Breaking News

Opinion

Quiet USPS Change Could Decide If Ballots Count

Local Commentaries

On Christmas Eve, when most of us—including the news—were focused on wrapping presents and preparing to gather with family and friends, the United States Postal Service (USPS) finalized a policy change with newly binding legal consequences. It has the potential to put you in violation of the law or invalidate your mail-in ballot during upcoming elections. According to the Federal Register (Postal Service 39 CFR Part 111), as of December 24, 2025, you can no longer count on your mail being postmarked on the day the post office receives it. Now, your mail will be postmarked when it ...

Readers’ Forum

Letters To The Editor

Protester Thanks Those Who Honked Their Support To The Reader’s Forum: I’d like to say a heartfelt thank you to all the folks who beeped, gave thumbs-up, or just smiled and nodded as you passed by our ICE protest on the corner of Sixth Street and Washington today. You have no idea how much we appreciate your support. It can feel very lonely sometimes, putting yourself out there in opposition to the powerful. We know it’s the quickest way for us to respond to injustices as we see them although, of course, voting is the ultimate response and the only response that can ...

Managing Prosperity Warps Blakeman’s Views

Editor's Corner

Republican candidate for New York state governor Bruce Blakeman is starting to smell the coffee after apparently chugging too much downstate Kool Aid. During last week’s Long Island Association breakfast, both he and incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul shared the spotlight at the event that included ...

Supreme Court Takes Up Tariffs

Local Commentaries

The U.S. Supreme Court is taking up the question of tariffs. The challengers to President Trump’s tariffs are two family-owned corporations: Learning Resources, Inc., and hand2mind, Inc. They’re headquartered in Vernon Hills, Ill., have 500 employees in the United States, and sell educational tools for younger and older children. However, they manufacture them abroad, primarily in China. Now you can begin to see why tariffs targeting China would displease Learning Resources and hand2mind. It’s tempting to ask why they manufacture their wares abroad, primarily in China. ...

Langworthy’s Office Closure Sign Of Times

In Our Opinion

Our political discourse is not in a good place across the country. The closure of Rep. Nick Langworthy’s Jamestown office after what the congressman termed credible threats and calls for violence directed at Langworthy is proof of that. It would be nice to see charges if the threats are credible, as Langworthy says they are. Given vandalism at Langworthy’s office in Jamestown and a suspicious package sent to Langworthy’s Clarence office, both of which took place within the past 12 months, we can understand the need for caution if only to protect Langworthy’s office staff who ...

Family Receives Closure That Eludes Too Many

In Our Opinion

The family of Kala Hodgkin will receive some semblance of justice with Michael Burham’s guilty plea to a charge of first-degree murder. Hodgkin accused Burham of forcibly raping her two months before her death and was shot dead in her home by him after he was charged but before he was arrested. Burham will be sentenced March 2 and is expected to receive a prison sentence of 25 years to life. Burham is currently serving time behind bars in the kidnapping of an elderly Pennsylvania couple. The plea brings to a close one of the more shocking Jamestown crimes in recent history. Burham ...