Reminder: Plattsburgh Forum

Someone finally left a comment at my comment blog, www.12901forum.blogspot.com . Thanks. The comment was posted under City Services, discussing the Department of Public Works. You can also join in on the discussion. Anonymous comments are allowed, but I will delete inappropriate ones such as spam, libel, etc.

Support Your Public Library

On some days it takes three clerks to keep up with the patrons at the Plattsburgh Public Library.

If you appreciate the Plattsburgh Public Library and its services, then show your support by showing up at the library budget hearing on Tuesday, November 10th, at 5:30 PM in the PPL second floor auditorium. This meeting is open to the public and city councilors will also be in attendance.

I wonder how many city councilors haven't stopped by PPL lately and seen the work that has been done, including the two art galleries on second floor. (I wonder how many have never visited at all.) The library has been making do with less for too long.

Compare Plattsburgh to the community of West Lebanon, NH. As reported on WCAX-TV, West Lebanon has almost completed a new multi-million dollar library that will offer more services. To quote from the WCAX story: “Library officials hope the building will be an anchor in revitalization efforts taking place in this part of the city.”

Unfortunately for downtown Plattsburgh, at times the only news about “revitalization” involves a new bar opening up.

PPL deserves restoration of its budget so that it can work with the proposed Arts Corridor to offer a more upscale venue than brewholes.

Where's The Crosswalk?

There used to be crosswalk markings running across Oak Street from the entrance to the Robert S. Long Apartments to Clinton Street. This crosswalk was helpful to elderly and handicapped people trying to get across the sometimes busy street. Oak Street has been repaved and most of the old markings have been repainted -- but not that crosswalk.




Of course, pedestrians are third class citizens in Plattsburgh. Years ago there used to be crosswalk buttons to control the stoplight at the intersection of Brinkerhoff and Oak streets. But those buttons are long gone. Vehicles, not pedestrians, have priority at that intersection.

And if no one pays attention, the crosswalk that used to be near the Long Apartments will turn up missing. That will indeed make Oak Street a better speedway: no reason to for cars to slow down.

Paranormal Investigators Eliminate Known, Encounter Unknown

Mysterious sounds. Eerie sensations. Shadowy glimpses.

What is going on?

I was curious how Northern New York Paranormal Research Society investigators conducted investigations into such incidents. I spoke with Carmon Rust, NNYPRS lead researcher/equipment technician, at the Paranormal Expo the society sponsored last month and also followed up via email.

Unusual occurrences could be paranormal activity. But investigators of the NNYPRS don't immediately jump to that conclusion. Step by step they rule out alternative plausible explanations. If those rational alternatives don't fit, then what remains can be labeled as unknown.

Carmon is a retired Certified Surgical Technologist and a disabled American veteran who pursues various interests: genealogy, metal detecting, and electronics. This mix of hobbies has given him a background that comes in handy with NNYPRS investigations.

He estimated that approximately twenty percent of all cases remained unexplainable by normal means. Almost all of the investigations fall into the haunting/ghost category. While the investigators are not scientists, they use some scientific method in their work. An investigation can reveal a practical cause. For example, one case involving ghostly footsteps turned out to be people passing by on the sidewalk outside, the sounds carried into the building by unusual acoustics.

If various alternatives are considered and don't fit, then a paranormal explanation has to be considered.

Carmon stressed that NNYPRS doesn't try to push a particular viewpoint on a client. The investigators gather data, draw conclusions, and then share their findings.

“We'll keep going back to a location until the client and team are satisfied that all that could be done, was done,” said Carmon.

Sometimes a client might not agree with the investigator's report.

One case involved a room in a family home that made the children afraid for no obvious reason. The on-site investigation revealed a nonparanormal explanation: there were high readings of EMF (electro-magnetic field) radiation in the room. High EMF levels over a period of time can cause medical issues, said Carmon.

An alternative possibility was that the children were reacting to the high EMF, not anything paranormal. The team concluded there was a problem with a fluorescent light ballast, which was the source of the high EMF. One of the clients preferred the supernatural explanation over the team's conclusions.

NNYPRS members prefer the term “paranormal investigator” over the more popular “ghost hunter.”

“We prefer to call ourselves Paranormal Investigators because that what is what we do,” said Carmon. “We investigate claims and seek answers. We don't enter into any of our cases assuming the place is haunted, that is what 'Ghost Hunter' implies. The term of Ghost Hunter has gained much popularity, due to the numerous reality shows on television today. We don't take offense, but we are happy to explain the difference in the two terms.”

Unlike a television program, an investigation isn't wrapped up in a hour. Many hours are spent gathering data from various sources: personal interviews, photographs, EMF readings, audio recordings, historical research, etc. More time is spent looking over that data. The review process might be long and trying but it's part of the job for NNYPRS investigators in the effort to seek out the truth.

More information about NNYPRS can be found at www.nnyprs.com .

Property Values

This time of year I scan the ground as I walk along, searching for fallen leaves to photograph, especially those backlit by the low autumn sun.

Sunday afternoon I spotted a few interesting leaves among the many strewn along a median lawn between the street and the sidewalk. The nearest house was a stone's toss away; behind me was an empty lot and a billboard.

