Chautauqua County Executive George Borrello is keeping his word as he continues to meet with key leaders of businesses that have a presence here. As we noted last month in this corner, relationships are everything — and why not reach out to those who are the engines of our economy? While ...
Editor, OBSERVER: In a recent column regarding Russian interference and possible collusion, Vicki Westling declares, “Do you care?” What happened to Clinton’s emails and in Benghazi, “Do any of these things matter in the grand scheme of things?” Trivializing current events, was ...
Editor, OBSERVER: If there is a road to ignorance, as columnist Vicki Westling expounds, she is leading the way. Reading her articles gives me thoughts of someone who demeans our president then uses scriptures, from the Bible, for absolution. Those who seek a better economy and a brighter ...
Editor, OBSERVER: Back when tax reform was a bill before Congress I submitted a letter to the editor “Let’s Do the Numbers.” My numbers turn out to be incorrect. Subjected to a deluge of conflicting information, I, like most Americans had (and in some areas still have) an incomplete ...
A favorite theme of one of your regular columnists is the evil of illegal immigration. He regularly accuses undocumented immigrants of failing to wait for legal entry, unlike our European ancestors, of taking jobs away from Americans, of getting social services at the expense of American ...
Over the last few weeks, The White Inn has been a topic in this newspaper. The current owner, Jeff Gambino, hopes someone local will reopen the food and beverage operations. This newspaper opines the business is viable. Fredonia Mayor Athanasia Landis is watching the situation. As one of ...
With “fake news” and “alternative facts,” what should we believe? Many judge as “facts” only what confirms ideology they already swallowed. Thus, one-sided “news” gets repeated on social media and elsewhere as factual. Oxford University scholars (England) recently analyzed ...
As Chautauqua County district attorney, I am very proud of the work ethic put forth by my office team working hard every day to serve and protect the residents of our county. As the county’s chief prosecutor, I make decisions that affect people’s lives from driving offenses to murder. I ...
Twenty years ago — 1998 Veterans turned out in force recently for an open house in celebration of the new Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic at The Resource Center’s Primary Care Clinic, located at 186 Lake Shore Drive West in Dunkirk. Although officials with the Department of Veterans ...
Here are some of the best — and worst — of the week: BEST LOVING SENIORS — For the last 13 years Dunkirk teachers and students have been delivering Valentine’s Day cookies to area senior citizens. This year 174 dozen were handed out to residents in Steger Apartments, Bell Tower ...
Twenty years ago — 1998 According to an engineering study, Route 60 between Dunkirk and Jamestown is characterized by several design deficiencies. The rolling nature of the highway limits passing sight-distances. While the distances are adequate to pass, oncoming traffic dips out of sight ...
President Donald Trump’s 2019 budget proposal is both right and wrong when it comes to an ongoing project to clean up the Great Lakes. Trump proposes to slash federal funding for the project by about 90 percent. That could jeopardize progress already made in dealing with pollution, invasive ...
Why, I ask, do we associate love with the heart? It’s an emotion. Blame the mind part of the brain (not the seeing or, even quite frequently, the thinking part of the brain). Love frequently has no relationship to rationality. We all know the image of Cupid, the Roman god of love: ...
Twenty years ago — 1998 This week’s People in Profile focuses on Julius Leone Jr., who has been an active member of the Fredonia community all his life, devoting much of his volunteer efforts to the Fredonia Fire Department. The former Fredonia fire chief has served as director of ...
In the obituary published on Feb. 8 and 9 in the OBSERVER, there was one line that summed up James T. Nichols and his commitment to Dunkirk and the surrounding communities: he “couldn’t or wouldn’t say ‘no’ to anybody.” For Nichols, it all came down to a belief in this region. He ...
When did it become cool for prison inmates in New York state to have better access to things than people who haven’t broken the law?’ We’ve heard for the past couple of years about free college educations for prison inmates. Now, the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision ...
As winter grinds on, there are some beacons of hope shining through the cold and gloom. False starts and disappointments are nothing new to residents of northern Chautauqua, but a few hints of the good life are twinkling on the horizon. Could these small developments presage bigger and better ...
Twenty years ago — 1998 On Feb. 1, area resident Kay Barlow Collins became the voice behind the world of arts and humanities to the nation. Her new show, The Chautauqua Edition, debuted on WQLN-FM in Erie, Pa., to be followed by national distribution via National Public Radio. A dream that ...
Friday morning was problematic for many associated with the Forestville Central Schools. On Thursday evening, the superintendent received a call about a potential threat from a county sheriff’s deputy. After many of the children arrived at the school the next morning, parents received a ...
My earliest memories of Valentine’s Day are bittersweet. It was third or fourth grade at Church Street School and cards and candy were all the rage. Remember “Be My Valentine?” and multicolored candy hearts in that little box? Mothers purchased bags containing a couple dozen cards so we ...