Facing Out: The Week’s Most Interesting News

December 9, 2023

The true beauty of Winter’s Dream in Lake George, N.Y., is the bright-eyed wonder on the faces of children. The magical, immersive, multi-media attraction created by Montreal’s Moment Factory opened Friday night at Fort William Henry and will run through March.

Dear Colleagues and Friends:

We begin this week with a deeper appreciation of an extraordinary woman who broke more barriers than we fully understood.

Sandra Day O’Connor, who died last week at 93, is, of course, best known as the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. But in her private life, especially in her later years, she dealt publicly, and instructively, with what she called the family disease of Alzheimer’s, which first struck her husband of more than 40 years and later ended her life.

We remember her for the important votes she cast on the court and for her devotion in retirement to civil discourse, civic engagement and civics education, but also for the particular grace and generosity she showed when her husband fell in love with another resident of his long-term care facility. Some life lessons here. May we all be so supported by those who care for us most.

GREAT, DANES: Congratulations and good luck to the University at Albany football team, which is enjoying its finest season since becoming a Football Championship Subdivision program (one step below the top rung of college football). The Great Danes, seeded fifth and with a record of 10-3, play at No. 4 seed Idaho (9-3) in a national quarterfinal tonight starting at 10 on the East Coast. The game will be televised on ESPN+. College football fans who can’t stay up quite that late will be treated earlier in the day to the pageantry that is Army-Navy, to be played this year, for the first time, in Foxboro, Mass.

YOU GOT RIZZ: Our readers have rizz. We know that for certain because a few months ago, we introduced you to the new shorthand for charisma (with, we must acknowledge, a prompt from The Wall Street Journal). Now, perhaps following our joint lead, or not, the Oxford University Press has declared “rizz” the word of the year, beating out, among others, “Swiftie.” (Any lingering disappointment was no doubt eased by the selection of their favorite superstar and mogul as Time’s Person of the Year). As The Atlantic points out, it’s the second year in a row Oxford chose an internet slang term as its word of the year. Earlier words of the year like vape and selfie seem quaint by comparison.

SKIERS TO THE RESCUE: Late last month, the Albany Times Union reported on the plight of Hickory Ski Center, a small but iconic and challenging hill in the Southern Adirondacks of upstate New York that needed to raise $38,000 for insurance premiums by the middle of December or it wouldn’t be able to operate its modest lifts. The story drew the attention of Mountain Gazette, which partnered with Hickory to develop a line of limited-edition merchandise, with all proceeds donated to Hickory. “Together,” Mountain Gazette owner and editor Mike Rogge writes, “we can help save a small ski area and ensure the next generation gets their chance to experience the legendary Hickory Hill.” 

DOUBLE AGENT: Victor Manuel Rocha was born in Colombia and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1978. Three years later, he got a job at the State Department, beginning four decades of illegal work as a clandestine agent for the Cuban government, according to prosecutors, who charged him this week in federal court. Over two decades in the State Department, Rocha held positions at U.S. embassies in Mexico, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Argentina and Bolivia, where he served as ambassador. He was stationed in the U.S. Interest Section in Havana, Cuba, from 1995-97. “This action exposes one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the United States government by a foreign agent,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said following Rocha’s arrest. Prosecutors allege Rocha referred to the U.S. as “the enemy” and claimed his work as a secret agent “strengthened the Revolution.”

LOVE AND JOY: It was November 2020, and the pandemic had taken a heavy emotional toll on Kim Morton. Her neighbors across the street, Matt and Kerry Riggs, heard about their friend’s struggles and wanted her to know she wasn’t alone. So as Kerry delivered cookies, Matt strung a single strand of light from their side of the street to the Mortons’ home, to remind her they were connected and Morton wasn’t alone. The gesture took off, and now the neighborhood in Towson, Md., is basically one giant holiday village, with neighbors, according to KTVU, “closing off streets, bringing out tools and ladders and blasting Christmas music to turn their little community into a single large light display.” If one of the songs they played was “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” they were listening to the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. That’s correct – first released 65 years ago, the Brenda Lee classic reached No. 1 for the first time. The reason: Billboard in 2018 reconfigured its chart calculation formula to give more weight to streams, NPR reports, and Christmas songs always surge in popularity this time of year. Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You,” for example, reached No. 1 each year from 2019-2022, and sat at No. 2 this week.

