Homelessness proving to be an intractable problem

August 6, 2026

The population of homeless in Chautauqua County didn’t explode last year like it did in the last two-year study by Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office. That first study of homelessness put a number to the increase (103% from January 2022 through January 2024) in homelessness we had been seeing all around us. The increase is a lot less in 2025 than it was in 2024 - 23.7% year-over-year. That’s the good news, if one can call it that. The bad news is that homelessness across the state decreased by 7.9% over the same time period, though that decrease was largely driven by New ...

SKF’s foray into humanoids come at interesting time

August 5, 2026

SKF officials have jumped into the humanoid robot market with a new joint venture with LeaderDrive, a Chinese company focused on high-precision transmission components for robot joints. SKF is focusing on the application of humanoids powered by Embodied AI technology in industrial settings after a thorough study to identify a potential role for the company in the humanoid market, concluding it should focus on humanoids for industrial applications. We don’t know if any of the bearings that would be part of a humanoid robots product would ever make its way to SKF’s Falconer ...

Camera coverage could help police Fairmount, Fairdale avenue intersection

August 4, 2026

Lakewood-Busti police are applying for a grant that would include funding for a camera at the intersection of Fairdale and Fairmount avenues. While we have been wary of the increasing use of cameras - particularly in neighborhoods where there can be an expectation of privacy - we can’t disagree with the reasons why Matthew Bentley, Lakewood-Busti police chief, would want to have camera coverage of this particular intersection. Despite the intersection’s presence in a series of intersections with stop lights that also include turn arrow signals, Fairmount and Fairdale is an area ...

Amazon deal could be boon for local company

August 3, 2026

It was roughly six years ago that Chautauqua County made a pitch for an Amazon regional distribution center that, when completed, would have been one of the largest in the world. County Executive PJ Wendel, Mark Geise, county IDA director and former U.S. Rep. Tom Reed all advocated for Amazon to consider Chautauqua County, which was pushing land the county owns in Ripley as well as the Mason Industrial Park in Ellicott. The project never came to fruition, but there was a lot of genuine excitement around the possibility at the time. Last week Amazon made a quieter entry into ...

County’s new economic development goal doesn’t change much

August 1, 2026

After weeks of debate and discussion, points and counterpoints, the Chautauqua County Legislature has decided that the number one economic development goal for county government is sustainable disposable income growth. It sounds like a good goal. No one is against the idea of increasing disposable income for county residents. Certainly no one would say they are against such a goal in an election year. The problem is few know what the heck the legislature means with this goal. Wouldn’t it be simpler to use household income growth as the goal rather than disposable income growth? ...

Other Voices: US-Saudi nuclear agreement further erodes safeguards

July 31, 2026

Even as he threatened to escalate an unlawful war sold in part as preventing Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon, Donald Trump opened the door to proliferation in the region on Wednesday. The US announced that it had signed a deal with Saudi Arabia which would potentially allow the kingdom to enrich uranium in future and to avoid the fullest inspection rights for the international watchdog. Experts have long warned that a civilian nuclear programme could create a path towards a nuclear-armed Riyadh. Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince and de facto leader, has said that if Tehran ...