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Opinion

Court’s Handling Of Crawford Street Fire Insurance Lawsuit Bears Watching

In Our Opinion

The Selective Insurance Corp.’s lawsuit against Allen Street Development and the LLC’s owners bears watching in a city where a fair share of old industrial properties suffer from lack of maintenance while awaiting a new use. The insurance company says embers and smoke from the fire spread from 1061 Allen St. to the Artone building before the fire was extinguished. Selective Insurance Company paid $1,271,668.33 to or on behalf of Artone for damages resulting from the fire. Now, the insurance company is looking to recoup those costs from Allen Street Development LLC, Richard J. ...

Region Steps Up To Help, But That Effort Can’t Continue Forever

In Our Opinion

We’ve shared some heartwarming stories of people and organizations in recent weeks stepping up to help their neighbors. There are churches that are adopting families who are struggling to put food on the table. Some people are donating their New York State Inflation Refund Checks to food pantries to help them meet the additional need food pantries are seeing. Businesses, farms and farmers markets are feeding those who can provide proof that they receive SNAP but can’t get benefits or are making donations to food pantries. It should truly warm the heart to again see what happens ...

Learning More About Medication Coverage Through EPIC

Local Commentaries

Question: I have EPIC, but how do I know when EPIC will help pay for my medications? Answer: First, for those that don’t know what EPIC (Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage) is, this benefit is available to residents of New York state, over age 65 and with an income of less than $75,000 for an individual and $100,000 for a married couple. Individuals and couples can apply for EPIC anytime of the year they meet the stated criteria. Once a member, EPIC will automatically recertify your eligibility using your New York State tax returns. When EPIC is verifying your income and ...

An Opportunity To Help Our Neighbors

Letters To The Editor

To The Reader’s Forum: New York State is sending us money. Yes, really. Over 8 million New York residents will be receiving an inflation refund check in the mail to compensate for higher sales taxes paid this year due to inflation. These checks are either $150 or $200 per qualified individual and capped at $400 per household. One person’s unexpected gift could be another’s godsend. Some of us are doing okay, but higher prices, along with job losses, and funding cuts to programs and organizations that provide food assistance and healthcare to people in need, are ...

A Way To Help The Poor

Letters To The Editor

To The Reader’s Forum: If you can, and only if you don’t need the New York state 2023 “inflation” refund check of $150 to $400 distributed by New York state this year to taxpayers, consider donating it to local food pantries, or other worthwhile food distributing organizations. We encourage you to do so willingly and regardless of the status of the federal government shutdown and/or “recission” of federal funding already appropriated for food aid programs (SNAP, USAID, etc.). For example, Linda and I received $400 from New York state recently and we will donate it ...

Push To Move Forward Without Losing Our Values

Letters To The Editor

To the Readers’ Forum: These days we read about and listen to heated debates regarding immigration and people who are on public assistance. Some people think immigrants, legal or illegal, and the beneficiaries of Medicaid or SNAP are the cause of many problems with today’s economy. They believe they are being cheated by these “takers.” On the other hand, one could argue that large corporations and the ultra-wealthy are cheating all of us when they get away with paying little or no taxes. Many of these same entities barely pay a living wage to their employees, while their ...