PRICE OF FAME: George Santos may be out of Congress, but he isn’t leaving the public stage. Expelled from Congress for being basically make believe, Santos is cashing in on his notoriety by recording personalized messages on the video service Cameo at $200 apiece. Santos, nothing if not colorful, cheekily refers to himself as a “Former congressional ‘Icon’ ” in his Cameo profile. One of his early customers: Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman, who hired Santos to troll fellow Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, who is under criminal indictment and rebuffed suggestions, including from Fetterman, that he resign. Santos’ advice for “Bobby from Jersey”: “Hey, Bobby! I don’t think I need to tell you, but these people that want to make you get in trouble and want to kick you out and make you run away, you make them put up or shut up!” It should come as no surprise that Santos is making bank — he reportedly is in line to earn more on Cameo than the $174,000 salary he lost when he was kicked out of Congress.

GOODBYE AFTER TWO CENTURIES: Remington, the nation’s oldest gun manufacturer, started making guns in the upstate New York town of Ilion in 1816. Now known as RemArms, the company has twice filed for bankruptcy and, last year, reached a historic $73 million settlement with families of victims in the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Now comes word that the company plans to cease operations in Ilion by early March 2024. The company confirmed that “RemArms is excited to expand our facilities in Georgia, a state that not only welcomes business but enthusiastically supports and welcomes companies in the firearms industry,” an unsubtle dig at New York’s regulatory environment. The head of the local union was unsparing: “The timing adds insult to injury for those affected. Merry Christmas from RemArms. The simple fact is that RemArms will never be able to match the experience and dedication of the workers in Central New York, who for generations worked in this plant and kept this company alive.”

While Winter’s Dream is getting all the attention in Lake George, N.Y., we must not forget about winter’s streams: Here, Gage Brook meanders through the snow on its way to West Brook, and from there to Lake George. Luke Dow.

SARATOGA SPOTLIGHT: The eyes of the horse racing world will be on Saratoga Race Course a month ahead of schedule in 2024. The 156^th running of the Belmont Stakes will take place on Saturday, June 8, at Saratoga because Belmont Park is undergoing an overhaul. Gov. Kathy Hochul made the announcement. The Belmont Stakes will be part of a special four-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga, an event that is certain to bring tens of thousands of visitors to Saratoga Springs at what is traditionally a time when the city is ramping up for the full-gallop summer season. “As part of the exciting modernization of Belmont Park, Saratoga now adds to its storied history by hosting the third leg of the Triple Crown,” Hochul said. “It's a win for horse racing and for the Capital Region to have the excitement and the ability to host the four-day Festival in June at America's most historic track.”

MOUSE ON THE MOVE: Disney is leveraging its legendary service and imagination as it makes a big move into creating new residential communities beyond its theme parks. Storyliving by Disney, a residential management company under the Disney Signature Experiences umbrella, announced plans this week to develop a new community in the Chapel Hill, N.C., area by the end of the decade. The development will be branded and managed by Disney and developed and sold by third-party builders. Storyliving by Disney launched its first residential community in the heart of the Coachella Valley in Rancho Mirage, Calif., and now is expanding to the East Coast.

FIGHTING ANTISEMITISM: New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is matching a $100 million donation to his Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, a $200 million boost to an organization whose work to raise awareness of and respond to antisemitism is as essential now as it has ever been. Kraft’s donation, The Wall Street Journal reported, equals one made by the Norman R. Rales and Ruth Rales Foundation. Kraft told The Journal the donations will allow the foundation to significantly expand its operations with permanent financing. “This is a foundation that can’t run for the next two to three years, it has to run for at least a couple decades,” Kraft said. “I’m not sure its work will ever be done.” 

PAY FOR PLAY: The president of the NCAA is floating the creation of a new tier of Division I schools — think football powerhouses — that can enter name, image and likeness partnerships with athletes and even pay them directly. Charles Baker, who was governor of Massachusetts before taking leadership of the NCAA, wrote to member institutions that the disparity in resources between the schools with big, revenue-generating sports programs and other Division I programs, as well as schools at lower levels of competition, are creating challenges that are “competitive as well as financial,” and inviting the prospect of legislative or judicial intervention “that in many cases would seriously damage parts or all of college athletics.”

CAT PEOPLE: Researchers in Australia reviewed 17 studies over several years and concluded that people exposed to cats before the age of 25 had approximately twice the odds of developing schizophrenia, likely due to a parasite that can be transmitted by a bite and affect neurotransmitters in the brain. Other researchers have criticized the review, saying it did not properly account for other potentially contributing factors, such as social and economic background and family history.

