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In Our Opinion

Speak now on Safe Streets for All, Or forever hold your peace

We’ve had enough serious traffic accidents over the years to know there are some long-established traffic patterns in Jamestown that need to change. Our road designs in too many places make it difficult for pedestrians, cyclists - either pedal or electric-assisted - and vehicles to coexist safely. We have long held that some of those difficulties are behavioral. People drive too fast. They’re distracted. Pedestrians too often walk in the street when sidewalks are available. The rise of e-bikes and scooters being ridden with no regard to traffic laws just adds more traffic to the ...

In Our Opinion

We’d say New York should throw out its recycling data, but we’re not sure if the paper would be recycled or end up in a landfill. Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office found the state DEC lacks reliable information on how much material is recycled across the state. Part of the problem is recycling facilities have submitted only about two-thirds of the required annual reports from January 2021 through December 2023. The facilities that did submit reports couldn’t always verify the information they did report. And, perhaps most troubling, of the reports that were submitted, ...

Public call for DRI, NY Forward grants is late in process

It’s good that local residents are getting an opportunity to have input in the plans for Jamestown’s $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative and Falconer’s $4.5 million NY Forward grant. Local planning committees have been created in Jamestown and Falconer, and local residents are now being asked to bring any project ideas they have to the committee for possible inclusion in the final plan for the state grants. In Jamestown, an open call for projects is taking place from Aug. 21 through Sept. 25, with an information session scheduled for Aug. 27 at the Robert H. Jackson ...

Amount of benefits fraud in county is beyond shocking

It is shocking, though not surprising, that two county Social Services Department employees have been charged in the theft of money from the people they were supposed to be helping. Amounts weren’t disclosed during a news conference last week, nor was the name of a second person allegedly involved in the alleged theft, but we’ve seen enough thefts of public money in the past to know that where there are large sums of money being passed around someone will eventually try to take some for themselves. We’ve been through this a time or two over the past couple of decades. That ...

In Our Opinion

Over the years we’ve seen duties that were once handled by volunteer firefighters taken on by paid government crews. The move really began with the advent of the Chautauqua County fly car system in 2017 to provide quicker response, particularly in remote areas of the county where struggles to staff volunteer fire departments were most acute. Over the ensuing nine years the fly car system has expanded to meet growing needs throughout the county, including the April decision to station a fly car at the Clymer Volunteer Fire Department. For many Chautauqua County residents the use ...

City has opportunity to build on 10 years of Chadakoin River work

The Chadakoin River looks a lot different in 2026 than it did in 2016. Comedy Park behind the National Comedy Center is beautiful. Two pedestrian bridges have been constructed. Kayakers are seen on the river, something that seemed like a heavy lift 10 years ago, while projects to clear brush, debris and vegetation from the Chadakoin River’s shores have made the area virtually unrecognizable over the course of a decade. Now, city officials have a chance to build on that work. Projects included in the city’s DRI application include a performance area including tiered natural ...