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Opinion

SChools: Getting past just shared sports

The OBSERVER’s View

Residents of the Frewsburg and Southwestern school districts learned last week about talks between the districts to share sports teams. Shared teams aren’t new. They’re been a growing part of the interscholastic sports landscape both in Chautauqua County and the rest of the state for ...

Immigration and the American dream

Commentary

I am a third-generation American citizen. My grandfather was born here, to immigrant parents who came from Alcamo, Sicily to the United States, looking for a better life. As an Italian-American and a Roman Catholic, he experienced job discrimination and prejudice, as the culture of the day ...

FREDONIA: Past inaction led to troubling leaks

The OBSERVER’s View

Right before 9 a.m. Friday, the Facebook page for the village made it official: “FREDONIA’s BOIL WATER ORDER HAS BEEN LIFTED!” It may have been exciting news to share, but it is no cause for celebration. Water is Fredonia’s major stain. What makes the situation even worse is that this ...

Making whine from sour grapes

Commentary

We in Chautauqua County know all about grapes and wine, and for more than 150 years we supplied the world. But now we have a new product from individuals in CHQ who have perfected the art of Making Whine from Sour Grapes. The Sour Grapes were grown in the soil of the November election, where ...

Is subsidized service worth effort?

Commentary

There’s a scene in Jurassic Park where Dr. Ian Malcolm, played by Jeff Goldblum, looks at the park’s creators and says, “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” It’s a fitting parallel to the conversation about ...

PRESIDENCY: Executive orders dismiss compromise

The OBSERVER’s View

Our concerns about the second Trump Administration’s executive actions on immigration are twofold: First, the White House should employ a greater focus on illegal immigration specifically and, second, executive orders violate the principles of our republic. As we noted in our editorials ...