The week in Lighthouse Project news/views

It's been, what, 24 hours since this site discussed the Lighthouse Project? I kid (a little), but there have been some interesting news and posts from this past week, some of which you'll have seen and some, perhaps, not.

County Executive Tom Suozzi sounded another battle cry. Town of Hempstead supervisor Kate Murray launches her election campaign today. And from every neck of the woods I hear remorse or frustration from residents or ex-pats who feel squeezed by what they find to be narrow-mindedness, short-sightedness, or same ol' politics as usual in their beloved Long Island.

While this site will try to remain apolitical and Islanders/hockey-focused, obviously this is a case where politics and the club intersect. Your own opinions, editorials and the like are always welcome here -- in comments or and as separate FanPosts (those are the section on the right). To comment here and at other SBN team-focused sports sites, you can use your Yahoo! or OpenID or create an SBN profile.

A round-up of links from inside and outside observers:

• Tom Suozzi's tax base-oriented call to build the Lighthouse Project [Newsday-Spin Cycle] [official Suozzi video] (Note: the local campaign season is off to a messy start)
• 7th Woman reacted to Suozzi's rally. [7th Woman]
• This is from a week ago, but Doug's reflections on life for a 20-something on Long Island are reflective of a sentiment I've heard a lot. [Official's Outlook]
• On that note, this is from frequent Newsday commenter 505, an L.I. ex-pat of the previous generation: "The oh-so-familiar political pandering and economic strangling that has driven myself and thousands of my fellow baby boomers away from one of the best places to live in the world." [Islanders Independent]
  
• As referenced in our yesterday post on attendance expectations in limbo, Chris Botta put two and two together to conclude nothing will happen by Charles Wang's pre-election October deadline. [IslandersPointBlank] (Today, Botta clarified his not-earth-shattering prediction, because apparently some misinterpreted it.)
  
• This is why people like Botta see the situation with Murray as untenable: "Everything that’s wrong with Long Island government came to light last week, when a power-player meeting to discuss the Lighthouse project in Uniondale went awry because Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray failed to show up. ... Murray blamed her no-show on a scheduling mistake." [L.I. Business News editorial]

From the outside observer:

• Wang has no choice but to at least threaten to move [From the Rink - James Mirtle, picking up Botta's post]
  
• Wang wants to revitalize your public arena and you don't want it? This saga is bizarre and shocking. [Gross Misconduct - Hockey Joe]

For the official Lightouse Project views, see Katrina's blog and follow the project on Twitter (@Lighthouse_LI). (Note: The blog you're reading, Lighthouse Hockey, is an unaffiliated Islanders fan blog, also on Twitter @LighthouseHocky (no 'e').)

As always, for the nuts and bolts of this process from an independent advocate and frustrated young Long Island professional, check Nick's blog Let There be Light(house) and his forthcoming posts at Islanders Independent. Nick has a rallying cry today.

I'm sure a well-composed, coherent and reasonable counterargument will emerge somewhere on the Web in a medium that allows reasoned debate ... I've just yet to come across it.