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Thinking about the downside of bigness

Local Commentaries

We have had a tradition in America, not always but mostly, of trying to avoid the perils of businesses that get too big. The most prominent example in our history was likely the passage of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act which became law in 1890. Though its primary target, twenty years later, became John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company—its original passage resulted from a growing public concern about the concentration of power in big business, the elimination of competition and the resultant driving up of costs to everyone else. Today, we are seeing big business on a new and ...

Significance of Labor Day remembered

In Our Opinion

As this year's Labor Day observance approaches, America's workers, traditionally part of the "cement" that holds this country together, are concerned increasingly about what effects robots and Artificial Intelligence will have on their work lives - and lives in general - going forward. And, that worry is destined to continue, although "people in the know" remain certain that humans' important places in businesses and industries will continue - albeit, in many cases, in different capacities. For now, though, Jorgen Pedersen, CEO of the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute, a ...

Other Voices: Americans, Canadians are losers in escalating trade wars

In Our Opinion

The 50 percent tariffs announced Monday by President Donald Trump on all cars, trucks, automotive parts and steel from Canada would crush manufacturers in the United States and raise prices in both countries. The silver lining is that Trump said these import taxes would not take effect until Jan. 1, leaving time for negotiators to disarm an economic land mine. A bilateral deal appeared close last week before talks broke down at the 11th hour. Neither Trump nor Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney wants to look as if he’s succumbing to bullying from the other, so the escalation has ...

Invite ABC speakers to Chautauqua’s main stage

Local Commentaries

CHAUTAUQUA — Those who have read, listened to, or watched the news this year know that some are shocked at the ascendancy of socialism among Democrats. They’re right to be shocked in the sense of left aghast. Yet no one should be shocked in the sense of surprised. Step by step, ...

In Our Opinion

In Our Opinion

The Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance wasn’t awarded funding in 2025 through the state Invasive Species grant program. Board members learned recently that there wasn’t a problem with the alliance’s application. The problem is there are a lot of other lakes that face many of the same issues the Chautauqua Lake faces. In fact, the DEC told alliance officials that there were three times as many applications for the 2025 grant as there were for the previous round. In our opinion, the 2027 state budget needs to include additional funding to deal with invasive ...

In Our Opinion

In Our Opinion

We agree with the idea behind Democrat Fred Larson’s proposal to require the county to use $2 million from the county’s surplus to decrease the county’s tax levy. The county’s surplus is more than $30 million, more than the agreed upon minimum of 5% of the county’s budget - or roughly $16 million. There is no set upper range for the surplus, but we’ve said here in the past that we’d like to see the surplus spent down, either to decrease the tax levy or to pay one-time project costs that the county wants to keep out of the yearly budget. That’s why we would urge some ...