Another fire department was under the state comptroller's microscope this month.Lily Dale Volunteer Fire Department was not properly keeping track of finances, according to the findings issued last week."Without monthly reports, the executive committee does not have a means of assessing and ...
Allowing immigrants with links to terrorists to stay in the United States makes no sense. We have plenty of applicants for entry who revere this country without giving breaks to those who do not.Not long after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, immigration policy was altered to bar people ...
Assuming President Barack Obama means what he says - more than an idle concern, in view of his record for veracity - Americans are about to get a lot less for the tax dollars they send to Washington.That cliff-drop of a loss in government services may well be felt at the local and state ...
Chautauqua County Home employees have spent years doing exemplary work in an oft-thankless job.It is quite understandable, then, that continued proposals to sell the Chautauqua County Home can feel like a slap in the face. It's difficult for them to see such fundamental changes to an ...
Thumbs up to for-profit businesses who lend a helping hand to area nonprofits. While our pages are filled with such examples of giving back throughout the year, three recently caught our attention. The Jamestown Cycle Shop provided a snowboard for use by Arturo Vargas from Puebla, Mexico, an AM ...
The Farm Bill passed recently by the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate isn't perfect.The bill cuts SNAP, the nation's food stamp program, by $8.6 billion over 10 years and restricts states' efforts to boost federal food stamp benefits by providing small amounts of unneeded heating ...
New York has tried taxing cigarettes out of existence.That approach isn't working very well. Surveys and polls show about 29 percent of adults in Chautauqua County are current smokers, 8 percent more than the New York state average and 14 percent more than the state's target for smoking rates. ...
There are five K-9 units in Chautauqua County: two at the Sheriff's Office, one at the New York State Police office in Jamestown, one with the Dunkirk Police Department and one with the Jamestown Police Department.Apparently, that isn't enough to make sure there is a unit available at all times ...
After nearly a century and a half at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, a treasure of American history was raised in 2002. Without a re-examination of federal government priorities, however, it may not be preserved for posterity.It is the USS Monitor, the first ironclad warship built by the U.S. ...
President Barack Obama could have saved some time in his State of the Union speech, summing up his attitude toward government with a simple hand gesture.Instead of discussing his plans at length, Obama could have looked at members of Congress seated in front of him, lifted his hand to his face, ...
Lakewood residents are right when they say it is time for the Lakewood and Busti governments to be located in one building.Give credit to the Busti Town Board, then, for tabling a motion to purchase the former Tordella's Surfaces building on Chautauqua Avenue, Lakewood, to be the next home of ...
Thumbs up to focusing on those with interesting stories to tell. Edgewood Communities Presents, a series of discussions hosted by Greg Peterson and sponsored by Lutheran and the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, will focus on Maria Welker at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Welker will share her life ...
If there is one takeaway from Mayor Sam Teresi's annual State of the City address, it is this - Jamestown isn't where it needs to be, but it is making progress.The address delivered to the City Council on Monday trumpeted some of the city's more notable achievements this year, as all such ...
Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposed $137.2 billion state budget for 2014-15 should be popular among area school superintendents.It isn't.Projections show a $5,305,004 total increase in state aid for Chautauqua County schools and a $3,102,635 total increase for Cattaraugus County schools. ...
Who knows why people lead police on high-speed chases?Perhaps people saw "Smokey and the Bandit" or "The Dukes of Hazzard" a few too many times and think they can actually outrun the law. Perhaps it's not comprehending the law and thinking that making it to another police department's ...
Another wave of arctic-cold weather has hit the area. With it will come an increase in the number of house fires - and possibly, deaths in them.Many of the primary heating systems in local homes struggle to keep residents comfortable when outside temperatures dip below zero. That prompts many ...
Liberal Democrats are fond of condemning so-called extremist conservatives. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo did it the other day, slamming "these extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault weapon, anti-gay ... They have no place in the state of New York, because that's not who New ...
We had hoped discussions of the degree to which Chautauqua County's economy is struggling would have ended in November.Apparently, we were wrong.To recap, both Ron Johnson and Vince Horrigan pointed to different figures to show that fewer people are employed in Chautauqua County than there used ...
Thumbs up to the local appearance of the snowy owl, a beautiful white owl that has been seen perched on elevated points like fenceposts, roofs or utility poles in the northeastern United States, including throughout Chautauqua County. Our area is typically far from the normal range for these ...
Even one innocent person hurt by someone driving while intoxicated is too many.It has taken decades, but New York has created some of the toughest DWI laws in the nation - laws that surely have helped decrease the number of drunk drivers on New York's roads. Gov. Andrew Cuomo's plan to take ...