Fun nuggets of news, gently browned and served in a white wine sauce for our elitist RT readers:

• WXXI reports that a Siena College poll shows McSame gaining on Clinton & Obama.
  

  In a sign that the long, and increasingly negative campaign between Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is hurting their standing among New York democrats, the Siena poll finds that neither could win over 50% of voters against Republican John McCain. Siena’s Steve Greenberg says if the election were held today, 46% would vote for Clinton to 42% for McCain, and 45% would prefer Obama over 40% for McCain.

  “Right now it looks like New York could be in play this Presidential election,” Greenberg said. “Which is bad news for Democrats.”

  Yawn. Oh- wait, should I be scared? Sorry. Sadly for McSame and NY GOPers, this is as good as it’s gonna get– once the Dem candidate is set, and McSame’s fake Maverick Mask is removed, watch those numbers tumble back into bluer than blue.

• The D&C gives Brooks’ State of the County speech a mixed review:
  

  Brooks’ speech underplays county problems

  State of County skimmed over big fiscal woes ahead

  Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks presented a typically upbeat — perhaps too much so — assessment of community life in her State of the County address Tuesday.

  No one expected her to drench her audience in gloom, but this is a county with a serious private-job-growth problem, taxes in the stratosphere, urban crime woes and a national recession and credit crisis moving in.

  (snip)

  A speech is one thing. But as Brooks said Tuesday, actions matter more.

  A-freakin-men.

• How about this pro-worker LTE to the D&C?
  

  Private employers must follow suit

  The Democrat and Chronicle editorial staff missed the mark with the editorial “State workers’ jackpot” (April 16). Why are the media so quick to attack people who have successfully defended their benefits and managed to negotiate a modest wage increase in keeping with the rising cost of living?

  It is truly unfortunate that many in the private sector are losing their health benefits and, in many cases, their jobs. But the answer isn’t to attack those who have managed to keep theirs. The answer is to make private employers answer to the American public.

  Many private corporations take our tax money in the form of multimillion-dollar government contracts, then launder it into huge bonuses and salaries for their CEOs and other top management. This seems to be an elaborate white-collar criminal scheme that the taxpayers are just beginning to recognize. When they eventually realize the full extent of these acts, I believe that many corporate officers will do a “perp walk” into federal court, which is long overdue.

• Local wineries in the Finger Lakes are seeing the effects of global warming firsthand:
  

  Twenty-five years ago, few considered growing Merlot in a cool climate like ours.

  But they do now.

  One local Merlot grower, Tom Prejean of Prejean Winery on Seneca Lake, cautiously believes that something is going on outside. “We see an increase in growing days in our vineyards,” he says, “and we are experiencing droughts as well as more and more extended harvest seasons.”

  Hear that, Kevin Williams? How’s that global warming denial working for ya?

• Hey! There’s a candidate for Supreme Court Judge for the 7th Judicial District. The 7th Judicial District includes Monroe, Ontario, Cayuga, Livingston, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne and Yates Counties:
  

  [Joanne] Winslow, a Democrat, is a 20-year career prosecutor and Chief of the Major Felony Bureau of the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office, working directly with District Attorney Howard Relin and District
  Attorney Mike Green. The Monroe County Bar Association has recognized Winslow as “Highly Qualified” - a rating rarely awarded to
  non-incumbent judges — and she has been rated both Qualified and
  Commended by the Greater Rochester Association of Women Attorneys.

  Awesome. It leads me to wonder…is there a candidate for County Clerk? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

• Go to The Albany Project and just start reading. There’s a number of good things on there, too many to single out here.
• The frequently-handsome, often-Swedish HandsomeSwede over at WaterBuffaloPress sums up Brooks’ state of the county address nicely:

2008 MonCo State of the County Address breakdown

Public: “Hey Maggie, how are you going to fix that $29 million budget gap?”

Maggie: “I don’t know, what ya got?”

Brooks is still holding fast to the prospect of her FAIR plan being ruled legal on its appeal before the NYS Supreme Court.

Frankly, the fact that Brooks offered no so-called ‘Plan B’ should surprise no one as the current administration has not been big on contingency plans.

Funny.

• And over at Ye Olde DragonFlyEye, Dr. Belknap continues his double-barreled commentary on issues of the day, while contributor Carla Palumbo sees the county trying to take money from the city, now that the FAIR plan has been shot down in court:
  

  Majority Leader Dan Quattro already aiming his loaded water gun — at of course the evil culprits — the CITY. Yes lets be a good Republican county and go back on yet another agreement! I am referring to the fact that the County by their own choice and now by operation of law is responsible for DSS. So now the county says, wait we can;t get the schools, we will “get” the next best thing, the city— Let’s charge the city for Safety Net. A potential 15 million. Instead of foisting their problems on others, why don’t they sit down with the Democrats and come up with a freaking plan already, one that doesn’ t steal from another municipality and one that isn’t lame.

  It seems like the GOP listened– Maggie Brooks is now soliciting input from “the community”. Let’s hope it’s not just an attempt to share the blame, or just more window dressing, like those fake FAIR plan townhall meetings. Then she proceeds to poke holes in the local GOP’s typical anti-Dem rhetoric:

  And I swear, I hope whoever says A) “this is all politics by the Democrats” or B) “Why don’ t the Democrats come up with anything” gets struck by lightening or a banana cream pie or something -because this is Republican politics at its worse and the Democrats have a plan that was rejected because Democrats thought of it.

  Nice to see someone calling them on their B.S. She also weighs in on GOP County Chair Steve Minarik’s disbanding the Mendon town GOP committee, wondering if Minarik:

  should resign for his loss of the Greece County Lej seat to newcomer Dick Beebee or the entire Greece Republican Committee needs to resign — oh wait those are his buds…..I know maybe all the Mendon people can just change parties, that’ s right up Steve alley too.

Anything else out in them thar local internets I missed?