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Opinion

It’s a lot less wild while in captivity

Commentary

Imagine hundreds of people watching your every move and wanting you to get up and do something entertaining. The constant noise of screaming, crying, chattering. Wanting to just hide from it all but there is no place to go. You’re stuck behind the glass. Being a caged animal means your life is limited. Would you want to live like that? My love for animals is something I've had since birth. They remind me of the simplest joys in life. All of my worries are far behind me when I am with animals. One of my favorite places to visit when I was younger was the zoo. Walking by the glass, ...

Our view: Hefty reserves disregard taxpayers

The OBSERVER’s View

We have complained for years about more than $30 million in reserves for Chautauqua County. Pine Valley Central Schools is even more guilty. In recent years, Pine Valley built its unassigned fund balance to roughly 30% of the succeeding year’s budget — dramatically higher than surrounding districts. Prior to this proposed budget, the district had just shy of $6 million in unassigned fund balance. It also has significant amounts in several reserve funds for various purposes. That’s too much — and goes against the 4% recommendation by New York state. This year, the district ...

Our view: Not Fred Fest gets less rowdy

The OBSERVER’s View

Village of Fredonia officials deserve some praise for their efforts regarding the notorious Not Fred Fest. Earlier this month, the party hearty weekend was nothing like previous editions. In a news release issued last week, Fredonia police noted they handled 163 incidents and made 37 arrests. Here’s the total charges handed out: Open container violation, 15; underage possession of alcohol, 9; fake ID, 2; harassment, 2; vehicle and traffic tickets, 7; disorderly conduct, 2; littering, 2; and one each of criminal mischief, petit larceny, sewer ordinance violation, and driving under the ...

Oil is not found everywhere

Commentary

The United States, by our action in starting a war with Iran, sparked a blockade at the Strait of Hormuz. We followed by starting our own naval blockade and since then oil prices have jumped to $100 per barrel. Many are asking: “Why?” Why did we start this war, but, also, why is the price of oil now so high? Why does the Middle East control the price of oil? The simple answer is that over 50% of the proven reserves for oil in the world are there, and Mid-East oil today accounts for over 25% of total annual world oil production. It would be nice if mother nature had deposited oil ...

People's column: Decisiveness of Trump angers many

Peoples column

Editor, OBSERVER: There are many people who won't like this. Perhaps Donald Trump is hated because he solves problems that others need to keep existing. Think about it for a moment, Trump is not a traditional politician. He is a businessman who came to the White House thinking like a businessman and that completely changes the rules of the game. A politician lives off rhetoric, long processes, summits and promises. A businessman lives off closing deals, resolving conflicts and moving forward. For one the problem is a political tool. For the other the problem is something that has ...

Officials did not lead on lake issue

Commentary

We are disappointed, actually appalled, that our County Legislature and Executive did not have the courage to represent its constituents against the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (NYSDEC) ill-conceived and rushed new wetlands regulations. They took no action as those terribly flawed regulations were imposed on all of us. Fortunately, through no effort of the County, those regulations have now been annulled by a State Supreme Court decision. It was left to two local non-profits, the Chautauqua Lake Property Owners Association (CLPOA) and the Chautauqua ...