Apr 28, 2021
Reading the December U.S. Transportation Department order once again denying Essential Air Service to the Jamestown airport, one has to wonder if commercial air service is ever coming back.
It’s clear federal officials don’t think 10 passengers a day are going to use the Jamestown airport unless something major changes in our area. The federal government has said pretty clearly that any claims that a new provider will reach ridership quotas with better advertising, a better service and a little bit nicer plane than prior providers aren’t going to change the federal government’s mind.
In the federal government’s eyes, Chautauqua County does not have enough people who want to take commercial flights from Jamestown each day to justify a $2 million cost to taxpayers. Jamestown is close enough to Erie and Buffalo that the bigger airports siphon too much traffic away from the Jamestown airport.
Apr 27, 2021
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, was right vaccine supplies have caught up with vaccine demand even earlier than Schumer said it would.
If only that were a good thing.
About 43% of eligible county residents have recieved a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to Christine Schuyler, county health and human service director. That means about 32% of the population needs to be vaccinated for Chautauqua County to reach herd immunity and that 32% is going to take a while to reach.
County officials plan to do education for those who haven’t been vaccinated yet, do smaller clinics and try to make the vaccine more accessible for those who haven’t had an opportunity to be vaccinated.
Apr 26, 2021
The Jamestown area is looking at another big, empty building in the south as Truck-Lite looks for a new home for its corporate offices.
The sprawling East Elmwood Avenue, Falconer, manufacturing facility is far too big for the 100 employees Truck-Lite has left in the area, so the company has been looking for a new, smaller facility.
Company officials say there is nothing existing in the county that fits its needs, and is looking to either have a new location built in Chautauqua County, move to a site in Warren County, Pa., or move to the Erie, Pa., area.
Despite a plethora of vacant space in buildings, there was nothing that suited 100 officeworkers in the Jamestown area. Perhaps Truck-Lite is being picky, but perhaps not. Perhaps Truck-Lite looked at the available office space and found it was either too large, too small or just plain lousy. That is a scathing indictment of the disinvestment in the Jamestown area’s office space. A longtime manufacturer with a l
Apr 23, 2021
It is not difficult to understand why so many are optimistic we have turned the corner in our fight against COVID-19. Hopeful signs are everywhere. Earlier this month, the Institute for Supply Management reported the U.S. services sector showed record growth in March, as states ease restrictions.
In fact, the nonmanufacturing index rose to an all-time high 63.7 last month, with new orders also hitting a record.
To throw a little cold water on the celebration, let’s remember the services sector has been growing for 10 months, because it took such a dramatic hit last spring. As far as the ISM is concerned, services, which account for 71 percent of all jobs in the U.S., means everything from banks to bars. The number includes most of the employers that had to grind nearly to a halt about a year ago.
We understand the sticker shock some town of Chautauqua residents are feeling.
It’s hard to look at our local economy and justify how a property tax assessment on a swamp can increase more than 300% from one day to the next. Of course, the property in question didn’t appreciate that value on its own. The new assessment reflects buyers of neighboring or similar properties spending a lot of money on their properties, which increases the value of the entire neighborhood.
That doesn’t make the potential increased tax bill on 37 acres of swamp whose value has appreciated 300% from one day to the next any easier for the property owner who probably can’t sell the property for its new assessed value.