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In Our Opinion

County Funding Is An Investment In The Comedy Center

There are going to be some who will be upset if the Chautauqua County Legislature approves a $200,000 allocation to the National Comedy Center when the legislature meets Wednesday. We understand the concerns. Millions of government dollars have been given to help build the center, and hundreds of thousands of dollars have been given - largely from the state and federal governments - to help market the center and sustain it during the COVID-19 pandemic. There are some who will say the National Comedy Center shouldn’t get more local government money given the needs facing the ...

Chautauqua’s New President Has To Fill Big Shoes

Chautauqua Institution officials announced a new president with quite an impressive resume. Mark Coolidge Johnson is a senior Foreign Services Officer and attorney - as well as a third-generation Chautauquan. Johnson currently serves as deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, the largest American diplomatic mission in the world, where he oversees more than 3,000 employees, nine consulates and nine consular agencies with a $282 million operating budget. He recently directed the completion of the new $943 million, one-million-square-foot embassy facility, which ...

Freshwater Wetlands Act Regulations Are Delayed, Not Dead

The more time one gets to look at the judge’s decision in local lawsuits challenging the state’s Freshwater Wetlands Act regulations, the more it is clear that the regulations are likely merely delayed, not dead. Judge Richard Platkin’s ruling last week in state Supreme Court in Albany didn’t strike at the heart of issues the local challenges to the regulations raised. Platkin found that the Freshwater Wetlands Act changes and the Part 664 regulations don’t violate landowners’ due process rights, that the challenges didn’t prove that the 2022 amendments and Part 664 ...

Dream Of Restoration Of Sea Lion Ship Is No More

The Sea Lion is no more. The ship has been decommissioned and scrapped after years of work to try to turn the historic sailing ship into a museum at the Henricus Historical Park in Virginia. COVID-19 delayed fundraising for the project and, unfortunately, finished the job that Lake Erie started. There wasn’t enough of the ship left to proceed with a restoration. The news brings more than a touch of sadness for those who lived through the Sea Lion’s story. Some 40 years ago, most south county residents knew of the Sea Lion. They’d drive by its berth on Sea Lion Drive in ...

Comedy Fest Has Roots In Movie Premiere

There is genuine excitement each year when the National Comedy Center announces its headliner events for the Lucille Ball Comedy Festival. This year’s announcement of Jerry Seinfeld, Seth Meyers and Bert Kreischer as the 2026 festival headliners was no different. The festival draws thousands into downtown Jamestown in a four-day festival of laughter at venues throughout downtown. This year’s festival, for the record, also includes comedian, writer, producer and Emmy Award-winner Carol Leifer, whose credits include Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Saturday Night Live, Modern Family, ...

City Action Is Clear Sign Of Need For Cheaper Housing

The city of Jamestown recently paid more than $30,000 in back taxes for the privilege of taking control of 12 parcels that had been foreclosed upon by Chautauqua County. Why, you may ask, would the city do that? The answer is because the city had little choice. The parcels are located at 60 W. 14th St.; 32 W. 17th St.; two additional parcels on West 17th St.; two parcels on West 15th St.; one parcel on Isabella Ave.; two parcels on Monroe St.; and three parcels on Clinton St. Some of the properties are vacant lots. Other, however, are homes that either have homeless squatters ...