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GENE AUTRY THE SINGING COWBOY

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GET READY FOR SPRING TRAINING STARTING NEXT WEEK FOR ALL 30 MAJOR LEAGUE TEAMS

WPTV’S “BULL” ALLEN, VOICE OF BASEBALL’S PAST AND FUTURE PREVIEWS THE SEASON 

THE STATE OF BASEBALL IN 2026

THE METS AND THE YANKEES

THE NEW RULES (THE PLAYERS HAVE TURNED THEM TO THEIR ADVANTAGE)

BASEBALL EXPANSION 32 TO 36 TEAMS (HOW HE THINKS THEY WOULD WORK)

THE EXPANSION DRAFT– A LOT OF ISSUES

SALARY CAP ARE THE OWNERS KIDDING?

WHAT WOULD THE PLAYOFFS BE LIKE: BASEBALL 24/7 FOR A MONTH

18 TEAMS MAKING THE PLAYOFFS?

HEAR “BULL” READ THE POEM 

“WHAT IS A BASEBALL GLOVE”

YOU’LL WANT TO GO OUT AND PLAY CATCH IN THE SNOW AFTER YOU HEAR IT!

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WPCNR PERSPECTIVES 2026. nEWS & COMMENT By John F. Bailey. February 10, 2026:

Reading the findings  discovered in the American Jewish Committee report, State of Antisemitism in America released Monday, is troubling.

What is motivating indivuduals to take persons they do not even know,  single them out to haze or attack them, kill them with what only can be described as thrill attacks for the fun of it with as much reason  as fraternity and sorority hazing which recently have killed persons being hazed in this this “movement,” a “fad”,  a crusade, an  inquisition (a religion-led motivated policy aimed at acquiring the wealth of citzens).

Whatever motivates these attacks, a President, a politician, self-promoting “influencers,” website-runners today using their platforms with  the aim of raising one religion as superior to another and blame those “non-believers” for the failings of others and incite those to disqualify them as real Americans who must go or be deported, or made to feel unwanted, well it is so anti-American Way, it is a failure of conscience.

Whether it is directed at Jewish people, Latinos, immigrants here illegally or otherwise, refugees despised because of their race or origin, it is a hate crime.

When will the legal authorities wake up and smell the stench of the people promoting hatred to achieve personal power?

Attacks on persons  because of who they are are crimes. They recall the lynchings, the murders of persons of color in the 1960s the 1920s, the Jim Crow era.

The attacks on Jewish people are attacks on us all. Ambushes. It takes no talent. Just the element of surprise. They are terrorism itself and should be prosecuted with heavy penalties.

This morning the American Jewish Committee report concludes  “the rise of Antisemitism isn having a profound impact on how American Jews live.

I would like to amplify and expand that conclusion to remark flat-out that this “rise” has a profound impact on how  ALL AMERICANS live.

To quote the American Jewish Committee report:

• More than half (55%) changed their behavior in the past year out of fear of antisemitism, including what to wear, attending events and posting views about Jewish issues online.
• About one in three (31%) say they were the target of antisemitic incidents. Of those, eight in 10 changed their behavior.
• Nine in 10 feel less safe as a Jewish person in the U.S. because of antisemitic incidents in the last 12 months as a result of three major attacks on Jews in the past 12 months – the burning of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence, the firebombing of Jews in Boulder, Colo., marching in support of hostages, and the murders of two Israeli Embassy staffers outside an AJC event in Washington, D.C. 
• Some 73% saw or heard antisemitic content online or on social media or by being personally targeted.
• More than nine in 10 (93%) believe antisemitism is a serious problem in the U.S., and 86% say it’s increased since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel.

The pain and destruction and death to a Jewish person,  is the same pain, destruction and death inflicted on any victim.

The same irrevocable loss and message to the immigrant mother whose child is wrenched away to be deported; the same searing ripped-away-forever-reality pain a family  anywhere in America has forever when when someone  commits a mass shooting at a neighborhood school, or when a spouse shoots their husband or wife  and kills their children, or law enforcement authorities kill a protestor or a someone’s child or wife because they can if “justified.”

Every American of all ages across this nation now lives with this daily possibility in parking lots at big supermarkets, in restaurants, in bars, at sport events, and on highways when irresponsible drivers play NASCAR ace on the Sprain, I-684, the Taconic, and on college campus demonstrations.

We are all nervous, We watch for a person to pull a gun. We scan the interior of a restaurant.

I hate attending a performance on Broadway because the theatres are firetraps especially most of the 40 theatres built decades ago.

Who is responsible for this fear?

The persons mostly in offices who feel the phrase “Our hearts and prayers go out to them for their loss,”   They  just mocks the victims’ sorrows.

This phrase which has become a cliché of the rich and powerful and leaderless actually is saying something completely different.

What does it  really mean when people say that?

It means: “Get over it. You were in the wrong place at the wrong time. It couldn’t be helped. You shouldn’t have been there in the first place. If you had not protested, you would not be dead. We need to move on.

