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Opinion

Historian saves voting machines from scrap yard

Commentary

Chautauqua County is about to lose another piece of history and nobody except County Historian Norman Carlson seems to know about. The 21st Century history of voting winds through western New York and most specifically Chautauqua County’s Jamestown where the world headquarters for the now defunct Automatic Voting Machine (AVM) was once located. An erected historic marker on the city’s Jones & Gifford Ave. states, “At this site from 1895 to 1993, Jamestown-based companies pioneered in developing, manufacturing and servicing of mechanical-lever voting machines and electronic ...

The OBSERVER’s View

The OBSERVER’s View

We'd say New York should throw out its recycling data, but we're not sure if the paper would be recycled or end up in a landfill. Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's office found the state DEC lacks reliable information on how much material is recycled across the state. Part of the problem is recycling facilities have submitted only about two-thirds of the required annual reports from January 2021 through December 2023. The facilities that did submit reports couldn't always verify the information they did report. And, perhaps most troubling, of the reports that were submitted, nearly ...

No sour grapes when it comes to aging

Commentary

Nostalgia — that bittersweet feeling we get when reminiscing about the past, about simpler times when the world was softer, warmer, fuzzier. It can be therapeutic to let your mind wander to some place where a really good thing happened. In general, I try to avoid thinking about the past. For me personally, there is always the danger of a dark page popping even as I’m trying to hone in on an otherwise pleasant chapter. Or a reminder of a failed endeavor, or the dreams that never came true. And in general, there isn’t much point in trying to square what happened back then with what ...

Housing effort brings proven partner

The OBSERVER’s View

In a Dunkirk-Fredonia region, where the poverty rate is nearly 25%, we cannot understand the criticism that comes with the affordable housing projects. One of the most recent to be announced is tied to the Downtown Revitalization Initiative that offered the city of Dunkirk $10 million to build up its business district. Earlier this month, Gov. Kathy Hochul was in town to boost the Homesteads at Dunkirk Landing $38 million projects — one that will be built near the Save A-Lot plaza on Fourth Street and another on Washington Avenue. Regan Development Corp., which is handling the ...

Education costs too high for troubling outcomes

Commentary

On July 11 I wrote that the tax burdens in Fredonia and Dunkirk have become excessive, punitive, and detached from the principles of limited government. That concern has only deepened. County, town, and school taxes continue to climb while the performance of too many elected and appointed officials remains disappointing. Residents are asked to pay more and receive less in competence, transparency, and results. Nowhere is the gap between cost and outcome more troubling than in education. Decades of rising tax-supported spending have not produced corresponding gains in public school ...

No hate for Trump, it’s a lack of confidence

Commentary

I am responding to the writer of “Why so Much Hate for Trump?” (Aug. 10). The issue is not one of hate. The most important issue in regard to President Donald Trump is whether you have confidence in this individual to make good decisions that help our people, that strengthen the country, and that strengthen our democracy. No other president and administration has done more to damage American democracy than Trump. You can accuse people of “hate” because you are blind to his sins. I say the question the writer should be asking is “What are the issues that show why Americans ...