Breaking News

Local Commentaries

Moving On Is Both Hard And Essential

With Holy Week approaching, we turn to forgiveness. --- Think about it. Does this ring true to you? Most, if not all, of what is bad and false and wrong in this world has its roots in one or more of the seven deadly sins: Pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, and sloth. --- So what to do when the bad, the false, and the wrong come our way? One option that doesn’t exclude some others is forgiveness. However, met with the possibility of forgiving others, many understandably believe forgiveness equates with—or at least is tantamount to—absolution or ...

Escalators Vs Elevators

I was intrigued when a beautiful wooden escalator crossed my desktop. I immediately began my research. It seems that the beauty is part of Macy’s Department Store in New York City. I think I probably rode it when I was with the grandchildren. I know we did not ride it when we visited Santa Claus with the ladies. I know we rode the elevator to go up to the top floor. This escalator was installed sometime between 1920 and 1930 So it has been in operation close to one hundred years. It was installed by the Otis Elevator Co. I knew that many elevators were made by Otis, but I never knew ...

Working To Strengthen Chautauqua Institution’s Roles

Chautauqua Institution is known around the world as a place for civil dialogue and conversation. Closer to home, here in Chautauqua County, the Institution is known as a stronghold for financial support to the area. In Chautauqua County alone, $233 million in total economic impact is generated, 3,208 jobs are supported and sustained, and $28.8 million is contributed to the state and local tax base. Chautauqua Property Owners pay $10.4 million in property and school taxes to the Chautauqua tax base, representing 15% of all real property taxes paid in the county, even though they only ...

The World Through A Windshield

There is a country song about a trucker on the road who is “looking at the world through a windshield.” It has made me think, over the years, that in actuality...we all see life through a windshield. The way we were brought up, what we were taught, where we were born—all of it is a “windshield” through which we see and understand the world. I think it is this “windshield” which makes it so hard to comply with the golden rule... “love thy neighbor as thyself.” Trying to see the world through someone else’s eyes is not easy. Just think about the war-torn areas of ...

Trump’s Immigration Policies Weaken Jamestown, America

I am an immigrant. There was no doubt in my mind that I would be entering 2025 with anything other than fear for what the new administration would mean for the over twenty million non-US born individuals living in the United States, many of my loved ones included. What I hadn’t been able to predict, however, was the loss I felt on behalf of Jamestown, as we forfeited the opportunity to welcome new neighbors to our community. My exposure to our flawed immigration system, both through personal experience and through my work as director of the New Neighbors Coalition program, would not ...

Are You Serious, Nick Langworthy?

“I can say confidently that under the Trump Administration we are witnessing the renewal of the American Dream” The office of MAGA cheerleader, Congressman Nick Langworthy, releases a weekly newsletter to his constituents in Western New York’s 23rd Congressional district. The district comprises all of Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany and Tioga Counties and parts of Erie, Schuyler and Steuben. Langworthy, born in Jamestown, is a graduate of Pine Valley Central School and Niagara University. He was long active in Republican state politics before being elected to Congress in 2022. ...