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In Our Opinion

So Far, You’re Bearing Brunt Of Homeless Aid

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently released its 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report: Part 1: Point-in-Time Estimates. It’s results aren’t surprising, at least not to those who have been paying attention to what’s been happening in Jamestown over the past year. The annual snapshot of the number of individuals in shelters, temporary housing, and unsheltered settings found more than 770,000 people were experiencing homelessness on a single night in January 2024, an 18% increase from 2023. Believe it or not, it’s actually not comforting to know ...

Decision About Weight Loss Drugs Not Easy

Americans elect their leaders on the premise that those individuals will be capable of making the right decisions on difficult, as well as easy, issues. An issue on which members of Congress might have to render a decision, possibly in the early weeks of the new legislative session, is the kind of topic that could generate opposition and trigger anger, no matter how the decision making shakes out. The issue is whether Medicare and Medicaid should pay for popular anti-obesity drugs for many more Americans than those already eligible for that benefit. The Biden administration ...

Legislative Goals For 2024 Are Lacking

It’s good to have goals. In the next few weeks, we’re going to be hearing a lot about our elected officials’ goals in the form of various agenda-setting addresses at the city, county, state and federal levels. The first such effort came from Pierre Chagnon, R-Ellery and chairman of the Chautauqua County Legislature, during last week’s legislature reorganizational meeting. Those goals, honestly, are pretty meh. Chagnon has six goals in mind for the coming year: successful launch of the administrative director for the North Chautauqua County water and sewer districts, support ...

What Can Be Done To Help Fulton Street Residents?

Some Fulton Street residents are fed up - and we really can’t blame them. For the second time in the past few months, residents spoke before the City Council asking for something to be done to rein in unruly behavior on their street. Police are called, police respond, police de-escalate the situation and then the situation repeats itself. It’s a horrible way to live. And, for too many in Jamestown, these situations are all too common. There is little, sometimes, that police officers can do. There aren’t many laws that deal with the sort of threats and general unpleasantness ...

More Than One Way To Save Energy Costs

We can’t criticize Gov. Josh Shapiro for filing a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission against PJM Interconnection. Pennsylvania residents can’t afford the possibility of $20 billion more in electricity costs if PJM Interconnection’s capacity auction ends up imposing new costs on consumers. Shapiro argues that PJM is not currently allowing new power plants to request connection to its grid, which means its capacity auctions are leading to record-high costs without safeguarding reliability of the power grid. Over the last several years, demand for energy has ...

Electrification Chickens About To Come Home To Roost

We have no doubt that the New York Power Authority has its reasons to increase hydropower rates charged to customers like the city of Jamestown. But NYPA’s proposed 2025 to 2029 rate increase that would nearly triple rates charged to customers cannot be approved by the state Public Service Commission. Remember, this increase would come at the same time power costs are already increasing thanks to the state’s electrification of its electric grid, a cost homeowners and businesses see in their fuel adjustment charge on their power bills each month. The New York Association of ...