Homeless situation is getting worse rather than better

May 28, 2026

County lawmakers learned recently that the county’s Social Services Department is being forced to move the homeless to neighboring counties as portions of hotels the county uses to house the homeless have been closed due to code compliance issues. In April, the Ellicott Code Office had to shut down the portion of the Clarion Pointe Hotel, formerly known as the Comfort Inn on Route 60 just outside of Jamestown, that houses Department of Social Services clients.Then earlier this month, the former Econo Lodge on Route 60, Fredonia was completely shut down. It, too, had been housing DSS ...

Taxpayers Continue To Be Squeezed By Taxes, Fees

May 27, 2026

Jamestown Public Schools District voters last week overwhelmingly approved an increase in the 529 tax revenue that will be provided to the James Prendergast Library. It’s the first increase in 529 funding for the Jamestown library since it was first approved by voters in 2020 as a way to replace funding that was being cut from the Jamestown city budget. The library hasn’t sought an increase in funding in the ensuing six years before asking for a $70,000 increase from school district voters last week. That request was approved as expected. It’s worth noting that the vote ...

Blanket BESS Prohibition May Not Work In Ellicott

May 26, 2026

There is a lot of unease regarding the idea of Battery Energy Storage Systems, so we can certainly understand the town of Ellicott taking the first step on a blanket moratorium on BESS systems in the town. In August 2024 the county IDA sold about 12 acres of vacant land on Dow Street, south of Allen Street, in Ellicott to Granite Source Power. Granite Source Power officials told IDA officials the company wants to install a 100-megawatt battery storage project on the site. Essentially, the project is described as a shipping container one would see on a freightliner filled with racks of ...

Keep ‘Memorial’ Foremost In Mind On Memorial Day

May 23, 2026

Sadly enough, many Americans unintentionally will disrespect the true meaning and purpose of today's solemn national holiday. After all, ever since 1971 when Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be observed on the fourth Monday in May, for many, the holiday is simply the final day of a long weekend dedicated to the start of summer fun and frolic. For far too many of us, Memorial Day's primary purpose has been corrupted. The day has become a day to fire up that shiny new grill for outdoor barbecues, a day to catch some rays at the beach or simply a day off work to ...

City, Partners Go Back To The Past With Conventions Push

May 21, 2026

Jamestown and its nonprofit partners are going to pursue conventions in an attempt to bring people downtown. The Jamestown Meetings and Conferences Initiative is one of the first tasks given to the newly reconstituted Jamestown Renaissance Corporation. The effort includes the city of Jamestown, Chautauqua County Government, CHQ Chamber, Chautauqua County Visitor’s Bureau, Gebbie Foundation and Jamestown area attractions and hotels. It’s just the latest example of that which is old becoming new again. Jamestown has been down this road before - and actually had a modicum of ...

Automatic Raises For Legislators Should End

May 20, 2026

The idea of automatic cost-of-living-adjustments for Chautauqua County legislators is, and frankly always was, a bad idea. We weren’t in favor of legislators receiving a 64% increase in pay in 2024. While that was the first raise in county lawmakers’ pay in about 20 years. A $5,700 raise doesn’t look like much until you realize it equaled a nearly $110,000 increase to the county budget. Now, next year, legislators are set to receive another pay increase tied to inflation. Can all the county residents who work two jobs raise their hands if their part-time employer have ...