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WJTN News Headlines for Mar. 28, 2019

Chautauqua County lawmakers have now joined County Executive George Borrello in signing the Memorandum of Agreement for Chautauqua Lake Weed Management Consensus Strategy.....  

Legislators by a 16-0 vote Wednesday night, approved an emergency resolution backing the agreement that was unveiled earlier on Wednesday.  Borrello is pleased to the have the legislature on board.

The plan, released during a news conference on Wednesday, includes 24 tenets for dealing with everything from limited use of herbicides to protecting fish habitats and drinking water.  Borrello hopes that all lake agencies and organizations, as well as the municipalities located around Chautauqua Lake also back the plan.

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In other business, county lawmakers by a 12-4 vote approved a resolution that allows the county shell out $20,000 to help pay for a feasibility study on a hops and barley economic development project.  Legislators John Hemmer, John Davis, Frank Gould and Daniel Pavlock all voted against the measure.  Borrello says a developer has agreed to fund half of the study with other funding coming from several foundations. The County Legislature approved a resolution accepting a $15.5 million grant from the state Office of Indigent Legal Services.  The grant is expected to help cover the costs associated with representing indigents through March of 2023.


Two people from Jamestown have been arrested for allegedly breaking into a Sinclairville home and, stabbing the woman living there before fleeing the scene.... 

Sheriff's officers say they were called to the scene on Kent Street shortly before 1 PM Wednesday... and, were told by the unidentified victim that the pair had run off.  Deputies say they later stopped the vehicle on Route 60 in the town of Ellicott and, arrested 23 year-old Kylah Seiberg, and 18 yer-old Jacob Graham.  Officers say both are charged with one Felony burglary count and two counts each of third-degree criminal mischief.  Seiberg is also charged with second-degree assault.  Both were taken to the county jail pending arraignment.  State Police assisted and, they detained an another man on charges unrelated to this incident.


A several-month effort to develop a "consensus agreement" to manage issues facing Chautauqua Lake with input from more than a dozen lake groups and governments has been rolled out by Chautauqua County...  

County Executive George Borrello presented the Chautauqua Lake Weed Management Consensus Strategy "Memorandum of Agreement" during a press conference yesterday morning in Mayville.  Borrello says the plan will help them get the money they need to implement it.

There is also an incentive for local groups, municipalities, as well as Chautauqua Institution, to sign onto the plan.  Borrello made it clear during the press conference that if groups wanted the resources to impliment the plan -- namely funding -- they better be part of the effort.  He says they need to be accountable for use of that money.  Borrello says the plan, which includes 24 tenats for dealing with everything from limited use of herbicides, to protecting fish habitats, and drinking water, is comprehensive.  He adds it ties together many of the efforts by various lake groups to deal with invasive weeds and algal blooms.  Borrello says because they want to implement the plan by May 1st.


County Executive George Borrello and other officials also presented a new pilot program that deals more intensely with the major weed problem in Burtis Bay in the town of Ellicott.  The shoreline of the bay was beset with a "weed mass" late last Fal, that left huge weed piles and, killed off hundreds of fish.  Borrello says the Lake and Watershed Management Alliance plans to deal with it in two ways.

Borrello says this is really the first time ever that weed harvesting and herbicides will have been used "in concert" to deal with a particular weed issue in one part of the lake.  He says the state Department of Environmental Conservation has been involved in discussions about this and other aspects of the Consensus Strategy.


The Jamestown school board got a look at the first draft of the proposed budget for the 2019-2020 school year.....  

During a work session held Tuesday night, District Superintendent Bret Apthorpe and Chief Operating Officer Lisa Almasi announced the $89.7-million spending plan is just over 4-percent higher than last year's $86.2-million budget.  The 2019-2020 draft also includes no increase in the tax levy.  The final budget proposal will be presented to Board members on April 16th for a vote.  Additionally, petitions for the Jamestown school board election on May 21st will be available to the public next Monday.  There will be two JPS board seats on the ballot, each for a three-year term.  More information is available on the district's website at JPSNY.org.


A Jamestown woman faces drug possession charges after city police received a call for a person with a weapon... 

Officers responded to the area of East 2nd and Winsor Streets just before Midnight Wednesday and, located a female matching the description.  She was identified as 41 year-old Christina Estus.  Officers say a search of her person allegedly revealed a quantity of methamphetamine.  Estus was taken into custody and is being held pending arraignment.