Breaking News

Weed Herbicides Biodegrade In Lakes

CHAUTAUQUA LAKE — Herbicides are an effective tool against weeds and algae in lakes, including Chautauqua Lake. Yet what happens to those herbicides once they’re introduced into a lake? That question arose at an Aug. 18 Chautauqua-Lake-focused public-information session in the Casino ...

Even at hospital shindig, political wounds don’t heal

Upbeat music played in the distance in anticipation of the arrival of New York state Gov. Kathy Hochul last week in Fredonia at the East Main Street site where a new north county hospital is being constructed. With the location basking in the sun, more than 100 community members and local ...

In Our Opinion

We’d say New York should throw out its recycling data, but we’re not sure if the paper would be recycled or end up in a landfill. Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office found the state DEC lacks reliable information on how much material is recycled across the state. Part of the problem is recycling facilities have submitted only about two-thirds of the required annual reports from January 2021 through December 2023. The facilities that did submit reports couldn’t always verify the information they did report. And, perhaps most troubling, of the reports that were submitted, ...

Public call for DRI, NY Forward grants is late in process

It’s good that local residents are getting an opportunity to have input in the plans for Jamestown’s $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative and Falconer’s $4.5 million NY Forward grant. Local planning committees have been created in Jamestown and Falconer, and local residents are now being asked to bring any project ideas they have to the committee for possible inclusion in the final plan for the state grants. In Jamestown, an open call for projects is taking place from Aug. 21 through Sept. 25, with an information session scheduled for Aug. 27 at the Robert H. Jackson ...

Amount of benefits fraud in county is beyond shocking

It is shocking, though not surprising, that two county Social Services Department employees have been charged in the theft of money from the people they were supposed to be helping. Amounts weren’t disclosed during a news conference last week, nor was the name of a second person allegedly involved in the alleged theft, but we’ve seen enough thefts of public money in the past to know that where there are large sums of money being passed around someone will eventually try to take some for themselves. We’ve been through this a time or two over the past couple of decades. That ...

In Our Opinion

Over the years we’ve seen duties that were once handled by volunteer firefighters taken on by paid government crews. The move really began with the advent of the Chautauqua County fly car system in 2017 to provide quicker response, particularly in remote areas of the county where struggles to staff volunteer fire departments were most acute. Over the ensuing nine years the fly car system has expanded to meet growing needs throughout the county, including the April decision to station a fly car at the Clymer Volunteer Fire Department. For many Chautauqua County residents the use ...