Two men have been arrested for allegedly committing a home invasion-robbery on Jamestown's eastside early Sunday morning. City Police Captain Bob Samuelson says officers were initially called to the scene at 512 East Seventh Street shortly after 12 AM... where the occupants reported that they had been robbed by two male subjects. Samuelson says the men were later identified as 19 year-old Francisco McGowan... and, 20 year-old Dylan Colon. He adds both face major charges. Samuelson says no one was hurt inside the home... and, he says both men were arrested later without incident. He says -- at this point -- police have no definative motive for the break-in and robbery. Samuelson adds they are now looking for a possible third suspect in the case. He says both McGowan and Colon were arraigned on the felony charges... and, sent to the County Jail without bail. He says anyone with information on the case is asked to call JPD's confidential tip line at 483-TIPS... that's 483-8477.
The Jamestown High School Acappella Choir was on stage at the Reg last night (Monday)... singing with the Jim Brickman holiday show. Brickman is a well known pianist, and singer, based in Cleveland. Acappella member Alexa Brightman was thrilled. The 80 voice choir filled the stage behind Brickman to sing two songs with him, his vocalist and a jazz violinist. Brickman says choirs have joined them at many stops on this year's holiday tour. The Jamestown choir is the biggest, and one of the best prepared. Brickman is in the midst of a coast to coast tour for his CD 'Comfort and Joy'.
Governor Andrew Cuomo says he's issuing conditional pardons for about 10-thousand former juvenile offenders who won't have to disclose convictions on employment, credit or other applications. The New York Democrat says offenders with misdemeanor and non-violent felony convictions at age 16 or 17 will get pardons after a decade with no subsequent crimes. Cuomo tells WNYC radio most will be drug cases. He says youths make mistakes that shouldn't mean lifelong hardships. The Raise the Age Campaign, which like Cuomo advocates raising the age of criminal responsibility in New York from 16 to 18, says he took a critical step in improving access to education, employment and housing. Cuomo says eliminating criminal history questions from job applications would be going too far because employers have a right to protect themselves.
Congressional Republicans did not "sell out" when it comes to their overwhelming support of the 1.1-trillion dollar Omnibus spending bill late last week. That from Corning Republican Tom Reed... who voted for the spending bill... which was approved in a "bi-partisan" manner in both the House and Senate. Some Conservative pundits have been highly-critical of the bill... which they say spends too much... and, gets little in return. Reed says he understands where conservatives are coming from... but, adds the spending bill helps bring about "incremental change...." A few conservatives also feel that Congressional Republicans sold out in the Omnibus Bill because they were so focused on getting approval of a measure lifting the ban on exporting domestically-produced oil overseas. Reed says that was a big victory... and, allows the U-S to "stabilize" the world-wide oil market. He says he wanted to make sure "local taxpayers get their fair share" of funding for the programs and services that benefit the entire region. Reed made his comments during his weekly telephone conference call with Southern Tier Media.
It took longer than usual to arrive, but the first big storm of the season has left parts of central New York buried under three feet of snow. The National Weather Service says the weekend's lake-effect storms dropped 12 to 36 inches of snow on areas of the Tug Hill Plateau, east of Lake Ontario. The weather service says the town of Lyonsdale in Lewis County topped the list with 36 inches, with other nearby locations also reporting more than 30 inches. Sections of western New York also received their first big snowfall of the season, with Perrysburg in Cattaraugus County getting a foot of snow. Buffalo recorded its first snow of the season on Friday -- just. 0.1 inches -- setting a record for the latest measurable snowfall.
Yesterday marked the U-S Postal Services busiest delivery day... during it's busiest week of the year. The Post Office has also added staff and are making additional deliveries to keep up with the pace. Western New York Postal Service Spokeswoman Karen Mazurkiewicz says they are ready for the challenge. She says the "full court press is on..." but, she adds that they're ready with extra people and transportation at their disposal. In some cases... she adds they are delivering seven days a week.
The New York State Police have announced a new commander of Troop A, which oversees the State Police operations in all of Western New York. The state Police add that Major Steven Nigrelli is also a former Zone Commander at the SP Barracks in Jamestown. Nigrelli is a 25-year veteran of the State Police. He has worked on several high profile cases during his career, including the Ralph "Bucky" Phillips manhunt in 2006... the Bike Path Rapist/Killer Task Force in Buffalo... and, he served as the scene commander for the investigation of the crash of Flight 3407.
Efforts to provide more healthy, locally sourced school meals to New York school children are getting some help from the state. Governor Andrew Cuomo's administration this month announced more than $300,000 in new funding for six ``Farm to School'' programs around the state. The money will help school districts provide more locally produced food products to children. The Democratic governor says the initiative is intended to provide children with high-quality, healthy food while also promoting local agriculture. The money will go to local agricultural extension services and to school districts. The district in Buffalo is the largest district set to receive funding.
New York state is outpacing the United States as a whole when it comes to agricultural sales. Governor Andrew Cuomo says the state's sales from items such as dairy, fruit, vegetables and poultry and eggs have risen 36 percent since 2010. The national increase over the same period was 32 percent. The Democratic governor says the state is working to reduce red tape and encourage all aspects of the state's agricultural economy. The state is a leading national source of apples and yogurt. Dairy products alone were responsible for half of the state's agricultural receipts in 2014. Some of the biggest increases in the last five years came from the sale of other products, however, including peaches, honey, hay and poultry.
