Doc

Why should they fix it? All the previously innocent people who get charged with violating this broken law will pay for fixing it through the judicial system. Every person who gets snagged by conflicting and broken legislation get their day (and lose their $$$) in court to fix what our esteemed leaders didn't bother to read. Ignorance of the law is no excuse unless you're making them.

That's why the jobs go there; no occupational safety laws or environmental regulations to increase operating costs. Along with workers who are willing to work in unsafe conditions and dangerous environments for pennies to the dollar, who won't fight for their own safety, is it any wonder that every company that can is sending its work overseas to these places? It's a horrible and avoidable tragedy and also an incrimination of how big companies do business to boost their bottom line. Things like this shouldn't happen anywhere in the 21st century, but our demand for more profits and cheap Walmart stuff allow it.

The Town of Vestal is yet another. The Vestal Town Board is also the board of commissioners, who takes recommendations from a fire advisory board that consists of the chiefs, captains, and Lt's from the four companies. Back when I was up there, in my opinion, it seemed to work out fine. The town board was responsive and favorable to the departments needs, but that was always subject to change with the next election cycle. Just some observations; not necessarily anything I saw first hand... A department in this arrangement has to spend a lot more time and energy educating its fiscal leadership as to the realities and needs of a fire department when the FD is only one of a dozen or so town departments vying for dollars and support. It's not exactly ideal or easy to swallow when life-saving service funding is accorded the same budgetary priority (or less) as new swing sets and benches for the park that floods every year. It also can create an adversarial situation, where the FD members are viewed by other townsfolk as a big, evil voting block that needs regular defeating at the polls. You can actually have self-identified "pro-FD" and anti-FD" candidates for town board. Having the budgeting process and financing done by a board who is elected on a single issue (fire protection) is certainly easier (but also potentially extravagant) than a board that has to consider many more, and better organized, special interests when it comes to allocating funding priority. But city and village FD's have been coping with that since the beginning and seem to make out OK.

I'm sure they'd drive by, but I'm sure they'll do the right thing and call in a regular unit. This ambulance is not for people like you and me.

Yeah, honestly, I'm in awe of Bill's artistry with the camera.

Bill, is the DUMBO shot yours? Is that coloration post processing? Filters? How???

There's markings on the SCBA that look like EFFD.

On behalf of social service, religious organization and government employees that various volunteer activities displace, I ask why so many insist on parading around with this self-righteous volunteerism? Whatever job opportunities a persons selfish sense of satisfaction compels them to deny others is work that a person could otherwise be gainfully employed at. Soup kitchen? I'm sure professional food industry workers would like to make a living doing that work. Animal shelter? City and county animal control employees must be thankful for the bread taken from their tables. Big Brothers/Sisters? Social services and school district guidance workers frown on such self-righteous interference in their critical efforts. Missionary work? This persistent interference in the functioning of local government perpetuates the very dysfunction it espouse to alleviate. The deplorable conditions in many third world countries continues because no locally derived reforms can gain traction in the face of free handouts and interference from the well-meaning but short sighted wealthy foreigners. Elder care? The nursing home industry is already besot with impenetrable cost structures and lack of funding; unfair competition by rogue organizations operated with "free" and untrained staffing further degrades care for the elderly and may indeed result in sub-standard care throughout the field. The fact is that every activity undertaken as an act of charity is, in effect, taking the food fro mthe tables of those who have chosen that work as a profession. Furthermore, handouts and "charity" only serve to foster dependence. It also gives government agencies the false sense that their taxpayer supported services are adequate to actual needs, preventign the opening of living wage jobs that are, in fact, needed. I am uncomfortable that an amateur, with an unknown background in whatever specious activities they engage in, could interfere in the provision of critical humanitarian services otherwise provided by credentialed and screened professionals. It has been said before that the only tool good enough to do a job is the tool paid for at the highest possible cost. Anything less is shortchanging the customer. That some of these do-gooders have decided to rightfully accept personal liability for any potential malpractice, injury or omission while embarking in this "wild west" world of doing the jobs of others for free is our only solace. Work without compensation in any arena is an affront to order and capitalism and those miscreants who perpetuate it should face all the risk of their antisocial freelancing. The most compassionate effort any true American can make is to ensure that no work is done without payment and that all contracts are are honored at dire risk of exorbitant civil or criminal penalty. And, yes, QTIP

Also, at more complex incidents the ex-chiefs can bring significant training and experience as members of the command staff.

I agree, the county should be making efforts to find money through the AFG program and I'd say even the NYS government efficiency grants, seeing as the Investigation Division is a shared service over many municipalities and fits nicely with the programs aim to make (or keep?) government services efficient and shared. As I've been researching this boat acquisition, I've been seeing the sound logic in its purchase. It certainly won't hurt anything. It is going to be a great resource for the county and everyone who uses the river, and I'm not knocking it at all. Having an all-weather, year round marine presence on the river is essential for MANY purposes. I do agree that the county would have been crazy to not find a way to make this happen... however I also think there's a bit of crazy that the FID is hanging in the wind and talk of its getting cut is as serious as it is. It should never have gotten this far. I'm going to assume that there are yet to be revealed efforts to find the funding and I'm definitely going to support those. Now is NOT the time to be reducing arson investigation capabilities... or Sheriff road patrols or the ability to address emergencies in the river or any facet of public safety. Economic down times are when houses burn, crime spikes and people stop taking care of themselves. There is plenty of dead weight and waste elsewhere... looking specifically at the county legislative chambers and the County Executive's office. I wonder how their furloughs and pay cuts are doing (yeah, right). A chair sale is DEFINITELY in order. With all the press those things got, they're like celebrities!!!

