:: Melissa's No-name Stories ::

:: Wednesday, September 24, 2003 ::

"Untying the Not" (SCI Fidelity, $13.99) _ The String Cheese Incident
After playing together for nearly a decade, The String Cheese Incident has begun to break away from what jamband fans would expect.
And that difference, heard on their new album, "Untying the Not," is refreshing.
Beginning with "Mountain Girl," the bluegrass-funk band explores electronic, almost dance-driven beats, complete with spoken-word, leading to a more intense sound. Following with four-part harmony, twangy "Lonesome Road Blues," the music again twists into the dark tone of the album, with more hard-to-understand voices.
Piano-based "Elijah" proves how powerful music with no words can be. Written for a family member who passed away, the band expresses sorrow through every note. The bittersweet "Just Passing Through" and "Sirens" also evoke thoughts of immortality.
Yet despite the somber moments, "Untying the Not" leaves listeners eager for more.
_ Melissa Mansfield, AP Writer
(I do not like how this was edited, but I will have to live. Ugh)
:: Melissa 5:26 AM [+] ::
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330 electric cars donated to parks
August 21
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ Visitors to state parks will soon begin to see something new passing by _ electric cars.
The state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation received a donation of 330 electric vehicles Thursday from DaimlerChrysler.
These Global Electric Motorcars (GEMs) are two- and four-passenger vehicles that have low maintenance costs, no emissions and can operate on tight roads and inside buildings, according to parks officials.
"Our vehicles are ideal for traveling short distances and their quiet operation is perfect in camps and park settings," said Barry Carr, northeastern manager for GEMs. The company donated 130 of the machines to the State University of New York earlier this year.
Officials also said the visibility of these electric models will increase public awareness of alternative-fuel vehicles.
:: Melissa 12:50 PM [+] ::
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"Everyone Deserves Music" _ Michael Franti and Spearhead
Again, Michael Franti uses his funky hip-hop to start a debate. While "Stay Human" explored race, drug and prison issues, "Everyone Deserves Music" begs the world to stop the cycle of violence.
From "We Don't Stop," with its lyrics, "A war on terror, a war on drugs, a war on kindness, a war on hugs," the danceable beat guides listeners through the current global circumstances. At times the situation looks bleak, with lyrics, "We can bomb the world to pieces but we can't bomb it into peace." The beats and Franti's charm ("If I were the rains, I'd wash away the whole world's pain") make the medicine go down.
Despite partial doom-and-gloom, you walk away with a tune in your head, and a sense that everyone can make a difference.
_ Melissa Mansfield, AP Writer


SUNY receives 130 electric cars
July 29, 2003
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ The State University of New York will receive 130 zero-emission electric cars for use on 26 campuses, officials said Tuesday.
SUNY Chancellor Robert King said the university system has accepted the donation by DaimlerChrysler and the New York Power Authority, noting the Global Electric Motorcars vehicles, or GEMs, will eliminate SUNY use of more than 15,000 gallons of gasoline annually.
The five-horsepower GEMs are smaller than most cars and can reach top speeds of about 25 mph. They meet federal and state safety standards for use on private property and public roads with speed limits up to 35 mph.
"These low-speed electric vehicles will replace an array of combustion powered vehicles now operating on SUNY campuses," said NYPA President Eugene Zeltmann.
State universities at Buffalo and Albany will each get 10, and smaller campuses will receive fewer cars. The NYPA-DaimlerChrysler program will put 300 electric cars into use around the state, with donations also to several cities and villages.
:: Melissa 10:33 AM [+] ::
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"Second Face" (Damage-Empire-BMG, $16.98) _ Danny Wood
On "Second Face," the second disc from Danny Wood post-New Kids on the Block, you can still hear traces of the old boy-band formula: consistent drumming, overused rhymes and melodrama. But the lyrics and their messages show that the last decade has shaped this "Kid" into a man.
From the first track, "Home," where he deals with the loss of his mother, to "What If," where he chronicles the daily lives of the homeless, Wood tries to separate himself from the bubble-gum pop of his youth.
Though the tattooed Wood turns to R&B, pop and alternative styles, the smile-provoking "Wannabeme?" has a twang of country and sharp wit: "My girlfriend's mother is going crazy, she keeps on nagging, saying I'm too lazy. She wants the ring, well what's the rush? They both make me drink way too much."
"Suburbia" is another ode chock full of disillusionment: "While all the mothers are feeding on Prozac, their men just can't wait to cheat. AOL is your only escape." It's the record's highlight, and is Wood's best chance to reign the radio, solo.
_ Melissa Mansfield, AP Writer

:: Melissa 7:16 AM [+] ::
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Man charged with supplying alcohol to teens
GLENVILLE, N.Y. (AP) _ A man who allegedly supplied alcohol to a teenager who died after drinking turned himself in to town police.
William Finkle, 22, pleaded innocent Wednesday to charges of unlawfully dealing with a child and two counts of giving alcohol to a minor, each punishable by up to a year in jail.
Seventeen-year-old Charles Taylor Trawick was found dead May 4, in a 4-foot-deep pool on the Indian Kill preserve. Authorities said he drowned hours after he and an unnamed 17-year-old hiked into the preserve for an overnight camping trip and drank a liter of vodka.
Glenville Detective Sgt. Karl Batzinger told the Times Union of Albany that Finkle was known as someone who would buy alcohol for those not yet old enough to drink legally. The detective also said the first time the two met was when Finkle bought Trawick and his friend the vodka in Glenville, 30 miles northwest of Albany.
:: Melissa 11:04 AM [+] ::
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Since the war is over, but you still are requesting my byline-less stories, I will pop up some of my more interesting pick-ups and briefs, such as yesterday's:

