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Quiet change may impact your ballot

On Christmas Eve, when most of us — including the news — were focused on wrapping presents and preparing to gather with family and friends, the United States Postal Service (USPS) finalized a policy change with newly binding legal consequences. It has the potential to put you in violation of the law or invalidate your mail-in ballot during upcoming elections. According to the Federal Register (Postal Service 39 CFR Part 111), as of December 24, 2025, you can no longer count on your mail being postmarked on the day the post office receives it. Now, your mail will be postmarked when ...

The lineman is still on the line

I have always been taken by Glen Campbell’s song “The Wichita lineman is still on the line.” It is about a lonely telephone lineman in Wichita still at work and wishing for better things. However, at this time of the year, with the snow blowing and temperatures dropping, I think mostly about those linemen who, in the middle of the night, are still “on the line” trying to restore electricity to those who have lost it. We live close to the National Grid maintenance facility in North Harmony, and on bad weather days when I drive past that area — there are usually pickup ...

Albany Dems hurting health care costs

New York’s health insurance premiums have risen well above the national average, imposing a huge financial burden on New York residents. Unfortunately, the New York government recently approved another round of substantial premium rate hikes for almost all private health insurers operating in New York state. Why are premiums so much more expensive than the national average? New York imposes taxes on your hospital bill, on your health insurance contract, on the premium you pay and on health insurance companies. According to an independent analysis of the state budget, New Yorkers ...

Work, job training are critical needs

In my eight years as a City Court Judge my biggest surprise was not our society’s drug problem but the hundreds of young men who appeared before the Court who did not work. These young men, most between 18 and 25 were “lost.” Many had dropped out of school at 16, which New York law still allows. Perhaps one-fourth of the way through the 21st Century we should decide to keep our young men in high school until graduation and teach them the value of work as both a source of self esteem and a source of financial independence. We know this approach could reduce crime and the use of ...

Sweet memories from Valentine’s Day

I vaguely recall learning about Valentine’s Day and all its trappings in first or second grade at Monroe Street Elementary. Mrs. Sullivan was the teacher. Friend Jerry Sullivan’s mom. Jerry the “papist” went to St. Mary’s Academy. My Protestant friends and I were “pagans.” I remember making a red paper heart card bordered by white lace with the words “I Love You- Happy Valentine’s Day” written in black ink on it. My mother, Vivian Van Slyke Lenarcic, kept it until she died. Cards aside, there was the candy. My favorite part of the Roman Emperor Claudius II’s gift ...

Brady is an excellent choice

ORCHARD PARK — Let’s pick up where we left off last week. To be sure, dismissing a nine-year, grade-A head coach because one wants to do even better has its risks. On Jan. 21, Buffalo Bills’ owner Terry Pegula acknowledged as much. The Bills’ most important task this off season is to make this decision work. The team took the first step in that direction on Jan. 27 by promoting its offensive coordinator to head coach. * * * Joe Brady, a Hollywood, Fla., native, grew up in Pembroke Pines, Fla.; spent his undergraduate years at the College of William & Mary, where he ...