Temperatures have reached the point where most of us can no longer deny that winter is coming. With the change of seasons comes an increase in the need to heat our homes — and fire departments are warning residents there is also an increased need for caution. One popular way to keep warm ...

The more than 150 people who took time out of their Tuesday evening to attend this week’s Jamestown Public Schools Board of Education meeting learned that 45 Jamestown High School students with high absentee and discipline rates have been identified for placement in a personalized learning ...

This week’s Empire State Poverty Reduction Initiative task force meeting paints a sobering picture of Jamestown, when you think about it. Consider that there are an average of 12,788 households in Jamestown over the past five years, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics. ESPRI task ...

If he hasn’t done so already, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is stepping dangerously close to the line that separates elected officials from independent agencies. At issue, this time, is the controversy over National Grid’s desire to build a new natural gas pipeline downstate and an ensuing refusal ...

The clock is ticking on recommendations to reform New York’s election law — and as of Monday, the public still hasn’t gotten a chance to take a look at them. Reports from the New York Daily News and other media outlets provide an outline of the New York State Public Campaign Finance ...

Mary Poppins once famously sang that a spoonful of sugar can help the medicine go down. The vote last week to approve Jamestown’s budget that included an additional $40,000 for the James Prendergast Library is likely to be the last spoonful of sugar before both the city and the library ...

During visits to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, on Sunday, Pope Francis pronounced that, “The use of atomic energy for purposes of war is immoral.” He added, “As is the possession of atomic weapons.” For many years, the Roman Catholic Church seemed to sanction policies by the United ...

It comes as little surprise that the debate over annexing substation property the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities owns in the village of Falconer has reared its head again. We hope Jamestown doesn’t make the same mistakes it did the last time, though the process is starting out in much ...

A piece of legislation introduced this week in the state Senate should become law quickly during the next state legislative session. State Sen. Chris Jacobs, R-Buffalo, wants to bring some transparency to the costs born by local utility ratepayers for state clean energy programs like the ...

Most of us have good reason to pause and give thanks today. Our families top the list of blessings bestowed upon us, of course. Consider, though, the new Americans taking the oath of citizenship every day around our country. Having learned what it means to be an American — gaining in the ...

What has occurred thus far in the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump bears little resemblance to a criminal trial — and that is appropriate. The House of Representatives move against Trump involves politics, not allegations of criminal behavior. Much of the inquiry was ...

Quite often, public input meetings are attended by the same few dozen select people. Those few dozen voices take on outsized importance because they are the only ones speaking. We hope that isn’t the case with four public meetings to be hosted by Mayor-elect Eddie Sundquist and his ...

For decades, tobacco companies insisted their product was not hazardous to health. When scientific proof countered that, they maintained their advertising strategies were not calculated to get as many new smokers hooked on nicotine as possible. We know now that all of those protestations ...

For the first time in more than a decade, Republicans will control a branch of Jamestown city government after incumbent Brent Sheldon, R-Ward 1, was confirmed as the winner of his tightly contested race against challenger Tim Smeal. It appears, from city Republican Party Chairman Brent ...

Slightly more than 30 years ago, millions of Americans watched helplessly as pro-democracy protests in China were crushed ruthlessly. Our horror at the Tiananmen Square massacre was mixed with admiration for the courage shown by more than a million Chinese in standing up to the ...

We don’t know whether or not it is a good idea to put a tattoo studio on Fourth Street in downtown Jamestown. There may be a good reason why the city’s zoning code is written to only permit tattoo businesses in manufacturing areas. There may be a good case to be made for rewriting that ...

Give the city of Dunkirk credit for realizing that if the city wants vitality, it has to create vitality. In addition to a Spring Fest in June and a Beach Bash in August, the Dunkirk Local Development Corporation has created a Music on the Pier series that features a free band on the Dunkirk ...

Count us among those who had to look up “swatting” online after receiving Monday’s Post-Journal. Swatting pranks occur when first responders are called to a specific location in response to an immediate and urgent emergency in hopes that police will turn out in full force with a SWAT ...

Should one need further proof that the federal government and its bureaucracy are dangerously behind and out-of-touch with reality, take a look at the “revelation” presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week. It turns out, childhood trauma — or Adverse ...

Jamestown Public Schools District officials find themselves walking a very fine line these days. In a city with high poverty, district officials are often trying to educate students for whom education is a low priority. That’s somewhat understandable. Families struggling to put meals on ...