A potentially "dangerous situation" about mid-day Tuesday in the village of Sherman led to a one-hour lock-down at Sherman Central School. However... Pre-K through 12th grade Principal Michael Ginestry says the school was "never threatened, or in danger." Ginestry says State Police first contacted the school about 11:45 Tuesday morning... and, the school was locked-down as a pre-caution. He says school officials were never given any specific information on what had taken place. However... Ginestry says they were given the all-clear about 12:45 PM... and, the school was taken out of lock-down. State Police have released no further information on what took place... or whether any arrests were made.
Governor Andrew Cuomo told a massive state Capitol rally for charter schools late yesterday that he's committed to making sure they have money and physical space to thrive. More than 3-thousand parents and students turned out at an event organized after New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio decided to reverse a decision to give three charter schools rent-free space in public school buildings.
Ellicott Town officials say their annual Deer Management Project didn't produce the results they were hoping for... but, add this is an on-going program to deal with deer population issues. Town Supervisor Cecil Miller says they received the final results of the most recent harvest at last night's town board meeting. Miller says the program is being carried out with the village of Celoron... and, the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The deer are lured into an area outside the village where they are taken by DEC-Certified shooters. Miller says our bitterly cold weather may have played a role in the lower than expected harvest because the deer aren't moving as much when conditions are very cold. He says they'll talk with the DEC about that. Otherwise... he says they'll plan for next year's project because it has to be "on-going" to be successful. Miller says the town and village have been holding the harvest in the Winter months... after the regular Deer Hunting season is completed.
The region's long and brutally cold Winter has caused a major bird die-off on Lake Erie near Dunkirk. That from Connie Adams, a marine biologist with the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Adams says over the past month-and-a half... people going to the City Pier have noticed hundreds of dead waterfowl on the ice in the harbor. She recently began collecting the dead birds, and says testing in Albany determined they were starved.
Adams says the reason so many ducks are dying on Lake Erie is due to the extensive ice cover on the lake for a prolonged period of time. She says it's been below 10 degrees each night for 50-straight days... making it a "very, very cold winter." Adams says most of the birds that have died are fish-eating birds such as mergansers, scaup, mallards, and Canada geese.
The latest round of polar air caused temperatures to plummet well-below the zero mark again overnight. Wind Chills weren't as bad as first thought... but, air temperatures were bitterly cold. Forecaster Dave Zaff with the National Weather Service says it got cold enough in Buffalo to tie a record dating back to World-War Two.
We had reports of 11 and 9-below zero in the immediate Jamestown-area... and, 7-below zero at the Dunkirk Airport during the overnight and early morning hours. Temperatures will start to warm up later this week, but, Zaff says there won't be a major change in the current pattern. He says we'll still be at or below average for the near future. But... he says with more sunlight coming daily... we'll be seeing more and more heat getting during the daytime hours. Zaff says temperatures are reaching about 22 to 23 today... and, about 25 tomorrow.
A four-car, chain-reaction accident on Harrison Street Monday afternoon sent one person to the hospital for treatment of a head injury. Jamestown Police were called to the scene about 3:30 PM... and, learned that the driver of a westbound car on Harrison -- not involved in the accident -- had stopped at the corner of Institute Street to allow another vehicle to cross Harrison. However... a car behind the first one stopped suddenly... and, was struck from behind. Two other vehicles then struck the vehicles in front of them. A passenger in the second car involved was taken to WCA Hospital with possible internal head injuries. However... the injury was described as non-life threatening. The drivers and other passengers involved were checked out by City fire rescue crews... and, signed off on medical treatment. No chargees have been filed.
The rate of Multiple-Sclerosis diagnosis in western New York is double the national average... and, local leaders are trying to raise awareness of the issue this week. Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi kicked off M-S Awareness Week in Jamestown by issuing a proclamation at a celebration at the Lillian Vitanza Ney Renaissance Center. Officials with the M-S Society's Upstate New York Chapter were on hand at the West Third Street location to urge people to register for Walk MS to take place on May 4th in Jamestown. Chapter Spokeswoman Ashley Greenman says Multiple sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system that affects more than 12-thousand-800 people in the 50 counties served by the upstate chapter... and, more than 300 people in Chautauqua County.