No doubt, if an aircraft ditches in the river, it will be a multi-jurisdictional response from both sides of the Hudson and existing resources will respond, albeit at an indefinite level of capability and efficacy, and after some unknown, possibly prolonged response time. The bigger boat will serve to ENHANCE that capability once it's staffed and operating. To what extent it will enhance the operation is unknown. If it's sitting unstaffed at a dock in New Hamburg, I suspect it will arrive at the scene at about the same time as all the other F.D. and police boats. The Dutchess County Sheriff's Office has two boats that were, at least until the Port Authority offered a steep discount for a bigger better one, adequate and serviceable. There are fire department boats, coast guard boats, and state police boats in the area; in other words, there are additional services with capabilities to respond. They may not be ideal, or quick or capable of operating in any definable list of adverse conditions, but they exist and these details could be addressed by someone more knowledgeable than I. Unless there is other information available, it would seem that those resources have been able to meet the needs of the community for incidents on the Hudson River. Certainly a larger boat would be useful for many types of incidents and enhance the county's capabilities, however there are already existing capabilities. The Dutchess County Fire Investigation Team is, for much of the county, a unique resource used at most structure fires in Dutchess County. While the responsibility for investigating the causes of fires lies with the fire chief, a shared service model provides an efficient means for for maintaining a group of highly trained, qualified individuals that could not otherwise be maintained by most individual fire departments. I can't say with any certainty what the response numbers are for the team, but I know my department alone has called on them twice in the last year with valuable outcomes. The FID's efforts are critical for identifying and prosecuting arson, including a recent serial arsonist. This seems to me to present a definite routine need that will now not be addressed. The FID provides expertise and capability not otherwise obtainable to much of the Dutchess County fire and law enforcement agencies. There is no backup; to compare to the DCSO boat scenario, it is as if no other boats would respond when that plane crashes in the river. The amount of money being put forward by Dutchess County to buy this boat is, interestingly, approximately the amount normally budgeted to operate the Fire Investigation Division for a year. As of of now it has been cut from the budget. I am NOT insinuating a correlation here AT ALL. The budgeting for this boat and the FID are two separate, unrelated processes in two distinct county departments. The source of funding for the boat is from forfeited asset sales and likely has some specific limitations for usage prohibiting its use for offsetting DCSO budget shortfalls, or larger county fluidity issues. To me, though, it's interesting that the county can find money for a boat that enhances an existing capability, but cannot find money for the Fire Investigation Division to maintain the existence of any capability at all. See, the unavailability of the FID creates a vacuum of capability. The unavailability of this bigger boat means that smaller boats will respond. To me, this seems odd. My logic is that planning for a 1/1,000,000 eventuality is great when you've already addressed the routine eventualities. When you aren't addressing routine eventualities, it seems unwise to address those "once-in-a-lifetime" incidents - unless there is some underlying priority. What is the priority?

No. I'm pretty aware that Enforcer 1 and Enforcer 2 have been used for many other roles. Supporting the DCSO dive team, effecting water rescues and search / recovery operations, and patrolling the River and Whaley Lake, among other things. I know that the Port Authority of NY/NJ is putting up the money for this better, more capable boat... STORY ON THE BOAT The Port Authority is ensuring that local resources exist to address incidents in its best interest; ie, commercial aircraft ditching in the river while inbound/outbound from Stewart. I don't blame Dutchess County government for jumping on $245,000 of free boat money (especially when our county legislators can tout this windfall as the result of THEIR hard work). However, it will cost Dutchess County taxpayers $60,000 plus the continual increased maintenance costs that come with this larger boat. I'm assuming that until the DCSO got this proposal / offer from the Port Authority that the existing DCSO boats were adequate for DCSO's regular needs that don't involve aircraft crashing in water. If they weren't adequate, then, yeah, my bad. Now, I know this isn't an "either/or" "apples-to-apples" comparison - it's not a question of either getting the boat or keeping the ability to investigate fires - but it is representative of the difficult choices that need to be made when government is operating in the red. As a member of the emergency response community and a taxpayer, I have to wonder about the reasoning in the decisions being made by my elected officials using tax monies. What was the tipping point? What made one issue more critical than the other? Was it the Port Authority's "Free Money" (despite the implicit mandate of maintaining the boat on the taxpayer dime from now on) that helped the county somehow "find" $60,000 during these hard times? Could the legislature not "find" money for the Fire Investigation Division? My concern is that while Dutchess County is stepping up to serve the needs of an agency based in Orange County using taxpayer dollars, it is simultaneously abandoning another important service to its own taxpayers. Sure, this boat will provide an enhanced service to Dutchess taxpayers; I have no doubt that having a year-round marine presence on the river is a good thing. However, with all the talk of brutal budget cutting, having to go without, and the consequences to public safety and service that these measures bring, I find it unfortunate that our esteemed legislators could find $60,000 to go toward addressing a "what if" scenario posed by an out-of-county agency as opposed to maintaining the capability to adequately investigate fires and address arson on a regular and concerted basis. I'm guessing that these "assets forfeiture funds" used to pay for the boat have some interesting terms of use. If there is something I'm missing, please, explain it.

