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(Ricki Miller/Olean Star) Members of the striking Collins Correctional Facility corrections officers were at strike headquarters earlier this week outside the prison on Route 62 north of Gowanda.

Cattaraugus County lawmakers back striking corrections officers

March 3, 2025

EDITOR’S NOTE: The union representing striking New York State corrections officers and the Department of Corrections and Community Safety agreed to terms to end the strike on Friday. Many COs,

(Rick Miller/Olean Star) Randy Sprague, owner of Sprague Maple Farms watches over a valve that releases sap from the plastic tubing into a tank behind Sprague’s Restaurant.

Flowing sap a sweet sound at Sprague’s Maple Farms

March 3, 2025

By RICK MILLER Olean Star PORTVILLE — Sprague’s Maple Farms has produced its first maple syrup of the 2025 season. With several warm days earlier this week, the taps started running through

(Photo provided) Assemblyman Joe Sempolinski held his first town meeting as the 148th Assembly District representative at the John J. Ash Center in Olean Thursday night.

Sempolinski holds first town meeting in Olean Thursday attended by 60

March 3, 2025

OLEAN – More than 60 people attended Assemblyman Joe Sempolinski’s first town hall meeting Thursday at the John J. Ash Community Center in Olean. “We had a great turnout and

Salamanca boys hoops complete 18-point comeback, down Falconer 60-58 in B2 Quarterfinal

March 2, 2025

By SPENCER BATES batesoleanstar@gmail.com SALAMANCA — “If that’s not the greatest comeback in Salamanca basketball history, I don’t know what is.” Salamanca boys basketball coach Adam Bennett was left with

(St. Bonaventure photo) Captions: President Jeff Gingerich (left) presented Seneca President J. Conrad Seneca and First Lady Nicole Seneca with a framed print of the statement and a $1,000 donation to the Faithkeepers School. Fr. Stephen Mimnaugh, O.F.M., (right) read the Land Acknowledgment.

St. Bonaventure unveils Seneca Nation Land Acknowledgement at Bonnies game

February 10, 2025

ST. BONAVENTURE — As part of its ongoing efforts to strengthen bonds with its neighbors in the Seneca Nation of Indians, St. Bonaventure University formally acknowledged for the first time

(Cattaraugus County Health Department photo) More than 140 million chickens in the U.S. have been killed in the past year after the bird flu virus (H5N1) was discovered on farms. No cases have been reported in this county.

No cases of bird flu found in county chickens, cattle

February 10, 2025

By RICK MILLER Olean Star OLEAN — While no cases of bird flu have been confirmed in local poultry or cattle, Cattaraugus County health officials remain concerned over the possibility

(Cattaraugus County Sheriff's Office photo) Cattaraugus County Sheriff's Deputy Justin Grimm stands with his K-9 partner Lex, a specially trained German shepherd, outside the Sheriff's Office in Little Valley. The Seneca Nation donated funding for the department's latest K-9.

K-9 Lex is welcomed as county’s newest police dog

February 10, 2025

LITTLE VALLEY — The Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office Road Patrol’s newest K-9 member, Lex, is on the job. Cattaraugus County Sheriff Eric Butler and Seneca Nation of Indians President J.Conrad

Letter to the Editor: Department of Education is more important than

February 10, 2025

As Congress considers H.R. 899, which would terminate the Department of Education (ED), rural communities face catastrophic losses. According to recently released data, New York alone would lose $5.5 billion