A city man faces a marijuana possession charge after drug agents found several pounds of pot inside his car when it was stopped early last weekend in Jamestown. Southern Tier Regional Drug Task Force members say they... and, City and State police stopped 27 year-old Matthew Zimmerman of 25 Price Street late last Friday on West 11th Street. Task Force agents say Zimmerman was charged with one count of second-degree criminal possession of marijuana. He was arraigned in city court... and, released pending a future court appearance. If you have any information on illegal narcotics activity in the region... you're asked to call the Task Force at 1-800-344-8702.
With measles cases on the rise across the nation... health officials are urging New Yorkers to make sure they are properly vaccinated. Chautauqua County's Director of Health and Human Services Christine Schuyler says while there have been 29 cases across the state, none have been reported locally. But... Schuyler says it's still important people make sure their vaccinations are up to date including children. The number of measles outbreaks for the first four months of 2014 is at the highest level since 1996 in New York State. You can get more information about measles at the state health department's website at Health-dot-ny-dot-GOV.
A federal report shows nearly three-fourths of those insured through New York's new health exchange are getting financial assistance. Applicants with incomes up to 400 percent of the federal poverty line are eligible for tax credits to help offset premium payments. The national report Thursday of demographics for nearly 8-million people in so-called Obamacare shows 370-thousand-451 New Yorkers enrolled in the 16 nonprofit and commercial insurance plans from October through March. They are almost evenly split by gender and span a wide age range. Some 31-percent are between ages 18 and 34. Another 41 percent are from 35 to 54, while 25 percent are 55 to 64. New York officials reported by mid-April 435,479 people enrolled with private insurers and 525,283 in government-funded Medicaid since the exchange started.
The three incumbants up for re-election to the Jamestown School Board will be running unopposed in the May 20th election. That from District Clerk Sue Caronia... who says only Thomas Pope, Paul Abbott, and Shelly Leathers returned petitions with the required 100 valid signatures to run on the panel. Pope and Abbott have served multi-terms on the board. Leathers was appointed several months ago to replace Tim Thomas... who moved from the area. The third-place finisher will fill-out the remainder to Thomas' term. Caronia says two other people took out petitions to run... but, never returned them.
Contract talks are continuing between Brooks Memorial Hospital and the union representing about 200 workers at the Dunkirk-based health care facility, but both sides have agreed to bring in a federal mediator to assist with the negotiations. The current three-year agreement expires on Wednesday. Kathy Ville, an organizer of SEIU #11-99, says the union is not pleased with the progress that's being made in the talks. Terry Dunford, Communications Director for Brooks Memorial Hospital, says he can't comment about any specifics concerning the talks since they are confidential in nature. However, Dunford says the hospital's main goal is to produce an equitable contract for both sides. Ville says the union is seeking a "fair" contract, but negotiators are not interested in taking any concessions. She says the workers need good paying jobs "for their survival and for the community's survival." While the current contract is set to expire on Wednesday... Ville says the union has agreed to a 30-day extension that should allow the mediator to work with both sides.
Authorities say a driver and his passenger both overdosed on heroin, causing the pickup truck they were riding in to drift to a stop 100 feet from a Syracuse fire station. Syracuse.com reports that 26-year-old James McAllister was driving when both he and 26-year-old passenger Laura Lupin overdosed and fell unconscious Friday afternoon. Sergeant Tom Connellan says both were revived by Syracuse firefighters using the heroin antidote drug Narcan, which city firefighters recently started carrying. Both were treated at Community General Hospital and released. McAllister was charged with driving while intoxicated on drugs, drug and traffic charges, while Lupin faces drug charges.
The Jamestown Babe Ruth World Series Board of Directors has officially signed the contract to host the 2015 13-Year-Old Babe Ruth World Series in Jamestown from August 22nd-through-29th. The official signing took place earlier in the week with the Board of Directors... and Babe Ruth International Vice-President and Commissioner Robert Faherty. Spokeswoman Kim Ecklund says Jamestown was the first site for the 13-Year-Old World Series back in 1980... so with this series, we will be celebrating the 35th Anniversary of the series here in Jamestown. The 2015 World Series will be the 16th World Series Jamestown has hosted since 1980. She adds "we are looking forward to organizing and creating another great series here in Jamestown. We could not make this possible without all of the support from the community and the help we have received from our sponsors and partners."
