An unidentified man sustained fatal injuries in a motor vehicle accident in the Town of Pomfret yesterday evening....

 

Chautauqua County Sheriff's Officers and the Fredonia Fire Department responded to the scene on Ellicott Road just before 10:30 PM.  Through investigation.... Deputies determined the operator had lost control and traveled down a ravine. The investigation is still on-going,  further details will be released at a later time. 

 

 

The Chautauqua Lake Association was hoping to get $150,00 in the new state budget for lake maintenance, the same as last year..... 

 

But, they got nothing.  CLA Executive Director, Doug Conroe, says that money about 20 percent of their annual budget,  guaranteed they could put three crews on the lake for weed cutting and debris maintenance.  Conroe says they are now looking closely at every expense and 'no stone will be unturned' in the search for extra money.  It will another month before they know what they'll be able to do, but at this point he believes it'll be a stretch to get one crew on the water this year. 

 

 

Chautauqua Institution officials have become the first to sign onto the new Memorandum of Agreement for the Chautauqua Lake Weed Management Consensus Strategy..... 

 

The strategy, championed by County Executive George Borrello, seeks to bring together lake agencies and organizations, as well as the municipalities located around Chautauqua Lake to work more effectively to deal with lake issues,  such as managing invasive aquatic plants, nuisance native vegetation, and hazardous algal blooms in the lake, while considering the lake and its watershed’s economic, recreational and ecological significance.  Chautauqua Institution President Michael Hill, who signed the agrement says he "proudly signed" the memorandum, "because it represents the comprehensive and scientifically sound approach for Chautauqua Lake conservation that we’ve been advocating for many years."  The deadline for groups and municipalities to sign on to the agreement is April 17th.

 

 

A recently formed agency is investigating long-term maintenance solutions for Chautauqua Lake and, how to pay for them.... 

 

That sparked some discussion during the agency's meeting Wednesday night in Mayville.  Chairman Pierre Chagnon says the nine-member panel has met a handful of times since it was formed by the county legislature last year but, is still looking at all possible ways to deal with invasive weeds, algal blooms, and water quality.

 

Chagnon says -- at first -- the agency discussed a possible "taxing district" where property owners on the lake would be taxed at one amount, while others living in the watershed would be charged a lower amount.  Ellicott Town Supervisor Pat McLaughlin, who is also an agency members, Wednesday night suggested the entire county be charged a tax to spread out the cost.  However... Chagnon emphasized that they are looking at a number of potential sources of funding, including the state, and the entire county.  He says agency members were given a number of assignments before they meet again in early June. 

 

 

The woman who has been the president of the State Unversity College at Fredonia for the past seven years is announcing her retirement at the end of the current academic year...... 

 

In a press release from the SUNY Office this morning, Chancellor Kristina Johnson says Dr. Virginia Horvath is retiring after more than 40 years of service and leadership in public higher education.  Johnson says Horvath... who became Fredonia's 13th president in 2012, plans to step down at the end of the Spring semester on July 1st. Johnson says she truly appreciate's "Dr. Horvath’s enthusiasm and commitment to providing the highest quality education for our students and leading a dedicated and stellar team of faculty and staff."  More on this story later.

 

 

Chautauqua County's Congressman is sharing the concern of many others about the fact that New York state will likely lose at least one seat in the House of Representatives -- and possibly two -- after the next Census.... 

 

Corning Republican Tom Reed says the exodus from New York is continuing, not because of the weather, but, taxing and other policies out of Albany.  Reed says it's frustrating because when the state loses Congressional members,  it loses another voice in Washington.

Reed and other members of the New York, and other Great Lake state delegations, were recently able to talk the Trump Administration out of cutting a huge amount of funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative for a second-year in a row.  He's hopeful that state lawmakers will realize the need for shift in policies to keep people and businesses here.  State officials are also again pushing another "Complete Count" effort to make sure all New Yorkers are counted during the 2020 Census.

 

 

New York State Police have released additional details of last Wednesday's stabbing incident in the Village of  Sinclairville,  involving a Lakewood man, Frewsburg woman and a teenager...... 

 

Troopers and the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office responded to a residence on Kent Street and, found that the suspects involved fled the scene.  Officers say they later stopped the vehicle on Route 60 in Jamestown and, found drug paraphernalia where 23 year-old Kylah Seiberg was sitting.  Troopers also found the weapon used in the stabbing, methamphetamine, and, a hypodermic needle in the center console.  Seiberg allegedly provided Troopers with a false name during the investigation and was subsequently charged with False Personation.  Police say 39 year-old Jeffery Shriver was transported to the Chautauqua County Jail, while Seiberg and the teenager were turned over to Sheriff's Deputies in regards to the stabbing incident.

 

 

The Democrat-controlled New York state Legislature has approved a change in a property tax credit benefit program..... 

 

The new state budget lawmakers worked out last weekend with Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo and approved on Monday makes changes to the School Tax Relief -- or STAR Program.  Starting in 2016, homeowners eligible for the program started receiving their rebates in a check rather than having the savings included directly in their school tax bills.  According to Lohud.com, starting this fall, all property owners earning between $250,000 and $500,000 a year will receive a check for their STAR rebates.  Property owners earning less than $250,000 who bought their homes prior to mid-2015 will get the STAR rebate in their tax bills.  The STAR benefit program provides more than $3 billion dollars in property tax relief each year.