PAGE 4 - SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2014
We are all property taxpayers of the City of Westfield, however, only if you live downtown or on a main road or state road did your street seem to be plowed in the past two storms. Even with the warmer weather today, 2/20, side roads are near impassible since they weren’t plowed and the amount of now melting snow is too much for storm drains (if there are any!) to handle. On the roads where melting happens to be occurring, the unplowed snow is creating gigantic puddles which are also nearly impassible and hiding in turn huge potholes! Whatever money the city feels it may have saved by not plowing and/or treating side streets in these storms is just going to be replaced by standing water and pothole repair. Please, DPW, we taxpayers would like our streets plowed with the rest of the city! Remember, the school buses, city trash trucks and federal post office trucks have to use our roads, too. I just read the article about ice dams in the Friday, Feb 21st issue by Peter Francis. I wish the newspaper, and other media, would get the story straight and stop giving false info. What happens with ice dams is the heat from the house heats the snow from underneath and creates water (melting). As the water hits the soffit (overhang of the roof), the water freezes and creates ice. the melting continues and the water eventually feeds back upward of the shingles. Shingles are designed to handle water downward of the roof and not up. As the water is forced up, by the snow melt and water backing up, it leaks into the house. Now, why does this happen?? It is the lack of insulation in the attic or lack of GOOD insulation. Insulation will stop the heat from melting the snow and refreezing. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying. This is a building science reality. You can spend money on roof racks, heating coils and roofers to come and clear the snow every winter OR you can call a certified insulation contractor to fix the problem and they will. In fact, you will also save money on your utility bill for years and years. I am not an insulator but I am in the weatherization building science business. Anyone with ice damming should look into better insulation and air sealing and stop spending money every year to put a band aid on a gushing wound. You are correct that one cause may be poor insulation. However, our sources report that many ice dam’s are caused by quickly melting snow and then rapidly freezing temperatures causing blockage at the edge of the roof near the gutters. Then subsequent melting and freezing patterns continue to back the water up under the shingles causing damage. Thanks for adding your comments.
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Obama, Vladimir Putin discuss Ukraine deal By Reid J. Epstein Politico.com President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a “constructive” hour-long chat about the situation in Ukraine, a senior State Department official said Friday. Obama and Putin agreed that the agreement between Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and the political opposition “needs to be implemented quickly” and that there is “a real opportunity here for a peaceful outcome,” the official said during a background briefing for reporters. The Obama-Putin conversation Friday afternoon, which was initiated by the United States, came hours after Yanukovych agreed to a deal which requires him to step down and hold early presidential elections in December. In addition to Ukraine, the two presidents also spoke about the situations in Iran and Syria, along with the Olympic Games in Sochi, the official said. The conversation was one of a series of discussions Friday between American officials and their Russian and Ukrainian counterparts. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with the three leading Ukrainian opposition leaders, and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel chatted with the Ukrainian defense minister after not being able to connect earlier in the week, the State Department official said. Vice President Biden, who spoke with Yanukovych Thursday, has had nine conversations with the Ukrainian president since November, including three this month. Yanukovych has left Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, for the Russiandominated east of the country where his political base is located, the official said. There are reports that Ukraine’s interior minister, who U.S. officials have blamed for the violence that has engulfed the capital in recent weeks, has fled the country for Belarus. The
The changed politics of late-night TV By Hadas Gold Politico.com The curtain rose this week on a new era of late-night TV — altering the terrain for politicians who frequent the shows and complicating life for Republicans, who have lost their most comfortable seat in front of the camera. “The whole landscape’s about to change,” Arsenio Hall, the recently reincarnated late-night host, said in an interview. “Jay [Leno] going home is going to change it for a lot of people.” Jimmy Fallon replaced Leno — who was seen as the one late-night host with a welcome mat out for the GOP — and moved “The Tonight Show” back to New York City after decades in Hollywood. Beyond the location, expect another big departure from Leno: Not nearly as many heavy-hitting political jokes or guests. Fallon, who is eyed a bit warily by some Republicans, had first lady Michelle Obama on Thursday — they have a chemistry between them — after launching his new show on Monday. He said recently that his show will not be the place to go for in-depth interviews with politicians and candidates. Obama and Fallon’s only foray into politics during her appearance was a pitch about Obamacare’s provision that allows children to stay on their parent’s health insurance until age 26, with a quick quip from Fallon about the problemplagued HealthCare.gov finally working. “(The website is) working now. It’s so much better when it’s working,” Fallon said. As part of the new late-night lineup, Seth Meyers is taking over Fallon’s old spot on “Late Night,” and the former “Saturday Night Live” head writer has said he does plan to focus on politics. In fact, Vice President Joe Biden will be one of his first guests on Monday, when the show debuts. Meyers and his team declined an interview request. With the 2014 midterms not far off and the 2016 presidential cycle already in motion, a seat on a late-night host’s couch is an important place for politicians who are looking to soften their image, reach a young-ish audience and prove they have a sense of humor like any average Joe. But there will definitely be less pure politics without Leno, experts said. While Leno and “Late Show” host David Letterman have relied heavily on politics in their monologues and had many politicians on as guests, Fallon turns political only when there’s a story so big it can’t be ignored, said Robert Lichter, director of Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University and the author of the forthcoming book “Politics Is a Joke: How TV Comedians Are Remaking Political Life.” “[Johnny] Carson initiated political humor on late night, but Leno put it on steroids,” Lichter said. “Leno always told far more political jokes than anyone else. With folks like Fallon and others, you’ve got political humor when something big happens … so, for Fallon, politics is just one of many areas. For Leno, it was a major part of his arsenal.” Fallon’s slimmed-down diet of politics may not be a bad thing, said Erik Smith, Obama’s senior adviser for advertising and message development during the 2008 and 2012 cam-
