President Trump has come around to now endorsing the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative after originally proposing major cuts to the program......
That from local Congressman Tom Reed, who says pressure from himself and other Great Lakes region lawmakers helped turn the president around on the matter. Reed says several of them met with administration officials after Trump's initial budget plan called for cutting 90-percent to the program.
Reed expects there will likely be an ongoing fight to keep the funding where it has been but, adds it should be easier from this point because the President has now endorsed the initiative. The Corning Republican says the initiative encompasses a number of issues surrounding the Great Lakes, including dealing with invasive species, and habitat restoration. County Executive George Borrello was pleased to hear the news because residents are "so fortunate to have the single largest source of freshwater in the world right here at our doorstep. Protecting and enhancing that precious recourse is vital to our future here in Chautauqua County. Reed made his comments during his weekly telephone conference call with regional media.
If and when Governor Andrew Cuomo calls a special election to fill the region's vacant State Senate seat, Chautauqua County Executive George Borrello is set to be the Republican candidate....
Borrello says he's "very pleased" with how his petitioning process has gone, given the fact it was only two-weeks long, due mainly to the timing of Senator Cathy Young's resignation in early March. Borrello says his campaign was able to get double the signatures needed to be on the ballot.
Borrello says -- if there is a special election and, he has competition for the seat, the chairmen of the four county committees that make up the 57th Senate District would have to take a more formal vote on who they will support. Allegheny County Legislature Chairman Kurt Crandall has also expressed interest in the seat but, Borrello is confident he would get the nod if the chairpersons have to decide for a Special Election. He says there would be no primary in that situation. On our Dennis Webster Show Wednesday, Assemblyman Andy Goodell said that Governor Cuomo is expected to decide in the next two to three weeks if there will be a special election.
The new 'bag ban' enacted as part of the state budget has some consumers and retailers wondering what will be legal and when....
Chautauqua County Assemblyman Andy Goodell says the ban does not go into effect for a year and primarily affects 'single use' bags. Garbage bags and drum liners would not be affected. The law includes an option for counties to charge most customers a nickel for paper bags. Three cents would go to the state Environmental Protection Fund. Two cents would come back to the county to help low income shoppers get reuseable bags. As currently written, Goodell says there's an odd quirk in the law, in that the heavy duty reuseable bags already used by many shoppers couldn't be sold anymore, if they are plastic. The Assemblyman says the 'bag ban' originated with New York City legislators worried about enormous quantities of litter.
State forest rangers are reminding area residents that a statewide burning ban is in effect....
A homeowner in the town of Arkwright apparently learned that lesson the hard way recently. The homeowner, who was not identified, had started a brush pile fire and the flames spread to an adjacent field last Thursday around 4:30 PM. Rangers say the fire burned nearly 1/2 an acre of land. Cassadaga firefighters responded to the blaze and quelled the flames. The forest rangers issued a ticket to the homeowner for illegal burning during the burning ban. The statewide burning ban continues until May 14th.
A Jamestown woman was arrested for allegedly shoplifting from the Wegman's grocery store with a hypodermic needle in her possession.....
Ellicott Town Police say the March 25th incident occurred shortly after 5PM when Assest Protection reported several people inside the store taking items without paying. Officers arrived to the Fairmount Avenue store as employees identified two suspects walking away. Wegmans advised that the female had been seen concealing items. She was taken into custody and allegedly gave police a false name. She was later identified as 26 year-old Caitlin Arnold, who has two active felony warrants from the Chatuauqua County Sheriff's Department. Arnold is being held in the County Jail pending arraignment.
Computer-based standardized testing will resume for New York students, two days after technical problems disrupted the mandatory assessments across the state....
Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia says she'll hold test vendor Questar Assessment financially accountable for failing to fully deliver on its contract. Elia told reporters Wednesday that high usage caused problems that prevented some students from logging in and submitting the English language tests online Tuesday. Testing will be staggered when it starts up again Thursday to avoid another crash. Of the 93,000 students that started the test, about 93 percent were able to submit it. All of the state's 1 million third- through eighth-grade students are required to take the annual two-day tests. About a quarter take them by computer. Math testing is scheduled for May.
