New York State Public Service Commission will hold a public meeting on the matter of British Petroleum's election to file an Article 10 application for 124 five hundred foot wind turbines.

Are you concerned about the Town of Cape Vincent being turned into a British Petroleum industrial wind turbine sacrifice zone?

If so, please attend:

New York State Public Service Commission Meeting

Called by the Honorable Judge, Paul Agresta

Cape Vincent Elementary School

Tuesday, May 21

7:00 PM

"It's a starting point. It's not time yet, but this is a democracy, and you have to get your foot in the door," he advised.

Proposed Article 10 siting of industrial wind gets excellent coverage by

 The Thousand Islands Sun.

Highlights from a May, 15 Pamela McDowell front page article.

(Town of Orleans) Supervisor Rarick and Councilman Johnston informed the board and public of the details of a recent meeting with a representative of Iberdrola Renewables regarding an industrial wind project in the southwest portion of the town.

Although details of the layout seem sketchy according to two town officials, Iberdrola Business Development Manager Manager Jenny Briot told the board that the eight to 13 turbines would be 497 feet high.

Councilman Johnston asked Ms. Briot for a map of the proposed Horse Creek Wind Farm, but she said one did not yet exist.

She indicated that the company may, however, submit a Public Involvement Plan to the state by late June or early July.

Attorney Burrows explained that since the company will apparently apply through Article 10 of the New York Power Act for state review, the firm may receive permission to ignore local zoning laws that protect the town.

He said in part, "It strikes me that the purpose of zoning is to regulate zoning. It would be a shame if this goes to Article 10 with little input from the town."

He suggested that the town consider reassembling its wind committee or establishing a new committee that would have intervenor status, so that the town could have input on whatever issues arise. With intervenor status, some funding would be available to hire experts on turbine related issues, such as noise.

"It's a starting point. It's not time yet, but this is a democracy, and you have to get your foot in the door," he advised.

Of concern to the board is that, as an applicant proceeds, the towns of Orleans, Clayton, Brownville and Lyme will be allowed to appoint only two representatives altogether to a committee that reviews the application with the state. The four towns are expected to be part of the project.

Councilman Johnston urges the board and citizens to attend a May 21 pre-application conference to be held at the Cape Vincent Elementary School at 7 p.m.. A state Public Service Commission representative and Department of Conservation representative will be on hand to answer questions by the public and municipalities.

Do not let the anti-seasonal Cape Vincent Democrats and CFG intimidate you out of registering and voting in Cape Vincent, NY.

They call themselves the CFG

 In or around the summer of 2011, certain members of CFG gathered to voice their concerns over what they believed to be the illegal voting practices by seasonal residents  who were legally registered and voted in Cape Vincent. The CGF was formed to target the activities of seasonal voters even though the Jefferson County Board of Elections had certified all Cape Vincent elections and the seasonal residents on their list 
were legally registered.

During that gathering what was later determined to be an illegal voter resolution was proposed and passed. It  required anyone voting in Cape Vincent to show a driver's license with a Cape Vincent address. Two members of the CFG were wind lease holding town board members, at the time, and voted AYE for its adoption.

A few days later, they voted NAY for it's repeal.

Did they move out during the day or in the dark of night?

WRMJ Radio
Aledo, Illinois

May 17, 2013

Status Of Wind Farm Project Up In The Air

The status of a wind farm project is now up in the air in Mercer County. BP Wind Energy was proposing a 100 wind turbine project south of Aledo, involving several counties. But the Houston based company is selling its wind business, including 16 operating wind farms in nine states plus projects in various stages of development, according to “Bloomberg.com”.

The last time WRMJ talked with local project spokesman Roger Brown was in 2012, when they were hopeful for 2013 construction, but that won’t happen now with BP getting out of the wind business.

BP had occupied a local storefront in downtown Aledo, but that has since been vacated.

http://wrmj.com/?p=15010

It appears that Start a Business in Cape Vincent is wrong on all claims in his most recent comment to an WDT article.

I found this comment below in a Watertown Daily Times under an article about the lawsuit that was filed against me, another blogger and up to  ten John Does. It was  filed by   Gary King, Harvey White, Donnie Mason, Marty Mason, Paul Mason, Marlene Burton, Darrell Burton and Frank Giaquinto who identified themselves as Voters for Wind and members of the group, CFG (Citizens for Fair Government).

