 1968, when he went 21-9 with 19 complete games, nine shutouts and an absurd 1.60 earned-run average — the best in the American League in half a century — for the Cleveland Indians. Seven years later, he was the ace of a Boston Red Sox team that took Cincinnati to seven games in the 1975 World Series, shutting out the Big Red Machine in Game 1 after shutting out the three-time defending champion Oakland A’s in the opener of the American League Championship Series. His career nearly was derailed by an arm injury in 1970, but the Red Sox took a chance on him and it ended up being one of the best decisions the franchise ever made. He won 81 games for Boston from 1973-76. He was 83.

DONALD L. BARLETT formed half of the most legendary investigative team in newspaper journalism, sharing a byline with James B. Steele for 26 years at the Philadelphia Inquirer and 42 years overall. Together, they won Pulitzer Prizes for national reporting in 1975 and 1989, and a decade later became the first journalists to win both a Pulitzer and a National Magazine Award. They wrote award-winning exposés on a variety of topics, including the unequal application of federal tax laws, corruption in local courts and a 15-month investigation of the Tax Reform Act of 1986. “Nobody anointed us a team,” Barlett told The Inquirer in 1997. “We just discovered we liked working together. We had similar work habits and saw the tremendous value of two people bouncing ideas off each other on these big projects.” He was 88.

03_Almost Final Words.jpg“We haven’t done anything yet. Our goal is to win the last game. Here we are celebrating another step, but we’ve got another big series coming up, and we’ve got to continue to enjoy it.”
— New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza after his team, which was 11 games under .500 at the start of June, eliminated the division champion Philadelphia Phillies to advance to the National League Championship Series. The Yankees are alive, as well, having vanquished the Kansas City Royals in four games to reach the ALCS.

04_signoff.jpgMcBRANCHING OUT: McDonald’s this week introduced the Chicken Big Mac for a limited time in the U.S., continuing a trend in the restaurant industry to put more chicken on menus.

05_Bottom.jpgSome of the linked material in Facing Out requires a subscription to read.

Principal Author: Bill Callen.

Contributors: Mark Behan, Ryan Moore, Kristy Miller, John Brodt, Claire P. Tuttle, 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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