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In Our Opinion

School merger process should be streamlined

It’s becoming clear, as we move through the state-prescribed consolidation process in Clymer, Sherman and Panama, that the state should consider changes to its school merger process. The process begins with a nonbinding referendum vote during a school budget vote and board election to approve a study. The boards then approve a consultant. Then, the communities have to vote a second time to schedule a vote - either through what is known as a straw vote or through a petition drive that signals the communities’ agreement to set a final vote. If all those steps are approved, then the ...

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

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

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 ...

Don’t miss an opportunity to regionalize police services

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 ...

25 Years Later, We Still Haven’t Forgotten

Do you remember where you were exactly six months ago at 8:47 a.m.? Probably not. But if we ask where you were 25 years ago at 8:47 a.m., chances are you will remember the moment as if it were yesterday. Sept. 11, 2001, was, without question, one of the most horrific in the history of the United States of America. At 8:47 a.m., the lives of all Americans changed when American Flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center. Fifteen minutes later, United Flight 175 hit the second tower. An hour later, American Flight 77 hit the Pentagon in Washington. And, in a heroic twist, passengers ...