During the lawsuit brought against JLL, a matter which has been resolved with prejudice, meaning there can be no further legal action, we have followed the comments by Start a Business in Cape Vincent very closely. He/she initially made the claim that he/she does not read my blog but one of his/her seasonal neighbors brought him/her a print out. Start a business in Cape Vincent has repeatedly made false claims about the truthfulness of what I have authored on the Cape Vincent blogs and third party comments authored by others.  On repeated occasions Start a Business has fabricated stories without any basis for fact as in the case of his/her most recent post.

I doubt KC, unknown to me,  is afraid of what the Judge's scrutiny "will discover in my blog". I certainly was never concerned,  and in fact hoped that Judge James McClusky and every other legal mind in the United States, interested in the first amendment would read every single word on my blog. Because, in his recent decision on the motion for dismissal by both bloggers,  he said that one of the problems with the plaintiff's complaints were that they took  what they claimed out of context without what was authored around them. I suspect the Judge made that decision based on reading and scrutinizing my blog.

My perception and respect for the legal system includes a notion that Judges will be a  due diligent scrutinator even if i am the scrutinee.

The following is what the Judge wrote on the first of three issues regarding Pandora's Box of Rock's motion for dismissal.

The post relating to Marty Mason and Donnie Mason set forth in paragraph 17 of the complaint identifies the facts upon which the objectionable statement is made, specifically that both Mason's have contracts with wind developers and that Donnie Mason introduced a resolution before the Town of Cape Vincent Board in an attempt to limit those who may vote in Cape Vincent. The fact that the Masons have contracts with wind developers and that Donnie Mason submitted a resolution seeking to restrict who may vote is the basis of the Defendant's opinion statement that they are not fit to hold office. If the Court were to hold that such a statement is actionable, virtually any criticism of a candidate for office because he supports one position over another would be actionable and the first amendment would be totally gutted.

On that issue, the decision favored the blogger and not Gary King, Harvey White, Donnie Mason, Marty Mason, Paul Mason, Marlene Burton, Darrell Burton and Frank Giaquinto 

The second post, alleged in paragraph 18 of the Plaintiffs' complaint as defamatory, Recites that Defendant falsely stated the Plaintiffs were "attempting to take the right away from people to be voters against wind", and 'wanted to deny citizens in our community a choice." Plaintiff King's own Affidavit states that he and the Plaintiffs (who were also identified as supporters of Citizens for Fair Government) gathered to find a solution to stop voting practices which they thought were illegal, and that Plaintiffs supported a position that voters be required to show a driver's license with a Cape Vincent address in order to vote in local elections. This requirement would deny the right to vote of citizens who are legally registered to vote in Cape Vincent who do not possess a driver's license with a Cape Vincent address. Undoubtedly, some of these individuals would vote against pro-wind and/or candidates No evidence has been presented to show this statement is false. Plaintiffs may legitimately believe these people do not have the right to vote in Cape Vincent, but their belief doesn't make the statement false or slanderous.

On that issue, the decision also favored the blogger and not Gary King, Harvey White, Donnie Mason, Marty Mason, Paul Mason, Marlene Burton, Darrell Burton and Frank Giaquinto.

As for Start a Business's statement "that this sad chapter in the Cape's history is over."

I doubt SABINY will find that to be true at least until November.  No way!  Plaintiff Gary King still has right to discovery on one nebulous issue which I predict will NOT go his way. Another reason this sad chapter is not over is that it appears Mr. King, through his affidavit about the purpose of CFG and the exhibition of the petitions and re-exposing the names on them in public court documents have re-opened some old wounds. This additional assault on our community will make this sad chapter in Cape's history well read right though the November election. It appears that some of those petition signers were very embarrassed when they discovered they were going to be used to pass an illegal voter identification resolution. Some of them told me that they did not understand the petition was going to be used like that. One person who signed the lease told me he had been "hoodwinked".

Ironically, it appears that the CFG is targeting the civil rights of seasonal residents which SABINY claims to be. It also appears to me that the plaintiff's actions were about wind and I believe, voter intimidation. In his decision Judge McClusky wrote, "to state that the subject matter of this lawsuit is not related to the pending application for the development of wind power in the Town of Cape Vincent is beyond comprehension. King's own admission was that Gary King, Harvey White, Donnie Mason, Marty Mason, Paul Mason, Marlene Burton, Darrell Burton and Frank Giaquinto gathered as members of CFG.

