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It’s Up To The Community To Save Ribfest

In Our Opinion

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before. An event with a familiar name struggles to get volunteers after years of successful operation. Or, organizers decide they want to focus on other things and make the decision to cut their losses. In either case, the community that didn’t hear the pleas for volunteers before the announcement ends up swooping in at the last minute to save the event. It’s becoming an all too familiar tale in Chautauqua County. The Downtown Jamestown Cruise-In, Mayville’s Winterfest, Jamestown’s holiday parade, the turning of the Chadakoin River Green. ...

Forgetting Everything? Well, Join The Club.

Local Commentaries

My mother had a saying that I heard all too often during my childhood: “You’d forget your head if it wasn’t attached.” Sadly, she was right. I’ve spent a ridiculous amount of my whole life looking for what I have lost, misplaced, or simply forgotten. No, it’s not just ordinary car keys or reading glasses. Or please, God, my cell phone. I was a latchkey kid who couldn’t hang onto house keys. I lost keys at a rate that made the hardware store man shake his head. I was a regular customer at age eight. And mittens? Snow hats? Library books? I forgot them all, the ...

Koenigsegg - What Kind Of Name Is That?

Local Commentaries

It’s not an easy name to pronounce accurately especially if you don’t know the name, origin or history but regardless of your knowledge, the fact still stands that a Koenigsegg or Koenigsegg Automotive is a Swedish manufacturer of high performance super cars (mega cars); derived from a 22 year-old visionary named Christian Von Koenigsegg in 1994 with the goal of building the greatest super sports cars the world has ever seen. With roughly 255 Koenigseggs worldwide at a price between 1.7 and 2.8 million the likelihood of coming across one of these unparalleled carbon fiber ...

State’s Economy Drives Out Businesses, People

Local Commentaries

Across New York, families and businesses are facing an affordability crisis that is making it increasingly difficult to live, work, and stay here. High taxes, rising energy costs, burdensome regulations and the ever-growing cost of living are pushing people to leave the state. The data tells a troubling story. Since Governor Kathy Hochul took office in 2021, more than 1,045,000 people have left New York for other states through domestic migration. Recent data shows that in just the past year alone, New York lost more than 137,000 residents to other states, bringing the five-year total ...

Social Workers Fill A Vital Niche In Our Society

Local Commentaries

Every March, we recognize National Social Work Month, a time to honor the professionals who dedicate their lives to helping individuals, families, and communities through difficult moments. While some people imagine social work as simple charity, the truth is far more complex. Social workers blend science, counseling, advocacy, and compassion to address challenges that affect nearly every part of society. This year’s theme “Social Work: Uplift. Defend. Transform” captures the spirit of the profession in 2026. The field of social work began more than a century ago, during a period ...

Loss Of Refresco Is Simply Latest Blow For Ag Industry

In Our Opinion

Farming has been a way of life for many in Chautauqua County for as long as there has been a Chautauqua County. That way of life is increasingly difficult, as we were all reminded recently when news broke that Refresco, a grape processing plant located on Talcott Street in Dunkirk, is ending its relationship with 126 grape growers throughout the region. Officials with the Lake Erie Regional Grape Project have known since the end of the 2025 grape harvest that growers need to make changes. Jennifer Phillips Russo, Cornell Lake Erie Regional Grape Program Team Leader and Viticulture ...