Coming Soon.

The games are about to begin.

No, not the Empire State Games.

More like the Warren County Winter Olympics in the sport of politics.

Candidates are already jockeying for the Republican nomination to become the next sheriff of Warren County.

News reports are circulating that a Gambian journalist has reportedly been arrested and is being held at a secret location in South Africa after accusations of biased coverage of an opposition election campaign rally.

"The government's continued violations of press freedom are making a mockery of the democratic process in The Gambia. We call on the authorities to release Dodou Sanneh immediately" Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists said. "It is outrageous that a journalist can be locked up without explanation and held in an undisclosed location".

The evil empire of Warren County Sheriff Larry Cleveland is nearing an end.

The walls are tumbling down.

The beginning of the long awaited and warranted end of the dictatorial reign of Larry Cleveland came with the sinking of the Ethan Allen and the now infamous "blow in my face" test implemented by Cleveland in his determination that his buddy, boat captain and former state trooper Richard Paris hadn't been drinking and wasn't under the influence of drugs.

Warren County Sheriff Larry Cleveland seems to have an aversion to the New York State Freedom of Information Law and governmental accountability.

In Florida, Marianne Pasha, the public information officer for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, seems to share that propensity to block the public's right to know how our government is being operated and how our tax dollars are being spent.

There's an extremely troubling pattern emerging in the northern New York. Well, actually, maybe it's all over New York but it's become very blatant in Warren, Washington and Essex Counties.

Do you remember the television quiz shows of the Fifties?

On Tuesday nights, everything came to a halt while America watched The $64,000 Question.

Those game shows quickly became the Quiz Show Scandals, the producers and sponsors tampered with the results, rigging the winners----kind of like the Terri Schiavo case and the January, 2000 trial in Pinellas County probate court with Judge George Greer presiding.

Today, May 1, is Law Day, the day that pompous asses in the judiciary and Bar pat themselves on the back and try to tell us what a phenomenal job they're doing protecting our constitutional rights by the rule of law.

"America's legal system is central to protecting the constitutional principles on which our Nation was founded. As we observe Law Day, we celebrate our heritage of freedom, justice, and equality under the law", is the introduction to the proclamation for Law Day issued by President George W. Bush.

Sunshine Week began Sunday, a week-long observance of open government laws in the United States---freedom of information laws known as FOIL.

"Open government laws break down that wall of government secrecy so that everybody knows what's going on" says Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

"Striving to do things 'exactly right'" was the headline of a puff piece on Warren County Sheriff Larry Cleveland published last Sunday in the Albany Times-Union.

Larry Cleveland is at the center of one of the biggest firestorms in the history of Warren County right now involving the Ethan Allen boating accident and the cries are becoming increasingly louder for his removal from office. This time though, the controversy isn't only confined to Warren County---it's nationwide, particularly in Michigan and Ohio where the relatives of the victims reside.

"Don't Let Terri Schaivo's Name Be Exploited" shouts a headline from William Greene's RightMarch.com website above a picture of the disabled woman who died last March in Florida, killed by judicial order at the behest of her estranged husband.

And just what are you doing, William Greene? We'd say it's a prime case of exploitation, taking advantage of a situation. There oughta be a law against such shameless exploitation as exhibited by William Greene, president of RightMarch.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way- in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Michael Schiavo's announcement that he had formed a political action committee to get even with the Republicans and in particular for trying to save his wife's life created a lot of comments this past week.

For over 12 years, Schiavo engaged in a vendetta against Bob and Mary Schindler, parents of his wife, Terri who became brain damaged in 1990 in suspicious, still unexplained circumstances with only Michael present.

Larry Cleveland became the sheriff of Warren County when the previous sheriff, Fred Lamy, was appointed to the state Commission on Corrections by Gov. George Pataki.

However, the word circulating is that there won't be any state job for Cleveland.

The newspapers were filled this week with news of the upcoming election on Tuesday, Nov. 8.

Pictures of the candidates were displayed along with their biographies, their political afflilation, issues, political promises.

I've always been curious. That's probably why I work in the field of investigative journalism. Some of my associates laughingly tell me that I just "go looking" for trouble.

Judicial accountability.

Legal ethics.

We have long held a concern that double standards are exercised by public officers in regard to the law---particularly judges, prosecutors and the police.

Too bad that Antonin Scalia isn't a member of the New York State Bar Association.

Supreme Court Justice Scalia has an unhealthy attitude towards judicial accountability and cameras in the courtroom. He needs to learn that that black dress he has makes him just a judge, not a dictator and that he has a responsibility and obligation to be accountable to the public.