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The OBSERVER’s View

DOWNTOWNS: Community effort part of answer

There is no question how tough it is to rebuild communities. Downtowns are struggling in some of our villages and in the city of Dunkirk. Foot traffic is missing, especially in the winter months. That’s troubling for businesses — and some cannot maintain as the area’s population and consumer sentiment moves to online. We don’t know all the details, but Silver Creek’s loss of a downtown shop is certainly disappointing. A Facebook post from a since-deleted account last week noted that “Dave’s Outlet is permanently closed effective immediately.” Despite the opening ...

HANOVER: Finding future direction for town

One of the hot topics recently in the town of Hanover involves the possibility of a new hotel. Another topic revolves around the future use of Lakeshore Hospital, which could become a behavioral and mental health facility. In any event, the town is currently preparing to update its 24-year-old comprehensive plan — and input from residents is being sought regarding where they would like to see Hanover in the next five to 10 years. A comprehensive plan establishes a community-based vision and general guide to decision-making for the next decade. Last week, an open house sought ...

SChools: Getting past just shared sports

Residents of the Frewsburg and Southwestern school districts learned last week about talks between the districts to share sports teams. Shared teams aren’t new. They’re been a growing part of the interscholastic sports landscape both in Chautauqua County and the rest of the state for years. But what’s being considered at Frewsburg and Southwestern is different. Rather than sharing a team or two, the districts are talking about a large-scale sharing of sports that would formally include several teams in all three high school sports seasons. Southwestern has lost 7.7% of its ...

FREDONIA: Past inaction led to troubling leaks

Right before 9 a.m. Friday, the Facebook page for the village made it official: “FREDONIA’s BOIL WATER ORDER HAS BEEN LIFTED!” It may have been exciting news to share, but it is no cause for celebration. Water is Fredonia’s major stain. What makes the situation even worse is that this is no longer just a community secret. It has become a notorious problem that is being noticed within the county, state and nation while wreaking havoc with admissions at the State University of New York at Fredonia. Users have no choice but to complain to the current elected leaders about the ...

PRESIDENCY: Executive orders dismiss compromise

Our concerns about the second Trump Administration’s executive actions on immigration are twofold: First, the White House should employ a greater focus on illegal immigration specifically and, second, executive orders violate the principles of our republic. As we noted in our editorials during the Biden Administration, executive orders circumvent the process in ways that poorly serve the public. Sweeping proposals such as Biden’s student loan forgiveness plans or Trump’s plans on immigration, as we wrote about the former in August of 2022, “should go through proper, ...

EDUCATION: Cost no hurdle again for state

It’s a fair question, because the person leading the state’s school system is getting a$155,000 a year raise to oversee a state educational system that spends the most in the nation — with raises like hers it’s easy to see why, by the way — while attaining middling educational results for children. This commissioner is overseeing a revamp of graduation standards that are just as likely to water down the value of a diploma as they are to actually prepare more students for college or the workforce. This is an education commissioner whose department needed state legislative action ...