Lake Effect Snows winding down in northern Chautauqua County, while south county receives only about an inch overnight...
A band of lake effect snow is continuing to drop snow along the Lake Erie shoreline... and mainly in northern Chautauqua and southern Erie counties.  The National Weather Service is continuing a Lake Effect Snow warning through 1 p.m. today... and, Forecaster Jim Mitchell in Buffalo says gusty winds have been helping to produce near whiteout conditions in the area along Interstate 90 between Dunkirk and Hamburg... with a few hard-hit areas receiving six-inches of snow an hour.  About mid-day Thursday... Mitchell said some locations within the lake effect band had already picked up to two feet of snow.  The bands were expected to move towards Buffalo last night before moving slightly south for the morning. 

Ecklund talks snowplow routes, and switch to brine to treat roadways...
The city of Jamestown has been able to keep up with the snow so far this season... and, officials are hoping have a new weapon soon to use against the ice and snow.  Mayor Kim Ecklund says our first major lake effect snow right after Thanksgiving was a bit diffcult on the newer members of her staff.  Ecklund says that was mostly with numerous calls with questions about when particular side streets would be plowed.  She says public safety is a main concern... and, taking care of the main, major roadways in the city is always the primary focus before the Parks, and Public Works Departments can begin work on secondary and tertirary streets in the city.  As for the new weapon in clearing the streets... she says a switchover to using brine more than salt is in the works.  That's partly because they used half-of-their salt supply during the previous storm.  She says they first have to equip their DPW trucks with the proper equipment.  She says the brine is less costly... and more efficient.  Ecklund says another issue with clearing the snow off roads and side streets is people not adhering to alternate parking rules.  She made her comments for this weekend's Community Spotlight program on the six Media One Radio Group stations.

Dunkirk Police arrest north county man on drug and weapons charges...
A Dunkirk man is being held in the Chautauqua County Jail on $200,000 cash bail following his arrest on weapon and drug-related charges.  Dunkirk Police say 44-year-old Fernando Martinez, Jr. was taken into custody on Nov. 26 on an active warrant for third-degree criminal possession of weapon.  The warrant stemmed from an investigation into an incident in January in which Martinez was allegedly found to be in possession of a semiautomatic pistol.  While being taken into custody... he was allegedly found in possession of 6.5 grams of methamphetamine, 3.2 grams of fentanyl, nearly a gram of cocaine, multiple glassine envelopes, a scale, cutting material, and $446 in cash.  Martinez has been charged with three counts of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, one count of second-degree criminally using drug paraphernalia, and one count of criminal possession of a narcotic drug with intent to sell.

Annual "Holiday Haul" continues in Brooklyn Square to benefit St. Susan's...
The 12th annual Holiday Haul is underway... but, despite a slow start... organizers are feeling good about people stopping by to drop off food and monitary donations to the St. Susan's Center in Jamestown.  Organizer Dan Keefe and his volunteers are back in the parking lot of the Jamestown Cycle Shop to accept donations until 6 o'clock tonight.  While it's been cold with Lake Effect Snow the past couple of days... St. Susan's Executive Director Cheri Rowland says... for the homeless and others who are needy... they deal with it everyday.  Rowland says it was 13-degrees about mid-morning today... and, adds that they provide a place where those people can get a hot meal, and warm-up.  The Jamestown-area's largest soup kitchen has been seeing high numbers of people coming to the center... even with the COVID pandemic behind us.  During an interview with our Andrew Hill... Keefe said people should not be detered by the weather... after all this is Western New York.  He says Buffalo Bills fans tailgate in worse weather.  Again, the hours for the Holiday Haul in the parking lot of the Jamestown Cycle Shop in Brooklyn Square are through 6 p.m. tonight... and, again tomorrow from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.   For more information... go on-line to stsusanscenter.org.

Overheated appliance found as cause of Prendergast Avenue fire in Jamestown...
An over-heated kitchen appliance is listed as the cause of an early evening fire Wednesday that damaged one area of a northside home.  City Fire Battalion Chief Keith Olson says firefighters made quick work of the kitchen fire that occured at 1121 Prendergast Ave.  Crews were called to the scene shortly after 7 p.m., and, found light smoke in the area.  They also found that all five occupants were out of the home.  However... one was quickly transported to UPMC Chautauqua Hospital with burns to their hands.  Four others sought treatment for lesser injuries.  Olson says crews used fire extinguishers to bring the blaze under control in about 10 minutes.  Crews were at the scene for about two hours.