You've gotta think like a politician to understand the fractured logic. You see, keeping DCSO writing tickets on the river brings in revenue. In the eyes of a drooling pork addicted politico, the FID only ever costs money. The actual service rendered to the community is not important. What will be important is which county politician will include: "Secured essential funds for the purchase of a terroristwarfighting boat for to guarantee security of freedom for American Patriots" on his/her reelection mailings, which will be sent using your money as well. We are entering a new era in government; ask not what your country can do for you, but what fees you can pay a politician to facilitate the collection of other fees from you. Presently, the cart is racing up hill miles ahead of the horse pulling it. Luckily the horse is long dead yet still being beaten with great enthusiasm and at the highest possible cost to you and me by the most expensive talent a national candidate search could secure. Remember: "It's for the children" "The taxpayers deserve nothing less!"

I've never seen a DB-12 on a laptop. Are you sure it isn't a DB-15 (three rows of five pin) which would be a VGA video connector (for plugging in a monitor). The actual VGA standard only uses 12 pins, so there might only be 12 pins on the DB-15 plug (http://pinouts.ru/Video/VGA15_pinout.shtml). The BC246T uses a serial interface and most laptops made in the last five years don't have D-subminiature (DB-9 or DB-25) serial plugs. You're probably going to be looking for a Serial (DB-(9) to USB adapter.

Who are we to question the tools of justice?

I never realized that Chelsea had a Seagrave. Wow. What years were it in service? Thanks for sharing these Jimmy!

There were multiple prolonged water system failures in southern Dutchess from late Thursday into late Friday. Many of the effected water districts are coterminus with Fire Districts that don't have tankers (Rombout, Village of Fishkill, City of Beacon). I believe the rationale behind Beacons request for Pleasant Valley's tanker was to keep the local tankers available for the potential adverse effects of all those alternative, non-electric light and heat sources being deployed in homes without water.

I think the present situation, including the issues of multiple leaks of critical TSA operational documents to bloggers, is indicative of a lot of fundamental and uncomfortable work yet to be done. It's easy enough for the TSA to simply shovel the burden into their screening agents and the US public by requiring new levels of pre-boarding screening, full body searches, bans of carry-on materials, and even, if they felt the need (there is always the justification), random strip searches. These obvious precautions present the image to the public that they are "doing their jobs better". However, will this stop TSA agents from E-mailing operations manuals to bloggers? Will patting down EVERY domestic passenger in the US prevent an attack by an international originating passenger who breezed through lax foreign screening? Going after the airlines themselves and other parties responsible for securing foreign originating flights is far more politically sensitive to the Homeland Security leadership and politicians who keep them funded. It's a difficult but criticial proposition to making real improvements to our safety. Similarly, finding the leaks that get official documents on detailed screening procedures published on the internet, by amateurs, means uncomfortable and difficult internal investigations in a massive agency that has, in the past, had issues with self-policing. All the bomb sniffers, x-rays, NMR spectrometers, trained dogs and probing gloved hands are worthless if airports in Egypt are letting it slide or if agents are routinely passing out secure information to their friends on Facebook. Banning mouthwash and mid-flight pee breaks is pointless without the other efforts. Recent events prove it.

The comptroller's office is evidently angry that they were beat at their own game. Only state agencies can concoct such an "out of the box" plan. Wick's Law exists for a reason - anybody who's been involved in a construction project under the confines of Wick's Law knows this and is stronger for surviving it. It is regrettable that no congressmen or state legislators can tout this project as a personal success during their next campaign. It is also unfortunate that the project wasn't awarded to the proper contractors with the necessary political connection and campaign donation records. Indeed, the people of Nyack will suffer the consequences of a fire department operating within an uncondemned, safe structure, no doubt completed ahead of schedule and without various contractor bankruptcies, abandonment and residual lawsuits that make this nation strong. God save us all.

Bill, these are breathtaking. Sometimes poor weather can be a surprise and the coloration of the cloud cover is amazing. And a big thank you for such huge resolution and approval for personal use.

Hey, every day's a sale day at Mays! I still have unused 10W30 oil in cans from Barkers.

How's the weather holding?

But if anybody feels like it, I'm sure the City of Buffalo is accepting cash donations... taxable donations, of course.

The amount of light coming off those light masts is great. And it ISN'T some huge contraption as seen on U.S. apparatus.

I don't think they're trying to prove a point. No drivers with CDL's were available to bring apparatus. It IS the law and I know at least one of these departments is VERY serious about obtaining compliance with the law. It will take time to get enough members with CDL's to not miss opportunities like this.