Breaking News

Local Commentaries

A New Approach Needed For Lake

The July 4th weekend was an “Absolute Nightmare” on Chautauqua Lake for Burtis Bay, Sherman Bay, Ellicott and Fluvanna residents as broadcast by Channel 4 WIVB Buffalo to all of Western New York. Several broadcasts followed from impenetrable weed-choked areas of the lake now designated wetlands by the DEC. Those same weeds are now protected and more weed growth is encouraged by the New York State (State) Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) new wetlands regulations. The County and most municipalities are silent, “Asleep at the Wheel”. This “Nightmare” can be ...

Standing In Solidarity With Canada

One of the joys of living in Western New York has been the lifelong friendship that we have had with our next door neighbor, Canada. Back in the days when I was a bit more mobile, we would take a yearly trip to Canada for a week or two of wilderness canoeing. You had only to drive a few hours north of Toronto before you were in the “bush” as we called it. There is the well-known Algonquin Provincial Park in the Huntsville area, but we also paddled rivers north of North Bay...up in the areas where the roads north end, and the only way to go further north is with a canoe and a ...

Tariffs Are Not A Sales Tax

Local commentators recently claimed that President Donald Trump’s general 10% tariff constituted a sales tax on consumers. That would be true if tariffs directly affected consumers, but the point of a tariff is to affect the behavior of producers and governments, not consumers. Trump’s retaliatory tariffs are bargaining chips to level the playing field for Middle America after years of being sold-out and de-industrialized by politicians who “fine-tuned” the tariff structure to benefit Wall Street Billionaires. Some commentators hilariously claim Trump’s tariffs are ...

Ignoring Climate Change Won’t Make It Go Away

You cannot stop climate change with an executive order. Misinformation is defined as politically motivated actors spreading false or misleading information to reinforce their beliefs. While it can be harmful, it is more of a symptom than a disease. Research shows that misinformation does not change the beliefs and actions of those who encounter it; it merely tends to reinforce them. Misinformation is simply bad actors preaching to the choir. Republicans don’t want to hear that the climate is changing because it challenges their beliefs. The erasing of most climate-related ...

Ukraine Invasion Is Waste Of Humanity

CHAUTAUQUA—Sometimes worship services are striking in ways that go unspoken. So it was with the Aug. 10 sacred-song service at Chautauqua Institution. The service focused on “the family of Abraham,” and thus on the religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—tracing their roots to Abraham and Sarah. Taking part in the service were three young people: One Jew, one Christian, and one Muslim, each a participant in an interfaith program at the institution. Let your imagination run regarding what went unspoken: Had these three young people been born in another place, been ...

End Of The Line

Every time I open my computer I get another message. One fine day I am not going to be able to write anything. I am working on a seven-year-old computer which by today’s standards is a dinosaur. The only thing I use my computer for is this column. For Internet access, reading and ordering things I have another device. The major program will stop being updated this October. I am not sure what that means, but just in case I want to be prepared. I do not intend to buy another computer so whatever happens my column will cease when it dies. I have made so many friends doing this bit of ...