Thank you for making Oneida beautiful

Winter is approaching, and the beautiful flower pots that graced City Center this summer and fall have been put in storage until next spring. On behalf of the Oneida City Center Committee (OC3), I would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all those businesses and individuals who donated funds to beautify our City Center. Our thanks go out to the City of Oneida, the Oneida Savings Bank Charitable Foundation, Costello Eye Physicians and Surgeons, Community Bank, NBT Bank, Oneida Office Supply, Napoleon’s Cafe, Alexander’s Ragtime, Inc., Douglas and Patricia Kallet, Gates Cole Insurance, DEC and Benson CPA, JP Property Management, China King, and Haskell-James Real Estate and Appraisal. The flower pots increased from 30 in 2016, to 40 this summer. We could not have done it without your support!

OC3 is a group of interested individuals who formed a nonprofit organization in 2016 dedicated to improving the Oneida City Center. We seek to do this by promoting three initiatives: Beautification, Security, and Awareness of the City Center and its potential. Our mission is to build a strong, vibrant City Center; to stimulate growth and community involvement; and to act as a catalyst for positive change. Please visit our website at www.oneidacitycenter.org or email us at oc3. org@gmail.com. We appreciate your ideas, input and comments about improving the City Center, and are always looking for people who want to become involved in our projects.

Hospice helps bring solace

No one likes to think about death and dying, but it’s something everyone has to face eventually. There’s an incredible resource in our community that provides comfort, dignity and respect to all those coping with a serious or life-limiting illness. It’s Hospice & Palliative Care, Inc

November is National Hospice Palliative Care Month, and we’re reaching out to help people understand the importance of planning for the care they would want if they were facing a serious or life-limiting illness.

The best time to learn about hospice or palliative care — and to make plans for the kind of care you or a loved one would want — is before you are faced with a medical crisis. One of the most frequent comments Hospice hears from families is, “We wish we didn’t wait so long before calling Hospice.”

The hospice team provides expert medical care to keep patients comfortable and able to enjoy time with loved ones. The hospice team answers questions, offers advice on what to expect, and helps families with the duties of being a caregiver. The team also provides emotional and spiritual support for the entire family. Palliative care services can bring the similar type of support earlier in the course of an illness.

If you or a loved one is facing a serious or life-limiting illness, the time to find out more about hospice and palliative care is right now. when programs they need just to live are cut to pay for tax cuts that benefit mostly the wealthiest. After all, the promised jobs that would more than pay for the cuts were in the hazy future; the people receiving benefits today would just have to bite the bullet until that time.

But due to the international business climate that has grown exponentially since Reagan now the notion is even more ridiculous. Does anyone really think that some billionaire given a choice to make big profits investing in Asia would pass up that deal to invest in an American project yielding lower returns?

Well, sure, a few would. Compare Bill Gates to Trump. Very different Americans. The former earned his money through genius and hard work and is now funding projects to eradicate disease and improve the lives of the poorest people on the planet (which for those who take a long view is the best way to prevent worldwide wars). The latter took Daddy’s real estate money from Queens to NYC where he profited by cheating workers and subcontractors ( because he’s always being sued a lot of his money goes to an army of lawyers). But there were competitors so he became a “celebrity,” not for talent but for outrageous behavior. That’s his genius.

The tax cut lie never dies. That’s because it deals with the future, kind of like a gambler hoping his losses will be covered by the next bet and he’ll be on a winning streak. Or a distraught person seeking out psychics to give to give him or her hope.