Campus News with London Nicholai

Junior student awarded Gold Water Scholarship

Now it’s not a little known fact that Fredonia creates greatness! And for Junior Biology major Sydney Hawkins who has received the Barry M Goldwater scholarship for the upcoming year this couldn’t be more of a reality. She describes having nothing but full support from her department adding,“When I was notified of the award, the majority of the biology department sought me out to congratulate me. The department is extremely supportive.” Hawkins, known to take advantage of all opportunities plans to enter into her senior year with the scholarship opportunities and experiences of two summer internships, the honors program, and STEM and finish out strong on a path to become a university biology assistant. Congratulations Sydney, we couldn’t be more proud. 

New SUNY Fredonia Bus Service

For students coming a long way to get to college this may come as a welcome surprise. Cedar bus co is introducing a brand new line straight to buffalo starting last week up until the end of the semester. The weekend service will allow students from the city and beyond easy access especially with this weekend’s holiday travels. The service is available every weekend but tickets must be purchased in advance at the ticket office.

Students Assist At Fundraising Event 

The students of Fredonia pre-health club have again attended this years CBA vision rehabilitation “Dining In The Dark Event.”  The event allows guests to a dining experience without their use of sight. Attendees are blindfolded and escorted through the dining process, a way of advocating for those suffering with vision loss. Students helped guide the guests to their tables and navigate through the meal.While in meantime the event raised awareness advocacy and fundraising. At the event students were also awarded the Louise Tefft award for a second year. Honoring her life as a CBA client and supporting figure for 28 years through acts of donations and speaking engagements. The award recognizes her passion, strength and hospitality that these students can go on to spread in their community.

Local County News

Police Force Funding Nears Breaking Point

Norman P. Green, a Dewittville resident; shares the financial challenges faced by several municipalities in Chautauqua County, New York, in maintaining their local police forces.

 He discusses this in a Post Journal Article stating, “Dunkirk, Jamestown, Fredonia, Ellicott, Busti and Westfield have full-time police forces. Each offers superior police service by all accounts that its taxpayers can all be proud of. But the private property taxpayers of these six communities are paying twice to police: once in their local village, town or city tax bill for local policing and a second time in the county tax bill.” 

Residents in cities like Dunkirk, Jamestown, and Fredonia are effectively paying twice for policing services—once through local taxes for their municipal police departments and again through county taxes that fund the Sheriff’s Department. This situation arises because these local police forces often extend their services beyond their immediate jurisdictions, responding to emergency calls in neighboring areas.

Green mentions that the Chautauqua County Legislature and County Executive need to proactively look at how we deliver and pay for police services before these communities reach the budget breaking point.

Kolison Defends Cuts, Slams Critical Report

SUNY Fredonia President Stephen Kolison recently defended his leadership and budget-cutting strategies during a University Senate meeting. He criticized a report by two SUNY-affiliated consultants that raised concerns about his management and campus climate, labeling it as “heavy on opinions, misinformation, disinformation, and innuendos.” 

The cuts were first brought up around 2016, 

The Post Journal writes, “The most damaging part of the consultation report, according to the president, was the allegations of racism, sexism and bullying on campus. Those allegations were noted in an OBSERVER article on the report, and Kolison lamented that “prospective students and parents will read this.”

Kolison urged a continued discussion on campus scheduling, including a proposal to start winter break at Thanksgiving to better accommodate students. 

Dunkirk Recovery Center to reopen in May

An update on a story from last week:

The Dunkirk Recovery Center, operated by the Mental Health Association in Chautauqua County, is set to reopen in early May after a temporary closure due to building issues at Grace Lutheran Church.

Anyone in recovery from substance use or mental health disorders who would like to talk to or meet with an MHA coach in Dunkirk can call (716) 661-9044 or email info@MHAChautauqua.org.

