Almost every level of bureaucracy is guilty of overusing the word affordability. As prices keep rising — whether due to inflation, at the grocery store or painfully within the last two weeks at the gas pump — that phrase gets repeated more than nightly “Law & Order” reruns. Let’s ...
For a small county, Chautauqua has had more than its share of championship-winning teams and athletes over the years. Add the 2024-25 and 2025-26 Frewsburg girls basketball team to that list. Led by Jadyn Trocki and coach Sierra Beaver, the Lady Bears have entered rarified air by winning back-to-back championships after losing three starters from the 2024-25 team to graduation. Frewsburg became the first Section VI girls program to win back-to-back titles since Pine Valley won three straight from 2003 to 2005. The Bears are also the sixth Class C program to go back to back and ...
Surely, New York’s Democrats can’t be serious with yet another proposal to increase legislative salaries. Unfortunately, at least one is. Sen. James Sanders, D-South Ozone Park, is proposing a new increase in lawmakers’ salaries from $142,000 to $180,000. We’d say the bill is an April Fool’s Day joke, but it was introduced March 2 instead of April 1. It’s only been three years since state legislators gave themselves a $32,000 raise in exchange for a $35,000 limit on outside income. Sanders says state lawmakers have earned the raise by overseeing one of the largest state ...
Well, that quick City Council Housing Committee discussion escalated quickly. We don’t think the City Council is coming for the Christmas displays that everyone enjoys in December. Nor do we think the city is going to all of the sudden start issuing code violation citations for Halloween or Fourth of July displays. By and large, people enjoy holiday decorations. Even the grinchiest curmudgeon in our midst can find a little joy in a beautiful Christmas display on a cold December night. You don’t have to be Jack Skellington to appreciate a neighbor’s Halloween when taking the ...
We’ve been critical of the lack of progress on transitional housing programs for the homeless in Chautauqua County in recent weeks. Transitional housing is still moving too slowly for our liking, but it’s good to see the county beginning to push for increased services in the north county. Jamestown’s homeless population exploded over the past few years, but the issue is becoming more pronounced in the north county too. We have to give credit where it’s due. And it’s good to see the county is working to find a Code Blue site for the north county similar to the ROME shelter ...
By Margot Russell In March, winter never really loosens its grip—not in Western New York. It just shifts its weight. One day the snow softens and slides off the roof in heavy sheets, the next morning it’s back again—hard, frozen, and stubborn as ever. The calendar says spring, but no one here believes it. Not yet. Still, something begins to change. You hear it first—the birds returning, tentative at first, like they’re not entirely convinced either. Then a warmer afternoon arrives, and for a moment, just a moment, you feel it—the possibility of something beyond all ...
