Republicans do well in county-wide races on Election Day... but, Democrats do better in Jamestown and Dunkirk...
It was a good night for Republicans county-wide on Election Night in Chautauqua County. However... Democrats rose up to take the majority of seats on the Jamestown City Council. Incumbant Republican County Executive P.J. Wendel started slow... but, came on as the night wore on to win a second full-term... defeating Democrat challenger, Tom Carle, 12,232 to 8,035. While he was happy with the win... Wendel was disappointed to see Republicans lose two seats on the legislature. He says he was focused on his race... but, was hoping the GOP would hold onto their supermajority on the legislature. In the race for County Clerk to replace the retiring Larry Barmore... Republican Greg Carlson won over Democrat Greg Krauza, 11,465 to 8,377. Carlson... who is currently the county's Veterans Services Director, called his win "an honor" and commended Krauza on running a hard, issues oriented campaign.
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As for the legislature... Republican incumbant Phil Landy was defeated in the District-9 race by Jamestown Democrat Vince DeJoy, 460-400. Former Legislator Robert Whitney, a Democrat, defeated Republican Tamara Dickey in the District 11 race in Jamestown, 483-380. In the other contested races... Republican Tom Harmon won over Taxpayers candidate Amanda Merced in District-6, 613-309... and, Incumbant Republican Jamie Gustafson won over Democrat Julie Jackson-Forsberg in District 10, 831-632. In District 12... Democrat Fred Larson won over Republican Jeff Russell, 524-480.... and Democrat Tom Nelson in District 13 defeated Republican Joseph Tickle, 325-223. The other contested race was won by Republican Travis Heiser over Melissa First, 709-243. The legislature will still have a majority, 12-to-7 come next Jan. 1.
Democrats flip City Coucil in Jamestown starting Jan. 1... going from 8-1 minority to 5-4 majority...
Democrats in the city of Jamestown have risen up to retake a majority of the seats on the City Council... albeit a slim, 5-to-4 majority. That's after they went 3-for-3 in contested ward races on Tuesday. Incumbant Third-Ward Democrat Regina Brackman turned away GOP challenger, Seth States... Doug Scotchmer defeated Republican incumbant, Joe Paterniti in Ward-4... and, in Ward-Five...newcomer Hannah Jaroszynski won over Republican Dan Hickman. And two Democratic newcomers... Jeremy Endquist and Dan Gonzalez won seats... but, Republican Russ Bonfiglio was the top vote getter on the night.
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In Lakewood... Republicans Ben Troche... John Shedd and Scott Cooper were all winners. Democrats swept the night in Dunkirk... where voters also overwhelming decided to abolish the Treasurer's position.
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Perhaps the most interesting result of the night was in the village of Celoron... where incumbant Trustee Mike Moss won one of the two seats up for a vote with 121 tallies. However... the write-in line received 158 votes. Where those fall will likely determine who wins the other seat. Joshua Glover wound up with 46 votes.
County legislature to hold special meeting about how to deal with pause on SNAP benefits...
The Chautauqua County Legislature will hold a special meeting tonight to get an update on SNAP and Home Energy Assistance Program benefits... and, will learn what the county can do legally. At this point... County Executive P.J. Wendel says the meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m., but, he adds county government is very limited in what it's allowed to do.
City woman arrested for Agg. DWI and four Leandra's Law violations...
A woman from Jamestown has been arrested for allegedly driving drunk when her car crashed with four young children inside her vehicle on the city's southside. Jamestown police say they were called to the scene at Baker and Chapman Streets just after 3 p.m. Monday... and spoke with the drivers involved. Officers say the driver at fault was identified as 42 year-old Christina Blair... and, they determined she was driving while intoxicated. Blair was arrested... and, submitted to a chemical breath test... and, was found to have a blood alchool content more than twice the legal limit. She was charged with DWI... Aggravated DWI... four counts of Aggravated DWI with a child in the vehicle -- all violations of Leandra's Law... and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child... along with multiple traffic infractions. She was jailed pending arraignment.
Geise says good progress is being made on completing Ripley "Shovel-Ready" industrial site...
Good progress is being made on the project to create a new, 150-acre, "Shovel-Ready" Industrial Park site in the town of Ripley. That from Deputy Chautauqua County Executive and Industrial Development Agency Chief Executive Officer, Mark Geise, who says the engineering work on the 3,000 foot access road into the park is now underway... with other infrastructure. That also includes an extention of water and sewer service... and, Geise says National Grid is working now to get electric service to the site. In the coming months... Geise says they'll be putting out requests for proposals for the electrical work to get power to that site. As for water infrastructure... he says he discussed the recent state of emergency with the Ripley Water District with Town Supervisor Lauree Pless. Geise says Pless noted it was a "once in 50 year occurance" that didn't just affect Ripley... and, he says they're not trying to lure businesses that have "water-intensive" needs. Geise says the project in Ripley is somewhat complex with various funding sources to get the work done. He made his comments for last weekend's "Community Spotlight" program on the six Media One Radio Group stations.
