New State University of New York at Fredonia President Dr. Stephen Kolison Jr. knew their would be challenges during his first semester at the helm. Besides dealing with a COVID-19 dilemma, there also would be extraordinary financial challenges facing the local institution of higher ...

Concern over use of mail-in ballots for the November general election is building. Critics of the process fall into two categories: those who worry about vote fraud and those who insist many Americans may be “disenfranchised” by the system. Indeed, fraud is something of a concern — but ...

We are missing a north county tradition this weekend. As we noted on Tuesday’s front page, the third annual blessing of the grapes, which normally kicks off the Festival of Grapes in Silver Creek, was held that morning. But what isn’t held is something residents here and across Western ...

Ken Shearer, Mayville mayor, is doing the right thing in looking at ways to alert village residents more quickly when there is an emergency. Shearer is proposing using SlickText, a Jamestown company, to notify residents of emergencies by text message to their cell phones. Residents would ...

Progress never comes easy in Dunkirk and the north county. Even when it does happen, in the case of the cold storage facility on Roberts Road, obstacles remain. Most recently, the county Industrial Development Agency has been attempting to work with Refresco for an easement to the neighboring ...

Fredonia is asking residents to boil water when there is obviously a better, 21st century solution. Purchase water from Dunkirk. As the leading supplier for the North County Water District, the city has the capacity to send water to users of the village system. According to village Mayor Doug ...

We have disagreed at times with Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s handling of COVID-19 in New York state, but we have to give the governor credit for making the State University of New York system participate in the SUNY COVID-19 Tracker. SUNY campuses are required to submit data every 24 hours, where it ...

Partisan politics continues to delay enactment of a new coronavirus relief measure in Congress. Regardless of your political leanings, that is hurting millions of Americans. Even emergency action taken by the White House has been affected. After negotiators in Congress deadlocked over a new ...

During the troubled times of the pandemic, the manufacturing sector in the north county has been booming. There has been activity at the major plants of Nestle Purina, Refresco and Fieldbrook Foods, including a bit of expansion work as the location. But there has been pain as well, which has ...

It was only natural for there to be some extra nerves and anxious moments for those parents, students and teachers who were returning to school. The buildings have lacked learning activities for the past six months. On Tuesday, there was a slight sense of normalcy. Similar to the pro sporting ...

Most county residents knew that, at some point, we would have outbreaks of COVID-19. In the past two weeks, we have seen outbreaks at Fieldbrook Foods and the State University at Fredonia. Here’s the good news — hospitalizations remain ­low even as focused testing in the north county ...

Too many of our family members, friends, neighbors and in some cases, former co-workers are in trouble this Labor Day for the holiday to be a time of carefree celebration. Plenty of room remains for pride in what working men and women accomplish, however. Reflecting upon it gives us reason ...

To say that new State University of New York at Fredonia President Dr. Stephen H. Kolison Jr. has his hands full would be an understatement. Kolison, who came to Fredonia last month, has faced a number of issues with the biggest being something no institution can avoid — COVID-19. He has ...

There is one more major factor in the concern over the recent COVID-19 outbreak at Fieldbrook Foods that needs to be addressed. That is with the city schools. Dunkirk, which has nearly 2,000 individuals enrolled, is a district in need. Take a look at the free breakfast and lunch programs that ...

What’s happened at the State University of New York at Oneonta is one of those worse-case scenarios many feared might happen. After a major COVID-19 outbreak, with some of it tied to house parties, the college has shifted to online classes only. Through Monday, there were at least 245 ...

During the past school year, nothing came easy. Students and teachers dealt with a new and sudden reality of online learning with short notice once the coronavirus outbreak set in during March as both groups left buildings and did not return. Four Dunkirk High students had one more obstacle ...

Over the course of three months, more than half of the leisure and hospitality jobs, 1,300 manufacturing jobs and 5,900 service industry jobs in our county vanished into thin air. Unemployment in our county has more than doubled from January to July. While some of those 7,000 unemployed ...

It’s evident, after Tuesday’s community meeting led by Sheriff Jim Quattrone that more such meetings must be held throughout the county, including more than one meeting in Dunkirk and Jamestown. The cities are where a majority of police-citizen interaction happens, and it’s a little ...

The power to profit greatly from their misdeeds and to be shielded from punishment is something of which all criminals dream. Occasionally, often through politics, some think they have achieved that. If federal authorities are correct, former White House aide Steve Bannon is among ...

Northern Chautauqua County has been lucky to have had Dr. Dennis Hefner in its corner as for 16 years as president of the State University at Fredonia and another short-term stint as interim university president. SUNY Fredonia was lucky to have Hefner’s steady hand during the COVID-19 ...