In Years Past

In 1941, the last remaining Civil War veteran in Warren County, Pa., was celebrating his 100th birthday. Calvin Day of Russell proclaimed himself “in the pink of condition.” The man claimed he knew President Lincoln, General Grant and General Mead. Day escaped the Civil War without injury, retained good eyesight and his hearing had “never been better.” Enthused over reaching his 100th birthday, Day spent the day recalling his Civil War days. He was a retired lumber dealer.

U.S. Senator Norris, an Independent from Nebraska, was backing Robert H. Jackson for the U.S. Supreme Court. President Franklin Roosevelt had recently announced he picked a successor to Justice James C. McReynolds, but that he would not divulge the name for some time. Norris declined to divulge the subject of a recent White House visit, but said he suggested either Sherman Minton, a former U.S. Senator, and Jackson for the Supreme Court post.

In 1966, Chautauqua County was struggling to throw off the effects of a winter storm that isolated the county, closed schools and industry and stranded hundreds of motorists. The storm started Jan. 30 and developed into blizzard proportions with snow whipped by 60 mph winds. Every major highway was closed at one time or another. The Red Cross set up shelters for stranded motorists, including 50 given temporary shelters at the Dewittville fire hall. Up to 18 inches of snow were reported in some areas.

A 44-year-old volunteer fireman was injured helping battle a one-story house fire that left a family of six homeless. Ray Henry, an Ellery Center volunteer firefighter, discovered the blaze while driving on Maple Springs-Ellery Road. The former fireman injured was William Ball, former Maple Springs fire chief, who injured his right leg when he fell down the basement stairs. More than 50 firefighters battled the blaze. The Lutgen family were temporarily living with Mr. Lutgen’s parents.

In 2006, Jamestown was open to any potential shared services with its neighbors, Mayor Sam Teresi said during his annual State of the City Address to the City Council. Teresi noted working through the Board fo Public Utilities to partner with the county on a methane generating plant at the county landfill and studying adding Lakewood and Busti to the BPU’s service territory. Other items on the agenda for 2006 included replacing the Washington Street Bridge, greater code enforcement, redoubled construction efforts in some city-directed subdivisions and improvements around Jamestown Community College.

The Western New York Regional Calendar for schools was again a topic or interest for area school boards as they decided which spring vacation is best for their students – two weeks split or two weeks combined. Some school districts easily decided which calendar to follow for the 2006-07 school year, while some districts ponder which vacation is best for their students. While most school districts selected the regional calendar of two separate breaks during the third week in February and April to be on the same page as most school districts, four school districts in the south county – Bemus Point, Chautauqua Lake, Frewsburg and Southwestern Central School districts – selected a two-week combined break in April.

In 2011, when it comes to special events or just a night of casual dining, bringing visitors off the expressways and guiding them downtown presented an ongoing challenge for the stockholders in the city of Jamestown. But there are some new tools which may support local businesses. Among them is a comprehensive downtown map – a limited number of copies were released by the Downtown Jamestown Development Corporation into the hands of visitors during last month’s hockey tournament. Lee Harkness, executive director of the DJDC, said the first release is a “test run” that will allow the community to provide feedback and submit corrections. He said the map was completed by interns with the Jamestown High School’s Youth Apprenticeship Program, and a larger volume will soon be printed from the office of the DJDC. “We tried to include everything that we would ever have questions about, said Harkness.”

In Years Past

In 1941, Brewer D. Phillips, chairman of the Bank of Jamestown, passed away. Apart from his banking connections, Phillips had served as a member of the county Board of Supervisors from the town of Portland in 1889-90, on the Jamestown City Council from 1900 to 1904, was a member of local Masonic lodges and several other civic organizations.

A new legislative body made up of Jamestown area labor unions was taking a firm anti-war stance. The group represented 30 of the 49 unions in the city. In addition to its opposition to the war, the group wanted to extend community enterprises for the general welfare of the people without making low-income groups pay for it by using profits of the municipal utility systems; payment of prevailing union wages to all city employees, employees of the Board of Public Utilities and Education; extension of municipal ownership of utilities; a more humane use of the Works Project Administration and the protection of draftees and their families.

