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Area fully plugged in to data center debate

Editor's Corner

Maybe Portland town Supervisor Rich Lewis and Town Board members were testing the waters in March. That is when the body passed a resolution expressing its support for a proposed data center to be located on the grounds of the former Sugar Hill Golf Course. If anything, they had the residents at a boiling point. Within the next three months, an online petition was started and a Facebook Grape Belt Community Group with a modest 210 members was started to send a message of opposition to any such plan. Located near the shoreline along Route 5, the former golf course property is ...

Expansion of existing manufacturers is encouraging

In Our Opinion

Twice in recent weeks we’ve reported that local businesses are looking at possible expansion. The announcement that Jamestown had received money from the EPA to prepare several brownfields for future development included the nugget that three high priority sites - including the former Crawford Furniture site - were the subject of expansion talks by neighboring businesses. Then, county officials said during a recent IDA meeting that there has been interest in the Mason Industrial Park, specifically mentioning expansion from local manufacturers in spaces that include the former Bush ...

CHPE power line failure underscores fragility of power grid

In Our Opinion

New York’s power grid spent last week in the spotlight as a four-day heat wave brought requests to moderate power usage - including requests by Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s for air conditioners to be set to 78 degrees and for as many electric devices as possible to be used during cooler evening hours. Last week certainly shows the mess that New York’s elected officials and the administrators they have put in charge of day-to-day have made of the state’s power grid. While New York is hardly alone struggling to provide enough electricity for its ...

While New York delays data centers with study, Texas finds solutions

In Our Opinion

If you listen to political debate from the state capitol, you’d think the only way to have data centers in New York state is to power them with a power grid that is already struggling under increasing electric loads. How can the state power data centers when it’s struggling to power its transition to an all-electric power grid without data centers? Accepting that assumption as true is one of the biggest arguments against data centers in New York state. But, as we learned recently from Cummins Engine, New York residents are being fed a half-truth. Texas is building data centers ...

Arcade Building’s future looms over DRI

In Our Opinion

With more than $30 million in potential Downtown Revitalization Initiative project applications listed, there will be a series of frank talks as city officials decide which projects get a slice of the city’s $10 million DRI pie. It is obvious that not all projects listed in the city’s DRI application to the state will receive funding. The question is which projects are funded and how much they will receive. A proposal to use $400,000 to stabilize the Arcade Building will surely result in lengthy discussions. On one hand, the Arcade Building is a throwback to Jamestown’s ...

Triumphal arch, or sign of an arch enemy?

Local Commentaries

Architecture always sends a message. So what does President Trump’s desire for a Triumphal Arch say about his authoritarian aspirations? About his regard for process, precedent, and the rule of law? First, we should look to the inspirations for the “Arc de Trump.” The form originated with Ancient Roman arches such as the Arch of Titus which served as “billboards” for military victories and glorified the absolute power of the emperors who erected them. Similarly, Napoleon’s famous Arc de Triomphe in Paris marks his army’s victory at the Battle of Austerlitz, a monument to ...