ex-commish

Very good point. Most of my time as chief was spent doing administrative stuff...you know the boring stuff that had to be done. Also, how about dealing with your governing board? The public? Disciplining members? Interacting with other agencies, politicians? Plain old life experience helps here.

Often it is the consensus not to impede on the rights of people who may be offended by a symbol of faith or any tradition we enjoy. What about the rights of us who wish to see such symbol. There has been court orders dictating no display of xmas decorations because usually a few find it offensive. It would be a shame if a judge would deny ( if it ever went this far) children the enjoyment of seeing Santa on thier street riding on a fire truck. I believe any practice of faith should not be denied. I also believe there are more important issues we face such as taxes, the price of gas, war, etc. Merry Xmas !!!!

We all know there are morons out on the roads. All the more we have to drive with due regard.

Another agenda by the politically corrected catered to. Pathetic !!!

Would fire district ambulances benefit as well? Does being tax funded knock us out?

I was a big fan of Evil when I was younger. I admired his courage and love for what he did. May he rest in peace.

Rest in peace.

May he rest in peace

If the Lairdsville incident was not a wake up call than I don't know what is.

What is the issue here? Doesn't the AHD which in this case is the village board have the right to say who they want as thier chief and wether or not they want to pay for this position? Even in fire districts or other cities and villages who have paid chiefs....doesn't the district decide who they want? And in the volunteer depts isn't the "vote" by the company only a recommendation? Doesn't the board have to approve it also? This is why I feel the election process needs to go. There are volunteer depts in the US that appoint officers based on training levels and experience. I know of one dept in Florida that requires you to be interviewed by the chief and you have to meet requirements set by the department. There is an attorney generals opinion that clearly states the AHD should have say and control over who runs the department as the AHD is ultimately responsible for the actions of it's officers.

I did not read if the perps were armed or not which could play a factor in this case. It will be very interesting to see what the grand jury finds. I feel the man did what he felt he had to do. I also feel if the perps were not out breaking the law they would still be alive.

On the news today there is a petition heading to the White House to grant a pardon for the two border patrol agents who are serving time for shooting a fleeing drug dealer. The mope was not killed but wounded and he was granted immunity from prosecution for his testimony. I know the consensus was the mope was unarmed and the agents violated protocol but I also feel the agents were trying to stop a person who will no doubt try to sell dope to our kids and I feel they were doing thier jobs. At the very least if they were guilty of any protocol violations losing thier jobs should of been the only thing that they were dealt. Now you have two law enforcement officers doing time for trying to stop a criminal who also crossed our border illegaly to do more illeglal activity and harm our kids. I hope George Bush grants them the pardon. With all the others that have been let out of jail this should be a no-brainer.

The benefits to merging would be downsizing equipment and firehouses. You could do away with many chiefs cars and rigs. Another advantage would be the pooling of manpower. The biggest advantage would be a savings. What could be a disadvantage is the formation or big government. The bigger govt gets the less accessible it is to the people. Also, who would be in charge. Someone would have to give up authority. That would mean some commissioners would have to vote to resolve thier authority. Who would be chief? Captain? Etc. As petty as these issues may sound they are stumbling blocks. For the record I am in favor of merging.

I agree. CVS Pharmacy started displaying Xmas items just before Haloween. Kinda rushing things. Also, I noticed Haloween is becoming just as festive as Xmas with all the decorations I am seeing lately. Maybe we should get the Easter Bunny ready

As long as the people on the rig are compotent and professional I am not concerned what the agency is called allthough "you call we haul" may not be a good idea

Thoughts and prayers for all involved.

I believe all athletes are overpaid. Millions of dollars for playing a game and most of them become spoiled. And I am an avid football and baseball fan but it is a shame when you look at what they do and what they get paid to do along with the best doctors when they get hurt than I see on News12 how a war vet is having trouble getting treatment for his injuries or how others have to fight to get benefits for medical problems due to 9/11. Something wrong here???

Congratulation to Boston. See ya next year. Yankee Fan

As an American of Italian descent I felt compelled to comment on this. My grandparents, aunt, uncles, etc came here through Ellis Island not speaking a word of English. They immedeatly got jobs and learned English because they knew this was an English speaking country. They became citizens legally with no handouts or government assistance. They worked and built a life and obeyed our laws. I have no problems with immigration. Our country was founded on immigration. I have a problem with those who come here and want rights and privleges right away and break the law because they seem to believe they are protected. I had an illegal who was doing time told me he will get deported but will be able to get back in because it is so easy. Something wrong here.

And I guess it was ok when Slick Will and his wife" tied up traffic when ever they were in Chappaqua...you know the house they purchased (or was purchased for them) along with thier office in Harlem. Shutting all highways when they traveled to the city, diverting air traffic, etc. Not bad for people who dismantled our military, pardoned criminals, and even lied about being a Yankee fan. Hiliary couldn't find Yankee stadium on radar before she became Senator. And if she wins we will be in the same boat again. Who knows, they may sell the house. They won't need a NY residency anymore if she wins. She will have got want she wanted all along. God help us !!!

This is a very good topic and warrants discussion. I am not aware of the incident that prompted you to present this but I believe it has been a problem here in the past. When I was a chief and I needed resources all I did was call 60-control and tell them what I needed. I usually didn't have time to worry about who to call. I left that up to the dispatcher.

I believe if you responded without authorization ( toned out, officers order) and you had an accident while responding you may have issues with being covered. IMHO it is better to wait untill dispatched.

I am very sorry to hear that. I have family in Simi Valley which is in Ventura County. They have not seen the fires but the city is covered in ash and the air quality was poor when I spoke to my aunt on Wednesday night. I was visiting out there in August and there were fires burning in the mountains near Santa Barbera.

Must of been playing Gunsmoke....

Mr. Colbert wants to do away with pensions and social security. Said it is not necessary. He should stick to comedy.