Most of all it means coming from politicians that

“This is too bad, but we are not going to anything to stop it (so get over it)

I would like to hear one politician (wherever the next hate act against Jews, Latinos, African Americans, poor people, homeless people, illegal immigrants, asylum seekers, muslims, Somolis happens do something like this:

Introduce legislation to make a hate crime, an killing, a shooting, a hate speech, resulting in deaths (like January 6)  resulting in injury illegal with an automatic jail sentence without parole in effect throughout the town or city where it was committed.

Please, Free Speech that incites and results in violence is a crime by the person who calls for action against another group or party is not allowed.

This is always defended by those who use the “I didn’t mean anyone to do that. I was just supporting the policy….blah blah”

I have been hearing preposterous apologies from politicos saying this “I didn’t  mean that.”

This shows the rather low intellectual caliber of  those who say things like that.

But you see politicians, when you say a threat, You do mean it. You say what you want to do when you say that.

It also deserves a companion report, from the American Jewish Committee, which they are very qualified to do.

The State of  Acceptance of Equality of People  in America:

I applaud the American Jewish Committee for their  eye-opening report and hope they will expand it to document other groups in the crosshairs of hate in this country and I mean politicians, businesses, Captains of Industry, political groups, activist organizations and what they are saying ripped from the headlines, teir policies  they are quoted on by the dutiful media.

The State of Acceptance of Equality of People in America — A dossier of documentation of what the sowers of hate say, what groups and policies they attack and what they are advocating on their attitudes on equality.

It is long overdue.

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FEB 9 8:15 AM

FEBRUARY 8– 7:45 AM  JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT SATURDAY TEMPERATURE WAS DOWN TO ZER0

THE STRONG WINDS SUNDAY STUNG THE FACE IF YOU WENT OUT, DRIED OUT THE SKING AND PENETRATED GLOVES AND BOOTS SWIFTLY NUMBING FINGERS AND TOES NO MATTER HOW THICK YOUR GLOVES OR SHOES WERE. LANDS END JACKETS STOOD UP TO THE WIND AND SCARFS WERE A MUST FOR PROTECTING THE FACE.

SNOW FALL FROM LAST 3 WEEKS’ 2 SNOW STORMS HAS SOLIDIFIED INTO A FROZEN TUNDRA. (Somewhere on the other side of this 15 inch frozen snowfield is a road.

THE RECORD SINGLE DIGIT TEMPERATURES MIXED WITH SALT SPREADING HAVE CRACKED SIDEROADS ALREADY. POTHOLES ELSEWHERE ON NORTH STREET FOR EXAMPLE HAVE CREATED DANGEROUS “TIRE HAZARDS”. THE BIG CHILL 2026 IS SEVERELY COMPROMISING THE CITY’S ROADS. THE DPW WORK IS NOT OVER YET WITH THIS WINTER. IT IS JUST BEGINNING. (Photos WPCNR)

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WPCNR THE LETTER TICKER. FEBRUARY 7, 2026

Dear Editor:

We have heard about efforts to add wine in grocery stores in New York for years.

A newweffort is currently circulating in the state legislature and via social media, includling a petition asking consumers to support it. Among the arguments is convenience and one-stop shopping.

However, the whole story is not being told. And consumers will suffer.

As a small independent wine and spirits retailer, I own and run my store. I personally interact with my customers who are also my neighbors. I strive to find unique small production wines and spirits you   don’t see everywhere. I also offer tasting events for my customers and charitable fundraisers for our schools and organizations.

A big box store or grocery chains with 100,000 square feet will buy large brands that produce enough to supply all their stores. That great wine you get from me that only makes 300 cases a year, will be lost, and you will be stuck with only the large mass produced items. Go to Florida to a Publix and you will see what I mean.

The fact is independent retailers are struggling more than ever. Post-COVID, there has been a  huge drop nationwide in alcohol consumption.

The NY State Liquor Authority has such tight restrictions on us as to what we can sell that simply offering other items is not an option. Nor do we have the square footage  to  even consider any other products to sell. Allowing grocery stores to sell wine will be a nail in the coffin  for many small retailers—many of whom are located next to or near supermarkets.

We will simply not be able to handle the additional loss of sales and be forced to close. This will put thousands out of work, including many in the wholesale  business selling smaller production items. And customers will lose their neighborhood wine and liquor shops, forcing them to go to a large grocery store for a mediocre selection of wine.

And forget about buying hard alcohol, like vodka, tequila, bourbon, etc. This proposed bill  is only  for wine. Where will consumers be able to buy spirits once we are out of business? Suddenly the convenience factor is lost and the consumer suffers.

We ask that you contact your state representatives and tell them you do not want to lose your neighbors to big grocery stores, who are already doing tens of million dollars in business, and support your local independent, family-owned  wine and spirits retailers.

Thank you, Stuart Levine,

Owner-Operator,

LeVino Wine Merchants, White Plains NY

(REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION)