Bad news for educators
Schools across the Syracuse region are cutting freshmen teams, teachers, bands and reading programs, to cope with state budget cuts. From the Post-Standard:
Losses in state aid and county sales tax money, larger contributions to the employees’ retirement systems, higher health insurance costs and increased salaries and benefits prompted districts to make difficult cuts.
In Broome County, the Press & Sun-Bulletin says the job market for teachers is waning:
Area districts have cut back on staffing, due to budgetary pressures and the region's declining school enrollment. Nearly 160 positions in Broome County were trimmed in the 2010-11 budget cycle.
Given those conditions, can you blame teachers for wanting to duck out? Retirements are up in New York State.
Apple farmers nervous about lingering strike
A strike at a Mott's processing plant in Wayne County has no end in sight - but the apple harvest is right on the horizon and farmers are starting to worry.
Marcellus Shale natural gas development
Residents of Bradford County, PA say their water has been contaminated by drilling in the Marcellus Shale. The company doing the drilling denies they're responsible. From the Buffalo News:
Methane in the water supply is a hugely important concern in Pennsylvania, a state with no regulation of the private wells that provide drinking water for 3 million of its residents. Yet the methane problem also remains a bit of a mystery. At least seven families in Bradford County have complained about gas in their well water, as have at least 14 in neighboring Susquehanna County and several more in the southwest corner of the state.
Elsewhere in the Buffalo News is a profile of National Fuel, which is eyeing oil and gas development and transport in the Marcellus Shale.
And the Press & Sun-Bulletin has the details about a Texas company that wants to build a natural gas pipeline in the Marcellus Shale region.
Jobs forecast
The Associated Press says the future of jobs is split into two options - high-skill professions like law and research, and low-skill professions like retail. But the New York Times weighs in with a story about sluggish hiring in the tech sector. So even if you are trained for that high-tech job, get ready to settle.
If you were hoping to retrain for a job, New York's "Bridge" program could no longer be an option where you live. The Democrat and Chronicle is reporting that the program at Finger Lakes Community College is shutting its doors due to state budget cuts, after helping thousands of people find work.
Nine of the 17 Bridge programs across the state — including programs at five other community colleges outside the Rochester area — shut down at the end of August. Statewide, the Bridge budget was cut from $8.5 million last fiscal year to $1 million this year, said David Belsky, spokesman for the State University of New York, which oversaw the program.
Obama proposal
The New York Times has details on President Obama's plans to grant businesses equipment write-offs.
The upfront deduction would allow businesses of all sizes to keep more money now and would give large corporations, many of which are sitting on cash because of uncertainty about the economy, an incentive to spend and invest.
Turbines rising
The Observer-Dispatch has details about the erection of two wind turbines at a proposed 37 turbine farm. The project should create 12 jobs. Once you've read the article, check out where the "Hardscrabble wind farm" is on our wind power map.
The good old days
To wrap up, here are two stories about outmoded technology: typewriters and the bank book. The Buffalo News has a profile of a man who repairs typewriters for a living. Owner Bob Will says the machines are like an "old friend" to their owners. And a woman's search for a missing bank account, over at the Times Union, double as a history of bank consolidations and mergers and acquisition.
