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Commentary

Nin Privitera, former Fredonia resident, offers some offbeat takes on recent headlines: --- Oh boy, our trade war with Canada may become more heated than it already is. According to the relentless digging for the truth, my super duper investigative team has found another executive order of President Trump that may soon be signed into law. Here are the highlights of what will be called executive order operation, GET OFF OUR LAKE, YOU, LOSERS. --- Starting today, upon the signing of this executive order 12345, I, Donald Trump, the greatest President in American history, legally declare ...

Flock comments don’t match current picture

Commentary

In response to the District Attorney’s statement and press release to the OBSERVER (Aug. 31, Sept. 2 and Sept. 5, 2026), it is immediately apparent that the facts behind the Flock camera program don’t back up what the DA says. Here are four problems: — Crime is not going up. The DA says crime “has increased substantially.” State data checked by the OBSERVER shows Fredonia police reported 293 crimes in 2003 and 163 in 2024 — a drop of almost half. SUNY Fredonia, with its own police force, reports very low crime. The whole reason for the program rests on a trend that isn’t ...

Failure is often the only result with socialism

Commentary

Apologists for socialism commonly claim its historical failures were because “they” did it wrong. To the contrary – we think “they” did it perfectly. However, those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and today’s socialists seem determined to repeat history. Conversely, we who learned from history are not particularly eager to live under socialism’s totalitarian yoke. We do not want our children standing in bread lines for the sake of “equality”. We reject socialism’s innate lust for power over us. Nor will we surrender our minds to ...

Rate hike one more pain for city residents

The OBSERVER’s View

It appears more hurt is coming for city of Dunkirk residents. A public hearing will take place Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. on changes to water rates. Proposals would raise the minimum usage fee from $20 to $30 and boost the price of water used over a gallon benchmark to $5 per 1,000 gallons, from the current $4.33 — a 17% increase. While the hike will not go over well with users, Comptroller Tracy Smith-Dengler points out that the new rates will “still be substantially lower than neighboring communities." That does nothing to ease the burden on taxpayers, who continue paying a high price ...

Sept. 11 Events Are Firmly In Memories

Commentary

CHAUTAUQUA—If you’re more than, say, 35 years old, you’ll recall where you were when you heard the first news bulletins of 25 years ago today. Maybe you were in school or college. Maybe you were at work. Maybe you were running errands. Maybe you were with relatives or ...

On devastating day, news coverage took center stage

Editor's corner

Headlines and heartache filled this day exactly 25 years ago. Across the nation, stunned residents gathered in front of televisions or turned on radios for minute-by-minute updates on the horrors happening in our homeland. Another large segment of the population turned to newspapers — that ...