Hiatus Over

So, I take a break for a few days and all hell breaks loose.

First, another $2.5 million evaporates:

Ulster County could be on the hook for $2.5 million because of what the U.S. government says were overpayments in federal funding for the Golden Hill Health Care Center.

The county’s congressional delegation is fighting the demand for the payment, but Deputy County Executive Ken Crannell said on Friday that Ulster has been told it may have to repay the money within six weeks.

County officials are calling the payment demand unfair and say forcing Ulster to part with $2.5 million could wreak havoc with its 2013 budget and result in “significant cutbacks and reductions in service.”

The disputed payments were so-called “intergovernmental transfers” — payments made by the federal government to public nursing homes to compensate for the difference between the state’s Medicaid payment rate and the federal Medicare rate.

Well, isn't that just wonderful. And related to Golden Hill again. I wonder how many more golden turds the taxpayers are going to have to step on. As to whose fault this is, everyone's pointing fingers at Washington. My take? The blame for this screw-up rests somewhere in Albany, though we may never find out exactly who, how or why.

There are also rumors, according to an anonymous commenter, that Pete Rooney will volunteer to have his ass handed to him again by Kevin Cahill. Cahill won that race 56-44, and I don't see Rooney this time doing any better than he did against the well-funded incumbent. We should know soon enough whether Rooney will run.

In Kingston, RUPCO's plans to convert the United States Lace Curtain Mill into affordable housing appears to be moving forward:

Computer-generated images have been created that show what a former lace curtain mill in Midtown Kingston would look like after it is renovated for housing.

The images were created as part of a proposal by the Rural Ulster Preservation Co., known as RUPCO, to renovate the former United States Lace Curtain Mill at Cornell Street and South Manor Avenue into an affordable housing complex.

City Planner Suzanne Cahill said the Planning Board will continue its review of the plan during a meeting at 6 p.m. Monday in City Hall.

Cahill said it’s unlikely any decision about the plan will be made at the meeting.

The computer images — made by the Kingston architectural firm Scott Dutton Associates, which is designing the building — depict how the exterior will look when complete, including landscaping and a new parking lot.

Everyone and his brother, including then-candidate Shayne Gallo, were opposed to more affordable housing in Kingston just a few months ago. Now, everyone is lining up and saluting. Again, I ask why this project isn't causing the same amount of rancor the Safe Harbors project caused? I think I know the answer, and it has to do with the ethnicities of the respective residents of the proposed projects.

In blog-related news, our logically challenged friend over at the Crusader has a couple of new posts up. One claims that Mike Hein doesn't work on Fridays. Doesn't the county executive's office publish Hein's schedule? I'm actually asking. Most full-time elected officials tend to let the media know where they are going to be on a given business day. Shouldn't be too hard to find out, Crusader, though it would involve doing some actual work.

The Crusader also smells a conspiracy between Hein and Robin Yess. You're kidding, right? Maybe the Crusader should FOIL Hein's birth certificate as well.

And speaking of Robin Yess, there is a new post up over at the Liberty Coalition regarding cronyism by the Bernardo/Independence Party gang:

Political cronyism is clearly alive and well, and if it isn’t, why was Lisa K. Mance – a resident of the Town of Marbletown and employee of the County Legislative Clerk’s office – at the Town of Rochester Republican Committee meeting earlier this week, diligently taking notes for Terry Bernardo who, as a Committee member, was absent?

Go read the whole thing. It's well worth your time.

We also have a new blog on the block. Again, the Cloakroom blog leans left, so I don't agree with many of my neighbors policy-wise, but it's always nice to hear a new voice. Welcome, Rochester Smoke Out!

So, what else is going on? What did I miss?