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Opinion

Fly Car Program’s Financial Health Is Good News For Rural Residents

In Our Opinion

For the first time in its history, Chautauqua County’s Fly Car program is running in the black. The change in the program’s financial health is due in part to increased revenues as county officials and its billing partner have done a better job of capturing money owed for services as well as a realistic 2025 budget that increased up-front county spending rather than simply planning on a late-year budget adjustment to pay the fly car program’s costs. It’s good to see, because for much of the county the fly car program is a literal lifesaver. The fly car program supplements ...

Cell Phone Ban Shows Kids’ Ability To Adapt

In Our Opinion

The much-discussed, much-debated and parentally panned school cell phone ban is a near non-issue for most students through the first few weeks of the school year. Proposed by Gov. Kathy Hochul and approved by the state Legislature, the new school cellphone policy creates a statewide standard for distraction-free schools in New York including no unsanctioned use of smartphones and other internet-enabled personal devices on school grounds in K-12 schools for the entire school day, including classroom time and other settings like lunch and study hall periods; allowed schools to develop ...

Democrats Should Consider Minority Leader’s School Holiday Bill

In Our Opinion

It made little sense last January for most Chautauqua County schools to be closed in observance of the Asian New Year. In fact, in our opinion, the best place for children to be in order to learn about the Asian New Year would be in schools given that most parents know relatively little about the Asian New Year. That’s understandable given that the majority of New Yorkers celebrate the New Year on Jan. 1 every year. As the state continues to debate and add new dates to the state’s list of public holidays, two things should be considered in our opinion. Some bills apply solely ...

Frewsburg Food Pantry Request May Be The First Of Many

In Our Opinion

Food pantries struggling to make ends meet isn’t necessarily new. But the Frewsburg Community Food Pantry’s recent request for help from the town of Carroll is something we haven’t seen in recent years. Wendy Nelson, food pantry coordinator, is asking the town to help as an emergency source of funding for the food pantry when it has to pay out of pocket for food deliveries that it then disburses to those who need food. For the first time in its history, the Frewsburg Food Pantry had to pay out-of-pocket for its August order after changes to grant access and distribution from ...

How To Cool Our Overheated Rhetoric

Local Commentaries

I keep hearing the word “radicalized.” Radicalization here, radicalization there. It is happening across the country and across the spectrum. No one person, one party, or one policy is solely to blame. Some groups pour more gasoline on the fire than others, but the truth is that the fire spreads because the environment is flammable. Leaders, platforms, educators, and everyday people all play a role. We all have a hand in this. When I saw the headline about Charlie Kirk being shot and killed while speaking in Utah, I stopped cold. Whatever you think of his politics, a man was ...

Public Should Receive Earlier Notification Of Solar, Wind Projects

Local Commentaries

It is worrisome and disheartening - deja vu, to be targeted yet again by an opportunistic, foreign energy developer. We fought long and hard not to be victimized by eight - almost 500 foot - wind turbines surrounding our home. We ended up with three across the street. A neighbor whose active farmland surrounds our property signed a lease with the solar developer to build a 100 MW solar project with battery storage. That size typically covers about 1,000 acres. The neighbor signed a nondisclosure agreement that prevents him from sharing anything- location, proximity etc. about the ...