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It’s all downhill from here

Local Commentaries

When I sit down at the end of the day and look out upon Chautauqua Lake, it reminds me of the colloquialism that “it is all downhill from here.” That is, the water that I am looking at is flowing south toward the Allegheny River, then the Ohio and finally down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico (now called by some the Gulf of America.) In further reflection, this phrase about going downhill could also describe me at my age... but I resist that description. Getting old is not so much about going “downhill” as it is about being on “cruise control.” It doesn’t take much ...

There are choices to be made in November

Local Commentaries

In 1776 the United States formally declared its independence from a monarchy. 250 years later, we need to rededicate ourselves to the ideals of that founding document. It states that we are, “endowed by our creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Nowhere does it say, “but only if you can afford it.” In a Democracy, representatives are elected to work on behalf of the populace. Rules and laws are enacted, primarily with the goal of serving the needs of the greatest number of people. Everyone deserves enough food to ...

Change is in our vote

Local Commentaries

There are few rights more fundamental to the American experiment than the right to vote. It is the quiet power placed in the hands of ordinary citizens, the power to choose their representatives, hold their government accountable and determine the course their communities and their country ...

Blakeman brings energy, enthusiasm to campaign

Local Commentaries

DUNKIRK—Let’s pick up where we left off last week. It’s worth encouraging “Never Trumps to imagine what would have become of the law if Donald Trump had lost the 2016 presidential election and not filled the three Supreme Court vacancies from 2017 to 2020.” Please think about ...

Poverty rates take troubling toll on youth

Editor's Corner

As energy and grocery costs continue what seems as an unending climb, many households — even those working multiple full-time jobs — are experiencing more than just a pinch. It is an absolute cash gash. Within the last month, the New York State Association of Counties continued banging ...

Changing minimum wage freeze doesn’t fix New York’s high cost of living

In Our Opinion

There was a reason that the wise old state legislators who drafted New York’s minimum wage law back in the good old days of 2023 included conditions that would freeze otherwise automatic minimum wage increases. The conditions - tied to situations in which the consumer price index actually went down, increases in unemployment or decreases in employment - were meant to protect the state’s business community when traditional economic measures showed too many of them couldn’t handle an automatic increase in the state’s minimum wage. Of course, Hochul was in the room at the time ...