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paigns. As opposed to what Smith called a “sense of cynicism” toward politics that Leno and Letterman exhibit in their monologues, Fallon’s skits and stunts — like the “slow jam” — bring out a softer side of a candidate and are more likely to go viral. “The type of stuff Fallon does, from a [political] strategist point of view, will be a lot more helpful, because you’re actually showing a side of a politician most people can’t see, which is really fun,” Smith said. “When Obama slow-jammed with Fallon, he was talking about student loans. He got his message across. That was more effective than going on a talk show.” Sen. John McCain, one of the most prolific political latenight guests, said he often tries to encourage his fellow members of Congress to hit the late-night circuit but that it can be a hard sell. “I’ve always encouraged my colleagues to go on as many of these shows as possible, because it’s a unique way to touch an audience that generally you never are able to reach under any other medium or format. And don’t think a lot of them aren’t scared,” the Arizona Republican said in an interview. While the entertainment world has always had a liberal veneer, and the political leanings of the late-night hosts have been hotly debated for years, one thing seems clear: It is Republicans who will miss Leno most. Calling Leno his favorite late-night host, McCain said Leno would do little things like making sure there were cupcakes in the green room (McCain’s favorite) or show the senator around his car collection. “That’s just the kind of guy he is,” McCain said. “Another reason I like him so much is he uses humor but he doesn’t have the sharp edge that some others do, the kind of put-down that is popular with some others.” Longtime Republican strategist Mark McKinnon, who has advised the presidential campaigns of McCain and George W. Bush, said losing Leno is a loss to “bipartisan political comedy.” “Conservative candidates are justifiably going to be more cautious about other [late-night] platforms,” he said. “Unlike other shows, specifically Letterman, Leno and his team always went out of their way to make candidates feel welcome and, more importantly, prepared. There were never any surprises,” McKinnon added. “The guests always knew ahead of time what they were likely to encounter on stage. And he and the writers were incredibly helpful suggesting scripts and ideas. And when male married candidates showed up with their spouses, they’d always have flowers for the wife. Very classy. Made candidates want to go back.” Republican consultant and pundit Mike Murphy said that it was partly Leno’s viewership that made GOP leaders feel more comfortable. “I think because Jay’s audience skewed a bit older and more Midwestern, the usual older GOP leader type felt an affinity for him, but I don’t think Jay’s material was any easier on GOP than Democrats at all,” Murphy said. The data backs up Leno’s bipartisan comedy. See Late-Night Politics, Page 8
State Department official could not confirm those reports. Earlier in the day, the White House hailed the agreement between Yanukovych and the Ukrainian opposition. “The fact of the matter is, it is in Russia’s interest for the violence to end in Ukraine as it is in the interest of the United States and our European friends,” White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters. “We welcome the cessation of violence, and we welcome the agreements that have been reached.” The United States will still consider economic sanctions against Ukraine if the violence continues. “We are not ruling out sanctions to hold those responsible for the violence accountable,” Carney said. Carney said the administration “welcomes the agreement signed today between Ukrainian President Yanukovych and opposition leaders.” “We support the efforts of all those who negotiated this agreement, commend the courageous opposition leaders who recognized the need for compromise, and offer the support of the United States in its implementation,” Carney added. “Now, the focus must be on concrete action to implement this agreement, which we will be monitoring closely.” The deal allows Yanukovych to remain in office until the end of the year, calls for elections in December and limits presidential powers in accordance with Ukraine’s 2004 constitution. But like past agreements in the strife-riven former Soviet republic, it is tenuous. The White House noted that Russian officials “witnessed” the agreement, while foreign ministers from France, Poland and Germany “facilitated” it. Also Friday, Ukraine’s parliament also voted to release from prison Yulia Tymoshenko, a former prime minister who is seen as one of Yanukovych’s leading political adversaries. On his day trip to Mexico Wednesday, Obama said Ukraine is “not some Cold War chessboard” and called on Putin to allow the will of the Ukrainian people to be heard. There would be consequences, he said, if the violence did not stop.
Obama: ‘They can just click here?’ By Natalie Villacorta Politico.com The administration released a video Friday of President Barack Obama encouraging the uninsured to head to HealthCare. gov, concluding with a button that brought viewers straight to the site. “They can just click here, how’d you guys do that?” Obama marvels at the end of the one-minute video. Nearly 6 in 10 uninsured Americans can get coverage for less than $100 a month, Obama explains — “less than your monthly cable bill.” “If you already have health insurance, think about someone else you know who needs to hear this news — your friends, your co-workers, your family members — and pass it on,” he says. Valerie Jarrett spread the same message during a Friday interview with Cosmopolitan magazine, urging young women to encourage the men in their lives about the Affordable Care Act’s benefits. Jarrett joked that it “should be no surprise” that more women are signing up than men. She highlighted the unique benefits for women, including free contraception coverage. And she ticked off the celebrities who have helped spread the message to young people, including Mindy Kaling, Amy Poehler, Pharrell Williams, Beyoncé and Adam Levine.
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