City police seize "substantial amount" of Heroin following vehicle stop in Jamestown...
Four people are jailed... and, a significant amount of Heroin packaged for sale has been seized in the city of Jamestown. That from City Police Captain Bob Samuelson... who says there was a traffic stop just after Noon Wednesday on East Second Street near Kipp Street. Samuelson says officers were investigating a hit-and-run accident that occured earlier... and, it was believed that the vehicle was involved. He says officers found evidence of drugs inside the car... and, a state Police K-9 team was brought in. Samuelson says they found 24 bundles... or 244 individual bags of Heroin... in the dashboard area of the car in the gear-shift. He says it's not unusual for drug dealers to do that. Samuelson says the four people arrested inside the car were arraigned late yesterday on one Felony count each of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. He says the four have been identified as: 21 year-old Jose Rodriguez-Robles; Valerie Davila-Torres, and Fermin Rodriguez-Robles -- both 22 -- and, 28 year-old Jamie Rolan-Robles. Samuelson says police also confiscated a scale inside the vehicle. The four suspects were sent to the county jail with bail to be set pending a District Attorney's recommendation.
Binghampton area man arrested for alleged break-in with baseball bat in Jamestown...
A Binghampton-area man faces a first-degree burglary count after allegedly smashing his way into a home on Jamestown's northside late last week. City police say they were called to the scene of a domestic incident at 158 Sturges Street about 11 p.m. a week ago Thursday. Officers say they found 41 year-old Anthony Sommerville of Endwell with several cuts to his forearms after being restrained by two people on the living room floor. Police found that Sommerville allegedly broke through a double-pane glass sliding door using an aluminum baseball bat to get inside. He then destroyed a hanging light with the bat. Sommerville was arrested. In addition to the burglary count... he is charged with criminal mischief.
Cuomo announces first Downtown Revitalization Initiative Winners...
Westbury, Long Island, and Elmira are the newest winners of Governor Andrew Cuomo's $10 million-dollar downtown improvement prizes. The Democratic governor announced the decision Thursday. Plattsburgh, Middletown and Geneva were announced as the first three winners on Wednesday in the regional contests. A total of 10 cities and towns will each win $10 million, with one in each of the state's 10 upstate economic regions. The money will go to help local officials attract new businesses, housing or community services to downtown areas. Governor Cuomo was to be in Jamestown for an annoucement yesterday morning... but, that was later postponed due to unforeseen circumstances. Many believe Jamestown may have been in line to be announced before the Governor's appearance was postponed.
Rosas says lots of "behind the scenes" activity going on regarding Athenex project...
There hasn't been lot made public... but, Dunkirk Mayor Willie Rosas says there is a lot of activity going on behind the scenes regarding the Athenex project. While little has been said publicly in recent weeks, Rosas says there are indications that state officials are looking for ground-breaking to take place later this year. He says from everything he's been told... its still "a go," and the event will occur later this year. Last Thursday... Congressman Tom Reed met with County Executive Vince Horrigan in Jamestown to discuss several issues including the Athenex plant. Rosas says there has been a lot of interest in possible spin-off from the pharmaceutical manufacturing project... including upper-end housing and condo projects in the city itself. He says Athenex officials have also been reaching out to the SUNY College at Fredonia and Jamestown Community College about implementing possible training programs.
Teachout says the time is long-past for "public" campaign financing...
It's time to get back to publicly-financing election campaigns as a way to eliminate corruption in government. Thursday's speaker at Chautauqua Institution also feels the move would go a long way towards putting government back in the hands of the people. Zephyr Teachout is a law professor at Fordham University... is a Democratic candidate for Congress. Forbes Media Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Steve Forbes called for lifting all restrictions on fund-raising for campaigns... so long as there is full-disclosure. However... Teachout says that approach doesn't even pass the "laugh-test." She says it leads to candidates becoming "beggars and servants" to the wealthy. Teachout... who also ran an unsuccessful primary against Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo two years ago... recently won a Democratic primary to run for Congress in the Hudson Valley region where she lives. While she continues to try and raise the issue of publicly funding political campaigns... she also wants to be part of the effort to change the system. Teachout spoke as past of "Money and Power" Week at Chautauqua.
