Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. But attitude, ah yes attitude, determines how well you do it. It has been said that attitude often determines one’s altitude. And this seems to be the bottom line of that which happens in much of life. The ...

I recently had the opportunity to attend the village of Silver Creek’s Zoning Board of Appeals meeting. I attended having concerns over certain zoning issues. I knew many of the board members by face, as there were no name plaques or introductions. The issue that evening was over the ...

We need to put recent national events in historical perspective. We are all supposed to learn from the past and so it is painful to see so much of America has failed to learn from its own history. The Nazis were evil. Just plain evil. Their Aryan race superiority nonsense proved to be ...

Listening is a lost art. How many times have you tried to tell someone something only to be interrupted before you finish by that someone telling you what they think you’re going to say? Or worse, having the conversation move on to something totally unrelated, completely ignoring your ...

Here is another classic Margaret Valone column If only teachers realized the respect they have from the community because of the impact they have on their students’ lives! My son Dan thought Dr. Stanley hung the moon. My son Rusty was sure it was Jim O’Brien. I had contact with both of ...

My wife and I made our annual trip to Cape Cod back in July. On the Cape, this year there was a story making the rounds about Piping Plovers. You might ask, what is a Piping Plover? Well, they are small birds that resemble sand pipers. They run in short starts and stops and get their name ...

The picture in my hand is of an unearthly blob. A pink blob, to be sure. Does that matter? It’s the shape that intrigues — and its . . . well . . . IT. My closeup shows it close to an inch long. Think momentarily of a docking facility on the space station or probably any space movie ...

Let the games begin. Proving that it’s never too early or too late for political theater, the major players are assuming their positions in the legislative circus: Republicans in this ring; Democrats opposite; and finally, occupying the center ring, the main attraction — health ...

Following the Charlottesville debacle, there has been a constant discussion of racism as a major cause of the problems of the African American community. It is worth considering whether this is so. Princeton University sociologists Devah Pager and Hana Shepherd report that African ...

One night many years ago I dreamed that I could fly all by myself. I didn’t fly in the traditional prone position like Clark Kent in Superman, but rather in a sitting position such as one might have in a low-slung sports car with one’s feet out in front of him. I’ve often wondered how I ...

By RICHARD MAKUCH Dangerous behavior from a radical state such as North Korea has been threatening this country and the world for decades. The past administrations did everything from kind words to embargoes and nothing has helped with a bully such as North Korea, which is insane. Its ...

I am confused by U.S. Rep. Tom Reed, but, I must admit, this is nothing new. Reed voted against the federal Clean Water Act in support of independent state’s rights to manage water purity, even though water flows from state to state carrying pollutants with it. He has voted that air ...

Borrello plan is nothing new Editor, OBSERVER: We saw county Legislator George Borrello’s proposal for a Gateway in Ripley. Our excitement quickly turned to disappointment because this is no more than a retread of the 2013 proposal that is part of the county’s strategic plan, at ...

The New York State Constitution (Article 19, Section 2) requires that every 20 years the following ballot question will be asked: “Shall there be a convention to revise the constitution and amend the same?” This question will appear on the ballot on Nov. 7. Voters should be aware that the ...

Your article on about Texas College “could influence Confederate statue moves” (Aug. 22) caught my attention. I was a member of the 36th Division National Guard in World War II. Here’s the interesting question: How did a New York City boy end up in the Texas National Guard? I did train ...

Hurricanes, forest fires, and other disasters demonstrate just how quickly new reality can alter the prospects for entire regions. It doesn’t happen only during major disasters, though. In the course of a few hours, everything a family owns can be lost to a home fire. An automobile ...

What does the health of a community mean to you? Probably hospitals and doctors immediately come to mind, but a broader perspective brings all kinds of resources into play. Being healthy depends on the quality of life in a community where wellness, disease prevention, and aging in place ...

Here is another classic Margaret column I love to think about things because it gives one a better understanding about life. We call this time of year “fall” because the leaves fall. This is not true. Leaves don’t fall. They are pushed out so that when it snows, the snow will come ...