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Congress Should Reject The Misnamed ‘Sunshine Protection Act’

Welcome to the first full day of spring. At long last, the hours of daylight exceed the hours of darkness. The winter’s snowfall has largely melted. Snow in the air after the beginning of spring is common. Even measurable snow can still fall. Whatever white stuff comes our way in the next few weeks, the brunt of winter has passed. The snowmobile season has ended. If anything remains of the ski season, it will be short. Crocuses are beginning to peek out of the ground. Daffodils and tulips are a while away, but it won’t be too long. The tasks of spring cleanup ...

Anxiously Waiting For The Signs Of Spring

As March came in like a lion, I anxiously wait for the signs of Spring that are so familiar. When the grandchildren were young, we went outside as soon as it was comfortable. By comfortable I mean we had to wear jackets, but we could comfortably sit outside to eat our lunch. Many lunches were enjoyed by the little café table that sits on the upper side of my porch. There were only two chairs, but we could pull up extra ones depending on who was there. Yes, we ate with our jackets on, but it was so nice to be outdoors enjoying sandwiches and chips. First, we would have a snack out ...

When The Chickens Come Home To Roost

This is an old saying which essentially means that things which are foreseeable and need to be fixed but are not...will, sooner or later, eventually need to be dealt with. In Chautauqua County, right now, two municipalities seem to be in the forefront as to this situation—Dunkirk and Fredonia. I know only what I read in the newspaper, but, it appears, that tax rates in both municipalities are going up 40%-50% in order to balance their budgets. How did this come to pass? Things don’t happen overnight in government. There had to be issues that were deferred, ignored or somehow ...

The Need Of Natural Gas Is Matter Of Life And Death

Energy experts, engineers and grid operators should be setting our energy policy not politicians. Politicians are often responding to undue pressure from various stakeholders; self-serving industry groups and environmental organizations. Please note our current energy mandates /policies to eliminate fossil fuels [natural gas] and rely on battery storage to back up intermittent wind/solar are in stark contrast to energy experts’ recommendations and warnings. The North American Electric Reliability Corp [NERC] said in its 2022 State of Reliability Report. “NERC expects 500 GW of ...

There Are Local Consequences To Federal Cuts

Representative Langworthy manipulates the truth to lie to his constituents. In his weekly newsletter, Langworthy points out that the recently passed House budget resolution, “simply establishes a budgetary framework while instructing several House committees to find savings and make investments…” This is true. He goes on to claim that Democrats are lying that this framework is likely to result in billions of dollars in cuts to programs his constituents rely on. But this is the Republican’s lie. For a moment, let’s take Langworthy at his word that Republicans will make no ...

Electric Buses Should Be An Option, Not Required

Relative to the pending revote to purchase two electric buses and update the Bemus Bus Garage to enable its use for the same, I would offer the following. I believe that electric vehicles, including buses, could be one of the options for transporting students, but not a mandated option. What had been an initial increase in electric powered vehicles has largely stalled due to performance shortcomings, an inherent fire danger caused by the batteries, substantially higher initial cost for the busses, lack of long term data on electric bus reliability in cold climates, the possibility of ...