Recommendations For The Future Lake Efforts

April 4, 2023

To The Reader’s Forum: The recent decision to disband the Chautauqua Lake Protection and Rehabilitation Agency has stimulated renewed discussion in the community about how to proceed regarding lake management direction and funding. One suggestion has already been offered to the legislature. We have consulted with other state and local organizations and elected officials. We would like to add our voice to the public discourse on this critical subject. We believe that any future program will be most successful if it features collaborative consensus-building with no single ...

Don’t Jump On ‘Antiwoke’ Bandwagon.

March 18, 2023

To The Reader’s Forum: People on the right-wing of society, usually Republicans, use the word “woke” as, more or less, a derogatory word. An example is from Florida Gov. DeSantis who says Florida “is where ‘woke’ goes to die.” So, what does “woke” mean? The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “woke” as “aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice).” The questions you ought to ask yourself are, “Do you really believe that becoming aware of, and attentive to important facts and issues is bad ...

City Council Should Avoid Climate Smart Communities Pledge

March 4, 2023

To The Reader’s Forum: Jamestown City Council put readers on notice that it is taking the first step to considering implementation of the New York State Climate Smart Communities pledge. Council must say NO to participating in this pledge. Here’s why. In addressing the issue of climate change, longitudinal data must be examined over a period of at least several decades. We have data from multiple decades to more than a hundred years. Importantly, within the data, a statistical trend line must be observed indicating increase in the climate aspect being studied. Where no trend line ...

Capitalizing On Slavery

March 2, 2023

To The Reader’s Forum: Rich Lowry’s dismissal of Hulu’s “The 1619 Project” (”No, Slavery Didn’t Create Capitalism,” 2/24/2023) as “cartoonish”—likening it to Disney—is as problematic as it is misguided. First, the episode in question doesn’t assert that American capitalism and slavery were synonymous; the first line is literally “capitalism is complicated,” followed by the challenge, “we need a better definition.” The episode’s assertion that American slavery cannot be compartmentalized from the history of capitalism may be debatable, but Lowry ...

Let’s Look At Thruway Authority’s Record

February 25, 2023

To The Reader’s Forum: When a bureaucracy is established, what is the first purpose, responsibility, or goal of that office? Answer: the perpetuation of that office, forever and ever, in secula seculorum. I believe that the New York State Thruway Authority is a prime example of a bureaucracy that illustrates that truism. As Governor Al Smith used to say, “Let’s look at the record.” The Thruway was built in the 1950’s and 1960’s with financing by a NYS bond issue. We were told at the time that tolls would be collected to pay the bond issue and as soon as the bonds were ...

Fast Track Of Renewable Projects Is Necessary

February 18, 2023

To The Reader’s Forum: The February 2nd letter to the Jamestown Post-Journal, “End State’s Fast Tracking of Industrial Solar, Wind Projects,” (2/2) is puzzling. The letter claims that wind and solar “are not clean energy” but instead, “industrial-sized” projects. This makes little sense. Whether a wind or solar project is large or small, it produces renewable—or clean—energy. The writer also states, “The carbon footprint from mining, manufacturing, transportation, construction, cement use and end of life disposal of used components is not acceptable.” Yet he ...