Our Lake Effect Snow Warning came to an end last night. However... the Lake Effect has not left western New York. There is now a Lake Effect Snow Watch in effect for Chautauqua County through Friday afternoon. Forecaster Dave Zaff with the National Weather Service, though, says the majority of the snowfall has been in the north county... and, areas just south along the Lake Erie shoreline. Zaff adds that, to the north, its even worse. A severe travel warning was issued for the State Thruway from Ripley to Hamburg as snowfall totals topped 2-feet in many places near the Chautauqua-Erie County border. The snow forced Mayor A-J Dolce to declare a state of emergency in Dunkirk... where five to six inches of snow had fallen from 2 PM to about 20 last night. A travel ban began at 4 PM. Here in the Jamestown-area... snowfall totals were about 5 to 8 inches... depending on location. By early last evening... there was 25 inches of snow reported in Varysburg... and, about 23 to 24 inches in Perrysburg. However... Zaff says there were places in northern Oswego County -- off Lake Ontario -- that were expecting to see 4 to 5 feet of snow by the time their lake effect snows began tapering off.
Chautauqua County's representative in the U-S House says the just-announced budget deal remains a "very dynamic" situation. Corning Republican Tom Reed says Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan has been keeping GOP majority members apprised of the situation... but, most are signaling support for the plan -- even though it's not perfect. In fact... the two-year deal has drawn the ire of some very conservative members. However... Reed's playing it close to the vest on where he stands on it. Ryan has been working on the bi-partisan bill... which the Congressional Budget office says would raise the debt another 41.4-billion dollars... with Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray. The agreement has been defined as "very narrow..." and, doesn't deal with issues like tax and entitlement reform... which Reed supports. However... he says there are other issues, too. The C-B-O's analysis also says the deal would save taxpayers 23-billion dollars... when calculated over the coming decade. The deal permits 63-billion dollars in relief from automatic spending cuts over the coming two years... and, substitutes 85-billion dollars in longer-term savings and fee proposals over the coming decade.
A man and woman from Frewsburg are jailed without bail for allegedly stealing more than 400 pounds in steel parts from private property in the town of Carroll... and, trying to sell it as scrap metal. Carroll Town Police say they arrested 34 year-old Chad... and, 32 year-old Roseanne Nelson... after they were spotted by patrol selling the metal to a business on North Pearl Street last Monday night. Police say the patrol first saw the Nelson's in a 1990s pick-up truck with the scrap metal in the truck-bed about 9 PM. They had allegedly sold most of the metal to the local site when police moved in. Carroll police add Chad Nelson was found to be driving with a suspended New York license. Both Chad and Roseanne Nelson were arraigned on charges of Felony grand larceny... and Felony criminal possession of stolen property... and, sent to the county lock-up.
A teenaged girl who lives at the GA Home on Jamestown's eastside has been arrested for allegedly tearing a phone off a wall... and, throwing it to the ground. City police were called to the scene at 200 Gustavus Avenue just after 7 o'clock Tuesday night on a criminal mischief complaint. Officers say the unidentified, 17 year-old was accused of damaging the phone earlier in the evening. The teen was arrested for fourth-degree criminal mischief.
State Education Commissioner John King, Junior and his staff are telling Jamestown School officials that they're very impressed with how the district has implemented the Common Core curriculum. King and State Board of Regents Chancellor Emeritus Robert Bennett visited three classrooms... and, were part of a public forum at Jamestown High School last week. School Superintendent Tim Mains told school board members Tuesday night that King and Bennett not only observed... but, had the chance to visit with many people -- including students and parents. Mains adds that Commissioner King... and, Bennett were pleased with how last week's two-hour public forum on the Common Core went... even though the final 40-minutes included several interruptions surrounding the controversial topic. Most of those people were reportedly from the Buffalo-area. Mains says they were so impressed that they are going to send a team back to Jamestown early next year to provide some additional program support... and, film some of the programs they saw to post on their website at "Engage-New York."
A report from the state Health Department says the number of infections acquired by patients while in New York hospitals continues to decline. The sixth-annual report on hospital-acquired infections found that since 2007 the rate of central-line associated blood stream infections has fallen 53 percent and rates of surgical site infections fell by 16 percent. The report released late Tuesday presents 2012 hospital-acquired infection rates identified by hospitals for surgical site infections related to colon, cardiac bypass, hip replacement and hysterectomies. The report is available at: www.health.data.ny.gov .
