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In Our Opinion

Repurposing Gun Violence Unit Money Works Out In Long Run

Mayor Kim Ecklund and Tim Jackson, city police chief and public safety director, announced last week the city is officially repurposing American Rescue Plan Act funding that had been set aside to form a gun violence unit inside the Jamestown Police Department to instead renovate the department’s long-neglected shooting range. On its face the decision is a head-scratcher. Jamestown is seeing a resurgence in gun crimes that is reminiscent of the rash of shootings that led former Mayor Eddie Sundquist to announce the gun violence unit’s creation in the first place. As we’ve ...

Louisiana’s Higgins Is Sorry Example Of U.S. Representative

U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., could not have proved two points more handily last week if he had tried. First, he proved the spreading of vicious lies about an immigrant community in Springfield, Ohio, has indeed led to the kind of hostility that puts those people (and their entire community) in danger. Second, he proved even those we should be able to hold to our highest standards are willing to once again publicly shout their racism and hate. They believe they have been freed of the shame of doing so. According to a report by the Ohio Capital Journal, Higgins was facing calls for ...

School Zone Near Ring, Washington Deserves Fresh Look From State DOT

Typically, school zones can’t be more than 1,300 feet long, according to state Transportation Department guidelines. That’s the reason for the school zone sandwich between Ring Elementary School and Washington Middle School on Buffalo Street. That sandwich, with its 30 mile an hour speed zone surrounded by two 20 mile an hour school zones, has been discussed often by City Council members in recent weeks. It’s been a topic brought up several times by concerned city resident Doug Champ and, now, it’s Alexis Carlson, the Jamestown Police Department’s school resource officer in ...

How Long Can The County Budget Gravy Train Last?

County Executive PJ Wendel’s 2025 budget proposal is an outlier compared to the cities of Dunkirk and, likely, Jamestown as well. Dunkirk is proposing a 100% increase in its tax rate in the coming year. Mayor Kim Ecklund is already warning City Council members that the 2025 Jamestown budget proposal is going to be much tighter than the past few years. Compare those budgets to Wendel’s budget released last week that comes with a 19 cent decrease in the county’s tax rate and we can see why Wendel was smiling when he unveiled his more than $300 million spending plan last week. ...

State Provides A Bit Of Relief On New City Garage Project

Building a new city fleet maintenance garage on Washington Street has basically been a citywide root canal for the past three years. There were questions about the site in the first place. Many questioned the use of a commercial parcel for the project. Then initial cost estimates were too low. Then inflation drove the cost even higher. Then there were delays being able to get some of the equipment. Last week, city residents finally got a shot of novocaine to dull the pain. State officials came through with $1 million that had been billed as part of the project’s financing when it ...

Gateway Lofts May Provide Major Boost In Fight Against Homelessness

It’s been a while since the Gateway Lofts project popped up in the news. The timing of last week’s county IDA approval of the first loan from the county’s newly established Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund to Southern Tier Environments for Living (STEL) could provide a big boost to the project as well as help curb the homeless population. Loan funding will help with STEL’s need to install a sub slab depressurization system, which is required by the state Department of Environmental Conversation before development can take place at the site of the former Chautauqua Hardware ...