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Opinion

State’s data center moratorium is reasonable - for now

In Our Opinion

It’s reasonable to see Gov. Kathy Hochul’s one-year moratorium on data centers as a reasonable delay in order to develop appropriate protections and guidelines in state law to govern data centers. What the governor has done is no different legally than what local towns and villages have been doing over the past year by enacting - and in some cases extending - moratoriums on wind and solar projects and on battery energy storage systems. It’s reasonable to see data centers as an emerging issue that requires a pause to manage the development appropriately. Our concern is that ...

State should make housing demolitions a priority, too

In Our Opinion

Jamestown officials are moving fairly expeditiously through housing demolitions so far this year. And that’s a good thing, but as we noted a couple of weeks ago something has to change in the way housing demolitions are funded as the sources of money fueling this binge of demolitions is dwindling. It’s worth noting, though, that even if money were no object, the state does the city no favors with voluminous regulations that unnecessarily drag the demolition process out and drive up the cost of demolitions. It's amazing what can happen when the power of government gets behind ...

Legislature should delay vote on office move

In Our Opinion

An artist’s rendering of the former Third Street post office features a big Chautauqua County logo on the building’s wall facing Jamestown City Hall instead of the Lucille Ball mural that was also used as a U.S. postage stamp. We’re sure it’s artistic license as part of a sales pitch rather than a serious proposal to actually remove the mural, but the artist’s rendering raises a question that we hope Chautauqua County legislators keep in mind before they vote on a proposal to consolidate the county’s Jamestown offices into the post office building - what else looks funny ...

Readers' Forum

Letters To The Editor

Proposed 2027 law will fuse U.S. and Israeli military To The Reader’s Forum: Every year, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) presents its wish list of monies for the coming year. Lobbyists for the “defense industry” submit a massive document — over a thousand pages — that very few read in its entirety. In general, Congress subsequently enacts the laws granting upwards of one-and-a-half trillion dollars for the “military industrial complex.” The NDAA for 2027, released May 13, contains a proposal - section 224 in the House bill - that will virtually ...

In Our Opinion

In Our Opinion

Chautauqua Lake has seen its share of potential invasive species over the past couple of decades. We had a close scare with the water chestnut, an aggressive aquatic plant that was most primarily concentrated in the Chadakoin River outlet and nearby waterways like the Audubon Community Nature Center's big pond. Chautauqua Lake was largely spared the worst. Hydrilla has been found in nearby water bodies, but not in Chautauqua Lake so far despite warnings dating back to at least 2013 that the invasive plant is spreading. Luck hasn't been quite as good with starry stonewort, though ...

America at 250, service is our greatest strength

Local Commentaries

America’s 250th birthday is a special anniversary in the history of our nation; the success of this great experiment should be celebrated and, this year, I would encourage you to reflect on what it is that has made America so special. Alexis de Tocqueville, a political philosopher who studied and toured America in the 19th century, once commented that America’s culture of voluntary association is one of our nation’s greatest strengths. Ordinary citizens coming together in groups, clubs, churches, charities, civic organizations, and local committees to solve problems together ...