In 2006, teacher retirement system payments, fuel and health insurance costs were worrying area school district officials as they began preparing their 2006-07 budgets. “Unfortunately, none of these issues have anything to do with education,” said Dr. Howard Ferguson, Sherman Central School superintendent. “Those additional costs are driving expenditures up in budgets even before applying dollars for the welfare of children. As long as we have these driving issues, we – meaning all school districts – will have financial issues.”

A day in Jamestown Housing Court exemplified the problems the city was having keeping standards up in its neighborhoods. The city issued around 1,500 complaints a year, with roughly 200 to 250 ending up in Housing Court. Both Judge John LaMancuso and Greg Moran, city housing inspector, said bigger problems with city homeowners are brewing because of new financing networks that have developed. People who have fallen victim to second-rate loan sharks, serious illness or divorce are often foreclosed on by local lending institutions. These companies often sell their interests in houses to chains of speculators or financiers, passing the liability on when they’ve made their money. Houses can be left in limbo between eight and 10 years before the cycle can be broken. In the meantime, the original owner – who can’t even occupy the home – is the one the court has to go after because he is the owner of record in Mayville.

In 2011, there’s a discussion absent from the floor of the Chautauqua County Legislature. Lawmakers in Mayville could get more accomplished if they swapped votes once in a while, instead of so often voting along party line. But should they trade such votes? Regardless of how one feels about the issue, it’s an idea that’s never publicly proposed by the majority or minority members of the legislature – and which rarely happens. Neither Republicans nor Democrats nor the lone member of the Independence Party want to raise taxes. However, Republicans have said they will again propose an increase to the county’s sales tax rate, as they believe it to be a necessary evil for closing the county’s ongoing budget deficit. Democrats have and likely will remain staunchly opposed to the idea. As a member of the legislature who does not caucus with either the Democrats or the Republicans, Scot Stutzman, I-Jamestown, said he would like to see more transparency on the floor of the legislature. “I don’t know why we don’t get on the floor and debate,” Stutzman said. “I just think people are afraid to compromise in public. I don’t know why that is.”

In Years Past

In 1941, ice fishermen were appearing in increasing numbers in Maple Springs in areas where regular “shanty towns” were seen. It was expected that within two or three weeks the surface of Chautauqua Lake would be dotted with shanties as the annual campaign against perch and rock bass had begun. The water where the fishermen were fishing was about 40 feet deep, an area where perch were most likely to be found in large numbers.

The Jamestown and Dunkirk offices of the county children’s agency would not be moved anytime soon. Efforts to iron out differences of county residents with the state Department of Public Welfare and the county would be made at a conference later.

In 1966, record-cold was gripping the area after a five-day warming trend. The official low in Jamestown was negative 12, though unofficial measurements had temperatures as low as negative 30 in Elmhurst and Big-Tree Sugar Grove Road. Winter sports enthusiasts were out in large numbers at area ski resorts and at toboggan slides and ice rinks.

Continuance of the county’s “pay as you go” policy was being urged by Treasurer Robert H. Miller in his report to the county Board of Supervisors. Miller said the county had completed 18 years without bonded indebtedness. “If we in Chautauqua County are not meeting these responsibilities through the policy of pay-as-you-go program, then careful scrutiny should be given with regard to the problem at hand,” Miller said. “However, I am firmly convinced that this policy is a wise one to follow at the present time.”

In 2006, Chautauqua County legislators were questioning Comptroller Dennis Goggin for not conducting regular audits or reporting to the legislature and his committees, though Goggin said he simply didn’t have the money in his budget to do so. “One of the comptroller’s main duties is to report to us on an annual basis, and we haven’t seen one of those reports in four years,” said Keith Ahlstrom, D-Dunkirk, and legislature chairman.

Some officials in Chautauqua County wanted more penalties for those convicted of underage drinking. Pat Munson, Chautauqua Alcoholicism and Substance Abuse Council executive director, said the penalty was a $50 fine, often paid by parents anyway. “There needs to be something more than just a fine,” said Lt. Paul Abbott of the Jamestown Police Department. “There’s nothing an older teenager holds dear more than a driver’s license.

