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The OBSERVER’s View

In this era, no ‘joke’ in threats

Enough is enough. It’s time to play hardball with the miscreants who wreak havoc on school districts here and across the country by making threats of shootings or bombings. Almost every time, the threats turn out to be unfounded and were simply an attempt to disrupt the educational process. But because we live in these times when school shootings are all too familiar, school and law enforcement officials must take them seriously. When a threat — real or perceived — is made, the people and entities charged with keeping our children safe must operate with an abundance of ...

Brocton: Trustee’s request is a bit off the deep end

Brocton Trustee Ed Bellando seems to be overreacting when it comes to asking village attorney Peter Clark to resign. While we agree with a lot of Bellando’s questions, he certainly does not understand the landscape when it comes to municipal attorneys. Even if he’s not happy with the answers he is getting from Clark, there’s no question the village is lucky to have Clark’s services. Finding lawyers to handle local governments is becoming a worrisome problem. Look no further than Fredonia. For a long time, it was served by Sam Drayo who was a loyal local servant and historian ...

STATE Regents correct on sports decision

The state Board of Regents quietly delayed approval of a regulation that would have approved more gender neutral sports in New York’s high schools. It was a good decision to do so - and we hope the delay is lengthy. There was no explanation for the delay nor discussion at the most recent Board of Regents meeting, though a state Education Department spokesperson said the delay was prompted by the amount of comments received during the 60-day public comment period over the summer. There is a lot of general unease among many members of the general public with the regulations, ...

SPORTS UB football takes big step with win

Today’s discussion on Buffalo sports is likely to center around Monday night’s Bills-Jacksonville Jaguars game. But there is a collegiate team that is aiming to do some big things this year. On Saturday the University at Buffalo Bulls upset No. 23 Northern Illinois University — on the road — 23-20 in overtime. It was the Huskies who hold the distinction for the biggest upset of the year — knocking off Notre Dame two weeks ago in South Bend, Ind. But the Bulls and first-year Coach Pete Lembo were not deterred. After a sluggish first half — trailing 14-3 — UB quickly got ...

LAKES: DEC needs to delay watershed plans

It’s time, in our opinion, for everyone to take a deep breath and regroup on the subject of new state watershed regulations. We’re not entirely sure the state Legislature intended the lakes to be included in the watershed regulations. It’s not clear that the regulations considered what should be done with developed shoreline when the regulations were drafted. And we have yet to hear a good explanation for how the state DEC is going to manage hundreds of thousands of acres of additional watersheds that would fall within its purview the way the regulations are written. ...

DUNKIRK Council still blind to its poor choices

We actually agree with the consoling — and often confused — Dunkirk Councilman James Stoyle with his endorsement and support for Ellen Luczkowiak, the city’s fiscal affairs officer who has been on the job since January. March’s rude awakening regarding the $18 million deficit is far from Luczkowiak’s fault, but she’s tasked with cleaning up the mess from the past. Stoyle’s comments came after a letter from the state comptroller’s office noted Dunkirk’s accounting books still are not acceptable. “There always seems to be mysteriously missing two names that were ...