A recent report card offers a mixed bag regarding how our local governments are doing when it comes to transparency during an unprecedented pandemic. According to the The New York Coalition for Open Government, there are some municipalities that are thriving and others are just outright ...
White Inn has lost prominence Editor, OBSERVER: What happened to the White Inn? The queen of Fredonia sits on the corner of East Main and White streets. Her crown is tilted and she looks forlorn and empty. The lawn is straggly and unmowed and bushes untrimmed. Wake up, Fredonia. ...
I would respectfully but stridently disagree with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Bill Gates or anyone else who might suggest that remote learning is an effective way to reimagine education. It has never been more apparent. There is no substitute for a willing student, in the classroom of a good teacher, at ...
Thirty years ago — 1990 The high hopes held by organizers of the “Walk Around Cassadaga Lake” fund drive may have been exceeded. An estimated 400 people turned out to make the walk, including out-of-towners from as far away as Pittsburgh. Also participating were two young boys, Bobby, ...
Never before have schools closed so suddenly in New York state. But on May 1, the tough decision was announced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Students, who had a final day in the building to pick up materials in mid March, could have never envisioned the long break that they were beginning. COVID-19 ...
Once the grim tally of deaths from COVID-19 is finalized — sometime later this year, we hope — there is little doubt it will be clear that nursing homes are the coronavirus’ favored killing grounds. To most public health leaders, that already is obvious. In some states, most of the ...
This November will mark 28 years since I first set foot on the property I call DUCK! Whether in the grass or on the lake or in the woods (with parts there I have yet to explore), I continue to make new discoveries. That surprises me. Since it’s hardly that large an area, one might think ...
Thirty years ago — 1990 A committee of seven Town of Cheektowaga residents that installed a veterans monument in the town park are having to defend themselves to other veterans who are angry that the only names on the monument are those of the seven committee members. The seven residents ...
It was an October 2007 evening that Mary Richir would never forget. After years of volunteering her time and talents for the Festival of Grapes in her hometown of Silver Creek, Richir was honored with the community service award by the Silver Creek-Irving Chamber of Commerce. That evening, I ...
Marcia Merrins, chair of the Fredonia Cable Advisory Board, is absolutely correct. In this era of meetings being broadcast on public access — since restrictions are in place due to COVID-19 — the location of the channel needs to be more prominent. Consider this in Dunkirk-Fredonia: ...
I would like to tell the story of a real American hero, a native of Western New York who played a pivotal role in the American victory over the Japanese in the crucial Naval Battle of Midway an event that we will mark the 78-year anniversary of on Thursday, June 4. Clarence Wade McClusky, ...
Thirty years ago — 1990 Student of the Week is Becky Strzempka, a senior at Silver Creek Central School. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Strzempka of Silver Creek, she has been actively involved with Silver Creek’s Impact Team and was one of the first students to attend Impact training ...
We have touched on this before, but it always is worth noting again. Many who have been displaced from work or had other hardships due to the coronavirus are facing a concern of when and where their next meal will be. On Monday, our newspaper again touched on the crisis and the need for ...
Is it any wonder that the skies are a brighter blue and the smog has lifted from our cities? Are the oceans cleaner, the creeks and waterways clearer, the air a little easier to breathe, albeit through a mask? If there has been one positive as a result of the coronavirus it is that the ...
Writing and making public one’s opinions guarantees people will respond. Writers, performers and every human likely desire his or her thoughts, and even their life, to matter to others. The alternative is to become hermits. Like other opinion writers I get my share of positive and negative ...
It sure felt like the beginning of summer on Monday. Across our region, especially here in Dunkirk-Fredonia, residents made their way to the great outdoors that included a splash of sunshine and 80-degree temperatures after a brutal period since mid March that has impacted just about ...
As a young boy, living in a small town (Gowanda), I spent a lot of time in the summer playing, and yes sleeping at night, in the woods. Right on the edge of town was a woods referred to as the glen, which was our playground day and night. I think that inasmuch as my formative years were ...
Thirty years ago — 1990 More than 100 familiar Forestville names are featured in a recently published book. the late Ernest Donahue of Hanford Bay, Silver Creek, completed the final pages of “Forestville Horse and Buggy Days,” just days before he died. The book provides a “thumbnail ...
Memorial Day is the traditional beginning of summer. Residents here and around the northeast will likely venture out, take to the grills and gather with family as they always have done. Heading to services to pay tribute to those who fought for our freedoms, however, is one holiday tradition ...
It has been happening since the beginning of spring. School district officials, parents, area businesses and boosters have been doing their part to salute the Class of 2020. No graduating class has ever gone through the bitter pill this one has. That being said, the compassion and generosity ...