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Musician always displayed spirit, soul

Soul. I’m writing about this because a friend of mine, who embodied the essence of soul, recently passed away. To me, Rob Scheuer was the epitome of soulfulness, both as a performing musician and a human being. In music, Soul suggests the ability of any musician, black or white or whatever, to play with emotion, or “feel.” Performing music soulfully takes more than technical ability. It requires the musician to seize the opportunity to express his or her love of music and to do it with conviction – purposefully, consistently, joyfully or painfully, as if every song might be the ...

Wants of the left do not bring freedom

It’s 1984 again. Government servitude is freedom. Violence is a peaceful protest. George Orwell’s masterpiece explores the historical reality of Socialism, and how “newspeak” and “doublespeak” have been used to manipulate naive people. Men can bear children. Healthcare can be free. DEI-based racism is anti-racist. A Jan. 24 commentary headlined “Freedoms being lost right before our eyes” typifies Leftist doublespeak, but could be anybody parroting the Left’s Neo-Marxist nonsense machine. It begins by proclaiming a membership in ANTIFA, the “non-existent” ...

Plate fraud driven by New York City

When I was on the campaign trail for Chautauqua County Clerk, the news stories about possible wrongdoing at our county DMV locations were impossible to miss. County residents were receiving toll charges, in some cases thousands of dollars, for tolls and speeding infractions on license plates they’d surrendered to one of our DMVs. This was a terrible situation for the victims spending countless hours fighting fines and fees they weren’t responsible for. When I was elected, tackling this issue became my top priority. After taking office Jan. 1, I visited all three county DMV ...

Legislature gets this one right

MAYVILLE — Sometimes the most forward-thinking among us are those first to realize they took a wrong turn, and then reverse course and take the right road. In that light, congratulations go to the Chautauqua County legislature. Let’s set the stage. During its regular meetings, the legislature has two privileges of the floor—times when anyone, including legislators themselves, can publicly address the legislature, subject to time limits and, of course, limits of decorum. Under current rules, the first privilege is at the beginning of the meeting. Then, comments must be ...

Lake Placid filled with golden moments

The tiny village was named after its tranquil little lake. My dictionary defines placid as serene, gentle, calm. Writing last week’s column about the 1980 Olympics brought back memories that were anything but peaceful. The downtown streets were loud, crowded and fun. It doesn’t seem possible that four and a half decades have slid by since easy-going Lake Placid played host. I was reminded of those many years as Scott Hamilton remarked about this year’s figure skating competition in Italy. When we saw his Olympic debut in Lake Placid, he was 21 years old and stood at his tallest ...

Speaking up on events — while you can

The front page of a recent Friday edition of the OBSERVER was loaded with a lot of very interesting news. The first thing that caught my eye, as it usually does on Friday, was John D’Agostino’s Editor’s corner. It was another of his takes on the budgetary insanity that continues to characterize New York at many levels. In the article he compared New York to its neighbor Pennsylvania with regard to state spending. In New York the proposed 2027 budget calls for expenditures totaling $260 billion to serve a population of 19.5 million while across the border Pennsylvania a ...