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WJTN News Headlines for Dec. 18, 2018

 

Jamestown police are investigating three weekend incidents in which one person was allegedly shot, while two others were stabbed...  

None of the injuries are life-threatening but, police officials are frustrated because none of the victims is cooperating.  City Police Captain Bob Samuelson says the shooting incident occured shortly after Midnight Sunday in the area of 96 Falconer Street.  Samuelson says the victim was shot in the arm several times after an argument by an unknown shooter in a small silver sedan.  The car then sped off westbound and, the victim was taken to UPMC Chautauqua Hospital for treatment.
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Captain Samuelson says the first of the two stabbing incidents occured about 11:30 last Saturday night at an unknown location.  He says the victim was brought to UPMC Chautauqua Hospital by a private citizen after being stabbed while he sat inside his parked car.  Samuelson says the second stabbing occured a short time later when the unidentified victim went to a home on West 8th Street.  He says the victim was taken to UPMC Chautauqua Hospital for treatment of a stab wound to the back.  Samuelson says all three victims were specifically targeted.  If you have any information on any of the incidents, you can call JPD confidentially at 483-TIPS.  You can also use JPD's Tips 4-1-1 app.


The Jamestown City Council has a vacancy heading into the new year, following the resignation of a first-term lawmaker at last night's year-end meeting..  

Council President Marie Carubba read a letter from Democrat Vanessa Weinert at the end of the meeting.  Weinert, a Democrat, had been absent from the past several council meetings following a death in her family, but Carubba says they did not receive any official word until Monday.

Weinert was among two newcomers elected to the council in 2016 and, served as an "at-large" councilmember.  Carubba says the charter calls for the mayor to name a replacement after getting a recommendation from the city's Democratic Committee.  She says there is no "go to" list for a replacement right now because the resignation has just been acted on.  However, discussion about a replacement is expected to take place once Mayor Sam Teresi returns from a trip out of town.  The election of Weinert in 2016 gave the Jamestown City Council it's first-ever female majority.


City lawmakers last night approved purchasing a new, all-purpose trackless vehicle to replace an old model that broke down during the area's last big snowstorm...  


Council unanimously approved purchase of the Trackless MT-7 sidewalk plow from Trackless Vehicles of Courtland, Ontario, Canada for just under $138,000.  Public Works Director Jeff Lehman says, while it's mainly used for snow removal, it performs other duties as well.

Part of the money to make the purchase will come from what's left in the city's contingency account, totaling about $43,000.  Lawmakers say the majority of the money will come from money left over in in the 2018 budget, which is expected to be about $95,000.  Lehman says Trackless is the only place that makes the machines and, he hopes to have the 2018 model machine here by the start of 2019. 


Chautauqua County Executive George Borrello says his first year in office has been very busy and, there were a number of achievements...  

Borrello says those include being able to visit more than 100 business during his first 100 days in office.  He says it changed the conversation when it comes to employment from one of "there aren't enough jobs, to the fact businesses here "have jobs... but, not enough skilled workers to fill them."   Borrello is also pleased with another initiative, the Countywide Alliance for Enforcement and Rehabilitation, also known as CAER.

The improved numbers include a drop in the number of drug-related overdose deaths over the past year.  As far as disappointments, he says the biggest was losing the first $20-million Municipal Consolidation and Efficiency Competition.  But, Borrello says there is a silver lining, because all 14 of those projects are now up for funding individually.  He says the first victory is $-1.2-million to form a water and wastewater cooperative.  Borrello looks forward to another busy year in 2019. 


A Lakewood man and the passenger in his vehicle were taken to a local hospital following a two-vehicle crash in the Town of Kiantone Sunday evening....  

Sheriff's deputies responded to the accident just after 5 p.m. at the intersection of Kiantone Road and Route 60. Investigation found that 85 year-old Carl Mazzuro --  was trying to make a left-hand turn onto Route 60 -- but allegedly failed to yield to a southbound vehicle.  Mazzurco and his passenger were transported to UPMC Chautauqua Hospital for treatment of minor injuries.  Deputies say the occupants of the other vehicle involved were treated at the scene.  Mazzurco was charged with failure to yield to right of way and issued appearance tickets for Kiantone Town Court.


New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's agenda for 2019 puts the legalization of recreational marijuana and fixing New York City's crumbling subway system among his top priorities for the start of his third term....

Cuomo's 45-minute speech Tuesday was heavy on references to Franklin D. Roosevelt, a fellow Democrat and former New York governor.  Cuomo touted liberal accomplishments while vowing to continue to fight Trump administration policies he says are detrimental to New Yorkers.  A Democrat-controlled Senate will be seated along with the already Democrat-led Assembly when the Legislature reconvenes next month.  Cuomo is optimistic about moving forward with what he refers to as his "justice agenda."  Cuomo is a potential candidate for president in 2020.  He also reinforced his criticism of President Donald Trump's Republican policies.


Thanks to a great response from the community, The Resource Center's Toys for Tots campaign in conjunction with the U-S Marine Corps Reserves has been another success....  

After last weekend's distribution, one of the Coordinators, Terri Johnson, said they received more than one-thousand dollars and, "hundreds of toys."  Johnson and others put out a plea last week for more toys to help meet the need this season in both the Jamestown and Dunkirk-areas.  She adds that they have also been able to help a few more children have a Merry Christmas this season.  Johnson says they also had several people help them with getting the toys ready for distribution. Usually, The Resource Center is able to get to it's goal of 3,000 toys with few problems but, this year they actually ran out of toys during the distribution the weekend of December 8th and 9th.