Hochul Argues Funds Should go to Domestic Priorities

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congresswoman Kathy Hochul sent a letter to the chairman and ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee to recommend cutting funding to a costly Police Development Program (PDP) in Iraq that has proved unnecessary. Hochul cited the need for adequate funding for domestic projects and the PDP’s inadequacies as rationale for reducing funding.

“This is about priorities. At a time when our nation’s debt is out of control, and our own domestic infrastructure is crumbling, we should not be investing U.S. tax dollars in programs overseas that are both ineffective and unwanted. I urge the Appropriations Committee to consider the more pressing needs at home and cut funding to the PDP,” Congresswoman Hochul said..

In her letter to the Committee, Rep. Hochul referenced a recent New York Times article titled, “U.S. May Scrap Costly Efforts to Train Iraqi Police.” The article details many of the flaws of the PDP, including the programs ineffectiveness and doubts amount Iraqis’ about the need for the program. Despite documented failures, the State Department has requested $850 million in funding for the PDP in FY 2013.

The PDP is funded through the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INCLE) account for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO).

Health Commissioner Outlines Merits of Guided Walks in County Parks

ERIE COUNTY, NY— Erie County Commissioner of Health Dr. Gale Burstein today encouraged residents of all ages to “Be Active, Erie County” by getting outside and taking part in free, guided walks in County parks this spring. The walks, sponsored by the Erie County Department of Health and the non-profit Wellness Institute of Greater Buffalo, will take place at six different County parks throughout May and June.

“Regular physical activity is important for good health, and it is especially important if you are trying to lose weight or to maintain a healthy weight,”said Burstein. “Staying physically active has many health benefits, such as reducing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, and several forms of cancer. Regular physical activity can also reduce arthritis pain and associated disability, reduce risk for osteoporosis and falls and reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety.”

Participants in the walks will be able to learn more about ways to get healthy and stay healthy; participate in health screenings including blood pressure and Body Mass Index (BMI); and be able to access assorted health educational materials and smoking cessation information at each walk.

“These free, family-oriented Saturday morning walks in our beautiful Erie County parks provide participants with a fun dose of health-enhancing physical activity,” said Phil Haberstro of the Wellness Institute. “We are proud to be a part of this team effort to improve the health of Erie County residents, and we look forward to seeing everyone!”

Registration for walks begins at 9:00am on-site. Meeting places for the beginning of each walk will be posted at Park entrances.The “Be Active, Erie County” walk schedule is as follows:

• · May 19^th – Chestnut Ridge Park
• · June 2^nd – Como Lake Park
• · June 9^th – Akron Falls Park
• · June 16^th – Emery Park
• · June 23^rd – Times Beach Nature Preserve
• · June 30^th – Sprague Brook Park

For more information on the Walk Series, call 858-7226 or 851-4052

For more information on the Wellness Institute of Greater Buffalo, visit http://www.healthycommunitynetwork.com/

Michael Kicinski

(BUFFALO, NY) – Buffalo businessman Carl Paladino announced his endorsement of Michael Kicinski for Congress, New York District 22.

Kicinski stands for a limited government, fiscal responsibility, and free markets.  He will work toward a practical balanced budget and lower taxes with real budget cuts. He would work to reduce or eliminate onerous government regulations and mandates – to result in business and job growth.  “New York lost two seats in Congress due to people moving out of the state because of job loss,” Paladino said.  “Mike knows smaller government is the key to business improvement and job growth, which will return prosperity to New York.” 

“In 2010, the TEA Party supported and campaigned for their present representative,” said Paladino.  “But it is clear from the incumbent’s voting record that he is not listening to or representing the people of the district,”  Paladino continued. “Mike can be trusted because he knows he is accountable to those who support him.”

Mike Kicinski has been married for 23 years to his wife, Cathy, and they have 12 children. He has over 25 years of involvement in local and national issues and has been on the front lines these last 3 years as a local coordinator with the Norwich TEA Party Patriots.

Carl Paladino stresses the need for all Republicans to get out and vote for Mike Kicinski in the June 26th primary election.  “I know Mike will represent us with honor and integrity,” Paladino said, “and be the peoples’ voice for New York, 22nd District.”

As presidential endorsements go, this one could hardly have been more low-key. ABC News caught up with former president George W. Bush in an elevator in downtown Washington on Tuesday and asked the question that elicited an interestisng sound bite.

“I’m for Mitt Romney,” Bush said, just as the doors slid shut.

We welcome the president’s support, as we welcomed his father’s” in late March, when former president George H.W. Bush bestowed his formal endorsement on the all-but-inevitable GOP nominee, said Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul.“We’re proud to have the president’s support,” she added, “but he made clear when he left office that he was not going to engage in political campaigns and we have no reason to believe that is going to change.”

That the younger Bush has stayed invisible reflects both political reality — he remains far from popular among much of the electorate — and his sense of what his role should be as a former commander in chief.
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Brain scans of a member of a Colombian family who has Alzheimer’s, which leads to dementia.

