By Jerry Kremer

There’s nothing like having a baseball game with no fans in the stands, but it’s better than nothing. Starting July 23, major league baseball will play 60 games. If the players and owners didn’t agree the MLB Commissioner could have ordered a 50 game season. The teams will only play their division rivals, which means the Yankees and the Mets will play a series of games. There won’t be any peanut and popcorn sales but you can eat all you want in your living room. They could put in a sound track of fans cheering but that probably wouldn’t work. It won’t be as exciting as the real thing but I am happy to see something.

There are over 130 private colleges in New York State. Many of the upstate schools face closure due to the impact of the virus on student enrollment. In a typical village of 5,000 people, if there is a college there they are the town. If the school closed, the town would shut down.. In addition to the fallout of the Covid-19 disease, the state’s new Excelsior program that gives a free education to students  attending SUNY or CUNY schools who meet certain financial standards, does not apply to private colleges. To date two small schools have closed, but unless there is some federal aid or state assistance, the picture could be very grim for these struggling institutions