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In Our Opinion

A System In Need Of Reform

There’s something disturbing about the fact that, at a time when state Senate Democrats want to expand health insurance coverage to undocumented immigrants, we hear from City Council members that some retired Jamestown city employees can’t afford their insurance. Jamestown officials certainly aren’t off-base in creating a policy to guide situations in which retirees aren’t paying their monthly health care premiums. As proposed during a recent work session, Mayor Kim Ecklund and her administrative team are proposing a 2% fee for payments received 31 days or more after a bill is ...

The Reverse Robin Hood Of State’s EV Rebate Program

Did Robin Hood get it wrong? Did the famous swashbuckling character created by Howard Pyle in the 1880s miss the boat when he robbed the rich to give to the poor? We don’t think so. But when it comes to the way electric vehicle rebates are handled in New York’s Sherwood Forest, the money is taken from all of us and given to those who have a financial advantage. The rebates for electric vehicles - currently available for new EVs while legislators debate extending the rebate to used EVs - are paid for by utility surcharges. Everyone pays the same surcharge, which means the fee ...

As Summer Begins, Chautauqua Lake Takes Center Stage

This week marks the unofficial start of the summer tourist season - and with it comes several opportunities to hear several points of view regarding the health of Chautauqua Lake, a central cornerstone to the county’s tourism efforts. Jim Wehrfritz, a longtime lake advocate who has expressed concerns about how new state wetlands regulations could affect the lake, will host his second public meeting on the topic with identical presentations from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Sunday at the Lawson Center in Bemus Point and again from noon to 1:30 p.m. Monday at the Bemus Point Golf Club and Tap ...

Proposed Ban On Open Carry Of Long Guns Makes Little Sense

We’ve disagreed with the way New York state handled changes to conceal carry permits for pistols. But one thing that we can’t disagree with is the logic behind wanting to know who is concealed carrying a handgun. After all, the point of pistol permits is to have some record of those who can legally carry a concealed weapon. We’re not sure the logic extends to a proposed ban on the open carry of long guns. State Sen. Michael Gianaris, D-Astoria rote in his legislative justification that restrictions on the open carry of long guns will help decrease violent crime. It’s ...

State’s Attempt To Be Fair To Female Athletes May Backfire

By this fall, it will be much easier for girls who want to play boys varsity sports to do so. That’s not a bad thing. Girls who can athletically compete should be able to do so without demeaning, invasive tests or having to do more to prove they are athletically capable than a boy of the same age. On that front, we can’t disagree with the state Education Department’s decision to end the Tanner test, a process during which female athletes had to go through embarrassing examinations before they could play sports with boys. And, in a world in which parents tell their daughters ...

Medgar Evers Deserves Presidential Medal Of Freedom Honor

President Joe Biden recently presented 19 people with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. One of the 19 recipients of the Medal of Freedom stood out to us as particularly noteworthy. Medgar Evers truly served his country — first in the U.S. Army, serving in combat during World War II, then as a civil rights activist, leading demonstrations and organizing voter-registration drives, among other acts of service. In the 1950s, Evers applied to law school at the University of Mississippi to challenge its discriminatory practices, Brigit Katz, writing for Smithsonian magazine, ...