A routine traffic stop on Jamestown's southside has led to the arrest of a city man for allegedly being in possession of a large amount of Heroin... ready for sale. City Police Captain Bob Samuelson says a patrol car pulled over the vehicle on Newton Avenue shortly before 2 PM Wedneday for failing to signal a turn. Samuelson says... it wasn't long into the traffic stop that the suspect... who was a passenger... tried to run off. Samuelson says officers then searched Johnson... and, found that he had concealed more than 300 bags of packaged Heroin in his possession. He says the weight of the Heroin was more than 87 grams -- which is "a significant quantity." Investigators aren't sure where Johnson was going with the drugs... but, Samuelson says they're sure he was taking them somewhere to sell. He says Johnson was arraigned in City Court on one count each of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance... and, obstructing governmental administration. He was then sent to the county jail without bail. The driver faces several vehicle and traffic charges.
A Jamestown woman has been arrested for allegedly selling Heroin to undercover drug agents in the city's Forest Avenue area. Southern Tier regional Drug Task Force members say they found... and, arrested 28 year-old Lindsey Mason of 9 Forest Park... just after 5 PM Wednesday. Task Force agents say Mason they took her into custody without incident. She's accused of selling quantities of Heroin to officers on several occasions. She was arraigned on charges of third-degree criminal possesion... and, sale of a controlled substance... and sent to the county jail without bail. She's being held pending futher court action. Anyone with information about the sale or possession of illegal drugs is asked to call the task force at 1-800-344-8702.
Authorities say a 57-year-old Cattaraugus County man has been charged in connection with the seizure of 800 marijuana plants found growing in the town of Ishua (Ish-oo-Wah). State police say the Southern Tier Regional Drug Task Force used a National Guard helicopter on Tuesday to spot the pot plants Randy Wade-Kenyon was growing in the woods near his home in the town... and, in neighboring Allegany County. Kenyon was charged with criminal possession of marijuana. He's being held in the Cattaraugus County Jail with bail to be set. Troopers say more arrests are pending. Police tell the Olean Times Herald that it took drug task force officers several hours to remove all the plants and haul them away in three pickup trucks.
New York has broadened a ban on synthetic marijuana to keep up with drug makers who create new chemical recipes to evade the existing law. Governor Andrew Cuomo says that the state health department has approved tougher regulations to include new compounds of synthetic pot. While the drugs were first created to mimic the effects of marijuana, their chemical makeup is far different, and new formulations have been created by chemists looking to evade a 2012 ban. Adverse effects from synthetic marijuana abuse prompted more than 2,300 emergency room visits in the state between early June and August 1st. That's 10 times more than the same period last summer. The governor says the state will continue to monitor evolving chemical formulas and will ban more compounds if necessary.
The author of a New York Times best-seller says there still needs to be a national conversation about perceived biases against African-Americans. Isabel Wilkerson wrote the book, "The Warmth of Other Suns," which high-lighted the northern migration of three young people who left the American South for the North and Midwest between 1915 and 1970. Wilkerson was Thursday's featured lecturer at Chautauqua Institution. She tells our Jim Roselle that both regions weren't sure what to do with that migration. Wilkerson says she doesn't use the words "progress..." or "racism..." in the book to define where things are right now. But... she says recent incidents involving police and African-American men are telling of an underlying problem. Wilkerson says, though, there was a "appropriate sense of outrage" at the killing of nine black parishioners at a Charleston, South Carolina church. She says our response as a nation will be watched. Wilkerson says there is still a sense of hypocracy due to "long-standing assumptions and sterotypes that go far beyond racism."
Flames of an electrical nature have destroyed a private boat on Chautauqua Lake in Lakewood. Sheriff's officers say members of the Navigation Patrol were called to the scene at the Lakewood Rod and Gun dock just before 6:30 PM Wednesday. Deputies say they found the boat fully-engulfed in flames on arrival. The Lakewood Fire Department was called into to fight the flames. After speaking with the owner... 73 year-old Dalton Burgett of Bemus Point... officers learned that Burgett was out on the boat when he smelled smoke coming from the cabin area. He later found smoke coming from an electrical panel... and, he brought the vessel to shore. Soon after... the boat caught fire. No one was hurt... and, no other property was damaged.
The New York State Police are targeting speeding motorists with a stepped-up enforcement effort. Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the crack down on Wednesday. It begins then... and, runs through Tuesday. Officials say speeding was a contributing factor in crashes that killed more than 350 people in 2013. Another 19,000 people were injured in speed-related crashes that year. During the period of stepped-up enforcement... troopers in marked and unmarked cars will also target drunken driving, seatbelt violations and distracted driving. A similar effort last August resulted in 22,000 traffic tickets being issued, with just under half of them for speeding violations.
Two political advocacy groups are considering a legal appeal after a New York state ethics board rejected their request to shield major donors from public disclosure. The New York Civil Liberties Union and Family Planning Advocates had asked the Joint Commission on Public Ethics to allow them to withhold the names of the donors because they said identifying them could put them at risk of harrassment. The commission rejected the request on Tuesday, saying they had not shown valid justification for the exemption. Both groups are now considering an appeal before a judicial hearing officer. The NYCLU says it's confident they would win. Last year... the commission rejected similar requests to withhold donors on earlier financial disclosures. The decision was reversed on appeal.
