Fire at County Landfill keeps firefighters from nine department's busy early Monday morning...
Several south and center Chautauqua County fire departments responded to a significant fire at the county landfill near Ellery overnight. Sinclairville Fire officials say they were called to the Towerville Road locations just after 3:30 a.m., and, called in eight other mutual aid departments. They worked to truck water to the locations... using a tanker shuttle system with a fill site established at the Den Adelsman's Klub. The situation was brought under control when Landfill staff were able to mitigate the fire at its source by deploying heavy equipment to cover the affected area with dirt. The fire was contained considered "stable" about three hours later. Mutual aid was provided by Ashville... Cassadaga... Ellery Center... Ellington... Falconer... Fluvanna... Gerry and Stockton. No cause has been released... and no injuries were reported.
DEC fines Great Lakes Cheese Company in Franklinville $475,000
The Great Lakes Cheese plant in Cattaraugus County has been fined nearly half-a-million dollars in penalties and corrective actions for last August's discharge into Ischua Creek. The announcement was made Monday afternoon by the state Department of Environmental Conservation... noting that the $475,000 is required in an Order of Consent the DEC entered into with the Franklinville company. The discharge resulted in a large fish and wildlife die-off... and, the enforcement requires "significant operational changes and full compliance with water quality, air quality, and chemical and petroleum requirements, enhanced real-time water quality monitoring to further protect Ischua Creek, and other actions closely overseen by DEC to ensure effective implementation." The DEC Commissioner adds that the "enforcement action not only secures a large fine but also requires a project that will benefit environmental quality in the community and help it heal from the significant loss of tens of thousands of fish and other aquatic species." The consent order addresses the numerous violations connected to the Ischua Creek impacts and earlier violations assessed in June and July 2025. DEC required a total civil penalty of $475,000 -- $250,000 paid to DEC, and $75,000 suspended pending compliance with the terms and conditions of the Order and an environmental benefit project valued at $150,000. The DEC will also pursue a Natural Resources Damage claim against Great Lakes Cheese, as warranted, to ensure restoration of the impacted section of Ischua Creek.
Ecklund to present proposed, 2026 budget Wednesday afternoon...
Jamestown Mayor Kim Ecklund will release her proposed, 2026 budget plan during a presentation Wednesday afternoon at City Hall. During Monday night's Council work session... Ecklund announced the presentation would be made at 3:30 p.m. in the Police Training Room on the fourth-floor of City Hall... and, adds her budget team will be hard at work on the proposal up until the last minute. She urged council members to be on hand... if they can make it. If not... she says her administration will get it to them a copy of the budget sometime following the presentation.
U.S. Dept. of Energy Grant for BPU Micro-Grid project "terminated..."
The U.S. Department of Energy has cancelled more than 300 federal grants for projects nationwide... including $17-million for the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities Micro-Grid project. A list of the 321 terminated awards were obtained by Latitude Media... and, every cancelled award was for a project led by a company based in a Democrat-led state. The canceled amount of the awards totaled nearly $8-billion. The BPU's award of $17.37-million was for the total project of $23.2-million. A BPU official told Media One late Monday morning that they had received no confirmation of any grant award being terminated... and, would not be commenting on it. The BPU had been awarded the funding about a year ago... and, had already sent out requests-for-proposals that were due at the beginning of June for the project. The microgrid would utilize the city utility’s existing gas-fired turbine, a district heating system, and would add a battery storage system for “black start” capability. Black start is a process of restoring power to a part of the electric grid without connecting to the external electric transmission or distribution system.
"Made in Falconer" event also highlights renewed effor to get local students to consider careers in the trades, and manufacturing...
Last Saturday's "Made in Falconer" event was a chance to celebrate local manufacturing... but, it was also a call to arms because a lot of those jobs are going unfilled. Several local manufacturers say they don't have enough people to replace baby-boomers who are retiring. County Executive P.J Wendel... who taught school for about 25 years in Falconer... says there needs to be a change in the local "mind-set." Wendel says the emphasis was on going to college for many years... but, now with boomers retiring "there's almost a panic" in trying to "replace these people." He also related a recent story about a conversation he had with the superintendent at the Chautauqua Lake School District about a female graduate who took some tech in high school, and is going onto a job that pays $38 an hour to start. State Senator George Borrello highlighted the achievements of local manufacturers... including Ellison Bronze... which is where the day began. State Assemblyman Andrew Molitor noted that both his father and grandfather worked in the tool-and-die trade... and, their work ethic rubbed off on the family.
