A city man is jailed for allegedly setting fire to the porch of another person he was having an on-going dispute with on Jamestown's westside. City Police Captain Bob Samuelson says city firefighters were called to the scene at 514 Monroe Street just before 2 AM Wednesday... and, found part of the porch on fire, and quickly put out the flames. City police and fire investigators determined the blaze was intentionally set -- while the home was occupied. They accuse 49 year-old Eric Goodlow of throwing two "incindiary devices" onto the porch. No one was hurt, and there was some damage to the porch. Goodlow is being held pending arraignment on one count of first-degree arson.
There are 32 new confirmed cases of the COVID-19 Virus being reported in Chautauqua County... and, 25 of those cases a students at the SUNY College at Fredonia. That from Interim County Executive P-J Wendel, who says those cases include two persons under the age of 18, eight young women, and two men, and 14 women in their 20s. Wendel's office says there are 134 active cases... and, the county has now had a total of 442 confirmed cases. He says 298 have now recovered, while 517 cases under now under quarantine or isolation orders. There are currently 655 persons under the "domestic traveler quarantine."
New York Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul says Governor Andrew Cuomo continues to monitor the surge in COVID-19 cases in Western New York... and, Chautauqua County. Hochul adds that they were not surprised to see an increase in cases at the SUNY College at Fredonia campus because returning students had not seen each other in several months after the pandemic began. However... she adds they need to be smart.
Hochul also says today is the final day of rapid testing at eight sites in Western New York, including the Brigham Road location in the city of Dunkirk. She gave an update on the numbers from the local site... and, found the most recent numbers found the infection rate at about 1.4 percent. Hochul is urging people to avoid mass gatherings during the Labor Day weekend... and, to continue to following the COVID-19 safety guidelines.
The United Way of Southern Chautauqua County will be celebrating it's 100th anniversary this year with what will be an unusual 2020 General Campaign. Those are the feelings of Executive Director Amy Rohler... who announced Wednesday that several of the agency's campaign chairs from the past 45 years have agreed to jointly head up this year's effort. Rohler says, that means, they'll have 28 chairpersons. One is John Nord, who chaired the campaign in 1975... and another is last year's chairman, John LaMancuso.
With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and partial shut-down... Rohler says this year's campaign may be one of their most important ever because the local not-for-profits are facing unpredicdented challenges because their ability to raise money is very limited, or completely gone. She says they have slightly reduced the General Campaign goal this year from the usual $1.3-million to $1.2-million. She says they are having to get "really creative" this year because they won't be able to do "in-person" workplace and organizational presentations they normally do. For more information, go on-line to UWaysCC.org or call 483-1561.
When federal lawmakers return from their August recess next week... talks are expected to resume on a fourth, COVID-19 stimulus bill. Members of Congress and the Senate left Washington, D-C without an agreement in mid-August... and, there have been few developments. Local Congressman Tom Reed says... from what he's heard... lawmakers are looking at a "scaled-back" package that includes stimulus checks, more enhanced unemployment payments, and financial aid to smaller cities and local governments.
A recent telephone call between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows ended with no resolution on a new relief package. Reed says some left-over CARES Act money could be part of the new measure as well. About one-trillion dollars has not been spent yet. Congressional Democrats approved the $3-trillion HEROES Act as a fourth stimulus package in May... but, Senate Republicans waited almost two months before countering, and talks broke down. Reed made his comments during his weekly telephone press conference with area media.
Gas prices in the Jamestown-area have risen by 5-cents a gallon this week heading into the Labor Day Holiday Weekend... due mainly to refinery shut-downs in the wake of Hurricane Laura. Triple-A East Central's weekly Gas Price Report says the price of a gallon of regular, unleaded this week is about $2.35. Triple-A says that's still about 50-cents less than last year at this time. Nationally... the price also rose a nickle to $2.23 after Hurricane Laura made landfall in the south.
