Breaking News

Commentary

Baseball’s tight-knit connection to America

Nothing puts smiles on the faces of children than their first trip to a Major League Baseball game. A hot dog and peanuts, along with a seventh-inning stretch, watching the best in the world swing for the bleachers! Nothing sits as close to American sport than baseball. It isn’t called America's Pastime for no reason. In fact, the entire concept of the game was built from a way for Union soldiers to relax and stay fit during the American Civil War. The Famed New Yorker from a small place called Cooperstown, Abner Doubleday, created the game most revered in this country. It was a ...

The bridge is in a race with winter

It looks to me like construction activity has been increasing on the Chautauqua Lake Bridge as winter begins to close in. Will the DOT be able to beat winter and finish the two lanes on the southside before the construction season ends? I would say that the chances are “fifty-fifty,” yet, let’s hope that it can be done. The pouring of new concrete decking has been accelerating. There are now two concrete leveling machines in view on the bridge so that two sections of new deck can be laid at the same time. Instead of being continuous, some of the new deck sections are being ...

Oh Canada, we are sorry

On D-Day, June 6, 1944, as American forces stormed Omaha Beach at a cost of 2,800 lives, our Canadian neighbors and friends stormed Juno Beach at a cost of 381 lives. (Our population in 1944 was 130,000,000, more than 10 times Canada’s 12,000,000). Canadians served alongside our armed forces in Korea, Vietnam, Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm in Iraq, and in Afghanistan after the 9-11 attack on our Country. Until Donald Trump became President and treated Canada with no respect, as a non-nation that should be our 51st State, as something to be punished with punitive tariffs, ...

Still not ready to jump on ‘brand’-wagon

Brand. Algorithms. Influencer. Viral. These words make me cringe every time I hear them. The concept of “brand” imposed itself on me recently. In an effort to promote my substack page, “Howard’s Hues,” I paid a consultant (a real person) a couple hundred bucks for a half-hour live video session. It seemed like a good investment if I was to ever reach a wider audience and make some money from my writing. The woman seemed very knowledgeable regarding the marketing process, and, having skimmed through a couple of my essays, she appeared enthusiastic about Howard’s Hues and its ...

An easy to follow formula for Fredonia’s NCWD project

Some concerning statements were quoted in the front page OBSERVER article of Sept. 15, "District in red, open to talks with the city." North County Water District Chairman Dan Pacos was quoted as saying that the NCWD has lost $150k in the fiscal year through August. Pacos was also quoted questioning SUNY Professor Peter Reinelt’s formula for calculating the water rates that Dunkirk charges the NCWD and that are then up-charged to water customers. This is not the first time that Pacos has questioned Reinelt’s calculations and cautioned that having a sole individual calculating water ...

Relationships, love can impact ‘recovery’

In his book, “The Road Less Traveled,” Scott Peck defines love as “The will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth.” He also states, “Love is the energy force for discipline.” During the 30-plus years that I was a chemical dependency counselor, the single greatest cause of relapses for clients was irrational relationships. Self-love also includes love for another. Since I am human and you are human, to love means to love myself as well as you. Some people may love their pets, but are incapable of showing the same kind ...