A Jamestown man is in the city jail following a domestic incident that sent he and his victim to the Hospital. Police say 33 year old Joel Williams the second was a passenger in a vehicle in the area of West 3rd and Lakin Avenue just about 12 O'clock this morning when he allegedly grabbed the steering wheel and caused the vehicle to crash head on into a tree. Both Joel Willams the second and the unidentified driver of the vehicle were injured and taken to WCA. He faces a number of charges including 2nd degree reckless endangerment and 3rd degree assault. Williams the second was taken to the city jail where he's being held pending arraignment.
A Bradford woman is in the Chautauqua County Jail following a trafffic stop on Interstate 86 Monday. State Police pulled over 26 year old Rachel Gustafson when she was spotted texting while driving. Police say Gustafson was driving without a licence and suspended. After further investigation the State Police brought in their K-9 Kubi and the dog allegedly sniffed out an unspecified amount of Heroin in the vehicle. Gustafson faces a number of charges including 7th degree criminal posession of a controlled substance, aggravated unlicensed operation and Texting while driving. She was arraigned in the Town of Sherman Court and commited to the jail in lieu of 1,000 dollars bail.
New York's attorney general is leading an effort to convince the federal government to require warning labels and child-resistant packaging for liquid nicotine after reports of accidental poisonings. Eric Schneiderman joined his colleagues from Illinois and Indiana to write a letter urging the Food and Drug Administration to take ``immediate'' steps to protect children from the substance, which is used to refill electronic cigarettes. The letter, which was announced Tuesday, was signed by 30 other attorneys general from around the country. Last year a toddler in upstate New York died after ingesting liquid nicotine and poison control centers received more than 3,700 reports of problems associated with the product. New York already requires liquid nicotine to be sold in child-proof containers but Schneiderman says federal rules are needed.
The 5th annual Links Pink Walk is this Saturday at the Chautauqua Mall. The walk is one of the Links Charities fundraisers to contribute funds for the battle against breast cancer. This year's Patient Ambassador is Carrie Olmstead. Olmstead says that when she was diagnosed with breast cancer she was going to make her fight as public as possible. Brad VanRyper the executive director of the Links Charity says they are working to raise 400 thousand dollars over the next four years. WCA Director of Development Megan De'Angelo says there are a number of ways you can contribute. Again the Links Pink Walk is this Saturday October 3rd at 11am, walkers will be able to register in advance by contacting Megan D'Angelo, WCA Director of Development, at 716-664-8423 or up until the walk starts at the Chautauqua Mall on Saturday Morning.
The local group known as the 'Men of Integrity' is bringing baseball great Darryl Strawberry and his wife Tracy to Jamestown on Saturday. They'll be talking about the challenges they've faced as a couple. Pastor Roy Miller, a spokesman for the 'Men of Integrity' says the Strawberrys' have a great marriage... today... after surviving adultery, addiction, financial ruin and more. At 7 PM Saturday, the Strawberrys will be at the phys ed center at JCC to discuss their book "The Imperfect Marriage, Help for Those Who Think It's Over'. Roy Miller says the book is terrific. Tickets for the Saturday night event are $10 in advance... and available at The Allen Street Diner, Stan's Service, Valu Hearing, J. Edwards Insurance and the Lakewood Golf Center. They'll be $15 at the door.
Earlier in the day Darryl and Tracy will conduct a program at JCC called 'Freedom from Addictions' and will have lunch with some people in recovery at the Mental Health Association on Water St.
A new analysis of New York's infrastructure is giving the state's bridges, roads and wastewater systems a bad grade. The New York chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers released the state's infrastructure report card on Tuesday. The organization rated several categories of infrastructure including airports, drinking water, transit, dams and parks. The state's overall grade is a C-minus. New York earned Ds when it came to bridges, roads and sewers. However the report notes that many roads and highways are in poor condition, most bridges are at least 75 years old and the state's wastewater systems need $36 billion in repairs and upgrades.
On the positive side, the state earned B-minuses for parks and solid waste.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has assembled a panel of educators, lawmakers and parents to review the Common Core learning standards and the way schoolchildren are tested on them. Cuomo has been critical of the state's rollout of the standards and earlier this month promised a review and changes. On Monday, he launched the 15-member Common Core Task Force to be led by Richard Parsons, a senior adviser at Providence Equity Partners. Parsons led an earlier education reform panel that made recommendations in January 2014.
Cuomo said the Common Core panel's agenda is ``a total reboot'' of the Common Core system. He's seeking a review of the standards themselves, the training of teachers and the tests used to measure student and teacher performance. A report is expected by year's end.
The Jamestown Audubon Society is wrapping up there annual fund drive. The drive ends September 30th. Ruth Lundin from the Audubon says there is extra incentive for the community to give, because an anonymous donor who said that they "would match donations in the next couple of days up to 25 hundred dollars". The Audubon uses these funds for programming at their Nature Center that serves three counties. You can donate, or become a memember of the Jamestown Audubon Society by calling 569-2345 or visiting Jamestown Audubon.org and click on the donate now button.
The average price of gas in the Jamestown area is down just over 4 cents a gallon this week ringing in at 2-dollars-60 cents a gallon. According to the Triple A's Fuel Gage Report... the drop is due to lower crude oil prices, declining demands and a switch to winter blend fuels. The cost of a gallon of regular gas this week back in 2014 was 3.64 cents a gallon! The current national average is $2.29 cents.
