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The OBSERVER’s View

ELECTION DAY Big bucks part of the process

Today is Election Day, the culmination of what feels like two years of campaigning by presidential candidates. More than $1 billion will have been spent by Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump in an effort to secure your vote. Another $250,000 has been raised by the two candidates seeking to replace the retiring Andy Goodell in the state Assembly. So let’s make sure this is money well spent by heading out to the polls today. Early voting, so often a disappointing exercise, has been packed this year. As of Wednesday, more than 8,800 ...

DUNKIRK Events feed at lunch, benefit organizations

A city church is giving back by way of hot dog sales. As noted in an article last week, St. John’s United Church of Christ in Dunkirk held its final lunch event last month. Sale proceeds help many of the nonprofits that help those in need around the north county. Those include: Rural Ministry, Hospice care, the RO Foundation, Save a Christmas, New Directions, Meals on Wheels, and the Boys & Girls Club of Northern Chautauqua County. “It’s a lot of fun. We meet a lot of people,” said Bobbi Deering, one of the members of the Church volunteering on Friday. “We enjoy ourselves, ...

DUNKIRK: City needs relief, not tax doubling

So far, the city of Dunkirk has done little to nothing to decrease the proposed 108% tax increase in the 2025 spending plan. Sure, Common Council members have met but for the most part their hands are tied due to contractual obligations. There has been only one true alternative mentioned to help give tax relief to city residents. That came from Chautauqua County Legislator Terry Niebel. He suggested the city sell one of its assets — its water plant — to the county. At the moment, the city is not interested. “The mayor has said we are not interested in selling,” said Randy ...

NATION: Does U.S. need new policy for families?

It is difficult not to be pessimistic about the possibilities for success of efforts in countries around the world to encourage larger families — that is, if you yourself believe many more couples should be opting for more than a child or two in this increasingly busy, expensive, complicated, unsettled, helter-skelter world. As the Wall Street Journal pointed out in an Oct. 15 report, countries’ years-long efforts at reversing the decline in birthrates have been largely unsuccessful, and in some places have recorded zero success. The Journal’s report noted that many couples ...

CHILD CARE: Grant for agency will have ripple effect

There are many in our area whose children will never set foot in the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Chautauqua County. But for those families who use the club’s programs, recent news that a state grant will provide a significant boost in operating funding is outstanding news. The state is providing $350,000 a year for the next five years through the Learning and Enrichment Afterschool Program Supports grant program. It’s not just a handout for the local club. It had to first secure a license from the state to operate an afterschool childcare program, and that work made the club ...

ENDORSEMENT: There’s a ‘chaos’ to Proposition 1

New York’s Civil Liberties Union calls Proposal 1 “a critical tool for all New Yorkers to exercise their rights.” Labeled as the Equal Rights Amendment, the action would amend the New York state Constitution to include ethnicity, national origin, age, disability or sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, reproductive health and autonomy. Why the need for all this? NYCLU states the current New York State Constitution “fails to prohibit discrimination against groups who have been historically targeted, including those ...