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Artificial Intelligence can benefit region

Any mention of Artificial Intelligence (AI) these days is bound to generate a wide variety of responses. Some are overly excited by what they have heard about its potential while others are fearful of it. That’s largely because most people don’t fully understand AI yet. That often happens when any new technology begins to emerge. It takes people time to wrap their heads around anything that is likely to change the way they have always done something. They need to figure out how to adapt so they can use it in beneficial ways. Just like during previous technological revolutions, ...

Bar Association needs respect on views

The head of the New York State Bar Association, or NYSBA, has criticized a Trump-administration Justice Department official. ≤ ≤ ≤ Please read the criticism for yourself: NYSBA “denounces Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s declaration of ‘war’ on the judiciary and bar(-)association disciplinary bodies. “At a recent conference of the Federalist Society, (General) Blanche characterized the Department of Justice’s resistance to ethical oversight of its lawyers by courts and bar associations as ‘war.’” NYSBA “will always stand up for the rule of law ...

You’re forgetting everything? Join the club

My mother had a saying that I heard all too often during my childhood: “You’d forget your head if it wasn’t attached.” Sadly, she was right. I’ve spent a ridiculous amount of my whole life looking for what I have lost, misplaced, or simply forgotten. No, it’s not just ordinary car keys or reading glasses. Or please, God, my cell phone. I was a latchkey kid who couldn’t hang onto house keys. I lost keys at a rate that made the hardware store man shake his head. I was a regular customer at age eight. And mittens? Snow hats? Library books? I forgot them all, the ...

There’s a high cost to troubles of homelessness

I recently heard that New York City will spend $81,107 a year on each member of its homelessness population in 2025. The city’s total spending on the homeless went from $102 million in 2019 to $368 million in 2025 — an increase of 262%. That $81,107 is more than a lot of families live on in a year, so it seems that the most effective way to cure the homeless problem is to give the cash directly to the homeless. A recent report from state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli reported that despite surging expenditures, both the city and New York state struggle in tracking exactly where the ...

Catholic Charities brings hope to needy

By DAN MECCA For more than 100 years, Catholic Charities has stood alongside Western New Yorkers during some of the hardest chapters of their lives. Today, nearly one in every 10 people in our region will be touched by its work. That’s not just a statistic. It represents children, parents, seniors and neighbors who need support to steady their footing and move forward. Hope takes many forms inside Catholic Charities. It’s a mother receiving counseling so she can hold her family together during a time of stress. It’s an older adult who no longer has to choose between paying ...

Lessons learned on a trip to Ohio

Recently, we took a road trip to Ohio with another couple. It was a good break from the winter doldrums. We stopped to see old friends, renew old memories and revisit old, familiar places. Ohio seems like it will never end. There are places of beautiful rolling hills, but then there are the seemingly endless, flat plains of the great craton...the corn belt that spans across several states in the Midwest. We drove for three days and never left the State of Ohio. One of the rewards of seeing old friends is that it is easy. Though you may not have seen them for several years, you ...