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Opinion

Speaking up on events — while you can

Commentary

The front page of a recent Friday edition of the OBSERVER was loaded with a lot of very interesting news. The first thing that caught my eye, as it usually does on Friday, was John D’Agostino’s Editor’s corner. It was another of his takes on the budgetary insanity that continues to characterize New York at many levels. In the article he compared New York to its neighbor Pennsylvania with regard to state spending. In New York the proposed 2027 budget calls for expenditures totaling $260 billion to serve a population of 19.5 million while across the border Pennsylvania a ...

Reason for hope in SUNY numbers

Commentary

This Valentine’s Day has brought some great news to love with an increase of 1.2% in spring enrollment for the SUNY Fredonia campus under the leadership of the current administration. This is indeed very positive news amid the nationwide enrollment crisis, especially for the regional ...

COUNTY: Spending addiction keeps taking flight

The OBSERVER’s View

We can’t disagree with Chautauqua County choosing to spend $31,625 in order to receive $1.265 million from the federal government. The county would, frankly, be stupid to turn down that deal, just as school districts receiving 95% state aid on a project would be dumb to turn down building projects that are largely paid for by state taxpayers. On the other hand we have no idea what the heck the federal government is thinking. In 2018 the federal government decided that Chautauqua County wasn’t meeting the requirements of the Essential Air Service subsidy – a decision that ended ...

Resurrecting the Dunkirk power plant

Commentary

Our State Senator, county officials and others have advocated that the old NRG power plant in Dunkirk be reopened as a natural gas/electric plant. It is a proposal that should be considered. I can still remember the day when then Governor Andrew Cuomo went to Dunkirk and promised a big crowd that the plant would be converted from coal to natural gas...a plan that never got off the ground. What you see now, still looming over the Dunkirk harbor, is the shell of the former coal/electric plant. It is doubtful that a natural gas plant would need be housed in such a big structure...but ...

People's column: Former planner hails city senior center

Peoples column

Editor, OBSERVER: As the former Social Planner of the Dunkirk Senior Center, I decided to write this letter after reading the article in the OBSERVER about the new Social Planner. I want to let the seniors, who participated in our programs and went on our trips, know that I did not leave my position. Five members of the Board decided to relieve me of my duties. I want to thank all of the volunteers who helped me with my trips either physically or with ideas. I appreciate my experiences with all of you. We are very lucky to have this center for seniors so continue to support the ...

FREDONIA: Watching pennies worth it in village

The OBSERVER’s View

A $3.33 bottle of antacids may not seem like much in an $11 million village of Fredonia budget. But after a tax increase of 54% last spring, questions need to be asked. Last week, Fredonia Trustee LeeAnn Lazarony asked Department of Public Works Director Dave Bird about a bill one of his employees submitted to the village for antacids, during a Board of Trustees workshop last week. “I know everyone’s going to go, ‘Oh my God, she’s so picky.’ But there was a bill submitted to bills and payroll for antacids. I don’t think that’s part of the first aid kit,” Lazarony said ...