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Unpredictable Iran keeps U.S. on defensive

Nothing is ever a certainty when dealing with Iran. Despite more than a week of waiting for an agreement with the Middle East power and nemesis, President Donald Trump’s team led by Vice President JD Vance, were in gridlock earlier this week. Iran is a master of deception. Even when it ...

Subversion Exploits Americans’ Openness, Generosity

CHAUTAUQUA—Chautauqua Institution’s 2026 season kicks off this weekend. Among the first speakers is Peter Schweizer, president of the Government Accountability Institute, who addresses Advocates for Balance at Chautauqua, or ABC, at 3 p.m. Monday in the Athenaeum Hotel. * * * Before ...

Maybe the second time is the charm for Furniture Mart

Ten years ago city officials had high hopes for the redevelopment of the Furniture Mart building. At the time, the $19 million project was going to be led by Ellicott Development with $1.5 million of DRI money earmarked for the project. The proposal was for two floors of office space, a 100-room hotel spread over five floors and rental apartments on the remaining three floors. The parking lot next to the building was to see a parking structure with 354 spaces, including 90 spaces available to the public. Retail space would have been created on the first floor. A decade later, ...

Study’s release puts ball in communities’ court

We now should feel fairly comfortable that it’s not only possible to merge the Clymer, Sherman and Panama school districts, but generally beneficial to do so now that the merger study by White and Partners has been released. The 149-page study, for those interested, is available at tinyurl.com/3xp2dt97. In short, the study reinforces declining population trends in all three districts, suggests keeping elementary school children in their respective home communities and then operating a merged middle-high school for seventh through 12th grades in Panama for a variety of reasons. The ...

Straw gun purchases fueling illegal gun pipeline

A recent incident in Warren provides an example of just how easy it can be to skirt well-meaning laws written to keep guns out of the wrong hands. A couple with Buffalo addresses living in Warren were both charged earlier this spring with several felony charges related to alleged false statements made on gun purchase forms, including five purchases in Warren County for firearms then taken to New York state and sold to the sort of people who won’t undergo a background check. What should make people on both sides of our nation’s intractable gun debate consider is that this scheme ...

City’s high grass message got lost in its tone

Jamestown’s Development Department isn’t wrong to use social media to warn city residents about quality of life tickets for those who let their grass get too high. High grass is the top complaint the department hears once we hit the spring and summer months. Some lawns can look more like a hayfield than a city lawn, and Crystal Surdyk, city development director, makes a good point about grass and shrubs at some intersections being tall enough near curbs and intersections to make it difficult to see traffic. But the department’s May 31 message posted on the Development ...