Local Columnists

It was just over a year ago, shortly after the enactment of a state budget that paid Albany Democrat lip service to the need to end New York’s failed ...

Across the country, people flock to states for forbidden activities, materials and procedures. For some it’s casinos, others marijuana, but for New Yo...

Have you been watching the news reports from down South? Some individuals have faced the cameras and you can see the devastation on their faces, hear ...

Honoring someone is a tall order. It means finding an eloquent way to summarize and put to words the life and good works of someone deserving of being...

This is a very crucial election, with two candidates as opposites. Kamala Harris has demonstrated a long-standing career of integrity, honesty and com...

It’s National Newspaper Week and an important time to reflect on the continued importance of our role in covering local events and issues and serving ...

I am a lifelong registered Democrat. I don’t recall choosing that party: my parents most likely “gave” it to me. Actually, because I was born white, C...

On behalf of the entire community-led Steering Committee for the first Remote Area Medical (RAM) event held in Chautauqua County at Jamestown Communit...

I guess even we who regularly devour news shows can reach a breaking point. I’m close to mine as the Nov. 5 election draws near. With some candidates,...

With the school year still only weeks old, public health leaders from Tobacco-Free CCA say it’s important to be aware of the risks of vaping, as well ...

Recently I noted how the latest statewide poll from the Siena College Research Institute included a finding that less than one-third of New Yorkers th...

Of all local problems, hunger stands at the center as both a cause and symptom of poverty. Yet hunger isn’t treated like a central issue worth solving...

In a recent Sunday school class, we were reading in Ecclesiastes and following the thought, “there’s nothing new under the sun.” From a Christian pers...

To be clear, there is little sign at this stage of the presidential race that Donald Trump is destined to lose. According to the polls and the betting...

Over the past few months in New York state government, we’ve witnessed constant reminders why this state is headed in the wrong direction under one-pa...

A plaque on display at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial shares the following post-9/11 words from then President George W. Bush: “Terrorist attacks...

Voting is the cornerstone of a democracy but, sadly, far too few people exercise that right and responsibility. Millions of Americans cannot vote beca...

Seeds were planted eight years ago. Grace Haynes and Emma Dodge were fifth-graders in my class at Olean Intermediate Middle School. That year, like ev...