A man from Ripley is jailed after allegedly damaging property, and preventing multiple people from leaving a home early last weekend during an incident in the town of Ripley....
Sheriff's deputies were called to the undislosed scene just before 3 PM Saturday and, found 34 year-old Edwin Munson hiding inside the home. Officers were told that Munson had broken one of the victim's property, and kept them from leaving in the presence of "several young children." A Sheriff's Department K-9 was deployed to help find Munson,who is charged with third-degree criminal mischief, second-degree unlawful imprisonment and endangering the welfare of a child. He was taken to the county lock-up pending arraignment.
New York State Police have identified the two bodies found in a burning Allegany County home as the parents of a teenage boy charged in connection to their murder...
Troopers say both 67 year-old William S. Larson-Senior and, 50 year-old Lisa Larson, -- of 8472 Courtney Hallow Road in the town of Clarksville -- were found inside by first responders last Thursday. Officials say 17 year-old William J. Larson, junior, was arraigned on two counts each of second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter, both are felonies. The Buffalo News reports Larson-junior spent at least two weeks at the home with the bodies inside after they were reportedly shot to death. State Police confirmed the identities of the victims on Sunday. The teen is being held in the Erie County Youth Services Center on 50-thousand dollars cash bail.
In addition to getting him ready to take office on January 1st, Jamestown Mayor-elect Eddie Sundquist's transition team will be helping him chose five new department heads and appoint nearly 40 people to various boards and commissions....
During last Friday's announcement of his transition team, Sundquist noted that they will be very busy with that task leading up to Inauguration Day, on Wednesday, January 1st. He says current department heads who are not leaving at the end of the year are being asked to re-apply for their positions.
Among the department heads, Sundquist will have to find a new Director of Development, and City Clerk. The Democrat says he's hopeful that he will be able to release those appointees prior to Inauguration Day. However, he says there is a limited amount of time before the start of the new year. Sundquist says he's hopeful they can let City Council know who is being appointed a few days prior to the Inauguration and re-organizational meeting so they can be released.
The new location for the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce is already working very well in the few weeks they've been open at their new location in downtown Jamestown....
Those are the feelings of Chamber President and Chief Executive Officer Todd Tranum, who says the move to Third and Main Streets has worked very well for them, and their downtown members. Tranum thanked the Gebbie Foundation for making the space available to them.
Tranum also praised his staff for helping to make a "very quick" move from the Manufacturing Technology Institute at Jamestown Community College to the new location. Several local political, business and industry leaders were on hand for the official opening and Open House last Friday at 300 North Main Street. They included Deputy County Executive for Economic Development, Mark Geise , who says it's great to have them just "down the street" from where his offices are located. The Chamber is leasing the space from the Gebbie Foundation, which bought the former bank building nearly a year ago.
A wet and late spring had farmers concerned about what kind of year 2019 would be, but it turned out pretty well for growers of major crops in this area....
Dan Steward, a consultant for the Western New York Crop Management Association, says corn silage is one area that was surprisingly good. While there weren't many 'bumper yields', the quantity was OK, and the quality 'pretty good.' Farmers in this region also grow a lot of hay and alfalfa, and Steward says the delayed spring affected those crops too. There wasn't enough time to get the usual fertilizer on some fields, leading to a smaller first cutting, but many growers made up for that in the second, third, and even fourth cuttings. As Thanksgiving approaches, some farmers still have crops waiting for harvest, mainly soybeans and grain corn. A few more days of fair and dry weather would help advance those harvests.
Since opening in August of 2018, the National Comedy Center has drawn just over 66,000 people through it's doors, the large majority coming from outside Chautauqua County.....
That from Center Executive Director Journey Gunderson, who says "we are very pleased with our attendance to date, which is fully on track to deliver the economic impact projected. Better yet, 85-percent of our visitors report being ‘likely to return’." Gunderson says, at the same time, the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Museum two blocks away, was visited by a record of just over 47,000 people. Spokespeople say during that time, there were 95,502 "unduplicated" people that visited both locations. She says 88.7-percent of the 66,044 people who visited the Comedy Center in it's first 15-months of operation from all 50 states, and 18 different countries. Gunderson says this data from consultant AECOM is released as reports from Chautauqua County and the City of Jamestown show that county lodging revenue and city sales tax revenue just reached all-time record highs in 2019. AECOM reports it typically takes at least three years for destination/drive market attractions such as the Comedy Center to achieve stabilized projected attendance.
