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.  


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News Update for Thurs., Apr. 4, 2013

More normal "Spring-like" temperatures and conditions arrive in Jamestown-area...

It's finally beginning to feel like Spring in Chautauqua County.  The National Weather Service in Buffalo says were looking at a sunny day... with a high around 50.  Forecaster David Thomas in Buffalo says the colder air that produced the Winter-like temperatures the previous three days is loosening it's grip.  Thomas adds temperatures for the next few days... aside from Friday... will be more "normal" for this time of year.  He adds the southerly winds are beginning to bring the warmer air in from the south to the entire region.  Temperatures will still be on the cold-side during the evening's and overnights... until Saturday.  Lows will be in the lower 40s.  Thomas says the average temperatures for this time of year are in the upper 40s.  He says our next bout of precipitation will move in late in the coming weekend.  Thomas says a slow-moving front will bring showers into the area by Sunday... and, those will be around through early week.  By Sunday... Thomas says highs will be in the upper 50s... and, it'll be in the mid-50s Monday.  We'll have more sunny conditions by Tuesday.


IRS Spokeswoman says more people filing tax returns electronicially than ever before...

If you haven't gotten your taxes done and filed yet... you have less than two weeks to get that annual chore completed.  More and more people are filing electronically, though.  That from Internal Revenue Service New York Spokeswoman Diane Besunder... who says more than 80-percent of all taxpayers last year filed electronically.  Besunder says it's more "the rule now... not the exception."  She adds there are more reasons why filing your taxes electronically rather than using paper forms is the way to go.  She says it's the fastest way to get them done... and, with the software... you make fewer errors.  Besunder also says that if you file electronically... you're likely to get your refund quicker.  She says those making $57,000 a year or less can also file electronically for free.  You can get more information on the IRS website on-line at www.irs.gov.


Oklahoma man arrested for allegedly stealing trailer he was hauling that struck Jamestown bridge...

An Oklahoma man is jailed for allegedly stealing a big rig trailer in Irving, Texas... and, driving it into New York before it crashed into the railroad bridge on South Main Street in Jamestown.  City police were called to the scene shortly after 10:30 a.m. Wednesday... where the trailer... which was 13-feet high... had struck the Western New York and Pennsylvania bridge.  The span is 12 feet off the roadway.  Officers say the driver of the truck... 54 year-old Rudolf Fokumlah of Oklahoma City... was not hurt.  However... further investigation found the trailer had been stolen on March 21.  Fokumlah was arrested on several charges... including third-degree criminal possession of stolen property...and aggravated unlicensed operation.  Police say the bridge appeared to be undamaged... but, will be inspected to check for any structural damage.


Gas prices down in Jamestown-area for the first time in several weeks...

Prices have finally begun creeping down for a gallon of gasoline in the Jamestown-area this week.  The AAA's Fuel Gauge reports that the average price for a gallon of regular, unleaded is now $3.92.  That's a drop of two-cents from last week.  On the national front... the average price is also down two-cents this week to just under $3.64.  That price is also 12-cents less than one month ago.  An increase in refinery production and lower oil prices in early March have combined to provide rare falling prices for motorists in comparison to recent years.  At the state level... prices have fallen for drivers in the vast majority of the country. Forty-two states have a lower average price today than one week ago... including New York.


Families USA says 1.5-million New Yorkers will be eligible for tax credits to help offset health care costs...

An advocacy group says 1.5-million uninsured New Yorkers will be eligible for federal tax credits next year to help offset the cost of health coverage.  A report by Families USA notes that the credits for those with incomes ranging from 138-percent to 400-percent of the federal poverty guidelines will go directly to the health plan in which the individual or family enrolls, offsetting their total premiums.  A family of four with income up to $94,200 would be eligible.  In concert with President Barack Obama's federal health care overhaul, New York is establishing a health insurance marketplace called an exchange.  New York has an estimated 2.7-million uninsured among some 19 million residents.


Corbett apparently interested in combining Medicaid expansion in PA with federal dollars to buy private health insurance plans...

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett is suggesting that he's interested in a concept that combines an expansion of Medicaid eligibility for hundreds of thousands of uninsured residents by using federal dollars to buy private insurance plans.  Corbett says he's seeking information about the idea, a day after meeting with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.  It was first broached by Arkansas' Democratic Governor Mike Beebe as a way to get his Republican-controlled Legislature on board with a Medicaid expansion under the 2010 Affordable Care Act.  A number of other governors are studying it.  But... a Congressional Budget Office report suggests that it is more expensive than traditional Medicaid coverage.  Corbett, a Republican, says he isn't supporting the Medicaid expansion without substantial changes because he's worried about the long-term cost.