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SAVE Act is tough on women

I submitted my passport application this week. The total was $190 including processing fee at the post office in addition to the eight-dollar passport photo. I am fortunate that the expense was an irritation and not part of the grocery budget. Luckily, I had a certified copy of my birth certificate on hand. I married my husband shortly after turning 18 and that is the only legal document I have bearing my maiden name. A planner by nature, I thought I would feel relieved knowing that if the SAVE Act is passed, my vote will be protected. Since crossing it off of my to-do list I’ve just ...

Taking in the dog days of retirement

My dog Rocco stares at me a lot. It’s not because he thinks I look good. And it’s not because he wants me to take him on a romp through the woods to sniff out raccoons or other wild creatures (note: he is afraid of the squirrels in the yard, and they have perceived his cowardice, taunting him as they raid the birdfeeders.) And it’s certainly not because he has some interesting idea he is trying to convey telepathically. I know this is true because I have tried getting him to respond to animal friendly TV programs. Every Wednesday I put on Hudson and Rex reruns, but he never even ...

Having faith that NCCS could be must-see TV

Pete Howard and I often talk about writing the script for the pilot of a television show. We already have a name for the show. North County Catholic. That’s a little dig at The Buffalo News. The News could never get the name Northern Chautauqua Catholic School correct when Pedro would ...

Putting perspective on Fredonia’s costs

You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time. Last month, Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel visited the Dunkirk Common Council to offer remarks about consolidation. In his usual form, he used fear mongering to put Fredonia in a bad light by saying the village has one of, if not the, highest tax rates in the state of New York. While addressing how the county has concerns for paying unpaid property taxes, he said that to settle an unpaid tax bill on a Fredonia home assessed at $100,000 the county would have to pay $6,100. ...

At holy time, U.S. needs more than prayers

This past week the Christian Church has been observing a most holy and sacred event, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and his resurrection into heaven. While the Christian belief is the most prevalent in our country, it is not mandatory and should never be made mandatory. The United States was founded on freedoms, one being freedom to worship as we choose. One important reason the early settlers came here was to escape religious persecution. The kings and queens of Europe forced their subjects to worship however they worshiped. Even the earliest settlers had differences of ...

RNC bucks red state’s election law

Federal law establishes Election Day for federal offices as the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? But wait. What about mailed absentee ballots? What about mail-in ballots? Does federal law mean such ballots must arrive at local boards of election by Election Day? Or does federal law mean they need only be postmarked by Election Day? At issue before the U.S. Supreme Court, with a decision expected by June, is this very question. The challenge is to Mississippi law, which requires that ballots (1) be postmarked by Election ...