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The OBSERVER’s View

EDUCATION: Opposition by GOP weak on regional plans

When it comes to state politics Republicans are often a voice of reason. That isn’t the case when it comes to the state Board of Regents emergency order for school districts to submit regionalization plans to the state Education Department. Part of the problem is the state Board of Regents, as it is wont to do, did a horrible job explaining what it actually wants. The Regents didn’t speak about the emergency order during the meeting where it was passed, leaving a general public that is typically skittish about regionalism or potential consolidation to let its collective mind ...

FREDONIA: We need sharing, not new facilities

Sharing has become a way for area schools to continue to offer athletics, especially for the smaller districts with lesser student numbers. You see it with the Clymer-Sherman-Panama football team as well as the Fredonia-Dunkirk-Pine Valley-Forestville-Cassadaga Valley girls swim team. It is a solution that’s often applauded and brings winning results. That concept of sharing is what voters must consider when deciding Thursday on a $51.7 million capital project that includes three parts for the Fredonia Central Schools. The first involves maintenance and repairs to the current ...

CABINET Smart steps toward energy independence

President-elect Donald Trump’s decisions to nominate Chris Wright for secretary of energy and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to serve a dual role as secretary of the interior and chairman of a National Energy Council are reassuring. Wright is the CEO of a company with considerable experience in natural gas drilling. We believe Burgum, as governor of a largely pro-development state, is an ideal choice to spearhead a comprehensive effort to improve the production and affordability of domestic energy — an effort that includes renewable sources such as solar, wind and hydroelectric ...

SNOWSTORM: Giving thanks for major rescue

One of the busiest shopping days turned out to be a bust due to the weather. But there was a tremendous gift of life that received the support of area first responders in the middle of heavy snow and whiteout conditions that Friday. A 64-year-old woman from the Rochester area was headed to Cleveland Clinic for a heart transplant when her husband encountered the lake-effect snowstorm. Traveling on Route 5 in the town of Portland, he called a nurse at the Cleveland facility to report his predicament. He and his wife, with a battery powered heart pump, were stranded in the snow. Within ...

Snowfall: Some won’t heed storm warnings

There is not much more area forecasters, government officials and emergency responders could do to warn motorists and residents about the impending lake-effect snowstorm that was headed for northern Chautauqua County. Warnings came through media, cell phone alerts and on signs on Interstate 90. Despite that, motorists took their chances. Some to venture to the Bills’ game, others to head home or shop during the Thanksgiving holiday. In December 2022, 47 people died in the notorious blizzard with 70 mph winds that hit Buffalo. Some believed not enough was done to warn residents of the ...

COUNTY Transparency missing in studies

Twice in recent weeks Chautauqua County legislators have seen studies regarding the Chautauqua County Jail and Chautauqua County Airport in Jamestown. They’re choosing to keep those studies close to the legislature’s collective vest. Given that public money was spent on the studies, the fact that the studies have been discussed in public meetings and the fact the studies detail future potential uses of public money, those studies should be made public now rather than when the legislature or its special committees decide to release them. We can see why legislators haven’t ...