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Be Wary Of BESS Solicitation

NY Governor Hochul plans to issue more incentives for building lithium Ion Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) throughout New York State. (PJ July 29 “Hochul Announces Bulk Energy Storage Solicitation”), There was no mention of the real costs and dangers BESS sites will pose to our rural communities. Several New York towns recognize the danger of thermal runaway BESS fires and have passed laws prohibiting the installation of Battery Energy Storage Systems in their towns. These towns include Amsterdam in Montgomery County, Duanesburg and Princetown in Schenectady County, Rush, ...

Family Breakdown Is ‘Number One Social Problem’: Larry Elder

CHAUTAUQUA—Let’s pick up where we left off 13 weeks ago. “When this columnist was in elementary school, it was common for children from Christian families to ask each other where they went to church. “Almost all such children and their families did so regularly, not just when the church had poinsettias or Easter lilies. ... “It’s no secret that many American Christians have pulled up their own such anchors. ... “Attendance drops because people for many reasons drift away from organized Christianity.” ♦♦♦ Another building block of Western civilization is ...

Not All Medicare IDs Will Be Reissued

Question: I recently saw an article that Medicare is issuing new ID cards due to a data breach. When will mine arrive? Answer: You did hear correctly that there was a data breach and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will be issuing new Medicare cards to everyone that was impacted. What is significant to understand is that there are over 67 Million individuals on Medicare and issued Medicare cards. Only 103,000 will be issued NEW Medicare numbers and therefore new cards. So that is NOT a lot. This does not mean you aren’t one of the Americans enrolled in Medicare who are ...

Fair Food And Fun

Next week is the Warren County Fair. I have been involved with it for a long time. When my children were young, they showed dairy animals. It was a lot of work, but the experience was worth it. There were chores to be done early in the morning to get the animals ready for the show. My children were quite young at the time thet they showed. It was up to mom to help. Never in my marriage agreement did I promise to trim tails and whiten hooves! When they were in high school I worked in the ice cream booth because they were members of the Eisenhower marching band. I always took a day as ...

The Downside Uncertainty Of Tariffs

The Trump administration’s levying of tariffs is a form of taxation, essentially a tax hidden from public view. They are imposed before the final sale of a product. In essence, tariffs are a pre-sales tax, levied at a port-of-entry on goods coming into the country. They are included in the price being paid by Americans for whatever the product is. So, for example, let’s say a carpet made in Vietnam comes into the Port of New York for ultimate sale here. The cost of the carpet goes up 20% when the federal government slaps a tariff on it in New York, and then it comes here where an ...

Critical Need For Job Training

Wells, the ice cream maker, formerly known as Dunkirk Ice Cream, told the newspapers recently that Wells almost did not commit to its current $425,000,000 investment in Dunkirk due to a concern over a lack of labor force here. Wells anticipates needing 270 more workers because of its expansion. In the past 15 years Chautauqua County’s labor force (those working or looking for work) shrunk from about 68,000 to about 54,000, down by 14,000, a shocking 20%. What are the possible explanations for this collapse of our labor force? First, when companies like Truck Lite left Falconer ...