Breaking News

Opinion

County Dems Plan Is Good Talking Point

In Our Opinion

We don’t expect to see a plan being discussed proposed tonight by legislative Democrats to be taken seriously by Republicans in the Chautauqua County Legislature. It’s pretty early to make such commitments, especially in an environment when federal and state funding for programs used by county residents is in flux. But now is just the time for the legislature to be thinking about the proposal from legislators Bob Bankoski and Tom Nelson. Bankoski and Nelson propose cutting county property taxes by $2 million, increasing the senior citizen partial property tax exemption income ...

Painting The Portrait Of A Very Large Waste Of Time

In Our Opinion

Clymer Central School officials are in the midst of fulfilling the state’s requirement of a Portrait of a Graduate. Released in July 2025, the Portrait of a Graduate is part of the state’s new graduation requirements. The portrait provides a vision of what it means to be a graduate in New York state and describes the skills and dispositions that all students should develop to be successful in college, careers, and civic life, according to the state Board of Regents. Clymer officials recently updated the Clymer school board on the district’s work on the mandate. A survey has ...

Transitional Housing Sites Fill Void In City

In Our Opinion

The city’s newest transitional housing site will open this week. First House is a partnership between the YWCA of Jamestown and First Lutheran Church that will provide women, and their children, with a safe and stable location in the former First Lutheran Church parsonage. It’s a good partnership that reuses a 124-year-old former church parsonage. Unlike temporary shelters, residents may stay in the program for a maximum of two years while they become self-sufficient, productive citizens of the community. Individuals will be guided to seek support, healthcare, education and/or ...

Clarity Around Minnesota Protests

Local Commentaries

“We are seeing two movies on one screen,” the late Dilbert creator Scott Adams once said. Minneapolis is exhibit one. One side calls it murder, the other, self-defense. One side says, “ICE is causing chaos.” The other side says, “ICE is there because of the rampant chaos there already.” I’m not a law enforcement expert, but you don’t have to be an expert to have common sense. Do you listen to an officer giving an order to exit the car or do you follow your lawbreaking partner saying, “Drive baby, drive?” Renee Good listened to her lawbreaking partner. Play ...

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 ...