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In Our Opinion

A New Project Still Faces Old Obstacles

CODE Inc. and STEL are hoping a new name and a few additional units are enough for the Blooming Garden Project to succeed where past north side affordable housing projects have failed. Non-profits have been trying to push affordable housing projects across the finish line for almost a decade. The problem has been attracting enough state funding to make the projects economically viable. Matt Long of Long Associates told Planning Commission members that the project will change from past iterations when funding applications are submitted to the state. The most recent version of the ...

Quiet Actions Could Pay Dividends For Chautauqua Lake

Chautauqua County’s status as the focal point of opposition statewide against the state’s Freshwater Wetlands Regulations can overshadow good things happening on the lake. It shouldn’t. Quietly, the Chautauqua Lake Watershed and Management Alliance have taken steps that we think could help Chautauqua Lake and its watershed. For all the issues that face Chautauqua Lake - and don’t get us wrong, that list is long - there are some good things happening on the lake. There is increased cooperation amongst various lake agencies. Local groups will always have disagreements ...

Delay Of EV Transition Makes Sense

A bill introduced recently in the state Assembly makes a lot of sense - one reason its chances of becoming law rank somewhere between slim and an ice storm happening in Hades. Assemblyman John McDonald recently introduced legislation (A.8524) that would postpone the implementation and enforcement of the state’s ACC II regulations until Jan. 1, 2028. The zero emissions sales are supposed to include all new cars by 2035. It’s only a two-year postponement of the state’s adoption of California air quality standards that have come under increasing fire at the federal level - but ...

State Still Has Work To Do On Involuntary Commitment

One reason the state budget was late was Gov. Kathy Hochul’s insistence on changes to the state’s involuntary commitment laws. While Hochul secured some of the changes she wanted, including some changes that could be beneficial in helping deal with some members of the city’s homeless population, it’s ironic that the governor was able to secure a policy change in the budget while the dollars and cents needed to provide space for involuntary commitment to actually happen didn’t make it into the state budget this year. Rather than declare victory, Hochul would be better off ...

Show Gratitude For Those Who Gave All

Here we are, in the midst of a three-day weekend that serves for many as the end of the school year and the beginning of summer. For some, it will be their first getaway of the season. For others, it will be the weekend on which they open their pool. For some, it will be the day on which they remember and honor loved ones lost in service to their country. That is, after all, the real reason for Monday’s observance of Memorial Day. For 156 years our nation has paused for just this one day to honor and grieve the men and women who have died while serving in the armed ...

Conscience Check Past Due For FAA

Until the midair collision that claimed 67 lives on Jan. 29 near the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, followed soon thereafter by a number of other incidents involving planes, some of those incidents also resulting in fatalities, members of the flying public generally had exuded great confidence regarding their safety while using that mode of travel. Now, however, many of those same travelers do not feel quite as secure, due to what has been happening during recent weeks on the air travel front. It is clear that the level of confidence that had existed in the past will not ...