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The OBSERVER’s View

COUNTY: It’s hard to believe air service will fly this year

Chautauqua County officials are on board with trying to restore Essential Air Service at the Jamestown airport. We remain unconvinced that passengers, not to mention the federal government, are ready to climb back on board passenger service at the Jamestown airport. We haven’t yet seen anything that says the federal government is about to open the federal spending floodgates, nor have we seen anything that says ridership at the airport is going to explode if an Essential Air Service subsidy is reinstated by the federal government. County lawmakers are bound and determined to ...

Easter: A time for reflection for all

This weekend is the culmination of the holiest of weeks in the Christian calendar, with Easter Sunday and the resurrection of Christ it celebrates the most pivotal or defining moment of the liturgical year. We understand and respect that not everyone in our region is a practicing Christian - we hope everyone can understand that the lessons of this season go beyond the chronology of the scriptures or the doctrines of churches. The Easter message calls upon the world to be more compassionate, as Jesus Christ, on the cross, asked God the Father to forgive His persecutors. The message ...

NATION: Increasing timber production a responsible decision

A recent executive order by President Donald Trump to streamline regulations and allow more timber to be harvested from U.S. Forest Service lands invites what possibly could be a trivia question: Under which U.S. department’s jurisdiction does the U.S. Forest Service fall? If you answered the U.S. Department of the Interior, which supervises national parks and fulfills a mission of preserving natural areas and sites of note, you would be wrong. If you answered the Environmental Protection Agency, which enforces environmental regulations to curtail pollution and limit environmental ...

FREDONIA BUDGET: It’s too late to avoid short-term pain

Fredonia’s tax hike is now 65.3% – and Village Board members are finding themselves between a rock and a hard place. During a meeting this week, board members looked at nickel and dime cuts – cutting board members’ pay, talking about eliminating the mayor’s cell phone plan from the village budget, cutting a police car purchase and looking at the village’s phone service through DFT. All told, the tax increase has gone up from what was originally proposed by Mayor Mike Ferguson. If board members find themselves stuck, just think about taxpayers who are looking at not ...

FREDONIA BUDGET: It’s too late to avoid short-term pain

Fredonia’s tax hike is now 65.3% – and Village Board members are finding themselves between a rock and a hard place. During a meeting this week, board members looked at nickel and dime cuts – cutting board members’ pay, talking about eliminating the mayor’s cell phone plan from the village budget, cutting a police car purchase and looking at the village’s phone service through DFT. All told, the tax increase has gone up from what was originally proposed by Mayor Mike Ferguson. If board members find themselves stuck, just think about taxpayers who are looking at not only ...

Silver Creek: Even small village sees higher costs

Even smaller entities are facing troubling times when it comes to costs. Last week, Silver Creek Village Board presented its budget proposal for 2025-26. Its tentative plan showed an increase of approximately 65 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. That exceeds the tax cap of $1,145,000 by $14,192. “The village will be working diligently to reduce this,” Mayor Jeff Hornburg said of the proposed rate increase. Silver Creek is lucky. Years ago, it eliminated its police force and contracted with the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Department for patrols. If the department was ...