Top Posts of 2019

With the new year upon us, I've been cranking up the thinking and planning sections of my brain, as I'm sure many of you have. For me, that included some penciled in 'wish I could do better on...' things. Not resolutions per se, but intentions I hope to be mindful of this year.  

And it also included my annual look at the blog, updates to the Pages, considerations on changing the layout (none this year, or at least none now), and I also looked at last year's posts. In the course of that, I identified the five posts that appeared to spark your interest the most. Let's take a look. 

The top post was news in January from The Update Desk about the Allyn Family Foundation (AFF) and a new, mixed-use property it's developing in the city of Syracuse, which will house a food hall and market, office space for not-for-profit organizations, and residential units. A public name-the-market contest was held, and that's where our story picks up.

I vaguely remember the social media post where we could vote, and the overwhelming number of comments asking why it didn't mention Syracuse or the Salt City...

And it turns out, the AFF listened to what people wanted, and the name has been chosen: the Salt City Market. It's perfect, and it's a perfect example of ensuring the kind of community buy-in that the organization is looking for. Maarten Jacobs, one of the AFF folks, said

We want this to be a space that people feel they have ownership of the minute it opens.

The post was about a foundation, and a building, and a name - but it was more about the value of listening and responding to constituents, something that we often wish happened more - and something the majority of us can learn to do better. 

Number two was a TGIF post, also from January, dealing with the Covington Catholic High School kids and their interaction with a Native American Vietnam-era veteran, and the media reaction to it. But the post also included someone else who had a bad week: the president. Among other things, 

• five former DHS secretaries, including his own former Chief of Staff General John Kelly, admonished him to get the government reopened;

• he tried to bully his way into delivering performing his State of the Union address as originally scheduled, saying he was going to show up at the appointed time, until

• Nancy Pelosi let him have it with both sides of her gavel, telling him in no uncertain terms that she would not allow that to happen; 

And my favorite part?  

• he threatened to find an alternate location, finally caving in a tweet around midnight (presumably after talking with Sean Hannity) that he would accept Pelosi's decision

In November, the third most popular post also involved the president; this time, it was his proclamations which attracted the attention of the Irony Board. 

This year, in addition to celebrating our Native American heritage, we are celebrating several other things, including National Veterans and Military Families Month, with a proclamation noting (in part - ed)

...Together, we remain committed to fostering a national community of support for these brave heroes and their families.

This president signed this proclamation? This president, the guy who mocked a Gold Star family for speaking out against him; who assaulted the life and memory of John McCain; who deports  immigrant veterans despite the promise of citizenship for their patriotic service or the immigrant families of our veterans and soldiers; and who most recently has turned his "eternal gratitude" on Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman? 

But that wasn't all. Similar ironies were rampant related to his proclamation on our first-ever celebration of  National American History and Founders Month. It's mind-boggling, it really is. 

Coming in at number four? News in March from  The Update Desk, again, on our grand experiment here in New York with commercial casino gambling.

As has consistently been the case, the news is not good for our Vegas-style casinos in the Finger Lakes area, the Southern Tier, the Capital region, and the Catskills.  Leading the way, again, is the del Lago Resort and Casino down the Thruway a bit from Syracuse.

We're told of another downgrade in their credit rating and a likely continued 'negative' outlook.

If the two-year-old del Lago Resort and Casino in the Finger Lakes is to survive, it's going to need new cash investment or face a difficult restructuring of its debts and finances.

The issue? Lower than expected revenue growth and, oh yeah -- too many other opportunities for throwing your money away. The same issues confound the other three, which are not meeting their revenue estimates, either. del Lago was about 57% short of projections...

The financial issues for del Lago and the other casinos have only continued since then; I'm confident I'll have multiple updates on this subject again this year. 

And rounding out the top five was a Poll Watch entry from April, with information gleaned from a Fox News poll taken in March. As did many polls back then (and more current ones as well), it referenced the president's negative approval rating and the even more negative gap between strongly approving and strongly disapproving respondents. 

It also talked about a handful of key issues that have been part of the president's plan, and noted that on three of the four issues, he was under water with respondents.

Questioned on Trump's handling of four key issues - the economy, taxes, immigration, and health care, only on the economy, at +8, did he have a net positive. On taxes (-7), immigration (-13) and healthcare (-15), his approves were below his disapproves. Even worse, the numbers on his signature piece of legislation, the Christmas tax cut, are down from a year ago.

Of course, the only polls that matter are the ones that show him in a positive light, that show him to be the president he thinks he is.  That, too, will continue this year, I'm sure. 

In to 2020 we go - not knowing what will catch your eye this year, but intending to do just that. I hope you stick around.