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Statistics Don’t Tell Public Safety Story

One of the qualities that makes a community a desirable place to live in is public safety. People want to feel safe walking their streets, going to the store and enjoying a meal at their favorite restaurant, especially on the weekends. This quality-of-life component was present in the Jamestown community decades ago, unfortunately today, our residents are experiencing a public safety crisis. Recent crime statistics demonstrate that the City of Jamestown is not safe contrary to what has been portrayed in the 2025 State of the City report as it pertains to public safety. In fact, ...

Consequences Of State’s Prison Policies

New York state prisons and our correction officers keep us safe from some of the worst criminals; people who not only put their own interests above those of society, but committed heinous and despicable crimes. For years, a concerted effort has been made to dismantle the prison system and to take away the tools CO’s use to maintain the safety of correctional facilities and to prevent further violence in our communities. New York’s prison system is in crisis, and the numbers don’t lie. Seventy-three percent of convicted felons in state prisons are violent felony offenders. In ...

By The Rev. Mel McGinnis

Roasting the governor for the irresponsible handling of the raging fires destroying California, the Babylon Bee ran a headline saying, “Newsom Assures Wildfire Victims He Is Diverting Millions Of Dollars To Emergency DEI Initiatives.” Satire aside, for people victimized, DEI feels more like DIE. Rivaling the recent discovery of FEMA doling out $59 million to New York City for housing illegal aliens in hotels, but quickly clawed back (thanks to DOGE), it did not take long to find out about LA county taxpayer-funded “priorities” like millions for EV’s, millions to the ...

High Court Considers Another Challenge Affecting Guns

Before the U.S. Supreme Court is another challenge affecting guns. Yet by all indications, the decision—like the 2024 decision on bumpstocks—won’t be about the Second Amendment. ♦♦♦ Let’s pick up where we left off on the day of that 2024 decision. What a statute, passed by Congress and signed by a president, says is one thing. Whether a regulation that an agency enacts is consistent with the statute is a different question. ♦♦♦ The latter is the issue before the court in Bondi v. VanDerStok. A decision is expected by the end of June. In some court ...

How To Find Insurance When A Spouse Passes Away

Question: My spouse just passed away, and I am so overwhelmed with all that needs to be done. Now I found out his retiree health insurance will no longer cover me. Now what do I do? Answer: I am so sorry for your loss. This is an especially difficult and stressful period of time for you. Now with the loss of your insurance, you have one more task to take care of. So, let’s talk about solutions. Usually when you lose coverage in this situation, you will lose coverage at the end of the month. It is February, so you have until March 1t to pick a replacement for that retiree coverage ...

Buyer Beware!

Today I share a personal experience with you. We were trying to refinish my kitchen floor. It was done about ten years ago, but needed a new coat of finish. My son came up one Wednesday and gave it a light sanding. He planned to apply a coat of finish on Saturday. We knew what we were doing so we had an expected outcome in mind. It looked beautiful when it was done. My son left for home, but left his equipment since he planned a second coat. A couple hours into the drying process I looked at my floor. It said it needed four hours of drying time. What I saw was not what I expected. The ...