On Jan. 13, The Daily Gazette reported (“Stefanik has big night at fundraiser”) that during a fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, former President Donald Trump showered Stefanik with praise and reportedly declared that she could be president in six years, thus solidifying her position as Trump’s go-to toady. According to Merriam Webster, in 17th-century Europe, a toady or toad-eater was a showman’s assistant whose job was to make the boss look good. The toad-eater would eat (or pretend to eat) what were supposed to be poisonous toads. His or her charlatan master…

Feb. 4 is National Cancer Prevention Awareness Day. But being aware is not enough. We need to act. Get screened. Screening tests for cervical and colorectal cancer can find the cells that lead to cancer. These cells can be removed before cancer grows. Breast cancer can’t be prevented with screening, but a mammogram can find breast cancer early when it may be easier to treat. There are other actions you can take to lower your risk for some cancers. These include not smoking, protecting your skin from UV rays from the sun or tanning beds, keeping a healthy weight, and…

With reference to your Dec. 28 editorial (“Time to end legal fight over pensions”) about the St. Clare’s pensioners, I agree with everything that you said up to the part about the state spending taxpayer’s money. I have a few questions. First, did the ex-hospital employees ever contribute anything to their pensions? Second, where did the about $50 million that the state already gave to a pension fund go? If that is missing or unaccountable someone should be in jail. This is a very unfortunate situation, but sometimes bad things happen to good people. How about the Catholic Church selling…

As a veteran I am greatly upset with the Fulton County’s Board of Supervisors’ recent action in not renewing Mr. Engel’s contract to head the county’s Veterans Service Agency. It appears that politics has once again reared its ugly head over common sense. Mr. Engel is highly qualified for this position and has helped many veterans get benefits. But the Republicans would rather have veterans suffer than to reappoint Mr. Engel. They have no qualified person to take over this position. Mr. Engel may have upset some of you because he fights hard to make things better for veterans, but…

Nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, New York state still faces a profound hunger crisis. Every day, people in our community struggle to get enough to eat and confront impossible choices between paying rent, purchasing medicine and putting food on the table. If you or someone you know needs help buying food, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) may be able to help. SNAP helps low-income families, seniors, students, people with disabilities, veterans and others stretch their grocery budget and buy the food they need to stay healthy. It provides monthly benefits on a debit card to spend at…

Besides shopping locally this holiday season, why not do it all year round? Small independent businesses are at the mercy of suppliers, who control the price they have to pay for merchandise. The employees go out of their way to help find what I need. Customer service is their motto. As an independent mom and pop store, they don’t have bulk buying purchasing power that Amazon or large national chain stores have. This is why they sometimes charge a little more. It is worth the price to avoid the crowds and long lines at larger stores in exchange for the…