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In Our Opinion

Could Involuntary Commitment Changes Help With Worst Of Homeless Cases?

Included in an agreement Monday night to resolve the state’s late budget includes a change in state law to allow hospitals to involuntarily commit mentally ill New Yorkers to their care if patients cannot meet their basic needs. It’s a change from the previous standard, which allowed involuntary commitment only when a patient posed a physical threat to themselves or others. Could the new standard help with some of Jamestown’s most persistent homeless residents? It’s entirely possible. County officials have stepped up in recent months to do more to help those who find ...

Blueway Trail Adds Another Way To Enjoy The Outdoors

Bemus Point and Ellery have long been a key hub for boats on Chautauqua Lake. The village could find itself a key outpost on the lake for kayakers, too, with the opening of the Bemus Point-Ellery Paddle Trial and Blueway Course. Copies of the route are finished as town and village officials push to have the kayak and canoe trail open for the summer season. Bemus Point had previously received a $15,000 grant to study the idea and then move ahead with a blue water trail along the shores of Chautauqua Lake. Water trails or blueways are marked routes on navigable waterways such as ...

Is This The Time To Worry About Non Fred Fest?

Trust us, we can understand Fredonia Mayor Mike Ferguson’s feelings regarding recent comments made by State University at Fredonia students regarding the village’s handling of water issues and non Fred Fest. Fredonia students quoted in the student newspaper and an editorial written by a Fredonia student weren’t complimentary of village government. We’re sure Ferguson and other Fredonia Village Board members felt like they were wearing pork chop underwear in a dog park before reading The Leader story and editorial. The exercise is a good lesson for the Leader editorial writer. ...

State’s Prison Crisis Isn’t Going Away Anytime Soon

Is the state’s early release of non-violent inmates going to immediately create a public safety issue throughout the state? Of course not. But state officials are deluding themselves if they think this won’t be the only time the state’s lack of corrections officers is going to mean releasing inmates early in order to maintain safe staffing levels in prisons unless something changes. State officials are also deluding themselves if they think they can continue paying the National Guard tens of millions of dollars a month to maintain what were already poor staffing levels in the ...

Developer’s Forum Should Be Two-Way Street

There is no downside to the developer’s forum being hosted by the city’s Board of Public Utilities next week. City officials hope to have about 65 developers, commercial bankers and those interested in housing development visit the city as part of an effort to drive interest toward vacant or underutilized commercial buildings while also setting the stage for housing redevelopment in city neighborhoods that Crystal Surdyk, city development director, hopes is a step in creating more affordable housing in the city. Part of the Developer’s Forum will be to have the people who ...

Even Flawed Fiscal Stress Monitors Could Have Helped Fredonia

As Fredonia village officials struggle to whittle down a 65.3% tax levy increase, it’s interesting to note the village was also found not to be in fiscal stress in a state Comptroller’s Office review of village budgets released last week. We’ve said before that we think the Fiscal Stress Monitoring System is flawed, particularly when looking at Jamestown’s finances in the past. We still think the system is flawed, but perhaps the biggest flaw is that local governments have to submit paperwork to the state in order to be included in the rankings. Fredonia didn’t do that in ...