Government purchase of lakefront property in Mayville raises questions

June 30, 2026

There doesn’t seem to be much commercial interest in land on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in Mayville where a controversial condominium project was once planned. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing for Mayville residents who fought the condo project tooth and nail over the course of years before the project fell apart. For now, the open views of Chautauqua Lake are preserved. Mayville Mayor Rick Syper has approached the Mayville Village Board about possibly purchasing the parcel. The 1.2 acre parcel is currently owned by Erie Bank and being advertised as suitable for commercial ...

Access to mental health treatment still lags

June 29, 2026

The fact that we have a mental health treatment capacity shortage in rural areas should come as no shock to anyone. Those in the health care industry have been talking about the lack of capacity for years. State and federal officials have heard the stories. And while we understand that it takes time to rebuild the mental health care infrastructure after it has been intentionally dismantled in well-meaning but ultimately fruitless efforts over the course of decades, work to increase mental health care capacity cannot continue at the current snail’s pace. We don’t all think about ...

City’s application earned DRI funding. Now it must deliver

June 27, 2026

City residents should have cautious optimism following the announcement that Jamestown has received another $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant from New York state. City officials put together a pretty impressive application. For that, Crystal Surdyk, city development director, and her team deserve a lot of credit. Surdyk and Jason Kulaszewski, city principal planner, had talked publicly about the plan having 24 distinct projects in the past, but simply having 24 projects doesn’t guarantee a big impact on downtown. Seeing the 24 projects makes one think that the ...

Maybe the second time is the charm for Furniture Mart

June 25, 2026

Ten years ago city officials had high hopes for the redevelopment of the Furniture Mart building. At the time, the $19 million project was going to be led by Ellicott Development with $1.5 million of DRI money earmarked for the project. The proposal was for two floors of office space, a 100-room hotel spread over five floors and rental apartments on the remaining three floors. The parking lot next to the building was to see a parking structure with 354 spaces, including 90 spaces available to the public. Retail space would have been created on the first floor. A decade later, ...

Study’s release puts ball in communities’ court

June 24, 2026

We now should feel fairly comfortable that it’s not only possible to merge the Clymer, Sherman and Panama school districts, but generally beneficial to do so now that the merger study by White and Partners has been released. The 149-page study, for those interested, is available at tinyurl.com/3xp2dt97. In short, the study reinforces declining population trends in all three districts, suggests keeping elementary school children in their respective home communities and then operating a merged middle-high school for seventh through 12th grades in Panama for a variety of reasons. The ...

Straw gun purchases fueling illegal gun pipeline

June 23, 2026

A recent incident in Warren provides an example of just how easy it can be to skirt well-meaning laws written to keep guns out of the wrong hands. A couple with Buffalo addresses living in Warren were both charged earlier this spring with several felony charges related to alleged false statements made on gun purchase forms, including five purchases in Warren County for firearms then taken to New York state and sold to the sort of people who won’t undergo a background check. What should make people on both sides of our nation’s intractable gun debate consider is that this scheme ...