Community Spotlight, the area's longest running local public affairs radio program, airs on all six Media One Radio Group stations each weekend and is also available to hear in our Podcast Section.  Each week we sit down with a community leader or another special guest to talk about issues within our community.  


Weather Forecasts are available across our radio stations each day and also as your fingertips! 

Connect with The National Weather Service's Buffalo Office or with WGRZ-TV for accurate weather information!

 

 

 


 

WJTN News Headlines for Sept. 19, 2018

A Jamestown man has died after he apparently fell into the Chadakoin River sometime early Monday morning and  failed to resurface...  
 
City Police were called to the area of Victoria Avenue and Institute Street about 6:30 a.m. for a body being found in the river.  Officers say city Fire Rescue crews were also called to the scene, and they recovered the body of 61 year-old Robert Cavender.  Police say the body was taken to the Erie County Medical Examiner's Office in Buffalo where an autopsy will be performed.  However, police say the drowning appears accidental and, foul play is not suspected.
 
 
A Westfield man is accused of selling an illegal assault rifle to an undercover officer of the Southern Tier Regional Drug Task Force this past Monday...  
 
Members of the task force say 57 year-old David Marracino possessed and sold an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, three high-capacity magazines and, a quantity of steel-jacketed ammo to the undercover officer during a meeting on Old Bridge Road in Stow.  Officers report Marracino was also found in possession of marijuana when taken into custody.  He was arraigned and sent to the County Jail on bail pending further action of the court. 
------
 
Authorities continue to ask citizen's to call when they see suspicious or narcotics related activity in their neighborhoods at either 1-800-344-8702.
 
 
The investigation into a fiery car-train accident in the town of Ripley late last July has resulted in the arrests of two people from Westfield...  
 
Sheriff's officers say they have arrested 25 year-old Christopher Weston, and a 16 year-old for unlawful interference with a railroad train, and third-degree attempted arson.  Deputies say their Office of Criminal Investigation and Westfield Police determined the two suspects poured gasoline inside Weston's vehicle, then parked it on the Norfolk/Suffolk rail crossing at Station Road shortly after 4 a.m. July 22.  Officers say they intended to have a train hit the car, catching the car on fire.  No one was hurt in the incident.  Weston was arraigned and sent to the county jail on $5,000 bail while the 16 year-old was released pending a future court appearance.
 
 
A Jamestown business owner convicted of food stamp benefits fraud was sentenced to six-months of home detention in U-S District Court yesterday...
 
Assistant U-S Attorneys Douglas 'AC' Penrose and Mary-Catherine Baumgarten -- who handled the case -- say 57 year-old Joseph Gullotti owned and operated Fresh Cut Meats and More on Newland Avenue and, was authorized to accept food stamps. However, attorneys say, the U-S Department of Agriculture prohibits a retailer from accepting food stamps for items such as beer, cigarettes and hot prepared food. Between January 2015 and Mar. 21, 2017, Gullotti and others accepted the benefits to pay for merchandise on credit by a beneficiary in nearly $173,515 of unlawful transactions. In addition to the home detention, Gullotti was also ordered to pay the money back in restitution to the USDA.  
 
 
The Democratic challenger in the 23rd Congressional District race has accepted three debates with incumbant Republican Tom Reed in the later days of the campaign...  
 
However, Ithaca's Tracy Mitrano says there should be more and, they should be more spread out over the entire district.  The first debate will be at the Jamestown Post-Journal on October 24.  There will also be one in Corning, and a third in Olean.  However, Mitrano says there were invitations for five others, but Reed declined.
 
Mitrano says she accepted the League of Women Voters debate that would have been held in Mayville, but that was rejected by Reed's campaign.  She believes he's "ducking" her in areas where she's done well, such as the north county area -- including Fredonia.  She says the fact there are just three debates is a shame because there are very real issues facing many residents of the district, including what's happening with Social Security, Medicare, and Heath care.  Mitrano made her comments during a regional press call this morning.
 
 
There will be three debates in the campaign for the 23rd Congressional District and, that's what both sides in the contest agreed to...  
 
That from incumbant Local Congressman Tom Reed, who says he is not trying to limit debate, nor ducking debates against his Democratic challenger, Tracy Mitrano.  Reed says Mitrano's campaign agreed with no significant issues to have the three debates -- the first of which will be held in Jamestown.
 
