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Wetlands Law Challenge Takes Surprising Turn

CHAUTAUQUA LAKE—The court challenge to New York’s wetlands law has taken a surprising, fascinating turn. To understand this, let’s pick up where we left off six weeks ago. That’s when acting state Supreme Court Justice Richard Platkin struck down the New York state Department of Environmental Conservation’s, or DEC’s, wetlands regulations. * * * Such law can be devastating for Chautauqua County, particularly because of the impact on Chautauqua Lake. By increasing controls over what the DEC labels as wetlands, the law can turn Chautauqua Lake into a weed farm, ...

Democrats Are Having An Election

There hasn’t been much publicity about it, but the Democrats are having a Primary Election on Tuesday, June 23rd. Democrats are noted for being somewhat scrappy and independent-minded, so this should not be a surprise. As a matter of fact, having elections is a good thing. There are two individuals who are now vying for the Democratic nomination to run against our current Congressman in the fall election—Aaron Geis and Kevin Stocker. Since Geis is from the Southern Tier (Olean,) he might be deemed the favorite as the 23rd Congressional District is primarily a Southern Tier ...

Supreme Court Considers Title IX

CHARLESTON, W.Va.—Let’s pick up where we left off last week. The Supreme Court is considering a challenge—under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause—to Idaho’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act. The law requires that public schools and higher-education institutions designate each sponsored sport as • for males, men, or boys, • for females, women, or girls, or • as co-ed or mixed. Such laws are about sex, not gender. After all, a person’s sex goes to whether the person is male or female. Males are he. Females are she. By contrast, gender is a ...

Oil Is Not Found Everywhere

The United States, by our action in starting a war with Iran, sparked a blockade at the Strait of Hormuz. We followed by starting our own naval blockade and since then oil prices have jumped to $100 per barrel. Many are asking: “Why?” Why did we start this war, but, also, why is the price of oil now so high? Why does the Middle East control the price of oil? The simple answer is that over 50% of the proven reserves for oil in the world are there, and Mid-East oil today accounts for over 25% of total annual world oil production. It would be nice if mother nature had deposited ...

County Not Leading On Chautauqua Lake

We are disappointed, actually appalled, that our County Legislature and Executive did not have the courage to represent its constituents against the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (NYSDEC) ill-conceived and rushed new wetlands regulations. They took no action as those terribly flawed regulations were imposed on all of us. Fortunately, through no effort of the County, those regulations have now been annulled by a State Supreme Court decision. It was left to two local non-profits, the Chautauqua Lake Property Owners Association (CLPOA) and the Chautauqua ...

Too Many Feel Unwelcome In City

My husband and I and our family moved to Jamestown from Western Michigan in 1992. The Newcomers Club was active then. I went to an informational meeting about the club and asked how long would I be considered a newcomer; how long could I be in the club? I was told, “As long as you want to, because you’ll never be one of them.” It was a rude awakening to realize that I would never fully fit in. I’d never be a true citizen of Jamestown, N.Y. All these years later and it appears Jamestown is just as unwelcoming. The Post-Journal has posted several articles about the homeless ...