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WJTN Headlines for Wednesday Nov. 22, 2017

A Cattaraugus County man is accused of manslaughter in connection with last Saturday night's one-car crash in the town of Salamanca that took the life of a passenger. 
 
Sheriff's deputies in Little Valley say 21 year-old Damion Taylor of Jimerson Road was at the wheel when the vehicle crashed shortly before Midnight Sunday on Old Route 17. 
 
Officers say Taylor's car crossed the center-line, and struck a tree and, the force of the crash ejected an unidentifed passenger, who was pronounced dead at the scene. 
 
Taylor was arraigned in Salamanca Town Court and, sent to the Little Valley jail.  Deputies say the investigation is continuing and, more charges are pending.
 
 
The Chautauqua County Board of Elections is expected to certify the November 7 election later today, now that absentee and military ballots have been counted. 
 
That from Republican Elections Commissioner Brian Abram, who says there were a few races too close to call on Election Night.  Abram says they are now final, pending the certification. 
 
In Jamestown, the board reports no change in winners in the City Council at-large races.  Republican Kim Ecklund was still leading vote getter with 2,430 tallies, while Republican Andrew Liuzzo wound up second with 2,075 votes.  Democrat Vanessa Weinert wound up third with 2,063 votes.  All three win seats beginning in 2018.
 
 
The U.S. Senate's Finance Committee has approved that chamber's version of a tax cut and jobs plan President Donald Trump wants on his desk to sign by Christmas. 
 
With that, the bill is expected to go before the full Senate sometime after the Thanksgiving Break.  That from local Congressman Tom Reed, who says if that winds up being the case, that will give both the House and Senate nearly a month to reconcil plans, and get a final version to the president.
 
The Senate version does have a number of differences, including seven tax brackets compared to four in the House of Representatives. 
 
There's also the issue of the Senate version not including the local and state property tax deduction up to $10,000.  Reed says he's positive there will be a fairly quick reconciliation, especially if each side is willing to compromise for "80-percent of the loaf" instead of the entire loaf.  He says even if the bill is finally in place in the early days of 2018, it could still be made retroactive to the start of the year. 
 
 
Two people from Jamestown are being held in the county jail on $100,000 bail each after allegedly selling over half an ounce methamphetamine to an undercover drug agent Monday night in Stockton. 
 
Members of the Southern Tier Regional Drug Task Force, and Chautauqua County Sheriff's deputies say they arrested 45 year-old Tonya Diblasi and 29 year-old James Chase shortly before 8:30 p.m. at a location on Route 380.  They face charges including third-degree criminal sale and, possession of a controlled substance. 
 
As a result of the arrest, Task force agents say they seized an additional quantity of meth, prescription narcotics and, concentrated cannabis. They also found scales, packaging materials and, a stun gun. Both Diblasi and Chase were remanded to County jail pending further court action. 
 
 
Four Jamestown-area police departments were awarded the American Automobile Association-East Central's Platinum Community Traffic Safety Award for their safety efforts yesterday afternoon at the Olive Garden in Lakewood.
 
AAA East Central's Safety Advisor says it's an honor to recognize their outstanding success with traffic safety education over a 3 to 5 year period.
 
Receiving the Platinum Award in our area were the Jamestown Police Department, Chautauqua County Sheriff's Department, New York State Police in Jamestown, and Saint Mary's. Jamestown Police Captain Todd Isaacson says it's a great honor to receive the award and that it's a "team effort".
 
Several other departments were honored through the AAA Safety Awards Program for their continuing efforts to prevent the number of fatalities by conducting educational programs and promotional campaigns to encourage the development of safe driving habits. The gold award was presented to Warren County Sheriff's Department, Warren County Police Department, and Youngsville Police Department. 
 
 
A Dunkirk man is jailed on $250,000 bail after a drug raid Monday in the city led to the seizure of over 16-ounces of methamphetamine. 
 
The New York State Police C-NET team, in a joint investigation with the Southern Tier Regional Drug Task Force arrested 24 year-old Ryan Lopez, junior for second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a class-A felony.  Officers say the meth seized is worth an estimated $16,000.  Lopez was arraigned in Dunkirk City Court and, taken to the county jail.
 
 
The organizations that represent small and bigger businesses in the Jamestown area are again asking the city to appoint business leaders to the Board of Public Utilities. 
 
In addition to heading up the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce, Todd Tranum is also Executive Director of the Manufacturer's Association of the Southern Tier. 
 
Tranum was critical of the most recent changes Mayor Sam Teresi made to the BPU, which he says until the most recent appointments, had good business representation.
 
Mayor Teresi, who by virtue of his office, is president of the BPU, also makes appointments to the board.  At the time he made several appointments last year, he said business was well-represented on the panel. 
 
Those new appointees in the past year or so include Chairman Chuck Cornell and, members Tyler Case, Terrance Horner, and Ralph Wallace.
 
 
Jamestown police assisted federal authorities yesterday morning with an investigation near the downtown area.  However, no details have been released. 
 
City Police Chief Harry Snellings confirms that officers assisted agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in executing a federal warrant in the area of East Fourth and Sixth Streets. 
 
However, Snellings declined further comment because the FBI was heading up the investigation.  The raid reportedly took place about 7 AM. 
 
We do have a call into FBI Spokeswoman Maureen Dempsey in Buffalo but, have not heard back from her at this time.