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In Our Opinion

Vatican’s Reversal Of Holy Apostles Merger Is Good For City

The reversal of the merger of Holy Apostles Parish with St. James Roman Catholic Church comes as a surprise. That’s no slight toward the Save Holy Apostles Parish group who banded together quickly, raised money and made a compelling argument that Holy Apostles Parish is strong enough to remain on its own and that the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo hadn’t followed Canon Law when it sought to merge the church. The prospect of taking the appeal to the Vatican was a prospect that likely scared off many parishes scheduled for closure or to be merged - but not for the Holy Apostles ...

Moving Crisis, Homeless Teams To Jamestown Is Good Move

Chautauqua County legislators recently approved the rental of more space in Jamestown’s City Hall by the Department of Mental Hygiene and Social Services. It’s a good decision. The move brings the county’s Mobile Crisis Unit as well as its homeless team and family center case management team into City Hall. The Mobile Crisis Unit, a group of behavioral health professionals including a social worker and peer specialist who can provide care and short-term management for people who are experiencing several behavioral /mental health crises, has been located in West Ellicott since ...

Big Cost-Saving Moves Are Not Easy To Make

One of former Mayor Eddie Sundquist’s best policy decisions came with trying to move city retirees off of the city’s health insurance policies and onto Medicare. The move was to save about $1.1 million a year, according to Sundquist’s 2021 budget presentation. The idea initially upset retirees, so the initiative was removed from the 2021 budget before finally being implemented after additional time was spent getting retired city employees on board. Costs associated with moving eligible retirees to a Medicare Supplement or Medicare Advantage plan, and the city then paying for the ...

Hawley’s Health Care Solution Is Anything But

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) thinks he has a new idea: no taxes on health care. He has proposed making all out-of-pocket health care expenses tax deductible, saying that would “ help people immediately.” But would it? Right now, there are already significant tax breaks on health care. The largest is the exemption of employer-sponsored health insurance from income taxes. That exemption didn’t arise because the government wanted to help people pay for health care. It was an accident. During World War II, wages were capped by the government, but health benefits were not. Many ...

JPS Student Board Member Shows Worth Of Position

We’re sure there are some who thought it was a waste of time for New York state to require school boards to include student representation. To its credit, the Jamestown Public Schools District was ahead of the curve with student board members, incorporating them long before the state began requiring schools add students to the board earlier this year after the state Legislature passed legislation requiring each school district and BOCES board to incorporate at least one student board member in 2024. A discussion last week at the Jamestown Public Schools Board of Education is a ...

Breakwall Repairs Becoming A Bank-Breaker

We talk a lot about Chautauqua Lake these days, but we don’t talk much about the canals that can often be found winding their way inland from the lake’s shores. One such set of canals in an area of the town of Busti known as Vukote is generating conversation - and it’s a topic worth more conversation. Earlier this year Busti Town Board members discussed the problem town officials are having getting some property owners in Vukote to repair the concrete canal walls. There are roughly 14 sections of the canal structure that need repairs, according to those March 2025 ...