News stories tagged with "douglas"

(10/13/11) The Plattsburgh Press Republican is reporting this morning that the towns of Jay and Black Brook have qualified for a total of $2 million in interest-free loans from New York state. The money will be used to help repair the water system in Ausable Forks.

Families and communities along the Ausable River valley continue to rebuild following tropical storm Irene, but local officials say the disaster will leave permanent scars.

Brian Mann sat down yesterday to talk with Jay town supervisor Randy Douglas, who also heads the Essex County board of supervisors. Douglas says as many as 45 families may choose not to return to their flood-ravaged homes. And hundreds of families are still living with emergency water supplies.

(09/24/09) Yesterday in Plattsburgh, an organization called "Unshackle Upstate" held a meeting to raise concerns about the high cost of doing business in New York. Organizers say state and local taxes, combined with fees and license payments, are forcing many small businesses to shut down or leave. A recent study by the group found that government agencies in the North Country are paying their workers almost thirty percent more in wages and benefits than private-sector workers. Garry Douglas, head of the Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce, is one of the organizers of "Unshackle Upstate." He told Brian Mann that an economy increasingly dominated by government jobs is unsustainable.

(03/03/09) In the coming weeks, political leaders in Albany and Washington will be hammering out details of the massive stimulus plan. Here in New York, various interest groups and various regions are lining up to try to win a share of that money. Garry Douglas, head of the Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce, has emerged as one of the most influential dealmakers in New York state. Douglas spoke in-depth about the stimulus and its impact on the North Country with Brian Mann.

(06/20/06) The Quebec-based company planning a major new facility in Plattsburgh, creating roughly 700 high-paying jobs, says it could expand as early as 2011. A second facility could bring the total of new jobs to nearly 1500. Laurentian Aerospace will start construction of its first massive double-hangar at the old Plattsburgh Air Force base in October. The company will repair and refurbish wide-body commercial jets. The announcement came yesterday at a press conference attended by Governor George Pataki. The governor described the base as "one of the great underused facilities anywhere in this country" and said the project would allow local college graduates to find jobs in the North Country. Brian Mann spoke with Plattsburgh North Country Chamber of Commerce director Garry Douglas, who brokered the deal.

(11/10/05) Hundreds of New Yorkers and Vermonters turned out last night for a public hearing in Ticonderoga. They came to debate International Paper's plan to use recycled car tires as fuel at the company's mill in Ticonderoga. IP hopes to conduct a 2-week test burn to determine whether the cheaper fuel adds significant amounts of pollution to the air and water. The plan would save the company millions of dollars a year. But critics on the Vermont side of the lake say the proposed test is flawed and won't provide needed information. As Brian Mann reports, one of the protestors at last night's hearing was Vermont Governor Jim Douglas.