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In Our Opinion

In Our Opinion

State lawmakers, largely Democrats, want to increase Open Meetings Law and FOIL request training requirements for local government officials. Given the recent altercation in the Chautauqua County records room involving a self-proclaimed First Amendment auditor, the training likely isn't a bad idea. Local public records officials need to be the experts in the room when it comes to releasing records, and too often that isn’t the case. But in our opinion the legislature should also help local governments driven to the point of frustration by bot-driven FOIL requests and local ...

Is AI truly “the future,” or is it being marketed that way?

Local Commentaries

To The Reader’s Forum: “The world goes along only one road -- the road of progress.” -Charles Kettering, American businessman, 1929. The rhetoric is everywhere: AI is an “inevitable” part of modern life, and people who question the truth of this phrase are reactionaries clinging to “the past.” However, separating ourselves so neatly from our own history creates a false sense of immunity from repeating it. Artificial intelligence will lessen mental strain, shorten labor times, and increase productivity: so the claim goes. Yet a growing body of scientific studies ...

Supreme Court misunderstands Constitutional authority of Executive, Legislative branches

Local Commentaries

To The Reader’s Forum: The Supreme Court’s vision of the constitutional legitimacy of the exercise of authority by each Branch of Government – in and by itself – unrelated to the Separation of Powers doctrine, is poorly conceived. The Constitution delineates the authority of each of our Branches of Government. It does so by bestowing powers and imposing duties on each of the respective Branches. In the exercise of a particular Branch’s authority, situations may arise where the use of one of its constitutional powers conflicts with one of its duties, and even results in ...

What does patriotism look like?

Local Commentaries

I hope you’re feeling a little more patriotic. The visiting international spectators at the FIFA matches should have stirred something in all of us. The Fourth of July, despite the strange weather, managed to break through the clouds long enough to remind us there is still much worth celebrating. Oddly, there are Americans who seem to hold their own country in contempt. Yet talk to many new citizens who escaped communist or socialist governments, and you’ll often hear a very different perspective. They still see the United States as a remarkable experiment in human freedom. I ...

On Being Creatures of Habit

Local Commentaries

I was thinking the other day about how all living beings are creatures of habit. I remember, as a kid, bringing the cows in for milking. We would open the back door of the barn, and most of those cows would head right for their stall. There were 30 or 40 cows, but each knew which stall was theirs. That always amazed me, as cows, in many other ways, could be very stubborn. But, they were “creatures of habit” when it came to the stall that they called “home.” Then, I thought of our dogs. I am the first one up in the morning—probably a throw-back to those early days when I ...

A Job Means Almost Everything

Local Commentaries

When Martin Luther (the originator of the Protestant Reformation), in the early 1500s, wrote that any honest vocation is pleasing to God, one has a glimpse of what is known as the “Protestant work ethic.” A job brings some independence from parents to a high school graduate or college graduate. A job allows one to support oneself and then a family. A job instills a sense of discipline and self-worth. Unfortunately, Chautauqua County’s employment has fallen from 64,000 to 50,000 in just the past 15 years or so. (Prior to 2010, Chautauqua County had a remarkably stable employment ...