The Peru Gazette

From the Office of Congressman Owens 

WASHINGTON – Congressman Bill Owens introduced legislation this week to ensure that federal agencies provide more work for small businesses, allowing them to hire and expand in New York.  There is a congressionally mandated goal that 23 percent of all annual federal contracts are awarded to small businesses, but that goal is regularly ignored.  H.R. 3779, the Small Business Growth and Federal Accountability Act, would decrease an agency’s procurement budget by 10 percent each year it fails to meet its small business contracting goals.   Read more »

Skating on the Olympic Oval a mainstay in Lake Placid – LakePlacidNews.com 

Adirondack Almanack: High Peaks Happy Hour: Deer’s Head Inn, Elizabethtown.

School aid lament: ‘It’s not enough’ – Times Union.

Kodak employees, retirees, shareholders, management all could be bankruptcy losers 

Agency Insurance burglary prompts break in other cases 

House rises in Jamaica » Local News » Press-Republican.

WASHINGTON  – Congressman Owens released the following statement today in response to the Administration’s official rejection <http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71598.html> of the Keystone XL pipeline permit.

“With conflicts overseas driving up prices at the pump and so many Americans out looking for work, I am deeply disappointed that the White House has formally rejected the Keystone XL pipeline permit,” said Owens. “As we work toward a long-term renewable energy program, beginning construction on the Keystone pipeline is the right short-term solution for the nation’s energy concerns and putting Americans back to work.

“This project will ensure that we refine more oil from Canada — our trusted ally — where it will travel a shorter distance and there is less chance for disruption.  I urge the Administration to either reconsider this decision or move quickly to approve an alternative so this critical infrastructure project can move forward. While the White House has said it will allow TransCanada Corp to reapply for this permit, I believe we must move forward with the environmentally safe construction of this needed project today.”

50 years ago today – AdirondackDailyEnterprise.com 

Corinth keeps village.

Capitol Confidential » Some of Cuomo’s donors.

Watertown Daily Times | Budget disappoints NNY school districts.

Watertown Daily Times | Cuomo proposes second austere budget.

As opinion from the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal (Click here) 

An opinion by Donald McBrayer

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is being voted on in Congress on January 24th. It has the potential to seriously curtail freedom of information access in the name of corporate profit protection. It would be like ending all political debate by outlawing the First Amendment.

If knee-jerk laws like SOPA were administered in the early days of Napster such innovations as iTunes or Netflix would never have come into existence. The Internet is the most fantastic experiment in pure democratic expression in human history. It is an organic, unstoppable force of expression and ideas. It is reshaping the world. There are those who do not see the Internet’s potential, and fear it because of a perceived threat to their obsolete business models. SOPA will only promote archaic thinking, and prevent fruition of the human condition – it is dangerous.

Please research SOPA yourself while there is still a free Internet, then write your Congressman to express your opinion.

US Senators
Kirsten E. Gillibrand
478 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-4451

Charles E. Schumer
313 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-6542

US Congressman
William Owens
104 Federal Building
Plattsburgh, NY 12901-9723
(518) 563-1406

St. Augustine’s Knights of Columbus Council 7273 will host a spaghetti dinner on Saturday, January 21^st at the St. Augustine’s Parish Center in Peru. “ALL YOU CAN EAT” spaghetti, salad, Italian bread and a delicious dessert will be served from 4:30 to 6:30 PM for only $7.50 per person, $3.50 for children 6 to 12, free for children 5 and under.  Take-outs are available.

WASHINGTON – Congressman Bill Owens announced today that he is currently accepting nominations for up to five high school marching bands from New York’s 23rd Congressional District to perform in the National Independence Day Parade, sponsored by the National Parks Service. 

“A trip to our nation’s capital is a great learning experience for our high schools, and I am pleased to see our students have the opportunity to honor our community with their performances on the 4th of July,” Owens said. “From the 10th Mountain Division Band to SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School, our area is rich in musical talent and I am looking forward to seeing the area represented in Washington on Independence Day.”

The National Independence Day Parade takes place annually on July 4th in Washington, D.C. before an audience of hundreds of thousands of spectators. The parade consists of invited bands, fife and drum corps, floats, military units, drill teams, national dignitaries, and celebrity participants.

Nominations do not guarantee a placement in the parade, but does guarantee them an invitation packet and full review by the National Parade Committee. Participating bands are invited based on recommendations from state and local leaders.
Participating bands that are selected for the parade are responsible for their own travel and lodging costs.

Congressman Owens asks that interested high schools submit a letter detailing their band’s accomplishments and why they should be chosen to Caitlin Donovan in the Congressman’s Watertown office by March 15th, 2012.

Kraft Foods to move 225 Tarrytown jobs to Chicago area 

The life and ‘death’ of Jim Rogers – LakePlacidNews.com 

Cuomo’s proposed budget steers more aid to high need districts 

State budget brings more deep cuts to NY Conservation Department 

Joyce Bellavance sentenced to 3.5 years for $1.6M embezzlement

Capitol Confidential » Meet Tier VI: Details of new pension package.

TROY, NY (01/16/2012)(readMedia)– Jaimie Martin of Peru was recently named to the President’s List at Hudson Valley Community College. Each fall and spring term, the college’s President’s List honors those students who have a term grade point average between 3.5 and 4.0. Martin is in the Echocardiography certificate academic program at the Troy, NY college.

Founded in 1953, Hudson Valley Community College offers more than 70 degree and certificate programs in four schools: Business; Engineering and Industrial Technologies; Health Sciences; and Liberal Arts and Sciences; and workforce and academic preparation programs offered through the Educational Opportunity Center. One of 30 community colleges in the State University of New York system, it has an enrollment of more than 14,000 students, and it is known as a leader in distance learning initiatives and worker retraining. Hudson Valley has more than 65,000 alumni.

On the web: http://readabout.me/achievements/Jaimie-Martin-of-Peru-Named-To-President-s-List-at-Hudson-Valley-Community-College/3283620.

Food from outside U.S. growing part of our diet.