International and National news written by Maisie Strader

Next Iran-US nuclear talks will be held in Rome, AP source says

The United States and Iran are set to resume nuclear negotiations in Rome this Saturday. This follows a preliminary round in Oman, marking a shift from indirect to direct talks between U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Despite previous tensions, 

including Iran’s rejection of the U.S.-EU meeting invitation, both sides are engaging in dialogue, with Iran seeking sanctions relief and the U.S. aiming to halt Iran’s uranium enrichment, which has reached 60%, well above the 3.67% limit set in the 2015 nuclear deal.

AP News say, “The IAEA played a key role in verifying Iran’s compliance with its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and has continued to work in the Islamic Republic, even as the country’s theocracy slowly peeled away its access after Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord in 2018.” 

Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency will arrive in Iran on Wednesday night and will meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and President Masoud Pezeshkian. 

US Coast Guard says 1 dead, 4 rescued and 5 missing from capsized boat off Florida’s Atlantic Coast

A boat carrying 10  people capsized on Friday off Florida’s Atlantic Coast. 

Today Monday April 14th, The US coast guard is still searching for the 5 people. 

AP News says,“One of those rescued said the vessel capsized on Friday, the Coast Guard said. Another boater contacted the Coast Guard on Sunday. Martin County Fire Rescue officials told news outlets on Sunday that three of the four rescued from the water had injuries that were not life-threatening. No additional information was immediately available.” 

Teen killed parents as part of Trump assassination plot, says FBI

In other news, Nikita Casap, 17, has been charged with the killing of his mother, Tatiana Casap, 35, and his stepfather Donald Mayer, 51, who were found dead at their home on 28 February, this information was taken from BBC. 

These murders are a part of a larger attempt to assassinate US President Donald Trump.

BBC says, “In the car was Mr Mayer’s Smith & Wesson .357 pistol, four credit cards belonging to the couple, ‘multiple pieces’ of valuable jewelry, a pried-open safe and $14,000 (£10,700) in currency, most of which was inside a Bible, said the criminal complaint.

In writings found by investigators, the suspect expressed white supremacist beliefs and called for Trump’s assassination to start a political revolution, according to the search warrant.” 

On May 7th he will be formally given charges and is currently being held on a 1 million dollar bond.

Sports news featuring Mitch Hurocy

It was a busy weekend for Fredonia sports with numerous teams in action. On Saturday, the lacrosse team beat Potsdam with a final of 16-8. Emma Cockrell led all players with 6 points. Ashley Mans had 9 saves in net for the blue devils. They travel to take on Cortland on Tuesday as they currently sit in a playoff spot with 3 games to go. The softball team traveled east to take on Plattsburgh this past Friday and Potsdam on Saturday. They split the two game series on friday with a 2-1 win and a 10-2 loss. Kendall Phillips went 7 innings giving up only one run and having 14 strikeouts. On Saturday, they swept Potsdam with 11-2 and 10-6 wins. The team had a combined 25 hits in the two games.

The team is now 5-1 in SUNYAC play. The baseball team lost a 3-game series against Canton 2-1. In their one win, they won 13-7. Christian Cabrera had 3 hits and 3 RBIs in the win. The sabres went 0-2 over the weekend with losses to Florida and Tampa Bay. Against Florida, the team lost 3-2 in a shootout. Rasmus Dahlin had a goal and an assist with JJ Peterka adding the other goal. UPL had 32 saves on 34 shots. On Sunday, the team lost 7-4 to Tampa Bay. Dahlin led the sabres in scoring again with 2 points. Goals were scored by Connor Clifton, Alex Tuch, Sam Lafferty and Jiri Kulich. James Reimer had a day to forget in net with 24 saves on 31 shots.

They take on the Maple Leafs tomorrow in their second last game of the season. The Bandits clinched the first seed in the playoffs with a 15-12 win over Halifax on Saturday. Dhane Smith led the game with 11 points. Smith now leads the league in points with 129 with teammate Josh Byrne close behind at 126. Smith is also at 99 assists, just two shy of passing his own league record of assists in a season with 101. He also is only 8 points behind passing his own league record for points in a season with 137.

