WJTN News Headlines for Mon., June 23, 2025

Heat Advisories continue until Tuesday night for more of Western New York region...
Today will probably be the warmest day of our brief hot spell here in the western Southern Tier of New York state.  The National Weather Service is continuing a heat advisory for Chautauqua County... and most of Western New York... until 6 p.m. Tuesday.  That from Meteorologist Matthew Brothers with the weather service's Buffalo Office.  Brothers say heat indexes today will be well into the 90s -- mostly like the mid-90s.  He says that'll remain in place through Tuesday afternoon.  He adds that's because we'll have a shift in our weather pattern that will take away the "heat dome" that's covered much of the Eastern United States.  Brothers says for the rest of today... and, tomorrow... take precautions if you have to be outdoors... or work outdoors.  He says make sure to drink plenty of fluids -- namely water, take frequent breaks indoors, or where you can keep cool.  Brothers says there were no records set in Western New York yesterday... even though the mercury reached about 90 here in the Jamestown-area.


Ohio man who went missing while swimming near Chautauqua Institution last Saturday afternoon found dead Sunday afternoon...
A man from Cortland, Ohio man has been found dead after he went missing on Chautauqua Lake late Saturday afternoon... just north of Chautauqua Institution.  Sheriff's deputies say they received a 911 call shortly before 5 p.m. last Saturday for a missing swimmer in the area... and, officers called in their Water Emergency Team, and the Sheriff's Department's Marine Division.  However... they stopped Saturday night due to darkness.  The search resumed Sunday morning... and about Noon time... the man -- identified as 63 year-old Peter Pizzulo  -- was found by the State Police Underwater Recovery Team... using a sonar scanner.  Diver's from the county's WET Team recovered Pizzulo's body. 


Two Jamestown men arrested on drug charges following call for "suspicious vehicle" in driveway last weekend...
Two men from Jamestown has been arrested on multiple drug-related charges following a call for a "suspicious situation" on the city's southside Sunday night.  Jamestown police say they were called to a report of a vehicle in a driveway with the two men possibly using illegal drugs about 7:30 p.m.  Officers say they made contact with the pair... identified as Steven Bates and David Blakey... and, while speaking with them... they saw several items related to drug paraphernalia inside the vehicle.  Police then searched the vehicle... and, found quantities of methamphetamine... fentanyl... cutting agents and a digital scale.  Bates and Blakey were then taken into custody without incident... and taken to the city jail pending arraignment.  Officers later found Blakey in possession of additional quantities of fentanyl individually packaged for sale.  Both he and Bates were charged with third-and fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance... and, two counts of second-degree criminally using drug paraphernalia.


Nearly 300 graduates receive diploma's in JHS Class of 2025 graduation ceremony...
The nearly 300 members of the Jamestown High School Class of 2025 crossed the stage at the Chautauqua Amphitheater to receive their diplomas last Friday night.  However... the night of celebration began on a somber note... with School Superintendent Kevin Whitaker asking for a moment of silence in memory of a Daniel Galarza-Ramos... a fifth-grader at Jefferson Middle School... who was tragically struck and killed on his bicycle just over a day before the ceremony.  The commencement ceremonies then carried on with a number of short speeches... including that of Keynote Speaker, Aaron Leeper.  Leeper was one of the best running backs ever at JHS... and in New York state when he graduated in 2001.  Leeper also had a great Freshman year at the University of Buffalo.  With the last name "Leeper" he says there was some burden to carry.  He says he didn't grow up in a "picture perfect household..." but, he had family that cared about him -- especially his grandmother... and, football coaches who stepped in as "fathers."  He says he worked hard to show appreciation for what they did for him.  Leeper's hope for a professional career vanished with a second shoulder injury....and, he poured himself into his studies, and went on to get a Masters before landing a job with the U.S. Air Marshall's Service. 


Two federal lawmakers sound off on U.S. Strikes on nuclear facilities in Iran last weekend...
New York's junior U-S Senator says she has -- "long suported efforts to ensure that iran, the foremost exporter of terrorism in the world... cannot have a nuclear weapon."  However... Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand says she's also "deeply concerned by President Trump's decision to unilaterally launch these attacks without seeking Congressional authorization, as required by the Constitution."  Gillibrand says... who is on the Senate's Armed Services Committee... says "the Trump administration must fully explain to the American people the rationale for this military action and a strategy to avoid being mired in another Middle Eastern war, and it must give Congress a full intelligence briefing immediately."  Meanwhile... local Congrssman Nick Langworthy praised President Trump for acting with "strength and clarity" to eliminate the "grave threat" Iran poses to the nation and world.  In the wake of last Saturday night's bombings of three nuclear facilities... Langworthy says -- "after Iran refused every diplomatic path and persisted in its dangerous pursuit of nuclear weapons, the President was left with no choice but to defend American interests and global security."