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Sunday suppers with friends – senior version

Sunday has always been my favorite night for dining with friends. This preference goes way back to an early learning experience. During my college years, I worked summers in a fancy – but consistently busy - Cape Cod restaurant. The Sunday night patrons were always my favorite. The crowds ...

Keeping a scorecard to find sports on TV

Last week, amidst all the news coming out of Iran and the Persian Gulf, and the latest Graham Platner scandal, an event occurred in Washington that might have held the attention of sports fans across the nation. It was a hearing held by the House Judiciary Committee called to examine whether ...

The OBSERVER’s View: State once again misguided on taxes

New York state taketh away. Then it giveth back. Why is that worth celebrating? On Tuesday afternoon, the governor’s office — which consistently generously hands out school aid to districts statewide — wants property owners to know they deserve a rebate. But instead of reducing costs, it is coming the only way you can expect from Albany. It is spending more. Nearly 3 million New Yorkers across the state will receive over $2 billion in tax relief this summer and fall through New York’s School Tax Relief (STAR) program, the state projected. “The start of summer is also ...

Campaign trail in region displays high costs

Western New York had the look and feel of a battleground region last week when both state Gov. Kathy Hochul and challenger Bruce Blakeman made their way to the region. Within hours on June 12, the high-profile candidates were setting an agenda while offering voters a vision for how the next ...

Words matter in coverage of the news

Headlines are often the first thing readers see and, in some cases, the only thing they will read. They make the reader focus on a specific part of the story, allowing the reader to make a quick and immediate judgment. Most of the time, journalists create something that is perfect for online use, to get on top of the Google search page, or that quickly sums the story up in a short, attention-grabbing way. Usually, there is less focus on wording in the headline than in the story itself, but headline word choices matter more than people may think, and they can have a lasting impact on ...

The OBSERVER’s View: Site’s sale offers new beginning

Tonawanda’s Huntley Plant, once a generator of electricity that was shut down nearly a decade ago, remains in limbo. Despite town leaders hoping for a victory with eminent domain, NRG Energy Inc. is continuing litigation. In that court battle at the moment, there are no winners. Here in Chautauqua County, it is a different story. Earlier this month, NRG announced the sale of its Dunkirk plant to Genover — a company that specializes in redeveloping retired industrial sites. “We work with utilities planning generation retirements, sponsors evaluating industrial acquisitions, ...