JPD official asks for public's help in dealing with increase in arson's in condemned buildings...
City police in Jamestown are asking for the public's help in solving some five arson fires in vacant, condemned buildings this year... and, 15 since January of 2014. Police Captain Bob Samuelson issued the request in the wake of the recent arson at 420 Falconer St. earlier this week. Samuelson says the house had been condemned, and was slated for demolition. He says they are looking at the "pattern" of where and when these fires have been occuring... and, are asking for the public's assistance. Samuelson says the homes are easy to spot by the big, orange squared "condemned" signs nailed to the front of the building. He says they're especially looking to see if anyone is hanging around these buildings between Midnight and 6 a.m. Samuelson says they do have a "person of interest" in the Falconer Street arson... and, others where there are similarities. However... he says they've gotten very little cooperation from that person. Anyone with information on any of these fires is asked to call the JPD confidential tip line at 483-TIPS... that's 483-8477.
Gerace talks road and boat safety as "unofficial start" to Summer season gets underway...
Just over 37-million motorists are expected to travel 50 miles or more this Memorial Day Holiday Weekend... the most in a decade. That from the Triple-A's East Central Office... which calls that a 4.7-percent increase over last year's 35.5-million motorists. The weekend is considered the "unofficial start" to the Summer Driving Season. Chautauqua County Sheriff Joe Gerace urges drivers to think safety... and, turn off those electronic devices -- namely cell phones. Gerace says the Sheriff's Office is seeing "more and more" accidents being caused by people responding to calls... or texts. He says you should also make sure your tires are properly inflated... and, that your windshield wipers are in good working condition. He adds that anytime your wipers are on... your head-lights should be also. As for boaters... Gerace says safety is again the watch-word. He says make sure your equipment is in good working order... and, make sure you have "Coast-Guard approved" life-vests on board. He made his comments for this weekend's "Community Spotlight" program.
Final preparations made for city of Jamestown's annual Memorial Day Parade Monday...
The call is going out for all current and former members of the U-S Armed Forces from the Jamestown-area to take part in the city's annual Memorial Day Parade... and service to follow at Lakeview Cemetery. That from United Veteran's Council President Mike Russell... who says the annual parade kicks off next Monday morning at 10 a.m. on West Fourth Street... near Baker Park. The parade will march east to Prendergast Avenue, then turn left, and head to the cemetary's Soldier's Circle. The Grand Marshall this year is retired U-S Marine, Dan Kell, who says he's both "privledged and honored" to be named. Kell says they want to make this year's parade the biggest one ever.
More people taking advantage of NYS Motorcycle Safety Courses...
New York state officials say more motorcycle permit holders are taking a state-sanctioned safety course. The Department of Motor Vehicles says 70 percent of motorcycle permit holders in New York last year took motorcycle safety courses, up from 51 percent in 2010. The courses are offered by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation under an agreement with the DMV. They allow motorcycle permit holders to waive the basic road test required by the DMV for a license. The waiver program has resulted in 70-thousand fewer road tests over the past five years. There are between 36,000 and 44,000 motorcycle permit riders in any given year statewide.
Cuomo to end practice of automatic deleting of e-mails after 90 days...
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's administration is ending its practice of automatically deleting emails after 90 days following criticism that it was an affront to open government. The administration announced the change Friday at a meeting with representatives of the state comptroller and attorney general. Under the new policy... administration staffers will manually delete emails as they choose, though emails containing certain records will be retained for longer. Friday's meeting was prompted by criticism of the old policy. Cuomo's office also wanted to discuss closing a loophole that largely exempts legislators from open records laws. Legislative leaders ignored the invitation, a decision that top Cuomo aide William Mulrow says amounted to a ``boycott.'' Cuomo's administration plans to submit a bill to make the Legislature fully compliant with open records laws.
Schumer calls for improvements to safety following deadly Amtrak Train crash...
U-S Senator Charles Schumer says a railway safety system that could have prevented the deadly Amtrak crash in Philadelphia must be installed quickly on dangerous railroad curves throughout New York state. The New York Democrat said Thursday that he is urging the Federal Railroad Administration to work with Amtrak and rail freight lines to add the speed-control system, known as automatic train control. Schumer says a more sophisticated speed-control system known as positive train control is expected to be activated soon on downstate rail lines; upstate railways will likely have to wait five years for the technology.
