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Opinion

In Our Opinion

In Our Opinion

In a bolt of bipartisanship, the Chautauqua County Legislature recently approved a local law that will require drivers to leave a minimum of three feet when passing non-motorists. The law is aimed at cyclists, but also includes pedestrians, those on horses and Amish buggies, among others. State law requires drivers to use “due care” but does not attach a measurement to that standard. We think there’s a reason for that choice - how does one use the 3-foot law preventatively? Police aren’t carrying tape measures, and even if they did they can’t use one while moving if they ...

Catching child sex predators is better left to police

In Our Opinion

One thing is clear in the aftermath of the charges last week against a social media personality for an incident in which the personality was stabbed - there need to be some rules for social media’s “To Catch A Predator” crowd. Nicholas Attalla, better known as Niky Sal, was charged with second-degree criminal nuisance and endangering the welfare of a child. Two other men involved in the altercation at Tim Hortons in December were also charged with second-degree criminal nuisance and endangering the welfare of a child after an attempted sex predator unveiling in a public place ...

In Our Opinion

In Our Opinion

The controversy over deployment of Flock Systems cameras in the north county should serve as a lesson for the rest of the county’s local governments to be transparent with the types of video camera systems they are using. District Attorney Jason Schmidt recently attended a Fredonia Village Board meeting to defend the camera’s placement and use. We aren’t going to debate whether or not there is a need for video surveillance of some busy areas as county police agencies try to use technology to solve crimes. There is such a need. We have no doubt that cameras - whether they are ...

Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)

Local Commentaries

**Note – Today’s narrative from the Bullpen is a rewritten version of one printed in the second week of September 11, 2011, ten years after the tragic occurrences which happened on September 11, 2001, twenty-five years ago yesterday. The title words above were penned by Country singer ...

The matter of population decline

Local Commentaries

The facts are clear and not much in dispute that Chautauqua County has over the past few decades been experiencing population decline. Some of this is related to government policies (or lack thereof,) and some of it by the fact that we are not in a growth area of the country. Since World War II, the air conditioner has made living and working in the South a viable option. Southern states also tend to have lower regulatory standards, and, as “right to work” states, employers in these states do not have as many labor issues to deal with. The result has been a shift in population ...

Don’t miss an opportunity to regionalize police services

In Our Opinion

The current Lakewood-Busti Police Department headquarters has been inadequate for some time. The time is coming soon for those inadequacies to be rectified. As it stands now the LBPD headquarters doesn’t meet portions of the state building code, Americans with Disabilities Act, state Commissions of Corrections standards, state Office of Children & Family Services standards to process youths separately and differently from adults, state Division of Criminal Justice Services standards for records retention, evidence handling and evidence storage; guidance from the International ...