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WJTN News Headlines for Sept. 14, 2018

Incumbant Governor Andrew Cuomo has fended off a challenge from liberal upstart Cythia Nixon to win Thursday's Democratic Primary for governor...  
 
With 99-percent of the precincts reporting late last night, Cuomo had 66-percent of the vote, to 34-percent for Nixon.  The former "Sex and the City" co-star ran as far-left, anti-corruption candidate.  The real question on Primary night was who would be Cuomo's Lieutenant Governor candidate.  Incumbant Kathy Hochul of Buffalo defeated New York City's Jumaane Williams, 53-percent to 47-percent.  In Chautauqua County, Republican challenger Jim Quattrone won the Conservative Party Primary for sheriff against incumbant Demcract Joe Gerace.  Quattrone had 217 votes, to Gerace's 104.  In the Democratic Attorney General's race, Latitia James won four-way race with 41-percent of the vote.  Zephyr Teachout got 31-percent.  Sean Patrick Maloney received 25-percent and Leecia Eve had three-percent.  
 
 
A Dunkirk man will spend the next 16 years behind bars for kidnapping a 13 year-old autisic boy from the Fredonia Wal-Mart store two years ago...  
 
Chautauqua County District Attorney Patrick Swanson says 40 year-old Samuel Saeli was sentenced in County Court Thursday on one count each of second-degree kidnapping, and second-degree kidnapping as a sexually-motivated Felony.
 
Swanson added that -- quote - "today, the defendant was placed where he cannot pose a threat to any child for the next 16 years.  Justice was served with the sentence the Court handed down."  The autistic boy was found shortly after the incident occured and, Saeli was arrested a short distance away from the Wal-Mart.  The sentence was handed down Thursday by Acting County Court Judge Paul Wojtaszek.
 
 
Work has begun in earnest on the city of Jamestown's 2019 budget and, Mayor Sam Teresi says there are a number of challenges to tackle before it's presented to the City Council next month...  
 
Teresi briefed lawmakers this week on the process, noting that one of the biggest challenges is dealing with increasing health insurance costs.  The city is self-insured and, Teresi says a large number of those in the program are retirees.
 
The city has battled deficts the past couple of years because it has reached 100-percent of it's constitutional taxing limit, which means lawmakers can't raise taxes.  Teresi says his department heads are encouraged to include needs in their individual budgets, so they typically start in a deficit situation.  He says he and his budget team then pare down the spending plan further to present to the City Council.  He says the other challenges include fuel costs, and increasing state pension costs.  The budget will be presented on Tuesday, October 9.  
 
 
There is a new leaking problem on the ground floor of Jamestown City Hall stemming from the reconstruction project on Tracy Plaza above...  
 
Last year, the problem shut down the front entrance to the Police Department.  This time, the work above has forced the Fire Department out of part of it's City Hall fire station while repairs are being done.  Mayor Sam Teresi maintains that -- once again -- it's the contractor's fault.
 
Two to three offices were affected, along with part of the parking garage under the plaza.  Teresi says the fire department has handled the inconvenience well, moving to other parts of the department after two heavy rains hit the area.  After that, he says the department moved some of it's operations to another fire station.  Teresi says the good news is that the contractor's insurance company has covered repairs to the Police Department and, they will again push for a settlement regarding the fire station. 
 
 
A Jamestown man -- wanted in Warren County -- was arrested during a foot chase early Tuesday night...  
 
Ellicott Town Police initiated a traffic stop on Fairmount Avenue and say 36 year-old Armando Rosario falsified his name and birth date.  Rosario allegedly ran off as officers attempted to find out his true identity.  Lakewood-Busti Police and the State Police K-9 Unit were called in to assist.  The K-9 tracked and located Rosario, who attempted to flee again without luck.  He was transported to UPMC Chautauqua Hospital for treatment of his injuries.  Officers say he also had a valid order of protection to stay away from a person he was with at the time of the stop.  He was arraigned before being sent to the County jail. 
 
 
Pennsylvania is sending National Guard troops, helicopters and other specialists and equipment to help with the response and recovery efforts for Hurricane Florence... 
 
Gov. Tom Wolf said Thursday that the deployment involves more than 25 guardsmen, six technicians from the state Fish and Boat Commission and four helicopters, including two UH-60 Black Hawks and two CH-47 Chinooks.
 
 The Guard personnel have been leaving this week from Fort Indiantown Gap and an airport in Johnstown to join others at a staging area for post-storm efforts in Columbia, South Carolina.  The Fish and Boat technicians are with the Pennsylvania Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team. They're deploying with a rescue truck and trailer that contains inflatable boats and other rescue equipment.
 
 
The weather looks perfect for the 40th annual Fall Festival of Bands this Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Strider Field near Jefferson School...  
 
The marching band show is organized by the Jamestown High School Music Department and the JHS Band Boosters.  Jamestown's senior Drum Major, Carley Westphal, says nine bands will be attending this year.  Jamestown's show this year is based on the Pachelbel Canon.  The Falconer-Frewsburg Band is performing a Halloween themed show called 'Something Wicked this Way Comes.'  Tickets will be $8 at the gate.  Food and refreshments will be available.  
 
 
Dozens of airmen at a New York Air National Guard base on Long Island have deployed to southern states in the path of Hurricane Florence...  
 
Governor Andrew Cuomo says Wednesday that 50 members of the 106th Rescue Wing based at Gabreski Air National Guard Base in Westhampton Beach traveled to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.  The Democrat says elements of the unit will offer assistance along coastal areas of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.  The New York Army National Guard is ready to deploy four helicopters - two CH-47 Chinooks and two UH-60 Blackhawks - to help storm response efforts. The aircraft are based at the Army Aviation Support Facility at Rochester International Airport.
 
 
Two undocumented immigrants from Mexico were arrested during a traffic stop on Interstate-86 in Olean Wednesday morning... 
 
Sheriff's officers in Little Valley reportedly pulled over a car on the highway for driving on the shoulder just before 9:30 and, determined the occupants of the vehicle were illegal aliens. Agents from the U-S Boarder Patrol took 37 year-old Gerino Tapia Barrera and 55 year-old Agustin Barrera Rojas into custody. Deputies say a third individual was released because he had previously been arrested by Boarder Patrol and was already in the immigration system. 
 
 
It took more than a decade for a Pulitzer-Prize winning author to weave together the stories surrounding the four-day, Attica Prison takeover in 1971...  
 
Civil Right's Historian Heather Ann Thompson addressed a Fall Continuing Legal Education Seminar entitled: "Attica -- Legal Perspectives and Legacy" at the Robert H. Jackson Center in Jamestown Thursday.  Thompson says there were two reasons why it took a long time to write the book, the first being lack of access to prison records.
 
Thompson adds the other reason it's taken time to write the book: Blood in the Water:  The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and its Legacy is news stories that have come up in recent years as more information was released on what happened.  She says it was a surprise and honor to win a Pulitzer Prize for the book, which was released in 2016.  Thompson was joined at Thursday's program by former Buffalo News Reporter Lee Coppola, who is former dean of the St. Bonaventure University School of Communications and, U-S Attorney for the Western District of New York, James Kennedy.