SABINY! Holy crap. the CFG is targeting you, too! But, did your assessor get a letter? You know, the one with Harold Wiley's name on it along with "the unauthorized use of Gary King's name"?

As for your false claim about why I stopped comments "only after the hint of a Judge visiting the blog", you have fabricated that story without any basis of fact and you are presenting it to the readers of the Watertown Daily Times as the truth.  I have nothing to hide from a Judge or any person who visits my blog.

SABICV, I had several reasons for stopping comments. Some of them are none of your business. One was the very dirty comments directly aimed toward me by Cape Vincent's pro wind. I have them in my files and might share them some day.  The rotten stuff from pro wind including a threat I had to report to the police was becoming a routine part of the exercising of my first amendment right to speak out and oppose a contentious community-impacting project and what I perceived as a local government gone astray.  

But, that reason was not as significant as the fact that, because of the lawsuit, my blog traffic and email became so busy that I alone could not keep up with the pace. Because of the lawsuit, what was going on in Cape Vincent gained the attention of an international base of friends. I found myself communicating much more to a wider group,  including new friends in the legal community who are very interested in SLAPP actions. My personal direction had changed.

So, it appears your claim that I get a fraction of the attendance I once got might be considered libelous and ruining my good reputation. Once you even  stated as if it were fact that I get zero readers. Holy crap,  I might perceive your actions to be an attempt to hurt my business, if I had a business, and even cause me severe emotional stress if I ever had any.

Oh, and did I mention that I think  your ridiculous  anti blog blather appears to be an organized attempt by the Cape Democrats and the anti-seasonal CFG to defame my blog and shut me up as part of industrial wind community engagement and  the pro wind 2013 political campaign?

23% was the pathetic, average output of New York State's 19 industrial wind factories in 2012. No NY 'windfarm' is on track to pay for itself in their claimed 20-year lifespans. NYS taxpayers & ratepayers are being scammed out of $BILLIONS for these wind LEMONS!

Flashback to Aug. 11, 2011. The night it appeared that Cape Vincent pro wind divided the community even further as they launched a war against Cape Vincent seasonal residents.

At the end of this post is Cape Vincent Democrat Committee Chairman Harold Wiley's Aug. 11, 2011 Cape Vincent Town Board privilege of the floor speech. After this speech Harold handed the Town board a petition signed by over 200 people. That petition was used by Donald Mason, Marty Mason and a since retired town councilman to pass what was, days after,  ruled to be an illegal voter identification resolution.

Harold Wiley's petition and the resulting resolution became the subject of long lasting community contention and eventually became a subject of a lawsuit launched against two Cape Vincent Bloggers who were speaking out on the issue.

After  a motion for dismissal was filed by the two bloggers. Jefferson's Leaning Left's matter has been resolved with prejudice meaning no further legal action can be taken. The the issue between the blogger, Pandora's Box of Rocks and Plaintiff Gary King, who brought up the issue of the 2011 petition by submitting it as an exhibit in an affidavit, has been 95% settled in the bloggers favor with King being allowed more discovery on one issue.

The following is a JLL transcript from an audio recording of the August 11, 2011 Town of Cape Vincent Board Meeting:

