Chautuaqua County officials are reminding motorist to use caution when driving through the early weekend due to a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain...
Sheriff Joe Gerace tells drivers to clean all snow and ice off their vehicles before driving, slow down and, turn your headlights on when visibility is low so other drivers can see you. He also says to make sure you have an updated emergeny kit including a shovel, phone chargers, flares, and blankets.
Conditions were changable for motorists on the commute home last night and, it could be tricky this morning...
A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect through 7 a.m. today. That from Forecaster Aaron Reynolds with the National Weather Service... who says some places have seen some frozen precipitation, but others yesterday afternoon had more in the way of liquid precipitation. Reynolds says it was all snow from late evening on. A Winter Storm Warning has been in effect for areas to our south and east. Reynolds adds areas just east of here have the potential for significantly more snow over the next day or so.
A Jamestown man has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic a large amount of heroin in the city between early 2016 adn early 2017...
U-S Attorney James Kennedy, Junior has announced that 39 year-old Alex Mercado entered the plea to conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin in U-S District Court in Buffalo. Prosecutors say Mercado was a "mid-level" dealer of heroin and cocaine for the organization run by Sigfredo Martinez. They say Mercado and co-defendant, Bryan Ferrer-Vazquez, would receive a couple hundred bundles of heroin from Martinez every few days and they were tasked with distributing it to smaller dealers and users. Drug Enforcement Agency undercover agents made several drug purchases from Mercado and he was arrested along with the other two men during raids that took place in April of 2017. Charges are pending against Martinez and Ferrer-Vazquez. Mercado faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, a maximum of life, and a $10-million fine.
The owner of a Cattaraugus County business faces charges of fraud after allegedly telling the village of Ellicottville that he had a minority and/or women-owned business to get a construction contract, and he was not....
Ellicottville Police say they arrested 30 year-old Bradley Kyler Wednesday on charges of first-degree intent to defraud, and offering a false instrument for filing. Police say Kyler submitted documents with the village engineer, stating that his business -- Bucket Pro -- was an MWBE business, which was required for the project. However, police say they informed the village engineer that they had found Bucket Pro was not an MWBE business. If the village had awarded the contract, police say the municipality could have lost a substantial amount of grant funding for the project. Kyler will appear in village court at a later date.
It's one day out of the year, but it's an important one for smokers and anti-smoking organizations...
Yesterday was the annual Great American Smoke-Out, a day where the American Cancer Society urges smokers to quit for the first time if they've never tried before. Speaking with our Dennis Webster Thursday morning, Tobacco Free Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany Counties Community Engagement Coordinator Ken Dahlgren said it's okay to try and fail -- but, you need to try. He says the problem for many is the fact they started smoking at a very young age-- some as young as 12 years old.
Dahlgren says smoking is one of the hardest addictions you can face and, the smoker should not be blamed for it. He says the best resource to help you quit is the New York state Smoker's Quitline. He says you can talk with a counselor and, also learn more about materials that can help you quit. Dahlgren says the phone number for the quitline is 1-866-NY-QUITS, or you can go on-line to NYSmokefree.com.
The 2020 Elections are nearly two-years off, but the Democrat who was defeated by local Congressman Tom Reed on Nov. 6 says she's running again....
Penn Yan's Tracy Mitrano says she will again seek the party's nomination to run for the 23rd Congressional District seat. In a printed release, Mitrano says -- "running for Congress over the last 16 months was the honor of a lifetime. My 2018 campaign was about so much more than me, it was about the families, farmers, students, and seniors in this district who deserve better than they're getting." She adds that the election results don't change the facts, including that "the people of Western New York, the Finger Lakes, and the Southern Tier deserve affordable healthcare, education that doesn't come with a lifetime of debt, modern infrastructure, and tax policies that serve the working and middle class."
Local Congressman Tom Reed, who defeated Tracy Mitrano a week ago last Tuesday, says the election is over and it's time to get back to work in Washington...
The Corning Republican adds that it's too early to make a decision about running for a sixth-term. With that, he says there are still a number of priorities he would like to accomplish before he is done in the House of Representatives. Reed adds any decision about running for a sixth-term in the House of Representatives will be made at a later time.
During his weekly telephone conference call, Reed said there were still goals to be met, including getting a new rules reform package approved in the House that makes it easier for bi-partisan legislation to be approved. The measure has strong support in the House "Problem Solver's Caucus" that he co-chairs. Reed says other issues to tackle include heath care coverage and immigration policy.
New York officials say the state's unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level on record, dipping to four-percent for the first time in 30 years...
The Department of Labor says Thursday that October's four-percent unemployment rate was last reached in May 1988. The agency says its labor force data goes back to 1976. The state unemployment rate in September was 4.1 percent. The national unemployment rate in October was 3.7 percent, unchanged from September. New York City's jobless rate in October was also four-percent, the same as the previous month when it reached its lowest level on record. The labor department says the overall number of unemployed New Yorkers decreased last month to just under 388,000, the lowest level since April 2001.
