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Waivers no factor in smoking rates

Editorials

Chautauqua County officials want to push the remaining organizations that have indoor smoking waivers to go smokefree. Smoking indoors in public places became largely illegal in New York state with the passage of the Clean Indoor Air Act on July 24, 2003, banning smoking in most workplaces, restaurants, and bars. There are five remaining private organizations with waivers to allow indoor smoking – and those five clubs will begin paying more for the privilege: $300 annually to $650 in 2026, and to $1,000 in 2027. We can’t argue with the health benefits of going smokefree. There are ...

Neighboring state’s gun control push too rushed for comfort

Editorials

Advocates for gun control have pushed more than a dozen separate bills through Virginia’s state legislature in less than two months. We must question if these proposals are truly being carefully deliberated upon. Some of these changes, such as bans on long-legal types of firearms, deserve more transparent debate in any legislature than what this rush by Virginia’s lawmakers has allowed. As we have editorialized in the past, much of what skeptics about our Second Amendment and our right to keep and bear arms envision simply isn’t possible in a free society — we fear the ...

When one snow leopard can't reproduce, whole species feels it

Editorials

What does it mean when a snow leopard, important to species survival, is deemed effectively sterile? That was the topic of conversation at the Louisville Zoo last week after a reproductive assessment of Meru, an 8-year-old snow leopard. The Louisville Zoo has been hoping since Meru's arrival in 2018 that he and their female snow leopard, NeeCee, would produce cubs. Zookeepers began giving them time together in 2021. As one of the 52 zoos in the United States to have snow leopards, the Louisville Zoo is an important part of the species survival plan. Ron Evans, general curator for ...

Heighten awareness of colorectal cancer

Editorials

Each March, Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month calls on our nation to confront a disease that is both common and devastating, yet in so many cases, entirely preventable. When found early, colorectal cancer is one of the most treatable and beatable cancers, with a five-year survival rate of 91%. That’s why screening and early detection are critical. A recent report from the American Cancer Society underscores the urgency: colorectal cancer is increasingly affecting younger adults, and rectal cancer rates are rising. These shifts mean screening, awareness, and timely follow-up care ...

Early intervention needed to stop teen suicides

Editorials

There are some injuries where you have to wait to respond. You can’t put a cast on a leg before it breaks. You can’t give chemotherapy before someone has cancer. Taking out an appendix proactively is not only useless, but it’s also wrong. Then there are the ones that require intervention before the problem occurs. Suicide — especially among teenagers — can’t wait for the break to happen first. The problem is the “break” doesn’t look like a crisis at all. It looks like normal teenage behavior — until it doesn’t. That can leave shattered families trying to ...

Saying goodbye to a hometown favorite

Local Columns

For the second time in my life, I have to look for a new restaurant. After I turned 44 in 1994, I decided I wanted to find a restaurant that I could go to on a regular basis. It took a while, but I finally landed at Miller's Restaurant outside of Mill Creek. It ...