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Opinion

Visionary tool adds perspective

Commentary

Eyes are windows to the soul, or so they say. It’s a lovely metaphor. Certainly eyes are the most beautiful part of our anatomy, our most luminous, mystical, and expressive features. Eyes speak to us more deeply and with more nuance than tongues or pens or swords. The full range of human emotions can be communicated through the eyes – confidence, vulnerability, joy, sadness, excitement, ennui, urgency, calm, truth, and even lies are expressed through those little orbs that adorn our faces. Eyes serve to connect us, or at least have the capacity to do so. They are mirrors, ...

Weekend voices: High future cost of doing nothing

Commentary

When a threat appears, we must consider the long-term consequences of our response – or lack of response. But we often kick the can down the road for our children to deal with and fall prey to excuses that make us feel good today while conveniently ignoring the consequences for tomorrow. Politicians understand that most people react emotionally to threats and take comfort in emotionally satisfying tribal-based memes that bypass any critical thought. Contrived memes are useful tools for manipulating an unthinking public, and could be used by either side. The first question to ask ...

Is state investment in Eagle Bay a wise choice?

Commentary

According to an article in the OBSERVER last month, the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) was awarded almost $700,000 for the Eagle Bay site in Sheridan. Is this more favored friends and family development shenanigans? According to the Chautauqua County GIS, that is the exact price that was paid for that parcel. Will New York state own this parcel for all to enjoy free of charge? It looks like an awesome area for four wheelers and campers. No! It is another gift to a wealthy, private for-profit endeavor. New York state is throwing hundreds of thousands of our ...

Challenged Idaho law addresses sex, not gender

Commentary

BOISE, Idaho — Think of this. If you’re more than, say, 30 years old: ● What do you suppose the reaction would have been—from coaches and fellow pupils—when you were in high school if a boy wanted to play on a girls’ sports team? ● What do you suppose the reaction would have been—from coaches and fellow students—when you were in college if a man wanted to play on a women’s sports team? That’s right. Such an idea would have been not only dismissed out of hand but also rejected with disbelief that anyone would suggest such a thing. Why? Because this isn’t ...

Building tab disturbing in Pomfret

The OBSERVER’s View

We must admit our lack of surprise regarding rising government costs. In this case, the top story in last weekend’s OBSERVER focused on the growing expense for Pomfret of its new town hall. During its meeting last month, Supervisor Dan Pacos told the town board the estimated price tag now stands at $3.46 million. That’s more than double the last reported estimate, and more than eight times the original $400,000 estimate that Pacos said was made “years ago.” And just how did Pomfret get the funds to acquire the former church on Chestnut Road? American Rescue Plan Act funds that ...

Public, private sector rift keeps escalating

Editor's corner

Chautauqua County is well known for its north-south divide that has been evident for more than a century. It is a tiresome and defeatist attitude that residents in Dunkirk-Fredonia and Jamestown cannot work as one more often. In recent decades, efforts by the CHQ Chamber, the Chautauqua ...