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The OBSERVER’s View

Nation: Fewer births are startling trend

More deaths than births soon to be national problem Seventy-five years ago, New York held nearly 50 seats in the House of Representatives — 45 to be exact. It has 26 today. It’s not news that rural New York has been losing population, with its rural communities being hit particularly hard. That’s a story throughout the Rust Belt. The real issue is that what has been a regional problem is soon going to be a national problem. According to a report released this week by the Congressional Budget Office, deaths will outstrip births across the country by 2033, seven years ...

STATE: Win for democracy with Congress

Voters won earlier this week when a bill was removed that would have delayed holding a special election to fill a vacant seat in the U.S. House of Representatives until November. The bill was pulled from consideration - a rare move given that it was given a message of necessity that would have allowed the bill to move to a floor vote in the Senate and Assembly immediately rather than going through the normal legislative process. Whether it was a sudden outbreak of common sense in Albany or the result of back-room arm-twisting between Gov. Kathy Hochul and President Donald Trump - ...

DOWNTOWNS: Community effort part of answer

There is no question how tough it is to rebuild communities. Downtowns are struggling in some of our villages and in the city of Dunkirk. Foot traffic is missing, especially in the winter months. That’s troubling for businesses — and some cannot maintain as the area’s population and consumer sentiment moves to online. We don’t know all the details, but Silver Creek’s loss of a downtown shop is certainly disappointing. A Facebook post from a since-deleted account last week noted that “Dave’s Outlet is permanently closed effective immediately.” Despite the opening ...

HANOVER: Finding future direction for town

One of the hot topics recently in the town of Hanover involves the possibility of a new hotel. Another topic revolves around the future use of Lakeshore Hospital, which could become a behavioral and mental health facility. In any event, the town is currently preparing to update its 24-year-old comprehensive plan — and input from residents is being sought regarding where they would like to see Hanover in the next five to 10 years. A comprehensive plan establishes a community-based vision and general guide to decision-making for the next decade. Last week, an open house sought ...

SChools: Getting past just shared sports

Residents of the Frewsburg and Southwestern school districts learned last week about talks between the districts to share sports teams. Shared teams aren’t new. They’re been a growing part of the interscholastic sports landscape both in Chautauqua County and the rest of the state for years. But what’s being considered at Frewsburg and Southwestern is different. Rather than sharing a team or two, the districts are talking about a large-scale sharing of sports that would formally include several teams in all three high school sports seasons. Southwestern has lost 7.7% of its ...

FREDONIA: Past inaction led to troubling leaks

Right before 9 a.m. Friday, the Facebook page for the village made it official: “FREDONIA’s BOIL WATER ORDER HAS BEEN LIFTED!” It may have been exciting news to share, but it is no cause for celebration. Water is Fredonia’s major stain. What makes the situation even worse is that this is no longer just a community secret. It has become a notorious problem that is being noticed within the county, state and nation while wreaking havoc with admissions at the State University of New York at Fredonia. Users have no choice but to complain to the current elected leaders about the ...