Whenever I see bureaucracy mentioned in the news, or hear people discuss it, it nearly almost has a strong negative connotation. All of us have had to deal with various bureaucracies to one extent or another. Many of us are a part of one. It is easy to understand why. It conjures images of ...
What with trade wars, floods and other disruptions, this has been a tough year for America’s Midwestern farmers, especially those who grow corn. To make matters worse, the demand for ethanol, which consumes 40 percent of the nation’s corn, has flattened in recent years, mainly because we ...
As we near the end of October, Americans are preparing for a somewhat strange but increasingly popular cultural tradition of celebrating Halloween. Last year, Americans spent an estimated $9 billion on the holiday. In my own neighborhood, several houses have been decorated for weeks and to ...
As everyone around the Lake knows, this year was the second in a row of a DEC-approved herbicide treatment of the Lake. One of the differences is that this year, a focus for treatment was in the historically weed-infested area of Burtis Bay. As one boater told me: “It was the first time in ...
In the gig-economy era where flexible work schedules have become the norm, certain cities like Chicago and Seattle haven’t got the message. In July, Chicago passed a predictive scheduling law, which makes employers post their schedules well in advance for hourly workers and then fine or ...
If something’s going to save people money — if it’s goodness all around — why would it be necessary to force them to buy it? This obvious question is often not asked when it comes to federal regulations that promise to save us money. Probably because the answer is often contrary to ...
Re: “Dire Financial Straits” Sunday Post-Journal (Saturday-Sunday, October 12-13) Although I have lived in New York City for nearly 40 years, I still care about what happens in my hometown. Over the decades, as I have returned to Jamestown for family events and vacations, I have sadly ...
We’ve been cutting taxes on the wealthy for two generations, and the results have been dismal. Economists, who started as generally supportive of the tax cut experiment, have seen enough. By 2017, only 2 percent of the University of Chicago’s Economics Expert Panel agreed the Trump ...
Ever since I was a small kid, it has been engrained in me that of all our national parks, there is one that is our premier and most pristine park—Yellowstone. I visited it with my parents in my teens, we took our children there in the 1980s, and we just returned from visiting again in ...
Unfunded state mandates. Talk about a scary term for Halloween season. We hear about them every year. Albany passes laws that require local governments to administer often with a hefty price tag but no additional financial support from the state. Localities’ budgets are squeezed even ...
The Democrats running for president have demanded the government raise taxes on income, gasoline, energy, capital gains and your life savings at death. And your retirement savings will be hit by multiple taxes that they promise will only hurt “the rich” but will first and foremost reduce ...
While talking to voters the subject of property taxes has come up often. There also seems to be a growing trend of more people either keeping their jobs in NY and moving to nearby towns in Pennsylvania or Pennsylvania residents getting jobs in NY and staying in Pennsylvania. This is almost ...
Last year, our fire department alone responded to over 5,000 calls for service, of which approximately 4,000 of those calls were for emergency medical services. No matter the time or day, they came to save a life or get someone to the hospital. Regardless of the problems our City faces, they ...
I had predicted in an earlier article that the Democrats in the House would not bring impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump. I was wrong. After revelations of his conversation with the President of Ukraine, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, authorized an “inquiry” into ...
Attacks on President Trump from hardcore political partisans are nothing new. But from hardcore Republican partisans? This is uncharted territory in the Trump era. Sunday’s late-night announcement that Trump is withdrawing American troops from northern Syria and leaving U.S. Kurdish ...
A recent article addressed compensation paid to city officials. In the interest of providing taxpayers additional relevant information, the Kendall Club Police Benevolent Association (the Union representing Jamestown Police Officers, Sergeants, and Lieutenants), wishes to provide the ...
Now that we have grandchildren living with us, “back to school” has again become a part of our lexicon. I love it, actually, and look forward to those days when I drive our grandkids to school where all cars and school buses are met by the principal and other teachers welcoming them to ...
Although veterans comprise only 7.9 percent of the U.S. population, they account for 13.5 percent of all U.S. adult suicide. From 2008 to 2016, there were more than 6,000 veteran suicides each year, according to research conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Many of these men and ...
Well it is the moment we’ve all been waiting for: impeachment. As Congress’ impeachment process transpires it is sure to be ugly, divisive and harmful. I must admit that I am a little bit excited to watch it all. We get to watch history unfold day by excruciating day. Indeed, we will be ...
Recently, we received an “Important Notice” from the Chautauqua Lake Association (CLA) whose purpose it seemed was to send an alarm about possible recommendations of creating a Lake Management District. It highlighted the potential that any such district could be empowered to collect ...