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In Our Opinion

No State Approval Needed To Slow Drivers Down

Yet another speed limit reduction has been declined by New York state, this time on a section of Garfield Road in Busti between South Main Street Extension and Baker Street Extension. Neither residents concerned about ever-increasing speeds on roads nor the state Transportation Department are at fault. The statistics don’t show a need to reduce the speed limits, so we can’t blame the state for not recommending speed limit decreases. The fact that we’ve been lucky not to have more serious accidents in some of these areas doesn’t mean concerned residents were wrong to bring the ...

It’s Time To Hire A Lake Manager

Discussion over a submerged aquatic vegetation plan proffered by the Chautauqua Lake Partnership at this week’s Lakewood Village Board meeting typifies why we are so good at studying Chautauqua Lake and not so good at doing anything on the lake. Cooperation has improved in recent years - and we’re glad that is happening. The Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance has helped, as has insistence from foundations that everybody involved in the lake play nicely with each other. But that’s easier to do when we’re getting money for studies and to support existing ...

Hero’ Notion For Mangione Needs A Rethink

Altoona has been accorded deserved praise but also has been inflicted with an undeserved black eye over the Luigi Mangione case — Mangione being the suspect in the high-profile murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson Dec. 4 outside a New York City hotel. The latter is totally without cause, saddening people here who still firmly believe that murder is not a good thing. But reject any thought that Mangione, from a prominent Baltimore real estate family, is destined to rot and die in prison, a forgotten man, if he is convicted of the heinous New York crime. Considering the ...

County Has Limited Choices To Bring Down Temporary Housing Costs

Rising costs for temporary housing have been a drag on Chautauqua County’s budget for the past few years. This year is no exception. County legislators are moving another $1.2 million from the county’s surplus to help pay for the nearly 200 people currently in temporary housing. That comes after moving another $1.5 from the county’s surplus in September on top of the $4.5 million originally budgeted this year. County officials are trying to be proactive, with plans to begin a new program called “Family Driven Case Management Services” to work with families to get them out ...

Governor’s Inflation Checks Are A One-Month Reprieve

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s State of the State plan to send a $500 check to New York families is an incredibly short-sighted plan to fight inflation and, frankly, boost her flagging approval ratings as Democrats come out of the woodwork looking to mount primary challenges against the governor. The governor made the inflation reduction checks the first centerpiece of her January State of the State speech, following former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s lead of trying to generate excitement by releasing bits and pieces of their goal-setting speech a full month before the speech actually takes place in ...

Will Legislature Have Political Will To Follow School Aid Proposal

The Rockefeller Institute of Government is proposing several changes to the way state aid to schools is distributed. Perhaps most controversially is the institute’s suggestion to change what is known as hold harmless aid. The stipulation in the existing Foundation Aid formula guarantees school districts will receive a minimum increase of $500 per pupil in Foundation Aid, with schools given the option to choose that level of funding if other options under the Foundation Aid formula would generate less state aid. Gov. Kathy Hochul wanted to cut the hold harmless aid as part of her ...