I am hoping that readers of the Finger Lakes Times and beyond have many things in their lives to be grateful about. Most importantly, that your families and friends are safe and have been together this holiday season. In my own clan, I have to acknowledge that I have been blessed with a fair share of good cheer.

From a wider perspective, in the region and the country there are things to be grateful about as well.

Imagine, our County Board of Supervisors is now working on a closure plan and post-closure operation for our county landfill, the sixth largest in New York. We should be grateful to all those who made this possible: Public servants from both sides of the county, legislators from the Geneva area — supervisors James Kennedy, Lou Guard, John Pruett, and Mark Venuti (the “East Siders” who by themselves did not have enough weighted votes to carry the day) were joined by those on the west side who listened to our dilemma, being caught between two mega landfills (the other being Seneca Meadows) and joined in the closure vote. This took a lot of discussion and persuasion and also some leadership by Seneca Town Supervisor Drew Wickham Jr., who joined with his farm constituents (in spite of the........

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