Mayville's Boil Water Advisory continues as pump is being installed...
A boil water advisory is in place for customers of the Mayville water system until further notice. The Chautauqua County Department of Health and Human Services says the advisory is needed because of work being completed on the village’s new water well. Village Public Works crews began installing a permanent water pump in new Well #4 to replace the temporary pump installed in December during a water emergency. Once work is completed... the well will be disinfected, and then turned back on to supply the village. Anytime this kind of work is done, water samples must be collected to ensure there were no harmful bacteria or microbes introduced into the well. Since the well is critical to providing water... it must be turned on before water sample results are available from the lab, prompting this boil water advisory. For more information... call 269-4801, or 753-4481.
BPU begins distributing new Garbage Containers to Solid Waste customers...
Customers of the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities' Solid Waste Division have each begun receiving one of the 14,000 brand new garbage containers. Mayor Eddie Sundquist says the move has been several years in the making... and, will allow for easier and safer collection of garbage. Sundquist says it will help residents meet city code by putting their garbage in a container with a lid on it. He says the new containers will hopefully improve the look of neighborhoods on trash day... and solid waste employees can just wheel them to the trucks, which will have automated tipping machines to get the trash. BPU General Manager Dave Leathers recently noted that a large number of customers either didn't put their garbage in a container that had a lid on it... or they didn't use a container at all. There have been some concerns expressed by some about the elderly, and the disabled being able to get a 96-gallon container to the street. Sundquist says the BPU also has a smaller, 37-gallon container that can be used. He says contact the BPU about that... or it's "Porter Service" for the elderly and disabled. For more information... contact the Garbage Hotline at 661-1651.
Chautauqua County officials re-evaluating next step after most recent rejection of EAS status for Jamestown Airport...
Chautauqua County officials are re-evaluating their application to get Essential Air Service back to the County Airport near Jamestown. County Executive P.J. Wendel says they are disappointed in last December's decision by the U.S. Department of Transporation. However... Wendel says they've received some good feedback from the DOT about what they need to do to get commercial air service back. He says he and Airport Mgr. Ron Almeter and the airport commission and stakeholders will look at what needs to be done. Chautauqua County had been working with regional carrier, Boutique Air, to develop a plan that would get DOT approval. Wendel adds that he's optimistic that, due to changes in air travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, the county will be successful next time around. He says there's more regional air travel going on now due to the pandemic. The Jamestown Airport has been without a commercial air carrier since December of 2017, when the U-S DOT terminated Essential Air Service eligibility for Jamestown because the local airport wasn’t meeting the federal standard of 10 passengers a day... nor the $200 per rider subsidy cap.
County reports only five new COVID cases on Tuesday...
There are just a handful of new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Chautauqua County over the past day... and, the number of active and hospitalized cases remains low. The county's Health Department is reporting 5 new cases... bringing the local total to 9,080. There are now 72 active cases... seven of which are hospitalized. Officials say there are now 8,856 cases that have recovered... and, there were no new deaths.
NYS Nursing Home vaccinations lag, infections still being reported...
Despite a big vaccination campaign... New York nursing homes are still reporting hundreds of infections a week as some residents and staff have skipped getting the shots. Nursing facilities reported 782 infections among staff and residents in the 14 days ending April 25. State records show that nearly five months since the vaccination campaign launched, only 55% of staff at New York's nursing homes are fully vaccinated. Rates among patients are better: 79% of residents have gotten a shot. But some areas lag behind. Only 40% of the staff and 63 percent of residents at nursing homes in Brooklyn are fully vaccinated.
Former County Executive Astorino announces second run for NYS Governor...
Former Westcester County executive Rob Astorino says he'll run for governor in 2022 in what would be his second bid to unseat Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo. Astorino is a Republican former radio industry professional and two-term Westchester County executive. He promised to release an agenda to address New York's steep job loss stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic on top of government corruption and the state's high taxes and cost of living. Astorino was the Republican gubernatorial candidate in 2014 and lost to Cuomo by 54-percent to 40-percent. Congressman Lee Zeldin of Long Island announced last month that he is seeking the Republican nomination for governor.
