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To Succeed, Air Service Must Be Good

Some say commercial-air service at the Chautauqua County Airport ended because the passenger count plummeted. Yet that misses the point. What’s worse is that it misstates the problem. The real cause wasn’t that the passenger count plummeted. Rather, the real cause was that the quality of the commercial-air service declined. Let’s repeat that: The real cause was that the quality of the commercial-air service declined. If the quality hadn’t declined, the passenger count wouldn’t have plummeted, and commercial-air service would have remained. Good commercial-air service ...

Unexpected Loss Leads To Lingering Issues

Morton called. He wanted to talk to a marriage counselor about issues in his marriage. Asked if his wife would join us, he said “No. I need this for myself.” We set up a time after his workday. We met one late afternoon. He made time to wash up and change clothes. So, what brings you here, sir? An unassuming man of approximately 35 years of age cast an emotional eye on me. “This wasn’t easy. I’ve been looking to call for months now. I was raised to fix my own problems. My mother and father took care of their own problems. I’ve got something going on at home. I’ve been ...

Enjoying The Wildlife

Hickory Heights has an abundance of wildlife. I enjoy every minute of it. This morning, I watched a black squirrel running around the yard. First, I saw him in the grass. Then he was halfway up a tree. I let my dog out, but the squirrel did pay any attention. I know there are at least two of them around my yard because I have seen them both at once. They are fun to watch. They run a little, then stop and stand up to look around. If there is nothing to disturb them, they continue on their way. One winter I watched a squirrel as it made its way through the snow. He would duck under the ...

Why People Settle Here

We often bemoan the reasons that people leave the area—the winters are too long, the taxes are too high, there aren’t enough jobs, etc. But, there are also reasons that people want to settle and live here. I would put at the top of the list, the making of life-long friendships. One of my kids recently attended his 30th anniversary of graduating from high school. Those friendships from years ago are still strong, and several from his class now live around here. We live in a place that nourishes a sense of home. Yes, you can go live in the “hot spots” of the country like New ...

Are We Preparing For A Climate Disaster?

Recent extreme rain events in Asheville, N.C., Valencia, Spain, and other places have me thinking. The North Carolina flooding was caused by over 30 inches of rain from Hurricane Helene, while parts of Valencia received 20 inches during an intense rainstorm last month. In both events, over 200 people were killed in locations residents thought were safe from disasters. Hurricane Harvey dropped over 60 inches of rain on Houston over a 4-day period, killing 100 people. It was the largest ever recorded rainfall total in the US, exceeding the total set by Hurricane Hiki in Hawaii in ...

1503 And Other Inconvenient Truths

For many years, Western Civilization (Western Tradition) has been under assault from the Marxist Left – in schools, colleges, the media, woke corporations, etc. Why? Simply because the foundations of the Western Tradition (dating to around 1750) assume the individual’s right to “Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness”. It stands in opposition to the Left’s authoritarian collectivist / socialist objectives where the individual can only exist as a servant on the State plantation. The Western Tradition, which ironically led the world out of slavery, is disingenuously being ...