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There’s a high cost to troubles of homelessness

I recently heard that New York City will spend $81,107 a year on each member of its homelessness population in 2025. The city’s total spending on the homeless went from $102 million in 2019 to $368 million in 2025 — an increase of 262%. That $81,107 is more than a lot of families live on in a year, so it seems that the most effective way to cure the homeless problem is to give the cash directly to the homeless. A recent report from state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli reported that despite surging expenditures, both the city and New York state struggle in tracking exactly where the ...

Catholic Charities brings hope to needy

By DAN MECCA For more than 100 years, Catholic Charities has stood alongside Western New Yorkers during some of the hardest chapters of their lives. Today, nearly one in every 10 people in our region will be touched by its work. That’s not just a statistic. It represents children, parents, seniors and neighbors who need support to steady their footing and move forward. Hope takes many forms inside Catholic Charities. It’s a mother receiving counseling so she can hold her family together during a time of stress. It’s an older adult who no longer has to choose between paying ...

Lessons learned on a trip to Ohio

Recently, we took a road trip to Ohio with another couple. It was a good break from the winter doldrums. We stopped to see old friends, renew old memories and revisit old, familiar places. Ohio seems like it will never end. There are places of beautiful rolling hills, but then there are the seemingly endless, flat plains of the great craton...the corn belt that spans across several states in the Midwest. We drove for three days and never left the State of Ohio. One of the rewards of seeing old friends is that it is easy. Though you may not have seen them for several years, you ...

Energy mandates hurting upstate

New York’s winter deep freeze and record-breaking snowfalls are a stark reminder that reliable, affordable energy isn’t optional — it’s essential to keeping families warm, communities safe, and the economy running. Yet the policy choices made in Albany are out of step with those basic goals. It is becoming increasingly clear that the mandates in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act have weakened grid reliability and driven up costs for working families and Main Street businesses. Enacted in 2019, the CLCPA set ambitious clean energy targets and aggressive ...

Don’t cancel Dr. Seuss

On March 2, schools all over the country celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday. This day and week is often called Read Across America. Theodor Seuss Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, was born March 2, 1904, and died Sept. 24, 1991. Seuss died on my 28th birthday. I’m not sure exactly what to make of that ...

Village’s future tied to reliable water

The historic village of Fredonia is at a critical turning point. It is in a new era. This moment in our history is both exciting and challenging. We face both problems and opportunities. How motivated are we to solve the major issues before us? Well, it begins with knowing and understanding the issues. It will require being informed as a resident and a taxpayer. Just like voting for a candidate running for office, it will require some homework and perhaps a bit of research. I maintain that clearly knowing the facts is essential to wise and common-sense decision-making because facts ...