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In Our Opinion

Clearing City Sidewalks Is Becoming Complex Issue

City Council members want to do more to make sure sidewalks are shoveled throughout city neighborhoods. First, let’s address motivation. Council members are concerned about people walking in the street - and rightly so. But let’s not act as if cleared sidewalks will solve that particular problem. There are people who still walk in the street in areas where the city’s sidewalk plows have cleared sidewalks an hour after the plow has come through. Unless a sidewalk is cleared to bare pavement, bone dry and perfectly flat, the city will have people walking in the streets. And, ...

Prison Strikes Must Be Dealt With Quickly

In our opinion, Gov. Kathy Hochul took the wrong first step when prison workers went on strike Monday in Collins, Brocton and more than two dozen other state prisons. Because the governor didn’t immediately invoke the Taylor Act, which prohibits strikes by members of unions representing public safety workers like police officers, firefighters and corrections officers, Hochul is acting from a weaker position. That’s a problem because if this series of strikes isn’t resolved quickly, what stops a similar strike from happening in communities throughout the state? The city of ...

A Reminder That Shelter Is Only A First Step

We shouldn’t be surprised that Jamestown police officers are spending additional time patrolling near the Code Blue warming center on Washington Street. Some of the issues that are drawing police to be in the area in the morning and afternoon are similar to what was happening when the homeless were congregating in Brooklyn Square and other areas of the city last summer - fights, harassing people, littering and disorderly conduct. Extra patrols have been placed near the warming center while a two-officer car is in the area from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4 to 6 p.m. when car dealerships ...

Are We Sure Chronic Wasting Disease Isn’t Affecting Jamestown Deer?

Anyone driving from Warren to Jamestown has likely seen a billboard on the side of Route 62 warning about Chronic Wasting Disease. The disease is a fatal, neurological illness occurring in North American cervids (members of the deer family), including white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, and moose. Since its discovery in 1967, CWD has spread geographically - including an area of Warren County, Pa. and Oneida County in New York state as recently as 2005. The saving grace of chronic wasting disease is that it doesn’t affect humans. There have been no reported cases in Chautauqua ...

Hochul Ending NYPA Rate Hike Is A Good First Step

Gov. Kathy Hochul did the right thing last week by pulling a proposed New York Power Authority rate increase for hydropower. The authority was asking to triple its hydropower rates from $12.88 per megawatt-hours to $33.05 per megawatt hour over four years as well as make some other changes that concerned organizations like the Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier and the state Association of Public Power. “Today, I’m calling for an end to the Power Authority’s unacceptable proposal to raise electric rates on its customers statewide,” Hochul said. “Too many New ...

Proposing A Different Path For Preservation Ordinance

Discussions over a local preservation ordinance in Jamestown will continue next week. We’re sure the debate will continue over some of the points we’ve raised in this space over the past week. Taking a step away from what is, in our opinion, a poorly worded, overly punitive, rather restrictive ordinance, there are a bigger series of questions that should be answered before the city Planning Commission and then the City Council vote to approve a local preservation ordinance. What’s the end game with a local preservation ordinance? What are we looking to save and what is the ...