Reed charged earlier Tuesday that Mitrano is misrepresenting herself again by agreeing to the debates, then saying there need to be more of them.  The Corning Republican says his challenger has misrepresented her stands on a number of issues, including the Second-Amendment.  Reed made his comments for his weekly telephone conference call with regional media.
 
 
A vehicle pursuit that started in the Erie, Pennsylvania area and, entered Chautauqua County, led to the operator losing control of the car, and crashing in Findley Lake...  
 
Sheriff's officers say State Police in Erie began pursuing the vehicle, operated by 51 year-old Marshall Young, about 11 p.m. Monday.  Deputies say the car entered Chautauqua County and, continued on Route 430 at a high rate of speed before Young lost control and, the vehicle went sideways before crashing into a gate at the end of a private driveway.  Officers say the car continued into a lawn where it stopped.  Young was arrested on several charges, including speeding, driving while impaired by drugs, and reckless driving.  He was arraigned and sent to the county jail pending extradiction to Erie, where he faces charges -- including failure to appear.
 
 
Two area men are facing drug related charges after a report of a suspicious vehicle in a parking lot on Lake Shore Drive West in the city of Dunkirk Monday night...  
Officers say they observed the vehicle parked in a dark area of the lot around 10:30
p.m. with two people inside the vehicle.  Further investigation led to the discovery of 10 bags of cocaine, 12 bindles of heroin, numerous hypodermic needles and glassine envelopes and plastic bags containing cocaine and fentanyl residue, along with one-thousand dollars in cash.  The men, identified as 25-year-old Jeremy Burke of Stockton and 24-year-old Lucas Trautman of Fredonia, are both facing two counts of third and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.
 
 
Ellicott Town Police are asking for the public's help in finding a man who allegedly walked into the CVS Pharmacy in Falconer, jumped  the counter and, grabbed a quantity of medication and ran out of the store...  
 
Police say the theft occured shortly before 8:30 Monday night and, no one was hurt.  The bandit is described as a black male, about 5"10 tall with a slim build.  He had corn row hair, and some facial hair.  He was wearing a camoflage baseball hat, brown hooded-sweatshirt and gray sweat pants.  A picture is on the Ellicott Town Poilce website.  Anyone with any information should Ellicott Police at 665-7083 or the coinfidential tips line for Jamestown Police at 483-TIPS (8477).
 
 
There was some rain late Monday and overnight in the Jamestown-area as the remnants of Hurricane Florence moved through the area...  
 
However, several roads in New York's Southern Tier to the east remain closed by flash flooding caused by heavy rains that have led to a State of Emergency in Tioga County -- just east of Binghampton.  The National Weather Service says more than four inches of rain had fallen by Tuesday morning from the Elmira area to counties in southeastern New York.  Local Congressman Tom Reed is in the district and, saw some of the flooding in eastern Chemung County yesterday.
 
Reed adds that his office is in close contact to local officials, and will be talking with them about immediate and longer-term needs in the wake of the heavy rains and flooding.  The state's Division of Homeland Security and Office of Emergency Management sent swift water urban search and rescue teams to staging areas in Binghamton, Guilderland in the Capital Region and Montour Falls in the Finger Lakes.
 
 
A chemistry professor and chair of the department of geology and environmental science at the State University of New York at Fredonia will receive the 23rd Heinz Award in the Public Policy category...  
 
Dr. Sherri Mason is receiving the recognition for her ground-breaking research identifying the presence of microbeads and microfibers in fresh water, and for raising awareness of their potential health impact.  The push has resulted in policy changes on the state, federal and international levels.  Dr. Mason says she was shocked and deeply humbled to receive the award.
 
By getting the recognition, Dr. Mason says it should help with the research work that she continues to do.  She says that includes being able to get research grants.  Mason is one of six honorees.  The Heinz Awards have been established to honor the memory of U.S. Senator John Heinz.
 
 
The Ellicott Town Board will hold a special meeting regarding weed and algal bloom issues in the Fluvanna and Burtis Bay areas of Chautauqua Lake...  
 
Town Clerk Mike Erlandson says the session will be held next Monday, September 24, in the Town Hall in Falconer.  He says they encourage people from those areas to come and discuss possible solutions to the problems.  If you need more information, contact the Town Hall at 665-5317.