Education 3-year degree idea worth pursuing

July 1, 2024

Higher education has taken quite a beating lately. Lawmakers have been going after administrators and faculty at high-profile institutions over Gaza protests and diversity initiatives. Students and parents are getting increasingly impatient with rising costs. Faculty are disgruntled in many places over tight budgets and a lack of job and tenure opportunities. Administrators fret about demographics that could lead to fewer and fewer students being in the shiny, state-of-the-art student centers and dormitories that have been built in recent years. Is there anybody out there happy with ...

WATER A fitting account of area systems

June 29, 2024

Differences in a state-of-the-art 21st century water-delivery system and an archaic 19th-century contraption are a no-brainer. That is what separates the city of Dunkirk model and that of Fredonia. Two articles on our front page last week indicate the more than a century of variation between the two. In Dunkirk, 2 million gallons of water was lost in a leak on June 6. Randy Woodbury, Dunkirk Department of Public Works director, reported on the incident during a North County Water District meeting. “Our operators caught it through SCADA telemetry immediately on June 6 as it was ...

CLASS of 2024: Grads ready for life’s next step

June 28, 2024

Roughly 3.5 million high school students across the country will receive their diplomas this year. Just under 1.5 million college students will earn their degrees, and another 1 million will complete master’s degrees. Whether its Jamestown High School or Fredonia Central School, Dunkirk High School or Westfield Academy and Central School, schools throughout Chautauqua County put on a truly wonderful series of commencement ceremonies celebrating our Class of 2024. For much of the year, we’ve been hearing and reading about what a tough moment this is for students and graduates. ...

NATION: Food insecurity is hidden election issue

June 27, 2024

During the height of the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt calmed a tense nation with his weekly fireside chats. The United States isn’t in a recession, much less a depression, these days. But as we reported in Saturday’s edition, inflation’s effect on food prices is putting a serious crimp on those struggling to make ends meet. And tonight, as former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden hold their first presidential debate before November’s election, it would be a good time for a kitchen table talk. Frankly, it’s time for a talk about how Americans ...

HOCKEY More ex-Sabres find titles elsewhere

June 26, 2024

It seems no matter who the Buffalo Sabres draft or acquire that they will go elsewhere someday to win the Stanley Cup. Such was definitely the case Monday night in Sunrise, Fla. Hoisting the trophy were former team members Kyle Okposo, Sam Rinehart — who scored the winning goal, Brandon Montour and Evan Rodrigues. While there has to be a bit of satisfaction in Okposo carrying the cup, former stars leading other teams to the ice title is becoming an all-too common sight. It was a bit more torturous last year when Jack Eichel, the team’s top pick in 2015, was a champion with the ...

NEW YORK STATE: Borrello proposal worth attention

June 25, 2024

We have long advocated for a balanced approach when it comes to Chautauqua Lake. That has meant advocating for the use of targeted herbicides in addition to weed harvesting. That has meant advocating for the state DEC to be the arbiter of where herbicides are used even though some lake groups advocated for much more acreage than the DEC will approve each year. That advocacy has been for additional funding for lake maintenance. Now, that advocacy is focused on a bill that provides what we feel is a bit of necessary balance for New York’s Freshwater Wetlands Act. The act, as ...