Harold Wiley:  "My name is Harold Wiley. I've seen most of you or know most of you but for those who don't know me, I'm Harold Wiley.  I am chairman of the Democrat Committee for the town of Cape Vincent. I'm not here as the chairman of any committee or chairman of anything else. I'm here as a life-long resident of Cape Vincent and a concerned citizen. The things that are going on in Cape Vincent with this getting the vote out and the absentee ballots, I have made the statement. It was in the paper that it was unethical and immoral. I'll stand on that. These people, you know, the comment was made that people are voting here because they're concerned and love the community. We all love the community. we have loved it for years. Where's these people been in the last twenty five or thirty years? A lot of things have gone on in Cape Vincent in that twenty five or thirty years through the efforts of the Town Board. They've done the right thing. They've  continue to do the right thing. They should be able to continue to do the right thing. But no, there're going out and getting two hundred and fifty, sixty people to come to Cape Vincent and register that don't live here. Some of them I don't think have been here in twenty five years. But they're going to vote here. It's, well, in my opinion, it's bordering illegal, but it's voter fraud. If any of you have seen the articles in the paper, voter ID laws are a sensible precaution. Just to read the last paragraph, it's quite an article, talking about how people vote in two places and get away with it. Voter fraud. This is one of that last statements. 'The right to vote is one of our most cherished rights as Americans. Everyone has the right to vote. Voter ID is required to prevent unscrupulous individuals from casting fraudulent ballots.' I've looked over the list of the two hundred and fifty voters and, I used to know everybody in Cape Vincent. But out of that two hundred and fifty voters, if I knew ten people that would be more than I think I know right at this point. Where Senator Metts supporting voter ID is a matter of principle. 'I am more than interested in doing the right thing in stopping voter fraud', he said, 'Hesitation on potential ramifications of what may or may not happen at the expense of the integrity of the system is no longer an option. It is time for lawmakers in every State to stop hesitating and do the right thing. To pass voter ID laws that protect the integrity of that cherished right.' And, that article was in the paper (The article was a actually a Heritage publications opinion piece.) Windmills. You spoke about the State taking over the windmills. They are going to take them over. And, I've said before, I think the windmills are going to come, whether you're for them or against them. When the State steps in they are going to tell us where they're going to go. They will appoint some two hundred thousand dollar commissioner to head the deal. Committee-up five or six commissioners, at a hundred and sixty thousand and eight to ten workers to go around and site where the windmills are going to be at sixty to seventy five thousand apiece. They will be taking money from us to pay for that. The State is going to step in and do that. I say let's get together. We're going to have windmills. Let's settle the issue and get it done right. This little article here. Finally the new Article ten largely divests the State Courts of jurisdiction to determine any cases that seek to stop or delay the construction of the generation facility that has received a certificate from the siting board. Energy project developers and financiers may see numerous advantages to the new Article ten process as it provides a clear road path to guide the decision making process. It puts some restrictions on proper opponents ability to delay any certificated project through litigation. I mean it just sounds to me like the State is going to come in and tell where to have them and we're going to have them. So, again, let's work together and do it right. Is Art Pundt here? I never met Art." 

Tom McMullen: "Excuse me, Mr. Wiley, my name is Tom McMullen and I know I do not  have the privilege of the floor."

Harold Wiley:  "No, you don't. That's a good point I don't believe."

Tom McMullen:  "But I would like,  I would like to address something you said."

Harold Wiley:  "Let me finish."

Urban Hirschey:  "OK, But, Harold you are overstepping your five minutes, but go ahead. You've got a couple more minutes."

Harold Wiley:  "I lost my train of thought, but anyway, let's take care of these people coming in here to vote. It's above and beyond as far as I'm concerned. We do have a petition here of over two hundred signatures on it from Cape Vincent. They are not Democrats, they're not Republicans. They are a mix of people. Some, I think that I've read over are even for wind but they are not for the way this voting is going to take place. We want the Board to know that their petition is available. I did ask if Art Pundt was available. I don't know Art, I never met him. but, I've read his letters and I don't care for some of the comments he has in his letters, but the last letter he put in was right on the money. Don't go home from here and put it on your blog what you want to say. If you want to say something to somebody, say it to 'em. Say things and tell it like it is.

Rick Wiley:  (out of order) "It's legal."

Urban Hirschey: "Please."

Harold Wiley:  "I didn't say it wasn't legal".

Rick Wiley:  "Ok, my apologies."

Harold Wiley:  "They go home and write that kind of stuff. Lies, untruths, stretch the truth. They say things about people that are not true. And, not sign your name. If you haven't got guts enough to sign your name, it shouldn't be printed. Yes, it's legal, I agree."

A bit later, Tom McMullen made this rebuttal to Harold Wiley' privilege of the floor:

Tom McMullen: "Mr. Wiley, I have owned property in this area since 1978. Kring's Point,  Clayton, Tibbetts Point Rd. Now, it's Tibbetts Point. I started delivering groceries to the Red and White down the street here in 1966. And, I'm here to tell you that I'm not unethical and I'm not  immoral. And, the reason I choose to vote here is so I can remove corruption and conflicts of interest from this town and this board. And, that's what I intend to do. Thank you."

New York State Supreme Court Judge, James McClusky, "The fact that the Masons have contracts with wind developers and that Donnie Mason submitted a resolution seeking to restrict who may vote is the basis of the Defendant's opinion statement that they are not fit to hold office."

In July 2012 Two Cape Vincent Bloggers,  authors of Jefferson’s Leaning Left and Pandora’s Box of  Rocks were sued by members of Voters for Wind and the anti-seasonal group, Citizens for Fair Government (CFG).

