Today in your Trail Mix: bitters.
Irene clean-up continues into a second week.
"Fracking" or "fracing" - that's another question.
Labor Day parades march on despite desolate jobs numbers.
Plus, an upstate cocktail to help you get over your post-summer, post-holiday weekend slump.
Irene
An RPI professor says Irene's flooding was so bad because of the volume of rain and already soggy soil (Paul Grondahl, Times Union).
Senator Charles Schumer got on the flood damage visit bandwagon, visiting people in the Catskills and Albany area over the weekend (Scott Waldman, Times Union).
The governor says he's refocusing road resources on Adirondack roads following Irene's flooding (Chris Hawley, AP).
The Innovation Trail’s Marie Cusick reports that storm damage has cost the agricultural community nearly $45 million and destroyed 140,000 acres of land.
Rensselaer County Executive Kathy Jimino talks to Capital Tonight about how her county has been affected by flooding (Mike Whittemore, State of Politics/Capital Tonight).
Energy
New York is a unique state, given its legacy of protecting its forests and wild lands - and its subsequent reliance on power generated out of state, according to author David Stradling who spoke to the Innovation Trail’s Emma Jacobs.
Gannett's Jon Campbell takes a look at the tricky road that New York's attorney general will have to take, as he prepares to potentially defend fracking regulations due from the Department of Environmental Conservation - but also keeps his campaign promise to ensure that fracking is done safely, if at all.
At the Philadelphia Inquirer Andrew Maykuth looks at the language of "fracking" - or "fracing," as it's called in the industry press.
The firm tasked with looking at how gas drilling would affect communities in New York has long served as a contractor to the oil and gas industry - so is it a conflict of interest (Mireya Navarro, New York Times)?
Jobs
Labor unions braved showers at the New York State Fair to rally for solidarity (Maureen Nolan, Post-Standard).
The Labor Day parade in Buffalo celebrated workers - and the need to create more jobs (Mark Sommer, Buffalo News).
Jobless young people are less likely to go to college, according to a Cornell researcher (Sonari Glinton, NPR).
Economist Mike Mandel points out three jobs that are growing: electronic shopping, Internet publishing, and computer systems design.
Government
Infrastructurist's Eric Jaffe questions whether subsidizing car battery research is really just a subsidy on sprawl.
The New York Times says a new book about Binghamton's urban renewal efforts is "sprawling" and "poorly edited" but still a good read (Mark Oppenheimer, New York Times).
Broome County has a new county attorney, who's previously worked as a special council for the county, working on Marcellus Shale issues (Jennifer Fusco, Press & Sun-Bulletin).
A Buffalo-area auditing firm has helped the state government recoup hundreds of thousands of dollars misspent on power bills (Samantha Maziarz Christmann, Buffalo News).
The last drop
A Rochester firm has been making bitters - a crucial cocktail component - for decades, and boasts flavors ranging from rhubarb to chocolate (Karen Miltner, Democrat and Chronicle).
Tuesday can hit harder than Monday for a lot of us after a long weekend, so here’s something to visualize as you crawl toward the end of the day:
The Upstate (inspired by the classic Manhattan)
- 2 ounces Finger Lakes Distilling McKenzie Bourbon or Rye Whiskey, or Hudson Single Malt Whiskey or Manhattan Rye Whiskey (or any other upstate New York-made whiskey-style product)
- ½ ounce sweet vermouth
- 1-2 dashes Fee Brothers rhubarb bitters
- pitted New York Bing cherry (or maraschino cherry) for garnish
I think it's more "upstate" to drink it in a high ball glass, versus a martini glass, but that's your call. Only four more days to the weekend!
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