As Warren County Schoolteachers continue their strike there is word that the union will be meeting with the School Board today at 5pm to possibly discuss a contract. You Erie dot com is reporting that Warren County teachers have been working without a contract for more than 2 years, and the school board cut teachers health insurance benefits last week following the strike. Now many teacher's families are without coverage. The contract the teachers are fighting for includes a 2.17% percent pay raise. Also written in the contract, a savings of $380 thousand on health care benefits. School board members declined to comment.
Jamestown fire investigators say someone intentionally set Monday morning's blaze on a loading dock at a westside machine shop. City Fire Battalion Chief Sam Salemme says the cause of the blaze at Miles Machine at 85 Jones and Gifford Avenue is arson. Firefighters were called to the scene about 6:30 AM... and, found flames coming from the wooden, loading dock. Salemme says it took about 10 to 15 minutes to bring the blaze under control. An off-duty shift of 12 firefighters, and a shift commander were called in to assist. Salemme says no one was hurt... but, he adds some smoke got into the shop. He says a sprinker knocked down the flames in the tunnel area. Salemme says no firefighters were hurt. Fire damage was confined to the loading dock. Crews were at the scene for about three hours.
The plaintiffs involved in the Small City Schools case say they have formally appealed the decision to throw out their case... which had been handed down last September 19th. The decision by Acting State Supreme Court Justice Kimberly O’Connor came more than 17 months after a lengthy trial held in the Spring of 2015. The case, known as "Maisto versus the state of New York," is a constitutional challenge by parents from eight districts -- including Jamestown -- to the State’s failure to provide their children with a constitutionally mandated "sound, basic education." Jamestown School Superintendent Tim Mains says he's in "complete agreement with our appeal of Judge O’Connor’s disappointing decision. We cannot give up the fight for fair and equitable funding to small city schools, like Jamestown." During the time the case has been underway... he says the city school district has been shortchanged by more than 146-million dollars. He says a successful ruling in the case would require the State to ensure adequate resources and funding are available in these eight districts by fully funding the Foundation Aid formula.
Chautauqua County's Congressman says he is continuing his support of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as an "outsider who will shake up D-C." Corning Republican Tom Reed is clarifying his position after condeming Trump's 2005 comments last weekend as "just plain wrong, " and "I will not defend them." However... he says a "Hillary Clinton presidency is unacceptable." Reed adds that she "is looking for a liberal Supreme Court to enact her agenda. She demonstrated extreme recklessness regarding classified information and risking American lives simply for her own personal convenience."
A new, proposed "Fly-Car" emergency transport system in Chautauqua County would be a self-sustaining program once the initial investment is made. That from County Executive Vince Horrigan... who included the proposal in his 2017 budget plan. Horrigan is providing more details on the program... which was recommended in a recent study of EMS services in the county. He says they would establish three "Fly-Car" teams in the county at an initial cost of about 40-thousand dollars. Horrigan says a decreasing number of Emergency Medical Technicians... and, volunteer firefighters... is the reason for the need for such a service. He says a 'para-medical' will be part of each Fly-Car Team... which will be paid for by Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement for their service. Another proposed "investment" is one-million dollars to upgrade equipment for roads and bridges. Horrigan says the problem with equipment in the Public Facilities Department became very apparent over the past Winter season. Work is continuing on his proposed budget... which the legislature is slated to vote on later this month.
General Mills is increasing its cereal production in western New York. A 25-million dollar expansion project includes the purchase of new packaging equipment, upgraded ingredient systems, and the addition of Corn Chex and Honey Nut Chex at the Buffalo plant. Empire State Development and the New York Power Authority each will give General Mills a 500-thousand dollar grant for the expansion. The grants are in addition to 5,100 kilowatts of low-cost hydropower and 500 kilowatts of electricity the plant received from the Power Authority. The company's Buffalo location currently employs 417 workers and produces Lucky Charms and Cheerios. The plant has milled flour in Buffalo for more than 110 years and is General Mills' oldest cereal plant in the United States. Governor Cuomo announced the expansion early last weekend.
An animal getting onto a power line is the apparent cause of a widespread power outage that occurred shortly after 10 AM Monday in the Celoron-area. That from Jamestown Board of Public Utilities' Spokeswoman Becky Robbins... who says power was retored about 10:55 Monday morning. Robbins says the area affected included Conewango, Duquesne, Dunham, and Fairmount Avenue in West Ellicott... as well as Livingston Avenue... and, Jones and Gifford Avenue in Jamestown. Robbins says it took a little over 30 minutes to restore electric power.
Turkey Hill is recalling some mislabeled packages of ice cream. The Conestoga, Pennsylvania-based dairy says some of its 48-ounce containers of Dutch Chocolate Premium Ice Cream actually contain Rocky Road Premium Ice Cream instead. Rocky Road contains almond and egg ingredients that could pose problems for people with allergies. The dairy is recalling all packages of Dutch Chocolate ice cream that have Rocky Road lids and a sell-by date of May 23rd, 2017. The dairy has told stores to pull the ice cream from their shelves. There have been no reports of illness.