The suit was brought by Gary J. King Marty T. Mason, Donald J. Mason, Harvey J. White, Paul C. Mason, Darrell and Marlene Burton and Frank J. Giaquinto, who contended that the bloggers damaged their reputations by publishing false information about them.

Among other things, former wind leaseholding Cape Vincent Town Councilman claimed that statements published on the Cape Vincent Blogs cost them their seats on the Town Council in the November 2011 election. One blogger published her opinion that Marty Mason and Donald Mason were not fit to serve on the Cape Vincent Town Board. Apparenty, the blogger was not the only one with that opinion because, the two councilman lost the election.

Regarding that matter, the Judge ruled in favor of the blogger. Mason and Mason lost in court just like they lost in the election.  This is what Supreme Court Judge James McClusky wrote:

The post relating to Marty Mason and Donnie Mason set forth in paragraph 17 of the complaint identifies the facts upon which the objectionable statement is made, specifically that both Mason's have contracts with wind developers and that Donnie Mason introduced a resolution before the Town of Cape Vincent Board in an attempt to limit those who may vote in Cape Vincent. The fact that the Masons have contracts with wind developers and that Donnie Mason submitted a resolution seeking to restrict who may vote is the basis of the Defendant's opinion statement that they are not fit to hold office. If the Court were to hold that such a statement is actionable, virtually any criticism of a candidate for office because he supports one position over another would be actionable and the first amendment would be totally gutted.

The second post, alleged in paragraph 18 of the Plaintiffs' complaint as defamatory, Recites that Defendant falsely stated the Plaintiffs were "attempting to take the right away from people to be voters against wind", and 'wanted to deny citizens in our community a choice." Plaintiff King's own Affidavit states that he and the Plaintiffs (who were also identified as supporters of Citizens for Fair Government) gathered to find a solution to stop voting practices which they thought were illegal, and that Plaintiffs supported a position that voters be required to show a driver's license with a Cape Vincent address in order to vote in local elections. This requirement would deny the right to vote of citizens who are legally registered to vote in Cape Vincent who do not possess a driver's license with a Cape Vincent address. Undoubtedly, some of these individuals would vote against pro-wind and/or candidates No evidence has been presented to show this statement is false. Plaintiffs may legitimately believe these people do not have the right to vote in Cape Vincent, but their belief doesn't make the statement false or slanderous.

"The decisions of the US Supreme Court and the laws of New York State are clear. Assuming certain basic requirements are met, seasonal residents of Cape Vincent are free to choose to exercise their right to vote in Cape Vincent, instead of someplace else where they may also reside for part of the year."

Are the White Towers of Testosterone and Puny Producers of Power Petering Out?

Cartoon compliments of a good friend and JLL reader
whom I have never met in person.

Town of Orleans councilman Johnson urges the town board and citizens to attend an Article 10 May 21 pre-application conference to be held at the Cape Vincent Elementary School at 7:00 PM.

The Tuesday night meeting in Cape Vincent was called by The New York State Public service commission. Conducting the meeting will be two PSC Judges and attending will be a least one other Public Service Commission representative involved with PSC Matter number 12-0205/12-F-0410: The Application of Cape Vincent Wind Power, LLC, for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need to Construct an Approximately 200-285 Megawatt Wind Electric Generating Facility in the Town of Cape Vincent, New York.

It was reported in the May 15 Thousand Islands Sun that Town of Orleans Councilman Johnson has urged the town board and citizens to attend the Cape Vincent PSC meeting.

The meeting is part of the Article 10 energy siting application process. The same process that The Town of Brownville, Orleans and Clayton will have to go through with the Iberdrola Clayton Horse Creek project that Clayton Supervisor Justin Taylor and Iberdrola's Jenny Briot have been apparently been discussing privately for many months.

The Town of Clayton has been named as a stakeholder in the Cape Vincent British Petroleum project which, if ever completed, will put many Clayton residents in an industrial wind turbine sacrifice zone that will have impacts on their home values. However, Supervisor Taylor has rebuffed the advances of Cape Vincent Supervisor Hirschey who has approached the Town of Clayton and asked them to exercise their rights as a stakeholder.

