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The OBSERVER’s View

DUNKIRK: Control board cost just a panic button

State Sen. George Borrello and Assemblyman Andrew Molitor last week renewed the call for a control board in Dunkirk. Though there is a sentiment for the idea from some residents, Democrats have major reservations about the idea. In most cases, they worry about the cost citing the Buffalo Control Board costs $1 million per year. What’s wrong with that? Buffalo’s budget tops $622 million. The cost for that control board is not even 1% of the total city budget. Besides, why are we worried about the potential price tag for a control board in Dunkirk? At present, the city’s budget ...

COUNTY: Affordability plan is discussion point

We didn’t expect to see a plan being proposed last week by legislative Democrats to be taken seriously by Republicans in the Chautauqua County Legislature. It’s pretty early to make such commitments, especially in an environment when federal and state funding for programs used by county residents is in flux. But now is just the time for the legislature to be thinking about the proposal from legislators Bob Bankoski and Tom Nelson. Bankoski and Nelson proposed cutting county property taxes by $2 million, increasing the senior citizen partial property tax exemption income limit ...

STATE Expensive budget could get worse

It should say something to Democrats in the state Legislature that Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli already has reservations about state spending in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s 2026-27 budget proposal. The budget increases all funds spending to $260 billion in 2027 while the state’s operating budget increases to $157.6 billion. Stronger performance on Wall Street is driving higher tax revenue that pays for increased spending on programs Hochul is proposing. Hochul said the budget also replaces $10.3 in federal funding – including $3 billion in recurring federal funding – that has been cut ...

Justice: One county family receives closure

The family of Kala Hodgkin will receive some semblance of justice with Michael Burham’s guilty plea to a charge of first-degree murder. Hodgkin accused Burham of forcibly raping her two months before her death and was shot dead in her home by him after he was charged but before he was arrested. Burham will be sentenced March 2 and is expected to receive a prison sentence of 25 years to life. Burham is currently serving time behind bars in the kidnapping of an elderly Pennsylvania couple. The plea brings to a close one of the more shocking Jamestown crimes in recent history. Burham ...

New York State: Talking on the high electric rates

Gov. Kathy Hochul has heard the pleas from state residents who want something to be done to decrease the cost of living in the Empire State. Helping lower state residents’ home heating and power bills while, at the same time, making sure the supply of power is plentiful, is a good place to start. So we’re encouraged to hear Hochul is advancing a new initiative, the Nuclear Reliability Backbone, directing state agencies to establish a clear pathway for additional advanced nuclear generation to support grid reliability. The Nuclear Reliability Backbone will be developed by a new ...

County: Familiar story plays out at lake

For more than a century Chautauqua Lake has been the goose that lays golden eggs. That was the case when lakefront hotels and amusement parks dotted the lake’s shores around the turn of the century. It was true as lakefront homes and summer cottages sprung up around the lake. The goose helped create southern Chautauqua County’s tourist economy. The goose is still capable of laying golden eggs as developers look to spend big bucks on lakefront development. We all love the goose. We really love those golden eggs that keep dollars flowing in the summer. But we can’t seem to agree ...