Jamestown woman arrested following raid for being in possession of illega narcotics -- including more than 7 libs. of Meth...
A city woman has been arrested... and more than 7-pounds of methamphetamine was seized during a drug raid early Wednesday afternoon on Jamestown's southside. City police say their narcotics investigators... along with those from the Sheriff's Office and Dunkirk Police... executed a search warrant just before 12:30 p.m. at an apartment at 168 Barrett Ave. Officers say they found... and, arrested 37 year-old Cassandra Chadwick... and, seized 7.7-pounds of meth... 5.5 grams of fentanyl... scales and packaging used for the sale and distribution of narcotics and nearly $1,200 in cash. Chadwick was taken into custody on one count each of second-and third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance... and, second-degree criminally using drug paraphernalia. She's jailed pending arraignment.
County Legislature approves final budget with 54-cent per $1,000 tax rate cut...
The Chautauqua County Legislature has approved a $309.7-million budget for fiscal year 2026 that includes a 54-cent per $1,000 assessed value tax rate decrease. However... the tax levy... or amount to be raised by taxes... will increase by $1.7-million. Lawmakers in Mayville approved the spending plan in a party-line, 14-5 vote... with Democrats calling for use of more of the fund balance to eliminate the levy increase. Majority Republicans... including Sheridan's Terry Neibel... feel using more undesignated fund balance would leave the county vulnerable to likely state and federal funding cuts next year... noting that the county's "safety net" program could be underfunded by as much $3-million to $4-million... and, the county jail is in desperate need of upgrades and repairs -- especially to the 1939 section. Sheriff Jim Quattrone and jail consultants have outlined a $120-million proposal to upgrade the jail to comply with state standards. However... Democrats like Jamestown's Fred Larson... felt -- while the finance team and department heads developed a solid budget -- the county has enough undesignated fund balance to provide more tax relief. Both Democrats and Republicans who spoke commended those involved for their efforts to hold the line on spending for 2026. The final budget would lower the tax rate to $6.17 per $1,000 assessed value.
Legislature Republicans nix use of more undesignated fund balace to cut tax levy increase in budget to zero...
County Legislature Democrats proposed using an additional $2-million dollars from the undesigned fund balance to bring the tax levy down to about $72-million. That was rejected in a party-line vote, 5-to-14. The amendment was offered by Fred Larson... who argued that while it would lower the county's rainy day fund by $2-million... there would still be at least $33-million left for emergencies. However... Republicans argued that the county had to pull another $2.3-million this year to cover the county's "safety net" costs. One said he was concerned it's underfunded again in 2026.
Hochul announces additional paving projects in NYS -- including four in Chautauqua Co. -- in 2026...
Governor Kathy Hochul has announced an unprecedented investment to repave dozens of vital state roadways across New York during the 2026 construction season. Hochul's Office reports that four of those projects... totaling $6.2-million... will take place in Chautauqua County. She says they're part of close to 200 new paving projects across the state... that will invest more than 600-million dollars in local and state highways. Hochul says they're part of the final two-years of the state Department of Transporation's $34.3-billion capital projects effort... to fund an additional 180 projects. Combined with the original, 70 projects set for next year... the DOT says they'll have more than 250 projects going on next year. Hochul told a local highway crew that about 4,000 miles of highways will be re-surfaced next year... the most ambitious effort in the history of the state. Two projects in the county are each receiving $2-million towards those efforts. They include: a repave of Route 60 in Mill Creek to the Cassadaga southern village line, and, resurfacing Route 60 from Stateline Road... to Harrington Hill Road. There's also $1.2-million set aside for a project on Route 394 from County Route 65 to the Cattaraugus County Line. The fourth project is for repaving Route 5 in the city of Dunkirk.
City man arrested following Street Check...
A man from Jamestown wanted by police has been arreste following a street check early Wednesday morning on the city's southside. Jamestown police say a patrol spotted 27 year-old Todd Dellahoy, Junior in the area of The Arterial and South Main Street shortly after 1 a.m., and, knew of the City Court warrant. Officers say when they approached Dellahoy... he refused their commands and was taken into custody after a brief struggle. He was also allegedly found in possession of a quantity of cocaine. Dellahoy was charged with resisting arrest... criminal possession of a controlled substance... and, on the warrant. He was jailed pending arraignment.
National Fuel acquires CenterPoint Energy...
National Fuel Gas Company has announced that it's purchasing CenterPoint Energy Resources' natural gas utility in Ohio for just over $2.6-billion. Upon the closing... officials say National Fuel will also acquire a dedicated team of employees that operate nearly 6,000 miles of distribution and transmission pipeline and serve approximately 335,000 residential, commercial, industrial and transportation customers. National Fuel's President and Chief Executive Officer David Bauer says the closing it expected to take place in the fourth-quarter of next year... pending completion of a notice filing and review with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio... and, other closing conditions.