The town of Cape Vincent has become expert in the Article 10 process. Some Cape Vincent citizens and officials even participated in formulating the final draft. Local volunteers, many who are retired with experience and credentials in engineering, conservation, negotiations,  business, and community planning, have been serving on various committees for years, in preparation for the British Petroleum siting process. Clayton's Supervisor Taylor is well aware of their work, but apparently he has chosen to ignore what Cape Vincent has accomplished and apparently has decided to use the wind developer as his advisor on Article 10 matters. One email showed Justin Taylor asking Jenny Briot to provide him a definition of stakeholder. Taylor received a response from an Iberdrola attorney. 

In my opinion, this is a dangerous move on Supervisor Taylor's part because Iberdrola and the sound expert they used in Clayton have been sued by over 60 Herkimer County residents who claim they were given bad information during the planning stages of the Hardscrabble project. Now that Hardscrabble is up and running the citizens living in the sacrifice zone claim that the turbines are so noisy  their homes have become worthless and unlivable.

The Tuesday night New York State Public Service Commission meeting in Cape Vincent offers a learning experience that should not be ignored by Clayton Supervisor Taylor and other towns in the Thousand Islands and Golden Crescent region.

Jefferson Leaning Left political analyst, Carol Rove returns for the 2013 Town of Cape Vincent election season.

I hate to complain. I was just telling my brother Carl, the little twit, that life is not so easy for me like him. 

The little gold digger left the Cape got himself a sheepskin and went all hoity toity.  Ya, he done good. But he got his knack of politics from me. When we was kids poor in the Cape we had to share a bedroom. I taught him all I know and when I was in high school my main squeeze was in town politics. A very secure job in those days, with perks, if you know what I mean. He liked me to call him the Honorable Councilman and he taught me a lot, if you know what I mean. Then Carl, the little chub ball  goes and buys a suit and abandons us.  Carl got Starbucks, I got Instant Sanka. But I still love him.

I hadn't talked to Carl since I broke up with my dumbass wind lease holding boy friend right after the elections. Six years good vibrations, if you know what I mean.  But, His wife was getting suspicious and I got sick of hearing him shout out at the most exciting and intimate moments, "Wind is coming!"  

He would never take off that damn green shirt when we bedded down.

Turned me off, I left. Nowhere to go.

Then the strangest thing happened the night I was out celebrating another political victory. A young hunk of a man catches my eye from the other end of the bar at the Legion. It was very late, you know, and I'm a proper girl. Not the roll in the hay just because the hay is there type, if you know what I mean. A girl must be careful.

So, the hunk smiles, he buys me a drink. Next thing you know, I find myself in a BMW heading for Little Appalachia just across Cape border out there in the burnt rock out in Lyme.  This guy must be loaded, I was thinking. A new beamer, a new double-wide. So,  In the morning he tells me that I was so good that this place was all mine. He went out the door mumbling something like me being a very good neighbor.  I never saw him again. I was delivered food every day. It was a 23 decibel sort of existence. But I had my soaps and three squares and slept like a baby.

I had no phone, got lonely. I missed the politics and politicians.

The first warm day in May I walked back to the Cape.

So, I am telling Carl all this. Catching up. Carl screams into the phone, "You oversexed dingbat! You've been tricked. You've lost your political credibility! You left the Cape and went back. Now you are a seasonal outsider!"

What? British Petroleum price fixing? Tsk..Tsk!

Shell Targeted With BP in EU Price Fixing Probe for Oil: Energy

The probe, which extends to undisclosed crude-derived products and biofuels, underscores how pricing in some energy markets lacks the transparency of financial products such as stocks and U.S. corporate bonds.

Three of Europe’s biggest oil explorers are among companies being questioned by European antitrust regulators about potential manipulation of prices in the $3.4 trillion-a-year global crude market.

1:27

Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA), BP Plc (BP\LN), Statoil ASA (STL) and Platts, the oil-price data collector owned by McGraw Hill Financial Inc (MHFI)., said they’re being investigated after the European Commission conducted raids in three countries to ferret out evidence of collusion. Price fixing in energy markets has the potential to inflate production costs and consumer prices for everything from gasoline to airline tickets to cosmetics.

You can read the rest of the Bloomberg Report at this link.

This was also a major story in the Wall Street Journal.

Another turbine accident that could have endangered the health, welfare and safety of citizens.

Siemens Blade Crashes At Ocotillo Wind Farm

NAW has learned that a blade belonging to a Siemens SWT-2.3-108 wind turbine came crashing to the ground at the 265 MW Ocotillo Wind Farm in the early morning hours of May 16. No one was injured. A spokesperson from Pattern Energy, which owns and operates Ocotillo, corroborated the incident. Calls to Siemens were not returned at press time. Read the rest here.

