Drug bust on Jamestown's southside leads to three arrests, and drug seizures...
Three Jamestown residents have been arrested following a drug raid that led to the seizure of quantities of crack-cocaine and fentanyl at a southside apartment.  City police say members of the Jamestown Metro... and, Southern Tier Regional Drug Task Forces... executed a search on the upper apartment at 341 Forest Ave. shortly after Noon Monday with the help of the JPD SWAT Team.  Investigators found 18 year-old Gerald Samuels, Junior... 19 year-old Janya Samuels... and, 21 year-old Simeon Leeper, Junior... who is on parole... along with a 2-year-old child... inside the residence.  Detectives searched... and found 12.3 grams of crack cocaine in the kitchen.  All three were arrested... and, on the way to the city jail... Gerald Samuels was also found in possesion of 9.2 grams of fentanyl.  He's charged with one count each of fourth-and fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled
Substance... and, endangering the welfare of a child.  Janya Samuels and Simeon Leeper are both charged with endangering the welfare of a child.  All three were jailed pending arraignment.  The Sheriff’s Department... Dunkirk Police... and the Jamestown Fire Department assisted.  If you have any information about drug or other criminal activity... call the JPD Tipline at 483-8477... or the Sheriff's Department Tip Line at 1-800-344-8702 or 664-2420.

BPU hosting third-annual "Retool" event in Celoron today, with focus on supply chain matters for clean energy...
More than 150 people were on hand today for the third "Retool" program focusing on clean energy sector opportunities for small and medium manufacturers, which is being held in Celoron.  "Retool '24: Connect, Collaborate, Create Clean Energy Opportunities..." is part of the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities "Retool Western New York Initiative..." which is aimed at helping regional manufacturers match their production capabilities with the bigger needs of major companies in the clean energy sector.  The event is organized by BPU Business Development Coordinator, Ellen Ditonto... who says they focused on the workforce last year.  This year, she says they're focusing on opportunities in the supply chain.  Ditonto says the first activity was a panel made up of people heavily-involved in the Clean Energy sector.  One is Jon Williams... who is Chief Executive Officer at Viridi, an advanced battery energy storage manufacturer in Buffalo.  The second panelist is Ethan Brewer, who is co-founder of StepWise... which is now located in Buffalo... and, makes devices for converting residential electric panel to repower things like electric vehicles.  The third panelist will be Lee Gilmore, who is Plant Manager of the new Electrovaya plant in Jamestown... which is set to start up a lithium-ion battery pack assembly operation in a 145,000 square foot facility in the town of Ellicott in 2025.

NYPA Represenative to also be at "Retool" event...
The keyone speaker for the "Retool '24" program will be one of the top officials with the New York Power Authority.  Ditonto says NYPA Senior Vice-President for Customer Solutions, Maribel Cruz-Brown will one of the noontime speakers, -- and adds that "one of the themes that we have been talking about is how important it is that we have renewable energy for companies that are developing renewable energy products."  She says Cruz-Brown will be speaking about that because NYPA is where the BPU get's it's renewable energy... through the Niagara Power Project.

Borrello says more bad than good came out of state legislative session...
The 2024 New York state legislative session has concluded in Albany, and a state lawmaker from Chautauqua County says there was "more bad than good" that got done.  GOP Senator George Borrello says the State Legislature did not address New Yorkers' top concerns during the session, which wrapped last Friday.  The Sunset Bay Republican says among those concerns were cost of living, crime, and the migrant crisis.  Borrello says there was some "window dressing" regarding crime, and nothing being done about the migrant crisis, aside from sending $2.4-billion dollars to New York City.  Meanwhile... Borrello says the biggest legislative victory during this year's session was the advocacy that helped ensure that a new Brooks Memorial Hospital will be built in the north county.  Other "major" victories Borrello highlighted from the session included... preventing passage of the NY HEAT Act, the approval of legislation to protect youth from addictive social media algorithms, and allowing farmers and agribusinesses to take advantage of tax credits to compensate for reduction of the overtime threshold for farm workers.

Grape Crop in northern Chautauqua County devastated from Westfield -- east -- by April frost...
The grape crop in northern Chautauqua County suffered serious damage from frost back on April 25-26.  Jay Hardenburg is the Wholesale Account Manager at 21Brix Winery, and former Viticulture Manager for the National Grape Cooperative, and he says the crop along the shoreline from Westfield into Buffalo saw significant losses.  However... he says the grapes to the west of Westfield were largely unharmed.  Concord is the predominant grape variety in the Lake Erie Grape Belt, and is usually quite tolerant to cold.  However... Hardenburg says -- NOT in this instance -- because the Concords tend to bud out earlier than most others.  He says farmers are used to the vagaries of weather, and may get some assistance from crop insurance.  Despite the frost, the 'sweet juice' industry is relatively healthy right now, recovering from many years of low prices and slow demand.