I recently read “The Mohawk” by Codman Hislop,  who taught American Civilization at Union College in Schenectady, New York. The book originally published in 1948 is the story of the Mohawk Valley and its river from prehistoric times up to the post-World War II period with a large ...

When I hop to my computer each morning, I promise myself I won’t fritter away my time. Fuggedaboudit. I get some of my best ideas while frittering. On Monday, I didn’t have frittering time to spare. I was cleaning up some of my messier computer files when I stumbled across an article I ...

Recently, on a rare sunny morning, me friends and I were breaking bread at the Ann Street Deli in Little Falls, where one finds the best pancakes this side of heaven, when the subject of St. Patrick’s Day arose. What began as an innocent discussion of the annual parade in Utica devolved ...

It is easy to start a war, but very difficult to end one. That has always been the case and still is. If you are in doubt, just ask Vladamir Putin how things are going in the war he started in Ukraine four years ago. Think about the Iraq War. We invaded Iraq in 2003. Saddam Hussein was ...

An article in the OBSERVER and another in The Buffalo News has brought information about a battery storage facility meant for an area off Brigham Road across the street from the entire west side of Dunkirk. Less than a mile away sits the Dunkirk Junior-High School, and the School 5. I’m ...

Father Dan Walsh and Father Bob Owczarczak are the two best priests I have ever known. They are both huge Bills fans. So I will put it this way. Father Dan is like the Jim Kelly of priests. A wise, old, retired superstar. Father Bob is like Josh Allen. The new, young, dynamic superstar. ...