Another Town of Clayton Board Meeting has been cancelled.

Now that that I am able to watch the Town of Clayton, NY Board Meetings on Steve Weed productions, they suddenly start to get cancelled. 

Yesterday, (May 16), I read in the Watertown Daily Times that next week's Town of Clayton Board Meeting is cancelled. Holy crap! What a disappointment! I was looking forward to the video.  I have checking Clayton Town Business on their website for years, now and I can't remember a time when meetings were cancelled on what now seems to be a regular basis. And the videos are so much more descriptive than their minutes.

I heard an hour ago that the cancellation may have been from lack of agenda items. I find that hard to believe because typically this is the busiest time of year for town governments in the beautiful Thousand Islands. Yesterday, I read in the Thousand Island Sun that the next meeting was supposed to be about prioritizing improvements and talking details of the renovation of the Arena. All important agenda items. 

I hope the cancellations are not because the Clayton Town Supervisor might be camera shy as a result of Clayton, Orleans and Brownville citizens expressing their concerns about the proposed Iberdora industrial wind sacrifice zone.

Jefferson's Leaning Left prepares for 2013 Town of Cape Vincent election season. Turns on comment section due to increasing readers' demands.

The 2013 Town of Cape Vincent election season has begun. Last night, I attended a Town Board meeting and watched as the pro wind citizens were pulling out all the punches in their incessant  attempts to embarrass Supervisor Hirschey and the members of the Town Board. In my opinion some  of what I witnessed last night was just plain mean.  The members of the pro wind Democrat party and the members of the Anti-Seasonal Citizens for Fair Government were displaying signs of restlessness as they murmured throughout the meeting and demonstrated signs of anxiety in what appeared to me to be  part of their quest to "Take Back the Cape" and give it to British Petroleum.

What baffles me about all of this political meanness stuff  is that it seems pro wind want their industrial wind really bad but they are attacking unrelated silly, perhaps even invented local issues instead of convincing the citizens of Cape Vincent that industrial wind is the best thing to happen to our town since sliced bread.

Last night, one pro wind person told the town government that it was their job to heal the community. Another blurted out that the planning board and the ZBA should all be fired and replaced with people more fair. (Meaning pro wind and anti seasonites from the CFG?).  One pro wind person who attends all the town meetings brought up swallow wart in a way that made it seem it was a new problem when Mr. Hirschey and the board have addressed it, including the Carlton Island problem on may occasions and explained many times that help from outside agencies was basically dead. I asked myself, was this an attempt to make certain seasonal people think that Hirschey and the Town Board was letting them down on the issue? Another tried to make a deal out of our zoning officer not being at the meeting. I had heard (unconfirmed) that the ZO had been injured and could not make it. But, I know he has there on a regular basis because I sit by him and we often shoot the breeze.

The pro wind behavior I witnessed at last night's town board meeting reminded me of a scene and a song from The Music Man:


Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little, 
Cheep cheep cheep, talk a lot, pick a little more

Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, 
Talk a little, cheep cheep cheep, talk a lot, pick a little more

Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, 
Talk a little, cheep cheep cheep, talk a lot, pick a little more

In the background a barbershop quartet was singing, "Good Night Ladies".

On another note, as we enter the election season, JLL has turned on the comment section. It has been off for many months now. Back in November I felt that I needed a bit of a break. Because of the lawsuit against the Cape Vincent Blogs, traffic had become very high. Tending to the blog bcame a full day, seven days a week. Often, I am traveling and have difficulty obtaining internet services. The comments come in by email, so it was becoming difficult for me to keep up. OK, enough excuses. The main reason, now,  is that I am finally bending under the demands from my readers to bring them back.  My readers miss them. And, what the hay! It is election season and I too am very curious about what the JLL readers will have to say as we approach November 2013.

In other good news, Jefferson's Leaning Left Political Analyst Carol Rove will be back! After breaking up with her wind lease holding boyfriend and suddenly becoming a good neighbor in Little Appalachia, Carol made the decision to return to greater Cape Vincent. Now she has a phone. But, does she have a new boy friend? Carol is a tough negotiator. Carol said she would return only if JLL allows reader feedback to her in-depth opinion pieces. 

Watch for her return.