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Ripley Solar Questions Persist

Local Commentaries

“There are several factors impacting the [Ripley Solar] project, including import tariffs, high interest rates and federal trade policies that bring uncertainty to cost of materials [that] have made this project not economically viable in its current state.” This was a sentence in a recent letter to Ripley landowners who have signed leases with ConnectGen, the developer of the 3000 acre solar project that has been looming over the southwest corner of Chautauqua County since 2018. There has been much opposition to the project from Ripley residents during that time but the ...

Patience Is Needed For Chautauqua Lake

Local Commentaries

Chautauqua Lake is one of the most important assets our region has. We all want the quality of the lake to improve. The condition and use of the land around our lake are what have most dramatically impacted the quality of our lake water. Chautauqua Lake water quality began to decline over 200 years ago due to deforestation and industrial activities. Formal water sampling began here 88 years ago due to water quality concerns. More than 25 years ago, Chautauqua Lake was placed on the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s “impaired waters list” due to excessive ...

Democrats Are Raising Energy Prices

Local Commentaries

New Yorkers pay some of the highest energy prices in the nation. Mandates, surcharges, restrictions and regulatory decisions enshrined into law are the reason why energy prices in New York are less affordable than elsewhere. These high energy prices make it harder to live and work in New York. New York utilities are forced, by law, to charge you with a “delivery fee” which is actually a subsidy for renewable energy companies; the money is collected through your energy bill and passed along to renewable energy companies to artificially lower the cost of producing renewable energy ...

Taxing The Left Would Balance Budgets, Too

Local Commentaries

IRS data indicate that the top 1% of US taxpayers pay about 45% of all income taxes in the United States. The same data indicate that 49% of the US population contributes absolutely nothing. Yet we still hear the nonsensical “Tax the rich!” mantra on infinite replay (yawn). It started with Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto in 1848. Marx – the quintessential socialist who mooched off others all his life - thought that confiscating the earnings of productive people would be fun. Socialist movements always start with “Tax the rich!” and always end in economic ruin. It’s a ...

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Local Commentaries

This axiom has been my belief since I can remember. It was a part of my upbringing. It was taught to me by my parents and reinforced by teachings from the Bible— “By their deeds you shall know them.” As kids we also soon learned that there are usually more “talkers” in the world than there are “doers.” People are to be judged more by what they do than by what they say. This translates, of course, into observing the actions vs. the words being daily issued by our President. He is always tweeting or saying things to get people stirred up, but he is also doing ...

Seasonal Church Visit That Was A Gift

Local Commentaries

Dear Richard and I were in Niagara-on-the-Lake on Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. We had matinee tickets for “White Christmas”, the holiday musical, on stage. When I bought the deep discount tickets, I thought it would be a great way to jump into the mood of the holiday season. We stayed at a friendly B&B and had a fun, chatty breakfast with the two other weekend couples. After breakfast, there was time before our theater afternoon for the Sunday service at St. Marks Anglican Church downtown. It was a good decision because for the past week, I’ve been chewing on a few ideas I ...