The Jamestown School District has selected a new superintendent from outside the district... and, he's very pleased to be selected. That's Rochester City Schools Internal School Operations Director Tim Mains... who was unanimously approved by the board at last night's special meeting. Mains... who began his career in the Greece School District near Rochester in 1971... says he is gratified and humbled that the board, and several selection committees, felt he was the right fit for the district. Those who spoke on behalf of the various committees said they liked Mains' experience... and, the fact he leads "by example." Mains will begin work shortly with outgoing Superintendent Deke Kathman... but, DiMaio feels there will be a "smooth transition." Kathman will officially retire at the end of July... and, Mains will begin his new job on August 1st. DiMaio adds that they had three excellent finalists... but, in the end... everyone felt Mains was the right person to lead the district. He's been in education for 42 years.
The ``Say Yes to Education'' program that sends public high school graduates to college for free has added five prestigious private universities to its list of destinations. Say Yes founder George Weiss says in Syracuse that Harvard, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Duke and Georgetown have committed to providing tuition scholarships to students from Say Yes chapters. The program has chapters in several cities, including Buffalo.
The man who represents Chautauqua County in Congress says more oversight is needed when it comes the government's surveillance of phone traffic. Congressman Tom Reed was asked about the leak during a conference call with area media. Reed says he would like to see more oversight by Congress and the courts when it comes to the National Security Administration surveillance programs. As for the leaker, he would not weigh in on whether or not 29-year-old Edward Snowden should be charged with releasing classified information. Reed says he wants more facts before giving an opinion.
Governor Andrew Cuomo's proposal to strengthen state abortion rights is energizing not just his liberal Democratic base... but, outnumbered opponents who claim it's a ``stealth expansion'' of abortion. Cuomo says the bill simply aligns state law with the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe verus Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide in 1973. Supporters want state law to match current federal law in case the federal law is struck down. However... State Senate Republican leader Dean Skelos has said he won't agree to bring the abortion proposal to the floor for a vote.
A Jamestown woman is in the city lockup after allegedly stealing prescription pills from a house in the area of Woodworth Avenue area. Police say 21 year-old Hillary Danforth was knocking on residents doors asking to use the bathroom just after 6 PM last Friday. A concerned resident called police after it was found Danforth had gone through their medicine cabinet. Officers say they found Danforth after a short investigation and found that she had gone to several other households. While police were interviewing Danforth... they say they saw her trying to discard a bottle of prescription pills to conceal it from the officers. The name on the bottle of pills belonged to the victim that alerted police. Danforth was arrested on charges of Petty Larceny and for tampering with physical evidence and taken to the city Jail... where she is being held pending arraignment.
An Ohio woman was arrested after her 10 year old son backed her vehicle into another in the TJ Maxx Parking Lot Sunday. Just after 12:30pm 28 year old Myrn Luz Vega Rivera of Parma, Ohio was shopping with her son when she sent him out to the vehicle with her keys. The boy started the car, put it in reverse, and it slowly backed out of it's parking space and struck another vehicle behind it. The child received help from witnesses. After Vega-Rivera was found she parked the vehicle and went back into the store with her son. Lakewood Busti Police were called to the scene and charged Vega-Rivera with Endangering the welfare of a child and minor damage to a motor vehicle. She was arraigned in court, released on cash bail and will return to court at a later date.
Dozens of elementary students at Jamestown's Fletcher School recently had the chance to learn about the importance of trees to the city... and, plant several new ones outside their school. The program was a joint effort between the district... the city's Urban Forestry Program... and, the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation. City Arborist Dan Stone says they planted five trees in all. Stone says it gives them "a little bit of community pride, and a sense of ownership of the trees." He says the Pre-K through Fourth-graders raised about 200-dollars towards the effort... and, the Community Foundation filled in the rest. The city of Jamestown's Urban Forestry Program involves at least one of the public schools in the tree planting effort each year.
