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Opinion

Sullivan should be re-elected as Family Court judge

In Our Opinion

Voters have a choice when it comes to Chautauqua County Family Court Judge this year, with incumbent Michael Sullivan facing off against challenger Alexandria Moss. Both candidates are from the north county and come with qualifications that suit the position. Sullivan has served as one of the county’s two Family Court judges, handling more than 16,000 cases in Chautauqua County Family Court and another 850 from Cattaraugus County. Sullivan has also in the Court Improvement Project has provided him with a broader perspective on the challenges facing Family Courts and the importance of ...

Vote for financial conservatism, common sense on the County Legislature

In Our Opinion

Voters have a clear choice to make regarding the Chautauqua County Legislature when they go to the polls on Nov. 3 - keep the status quo or shake things up. Locally, voters will see contested races in seven races. In District 9, the recent move of incumbent Democrat Vince DeJoy to North Carolina, coupled with news that former legislator Charles Nazzaro intends to step into the vacancy and accept the position if DeJoy ends up winning the position pits Nazzaro against John Vogan, a Republican Jamestown resident who has been a longtime varsity wrestling coach at Southwestern Central ...

Reader’s Forum:

Letters To The Editor

Where are the Communists everyone’s talking about? To The Reader’s Forum: It’s election season which means it’s time for politicians to, either, tout their accomplishments if things have gone well, or attack their opponent if things are going poorly. In the spirit of election season, I have heard in my community about the rise of communism. Our president has spoken of protecting Americans from the threat of communism, though this idea has mostly emerged with the midterms. It’s a fascinating, if ridiculous, idea. True communism is identified with State control of Industry, ...

DiNapoli has earned another term as state comptroller

In Our Opinion

Incumbent state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has a strong challenger this year in Republican challenger Joseph Hernandez. Hernandez has raised questions about DiNapoli's role in the growth of the state's debt load, wants to create a Medicaid Fraud Strike Team as Medicaid spending increases and fraud convictions decrease and proposes additional checks on $21 billion in state aid to New York City. Hernandez, like past challengers to DiNapoli, also wants to pull back from investing state pension funds in accordance with the state’s environmental, social and governance goals and invest ...

The importance of public water systems

Local Commentaries

This past week marked a big event at our house—we were finally connected to the public sewer system that has just been completed along the west side of Chautauqua Lake. When it happened, it was really a “non-event.” The toilet flushed the same way, the drains in the sink were no different than before—yet, we knew that our wastewater was now going to a better place—the public sewage treatment plant in Celoron. Actually, I think that I slept better that night, knowing that this 10-year odyssey of getting sewers up the lake had finally come to a successful conclusion at our ...

How much do you want to pay for a SAFER Jamestown?

In Our Opinion

In 2023, yellow signs proclaiming the need for a SAFER Jamestown were seen on almost every block in the city. In 2027, we all get to pay for a SAFER Jamestown. Mayor Kim Ecklund’s 2027 budget proposal comes with a 7.4% property tax increase driven by a lot of costs the city doesn’t have much control over - and one big one that the city does control. We’re talking about fire department staffing and the fork in the road the city has reached after hiring four firefighters paid for with American Rescue Plan Act funding and eight firefighters paid for with federal SAFER grant ...