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People’s Column

Tip-toeing through homeless issue Editor, OBSERVER The May 10 article in the OBSERVER headlined “Destitute man vexes city officials” and its critique in the May 20 opinion piece “’Callous’ council not serving city” has proven the divisiveness of the homelessness issue. Unlike the writer, I am not a native to Chautauqua County, but have spent several years of my life living in Los Angeles, where the homeless problem has become a city-wide epidemic. Though I am no expert, my experience in a city struggling to deal with an enormous homeless population is this: the ...

People’s column

Lifelong lessons, relationships on diamond Editor, OBSERVER: Now that I am almost 80 years old, I look back on my years coaching Little League in Fredonia. I now realize how special a time it was for me and my players. I had both boys and girls on the team. I now understand how important the experience was to me and my players. I watched them grow in confidence and team spirit. It was accomplished with firm leadership but never a harsh word. The players, talented or not, enjoyed the helping hand without harsh words or raised voices. These kids, now adults, stayed in ...

People’s column

Take out the tobacco habit Editor, OBSERVER: With baseball season in full swing, it is a timely opportunity to unravel the complicated history between baseball and tobacco products. Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in New York State, yet there remains normalization of baseball and tobacco, specifically smokeless products. Smokeless tobacco contains at least twenty-eight cancer causing chemicals, an important reason that 17 of the 30 MLB stadiums in the U.S. are now tobacco free. April was Oral Cancer Awareness Month, time to shine a light ...

People’s column

Who’s next to be expendable? Editor, OBSERVER: In a recent commentary “Sore losers continue futile efforts” (March 27) the author asserts: “It’s obvious that he (the judge) has a bias against (President Donald) Trump and to spite Trump he apparently favors keeping these illegal alien rapists, murderers, and thieves in our nation.” As an American woman, I can assure the writer that I have no desire to see our nation favor rapists and murderers. As an American citizen, I remind (or possibly inform) him that our system guarantees every person due process under the law. ...

People’s column

Hochul easy on crooks, tough on staff Editor, OBSERVER: Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed and or supported several legislative measures, including Bail Reform, the Less is More Act, the Clean Slate Act, and the HALT Bill. These laws aim to reform aspects of the criminal justice system, impacting individuals who have been convicted of crimes. Recently, Hochul issued an Executive Order preventing New York employees from working for all state agencies and barring them from future employment as police or peace officers, even though these workers have not been convicted of any crime. This ...

People’s column

GOP cuts harm Langworthy plan Editor, OBSERVER: This is a letter I emailed to U.S. Rep. Nick Langworthy concerning the massive layoff of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration employees. Dear Congressman Langworthy, About your WARN Act. This proposed legislation that is intended to improve weather alert systems. The success of this legislation depends on NOAA, the agency responsible for providing meteorological data essential to accurate weather forecasting. Can you explain why DOGE was allowed to enter NOAA headquarters and facilitate the layoff of about 800 ...