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Samantha the Spider is in our residence

Ian has a spider. My son-in-law doesn’t actually refer to her as a pet, but he spends a lot of time checking on her well-being and reporting her progress. She hasn’t bitten him. Yet. When I visited recently, the family was discussing names. The woodchuck who often visits their deck is named Winston. No such luck for the spider – she wasn’t christened before I left. I’ll just call her Ian’s spider. Ian, my daughter Alix, and my grandchildren have been following the day-to-day activities of this arachnid. They have discovered the same lesson that I learned this summer: ...

Church healing comes with high costs

As the Diocese of Buffalo bankruptcy case stumbles along to a conclusion many Catholics are unhappy that parishes with large congregations and active ministries are slated for closure because of their value on the real estate market. They also are upset because contributions faithfully placed in the collection basket at Sunday Mass along with monies raised at fundraising events they worked at and contributed to are being demanded from parishes to pay settlements to victims of crimes they had no part in — perpetrated by men they were told they could trust. Currently a lawsuit has ...

Mental health also a men’s issue

When people talk about men’s health, the conversation usually centers on diet, exercise, or cholesterol numbers. What we don’t talk about nearly enough is mental health. For too long, men have been told to stay silent, to tough it out, to carry their struggles alone. That silence is killing us. I know because I lived it. Addiction shaped my life from childhood. My father’s drug use brought chaos and hardship into our home, and though my mother did everything she could to protect us, his addiction eventually claimed his life. Years later, I found myself in a marriage marked by ...

War department is not a good idea

Our President announced recently that we should rename the Defense Department, the “War Department” because we have not been winning enough wars. That is a bad idea. Maybe it was an idea that came from some of the “issue for the day” people that he has surrounded himself with, i.e. it didn’t originate from him. But, still, war is not something that we should be embracing, promoting or touting in any manner. Congress and the courts should just let the Defense Department remain the “Defense” Department. Let the President sign all of the Executive Orders that he wants ...

BESS catastrophe can be prevented

Dunkirk will be holding a public hearing regarding a proposed Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) on September 16 at 5 pm in the town hall – one of many such BESS hearings that will occur around the county. New York State Governor Hochul has issued more incentives for building lithium Ion Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) throughout New York State. (PJ July 29 “Hochul Announces Bulk Energy Storage Solicitation”). The state justifies the need for BESS because wind and solar are intermittent - claiming that sporadic energy produced by wind and solar must be stored ...

Little guy loses again, corporate real estate bests rest of us

Recent newspaper reports of well-known national big-box retailers demanding huge reductions in their real property assessed values by Chautauqua County towns is not a new phenomenon. In 1998, then County Executive Mark Thomas and the Chautauqua County legislature saw these huge corporations “strong arming” town governments into granting huge tax assessment reductions that were not warranted. In response, the County Legislature passed Resolution 216-98 making it possible for the County, on a case-by-case basis, to assist our towns to fend off big corporate demands for assessment ...