I got down on my knees and started to take close-up shots. At one point I noticed a man watching me, standing in front of the house down the street. I just kept concentrating on my photography.

After a while the man approached me. He asked what I was doing on “his property.” I didn't say this to him but my understanding is that the sidewalk and the median are city/public property.

Instead of getting into details about who owned what, I just explained my interest in the backlit leaves, showing him one shot on my camera's preview screen. Obviously I placed a different value on his property. To him what I was photographing was just leaves. To me it was art.

He was satisfied that I wasn't in distress or up to no good. He was just curious, not confrontational. Before the homeowner walked away, he commented that the leaves had blown over from the trees from his neighbor's yard across the street.

So it all worked out. The neighbor's leaves on his property became my images.

Paranormal Expo 1

The Northern New York Paranormal Expo held on Saturday, October 24th, turned out to be a popular event despite the rainy weather. The Expo was sponsored by the City of Plattsburgh and NNYPRS (Northern New York Paranormal Research Society). The location: City Recreation Center, AKA the old gym at the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base. Upstairs in the gym area were a variety of vendor tables.

Psychic counseling.




The line for two popular psychics.




Keeseville Girl Scouts Teen Troop 4233
had seasonal goodies for sale.




Carmon Rust, NNYPRS Lead Researcher/Tech Department, explains how a digital camera has been modified to record infra-red images, a tool used in his organization's investigations of hauntings and ghosts.




All sorts of interesting faces
were seen at the Paranormal Expo.

Paranormal Expo 2

Besides the activities upstairs, the Northern New York Paranormal Expo also featured guest speakers in the downstairs community room at the Plattsburgh Recreation Center.

Ufologist Dan Lowenski talked about encounters with alien craft and even their occupants. The slide in the background is a drawing of a being that allegedly was seen by a family in a rural area.




Emmy Michell, a Native American reader (psychic), during her presentation asked her listeners if they could see her white aura. She backed away from the lecturn and stood against a wall. A couple of people said they could see her aura.




Attentive and appreciative listeners during Emmy Mitchell's presentation.




Christopher Nye spoke about the haunted house he owns in Fort Covington, NY. In the background are his two young daughters and his brother-in-law, Merrill McKee, of NNYPRS (Northern New York Paranormal Research Society).




Listeners both young and old were fascinated by Nye's presentation. He spoke about the unusual events that caused his conversion from a skeptic to a believer.




Paranormal lovers.

Zombie Walk

They gathered at the Champlain Monument at 8 PM Saturday night, the unearthly crowd growing into a critical mass of horror.

The first slow step: signing in. Paperwork is such a drag.




Family fun.




Then the walk began...














For one little zombie with short legs, it was hard to keep up, but she kept trucking - I mean, shuffling - on.

The zombies cried out for their particular form of nourishment:

"Brains... we need brains."

For some reason they didn't seek that food item at city hall.

Plattsburgh Forum

I just created a new blog where your input is valued: Plattsburgh Forum, found at 12901forum.blogspot.com . The set up features a series of topics – such as City Services, Neighborhood Watch, If I Were Mayor – where you can comment on subjects pertaining to Plattsburgh. Scroll through the topics, use the Comment link to share your POV, and check back later to see what others have to say.

My role with Plattsburgh Forum is mainly as a moderator. It's your opportunity to voice your concerns and suggestions. If you have any ideas for other topics, please email me at luketbush[at]yahoo[dot]com .

Eye of the Beholder

I look through my camera's lens, composing. A passerby sees me taking the shot. Two POVs, sometimes completely contrary.

One time I'm shooting a close-up of peeling paint on a wall; an art image. Two women walk by. One woman says to her friend, judgmental tone: “That's not a good picture.”

It's comes with the territory as a photographer: outside observers who don't understand what you're doing.

Yesterday I noticed orange springs holding up a temporary road sign. The springs are Halloween orange; bits of paint have flaked off, revealing the rust underneath. I squat down, get in close, intrigued by the color and texture, the lighting, the unusual subject matter.

A man walks behind me, crossing the street. I'm concentrating on the shot when he makes a passing comment:

“A good day for Plattsburgh when that's the only problem around here.”

At first his remark doesn't register. What did he mean by that?

I thought about it for a moment, then sorted out this explanation:

The man was probably a “fan” of my blog. He recognized me from around town, the guy on the Web who posts images of bad stuff. The stuff that needs attention: vandalism, garbage, dogshit, etc.

In that context his comment makes sense. He's assumed that I've photographed the rusty springs to show another problem.

Who was commenter? I don't know. I couldn't get a good look at him with the sun in my eyes. Maybe he was a city pol or employee.

Whoever he was, he was wrong. Not all my shots document the bad side of the Burgh. Some are simply “art” shots, images I take because a subject has caught my eye. Why should I care as a concerned citizen if springs holding up a road sign have chipped paint? No problem there. I'm just trying to create art.

As for the non-art images on this blog, if it's not there – busted beer bottles, damaged property, piled up garbage, ossifying dogshit, whatever needs attention – I can't document it.

Like my mother used to say:

The truth hurts.