CHEER: For the uninitiated, Lockport Hibernians’ celebration of St. Patrick’s Day is eye-opening. Corned beef and cabbage, soda bread and green beer may be involved at some point during the day, but not before the ritual remembrance of Ireland’s patron saint, followed up with a formal nod to their Irish-American forebearers. As they’ve done for many years, the Lockport chapters of Ancient Order of Hibernians and Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians organized the sublime noon Tuesday Mass at St. Patrick’s church, and through hymns, a homily, prayers and pageantry, conveyed the members’ genuine pride in their Catholic Irish-American identity. The Hibernians’ St. Patrick’s Day celebration also included a procession to the AOH memorial to the Irish immigrants who helped build the Erie Canal — and, by extension, the city of Lockport. One-hundred-sixty-three-year-old St. Patrick’s church has been targeted for closure, which is a painful prospect for All Saints parishioners, especially St. Patrick’s legacy families, but Lockport Hibernians didn’t let their disappointment show on St. Patrick’s Day. Their faith and their embrace of heritage clearly are too strong for that.
CHEER: It appears the long-dormant USS Croaker and USS The Sullivans will set sail again. The news stems from potentially hazardous environmental threats at the Buffalo Naval Park. Both vessels, which now serve as floating historic landmarks, are dealing with issues involving vast amounts of oily water and leaking diesel fuel — though there have been no reported impacts to wildlife from the intermittent petroleum releases, the state DEC says. Before the situation worsens, both vessels will be repaired, but it won’t be done at the naval park. They will be transported along Lake Erie to Donjon Shipbuilders in Erie, Pennsylvania, where dry dock repairs will take place to help save the two vessels and their historic legacy. Work on preparing for the big trips began this past week. They even have some experienced voices lending a hand. A similar project involving the USS Silversides, a Gato-class submarine and museum in Michigan, was completed successfully several months ago and the project manager from that endeavor has been in Buffalo to offer technical assistance.
JEER: We were happy to see that government transparency advocates met with state lawmakers in Albany on Wednesday to press for reform bills they say will strengthen New York’s open government laws. It was all in the name of Sunshine Week, taking place now. Unfortunately, it appears there’s a lot of work to do. Axel Ebermann, director for the non-profit, non-partisan group, the New York Coalition for Open Government, said New York remains in a “crisis” where open government is concerned. The coalition’s push comes after a session in which several transparency bills gained significant legislative momentum. Last year, the bill to reduce agency FOIL response times passed both the Senate and the Assembly – only to be vetoed by Gov. Kathy Hochul. Other FOIL reform bills passed one chamber but stalled in the other. The coalition says those near-misses show the legislature is ready to act, and that the remaining obstacle is political will at the executive level. Ebermann called Hochul’s vetoes “immensely frustrating.” We couldn’t agree more.