Breaking News

Opinion

Quality Of Life Choices

Local Commentaries

When speaking about an optimal “quality of life,” different people can have very dissimilar definitions. It usually depends on each person’s individual preferences. These days, we often hear people rave about how perfect they think life is in Middle America. They tend to romanticize the lifestyle they envision there. Most are generally referring to a less complicated, stable, happy life lived in a safe, small town. They imagine a place where they can live quietly in a spacious, clean, and healthy setting alongside kind, helpful, and cooperative neighbors who all share their ...

State Steady In Its Love, Hate For Taxes

Editor's Corner

New Yorkers appear to be consistent gluttons for punishment. Not only do many of us understand what is holding back the once great Empire State from prosperity, we also are having a tough time breaking away from it. So says a poll commissioned by the Invest in Our New York Campaign that was ...

Hawley’s Health Care Solution Is Anything But

In Our Opinion

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) thinks he has a new idea: no taxes on health care. He has proposed making all out-of-pocket health care expenses tax deductible, saying that would “ help people immediately.” But would it? Right now, there are already significant tax breaks on health care. The largest is the exemption of employer-sponsored health insurance from income taxes. That exemption didn’t arise because the government wanted to help people pay for health care. It was an accident. During World War II, wages were capped by the government, but health benefits were not. Many ...

Parishioners Work With Holy Spirit

Local Commentaries

JAMESTOWN—Oh, Happy Day. Or maybe we can—under these special circumstances—take the liberty of putting that another way: “Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum.” Those are the words—“I announce to you a great joy”—with which a cardinal standing on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City heralds the election of a new pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Such words also apply to the Dec. 6 announcement that Jamestown’s Holy Apostles parish—which includes Saint John Roman Catholic Church and Saints Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church—will not merge into ...

JPS Student Board Member Shows Worth Of Position

In Our Opinion

We’re sure there are some who thought it was a waste of time for New York state to require school boards to include student representation. To its credit, the Jamestown Public Schools District was ahead of the curve with student board members, incorporating them long before the state began requiring schools add students to the board earlier this year after the state Legislature passed legislation requiring each school district and BOCES board to incorporate at least one student board member in 2024. A discussion last week at the Jamestown Public Schools Board of Education is a ...

Breakwall Repairs Becoming A Bank-Breaker

In Our Opinion

We talk a lot about Chautauqua Lake these days, but we don’t talk much about the canals that can often be found winding their way inland from the lake’s shores. One such set of canals in an area of the town of Busti known as Vukote is generating conversation - and it’s a topic worth more conversation. Earlier this year Busti Town Board members discussed the problem town officials are having getting some property owners in Vukote to repair the concrete canal walls. There are roughly 14 sections of the canal structure that need repairs, according to those March 2025 ...