It is not usually newsworthy when a state legislator switches political parties, but, recently, a news article caught my eye when the longest serving Republican legislator in the Iowa General Assembly announced that he was switching political affiliation to the Democrats. How could that ...

To mothers: There is only one day on the calendar each year reserved specifically to recognize your tireless, selfless, heroic work. Surely it is not enough. For moms work 24 hours a day, 365 days per year without breaks, without pay, and too often…without appreciation. That work ...

Senator Bernie Sanders ignited a national discussion recently when he endorsed the right of individuals in prison to be able to vote, as is the case in his home state of Vermont. In doing so, Sanders raised fundamental questions of democracy and citizenship that are long overdue. Allowing ...

Recently Bernie Sanders — one of the leading candidates for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination — took to Twitter in defense of a controversial position: re-enfranchising felons currently serving time in prison, regardless of their crimes. “South Carolina has a higher ...

The development of vaccines is considered one of the greatest advances of medicine due to the enormous benefits to populations throughout the world. For example, smallpox is estimated to have killed up to 300 million people in the 20th century . It was not until 1980 that the World ...

It’s a republic, if we can keep it. Neither the impeachment of President Donald Trump nor his defeat by a Democrat in the 2020 election is likely to cure what ails American politics. That’s because what ails American politics is a fundamental misunderstanding of democracy. To be ...

The other day, killing time on a road trip, I listened to a radio interview with David Frum, former speech writer for President George W. Bush. He is a critic of our current president and takes special exception to his appeals of fear about immigrants and his obsession with building a ...

Last Sunday The Simpsons aired an episode titled “D’oh Canada” which featured Homer singing a parody of Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” that poked fun at Upstate New York. As Homer sang the lyrical wisecracks, he stopped in realistic cartoon depictions of Utica, Buffalo, ...

Recently, 15 organizations signed a Memorandum of Agreement on how to proceed with managing the weeds in Chautauqua Lake. There was one exception: the Town of Ellery said “No.” The newspaper account of the reason for doing this is that the town attorney had recommended against ...

Many of us that call Jamestown home were educated by our public school system. Jamestown has a long and prominent tradition of public education dating back to 1800s. As public education continues to evolve in the 21st century there are new challenges to the delivery of public education in ...

There have been some interesting articles in The Post-Journal lately. Of major concern is we are taxed to our constitutional limit and we are broke! Our police officers were requesting an increase, city officials said we have no money, and an arbitration board gets involved and rules in favor ...

Some states will gain, others lose, seats in the U.S. House Seven states are already on track to gain seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2020 Census, and six are likely to lose members of Congress, states an analysis of new data from the U.S. Bureau of the ...

Here it is Easter Sunday, the day of resurrection, during a time when the world just witnessed an utter catastrophe at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Constructed 850 years ago, the wow and wonder built into the magnificent megastructure were accomplished by individuals who knew they would ...

One day, when I was in the state Assembly, I had an interesting conversation with another Assemblyman who represented Harlem. “How many people voted in your district in the last election?” I asked. He said, “about 10,000.” I was astounded, for in the same election, 40,000 people ...

The release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, along with allegations of obstruction of justice by the president, has (seemingly) answered some questions but only generated still others. That the ...

This past week, the County of Chautauqua demonstrated once again that we can put our differences aside and come together to achieve consensus in place of our disagreements. Under the leadership of our County Executive, George Borrello, 15 of 16 Chautauqua Lake municipalities and lake ...

This past week, the ice on Chautauqua Lake broke up. Also, the pavement on Route 394 north of Stow is breaking up. These are sure signs of Spring! Within the past couple of years, I wrote about the then-abominal condition of Route 394 around the area of the Interchange with I-86. Last ...

April is National Child Abuse Prevention month. An effort to combat human trafficking starts with preventing child abuse and neglect. Child sex trafficking is an issue that affects children in all communities, both in the United States and Chautauqua County. Since 2016, the YWCA of ...

President Trump made a bizarre offhand comment at a Republican fundraiser last week that was largely overlooked in favor of the standard dysfunction at the White House. While deriding sustainable energy alternatives, in his usual freewheeling style he said about windmills, “They say the ...

Does a compliance rate of 27 percent serve as an indicator that more is needed to assure that rental units in the city are habitable and code compliant? The Post-Journal reported in their coverage of a recent City Council work session that the city would pursue stricter enforcement of the ...