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People’s column

Peoples column

Region needs to hear both sides Editor, OBSERVER: Thank you kindly Paul Somerfeldt, for standing up at a recent Dunkirk Economic Development meeting. Until now, we have been hearing from boosters of nuclear reactors and data centers. Those private companies have a clear agenda: — Purchase relatively inexpensive land. — Use a large body of water for heat load transfer.See: http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2019/ph241/clark1/. — Take tax benefits which we pay to the state. — Sell energy to large urban areas. — Gain short term profits. There ...

Is now the time for police merger?

The OBSERVER’s View

Across Dunkirk and Fredonia – the north county’s two largest municipalities — there are a total of five law-enforcement agencies that can oversee the city and village. Besides their own departments, University Police, New York State Police and the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Department are always nearby. This for a total of 22,000 residents, that includes a State University campus. With financial troubles evident in the two governments, something has to give. Population continues to decrease while costs keep going up. On the positive side, both municipal departments have ...

U.S. needs to take threats seriously

Commentary

Imploring a young audience to “discard the stuck-on-stupid card,” retired Lieutenant Colonel Alan West then quoted poet Maya Angelou, “When people show you who they are the first time, believe them.” Spoken not just once, “Death to America” has been bellowed a gazillion times by Islamic Shias in Iran and elsewhere including Dearborn, Mich. Do you believe them? If not, you own a “stuck-on-stupid” card. In New York City, Muslims on Times Square incessantly shouted, “Allahu Akbar.” The leader addressing the hyped-up horde said sarcastically, “Don’t scare ...

People’s column

Peoples column

The OBSERVER’s View (July 30, 2026) states that “… no state official has indicated how struggling SUNY institutions are supposed to pay for these generous increases” in State University of New York salaries. In the midst of an international infectious epidemic in 2009, President George Bush recognized that the U.S. did not have sufficient vaccine production facilities to inoculate its own citizens. Overseas facilities were committed to the vaccine production for their own citizens. I suggested to then-Chautauqua County Executive Mark Thomas that the north county would be an ...

The OBSERVER’s View: Bottom line closes another church

The OBSERVER’s View

Another incredibly important parish in the history of northern Chautauqua County learned of its fate this weekend. During the 9:30 a.m. Mass, it was announced that St. Anthony’s Church in Fredonia would be closing. Members of the church’s finance committee made the announcement, citing declining attendance and donation rates. The closure will leave Fredonia without a Catholic church. St. Joseph’s on Main Street closed as of Jan. 1, 2025. As sudden as the decision seems, there is no question the tumult in the Buffalo diocese has a lot to do with all of the transitions. Facing ...

A challenging year in grape country

Commentary

Alarm bells went off earlier this year, when Refresco Company announced that it was cancelling grape contracts in this area. It had been a large purchaser of Concord grapes here in Chautauqua County. I have not been privy to the decision of Refresco but am assuming that at least part of its decision was based upon the fact that grape processing was a small part of its overall international operations, and corporate big-wigs decided to focus company efforts more on its core businesses. Whatever the reason, it left some grape growers without an immediate market for their grapes. For ...