Man from town of Chautauqua arrested on drug trafficking, weapons charges...
A town of Chautauqua man has been arrested after a drug raid turned up quantities of methamphetamine and eight rifles and shotguns. Sheriff's officers say their narcotics investigators executed a search warrant with the help of Jamestown and Dunkirk Police at 6484 South Portage Rd. just after 8:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Sheriff's Department SWAT Team made entry... and, officers found 32 year-old Jesse Erhard, who was sought on an arrest warrant. He was taken into custody. Police also found nearly 60-grams of methamphetamine, 4.3-grams of psilocybin mushrooms, materials for the manufacturing of meth, scales and packaging material for the distribution of narcotics, two hand guns and 8 rifles/shotguns. They also found $403 in cash. Erhard was charged with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance... second and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon... endangering the welfare of a child, second-degree unlawful manufacturing of methamphetamine... and second-degree criminally using Drug Paraphernalia. He was taken to the county jail pending centralized arraignment.
Schumer announces nearly $1-billion more for upstate NY hospitals in Medicare reimbursements...
New York's senior U-S Senator calls it monumental news: After years of fighting to fix the Medicare wage index... Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer says hospitals in upstate New York will finally get the reimbursements they should have been receiving all along. During a video press conference Wednesday morning... Schumer announced that the new rate has been approved... and, will be in place going forward... resulting in another $1-billion coming to those health care facilities. He says the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced the new rule this week. Schumer says the move should alleviate the problem of chronic doctor and nursing shortages in the upstate region. He says it good news for the hospital employees... and, the communities they serve. Among the upstate areas... Schumer says the Western New York region will receive another $170-million a year... and, UPMC Chautauqua Hospital in Jamestown will get $9.8-million of that. Brooks-TLC in Dunkirk is receiving $3.4-million more.
Deputy Jamestown Fire Chief hopes to have second ambulance by late Fall...
The head of the Jamestown Fire Department says he's hopeful the city will take delivery of it's new, second ambulance by late Fall of this year. Deputy Fire Chief Matt Coon says current delivery times have ranged from two to six-months. City Council this week approved purchase of the vehicle for just under $218,000 from Western New York Bus Parts of Elma, New York. Coon says the availability of ambulances is still a bit of an issue -- due mainly to computer chips for the vehicle's chassis. The City Council approved allocating the $248,000 total for the purchase and outfitting of the ambulance. Meantime... the five newest recruits for the city Fire Department are in Montour Falls for their scheduled training during the Fall session.
City couple arrested on warrants, domestic charges...
A Jamestown man faces several charges after allegedly being found at a home on the city's northside early Wednesday afternoon with a woman who had an order of protection against him. City police were called to the location just after 12 p.m. on a report of a wanted person being there. Officers say they spotted the suspect... 30 year-old Andrew Butts... in the home's backyard. Police say they found that Butts was with a female resident who was also sought on an active bench warrant from city court. They tried to stop both... but, they fled into the residence. The woman was found in the attic hiding inside a cardboard box... while Butts was found hiding in an attic crawl space. Police say they took both people into custody, and taken to the city lock up pending arraignment.
