Breaking News

The OBSERVER’s View

The OBSERVER’s View: Bottom line closes another church

Another incredibly important parish in the history of northern Chautauqua County learned of its fate this weekend. During the 9:30 a.m. Mass, it was announced that St. Anthony’s Church in Fredonia would be closing. Members of the church’s finance committee made the announcement, citing declining attendance and donation rates. The closure will leave Fredonia without a Catholic church. St. Joseph’s on Main Street closed as of Jan. 1, 2025. As sudden as the decision seems, there is no question the tumult in the Buffalo diocese has a lot to do with all of the transitions. Facing ...

The OBSERVER’s View: Important addition to county business

It was roughly six years ago that Chautauqua County made a pitch for an Amazon regional distribution center that, when completed, would have been one of the largest in the world. County Executive PJ Wendel, Mark Geise, county IDA director and former U.S. Rep. Tom Reed all advocated for Amazon to consider Chautauqua County, which was pushing land the county owns in Ripley as well as the Mason Industrial Park in Ellicott. The project never came to fruition, but there was a lot of genuine excitement around the possibility at the time. Last month, Amazon made a quieter entry into ...

Merger progress stays quiet, even after funding

We are not against the recent action by the Chautauqua County Legislature to approve additional funding to the town of Pomfret for a study to investigate options for shared services and mergers. We do believe, however, that not enough is being said regarding where the effort stands. In July, lawmakers approved a resolution to award Pomfret $25,000 from the county's Government Reduction initiative for the initiative. The money is not part of the county's budget but rather will be coming from its reserve accounts. To his credit, Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel called upon the ...

Busy weekend a draw for county

It is Chautauqua County’s time to shine. Besides the regular staples that include Music on the Pier in Dunkirk and area Farmers’ Markets, there’s reason to believe this could be one of the biggest tourism weekends of the year. Other major events taking place include: — The 81st annual rodeo will be through Saturday. Shows at 8 p.m. Thrill to PRCA events, with bareback bronc, saddle bronc, bull riding, tie down roping, team roping, steer wrestling, barrel racing, and breakaway roping. Rain or Shine! 20 vendors at midway. — The National Comedy Center’s Lucille Ball Comedy ...

Parking often a real predicament

One of the more controversial topics to come to Fredonia in recent months — that did not involve water — was a potential parking plan that would have made motorists pay for spots through a cellphone app. While some questioned the lack of the program being user friendly, especially for those who do not use smart phones, the reality is this type of parking program is located in many areas of New York state, including Buffalo and highly trafficked tourist locations. Parking meters are out — and cellphone apps are in. When there is a vibrant downtown, parking can be an important ...

County’s latest goal tough to measure

After weeks of debate and discussion, points and counterpoints, the Chautauqua County Legislature has decided that the number one economic development goal for county government is sustainable disposable income growth. It sounds like a good goal. No one is against the idea of increasing disposable income for county residents. Certainly no one would say they are against such a goal in an election year. The problem is few know what the heck the legislature means with this goal. Wouldn’t it be simpler to use household income growth as the goal rather than disposable income growth? ...