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In Our Opinion

Changing minimum wage freeze doesn’t fix New York’s high cost of living

There was a reason that the wise old state legislators who drafted New York’s minimum wage law back in the good old days of 2023 included conditions that would freeze otherwise automatic minimum wage increases. The conditions - tied to situations in which the consumer price index actually went down, increases in unemployment or decreases in employment - were meant to protect the state’s business community when traditional economic measures showed too many of them couldn’t handle an automatic increase in the state’s minimum wage. Of course, Hochul was in the room at the time ...

District Heat should serve as a lesson for BPU

There has been a lot of promise with the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities’ broadband internet project so far. A $25 million Broadband for All grant means the broadband network is being built with little local cost. BPU customers who opt in look to save as much as 50% to 60% compared to similar internet speeds available right now. Kris Sellstrom, BPU general manager, said the fiber project has 4,000 service drops installed already, with many more to go before the end of the year. More than 700 customers are online now. We think the rubber is about to meet the road. The BPU, ...

Dissenting legislators have opportunity to keep tax foreclosures fair

Chautauqua County has approved the tax auction sales of 130 properties throughout the county - but the decision wasn’t unanimous. Nor, in our opinion, should it have been. There were enough complaints from property owners of properties ending up at the tax auction with a lack of notice or other issues that property owners say they weren’t aware of to raise questions. The property sale the legislature didn’t approve last week involved a property in which one of the bidders alleged the original property owner, who shouldn’t have been allowed to bid on the property, drove the ...

It’s up to local school officials to keep graduation standards high

We understand why there was barely a yawn from the public a few weeks ago when the state Board of Regents officially decoupled the Regents exams from the state’s graduation requirements. It was really a pro forma step that everyone knew the state was going to take as part of its effort to create new pathways to a high school diploma. So, while it is a noteworthy change for the seniors in the Class of 2028 who won’t be required to pass four Regents exams in math, English, science and global studies to graduate, it also would have been news if the Board of Regents hadn’t changed ...

Tough budgets taking a toll on city surplus

News that Jamestown’s unassigned surplus - its savings account, if you will - is on the low end of auditors’ recommended range for a city should catch the eye of city residents. It’s a sign that, while Jamestown won’t have the same trouble paying for day-to-day expenses as Dunkirk, the city’s finances are still worth watching as we head into a budget that Mayor Kim Ecklund has already said won’t be pretty. What should city residents take away from the yearly audit? The fact that the audit was done by mid-September shows Ecklund and Ericka Thomas, city comptroller, ...

Hopefully, no more extensions are needed for Falconer project

Falconer Village Board members did the right thing last week when they agreed to another one-year extension to purchase Main Street property that Peak Development has been working with the village to redevelop since a pair of fires destroyed the properties. The lot has been vacant for nearly a decade since the March 22, 2017, fire that destroyed 29-39 W. Main St. Efforts to redevelop the site have hit stumbling blocks for years, though the receipt of a NY Forward grant in June creates the possibility of additional funding for a redevelopment project. The NY Forward grant application ...