Opinion

Commencement addresses: mixed messages

Follow your passion. No, don’t. That’s one of the arguments this time of year, when successful and rich people trade 15 minutes of encouragement for a ceremonial college degree. I…

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‘Step outdoors and grow the economy’

Among other designations, the month of June is recognized as National Great Outdoors Month. That designation is worth some attention here in the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions, especially at a time like now when we need to keep growing and strengthening every source of economic opportunity for local communities.
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

I like to assume the best of intentions, so I hope the recently declared “State of Emergency” was to help marshal some resources to help people desperately in need. I’m hoping that it was a prelude to asking for volunteers, donations, sponsors, and housing to help families who are in terrible straits, to call upon the ‘angels of our better nature.’ I’m here to sign up for any of that.
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Gun violence

The news gets more distressing all the time. Now we have innocent people being shot for showing up at the wrong house.
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Leaders must communicate carefully and act with compassion

In May, Yates County followed the lead of others around the state by declaring a “state of emergency” in response to the “anticipated imminent and uncoordinated delivery … of large numbers” of migrants and asylum seekers to the county. The legality of these orders is being tested, but the members of the Finger Lakes Justice Partnership (FLXJP) must speak out against the local version as a failure of leadership that misleads the public and endangers our neighbors.
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Don’t accept osteoporosis as part of aging

An estimated 10 million Americans aged 50 years and older have osteoporosis and 20% of them (2 million) are male, according to the U.S. Office of Disease Prevention and Promotion. An additional 43 million people — including 16 million men — have low bone mass, putting them at risk for developing osteoporosis. The disease affects every race, ethnicity, and gender.
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Rescuing New York now more urgent than ever”

To kick off the 2023 legislative session – one that we believed represented a pivotal session with New York at a crossroads in so many areas – the Senate Republican Conference put forth a comprehensive set of goals to help rebuild and strengthen local and state economies, focus on the financial challenges facing many middle- class families and small business owners, and make public safety a top priority.
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Questioning figures on county’s gas pipeline

Yates County has started building a long-needed Highway Maintenance and Emergency Management complex in Benton Center for an estimated price tag of approximately $26 million tax dollars. That calculates to a cost of $1,000 for every person residing in the county.
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‘The enduring spirit of our salute to fallen heroes’

From Arlington and Gettysburg to Woodlawn, Bath, Romulus, and thousands of other veterans’ cemeteries and monuments across this land, Americans will gather once again to observe Memorial Day. The nation’s long-standing Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in the nation’s capital is highlighted by a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, on which the following words are inscribed, “Here rests in honored glory an American solider known but to God.” Therein lies the essence of Memorial Day: To pause in our daily lives and remember the American soldiers who now rest “in honored glory” in devotion and service to all Americans -- to our families, our friends and neighbors, our communities, our state, and our nation.
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