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Bean counters often on short end of municipal payroll

Since a much-needed control board is not part of the current equation, the city of Dunkirk is banking on a new comptroller to better steer the fiscal condition for the municipality. In taking the newly created position this month, Tracy Smith-Dengler will be compensated $140,000 per year. With the entity being strapped for cash, that figure has ruffled some feathers. Before the salary was made public, Common Council member Gary Frederickson from the Third Ward was the lone no vote on the position after he couldn’t get a response on the salary. “It seemed that nobody in this ...

CRYB names new school director

Following the retirement of Monika Alch, longtime Chautauqua Regional Youth Ballet artistic director and school director, after more than three decades of leadership, the CRYB has named Samantha Barczak as its new school director. Barczak worked alongside Alch throughout the past year. An ...

Jackson Center to host speakers Today, Monday

The Robert H. Jackson Center will host “25 Years of Asking Questions: Who Decides What Justice Looks Like?” on today, July 24, from 6 to 7 p.m. The free program is open to the public and will explore prosecutorial discretion through the lens of Robert H. Jackson’s landmark speech, “The Federal Prosecutor.” Featured speaker Jessica H. Kim, former U.S. Special Prosecutor for the Crime of Aggression, will discuss the power and responsibility prosecutors hold when deciding which cases to pursue and what justice requires. The event is part of the Center’s 25 Years of Asking ...

Clymer playground success leads to another potential grant

[galleryids=1400576, 1400577] CLYMER — The recent success of the town of Clymer’s KABOOM! Playground build has led to the possibility of the town being able to get another community-based grant. During the town board’s July meeting, the build days for the playground that occurred at the ...

Dunkirk council hears residents’ financial fears

The Dunkirk Common Council passed just two resolutions at its latest meeting Tuesday, and heard out some more worrying about city finances. Reva Byczynski and Nancy Nichols, two regular speakers during public comment time at council meetings, needled city officials a bit over finances. Byczynski offered well-wishes for new city Comptroller Tracy Smith-Dengler. “I know her to be an honest, hard-working civil servant. Why she wants to get involved in this hornet’s nest at City Hall, I don’t know — but I wish you all the best, Tracy,” she said. Byczynski expressed a rumor ...