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Two guys from Queens

There must be something in the water in Queens for it seems that, as to politicians, that Borough of New York City produces a certain breed of them. Two that come to mind are Andrew Cuomo and Donald Trump. Though neither now live in Queens, this is the place where they “cut their eye teeth” when it came to business and politics. Having spent a few years in Albany (now many years ago,) I had a “bird’s eye view” of politicians from across the state. Queens was known then as a scrappy place where people grew up battling, in one form or another, for everything from political ...

Experience necessary for troubled village

I went to the Democratic Primary Debate the other night eager to listen to those candidates who have decided to put themselves forward and serve our village. I know Michelle Twichell quite well and have observed her as a village trustee for the last four years. I was really there for the two new candidates the Democratic Party has endorsed. The whole spectacle was depressing and left me quite empty. It was more than obvious that, although both have the drive, they lack any knowledge of where the village is at this pivotal moment. They had no position on the water issue and ...

After loan, create city advisory board

I have been watching Dunkirk’s fiscal struggles with great interest. As a former mayor of the city, current businessperson who has significantly invested in Dunkirk and a current candidate for Chautauqua County clerk I am passionate about finding a solution. There certainly are reasons to be against the $13.7 million loan and they have been pointed out. I also understand why Mayor Kate Wdowiasz wants to take on that loan and the challenge of restoring fiscal responsibility to Dunkirk. Neither solution is perfect. I for one did not want to see a control board introduced in ...

Government spending engine going full throttle

U.S. taxpayers are now $36.5 trillion in debt, meaning every citizen, newborn or elderly, owes creditors (big banks controlled by those evil billionaires) $110,000. Death is the only escape, but when you die, you pass this burden to your children and grandchildren. The debt with which you are willing to burden your children to pay for your freebies and unicorns today says much about your morality, as does your desire to make your fellow citizens subsidize your desires through government sponsored extortion. We add billions of dollars in new debt every day because some people feel ...

Threats to U.S. science can hurt us all

In 2012 I packed up my possessions and left Jamestown to pursue a career and life in scientific research. My destination was Arlington, Texas, halfway across the country, where I had enrolled in the graduate program in biology at the University of Texas, Arlington. Aside from some short vacations, I had spent almost my entire life in Chautauqua County, as a student at Falconer Central School and Jamestown Community College, or in New York State more broadly, finishing my bachelor’s degree from SUNY in Syracuse. At the time I was so excited to live somewhere new, meet new people, and ...

Life is great. Cheese makes it better.

Truer words were never spoken. That quote by author Avery Aames sums up my lifelong love affair with cheese. After I stopped eating school cafeteria lunches, good old American cheese became a thing of my past. In college, I met a few French students who knew the cheese world. It was all new to me, but oh, what a discovery that new world was. Gruyere, blue, and brie? Sacre bleu! Where had you been all my life? When it was first explained to me that blue cheese was essentially mold – but in wedge shape – I gulped a bit. Then I smelled it. I still was not so sure. But the first bite ...