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In Our Opinion

Federal Budget Proposals Impact City, County Plans

Jamestown officials are making a push to reverse President Donald Trump’s cuts that would largely eliminate the Community Development Block Grant and HOME programs. To be honest we can see both sides of the issue. City officials on an already thin budget don’t want to lose both the program money that they use on housing projects that help low- to moderate-income city residents as well as the administrative portion of the grant program that helps pay the salaries of city staff who work on housing and development. The president, meanwhile, sees a program that audits have shown ...

Second Street Plan Came Quickly – For Government

Jamestown officials have received confirmation from the state that interim surface improvements on East Second Street are tentatively scheduled to begin the week of June 9. Parts of the street that were treacherous over the winter are at least passable thanks to cold patching that has stayed in place with the arrival of warmer weather. We welcome the state’s announcement that some more permanent patching is coming while we wait for the full reconstruction of Second Street next year. The coordinated effort between the city Public Works Department and state Transportation ...

Rite Aid Is Only Latest Domino To Fall

The news that Rite Aid is likely to close its New York stores if it can’t sell them by June is going to be a problem for those who live in rural areas. Closing the Brooklyn Square and West Ellicott stores isn’t a huge inconvenience given that there are pharmacies very close to both locations. The same is true of locations in Dunkirk and Fredonia; there are options for customers don’t mean a lengthy drive to another pharmacy. But for those who use Rite Aid pharmacies in Mayville, Silver Creek, Salamanca and Gowanda, the loss of their pharmacy will make life more difficult. ...

Legislature Could Have Prevented Wetland Regulations Lawsuits

Four lawsuits have been filed across the state from groups and municipalities concerned about the effects of the state’s Freshwater Wetlands Act. Concerns are nothing new to our readers. We’ve been reporting on them long before they were a concern throughout the rest of the state. While the lawsuits wind their way through the court system - three in state Supreme Court in Albany and one here in state Supreme Court in Mayville - it’s worth remembering that the lawsuits shouldn’t have been necessary. The state Legislature could have headed off many of the concerns raised by ...

Jail Lawsuit Is Missing A Defendant – New York State

We recently reported on a lawsuit filed against Chautauqua County involving the death of a Gowanda youth in the jail. The case is going to be heard in U.S. federal court because it alleges violations of the U.S. Constitution, but the case largely alleges county jail staff didn’t address Maybee’s suicidal thoughts and behaviors before his December 2022 death. Maybee had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, had been hospitalized for a month and undergone a few days of electroconvulsive therapy at the Erie County Medical Center. He was released from ECMC on Nov. 8, ...

Mundane County Resolution Shows Why Discovery Reform Is Needed

Before Jason Schmidt had been elected Chautauqua County’s District Attorney, he didn’t think he needed changes to bail reform and discovery laws. He was just going to deal with them, he told The Post-Journal and OBSERVER during a candidate debate before he was elected. Then, he quickly found out that dealing with the state’s discovery rules wasn’t something to simply be dealt with. Things have changed since then. Schmidt and other district attorneys around the state have lobbied hard for discovery reforms in an attempt to reverse a statewide trend of increasing dismissal of ...