Four arrested in Jamestown for alleged major drug and weapons charges...
Four people -- two from Jamestown -- the other two from Cattaraugus County... have been arrested on drug and weapons possession charges following a traffic stop on the city's westside. Jamestown police say officers saw a vehicle commit a traffic infraction in the area of West Sixth and Washington Sts. just after 12:30 Tuesday afternoon. City police say the driver... 42 year-old Jamie Allen of Salamanca... was found in possession of 31.5-grams of methamphetamine... 5.4-grams of psilocybin mushrooms, a quantity of MDMA and suboxone. One of the passengers... 39 year-old Kylene Hellreigel... was found with 27 grams of meth... 5.4 grams of the mushrooms, a quantity of MDMA and suboxone... and, a rifle she was not legally allowed to possess due to a prior felony conviction. The other two passengers... 35 year-old Melissa Edington of Jamestown and 40 year-old John Newark of Little Valley... were found with 1.8 grams of meth... 5.4-grams of psilocybin mushrooms... and, quantities other drugs. Edington was also found with a stun gun, while Newark was in possession of a rifle that he was illegally in possession of. Allen and Hellriegal both face two counts each of third-and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance... and Hellriegal faces one count of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Edington faces one count of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance... four counts of seventh-degree criminal possession of drugs... and one of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Newark faces one count of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance... and, three counts of seventh-degree criminal possession of drugs... along with fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. All four were jailed pending arraignment.
Allegany man arrested for resisting arrest... and, giving fake identity to Jamestown police...
A man from Cattaraugus County has been arrested in Jamestown as a fugitive from justice following a traffic stop in which he allegedly resisted officers... and, tried to assault them. City police say a Gun-Involved Violence Enforcement Detail pulled over 33 year-old Kentrel Jackson of Allegany near the ROBO mini-mart at 817 North Main St. about 7:30 p.m. Monday for a traffic violation. During the stop... officers say Jackson allegedly gave a false name and date of birth. The name he provided showed warrants out of Rochester... and, officers moved to take him into custody. However... he resisted and tried to assault the arresting officers and flee. Jackson was then taken into custody... and, police determined his true identity. He was found to also be formerly of Rochester. During the incident... police say one of the officers was injured. Jackson was taken to the city jail on charges including being a fugitive from justice from McKean County, Pennsylvania. He's also charged with second-degree assault... resisting arrest... criminal impersonation... and, multiple traffic violations. Jackson was held pending arraignment and an extradition hearing.
Schumer pushes for reimbursement to local health care providers in wake of last week's Change Healthcare cyberattack...
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer says he's pleased the Department of Health and Human Services is heeding his calls to accelerate payments to "hard hit" upstate New York health care providers in the wake of a recent cyberattack. The New York Democrat says the "massive cyberattack" last week against Change Healthcare downed the huge network that reimburses hospitals and pharmacies from Medicare and insurance. Schumer says this is not the first time HHS and CMS has done this. He says that took place during the COVID-19 pandemic. During his Zoom video conference with the media Tuesday... he also called on the FBI make this case the "highest priority..." and go after the hackers. He says that -- right now -- Upstate New York healthcare providers are struggling to get paid, process insurance claims, with some seeing millions of dollars lost every day as result of this breach.
Council to act on measure calling for increase in state AIM aid...
There's renewed effort statewide to get New York State to increase the amount of aid they receive in the annual state budget. The Jamestown City Council will vote later this month on a resolution calling on Governor Kathy Hochul and the state legislature to increase the amount of Aid and Incentives to Municipalities -- or AIM payments to local governments. The measure was approved by the council's Finance Committee Monday night. Chairman Brent Sheldon says those payments have not increased the past 15 years. Mayor Kim Ecklund says the New York State Conference of Mayor's is making a new push to get local municipalities to push for an increase. The push to get more AIM funding from the state quieted somewhat during the five years that Jamestown received an additional $1-million in state funding due to the formula that was used to determine what local governments received.
Westfield man arrested after DWI crash...
A Westfield man has been arrested for allegedly driving drunk when his car crashed on Plank Rd. in the town of Westfield Tuesday afternoon. Sheriff's officers say they responded to the scene about 4 p.m., and, found 44 year-old Samuel Cettell... and, investigated. Deputies say their investigation found that Cettell was operating the vehicle in an intoxicated state. He was taken into custody on charges of DWI... DWI Per Se... and, failure to keep right. Cettell was issued traffic tickets for Westfield Town Court at a later date.