The one thing older people fear more than cancer is losing their memory.  Dementia and Alzheimer’s are devestating health issues facing all of us.  Is there any way to avoid them? 

In a clinical trial that could lead to treatments that prevent Alzheimer’s, people who are genetically guaranteed to develop the disease — but who do not yet have any symptoms — will for the first time be given a drug intended to stop it, federal officials announced Tuesday.

Experts say the study will be one of the few ever conducted to test prevention treatments for any genetically predestined disease.

Most participants will come from the world’s largest family to experience Alzheimer’s, an extended clan of 5,000 people who live in Medellín, Colombia, and remote mountain villages outside that city. Family members with a specific genetic mutation begin showing cognitive impairment around age 45, and full dementia around age 51, debilitated in their prime working years as their memories fade and the disease quickly assaults their ability to move, eat, speak and communicate.Three hundred family members will participate in the initial trial. Those with the mutation will be years away from symptoms, some as young as 30.
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OK.  Not all priests are pedophiles.  Many go about doing God’s work in a humble, honest manner BUT . . . some are, shall we say, frisky?

A telegenic American priest, widely known for his media commentary from Rome on popes, prayer and personal morality, has publicly acknowledged having an affair and fathering a child — the latest jolt to hit his scandal-torn religious order, the Legionaries of Christ.

The priest, the Rev. Thomas D. Williams, apologized in a statement on Tuesday “for this grave transgression” and “to everyone who is hurt by this revelation.” He said he would take a year off from public ministry to reflect on his transgressions and his “commitments as a priest” — a decision he said he made with his superiors.
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Kyle Ortmeier, a junior, and Joel Price, superintendent of a South Dakota school district that banned sugary soft drinks.

South Dakota has Mount Rushmore and …  Mount Rushmore and … not too much more that any of us are really aware of beyond the Black Hills.  Well, now there’s Kyle Ortmeier, a junior in the Faulkton Area School District in tiny Faulkton, S.D.

In much the same way their ancestors on the prairie had to check their guns at the door of the saloon, the 320 students in the Faulkton Area School District, will be required to dispose of all carbonated soda containers before stepping into school buildings.

Although schools have been removing sodas and other sugary drinks from vending machines for the last few years, the Faulkton district is one of the first in the country to institute a ban, according to the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, which works to reduce childhood obesity.The school cafeteria will serve water, low-fat milk and fruit juices, and those beverages, as well as sports drinks and noncaffeinated diet sodas sold in vending machines, are all that will be available on school property. “Sure, there will be some opposition to it, but this is the way things are changing, like it or not,” said Kyle Ortmeier, the 17-year-old behind the school’s wellness campaign.
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WASHINGTON, DC – Following her visit to the Lancaster Police Department this morning where she presented a proclamation to the force in recognition of National Police Week, Congresswoman Kathy Hochul voted in favor of the National Blue Alert Act of 2012 to establish a national Blue Alert communications network with the Department of Justice. The network disseminates information when a law enforcement officer is seriously injured or killed in the line of duty, and this new system will help ensure that perpetrators of violence against law enforcement officers are swiftly apprehended and brought to justice. The Blue Alert system will help protect law enforcement at a time when police casualties are rising. In 2011, for the second straight year, fatalities among law enforcement increased, with 173 federal, state, and local officers killed in the line of duty.

“National Police Week is an opportunity for us to remember and honor those officers who have died in the line of duty, as well as the family members, friends, and fellow officers they left behind. Last year represented the second year in a row that the number of law enforcement fatalities has risen, and law enforcement is becoming an increasingly dangerous occupation. They do their job to protect us, and we need to do our part to protect them. I am proud to honor and help protect our law enforcement officers by voting for the Blue Alert Act,” Congresswoman Hochul said.

Rep. Hochul has consistently supported law enforcement through her votes in the House. Last week she voted in favor a bipartisan amendment to restore funding to the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program. The loss of this program would have made it harder for our local communities to hire and retain their police officers. Last Thursday, Rep. Hochul voted for the Fiscal Year 2013 Crime, Justice, & Science Appropriations Bill that makes important investments in law enforcement, including funding for combating prescription drug abuse, which is the nation’s fastest growing drug problem.

The 173 officers killed in 2011 represent a 13% increase over the number of officers killed in 2010 and a 42% increase over the number of officers killed in 2009. Since 1999, traffic-related incidents were the primary cause of death among police officers, but in 2010 the number of officers killed from roadway incidents dropped by 10%. In 2011, for the first time, more officers were killed in firearms-related incidents than were killed in traffic-related incidents.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy designated May 15th as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which that date falls as National Police Week. The week-long recognition honors police men and women across the country, as well as those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty. In 1991, The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, which bears the names of thousands of police officers who died in the line of duty, was dedicated by President George H. W. Bush.