26-year-old wins mayoral election
NEW PALTZ, N.Y. (AP) _ A 26-year-old environmental activist ousted a 16-year incumbent to become mayor of this Hudson Valley village.
Jason West, a house painter and puppeteer, won the mayoral election of the village of New Paltz with 322 votes to Tom Nyquist's 258 votes. West ran under the Innovation Party, part of the Green Party.
Julia Walsh, 23, and Rebecca Rotzler, 41, who ran on the Innovation line as candidates for village trustee, were also elected.
The party focused on environmental issues, and reached out to students of the State University of New York at New Paltz, who make up half of the village population of 6,000. They campaigned on campus, had a supporter on stilts with a megaphone, and another in a chicken suit to get the students' attention.
Party members also shuttled students to the fire station to vote.
The mayor-elect said he wants to turn the village environmentally sustainable and hopes to explore alternative energy sources.
New Paltz is 75 miles north of New York City.
:: Melissa 6:24 AM [+] ::
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I am pleased to announce that as far as the Associated Press is concerned, the war in Iraq is over. War related stories are no longer coded with "War-" and so, in conjunction with that decision out of the headquarters yesterday at 50 Rockerfeller Plaza, the upstate war capsules have been discontinued. This is a good thing, because that means maybe the war and all of the ugly aftermath to come is on its way to concluding. I will miss writing about peace people, and some good ol' patriots. And the scary people who think you can't be a patriot and a pacifist.
Anyway, its been fun.
And once the US declares war elsewhere, beit Syria, North Korea or Canada, this daily installation will resume. Thank you!
(Melissa's AP story page will be updated, once she gets to write again... apmelissa.blogspot.com)
:: Melissa 6:47 AM [+] ::
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April 17
For Maureen McHenry of Canandaigua, sending snapshots of herself and the kids with letters and e-mails to her husband, who is fighting in the war in Iraq, didn't seem like enough.
Production studio, LaBarge Media, and web developer, The Gain Company, have begun to videotape families of soldiers, and then the troops can see their loved ones through the Internet. McHenry's message to her husband, Scott, serving in the 865th Combat Support Hospital unit at Camp Doha in Kuwait, was the first video to be sent through this service.
Scott McHenry's commanding officer e-mailed Dave LaBarge to thank the company and encouraged more. The media group says most troops have access to computers and viewing the videos is as easy as reading an e-mail.
*****
The Hudson River Clearwater will host a Sail for Peace, Prayer, Poetry and Song out of the dock at Bear Mountain in Harriman. The three-hour event will take about 50 representatives from peace groups and others onto the 106-foot wooden sloop. Organizers said they thought "this would be a wonderful and healing way to spend time with friends and family in these troubling times," the day before Easter.
Two hours north in Ballston Spa, Buddhist nun and peace activist Jun Yasuda will start a Prayer Walk and Peace Vigil to downtown Saratoga. Known as the "Peace Pilgrim," Yasuda has fasted for the freeing of Mumia Abu-Jamal, for Native American rights and against the buildup of nuclear arms. She will join the Saratoga Peace Alliance's weekly vigil at the post office at noon.
*****
An upcoming auction and garage sale in northern New York will benefit families of soldiers deployed in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sponsored by the Have A Heart/Adopt A Soldier Organization, the event will take place on May 24 in Malone, and organizers hope to bring in $50,000.
"We wanted to establish a fund for when soldiers come home or now when they need it, where they can make a request of the fund for an amount of money for emergency use," Gladys Walker said. "These families are under hardship. This will not be a loan."
Several businesses have donated items to auction off. The groups are collecting are items too big, too bulky or too costly to send to the ever-mobile U.S. soldiers, including candy bars banned from being mailed to soldiers because of melting. Furniture, lamps, dishes, trinkets, collectibles, tools and toys are being auctioned off.
:: Melissa 6:43 AM [+] ::
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April 15
A 27-year-old upstate New York native has been appointed "mayor" or a Baghdad neighborhood. Michael J. Cerroni is serving as mayor of an affluent section known as Al-Muthanna.
The lieutenant of Charlie Company of the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment is from Carnage, 85 miles north of Syracuse. Since the fall of the government in the capital city, the Marines have divided the city among young officers to quell lawlessness and gather up stashed weapons.
Having a political science degree from Cortland State University, his mother, Patricia Strife, said they often joked that he would go into politics. "But this isn't what we expected. We thought he'd run for office a little closer to home."
Saturday night, Lt. Cerroni addressed complaints at a town meeting he organized while his mother held a candlelight vigil in a local park in support of the troops.
*****
While Jonathan Stephens spent his 32nd birthday on a Navy ship, pre-k pupils in Syracuse remembered him and sang "Happy Birthday as they looked into the sky on April 2.
"We said, 'Our voices are going to go into the air, right to Kuwait,'" Jody Schappert told the Post-Standard of Syracuse. The Navy reservist's 4-year-old son Anthony is also a student in the class.
Stephens left for the Persian Gulf in February, aboard the USS Cape Gibson. He was assigned to the Naval Reserve Cargo Afloat Rig Team, which transports supplies, food and ammunition to the troops.
:: Melissa 5:39 AM [+] ::
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