Breaking News

Opinion

Facing Challenges Of Local Government

Local Commentaries

We tend to forget that it takes dedicated people to run our local government institutions. One of my earliest memories of politics was observing my Dad’s duties as Supervisor of the Town of Kiantone. It was not a job that he really wanted—he was plenty busy running the farm—but the Republican Committee asked him to run for the position, so he did. After a couple of terms, a neighboring dairy farmer, a Democrat, Frank Bratt, decided to run for the job. My Dad’s reaction was: “Well, if he wins, he will do a good job.” Bratt did win, and I remember my father saying shortly ...

The All-Time Best Lullaby, if Needed

Local Commentaries

As infants, when our parents tried to get us to fall asleep at naptimes, and bedtimes, we were usually serenaded with the popular Braham’s Lullaby, which has probably put more children to sleep as bad movies or Thanksgiving turkey and wine has done for adults. It was popular because it was soft, sweet, and had a nice rocking rhythm, to sway, a small child back and forth in one’s arms. Most infant wind-up mobiles attached to cribs and/or playpens play Braham’s Lullaby to soothe and calm children, eventually lulling babies to sleep, giving parents, or sitters a few minutes to take ...

Immigration Contradictions At Center Of Crisis

Local Commentaries

Five years ago, on January 6, I became a naturalized citizen of the United States. It was COVID times, so the ceremony was very uneventful. It was just me and the immigration officer on the other end of the plexiglass at the USCIS office in Buffalo. That same day, the Capitol was attacked, precisely while I was taking the oath of allegiance. I came out as a new citizen into a political landscape that I was not prepared for. I did not know then that, within a few years, this country, my adopted home, would feel so fragile and so dangerous in ways I never imagined. I have loved this ...

Dems Making Health Care Unaffordable

Local Commentaries

New York’s health insurance premiums have risen well above the national average, imposing a huge financial burden on New York residents. Unfortunately, the New York government recently approved another round of substantial premium rate hikes for almost all private health insurers operating in New York state. Why are premiums so much more expensive than the national average? New York imposes taxes on your hospital bill, on your health insurance contract, on the premium you pay and on health insurance companies. According to an independent analysis of the state budget, New Yorkers ...

Point Chautauqua Opposition Contains The Echoes Of Past Lake Projects

In Our Opinion

For more than a century Chautauqua Lake has been the goose that lays golden eggs. That was the case when lakefront hotels and amusement parks dotted the lake’s shores around the turn of the century. It was true as lakefront homes and summer cottages sprung up around the lake. The goose helped create southern Chautauqua County’s tourist economy. The goose is still capable of laying golden eggs as developers look to spend big bucks on lakefront development. We all love the goose. We really love those golden eggs that keep dollars flowing in the summer. But we can’t seem to ...

Use Natural Gas To Repower Dunkirk Plant

Local Commentaries

In early 2013, New York’s then-governor Andrew Cuomo showed up in Dunkirk on a wintry day to announce with great fanfare that the NRG power plant in Dunkirk would be converted from a clean-coal facility to natural gas-fueled power production. I was a Chautauqua County Legislator at the time and I was there that day to experience the community’s collective sigh of relief that the county’s largest property-taxpaying entity would continue to operate. However, everything changed as the governor pivoted and decided he would bow to political pressure from the advocates on the far ...