In 2011, Chautauqua County District Attorney David Foley was “start(ing) over” in the prosecution of Gregory Pattison. Pattison was indicted by a Chautauqua County grand jury in connection with the murder of two men in 2001 in Gerry. He was sentenced in 2005 to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the killings, but the question of whether he was properly notified of when the grand jury was meeting regarding his case resulted in his conviction being overturned by the Fourth Appellate Division in Rochester. Before originally indicted, Pattison made prosecutors aware he may want to testify before the grand jury. Although Foley said there is evidence that Pattison’s attorney received verbal notification, and Chautauqua County Court Judge John Ward ruled Pattison did receive sufficient notification, the Appellate Division overturned Ward’s ruling, saying there wasn’t sufficient evidence Pattison had been notified and ordered a new trial. “Clearly, we have to hold him responsible for actions,” Foley said, adding if prosecutors are able to put together a case, they should try to do so.

In just a few days, skiers would be coming down the slopes at Cockaigne Ski Center once again. A large tent was expected to arrive from the Army National Guard’s 2-101 Cavalry in Buffalo on Monday, and would be used as a temporary lodge. The ski center’s historic lodge, originally the Austrian pavilion during the 1964 New York World’s Fair, burned to the ground earlier in the week. “It’s likely that if you go to Cockaigne and need ski rentals, you might have skis from Peek ‘n’ Peak or Holiday Valley or somewhere else,” said state Assemblyman Andy Goodell, who was helping coordinate arrangements. “There has been a tremendous amount of support coming through.”

In Years Past

In 1941, Ivan Fenton, a Post-Journal carrier and 14-year-old Boy Scout, saved the life of his mother. After completing his route on Monday afternoon, Fenton saw smoke swirling from the rear of his home. Following a frantic dash from the old state highway – 400 yards away – the boy braved flames sweeping through the kitchen and rushed through the house to the living room, where his mother was trapped. The front door of the house was blocked to eliminate drafts, meaning the pair had to retrace their way through the house and exit the home through the scorching heat of the kitchen. Neither were injured. The home was gutted.

The National Defense Program was delaying work on a sewage disposal plant in Lakewood, according to James Hill, village engineer, in a report to the Lakewood Village Board. Hill said the program was making it difficult to secure certain kinds of steel. While that problem was being overcome, however, the village had tested pumps at the plant and found them to be in working order.

In 1966, the First National Bank of Jamestown was among those involved in the formation of a bankholding company with combined assets of more than $1 billion. William B. Anderson, First National Bank of Jamestown president, said discussions by the Jamestown bank, Lincoln Rochester Trust Co., Lincoln National Bank and Trust Co. of Central New York in Syracuse and First City National Bank in Rochester had been held. “In common with a number of other bankers, we have felt for some time that the formation of a holding company to include banks from several Upstate banking districts would better serve the substantial economic growth which has been experienced in the state and which is projected for the future,” Anderson said.

The Fancher Furniture Company was planning a $200,000 expansion program in Salamanca with a gradual increase of about 65 employees. Three floors of the company’s four-story building were in use with additional manufacturing space to be added to the fourth floor. The company, which had local employment of about 700 people, made wood cabinets for phonographs, pianos and home organs.

In 2006, a proposal to eliminate Chautauqua County’s residential heating tax will have to wait until its sponsor can explain where to make up for the estimated $2.9 million in revenue lost in the plan. Legislator Charles Cornell, D-Jamestown, introduced the proposal earlier in the month but tabled it so he could explain how it would affect towns and villages. During discussion Friday, committee chair Joe Trusso, D-Jamestown, warned Cornell against pushing forward with the plan without first finding where the county could pay for the loss. “The reason we raised the sales tax a penny and a half is because we were low on fund balances and didn’t have the money to pay for the programs coming in,” Trusso said.

Warm weather was making life difficult on plow drivers in the area. Temperatures were about 10 degrees warmer than normal. A foot of snow earlier in the week was followed by temperatures in the 40s with rain forecast for the weekend. “Income has really been zero,” said Steve Lindstrum of Lake Shore Paving. “We really haven’t had anything like this. It’s amazing to see it stopped dead.”

In 2011, Peter Lombardi began work at his desk in the Lillian Vitanza Ney Renaissance Center, as the Jamestown Renaissance Corp.’s director of neighborhood initiatives. The Jamestown Renaissance Corporation followed the recommendation of the original czb, LLC neighborhood study to situate the leadership of the revitalization effort within its offices. “In its support of the implementation of the Urban Design Plan, the JRC recognized the potential for a synergy between downtown and neighborhood revitalization,” said Jason Stronz, JRC director. “Pete has an extensive background in urban revitalization issues and will be an asset as the JRC supports implementation of Reinvesting in Itself.”

