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Opinion

Explosive water events blow up plan for district

Commentary

Fredonia’s recent conservation and boil water orders coupled with the explosive water main break on Johnson and Gardner streets highlight several very important facts critical for Fredonia water customers moving forward. First and foremost, the village’s infrastructure will need to be replaced no matter where the village draws their water from. Regardless of whether the village joins the North County Water District or continues to use their own gravity-fed system, ancient water mains will continue to burst and will continue to deliver discolored water to customers until the mains are ...

Memories remain for the many we have lost, loved

Commentary

Just finished writing my obituary. It was brief. “He lived. He died.” At 84, finally coming to terms with the inevitable. The experience started me thinking about the people, family, friends and furry creatures who have passed away. While each had an impact, some, whose deaths I categorized as tragic or a blessing, have had lasting effects. For me, grieving was layered, and their passing was on top. The tragic category includes my mother-in-law Lorraine Crouse who was runover by an idiot plowing out Arby’s without a beeper. She was on her way to do volunteer work at the Herkimer ...

Council likely to back government, not residents

The OBSERVER’s View

Within the next month, elected leaders in the city of Dunkirk are going to have a choice to make when deciding on Mayor Kate Wdowiasz’s $32.2 million spending plan for 2027 that includes a 12% tax increase. It simply comes down to this: Does the council represent the citizens of the city — its constituents — or will it support the government on life support. Our guess? Council will not think twice about passing on that hike to city residents. Why? It is the easy way out. We totally understand the reasons. No one wants to tell dedicated and long-term employees that enough is ...

Election results offer upstate no reprieve from costly policies

Commentary

The election is over, so we have a brief reprieve from the nonsense and dishonesty that dominates our politics. OK, just kidding. Based on the campaign rhetoric one would think New York had the best economy in the country while leading the nation in unicorns and freebies for people who did not earn it based on our “generous welfare system.” If not for President Donald Trump, Iran’s Mullahs would forget their 1,400-year-old Quranic requirement to destroy everything non-Islamic, and the Chinese would respect Taiwan’s independence. Meanwhile those who oppose “forever wars” ...

People's column

Peoples column

Decency wins election night Editor, OBSERVER: Thoughts on the recent election. DEI is decried by the administration. Empathy has been posed as a vice, a weakness. In aggregate, winning candidates were the epitome of DEI, many of them notching firsts. An Indian American woman elected mayor of Los Angeles. A Latino elected governor of California. A Latina elected governor of Texas. A black man elected governor of Wisconsin. A black woman elected governor of Georgia. A Native American woman elected governor of New Mexico. A total of 15 women elected governors. An ...