- Conflicting reports this morning on the short-term future of Senator Joe Bruno. A local Albany station reports that the Senator will not finish out his term, and will leave perhaps as soon as two weeks from now. Two weeks from tomorrow is opening day at Saratoga; gee, there's a coincidence for you!
The Times Union says that Bruno is going "on a day to day basis,” and I'm not sure if it's Bob Costas or Howie Rose who first noted that we're all living in that way. The Schenectady Gazette says the story's not true.
In any event, Bruno has come up with at least one more going away present for his constituency.
New Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos could have the shortest term of all time depending on the results of the November election. Bill Hammond reports in the NY Daily News that Skelos has executed a perfect flip-flop on property taxes in order to try and extend his reign. Seems like an interesting guy, and this is the best profile I've read about him.
- The director of Minnesota's Gambling Control Board, with apparently nothing else to do, is questioning whether Senator Barack Obama is violating state gambling laws. Obama's campaign is offering a trip to Denver for the Senator's acceptance speech to ten lucky supporters who donate $5 or more. Tom Barrett wants to know if this constitutes an illegal raffle. Oh man. I wonder what party this guy is affiliated with.
- Thanks to reader Chris for sending along word that amongst the more than 100 new words accepted by the new edition of the Merriam-Webster dictionary is one which we've used many times here.
Racino (1995): racetrack at which slot machines are available for gamblers. [Newsday]
5 Comments:
I always thought it was Olbermann who said "we're ALL day-to-day" first, but that's probably just a result of my age. It is highly unlikely that Howie Rose came up with anything on his own.
Yeah, you might be right that it was Olbermann. I know it's not really Howie Rose, but I've heard him use the line with attribution. He did however come up with 'Matteau, Matteau, Matteau' on his own, I think.
All NY racing fans should appreciate Joe Bruno's 30+ years of service; anyone knowledgable about the subject will tell you that Joe saved the day for the Spa and Saratoga County many times over the years and did all he could to get the horsemen the best deal possible under the new franchise deal. Who will be there next year to preserve Saratoga's unique status on the NY racing calendar? The new guy, LI Skelos, if he sticks, will be looking to crank it up for Belmont, won't he? Wonder if Sheldon Silver has ever made the trek to Northway Exit 14? It was nice having Joe around for that reason alone- we all know he loves it just as much as we do! /S/Green Mtn Punter
Whats right for Saratoga and right for NY Racing are not always the same.
As a downstater and Belmont Park fan, it will be nice if he gets something done for Floral Park, Elmont and Belmont for a change.
But as Alan wrote, his power term appears very short.
Agreed with the Belmont fan, in fact, Belmont probably needs more attention than Saratoga these days. Belmont must be preserved as one of racing's heritage tracks, right at the top of the list with Saratoga. Let's just hope that Saratoga doesn't become an afterthought when the downstate boys take over and Joe Bruno is no longer the Spa's official watchdog.
/S/Green Mtn Punter
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