LEGENDS BACK IN COOPERSTOWN: Former New York Yankees ace CC Sabathia will pitch again next spring, this time in a tribute to Negro Leagues All-Star Game at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, N.Y. The Associated Press reported Baseball Hall of Famers Ken Griffey Jr. and Ozzie Smith also have agreed to manage or coach at the Hall of Fame East-West Classic, scheduled for May 25, 2024. It will be played in conjunction with the opening of the Hall’s “Souls of the Game: Voices of Black Baseball” exhibit.

HIGH FLYER: The Baltimore Orioles may soon be in the ownership of Carlyle investment group co-founder David Rubenstein, who reportedly is in talks, perhaps as part of a group, to acquire the team from the Angelos family. Principal investor Peter Angelos is now 94 and in failing health. Rubenstein, a lawyer, business leader and philanthropist, co-founded The Carlyle Group. He’s also chairman of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the National Gallery of Art, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., and the University of Chicago Board of Trustees

HELPING TO HEAL: Sesame Workshop, the educational nonprofit behind “Sesame Street,” will use a grant from the Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts to produce videos and other resources for children focused on addiction, treatment and healing. NPR reports more than 4% of children in the United States live in a household with a parent who misuses opioids, citing estimates from the Department of Health and Human Services. The materials include coloring books, short videos and storybooks about handling emotions around addiction and answering simple questions like why parents need to attend recovery meetings.

EVERY VOTE COUNTS: Damion Green, a candidate for city council in the small community of Rainier, Wash., lost his race by one vote after failing to cast a ballot. Green wasn’t exactly distraught; he told The New York Times he met his opponent, Ryan Roth, at a public forum and found they had similar views. “Two middle-class dudes trying to do the same thing for our community, so it was a win-win for Rainier,” he said.

NORMAN LEAR was, quite simply, a television legend. He gave American viewers something they had never seen before when Archie Bunker and “All in the Family” debuted in 1971. Audiences loved it, and Archie Bunker has since come to symbolize the working class man’s crass disorientation with a world changing too fast. He pushed boundaries with other characters, as well, as in 1972, when he wrote a storyline about abortion into “Maude” and threatened to pull the show if CBS followed through with its desire not to broadcast it. By the 1974-75 season, he was behind five of the 10 most-watched programs, hits that included “The Jeffersons” and “Sanford and Son.” “The candor and comedy he brought to the airwaves in the 1970s sealed his status,” The Associated Press wrote, “and any television show with realism at its core owes Norman Lear a debt.” In recognition of Lear's influence on the TV industry, CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox and The CW broadcast an in memoriam card in his honor Wednesday evening — a rare joint tribute across the major broadcast networks. He was 100.

BUD TAYLOR loved Glens Falls, N.Y., and actively served its best interests in every way he could. He served on the Glens Falls Common Council and as a Glens Falls supervisor on the Warren County Board of Supervisors. He served on the Warren-Washington Counties IDA and on the Economic Development Corp. of Warren County. He was a founding member of the Crandall Park Beautification Committee and president for 17 years. He served on the Glens Falls Civic Center Foundation Board. He was president of the Open Door Mission, which operates a soup kitchen and shelter for the unhoused in Glens Falls. Bud made it a point to get to know the people Open Door served. Most of all, he was a unifying force, a model of civility and service, and a faithful public servant. He was 84.

“It’s a shame it has gotten this far. We are in a housing crisis, it is cold out. There could be homes for 16 to 20 people and affordable for working and disabled people. I am committed. I’m there until the police drag me out.”
— Dio Kaufman, one of two remaining tenants in a Saratoga County, N.Y., mobile home park whose owner allegedly is engaging in a pattern of behavior to force tenants to leave despite agreeing to let them remain until 2026.

ARRESTING DEVELOPMENT: Police near Lansing, Mich., arrested a 62-year-old woman for allegedly shoplifting from a local Walmart that was hosting a “shop-with-a-cop” event at the time. Approximately 75 officers from various police agencies were in the store shopping with children. A participating state trooper was notified by store staff and made the arrest.

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Principal authors: Bill Callen and Mark Behan

Sincere thanks to our contributors: Ryan Moore, John Brodt, Troy Burns, Kristy Miller, Leigh Hornbeck, Claire P. Tuttle and Luke Dow.

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