Two men have been arrested after leading Jamestown police on a vehicle chase that involved two separate motor vehicle accidents and, ended in the town of Poland....
City Police were called to the scene at Palmer and Highland Streets just after 5 PM Saturday, but, the pick-up truck involved fled the scene. Officers say they tried to stop the truck over several blocks of the city, where the two accidents occured. Police say the truck was finally stopped on the Falconer-Frewsburg Road after the truck was disabled from heavy damage. The alleged driver, 24 year-old Cody Dickerson of Jamestown, was caught after a brief foot chase, while the passenger, 43 year-old Steven Blankenship of Ludlow, Pennsylvania, was also caught. However, police say they had to deploy a taser twice before Blankenship was arrested. Dickerson faces 30 charges, most of them vehicle and traffic violations, while Blankenship faces drug possesion charges and others. JPD was assisted by several other local agencies.
A north county man was arrested after a brief stand-off with police when he allegedly threatening others with a shot-gun early Sunday morning....
Sheriff's deputies were called to the scene on Stone Road in the town of Pomfret and, were there for an extended time before calling in the Sheriff's Department SWAT Team, and, the department's Crisis Negotiation Team and Emergency Services. Following a brief negotiation involving the SWAT Team,officers say they took 57 year-old Gary Ortolano of Fredonia into custody, and recovered the shot-gun inside the home. Deputies say Ortolano is a convicted Felon and, not allowed to possess any firearm. He was arrested for fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and, sent to the county jail pending arraignment.
It's appearing less and less likely that another power producer will be moving into the former NRG Power Plant in Dunkirk.....
That from Chautauqua County Executive George Borrello, who says they will soon be awarding a bid to a firm that will do a feasibility study of the plant and, what kind of business or industry could move into the moth-balled facility. During comments made at last Friday's County Executive Breakfast with the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce, said that Governor Andrew Cuomo has a new, and shorter time-line for converting the state to 100-percent renewable energy.
With that, Borrello says a power producer is unlikely to come into the area and spend millions of dollars getting a plant up and running. The Republican executive says repowering the NRG Plant with natural gas -- as had been planned several years ago -- would have been the right way to go. He says refiring the plant with natural gas would have been the right direction because of it's smaller carbon-footprint. NRG announced back in March of 2012 that it would mothball the Dunkirk plant because it no longer was economically viable. That finally occured in early January of 2016.
Farmers are having another tough start to the growing season. Dan Steward, a consultant for the Western New York Crop Management Association, works with dairy and other farmers throughout the region....
He says the lack of good weather in April has put farmers up to a month behind in fieldwork. Now that the sun is shining and the first cutting of grass is coming on, growers have to decide whether to use the good days to make haylage or put in corn. It may be too late to plant corn for grain and expect it to be mature in time this fall, but Steward believes if the weather dries up and stays warm, much of the lost time could otherwise be made up. (Steward spoke on 'The Farm Bureau Radio Show' on Media One this past weekend.)
The New York State Democratic Rural Conference officers, and board of directors, have gone on record as opposing passage of the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act....
That decision is being blasted by Chautauqua County Democratic Committee Chairman Norm Green, who says Rural Conference Director, Judith Hunter, "does not speak for all rural Democrats, nor all rural Democratic County political committees. I am a Democratic leader who stands today and will stand tomorrow with the working people of rural New York." Green says the county is a member of the Rural Conference but, says he supports the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act "100-percent." He adds that New York needs to look at farm polices as a whole.
Dunkirk Mayor Willie Rosas says that city officials met this past week with executives from Wells Enterprises, which recently acquired Fieldbrook Foods....
Rosas says company officials are pleased with the progress on a new cold storage facility located near South Roberts Road and hopes it leads to additional jobs. Wells acquired Fieldbrook Foods in April and, the cold storage facility set to open by the end of the year in Dunkirk.
The eating habits of Western New Yorkers are changing....
Stephanie Burdo of Jamestown has just put out the 10th edition of the magazine 'Edible Western New York' and she says there's a solid foundation of people who are 'intentional' about what they eat, and interested in the envirnoment and how their food is grown. Burdo is both editor and publisher of 'Edible Western New York.' She says the magazine reflects the emerging interest in other things produced locally, including craft beverages, cheeses, and artisans creating 'things for the table.' 'Edible Western New York' is free and available at many locations listed at EdibleWesternNY.com. (The launch party for the 10th edition of the magazine was held at Bag & String in Lakewood on Sunday.)
The University Pittsburgh Medical Center is dropping plans to seek prepayment from out-of-network Highmark Medicare Advantage patients when consent decrees linking the competing health care giants end on June 30th....
In a news released posted on its website Wednesday, UPMC said it would accept direct payment from Highmark at the same rate that UPMC Health Plan now pays Highmark's Allegheny Health Network hospitals. UPMC also will adopt the same contract rate when billing Highmark directly for out-of-network emergency care. In a statement, UPMC chief communications officer Paul Wood says UPMC will have to reconsider its decisions regarding prepayment and balance billing if Highmark fails to pay the billed amounts directly to UPMC. The action comes as a state judge considers how the five-year consent decree between the health care providers and the attorney general's office can be modified.