Pop Culture updates with Julia Klement

While there are no current Fredonia local music updates, there is the annual music and arts festival Coachella happening right now in California. This event happens for more than a week long, and with the halfway point this week, lets quickly recap what’s been going on:
-Charli XCX brought out Lorde for her BRAT set,
-Megan Thee Stallion went overtime and got her mics turned off,
-Addison Rae came out on Arca’s set and announced her album release on June 6,
and Travis Scott headlined after Green Day on Saturday night. Now, let’s get to pop culture.

Quick SNL Recap
As it is Monday, of course we have to recap last week’s Saturday Night Live episode. Jon Hamm hosted, alongside Lizzo as musical guest. It was Hamm’s fourth time hosting, and he brought several fun cameos, like Scarlett Johansson and Kieran Culkin. Sketches included a White Lotus parody titled the White POTUS, a new Please Don’t Destroy skit, and much more!

Leslie Odom Jr. Returns to Hamilton
It may come as a surprise to some to hear that hit historical Broadway musical Hamilton reaches its 10 year anniversary this year. Another surprise, revealed this morning on NBC’s TODAY show, is that Leslie Odom Jr. will be returning to the Broadway stage and reviving his role as Aaron Burr. In a press release, Odom states, “Returning to ‘Hamilton’ is a deeply meaningful homecoming. I’m so grateful for the chance to step back into the room — especially during this anniversary moment and to revisit this brilliant piece that forever changed my life and the lives of so many.” Since being on Broadway, Odom has released five studio albums, written a memoir and co-authored a children’s book, and has starred in countless tv and film works.

‘Minecraft Movie’ Highest Grossing Hollywood Release of 2025
Now I know in the past two weeks I’ve talked a lot about the Minecraft Movie, so I’ll make this story quick – it’s making big strides in Hollywood. Last week, it’s second week in theaters, it brought in $80.6 million in ticket sales, and opening week it brought in $300 million globally. Worldwide, it quickly surpassed $550 million, making it the highest grossing Hollywood release of 2025 so far. I personally still haven’t seen it, but it seems like the world loves it.

Political News updates written by Dan Quagliana

Pennsylvania arsonist suspect arrested

A man by the name of Cody Balmer was arrested in Pennsylvania yesterday after the governor’s mansion was set aflame while Governor Josh Shapiro and his family were sleeping inside. According to CNN, Shapiro, his wife Lori, their four children, two dogs and another family were forced to evacuate the mansion early Sunday morning while the mansion was undergoing significant fire damage. Cody Balmer, aged 38, turned himself in to police and was being held on charges of attempted murder, aggravated arson, terrorism and other charges in connection with the fire, which occurred hours after Shapiro and his family hosted a Passover dinner, according to authorities. Balmer alleged that he was angry with the governor, and would have beaten him with a hammer had he confronted him. Shapiro, a Democrat, was among the top contenders to be Kamala Harris’s running mate last year, and has reportedly been considering a 2028 run for the presidency.

DOJ says courts have ‘no authority’ to force mistakenly deported man’s return

According to The Hill, the Department of Justice argued in a court filing Sunday that federal courts have “no authority” to force the Trump administration to seek the return of a Maryland man wrongly deported to El Salvador. Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen who was living in Maryland, was taken into custody on March 12, 2025 by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Three days later, he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, where he was held in a maximum security prison. According to AP News, at the time of his arrest, he was protected from deportation by a 2019 court order, which stated that he was legally present in the US. The White House called his deportation “an administrative error.” Trump officials said Sunday in a court briefing in Maryland, that, “The federal courts have no authority to direct the Executive Branch to conduct foreign relations in a particular way, or engage with a foreign sovereign in a given manner.” They added, “That is the exclusive power of the President as the sole organ of the federal government in the field of international relations.”