Westfield Memorial Hospital has named the Vice-President of a Coudersport, Pennsylvania hospital and, previously an executive at Brooks Hospital in Dunkirk, as it's new president...
Hospital officials say Valarie Jackson will become head of the hospital, effective August 13. Jackson has more than 25 years of experience in the health care field. She's served as V-P of the Hospital Services Division at Charles Cole Memorial Hospital in Coudersport, where she was responsible for oversight of all clinical services and departments of the hospital. Prior to that, Jackson served as Executive Director, Regional Operations for the UPMC Hamot Heart and Vascular Institute and Director of Regional Business Development and Telemedicine for Hamot.
Chautauqua County Executive George Borrello says the process is underway for developing a 2019 spending plan. The Irving-area Republican he is no stranger to budget making,since he spent several years on the county legislature prior to becoming County Executive last January...
As he develops the expected more than 250-million dollar budget, Borrello says there is a particular theory he will be following, called the "Bushel Full of Pennies." Borrello says on it's face, a penny is worth very litte but, he says a bushel of pennies is worth about $332. He says in business, a lot of little savings can really "add up." Borrello expects to release his budget to the County Legislature during the fourth week in September. It's due on Wednesday, September 26.
Chautauqua County has received a "clean audit" with no signficant issues for fiscal year 2017....
That piece of good news was delivered to members of the county legislature's Audit and Control Committee last week. Committee Chairman Pierre Chagnon adds that there were "no surprises" found by the third-party auditor-- Drescher and Milecki from Buffalo. In fact, Chagnon says Drescher and Milecki praised the county's financial team.
The county's $250-million-plus budget wound up with a just over $6-million deficit, fueled mainly by additional costs in a handful of areas, including separate housing for juvenile inmates in the county's jail system. That separate housing is now required by New York state.
A Dunkirk man faces a number of drug-related charges after State Police allegedly found him slumped over the wheel of his BMW on Sunday...
Troopers out of Fredonia responded to the TJ-Maxx parking lot in Dunkirk for a report of an individual possibly using narcotics. On arrival, officers saw 36 year-old Justin Schuk unresponsive behind the wheel, with multiple items of drug paraphernalia in plain sight along with large amounts of a white powdery substance. He was awakened after multiple attempts and was evaluated before he refused medical treatment. Police later found 12-grams of heroin, 3.2-grams of cocaine, a straw containing cocaine residue and four Buprenorphine pills in an Altoid container for which Schuk did not have a prescription for. He was arraigned and sent to the county jail with bail to be set.
Jamestown's main financial officer says the city-- overall-- is in pretty decent shape financially for the first-half of 2018...
During a recent City Council work session, Comptroller Joe Bellitto reported on mid-year budget figures for the City Council. However, Bellitto says there are a few areas of concern. He says one is in the Public Work's Departments Central Garage, which is at 67-percent of it's budget already.
Bellitto adds that the city's Traffic Control Unit has used about 85-percent of it's budget on new equipment this year. He adds that only two divisions of the Board of Public Utilities' -- water and district heat -- are at or exceeding budget on their payments in lieu of taxes in 2018. Bellitto says the biggest part of the 2018 budget -- though -- is holding steady. He says that's salaries and benefits, which make up 78-percent of the yearly spending plan. He says actual salaries are at 50-percent, and benefits are slightly under-budget.
In New York state government news, Governor Andrew Cuomo is making his fifth visit to Puerto Rico following last year's devastating hurricanes...
The Democrat traveled there Monday, joined by a group of state university students, labor leaders and elected officials who will participate in rebuilding projects. Cuomo has blasted the federal response to hurricanes Irma and Maria, calling it a "national disgrace." In other news, two upstate casinos are partnering with online fantasy sports operators to prepare for legalized sports betting. The two casinos - Del Lago and Tioga Downs - will have to wait for new regulations before they can offer in-house betting. Supporters also want state permission to offer wagers online and on mobile devices.
An appeals court is questioning a township's efforts to make an Amish woman stop using outhouses and hook into its sewer system, citing Pennsylvania's religious freedom law...
A seven-judge Commonwealth Court panel threw out an order Thursday that Iva Byler pay $100 a month toward fines levied by Sugar Grove Township, a community of 1,700. A trial judge had concluded the woman is violating the state's Sewage Facilities Act. But the higher court said the judge didn't adequately address the state's religious freedom law and asked for more information. The law prohibits government from placing burdens on a person's religious rights without compelling justification. The township has argued the woman didn't show that connecting to a sewer system would be a major burden on her religious beliefs.
The Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office is investigating a train--car accident in the Town of Ripley....
Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the former Norfolk-Southern railroad tracks at the Station Road crossing just before 4:30 a.m. on Sunday. Officers say the vehicle appears to be unoccupied at this time. Westfield Police and Fire crews, as well as the Ripley Fire Department assisted Deputies at the scene.
