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Politics can’t halt evolution, nature

First they came for the Trans kids, And I am speaking up because I know how this poem ends. The Trump administration is saying “There are only two sexes, male and female.” To ensure that young people do not try to change their gender while they are developing, the administration is threatening to withhold Medicare and Medicaid money to any hospital that provides that care to minors. This ensures that even in states where it’s legal gender affirming care for adolescents can’t happen in a hospital. If a boy wanted to have surplus breast tissue removed to look more like a ...

Industry needs a diverse energy strategy

Editor, OBSERVER: For manufacturers across New York, abundant and reliable energy is not a luxury or a choice. Around the clock power, 365 days a year, drives daily operations, keeps us competitive and allows us to grow our workforce and continue investing in communities. This is why we strongly support an all-of-the-above approach to energy policy—one that embraces natural gas, nuclear energy, emerging clean technologies, and above all, the core principles of affordability and reliability. This approach is critical now more than ever. New York’s energy systems are facing ...

Heroic recognition during a season of giving

The month of December throughout our nation’s history has been a very active time for our military. We all know about the Day That Lives in Infamy, when the Japanese, unprovoked, attacked the islands of Hawaii decimating the Pacific Fleet of our Navy. We know about the siege of Bastogne in the European theater of WWII that lasted many days and showed the true tenacity of the American soldier, holding off overwhelming German forces in what became known as the Battle of the Bulge. During the Korean War, Lieutenant Colonel Raymond Davis against a superior Force led his Marine Battalion ...

At their best, Bills are unbeatable

ORCHARD PARK—Let’s pick up where we left off 15 weeks ago, after the first week of the 2025 National Football League season. You, faithful reader of this column, will recall that the Buffalo Bills came back from a second-half — indeed, a late-fourth-quarter — deficit for a 41-40 win over the Baltimore Ravens. ≤ ≤ ≤ With that in mind, how many times have we seen second-half comebacks this season? Whatever the number is, the answer to the question is, “More than we wanted.” It’s almost advisable to tune in after halftime and spare ourselves the ...

Years of fulfilling Christmas dreams

Marcy’s vacation week offers a holiday column excerpted from her book, Rounding Third … originally from 2006. Christmastime is pure nostalgia. Many of my holiday memories began with our children’s arrival. I will never forget the total exhaustion of falling into bed after filling the last stocking and cleaning up the toy construction evidence. The elves who visited our house weren’t super handy or organized. Depending on how successful last-minute wrapping and battery searches were, bedtime followed – during a lucky year at 2:00am. Often much later. I never felt as stringy ...

It’s the season for holiday movies

I’m going to the movies again this week. This week it’s my favorite Christmas movies. These may not be the best Christmas movies or had the biggest box office, but they are my favorites. The movies I have selected while conveying the Christmas spirit have messages that often transcend the holiday. Three of the films were not even released as Christmas movies but during the summer months of June and August. It is not a Christmas movie per se, but it introduced the largest selling Christmas song of all time with 50 million physical copies sold of the Crosby version, Irving ...