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Opinion

Quippies

Commentary

Nin Privitera, former Fredonia resident, offers some offbeat takes on recent headlines: — Rumors are that President Trump is now wearing a wig. If that's true, we may soon hear the usual Trump declaration that, "nobody has ever seen anything like it, it's made of gold." — There is some corporate interest in building a data center at the former Sugar Hill golf course site. On some bad outings years ago, I could have used a bank of computers to keep score. — Francesca Hong, who's running for Wisconsin governor, stated a while ago that she hates the Thanksgiving holiday. And ...

Democrats keep moving farther left

Commentary

CHAUTAUQUA—The framers of the Constitution didn’t envision political parties. Yet small-r republican government often leads to forming alliances and, by extension, political parties. In the United States, establishing the Electoral College in effect secured a system with two major ...

Subpar renewables jolt electric costs

Editor's corner

Long before wind turbines and solar panels began engulfing upstate and the Southern Tier, New York had a healthy power supply. It was built upon generating stations that were near the shores of Lake Erie and the New York Power Authority based in Niagara Falls that produces renewable ...

The OBSERVER’s View: Faltering Fredonia keeps leaking cash

The OBSERVER’s View

You do not need to have a background in accounting to understand the troubles that continue with the village of Fredonia’s finances. Besides having a negative fund balance that is near $1 million, two of its major revenue sources are struggling. According to figures announced at a meeting earlier this month, the water and sewer funds both spent more than they took in for 2025-26, according to the treasurer's figures. Year-end revenue for the water fund was $2,190,004 against $2,540,000 in expenses. That comes out to a net income of minus $349,996. The fund balance in place registered ...

Socialism is a lot more take than give

Commentary

I don’t seem like a nag on the subject, but I think we should take the rise of the Democratic Socialist/Marxist movement in the Democratic Party seriously. I doubt if any of their candidates will win in the general election in November, but with adequate financial support and a committed ...

Growing up alongside the tube

Commentary

Recently, a friend mentioned that as a kid she watched Howdy Doody. When she laughed and sang the musical intro, “It’s Howdy Doody time,” I stunned myself by singing every word to the show’s opening song. Where did that come from? That night I reminisced about Howdy and some of my ...