Contributed by Cary Briel / Skaneateles

One might argue that the real John McCain is well illustrated in the videos below.  Many insiders who know John McCain have hinted about Mr. McCain’s testiness and temper, and we’ve seen some examples of it in the press.  He seems pretty good at hiding this aspect of his personality in most cases, but I would suggest that cool heads need to prevail after 8 years of the current president and vice-president.  The following are three clips taken from an interview of John McCain by the Des Moines Register.

UPDATE:
Politico reports more McCain testiness on October 2, 2008:
“We just followed McCain down the steps following the vote to ask him about the reaction of House Republicans to the vote. He didn’t appreciate the company.

McCain: “Excuse me, you’re bothering me.”

Politico: “I’m bothering you?”

McCain: “Excuse me, I have to go.”

Maybe it’s time for McCain to retire if he’s so bothered.  Article here.

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Contributed by Christine Briel / Skaneateles Design

Admittedly summer is a very busy time for Skaneateles as we are jam packed with events and tourists. This summer we have also been in the news a lot. Below is a list of recent news articles as well as a few blog articles from Skaneateles visitors. Just in case you come to SkaneatelesTalk looking to “hear” what ’s been happening recently.

Ron Simon recalls a trip he once made across Route 20

Pearson & Pete Constantino begin their biking journey

Skaneateles Lake Watershed Preservation Workshops

Skaneateles Creamery Renovations

Honeywell Downsizes

Rachel Harms and daughter to show their art in England

Chess in Skaneateles

A traveller in Skaneateles

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By: The Citizen staff report / Thursday, July 24, 2008 11:41 AM EDT

SKANEATELES - Between the lake, the vibrant downtown, and the busy streetside businesses, pedestrians are drawn to Skaneateles streets during the summer. To encourage a safer walking environment, the Skaneateles Police Department is trying a tactic to make motorists more aware of the laws stating they have to yield to walkers in marked pedestrian crossings. As part of the ongoing effort, the department has plainclothes officers using the crosswalks while marked patrols observe and pull over any violators. Officers first did the enforcement effort on Tuesday and issued 12 tickets, primarily for the crosswalk violations. Skaneateles Police Chief Lloyd Perkins initiated the effort in response to resident complaints and several near misses. This detail is similar to an enforcement effort the Chicago Police Department uses. In addition to the enforcement details, regular patrol units will watch for any violations in crosswalks. Article is here.

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By Cary Briel / Skaneateles Design

I secretly admire people who have a simple name (read, normal). I wish I had a simple name, such as Joe, or Tim. Steve, John, Hank, Bill… anything simple! Or, just anything that wouldn’t need to be spelled out. It’s not only the first name that’s the problem. C-A-R-Y  B-R-I-E-L. C-A-R-Y  B-R-I-E-L. C-A-R-Y  B-R-I-E-L. AHHHHHH… !!! Do you feel sorry for me yet? I didn’t think so. Lately with all the angry earth stuff going on in the world (devastating storms, tornadoes, earthquakes, and wildfires), as well as economic issues here in the US (rising oil prices, high foreclosure rates, declining US dollar, ongoing war), my needing to spell out my name when asked doesn’t seem to be a hugely important issue. But, then, there’s those times when I am asked for both name and address. For example, when I need to place an order for some totally unnecessary mail order item over the phone. Then it’s the full, C-A-R-Y  B-R-I-E-L, 1570 Coon Hill Road, S-K-A-N-E-A-T-E-L-E-S, New York. If you live in Skaneateles, you know the drill well. It doesn’t matter if your name is Joe Smith, you’re still spelling out Skaneateles to every non-local. You may also notice that whenever Skaneateles is in print, you will often see a pronunciation key (such as, skan-ee-AT’-les), so that people outside of the area don’t suffer a brain implosion trying to pronounce the word. Today I found a pronunciation key on Newsday.com, but not in a good way. The article was detailing the William Milham sentence, a story apparently sensational enough to find its way to AP syndication. Read the article here, despite the unappealing promotion of Skaneateles, including a pronunciation key, to be sure that people will pronounce our town name correctly when talking about the issue.

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By Christine Briel / skaneatelesDesign

I have a Twitter account and it is really convenient for the latest news, etc. and just chatting with others during the work day. I subscribe to the Post Standard Tweets and they just posted the results on the Craig Cordes Trial. You can read the Post Standard news article in its entirety below, or visit their website for more local news:

“Syracuse, NY - A town of Onondaga man pleaded guilty this morning to killing two people in an alcohol-related boat crash on Skaneateles Lake last summer.

Craig Cordes pleaded guilty before Onondaga County Judge Anthony Aloi to a single felony count of first-degree vehicular manslaughter, admitting he was boating while intoxicated when he caused the death of John Kelly and Heather Wilkins. Aloi promised Cordes a sentence of 3 1/3 to 10 years in state prison. Cordes was taken into custody in court to be held in jail pending sentencing May 14.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Matthew Doran said the families of Kelly and Wilkins both agreed to the plea disposition. Defense lawyer James McGraw said Cordes was truly remorseful.

But McGraw also claimed Kelly bore some responsibility for the crash.The defense lawyer said Kelly had a blood alcohol count of .19 and was drifting in his boat without lights at the time of the collision.

Cordes was to have gone on trial in the case next week. McGraw said the consequences of a harsher sentence upon conviction prompted the defense to take the plea deal today.”

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