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WJTN News Headlines for Sept 6, 2019

Two West Ellicott residents have been for allegedly dealing drugs and living in deplorable conditions with a two-year-old child in the house....

Ellicott town Police say they were assisted by the Jamestown Metro Drug Task Force, the JPD SWAT Team and State Police in raiding the home at 201 Frederick Boulevard just before 6 AM.  Officers say they found Jeremiah Price and Anastasia Axford -- both 21 years of age -- inside the home.  They also found possible drugs and drug paraphernalia... and, deplorable conditions.  Both were initially charged with endangering the welfare of a child... and, further charges are pending.

  
A Dewittville woman was arrested for allegedly not providing support to her child for over six-months....  

State Police in Jamestown say they received a call regarding a possible child neglect case on Tuesday.  Further investigation revealed the young child had dozens of unexcused absences at school and was living with a non-custodial person for about eight-months.  Troopers say 42 year-old Julia Johnson was taken into custody for first-degree non-support of a child and endangering the welfare of child.  Johnson was later transported to the Chautauqua County Jail. 


The head of Buffalo's Roman Catholic diocese is resisting calls to resign after his former secretary secretly recorded him discussing a priest's alleged sexual harassment of a seminarian.... 

It's the second time that a key member of the Reverend Richard Malone's staff has gone public with concerns about his handling of reports of clergy misconduct.  Malone told reporters Wednesday that the Rev. Ryszard Biernat's  decision to record confidential conversations was disappointing, but he believes most Catholics still support him.  Biernat told WKBW-TV that he was troubled that Malone allowed a priest that the bishop referred to as "sick" to stay in ministry for months before suspending him while the seminarian's claims are investigated.  Last year, Malone's aide Siobhan O'Connor released internal diocesan documents related to claims of clergy misconduct.

With state lawmakers eliminating the religious exemption on school immunizations... it appears some parents at least... are opting to home school their child....  

The state legislature recently revoked the exemption for manditory vaccinations amid the nations worst measles outbreak since 1992.  State School Boards Association Executive Director Tim Kreamer says parents of those 2,600 children affected had limited options.

Kreamer says the only other option available to those students is to take them to a school out of state.  New York became the fourth state to eliminate religious and personal-belief exemptions after California, Mississippi and West Virginia. Maine will remove them in 2021.  All states allow medical exemptions.  Some parents are choosing to pull their kids from school rather than comply.  More than 1,200 measles cases have been confirmed in 30 states this year.


Its been a "fairly smooth" start for another Jamestown area school district that had it's first day of classes yesterday....  

That from Falconer Central School Superindent Steve Penhollow... who says they opened their doors for the start of the 2019-2020 school year for all grades.  However... Penhollow says they have a lot of construction work going on at the start.

Penhollow says one school -- in particular -- is feeling the effects of construction work... but, it's not necessarily on the school property.  He says motorists need to be careful in the area of Temple Elementary School, where the Route 62 intersection with the railroad tracks is having some work done right now.  Penhollow says they'll have updated information on what's taking place... including traffic maps for the schools on their Facebook page.  He adds people can also go to their website for more information.  Penhollow says enrollment appears consistant with what they had at the end of last school year.

The interim President of the SUNY College at Fredonia is facing a number of challenges in his return to the campus... 

Dr. Dennis Hefner is back at Fredonia after being retired for seven years.  Hefner says one of his challenges is maintaining the university's enrollment numbers.  He says it's more difficult now because the number of high school graduates in Western New York has been declining, so Fredonia has had to rely on recruiting more students out of state.

Hefner says the university plans to do more recruiting in Pennsylvania and Ohio... which are closer to Western New York state.  He says he is looking for enrollment numbers at Fredonia to be at over 4,500 students.

 
A domestic incident at the Budget Inn in the village of Falconer has led to a local man being sent to UPMC Chautauqua Hospital for a mental evaluation....  

Ellicott Town Police say they were called to the scene at the four-corners in Falconer to investigate... and, found that 33 year-old Shawn Washington allegedly threw an item at the unidentified victim, and hit them in the head.  The victim had head pain, and some bruising.  Washington was arrested... and, then take to the hospital for the evaluation.