Flames have destroyed a two-and-a-half story apartment house on Jamestown's southside... 

 

City fire crews were called to the scene shortly before 4:00 Monday morning and, Fire Battalion Chief Roger Sigular says they found a lot of fire and smoke coming from the front of the structure at 202 McKinley Avenue -- near Colfax Street.

 

Sigular says no one was home at the time of the blaze and an off-duty shift was called in to assist.  Five people lived in two of the occupied apartments.  The fire was reported out about 7:30 AM.  Sigular says investigators were checking an area around a basement porch for a cause.  No injuries were reported.  The Department of Development has ordered the building be torn down.

 

 

A Titusville, Pennyslvania woman was killed early Sunday morning in an accident involving an "E-Z Go" Sportman all-terrian vehicle in Spring Creek Township...  

 

State Police in Warren say 24 year-old Timothy Doerfer -- of Corry -- was traveling on Old Route 77 East of Picidilli Hill at 3 AM when the golf-cart-like ATV struck a deer.  Troopers say Doerfer reportedly lost control of the vehicle and struck a parked Dodge Dakota.  His 19 year-old passenger -- Hannah Wright -- was pronounced dead at the scene.  Doerfer was taken to Warren General Hospital for suspected serious injuries. 

 

 

The final figures for a portion of Jamestown's West Second Street "Piazza Project" are in and, a local foundation will pay 80-percent of that cost...  

 

That from City Development Director Vince DeJoy, who says the Gebbie Foundation agreed to pay the more than a quarter-of-a-million dollar cost for new "street furniture" in and around that area -- adjacent to the National Comedy Center.  DeJoy says the furniture was purchased all together, and at a discount.

 

DeJoy says the other 20-percent of the cost for the Streetscape furniture will be borne by the Empire State Development Corporation through the state's Consolidated Funding Application program.  DeJoy says the project came in "well under budget."  The resolution will be voted on at next week's voting session.

 

 

Chautauqua County Executive George Borrello has now announced that he will present his tentative, 2019 budget to the legislature a week from this Wednesday...  

 

Borrello yesterday updated progress made on developing the more than $230-million spending plan.  He says he and his department heads began work on a new budget four months ago and, adds his finance team will put the finishing touches on before the meeting.

 

So far, Borrello says it's his goal to close a nearly $4-million spending gap, using his Bushel Full of Pennies" concept of trying to save small amounts of money over the entire budget to do that.  He says he'll know how that's going later this week.  Borrello also wants a produce a budget that has no tax increase, and is at least under the state's property tax cap.  Once the budget is presented, county legislators will begin their review of it.  The spending plan is due by December 1.

 

 

Local Congressman Tom Reed had two objectives Monday afternoon when he visited a domestic violence program at the Salvation Army of Jamestown...  

 

Reed was at the ANEW Center on South Main Street to hear about their on-going efforts to help the victims of domestic violence and, he says he also wanted to visit the center to show them his support.

 

Reed heard ANEW Center employees and case workers about the need for more support to help child victims of domestic violence.  The Corning Republican agrees there is a need to "break the cycle" of both poverty, and sexual abuse and he believes that should be part of the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act -- which he supports.  He says children who are exposed to domestic violence need help as well, because there's a strong likelyhood that they will continue the cycle of violence. 

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While he was in Jamestown, Reed also talked with ANEW officials about efforts to find a new, larger facility for them to do their work.  A recent effort to locate a new center in the town of Ellery was shot-down by town officials.  However, they say County Executive George Borrello is also supporting their efforts to find a new home.  Reed pledged his support as well.

 

 

Several rental property owners addressed village trustees in Fredonia this past week on a proposed local law that would make major changes to the village's rental property code...  

 

The majority of those who spoke during a public hearing felt the proposed changes target student housing near the SUNY College at Fredonia.  Rental owner David Bird felt the proposed changes discriminate against those providing such housing.

 

Mayor Athenasia Landis says the villege trustees have decided to table the proposed local law.  Landis says there is a provision that allows tenants to withhold their rent payments and, adds that was "never our intention."  She says they expect to hold another public hearing on the proposed local law in about one-to-two weeks.

 

 

A judge has denied an ex-New York Assembly speaker bail pending the appeal of his corruption conviction and seven-year prison term...  

 

U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni said in a written opinion Monday that the substance of Sheldon Silver's appeal lacks merit.  She noted the 74-year-old Silver's age and said the true purpose of his appeal is to postpone his day of reckoning.  Silver is scheduled to report to prison October 5th.  Silver was sentenced to 12 years in prison after his first conviction in 2015.  That conviction was overturned, and a second jury convicted him earlier this year. 

 

 

State agriculture officials are advising horse owners in New York to vaccinate their horses against West Nile virus...  

 

The Department of Agriculture and Markets says there have been four confirmed equine cases of the mosquito-borne infection in the state this year, in Steuben, Suffolk, Cattaraugus and Livingston counties.  Infected mosquitoes can pass West Nile virus to humans, horses and other animals.  Symptoms can resemble the flu, with horses appearing mildly anorexic and depressed.  Twelve cases of West Nile virus have been reported in humans this year.

 

 

A Republican official says Buffalo-area Congressman Chris Collins will remain on the November ballot despite previously suspending his campaign amid an insider trading indictment....  

 

The announcement by Erie County Republican Committee Chairman Nick Langworthy on Monday throws the race for the western New York seat further into turmoil. There was no immediate comment from Collins, and it wasn't immediately clear whether he would actively campaign.  Collins suspended his campaign in August after he was charged with illegally using inside information about a biotech company to help his son avoid hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses.  Collins has pleaded not guilty and vowed to fight the charges.  Republicans were looking to strip the three-term conservative lawmaker's name from the ballot.  The Democratic candidate is Nate McMurray.