CHEERS: to Alan "Ducky" Drake for his "Is it Just Me?" commentary on WIRY. He has delighted, amused or annoyed people in the community during his meanderings through the good, the bad and the ugly of local developments, but that is what people in that capacity do. Sometimes, he's going to touch a nerve. Sometimes, he may touch a nerve that doesn't deserve to be touched, but that is the destiny of local commentators. It's a tough business. Sometimes, it's difficult in a community of Plattsburgh's size to come up with an appropriate topic, as not much may be going on. It doesn't matter to his audience — they expect him to entertain and inform them, whether resounding material is there or not. We know as well as anybody the difficulty he must sometimes confront. It's easy to attack somebody in Albany or Washington. There is only a small degree of accountability or risk there. Drake focuses on local issues, where he might actually make a difference. "Is it Just Me?" will sometimes gratify you and sometimes offend you. But it will almost always interest you. Ducky Drake is performing an important function for this community, even when part of the community is too mad to admit it.

JEERS: to health officials for unnecessary muffling of information related to H1N1. When this area had its first swine-flu death last week, county, CVPH and college health officials called reporters to a news conference. The announcement was pretty much this: An adult with underlying health conditions has died related to H1N1. Obviously, this raises some questions: Was it a male or female? How old an adult; were we talking about a fairly young person or someone in their 70s? What were the underlying conditions? How long had the person been sick before he/she died? No one would answer any of those questions. No one in the media was asking for the name, just more information to give the public about the circumstances. The most aggravating part of their refusal to answer even the most basic of questions (male or female wouldn't exactly give the person away) was that they were hiding being HIPPA. The Health Portability and Accountability Act gives patients the right to restrict information from being released, if they sign a form saying that's what they want. It also protects payment and diagnosis information. It does not say you can't tell the media if a patient is male or female. Hospitals routinely release that information and more to the media because it is not restricted by law. The State Health Department has apparently decided to set its own rules and refuse to give details that are not restricted by HIPPA. We know local health officials are following orders, but they need to pay attention to what the law really restricts and press for getting as much information out to an anxious public as possible. People need knowledge so they can make sound decisions about prevention and care.