Community Spotlight, the area's longest running local public affairs radio program, airs on all six Media One Radio Group stations each weekend and is also available to hear in our Podcast Section.  Each week we sit down with a community leader or another special guest to talk about issues within our community.  


Weather Forecasts are available across our radio stations each day and also as your fingertips! 

Connect with The National Weather Service's Buffalo Office or with WGRZ-TV for accurate weather information!

 

 

 


 

WJTN News Headlines for Dec. 7, 2018

Snowfall totals weren't what they were predicted to be early Thursday, but there was still more than enough to slick up roads across Chautauqua County and making driving conditions hazardous last night...  

Local police report several cars off the road, or involved in minor fender-benders.  Forecaster Dan Kelly with the National Weather Service also say there will be some snow around this morning's commute, making travel tricky.  Kelly says our Winter Weather Advisory expired early this morning.

Earlier predictions called for 5 to 9 inches in the persistant lake snow areas.  Kelly said late yesterday that we may also see some significant snow again tonight, with between 2 to 3 inches of snow through early Saturday morning.  However, Kelly says after that, the weekend should be relatively uneventful.  

The city of Jamestown's ad hoc Salary Review Commission has unaniomously approved pay increases for both the mayor, and city council members, beginning with the next term....  

However, it's not clear yet how the City Council will receive those increase.  City Clerk Todd Thomas says members voted Wednesday to increase the mayor's pay from $72,000 a year to $85,000 while city council members would double from $5,000 a year to $10,000.  The Council president would still receive an additional one-thousand dollars a year.  The mayor's pay was last increased in 2008, while council members haven't seen an increase in more than 30 years. 

New York lawmakers could be getting their first pay raise in 20 years....  

A state compensation committee on Thursday voted to increase legislative pay from $79,500 dollars annually to $130,000.  The increase would be phased in over three years, beginning with a bump to $110,000 on New Year's Day.  With the increase, members of the New York Legislature will be the best paid state lawmakers in the country.  Many legislators say their compensation hasn't kept up with inflation and doesn't reflect the work they do outside of the six-month legislative session.  The four-member compensation committee was created to study the issue and render a decision.  Commission members also called on lawmakers to cap how much they can earn from outside jobs, often seen as a potential conduit for bribes.

The House of Representatives and Senate have now approved a two-week extension of the current Continuing Resolution to keep the federal government running through December 21st...  

Work on a new appropriations measure ground to a halt most of the week with the national days of mourning and funeral for late President George H.W. Bush.  However, local Congressman Tom Reed said he was confident there will be a measure in place by today's deadline to give lawmakers more time to negotiate a final resolution.

Reed says the biggest sticking point remains President Trump's insistance on having $5-billion in the new spending bill for border security, namely a new wall, at the southern border.  The Corning Republican says, though, that it's up to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to decide what he wants.  While Republicans say it's up to Schumer to decide on whether there will be a government shut-down or not, Schumer has insisted it's up to the GOP because they Congress and the presidency.  Reed made his comments for his weekly telephone conference call with regional media.

One of the Jamestown area's most famous and longstanding holiday programs will begin this weekend...  

The Jamestown High School Acappella Choir will present the first of its annual Vespers Services on Sunday, at 4 p.m. at First Lutheran Church.  Director Norm Lydell says this year's program offers something for everyone, including traditional works with new harmonies.  This is the 94th year of the choir's performances. This year's Vespers will be accompanied by the choir's Director Emeritus, Brian Bogey, who says First Lutheran, on Chandler Street, seats over a thousand people and with 90 foot ceilings, is a an extraordinary place to make music.  There is no charge to attend Acappella Vespers.  A free-will offering will be collected to help defray expenses.  The second of the two Vespers Services will be on Sunday, December 16th. 

New York's farmers are in the gift-giving mood....  

The New York Farm Bureau announced this week that so far this year farmers from around the state have donated nearly 11 million pounds of food to regional food banks so far this year.  That's enough food to serve nearly 9 million meals.  The Farm Bureau announces the total each year around the holidays. This year's haul is more than 1.6 million pounds higher than last year's total.  Since the initiative began farmers have donated more than 85 million pounds of food to food banks.  New York state food banks distribute more than 225 million pounds of food to almost 3 million people annually.

A Syracuse executive has been sentenced to 2-and-a half-years in prison for defrauding the state's Buffalo Billion project...  

Joseph Gerardi was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni.  The judge said the sentence should serve as a warning to anyone who wants to cheat as they compete for contracts involving government funding.  Gerardi was convicted by a jury of conspiracy, wire fraud and making false statements to federal officers.  Gerardi was a top executive at COR Development.  Prosecutors say Gerardi bribed a senior official in the governor's office in one of the schemes.