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Fuel prices continue to increase

The national average price for a gallon of gasoline is $4.10, up 4 cents from Aug. 17. One year ago, the price was $3.15. The New York state average is $4.16, up 3 cents from last Monday. A year ago, the state average was $3.16. In Chautauqua County, the range for fuel is between $4.25 to $4.35 a gallon. The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline is up 4 cents, and this August is shaping up to be the highest on record. Even though gasoline demand is down, which is typical for this time of year, higher crude oil prices are pushing up the national average gasoline prices. ...

County awarded $250,000 for housing development

Chautauqua County has been awarded $250,000 through New York State Homes and Community Renewal’s Technical Assistance to Grow Pro-Housing Communities (TAG) program to advance housing development and help municipalities capitalize on opportunities for new residential investment. The initiative builds upon the Chautauqua County Housing Market Assessment and Development Strategy, completed in February 2024, which identified the creation of a healthy and well-functioning housing market as critical to the vibrancy of local communities, the well-being of residents, and the County’s ...

Strong ‘Voice:’ Opera House welcomes West on Friday

FREDONIA -- The 1891 Fredonia Opera House Performing Arts Center will present An Evening with The Voice’s Lucas West on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Rochester-based vocalist, instrumentalist, and West is thought by many to be a strong force of the next generation of popular music. The ...

Fredonia officials distance selves from Flock cameras

FREDONIA — Flock camera outrage has reached Fredonia, with village officials distancing themselves from the program at last week’s Board of Trustees meeting. The issue was the very first thing Mayor Michael Ferguson spoke about at the meeting. “We’ve had a lot of phone calls and ...

WACS hears support from county boards

Former Interim Principal, Todd Crandall, took off his principal's hat and put on his Executive Director of the Chautauqua County School Boards Association hat to address the Westfield Academy and Central School Board of Education at their meeting this month. Crandall, who became well acquainted with WACS school board members during his time as Interim Middle and Secondary School Principal, told board members that he will be making presentations to all boards in Chautauqua County. "We want boards across the county to know that they are not working in isolation," he said. All 19 ...

Group aims to save Ripley bat habitat

RIPLEY — “Lucy!” cried one bat researcher to Jonathan Townsend. Lucy is the affectionate nickname for the Little Brown Bat, also known as Myotis lucifugus. “It’s too hard to shout Myotis lucifugus during research” claimed Townsend, “so we all shout Lucy! when we find a Little Brown Bat.” That’s been harder to do in recent years. Historically, Chautauqua County had some of the best Little Brown Bat habitat in Western New York. The Chautauqua Institution had a Little Brown Bat maternity colony estimated to have 10,000 bats. Another famous maternity colony was in ...