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In Our Opinion

Chadakoin Valley Project — Important History Initiative

It’s long past time to right a wrong when it comes to a full understanding of the history of Jamestown. Kudos to the Chadakoin Valley Project and the Fenton History Center for stepping up to do just that. The Chadakoin Valley Project’s mission is to preserve and share Jamestown’s Black history through the voices of those who lived it. The project focuses on authentic perspectives, working to ensure the city’s Black history is both remembered and honored. The project has its roots in an effort to create a new historic district in Jamestown in the Chadakoin Park area. That ...

Dental Benefits For Vets Are Better Left To Federal Gov’t

It’s hard to disagree with the sentiment behind Assemblyman David DiPietro’s push to create a state dental benefits program for veterans. Veterans have access to health care through the Veterans Administration, so it stands to reason there should be a program for dental or vision benefits. The real question isn’t the program, but who creates the infrastructure and who pays for it. It’s a little surprising that dental benefits weren’t included in the VA program when it was originally created, but that decision creates the situation DiPietro is now trying to solve. The East ...

Jamestown Should Think Bigger With DRI Application

It will be interesting to see how Jamestown’s second Downtown Revitalization Initiative application is received by state Economic Development Council officials. No city that has received a DRI award has received a second one. Will Jamestown’s application be seen as gluttonous by asking for a second bite from the DRI apple before some cities have gotten a first bite? Will state officials view the application as a continuation of the 2016 DRI funding? Or, will state officials take a look at the results of the 2016 DRI project list and turn Jamestown away until better projects are ...

Drug Boat Strike Raises Questions

Congress is mostly a media circus these days, so credit the members who take their duties seriously. Lawmakers are doing a public service by trying to get to the truth on whether the Trump Administration killed defenseless survivors of a drug-boat strike. The controversy involves a Washington Post report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered that no one survive a Sept. 2 missile strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean. The story cites unidentified sources claiming that the U.S. military, on Mr. Hegseth’s orders, conducted a second strike to finish off survivors clinging ...

Reconsideration Of NC State Lake Proposal Is Interesting

We had all but given up on the five-year Chautauqua Lake Management Plan proposed and developed by Dr. Robert Richardson of North Carolina State University. NC State’s Aquatic Plant Management Program officials propose, for those who have forgotten, a staged plan that deals with the entire lake rather than the 2017 Chautauqua Lake Macrophyte Management Strategy’s approach that divides the lake into subsections based off of shoreline use and the need to balance human interaction with environmental considerations. University officials said the approach is good for small areas but ...

City’s Actions On 2026 Budget Speaks Volumes

It’s obvious from the way the City Council split $786,450 in changes to the 2026 budget that council members are more concerned about the city’s fund balance than they are the city’s tax rate. Sales tax trends convinced city officials that increasing the sales tax budget by $348,857 was achievable. While we are typically wary of increasing the sales tax, both Mayor Kim Ecklund and Comptroller Ericka Thomas have shown themselves to be conservative when it comes to the sales tax in the past. At the same time, new information allowed the city to decrease its health insurance fund ...