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Wider Participation Needed In Lake Policy

The September 17, 2025, Post-Journal editorial hit the mark in commenting that the community should “Move cautiously before creating a new lake authority.” The editors noted that improvement may happen by adding more elected officials to the Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance Board. Unfortunately, the new board composition structure flies in the face of best management practices. Due diligence demonstrates that best lake management practices occur when there is diversity of knowledge at the table and no single sector controls decision making. At its October 9, ...

Chautauqua Lake Nightmare Continues

Back in mid-August, the Chautauqua Lake Property Owners Association (CLPOA) submitted an OpEd to the Post-Journal which we titled “Chautauqua Lake’s Absolute Nightmare – Summer 2025 Edition”. The Post-Journal changed the title to “New Approach Needed For Chautauqua Lake” and published it on August 16. Our “Nightmare” title echoed a Buffalo television station’s comment on poor Lake conditions following the July 4 weekend. Poor Chautauqua Lake conditions were broadcast across western New York many times in summer 2025. Unfortunately, the harmful publicity was well ...

Thanksgiving, Deer Season Go Hand In Hand

It is Thanksgiving and another deer season is upon us. Many around here will likely spend some time at deer camp that day. In reflecting back, though I have no historical proof of it, I have always thought that the pilgrims likely ate venison along with turkey on that first Thanksgiving Day. Looking forward to deer season, I guess, is part of my DNA. I was once Chairman of the Subcommittee on Fish and Wildlife in the State Assembly. Every year we would have discussions with the DEC Division of Fish and Wildlife about setting the fish and wildlife seasons in New York, including the big ...

It’s Still The Economy

In 1992, James Carville coined the phrase, “It’s the economy, stupid,” referring to how the economy affects one’s personal finances. This phrase was credited with playing a big part in getting Bill Clinton elected President. The economy means different things to many people. Some give their attention daily to the stock market, i.e., the Dow, S&P, NASDAQ. Economists talk about the gross domestic product (GDP), tariffs, trade deficits, the Federal Reserve, and the national debt. While each of these aspects of the economy may be important to the economic engine of the country, ...

Federal Rural Hospital Funding Is Far From Restored

You have to hand it to Nick Langworthy. Not everyone would be willing to go out in the rain and stand in front of a microphone to tell us temporary funding for rural hospitals that offsets only one-third of permanent funding cuts is a win. Langworthy called the $50 Billion Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) “one of the largest federal investments in our history to support rural healthcare.” Why was this bill necessary? Because the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a bill Langworthy voted for, made drastic cuts to Medicaid, an important funding source for hospitals and nursing ...

Labor Shortages And Career Choices

According to summer 2025 statistics from the United States Department of Labor’s Labor Market briefing, Western New York currently enjoys a pretty low unemployment rate of 4.1%. That’s lower than the overall 4.6% rate in the United States. However, over the past year, initial unemployment claims in New York State increased the most in Chautauqua County. Compared to NYS’s increase of 3.6%, our county’s rate increased by 175.0%. That leaves many worried about what is causing this and what the future will bring to those of us living and working here. Plenty of employment ...