CHAUTAUQUA—What’s the greatest indicator of children’s upward mobility? Think about that. What do you suppose the answer is? American Enterprise Institute fellow Naomi Schaefer Riley raised that question during her presentation to Advocates for Balance at Chautauqua, or ABC, on July ...
Being elected to serve on a municipal board does not appear to come with the prestige it once brought in Chautauqua County. Instead, it often brings oversized headaches. Within the last year, especially in the north county, debates with the public have become almost as fractured as partisan ...
It is little secret that affordable housing in Jamestown is a problem, though in recent years the affordable housing crunch has shown up most publicly in the number of people being housed in hotels and motels throughout the county. So it is little surprise why documentary photographer Karen Lippowiths would want to spend time in the city as part of her newest project, Extended Stay. Work on the exhibit will cross 13 states and 30 cities across Appalachia, from New York to Mississippi, starting earlier this week with a two-day stop in Jamestown. The project will document what ...
There was an interesting debate during a recent Chautauqua County Legislature meeting over the county’s ever-escalating safety net program costs. Lawmakers delayed a vote in June on a resolution that would have spent a $2.8 million from the county’s surplus to pay for safety net costs that are coming in much higher than the amounts budgeted for when the legislature approved the 2026 budget. According to the county’s website, Safety Net Assistance is for individuals who are not eligible for other assistance programs. It is a state- and local-funded program for: Single adults; ...
It’s hard to imagine a time when the Chautauqua Belle wasn’t a fixture on the waters of Chautauqua Lake. But that’s exactly what our reality would be if not for James Webster, the Rochester man who had the vision to bring a paddlewheel steamship to Chautauqua Lake in the early 1970s. Webster collaborated with Capt. Alan Bates, who designed the ship around the same time Bates designed the Natchez, another steamship still in use in New Orleans. For a time, Mayville was marketed as Steamship Village when the Chautauqua Belle was still in its relative infancy, and many still make ...
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 ...
