A Jamestown man has been arrested for allegedly being in possession of a loaded pistol during a traffic stop on the city's eastside this (Monday) afternoon. Jamestown police say officers pulled over a vehicle on Allen Street -- near Buffalo Street -- about 1:30 PM for a traffic infraction. However... officers say they found the .25-calibur pistol in the possession of 25 year-old Randy Haskins... who was an occupant of the car. They say he was arrested for second-degree criminal possession of a weapon... and, he was taken to the city jail pending arraignment. Anyone who may have information on any crime can contact Jamestown police anonymously via the Tips 411 App or they can leave an anonymous tip at 483-Tips. That's 483-8477. Police say all calls will be kept confidential.
Several projects are under consideration for being in the final plan for using nearly 10-million dollars in state funding to boost downtown Jamestown. Mayor Sam Teresi says the final, official meeting of the Local Planning Committee will be held this Thursday to list it's recommendations for the city's share from the Downtown Revitaliation Initiative. Teresi says the process began shortly after the city was named as one of 10 DRI Communities by Governor Andrew Cuomo... and, he says three in particular come to mind. One is the former Key Bank building... the Hilton-Double-Tree project... redevelopment of the former Furniture Mart Building... and, a potential restaruant micro-brewery in the former Grant's Department Store buidling. Teresi says the 9.7-million dollars is what's left after paying the special consultant for the project... AR-and-A Associates of New York City. He says the committee will look at between 9 and 13-million dollars worth of projects to recommend to Empire State Development Corporation. Thursday's meeting begins at 1 PM at the Wright Conference Room of the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts.
The Jamestown City Council will vote in two weeks on proposed increases in fees for city sports and recreation fields... and, some new ones. That after the Finance Committee reviewed the proposed fee schedule at last night's meeting. However... Finance Committee Chairman Tony Dolce says they will not be voting -- at this point -- on new fees for the Babe Ruth League... and, the Babe Ruth World Series. Finance Committee member Kim Ecklund... who is also the president of the Babe Ruth Committee... says the issue is due to those organization's rules. And... Ecklund says that would be a substantial amount of money that the local committee would have to raise to be able to host the event locally. Dolce says... otherwise... the new fee schedule is ready to go. He adds those fees are exactly what Mayor Sam Teresi proposed in his 2017 budget. City lawmakers voted on a handful of new fees earlier in the year... while the Finance Committee discussed the fees for sports fields and parks. The measure will be voted on a council's February 27th meeting.
The biggest economic development story in Chautauqua County last year remains one of the top ones as 2017 begins... and, there is some news regarding the Athenex project in the Dunkirk area. County Executive Vince Horrigan says there is some very good progress to report on the pharmacutical companies more into the north county. Horrigan says the company is now seeking proposals for architectural and engineering work on the project. He says he remains in constant touch with Athenex officials. In the meantime... Horrigan is preparing for his fourth State of the County address to the County Legislature at the panel's February 22nd meeting. He says the message will focus on the goals set forth in the County's Comprehensive Plan-Chautauqua 20/20 issued six years ago about where they want the county to be by the year 2020. In addition... Horrigan says he is pleased that President Virginia Horvath of the SUNY College at Fredonia has been named co-chair of the Western New York Regional Economic Development Council.
A Jamestown man has been arrested for allegedly being in possession of an illegal drug... and, for choking a family member during a domestic incident Sunday afternoon on the city's southside. City police were called to the scene shortly after 3PM... and, officers found 37 year-old Arthur Wright on the home's porch. Police say Wright allegedly threw down an item on the floor to try and hide it. Officers found it contained a small amount of Methamphetime. Police recovered the container... and, found Wright had been involved in the domestic incident. He was arraigned on charges of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance... second-degee harassment and strangulation... and, sent to the county jail without bail.
The Jackson Center in Jamestown celebrated Robert H. Jackson's 125th birthday Monday with the release of a revised history of his work while living here. 'Off the Pedestal: Jackson in Jamestown 1909 to 1934' was written by Helen Ebersole. The author was honored with a reception and a 'Greg Peterson interview' Monday night. Helen Ebersole says studying the Jackson's life in Jamestown provides fresh perspective on the man who became a Supreme Court Justice, and Chief Prosecutor at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials. Copies of 'Off the Pedestal' are available at the Jackson Center in downtown Jamestown.
The local John Deere dealer in the Jamestown-area has merged with another in Central New York to form the largest John Deere turf and agricultural equipment dealer in the northeastern U-S. Z-and-M Ag and Turf President and Chief Executive Officer Tracy Buck says they consumated the deal with Lakeland Equipment of Wayne County, New York at the beginning of the month. Buck says they joined with Argonne Capital in a new partnership to create LandPro Equipment... which will be headquartered in Falconer. Buck and John Griffith bought Z-and-M back in 1994... and, expanded to six locations in the region. He says Lakeland also has six locations... giving the new company an even dozen locations from Edinboro, Pennsylvania to Savannah, New York. Buck says the merger allows them to better service and parts to the customers of both former companies. Buck says Argonne Capital is an Atlanta-based private investment firm that often partners with, and helps grow "closely-held" family businesses. He says Landpro also has an updated website now at Landpro-dot-COM.
Seidu Mohammed's lost all his fingers to frostbite when he made a perilous trek in sub-zero temperatures to cross the border illegally into Canada. He is one of a small but growing number of immigrants risking the northern border crossing out of fear of being deported from the U.S. America's neighbor to the north is increasingly being seen as a haven for asylum seekers turned away by the U.S. And some are willing to risk a walk across the border in dangerous cold and snow to get there. In Manitoba, on the border of Minnesota and North Dakota, authorities say the pace has quickened since Donald Trump became U.S. president and banned travel from seven majority-Muslim countries.
One of Jerry Sandusky's sons faces multiple charges of sexual offenses involving children, more than five years after the former Penn State assistant coach was himself first arrested. Court records filed Monday say 41-year-old Jeffrey Sandusky was charged with 14 counts, including criminal solicitation and corruption of minors. The online court docket says Jeffrey Sandusky was arraigned Monday and bail was set at $200,000. He's currently in the Centre County Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania. Jeffrey Sandusky's lawyer declined to comment on the allegations. The district attorney's office says it will release a statement Monday. WTAJ-TV says state police accuse him of sending inappropriate texts to a victim and asking for naked photos. Jerry Sandusky is serving a lengthy prison sentence for sexual abuse of 10 boys.
