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Outlast Time, Brick By Brick, In Bemus Point

This was supposed to be a story about bricks, but instead it became a story about the authentic charm of our villages, and about the good people who live in them. This is why we stay here and why we love being from Western New York: there are values and traditions and a goodness here that has not been diluted by a rapidly changing world. I wanted to learn more about the Sharpen The Point campaign in Bemus. It’s a program created by the Bemus Point Improvement Committee that sells bricks, engraved with the names or imaginative words penned by the buyers. Each brick costs $50 and is ...

Education Works; Don’t Change It

During the current COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve heard many daily press conferences by doctors, scientists, and city, county, state, and national leaders. Some of what we’ve read on various social media, has been false, fake, or edited, and some of what we’ve heard has been factually true and makes a lot of sense, even if it goes against what we’d like to hear. Much of it though, has been opinionated, self-serving, egotistical, accusatory, immature, rude, and unprofessional. I’m not a doctor, nor a scientist, so listening, I try and rely on the expertise of what those ...

Healthy Community, 1 Yard At A Time

We all live in a watershed and what we do on our land matters to our waters. The simple acts of enhancing or creating a filtration garden or beneficial plant buffer and reducing water and chemicals used on our lawns are all positive practices that go a long way to keeping our waterways ...

It’s A World Of A Nasty Females — Bugs That Is

What’s green — or black, perhaps red or brown? Should we try pink? Or maybe “some other color”? “The Bug Review” continues “these pear-shaped insects are slow moving and range in size from 1/16- to 1/8-inch long. They have conspicuous slender antennae and near the rear end of the abdomen there are two tubes called cornicles. Some may have transparent wings.” Don’t know about you but I’ll have to take their word for it. Wings on insects 1/16-inch long? and cornicles? I can’t find the magnifying glass I used to treasure so all I can see is little whitish ...

Shutdown’s Silver Lining

The government has closed most schools. So, more parents are teaching kids at home. That upsets the government school monopoly. Education “experts” say parents lack the expertise to teach their kids. Without state schooling, “learning losses... could well be catastrophic,” says The New York Times. Home schooling “will set back a generation of children,” according to a Washington Post column. Harvard Magazine’s “Risks of Homeschooling” article quotes a professor who calls for a “presumptive ban.” The professional education establishment actually tried to ...

Supreme Court Should Protect Speech

BOZEMAN, Mont. — Every state in this extraordinarily beautiful country has its own stunning views. With good reason Montana is called “Big Sky Country.” It spans hundreds of miles. It has mountains, valleys, and plains, plus rivers and lakes. Among the more stunning views are those in Glacier National Park, along the Alberta border. One additional advantage of traveling through Montana is that the speed limit on interstates is high. Well, maybe not by Montanans’ standards, but certainly from the perspective of those from most other states. So as big as Montana is, ...