| Winter wheelchair problems
Mayor Bob Duffy Wednesday made good on a campaign promise to better understand the needs of people with disabilities.
Advocates from the Center for Disability Rights led the mayor on a brief tour around their building. Where the sidewalk had been shoveled, they didn't have much problem. But where the sidewalk was covered with snow, the mayor found it slow-going. And at one point, his wheelchair got stuck in the snow.
Duffy called it an experience everyone should have. "I have gloves on. I think I'm in reasonably good condition. I have a hard time even getting a grip on the wheel. I had difficulty in going 10 or 15 feet. And trying to get the wheels going is profound."
Advocates say it's not much different with an electric-powered wheelchair. "It really gives us a great education," says the mayor.
Requiring sick-day use for leave legal
Q. I work for a good-size, non-union hospital that allows employees to accumulate up to 900 hours of sick time, or roughly six months, over their career. Recently, however, the hospital modified the policy to bring it in line with the Family and Medical Leave Act. We still can accumulate the 900 hours but are limited to using no more than 450 of them in any given year.
My question is this: If an employee who has accumulated 900 hours faces a serious illness that requires the person to use more than 450 hours of sick time in one year, can he or she legally be fired? Usually after the sick time is exhausted, disability kicks in. But under the new policy, the employee could be fired once the person's leave passed the 450-hour mark. Is this legal?
I thought you couldn't be fired once you are on disability.
Library board has been working to resolve tax issue
There has been discussion about a double tax issue in New York State and specifically the impact to some residents of the Town of Chester who are members of the Warwick Valley School District. They are by definition, a part of the service areas of the Albert Wisner Public Library and the Town of Chester Library.In the fall of 2005, the Albert Wisner Public Library Board Executive Committee met with members of the N.Y. Assembly and consequently the Albert Wisner Board supported legislation introduced by Chester's Assemblywomen Nancy Calhoun and state Sen. William Larkin to resolve the problem with taxation jurisdiction at the legislature level.Our board has been the leader in spearheading this legislation in the state. We will continue to partner with Assemblywoman Calhoun and Senator Larkin and the Town of Chester and honor our commitment to resolve this issue.Recently, a Chester resident has advocated non-support of the pending referendum for a modern library for Albert Wisner.
Vox Populi: In order to stop some of the violence in this town ...
"Savannah is like a basket of crabs. Whenever one climbs to the top, the others pull it back down. I've seen it in the arts, in medicine, schools and government. Why sabotage yourself?" "I am surprised that a conservative state like Georgia would take the step of taxing the sale of a newspaper. Any connection between the government and the free press is outrageous, even if it is only a few cents on a paper." "What happened to state vehicle inspections? Why do we have all these junkers on the road with cracked windshields and fenders that don't match?" "Regarding the earned income tax, it is nothing more than welfare distribution. Most recipients pay zero or minimal taxes and they still get $2,000 or $3,000 back.
|
