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Forgotten men had major revolutionary role

The fate of the American colonies rested in the hands of two men in August of 1777 in the Mohawk Valley of upstate New York. And one wasn’t “General” Nicholas Herkimer who led his men, some 800 members of the Tryon County Militia, including nine of my relatives, into a trap at Oriskany where between four and five hundred of them were slaughtered. The battlefield became a dead man’s land as the bodies of most of the slain were never retrieved. How bloody was the battle? Pulitzer Prize winner Rich Atkinson writes (The Fate of the Day) that in 1777, 1,517 Americans were killed in ...

The tails that wag the political dogs

There has been a lot of “hoopla” recently about how the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are taking over the Democratic Party. At least that is what conservative tabloids like the New York Post and their allies would make you think. In truth, the history of the Democratic Party, at least in New York State, is that there has always been a “free-for-all,” especially in New York City, between the liberal wing of the Democratic Party and what are called the “regulars,”—those with a more centrist view of politics. Back when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was Governor of New ...

Are mainstream Dems taking back the wheel?

You couldn't find a wackier candidate than Francesca Hong, the Democratic Socialist vying to become the governor of Wisconsin. She wanted to defund police and abolish ICE, topping it all off with a call to end Thanksgiving. "Saturday Night Live" couldn't have made her up. Hong lost the Democratic primary but left behind some sobering thoughts. She finished second by only a hair and against a sterling Democrat with relevant experience. The winner, David Crowley, is the Milwaukee County executive and an African American born into poverty. Crowley will face off against Republican Rep. ...

Welcome Electrovaya: the rest of the story

Electrovaya, a Canadian company that is making advanced proprietary lithium-ion batteries for industrial applications, is remodeling an existing manufacturing facility, located on 52 acres in the County’s Industrial Park in the Town of Ellicott. This will be Electrovaya’s first manufacturing facility in the United States, with a projected 100-150 jobs. This development comes against a backdrop of “Employment” in Chautauqua County having plunged from 64,000 about 15 years ago to 50,000 now. The rest of the story is necessary to understand why Electrovaya is coming ...

Risks, rewards from the simpler days

In those days, it wasn’t hard for a 16-year-old boy to get booze. The drinking age was 18, so if you could scrounge up a couple dollars and make some connections, like older friends or siblings, a six pack of Kochs Deer Run Ale or a bottle of Boones Farm Apple Wine was pretty easy to get. Moreover, there was a laid back, liberal vibe about that shady college town where we grew up, and plenty of opportunity for mischief. In fourth grade, Lamont and I were drawn together like birds of a feather. His mother and my father had both died tragically young, leaving us grounded in a dark and ...

Quippies

Nin Privitera, former Fredonia resident, offers some offbeat takes on recent headlines: — Rumors are that President Trump is now wearing a wig. If that's true, we may soon hear the usual Trump declaration that, "nobody has ever seen anything like it, it's made of gold." — There is some corporate interest in building a data center at the former Sugar Hill golf course site. On some bad outings years ago, I could have used a bank of computers to keep score. — Francesca Hong, who's running for Wisconsin governor, stated a while ago that she hates the Thanksgiving holiday. And ...