Community Spotlight, the area's longest running local public affairs radio program, airs on all six Media One Radio Group stations each weekend and is also available to hear in our Podcast Section.  Each week we sit down with a community leader or another special guest to talk about issues within our community.  


Weather Forecasts are available across our radio stations each day and also as your fingertips! 

Connect with The National Weather Service's Buffalo Office or with WGRZ-TV for accurate weather information!

 

 

 


 

WJTN News Headlines for Oct. 4, 2018

Three people suffered only minor injuries when a car traveling the wrong-way on Interstate 86 in the town of Ellicott struck another car head-on.... 

State Police in Jamestown say the driver of the wrong-way car, 86 year-old Charles French of Ellicott, apparently got on I-86 eastbound shortly before 11 a.m. Wednesday.  However, troopers say French was driving westbound when they were called.  Police say the driver of an eastbound car, 19 year-old Anna Griffith, of Salamanca, saw French's car coming, and tried to avoid the collision.  French, Griffith, and Griffith's 6-month old child, were all taken to UPMC Chautauqua Hospital for treatment.  Charges are pending.


Four projects in Chautauqua County are among the 16 identified so far by the Western New York Regional Economic Development Council be be priority projects...  


That from County Executive George Borrello, who serves on the council, and says the four projects locally include is pleased that four of the 16 projects are from Chautauqua County.  One of the four projects is from Jamestown and, that'll be for Chadakoin River re-development.  He adds that there are other projects -- aside from the 16 -- that are going through the Consolidated Funding Application process.

Borrello adds that there are two priority projects in the village of Fredonia, one being the Agri-America building which will be used for juice to be reprocessed.  He says the other Fredonia based project involves the White Inn and, trying to get that back up and running to augment the tourism industry.  Borrello adds the fourth priority project centers on the redevelopment of the former Welch Foods Building in Westfield and possibly converting that into a "mixed use" building.


More detailed plans are expected to be presented next week on a proposed $34-million housing project in downtown Jamestown...  

Officials with Southern Tier Environments for Living, and Community Helping Hands, are developing the project at the Gateway Center on Water Street,  which calls for creation of 70-housing units in the former three-story industrial plant.  Preliminary plans were discussed at last month's Planning Commission meeting, but Mayor Sam Teresi says nothing is finalized as yet.

Teresi says -- otherwise -- he's taking a "wait-and-see" approach to the project and, he wants them to have the time needed to full develop the proposal, which would include 39 affordable housing units among the 70 total in the building.  He says they expect more information at next Tuesday night's public hearing on the proposal.  Next Tuesday's public hearing by the city Planning Commission will be held in City Council Chambers beginning at 6:00.


The city of Lockport in western New York has won $10-million dollars as the latest winner of Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo's downtown revitalization contest....  


State officials announced the funding on Wednesday... adding the Niagara County city plans to invest the money in efforts to make its downtown more attractive to businesses, tourists and residents.  Pedestrian walkways, improved storefronts and more housing are all possibilities.  Now in its third year, Cuomo's downtown contest will award a total of $100-million to 10 winning communities across the state.  The city of Jamestown won a $10-million DRI in 2016.  Cuomo said Wednesday that Lockport is an "ideal" recipient of the funds because of its growing tourism industry and its location on the Erie Canal.  Other recent winners include Albany, New Rochelle, Saranac Lake, Watertown, Batavia, Rome and the South Bronx.


The new trade agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada will help local agri-businesses have a more level playing field with our neighbors to the north...  

That from local Congressman Tom Reed, who says the USMCA helps move Canada away from a "protectionist" policy, and towards freer trade.  Reed made his comments during his weekly telephone conference call with Southern Tier Media and says once it's in place, farmers begin moving their goods.

In fact... Reed says that once the new agreement with Mexico was reached, the price for milk increased by $2.00 per hundred-weight.  He says -- for the first time -- several dairy markets will open up in Canada once the agreement's fully in place.  The Corning Republican adds the new agreement will also be a big boost to the local wine industry -- especially for Canadian tourists who come here, and want to take some wine home with them.  The Corning Republican says the minimum standards would go up -- as he understands it -- from $20.00 to $150.00. 


It's no longer considered "Tornado Season..." but, swirling winds and tornadic activity was reported in nearby Scandia, Pennsylvania in Warren County on Tuesday...  


Meteorologist John Banghoff with the National Weather Service in State College says a funnel-cloud was reported just before 4 p.m. during turbulent weather conditions.  However, Banghoff says a tornado didn't 'actually' touch down based on visual observation. 

Additionally, an EF-2 storm was reported in Crawford County, which damaged Rolling Fields Elder Care Community in Conneauville, blowing a roof off one building.  Banghoff says it started with a cold front and, winds moving from the southwest -- then west to east -- producing some verticle wind shear and creating "super cells."  He describes "super cells" as the big storms responsible for large tornados in the Great Plains, but we can get the same phenomena here. No injuries were reported in Tuesday's storms. 


A federal appeals court says former New York Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver can remain free a few more months while he appeals his bribery conviction...  

The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals made the decision Wednesday in the 74-year-old Democrat's favor just two days before he was to report to prison to begin serving a seven-year sentence.  Prosecutors said he collected nearly $4 million dollars in fees in exchange for taking actions as a legislator that benefited a cancer researcher and real estate developers.  Silver's lawyers insist that the money their client received was not the result of bribes.


Buffalo Bill's running back LeSean McCoy's ex-girlfriend says in a new court filing that he physically abused her during their nearly two-year relationship...  

Delicia Cordon on Tuesday filed an amended lawsuit against McCoy alleging physical abuse.  She also directly accuses him of arranging a July 10 home invasion at a home he owns just outside Atlanta that left her bloodied.  McCoy has repeatedly proclaimed his innocence and did so again when speaking to reporters after practice Wednesday.  A previous version of her lawsuit didn't mention physical abuse against her and didn't directly accuse him of playing a role in the home invasion.  The new version also expands on her previous allegations that McCoy abused his young son and dog.  The amended lawsuit seeks more than $50 million in damages.