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In Our Opinion

How Do We Energize Local Elections Too?

Voter turnout was through the roof a week ago, both in Chautauqua County, New York state and the country at large. It wasn’t unexpected. Voters always turn out when it’s time to vote for a president, and the 2024 race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris was something we’ve never seen before. A sitting president bowed out of a campaign for the first time since 1968. We saw our first public assassination attempt of a president or presidential candidate since 1981 - and then saw a second attempt on a candidate’s life. There was plenty of mudslinging and name-calling, too. ...

City’s Population Loss Is About To Hit Your Wallet

It’s easy for discussion over the region’s population loss to feel as if it has no stakes. That’s because population loss tends to happen more like a trickle than a burst pipe. But it’s there nonetheless, our population dripping away like a leaky faucet. Jamestown’s population in 1930 was 45,155, according to the 1930 census. It’s now estimated to be 27,731. The 17,424 people lost over 94 years looks like a huge number, but it’s only about .4% a year. Because we haven’t seen a population flood, the consequences of our dwindling population aren’t always as easy to see ...

New County Elections Commissioner Will Walk A Familiar Tightrope

Chautauqua County has a new face as its Republican election commissioner - though she’s no stranger to the county’s elections. Nacole Ellis, a Chautauqua County Board of Elections employee, has been appointed by Republicans on the Chautauqua County Legislature to replace the retiring Brian Abrams. Ellis has also served as the chairwoman of the Chautauqua County Republican Party. The practice isn’t breaking any laws. It’s not even that uncommon. Chautauqua County’s last Democratic Party election commission served as chair of the Chautauqua County Democratic Party before ...

Community Education Needed To Help Homeless

We reported over the weekend on the sad case of a woman who had suffered a stroke and found herself homeless in the park across Second Street from The Post-Journal. We didn’t share the story for a pat on the back - though the employees who did what they could to help the woman until they spoke with our Christopher Blakeslee certainly deserve one. Blakeslee, too, deserves a pat on the back for making the phone calls that got the woman the help she needed. The real reason for sharing the story is to illustrate just how hard it is for compassionate people who want to help the ...

Make A Billion Dollar Investment Pay Off – Go Vote Today

Today is Election Day, the culmination of what feels like two years of campaigning by presidential candidates. More than $1 billion will have been spent by Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump in an effort to secure your vote. Another $250,000 has been raised by the two candidates seeking to replace the retiring Andy Goodell in the state Assembly. So let’s make sure this is money well spent by heading out to the polls today. Early voting, so often a disappointing exercise, has been packed this year. As of Wednesday, more than 8,800 ...

Drug Buy Money Is Important Piece Of Fight Against Illegal Drugs

If City Council members were to take a poll of city residents’ biggest concerns, we have a feeling decreasing the flow of illegal drugs coming into the city would be high on the list. It’s one reason that Police Chief Timothy Jackson’s request for drug buy money is a strong request to be considered in future years as council members and Mayor Kim Ecklund try to right-size the city’s budget. For years the Jamestown Police Department used money seized from drug investigations for drug buy money. The only problem with that is some years there’s a lot of money seized as part ...