It was a night of big primary wins Tuesday for south county candidates in the race for the second, Chautauqua County Family Court Judge seat. There were both Republican and Democrat primaries... and, others for third-party lines. The GOP winner is Jamestown-area Attorney Jeffrey Piazza. Piazza... who advertised, and used robo calls... defeated Fredonia's Michael Sullivan 61 to 39-percent. With all 52 polling places reporting... Piazza had 18-hundred-91 votes to Sullivan's 12-hundred-30 votes.
On the Democrat side... another Jamestown-area attorney... and, town Justice, Sally Jaroszynski, defeated James Spann, 13-hundred-95 to 860. Spann, a town and village attorney in Westfield, was the endorsed candidate.Piazza will also have two other lines in the November 4th election. He claimed the Conservative line over Sullivan, 122 to 95... and, the Independence Party line with 143 votes... to Sullivan's 66... and, Spann's 48.
In the race for governor... Andrew Cuomo won handly in Chautauqua County... but, statewide... liberal challenger Zepher Teachout made a strong showing with 36-percent of the vote. Cuomo received 60-percent of the vote. Locally... he had 1,536 votes to Teachout's 624. Endorsed Lieutenant Govenor candidate Kathy Hochul of Buffalo had 59-percent of the vote to challenge Timothy Wu's 41-percent. In Chautauqua County... Hochul had 1,712 votes to Wu's 603.
In the District 12 race for the Independence Party endorsement for Chautauqua County Legislature, Republican Elizabeth Rankin defeated Beth Kresge, 19-to-18.
The new, Jamestown Metro Drug Task Force gave two alleged drug dealers a "housewarming" party they won't forget... raiding their southside home one day after they moved in. City Police Chief Harry Snellings says JPD officers and Ellicott Town Police -- along with the state Police C-NET Team -- raided ths house at 254 Barrett Avenue shortly after Noon Tuesday. Snellings says they arrested 31 year-old Michael Newton... and, 40 year-old Nicole Campbell... and, found 40 bags of heroin... about 2-and-a-half ounces of "crack" cocaine... a 38-calibur gun... and, 13-thousand dollars cash during the raid. Snellings says Newton is charged with two counts of Felony thid-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance... and, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. He adds Campbell faces one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance... and one of possession of a firearm. She's also charged with tampering with physical evidence. Snellings says both will likley be arraigned on the charges sometime later today.
There is a way for the community to take part in addressing the heroin epidemic in the Greater Jamestown-area... which has also plagued the rest of the state and nation. Residents are being urged to attend Thursday night's Community Education Program entitled "Striking Back at the White Plague." The program is being hosted by the Jamestown Strategic Planning and Partnerships Commission's Health Care Action Team at 7 PM in the Scharmann Theater. Council President Greg Rabb promoted the program as a way for people to learn more... and, find out how they can help. Mayor Sam Teresi encouraged people to attend... and, support the efforts of police, and city officials to get the drug traffickers off the streets. Police Chief Harry Snellings says the public has been very active in helping with their investigations... adding their 483-TIPS Tip-line has an average of 10 to 15 messages on it every day... and, some calls come from outside the Jamestown-area. Those are sometimes regarding Jamestown cases... others are elsewhere. Again... the tip-line number is 483-TIPS... that's 483-8477.
An ex-convict from Olean has been sentenced to up to four years in state prison for trafficking Heroin in the Cattaraugus County city. The Buffalo News reports 26 year-old James Hovey (Huh-Vee) received the term from County Court Judge Ronald Ploetz following Hovey's conviction on criminal sale, and attempted sales of Heroin. Hovey reportedly sold Heroin in Olean twice last February... and, one other time on May 9th. He had been jailed since that incident following a lengthy investigation. Hovey was spared three consecutive prison terms on the charges since he was a repeat Felon.
The two homeless men suspected of shooting and killing a New York concert violinist during a robbery in the town of Westfield last August have been formally arraigned on federal charges. The U-S Attorney's office in Buffalo says 43 year-old Jonathan Conklin... and, 30 year-old Charles Sanford were arraigned on a federal indictment charging them with carjacking... using a gun during a violent crime... and, weapons possession. They're accused of killing 61 year-old Mary Whitaker in her summer home on Titus Road back on August 20th. They were later arrested in nearby Erie, Pennsylvania. They pleaded not guilty yesterday... and, their next court appearance will be next January 28th. In addition... Conklin and Sanford are also expected to be charged with murder here in Chautauqua County.
U-S News and World Report is out with its latest rankings of colleges across the nation and the State University of New York college at Fredonia once again did well. Among regional rankings... Fredonia is 41st. That's up 19 spots from last year's ranking at 60th. SUNY at Fredonia Spokesman Mike Barone says officials there are pleased. The magazine ranked over 13-hundred colleges and universities across the nation. Fredonia had the largest year-to-year improvement among Western New York schools.
Administration officials say President Obama will ask Congress to quickly authorize the arming and training of moderate Syrian opposition forces. However... he but will press forward without formal sign-off from lawmakers on a broader military and political effort to fight Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq. Obama is scheduled to outline his plans in a rare prime-time address to the nation at 9 tonight. You can hear that address tonight on WJTN Radio. The announcement came Tuesday after president huddled with congressional leaders at the White House.
U-S Senator Kirsten Gillibrand says it's critically important that the United States strongly confront the insurgent Islamic State organization. The New York Democrat tells MSNBC she knows that won't be easy. Gillibrand is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee... and, concedes many Americans are tired of long overseas conflicts. But... she says people also are concerned about the intentions of the Islamist militant movement in Iraq and Syria.
Two people familiar with discussions have told The A--P that Terry and Kim Pegula's bid to buy the Buffalo Bills has been tentatively approved by members of late owner Ralph Wilson's estate. The next step in the sale process is for the estate to get initial approval from the NFL. That could come by the end of the week and as early as later in the day. The two people spoke on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the sale process is private. The development comes a day after the Buffalo Sabres owners were among at least three prospective ownership groups to submit binding bids to purchase the team.
There were a few tense moments... but, no safety problems when shots were reported late yesterday morning in the area of the Youngsville schools in Warren County. State Police in Warren were called to the scene... and, believe the shots may have some from the area of a field near Route 6 -- some distance from the school. Troopers say no one was hurt... and, there was never a threat to the school. Youngsville school officials consulted with police... but, never ordered the school to be locked-down.
