Man living in both Jamestown and Buffalo sentenced to near 3 1/2 years in prison on cocaine trafficking conviction...
A man living in both Jamestown and Buffalo has been sentenced to three-years and five-months in federal prison for trafficking cocaine. U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo has announced that 37 year-old Nicholas Gaskin received the sentence Thursday by U.S. District Court Judge John Sinatra, Jr. Gaskin was earlier convicted of possession with intent to distribute cocaine. Prosecutors say in March of 2022, Jamestown Police stopped a vehicle in which Gaskin was a passenger... and, he was arrested on a warrant. When they searched him... officers recovered about 12-grams of crack cocaine... and $1,766 in cash. Following Gaskin’s arrest... investigators got a warrant... and, searched Gaskin's home and recovered a semi-automatic pistol, ammunition, $158 in cash, a quantity of suboxone pills and strips, six grams of suspected cocaine, and drug paraphernalia. The investigation also included four undercover cocaine buys from Gaskin.
Consultant, Sheriff, detail jail needs study recommendations; initial price tag at $114-million to $119-million...
Chautauqua County Sheriff Jim Quattrone says he's "trying to be proactive" on changes to update and improve the county jail in Mayville. Quattrone introduced officials with LaBella Associates from Buffalo... who have worked the past two years on a new jail design... during Wednesday night's county legislature meeting. LaBella's Criminal Justice Studio Manager, Mark Kukuvka, noted the new facility would end up being between 114,000 and 118,000 square feet in size. He says he and associate Dave Woolard initially worked on "2 to 3 options..." with the best one costing about $114-million to $119-million. Kukuvka says they worked to keep the proposed, 224 bed facility on the land they current have. Sheriff Quattrone agreed the nearly $120-million price tag would be a high-cost for the local taxpayers. However... he says he would rather see work begin soon before New York state comes in and mandates work that could be even more costly. He adds this proposal would eliminate the 86-year-old, 1939 section of the jail... which he says it getting harder and harder to maintain. More work will be done on the proposal.
Jamestown man arrested for alleged assault/domestic incident involving baton flashlight...
A city man has been arrested for allegedly assaulting another person with a baton flashlight... and, holding a person against their will... following an incident on Jamestown's northside. City police were called to the scene about 6 a.m. Tuesday... and, learned that 39 year-old Raymond Gates had assaulted the victim. As they were trying to take Gates into custody... he ran off... but, was quicky apprehended. Soon after... police learned that he was involved in a domestic incident inside the home... where he alleged choked the victim... and, displayed a knife to keep that person from leaving. They took Gates to the city jail pending arraignment on charges of second-degree assault... two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon... menacing... second-degree unlawful imprisonment... criminal obstuction of breathing... and, resisting arrest.
City man on parole arrested Wednesday...
A man from Jamestown has been arrested for violating terms of his parole... and, resisting arrest on the city's eastside. Jamestown police say they were called to an unidentifed home about 12:45 p.m. Wednesday to assist parole in finding 40 year-old Todd Dalton. Police were told by State Parole officers that Dalton was inside... and, refused to come out. City officers assisted in finding Dalton hiding under a pile of clothes in a bedroom closet. He was taken into custody on the parole warrant... and, for resisting arrest. He was jailed pending arraignment.
Jamestown woman arrested for possession of meth following traffic stop...
A city woman has been arrested following a traffic stop on Jamestown's southside for allegedly being found in possession of near 15-grams of methamphetamine. City police say they stopped the car... driven by 26 year-old Autumn Kahm... about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday... and, their investigation found her in possession of 14.7-grams of meth... as well as packaging materials. Officers took Kahm into custody... and charged her with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance... and, second-degree criminally using drug paraphernalia. She was jailed pending arraignment.
NYSSBA official expresses concern over lack of contested school board races in state; touts new program to help newcomers get up to speed...
New school board members recently elected to their various boards don't take their seats until July 1. However... there's a lot to learn between now and then. That from New York State School Boards Association Spokesman Dave Albert... who says, though, there may not be as many newcomers as in years past. Albert says the trend actually began during the COVID-19 shut-downs... when a number of incumbants decided against running for a new term. However... he adds that more incumbants still run for re-election. That was seen in Chautauqua County with most races being uncontested... and only one closely contested race that was reported to us. Once a new member is elected to the school board... Albert says there is state mandated training they have to go through on fiscal and governance responsibilities. This year... he says they have a new, on-line program to help speed up the process called "NYSSBA Accelerates." Albert says they have a series of five-minute videos on each issue... and, then follow-up resources new members can use. He made his comments for last weekend's "Community Spotlight" program on the six Media One Radio Group stations.
