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WJTN News Headlines

 

A local maker of heavy-duty truck cooling systems has been acquired by an auto-component conglomerate group from India.  In addition... TitanX's Global President of Research and Development, Matt Moore, says the purchase by Tata AutoComp Systems company will provide stability for the long-term future of the local company.  Moore says their parent company of the past eight-years... EQT Private Equity... had always planned to grow the company, then find new ownership to continue it's growth. Under EQT... Moore says TitanX grew from three factories around the world to six.  TitanX Chief Executive Officer Stefan Nordstrom says they're "excited to get a new owner that has been serving the automotive industry since 1995."  Moore says the best part of Tata's purchase is it provides confidence for their customers... most of whom have performance contracts that run from 5 to 7 years.  Tata Chairman Preveen Kadle says Titan, "represents state-of-the-art powertrain cooling solutions with a global presence that fits perfectly into our future growth areas."  Moore says the Jamestown plant will continue operations with between 230 and 250 employees.

 

The former chief operator of the village of Westfield's Waste Water Treatment Plant has been sentenced to probation, and a fine for violating the Clean Water Act.  U-S Attorney Willam Hochul, Junior says 34 year-old Andrew Thompson was sentenced Tuesday to six months probation and a 10-thousand dollar fine by U.S. Magistrate Jeremiah McCarthy.  Assistant U-S Attorney Aaron Mango, who prosecuted the case, says Thompson was operator of the plant on June 12th of 2014 when a malfunction occurred at a pump station in the Village.  Mango says the station was unable to pump the untreated sewage flowing through the facility... and, that resulted the raw sewage being discharged into Chautauqua Creek.  Based on an alarm being triggered due to the sewage overflow... he says Thompson was aware of the discharge into the creek.  Mango adds that... the following day... as workers were trying to fix the pump station, Thompson directed them to discharge the untreated sewage into the creek.  However... Thompson did not have a permit issued under the Clean Water Act for the discharge of the untreated sewage.

 

Local Congressman Tom Reed is reiterating opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement now that President Obama has sent formal notice to lawmakers that TPP has been finalized.  Reed is now on-record as saying that he is "100-percent opposed" to TPP... which has been pushed by the president.  The Corning Republican says he has three problems with TPP... the first being access to dairy markets for local farmers.  Reed says, second, is questionable currency manipulation by Japan. Reed says he's also concerned about protection for intellecutal properties.  His opponent in the upcoming election... Democrat John Plumb... had criticized Reed for not opposing TPP because it's bad for U-S industry and labor.  However... he has maintained that he never supported TPP, but, has wanted to look closely at the agreement before taking a stand one way or the other.  The president's action last Friday prevents action on the agreement for another 30 days.  Reed made his comments during his weekly telephone conference call with Southern Tier Media.

 

Gasoline prices in the western Southern Tier of New York state have been trending downward... but, some areas are trending further down than the Jamestown-area.  Prices around here have hovered lately around the 2-dollar-26 and 2-dollar-30 cent level.  However... recent prices across the 23rd Congressional District are as low as 2--06 in the Finger Lakes area. Reed says one of the issues also faced is with Pennsylvania border areas... where the price in recent weeks... has been as much as 30 to 40 cents lower per gallon for regular, unleaded.  However... recent prices have been within 10-cents a gallon.  He says that's due more to state gasoline taxes.

 

A spokesman for New York's economic development agency says federal auditors who faulted the state's oversight of 22-million dollars in tourism promotions funding are off-base.  Jason Conwall, a spokesman for Empire State Development, says that the critical report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Inspector General relied on an incorrect interpretation of federal regulations.  The audit says New York officials failed to comply with procurement rules and did not ensure money was spent effectively.  The audit says the failures amount to a "significant deficiency."  The audit is the third this summer to fault economic development programs run by the Democratic governor's administration.  The funds were spent promoting tourism in areas recovering from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee in 2011 and Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

 

A Dunkirk man has been charged with kidnapping after an incident involving a 13-year-old autistic boy who went missing from the Wal-Mart store on Bennett Road in Fredonia last Sunday night.  Police Chief Brad Meyers says the ordeal began when the child, who was not identified, became missing and the parents advised a store employee.  After an extensive search of the store... Fredonia Police were contacted.  About 45 minutes after the start of the incident... Meyers says they received a call from a Cushing Street resident who had located the child.
A review of store video allegedly showed that Saeli approached the youth in the store, engaged in a brief conversation with him and then they both walked out of the store... and, got into Saeli's vehicle.  Police arrested Saeli, charging him with second-degree kidnapping... and, he was arraigned in Fredonia Village Court.  Saeli posted 10-thousand dollars cash bail or 20-thousand property bond.  Meyers is asking that anyone who may have experienced similar situations to contact Fredonia Police at 679-1531.

 

Dunkirk Police have arrested a city man in connection with last month's accidental shooting of a 4-year-old child on South Roberts Road.  Police Chief David Ortolano has announced the arrest of 27-year-old Angel Lopez-Tirado.  Ortolano says... among the charges in City Court against him... are two Felony weapons-related charges. The incident occurred at 544 South Roberts Road around 10:30 PM back on July 25th.  The child was treated by Dunkirk firefighters and transported to Brooks Memorial Hospital... and, was later transferred to Women and Children's Hospital in Buffalo with non-life threatening injuries.  Ortolano says city police investigators worked with the District Attorney's office, resulting in Lopez-Tirado's arrest.  He was arraigned on the charges... and, freed on 30-thousand dollars cash bail.

 

Drunken boaters in New York should soon face more severe punishments if they have previous convictions for driving other vehicles while intoxicated.  A new state law signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo links penalties for boating while intoxicated with prior DWI or driving while ability impaired offenses.