A Jamestown woman was arrested for allegedly operating a motorcycle on a suspended license with drugs in her possession Monday afternoon. City Police responded to the area of Fairview and Harding Avenues shortly after 3PM for a motor vehicle accident... and, identified the biker as 24 year-old Brianna Elderkin. Further investigation revealed Elderkin had an arrest warrant from the Chatuauqua County Sheriff's Office.... a forged registration for the motorcycle she was operating.... and, a quantity of suboxone strips. Officers say she was taken into custody on several charges and is being held in the city jail pending arraignment.
City lawmakers will vote next week on the first, specific cuts to the 2020 budget in the wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The council's Finance Committee last night reviewed several proposed reductions in revenues, and spending. Committee Chairwoman Kim Ecklund says they total just over $1.1-million.
Ecklund says the cuts include $157,000 in health insurance... and $141,000 in parks salaries. The City Council recently approved the "Phase-One" cuts proposed by Mayor Sundquist and Comptroller Joe Bellitto.
Jamestown Police Chief and Public Safety Director Harry Snellings' last day on the job will be July 10th. However... a new chief won't be hired by that time... so an acting chief will be named by Mayor Eddie Sundquist. During last night's Council Work Session... Sundquist noted that they will accept formal applications for the dual post through the month of July.
As for an acting chief... Sundquist says he'll be accepting letters of application from current members of the police department by this Friday. Snellings recently told Sundquist and council members he was retiring after 24 years with the department.
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Also during last night's meeting... Sundquist reported that all city playgrounds are now open after the city got final guidelines from Governor Andrew Cuomo's office on how to safely reopen. Sundquist says city officials have received numerous calls and correspondences from residents requesting the playgrounds be reopened as soon as possible. He says they wanted to make sure adequate cleaning protocols were in place first.
With parts of the United States are seeing a surge in the number of cases of coronavirus... there is new concern about the possibility of a second-wave of COVID-19 in the country. Is Chautauqua County prepared if there is a new wave in the region and or state? Interim County Executive P-J Wendel says we are. Wendel says the county now has a stockpile of Personal Protective Equipment.
Wendel adds that not only he... but, his COVID-19 Response Team... and, the Western New York Control Room he's part of... now have a lot of combined experience... and, that will help with any new outbreak.
Wendel says there are no new cases Monday... meaning the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county remains 118. He says there are now seven active cases... and 104 have now recovered from the virus. Wendel says there are now 82 cases under quarantine or isolation orders... and there have been 12,344 negative test results to date.
Officials with an Allegany County town have alerted State Senator George Borrello that they've received a request from an out-of-town organization demanding copies of all police personnel files -- dating back to the 1970s. Borrello says it's an unintended consequence of the state legislature's recent, full repeal of Civil Right's Law 50-a. He says Cuba Town leaders told him the organization -- called MuckRock -- wants those files, which would contain complaints of misconduct, including accusations that were found to be groundless after investigation. MuckRock has stated that they have made this request of every policing agency in New York State. Borrello says it's "outrageous" that local muncipalities struggling to pay regular expenses will now have to devote staff time and taxpayer dollars to full-filling those requests. He says this will lead to lawsuits by trial lawyers "looking to line their pockets."
