Tower St. home destroyed by "incindiary" fire early Sunday morning...
A fire, believed to have been incindiary in nature, has destroyed a vacant house on Jamestown's eastside.  Battalion Fire Chief Don Mowery says crews found the structure at 112 Tower St. fully-engulfed in flames when they arrived shortly after 12:30 AM Sunday... and, an off-duty shift was called in to help battle the flames.  Mowery says it took some time to bring the blaze under control.  Mowery says the last crew left the scene just after 10 a.m. Sunday.  He adds the cause remains under investigation... and no decision has been made on tearing down the building.

City woman arrested for drunk driving after one-car crash blamed on DWI...
A Jamestown woman escaped serious injury in a single-car, drunk driving accident on the city's northside last weekend.  City police were called to the scene shortly after Midnight Saturday... and found a vehicle disabled on the terrace.  Officers say they then found the driver, 39 year-old Tanya Pazcasanova, in the area of the car... and, appearing to be under the influence of alcohol.  Police say they was taken to UPMC Chautauqua Hospital for treatment of her injuries.  She was then taken to the city jail pending arraignment on several charges... including driving while intoxicated.

Dolce says city council will act on budget change, doling out some ARPA funding, at Dec. 27 meeting...
The Jamestown City Council held it's first, in-depth discussion about how lawmakers want to allocate the city's just over $28-million in American Rescue Plan Act funds this past week.  One of the key topic was whether the city had the ability to move money around after designating specific amounts to "lost revenue" "housing" and other general catagories.  That from City Council President Tony Dolce... who says they want to begin moving forward on projects and purchases at the Dec. 27 voting session.  Dolce says part of the reason is there's a long wait time on vehicles, and parts because lawmakers are currently looking to order up to five new police cars... in addition to the one purchased in the 2022 budget.  However... Police Chief Tim Jackson says it's taking about a year to year-and-a-half to get a vehicle delivered once it's ordered.  Lawmakers did separate out ARPA items from the $38.3-million spending plan... but, Dolce says they've been able to minimize the impact on the city's undesignated fund balance... or 'rainy day fund.'  He says council will have to vote to move about $36,000 from fund balance to those items vetoed by Mayor Eddie Sundquist that were upheld by lawmakers. 

NYS records highest number of new, COVID-19 cases Saturday...
Soaring COVID-19 case numbers... long testing lines and event cancellations might feel a bit like déjà vu, but so far New York City hospitals aren't seeing a repeat of the surges that swamped emergency rooms early in the pandemic.  The state reported Saturday that nearly 22,000 people had tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday -- eclipsing the previous day's mark for the highest single-day total for new cases since testing became widely available.  More than half of the positive results were in the city.  But new hospitalizations and deaths so far are averaging well below their spring 2020 peak and even where they were this time last year.

Ninth-annual Holiday Haul a record-breaking success...
The ninth-annual Holiday Haul for St. Susan’s Center broke records again this year.  Organizer Keith Martin summarized the contributions... saying they received 6-and-a-half tons of food and supplies... along with $24,000 in cash for the Jamestown-area's largest soup kitchen.  Martin recounted the words of one man, who contributed both cash and supplies, and said he used to go to St. Susan's... but, adding he's "doing much better now," and he wanted to give back.  He says that one story encapsulates the reason for the Holiday Haul.  The three day event started Thursday in front of the Jamestown Cycle Shop in Brooklyn Square and wrapped up Saturday afternoon.  Martin is the Executive Director of the Northwest Arena in Jamestown.

One-year-old in Jamestown taken from home with deplorable conditions...
A Jamestown couple face charges after a call for an unresponsive person revealed a one-year-old child living in deplorable conditions.  City police were called to the scene of a domestic dispute on Water Street shortly after 5 a.m. last Tuesday... and, upon further investigation... they found multiple hazards to the child inside.  Officers arrested 38 year-old Travis Wilder at the scene... and, a warrant was later issued for 21 year-old Halie Lendhard.  Each is charged with one count each of endangering the welfare of a child.  Wilder was taken to the city jail pending arraignment.

Woman arrested as fugitive from justice from Missouri...
A woman living in the town of Ellery has been arrested fon a number of charges for being a fugitive from justice in the state of Missouri.  Chautauqua County Sheriff's officers say they were given information from Missouri officials late last week about 40 year-old Brouk Jansen... and conducted a warrant check at a home on Mahanna Road.  Deputies say Jansen is wanted for failure to appear, non-support, driving while suspended/revoked and tampering with a motor vehicle.  Since she was wanted outside of New York state... she was charged with being a fugitive from justice.  She was also allegedly found to be in possession of a stolen motor vehicle... and, was also charged with felony fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property.