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WJTN Headlines

A spokeswoman for Equifax says her company is "actively engaging" with state and federal officials following a data breach that exposed personal information for 143 million Americans. 

 

The company decided not to attend a legislative hearing on identity theft and data breaches Thursday in New York, however.  One lawmaker called that a "slap in the face" to New Yorkers. 

 

New York legislators are considering proposals to impose greater regulations on credit monitoring companies like Equifax, TransUnion or Experian following the cyberattack on Equifax. 

 

Representatives from TransUnion and Experian were also invited to Thursday's hearing but did not attend.  Eight million New Yorkers were among those whose sensitive information was exposed in the Equifax breach.


The Jamestown Board of Public Utilities has agreed to a three-year extension of the board's contract with it's full-time employees in the solid waste division. 

 

BPU General Manager Dave Leathers says the board this week approved the extension, which takes effect October 1st with Teamsters Local-264.  Leathers says there are 11 full-time employees covered by the contract, which includes a 2.36% wage increase for Tier-One employees and  consolidation of the bottom two tiers to bring stability.

 

The previous contract ended in 2018.  Leathers says Tier-One workers wil receive $20.40 an hour while the second-tier will receive $16.40 an hour.  He says they also agreed to stay with the Teamsters Health Insurance coverage, which will be frozen through 2021. 

 

Leathers say they have two years to go on it's contract with their biggest union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 459 and adds their wastewater treatment employees are under contract through the end of 2020.  Leathers says he believes it's a good agreement for both sides.


After some debate county lawmakers Wednesday night approved selling the South County Office Building, and two others, to a Jamestown-area developer. 

 

In fact, a couple of legislators wanted to table the measure until the proposal was looked at more closely.  However, a significant majority felt the sale had already been through enough scrutiny and, wanted to move foward on the sale.  Legislator Chuck Nazzaro says he wanted more review but, added that he was also concerned about losing "control" of the building.

 

The county legislature approved sale of the South County Office Building and two others to Jody Peterson, doing business as Jamestown Rental Properties, LLC.  The sale of the South County building was approved, 15-4. 

 

The other sales of the Bratt Agricultural building in the town of Ellicott, and the Sherman Shop Maintenance Facility to Jamestown Rental properties were approved unanimously.


The Chautauqua County Humane Society has again opened their arms and hearts to furry friends this time three dogs from South Florida that were displaced by Hurricane Irma. 

 

The dogs started out as part of a group of 25 from the Brevard County Animal Care Center in Florida, but, were removed from the center after issues with flooding and power following the storm.  CCHS was chosen to house the three dogs because of previous cooperative efforts with the Ten Lives Club in Buffalo. 

 

Sue Bobek, Director of Animal Services at the Humane Society says "we have had a partnership with Ten Lives Club for many years.  After the dogs arrived to them, circumstances had changed for a few of their fosters and they had three dogs without a place to go.  When approached about taking them, we said we could help just as they have helped us in the past." 

 

The three dogs are healthy and available for adoption.  If you are interested in adopting one of them, call 665-2209; visit SPCAPETS.COM or message CCHS through Facebook at Chautauqua County Humane Society.


New York state is home to more than one-million people of Puerto Rican background and, is sending a lot more than thoughts and prayers to the hurricane-ravaged island. 

 

Governor Andrew Cuomo has organized an aid package including 34,000 bottles of water, more than 10,000 meals ready to eat, 1,400 cots, and four Black Hawk search-and-rescue helicopters. 

 

The Democratic Governor says more than 100 New York City firefighters, police officers and other workers are in Puerto Rico to help, and Mayor Bill de Blasio is expecting an influx of thousands of Puerto Ricans fleeing the storm's damage.  Most of the immediate Jamestown-area's 4,000-5,000 Latinos are from Puerto Rico.


Chautauqua County Executive Vince Horrigan's final budget plan will be a "challenging" one for county legislators. 

 

Those are the feelings of the chairman of the legislature's main financial committee.  Audit and Control Chairman Pierre Chagnon says, on first blush, a lot of the spending increase in the 2018 budget proposal is in response to the ongoing Heroin and Opioid Abuse epidemic. He says they were able to reduce taxes during the first three years of Horrigan's administration.  However he says it'll be more difficult this year with a 10-cent per thousand full-value tax rate increase. 

 

Minority Leader Chuck Nazzaro of Jamestown says he's concerned about seeing a $7.6-million, 3.3-percent spending increase in the $236-million plus budget and will dig into the details with the panel next week.

 

Nazzaro is the ranking minority member of the Audit and Control Committee says they're ready for four full-days of budget deliberations with department heads, and home committees.  Lawmakers hope to act on the budget by the end of October.


A Falconer man faces several charges, including criminally possessing a hypodermic intstrument after trying to flee on his bicycle from Jamestwn Police early Wednesday morning. 

 

City police say the spotted 30 year-old Sam Critzer riding a bicycle with no lights or horn on the 40 block of Eagle Street about 12:30 a.m..  Officers pulled up to the suspect, got out of the vehicle and told him to stop. 

 

However, Critzer refused and got back on his bike and tried to get away in the opposite direction.  Officers say they were able to stop him a few houses down the street. 

 

After a search, Critzer was also found to be in possession of a quantity of methamphetamine, marijuana, several hypodermic needles, and several prescription drugs outside their original container.   Critzer was arraigned, and sent to the county jail on $3500 bail.