Lessons in love learned on a bus full of cancer patients

by Melissa Hale-Spencer
The source of this warmth and sense of well being was the driver, Francesca Lo Porto-Brandow. She is the driver both literally and figuratively of the Flutter Express. She has used her own cancer and that of her father and her husband not to wall herself off or to wallow in self-pity but, rather, to help others along what she calls their “health-care journey.”

If we allow our history to be whitewashed, the richness and strength of our nation will disappear

The same issues abolitionists like the Myerses struggled with — housing, health care, jobs, and education — are still issues today. We need that history to guide and inspire us.

Guilderland needs to revalue property

The school district suffered millions of dollars in losses from tax certiorari suits; it could equally benefit from a reassessment now as would the library, the county, and the town itself.

What is chaos and whom does it serve?

We’ve spent a year listening to the hurt caused by this chaos. We’ve written about people losing their homes, struggling to feed their families, closing their businesses, losing their medical care, having their sense of identity stripped away.

We need to provide a path forward for people who have long been exploited

For centuries in our nation, people with disabilities have fought for their civil rights. The fight is not yet over.

Local police officers have faces, presence, are part of a community

Both the county and state proposals are not in any way curtailing proper enforcement of the law. Rather, they are setting parameters for a federal agency that is violating laws.

Climate change should not be political

Scientists have warned for decades that global warming will cause more weather extremes. This winter, we’ve seen the school closings, the closed businesses, the widespread power outages, and the deaths caused by snow and cold in places not used to dealing with such winters. And the winter suffering pales besides the destruction, drought, and death caused by extreme heat in places around the world.

Will the Berne Town Board step up to help its residents and prevent a flood?

The dam needs to be repaired. At the worst, if the dam gave way, lives and homes could be lost; at the best, if the dam is removed, the homes, without a lake, would lose value.