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Labor Shortages And Career Choices

Local Commentaries

According to summer 2025 statistics from the United States Department of Labor’s Labor Market briefing, Western New York currently enjoys a pretty low unemployment rate of 4.1%. That’s lower than the overall 4.6% rate in the United States. However, over the past year, initial unemployment claims in New York State increased the most in Chautauqua County. Compared to NYS’s increase of 3.6%, our county’s rate increased by 175.0%. That leaves many worried about what is causing this and what the future will bring to those of us living and working here. Plenty of employment ...

Tis The Season: Make It A Good One

Local Commentaries

I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving. I’m always shocked in November, usually when I’m dressing my turkey, that another year has passed so quickly. It’s a universal truth for those over the age of fifty that time becomes a sort of quantum equation we haven’t quite figured out. The days stretch, the years collapse, and suddenly we’re pulling holiday decorations out of closets again, wondering how it can possibly be time already. As our families are scattered across the country, and sometimes the world, holidays become more important. The holiday season isn’t the busiest ...

The Trump Administration’s Insanity Is Astounding

Letters To The Editor

To The Reader’s Forum: I read that Trump is ending some tariffs he created that didn’t exist previously, in order to make normal grocery products less expensive for American consumers! My first statement is “I told you so” (tariffs are taxes) in a previous letter! Secondly, why are people, especially on Twitter (X) suggesting Trump is being good to Americans saying, “It was all part of Trump’s plan to curb inflation”, something that Trump caused by his ridiculous and illegal tariffs in the first place! In other words, how is Trump given credit to “cut” prices for ...

Jackson’s Legacy Became Global Eighty Years Ago

In Our Opinion

Robert H. Jackson had already etched a lasting legacy in United States history before November 21, 1945. Up to that point Jackson - who mind you never attended college before becoming a lawyer in 1913 - had already served as general counsel for the Bureau of Internal Revenue, argued 17 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court during two years as Solicitor General and then defended many of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal programs and argued other federal matters during two years as U.S. Attorney General. Jackson argued 44 cases in front of the Supreme Court, losing only six before ...

Thanksgiving, Deer Season Go Hand In Hand

Local Commentaries

It is Thanksgiving and another deer season is upon us. Many around here will likely spend some time at deer camp that day. In reflecting back, though I have no historical proof of it, I have always thought that the pilgrims likely ate venison along with turkey on that first Thanksgiving Day. Looking forward to deer season, I guess, is part of my DNA. I was once Chairman of the Subcommittee on Fish and Wildlife in the State Assembly. Every year we would have discussions with the DEC Division of Fish and Wildlife about setting the fish and wildlife seasons in New York, including the big ...

It’s Still The Economy

Local Commentaries

In 1992, James Carville coined the phrase, “It’s the economy, stupid,” referring to how the economy affects one’s personal finances. This phrase was credited with playing a big part in getting Bill Clinton elected President. The economy means different things to many people. Some give their attention daily to the stock market, i.e., the Dow, S&P, NASDAQ. Economists talk about the gross domestic product (GDP), tariffs, trade deficits, the Federal Reserve, and the national debt. While each of these aspects of the economy may be important to the economic engine of the country, ...