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Our opinion: Long crisis getting little attention

Since March 18, a crisis in Tidioute seems to not be a priority for Warren County as a whole. Since that day — before the official first day of spring — borough residents have been forced to boil water. That’s 120 days — or one-third of the year. At the moment, the timetable for a solution remains a mystery as those served by the Southwest Warren County Municipal Authority will remain under a boil-water advisory as state environmental officials say the authority’s water treatment plant has not yet returned to acceptable operating levels. “Treatment plant performance has ...

Our opinion: Senate should quickly approve Sunshine Act bill

State House members think there should be fewer exceptions to last-minute changes to local government meeting agendas. House Bill 2146, passed overwhelmingly with bipartisan support in the state House, would clarify exceptions to the 24-hour rule for meeting agendas under the Sunshine Act. The state Legislature approved legislation in 2021 setting exceptions to the rule stating an agenda has to be available to the public 24 hours before a meeting. Recognizing the need for flexibility, the 2001 amendments established reasonable exceptions to the 24-hour rule, including actions related ...

Our opinion: Participate in transportation survey

We hope that stakeholders in Warren take the opportunity this week to make their thoughts known regarding the city’s Active Transportation Plan by completing a survey that will help guide the plan. The survey - which can be completed online at https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/acd00c692b1a4534a3c947ca634e8830 - will result in a plan to improve walking, biking and overall accessibility throughout the city. It aims to improve access to goods and services, employment, schools, healthcare, parks and the regional trail network, while also strengthening first-mile/last-mile connected to ...

Our opinion: How long is long enough to prosecute dealers?

There is a move in the state Legislature to give prosecutors more time to prosecute those responsible for drug deals that result in death. Current state law includes a two-year statute of limitations, a number prosecutors say isn’t long enough to bring prosecutions against those who sell drugs that end up killing someone. There are proposals active in the House and Senate from Rep. Dane Watro and Sen. Michele Brooks to set a five-year statute of limitations on such crimes, while another proposal by Rep. Clint Owlett would eliminate the statute of limitations entirely while making ...

Editor’s corner: Region fully plugged in to data center debate

Maybe Portland, N.Y., town Supervisor Rich Lewis and Town Board members were testing the waters in March. That is when the body passed a resolution expressing its support for a proposed data center to be located on the grounds of the former Sugar Hill Golf Course. If anything, they had the ...

Other Voices: We have a democracy, if we can keep it

"A republic, if you can keep it,” Benjamin Franklin famously responded when asked by a Philadelphia socialite what it was that he and the other Founders had wrought. Her question, and his answer, in the 1787 conversation framed the choice for the emerging new country as being between republic and monarchy. Today, in some quarters, the choice is presented differently: We’re a republic, not a democracy, goes a politically fashionable trope that happens to be both factually inaccurate and philosophically ominous. America’s 250th birthday is as good a time as any to remind ourselves ...