Despite Growths, Work Isn’t Done On Fulton Street

April 13, 2026

It’s encouraging to hear that residents of Fulton Street in Jamestown see conditions on the street improving. No one should have to deal with the types of issues that neighborhood residents have dealt with over the past couple of years. The demolition of some vacant houses has helped, as has increased police patrols in the neighborhood and an increased presence from city officials. It should serve as a lesson to city residents that raising issues with the City Council can help - even if solutions don’t happen overnight. The city’s work isn’t done. Residents say drug sales ...

Warm Weather Brings Return Of Issues With Homeless In Hotels

April 11, 2026

Ellicott and Falconer Central School officials knew in February the lack of issues surrounding housing the homeless in Ellicott-area hotels was likely short-lived. They were right. Warm weather brought with it a return to the issues that have had Falconer and Ellicott officials frustrated for the past few years. Four times in the past two weeks police have been called for issues at the Quality Inn in Ellicott and the Budget Inn in Falconer. Two people were charged with endangering the welfare of a child, seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminally ...

DEC’s Focus On Algal Blooms Is Welcomed

April 9, 2026

There was a lot of optimism in 2018 when Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced state support for projects to help local governments deal with harmful algal blooms. The announcement came with a flurry of activity - an online HAB map, four community forums in communities that had been affected by harmful algal blooms and promises of grant funding. The grant funding is still flowing, but it has felt as if Cuomo’s grand 2018 gesture had somewhat faded as other matters took up the state’s attention. That’s why the late March announcement that the state Department of Environmental ...

No Reason To Vet Rural Suicide Prevention Bill

April 8, 2026

In 2024, Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed legislation that would have created a Rural Suicide Prevention Council to address increasing rates of suicide in rural counties. The reason for the veto, you may ask? Money and concerns about duplication. Those were unconvincing reasons in 2024. If the reintroduced legislation passes the state Legislature during this session, Hochul should correct her mistake and sign the legislation into law. All one needs to do is look at the increased rates of rural suicide to see that existing state efforts wouldn’t be duplicative since they rarely make much of ...

Mayor Moves Quickly In Hiring New Police Chief

April 7, 2026

Quickly, quietly, Mayor Kim Ecklund has named a new Jamestown police chief. What a difference from the last time the city hired a police chief. For those who have forgotten, after the retirement of former chief Harry Snellings, the city cast a wide net to find a replacement. Candidates were brought in for multiple rounds of interviews. Not only did the process drag on for months, but the potential candidates were increasingly unlikely to uproot their lives in other, bigger cities to come to Jamestown. Eventually, members of the search committee pushed for Mayor Eddie Sundquist to name ...

Blakeman Paid Hefty Price For Campaign Rhetoric

April 6, 2026

Democrats spend so much time blustering about fair elections, we had assumed they actually believed in the concept. They proved last week they do not. On Tuesday, the state’s Public Campaign Finance Board chose to deny the application filed by Bruce Blakeman, Republican candidate for governor, to receive six-to-one public matching funds for individual campaign donations up to $250. Were the application fundamentally flawed, we could see denying the application. But that’s not what happened here. In December, the board created a joint filing requirement that both the governor ...