In Years Past

In 1941, Consolidation of the Dunkirk and Jamestown children’s welfare agency into one office in Mayville was being included in the state Welfare Department’s instructions to County Welfare Commissioner Frank Stowell. The opportunity to oppose such a move would be offered to area officials on Tuesday, Jan. 28. In the meantime, Stowell was moving the other branches of the welfare department to the new offices in Mayville but leaving the cities alone pending the outcome of efforts to prevent their removal.

M. Lorimer Moe reviewed “The Struggle for Judicial Supremacy,” a book penned by Robert H. Jackson of Jamestown. “From the standpoint of style and literary treatment, Mr. Jackson’s book is most remarkable for its appeal to the lay reader,” Moe wrote. “Altho it undoubtedly has appeal for the lawyer and student of the constitution, it is primarily a book aimed to give the layman illumination on the subject of ‘government by lawsuit.’ Regarded in that light, the book scores a bullseye. As in his speech, Mr. Jackson is neither dull nor ponderous in his book.”

In 1966, a new $20,000 restaurant-bar named The Lift Room opened at the Eagle Ridge Ski Resort on Route 17 in Westfield. Built in little more than four weeks, the room gave patrons a view of many of the resort’s ski runs, Lake Erie and Canada in the distance. Opening ceremonies were to include a performance by the Deutchmeisters German Band of Westfield, a torchlight procession on skis by Bob Paron of Eagle Ridge and his ski instructors, a fashion show by the Ski Rack and fireworks.

Possible effects of the new federal Medicare program were discussed by Dr. Carlyle Nuckols Jr., deputy commissioner of the state Department of Social Welfare’ Division of Medical Services. Nuckols said he felt the state Legislature would enact a measure that included all of the options available under the federal program, increasing the number of people eligible for hospital and medical care. Burton Miner, Chautauqua County welfare commissioner, estimated as many as 30,000 people in Chautauqua County would qualify.

In 2006, some residents felt the village of Mayville should merge with te town of Chautauqua. During a recent Chautauqua Town Board meeting, village resident Gerald Ruff asked town officials if they would be willing to take over Mayville’s operation. Sid Compton, town supervisor, said the town would be open to it, noting duplication of highway departments, bookkeepers, clerks and code enforcement officers. “People are tired of taxes,” Compton said. “We live in the greatest place in the world, but what about all these taxes.” Martin Bova, Mayville mayor, said the village should be the one to take over the town given the village’s infrastructure and said he wasn’t sure there would actually be savings.

Cuts to hospitals proposed by Gov. George Pataki would cost Chautauqua County hospitals about $763,000. “The reality is that the majority of hospitals are deteriorating from within as they are unable to replace facilities, equipment and critical staff because of a lack of basic funding,” said Stuart Williams, Westfield Memorial Hospital president and CEO. Pataki was trying to save about $1.3 billion in Medicaid spending. “Despite the tired, old scare tactics being employed by the special interests, the fact remains that New York will continue to spend far more on promoting the health care of our citizens than any other state,” said Michael Marr, state Budget Division spokesman.

In 2011, a dedication ceremony was held for in 1926, 7-year-old Doris Bragg and her 5-year-old sister, Hazel, who came to live at the Gustavus Adolphus Children’s Home, now part of the Lutheran Social Services campus in 1926. Their lifetimes entwined with the Lutheran Social Services campus were honored Wednesday with the unveiling of the organization’s Wall of History – which not only details landmark moments in its own 125-year past, but shows Hazel’s and Doris’ lifetimes as well and how they are forever connected. “Our families are touched that you have chosen to celebrate their lives on the new Wall of History,” Doris’ daughter, Sheila Dunn, said during a dedication ceremony. “We will forever be grateful for the ageless love provided to them by Lutheran Social Services.”

The Lakewood-Busti Police Department hit a jackpot recently after a man speeding on Baker Street ended up helping them find a large marijuana growing operation in Lakewood. Police found the grow operation on Jan. 5 after a simple traffic stop by John Bentley, Lakewood-Busti police chief, when a car was seen driving 86 miles an hour on Baker Street. The driver then said there was an emergency at his home and took Bentley to the property, where Bentley then found the marijuana growing operation.

In Years Past

The Jamestown Planning Commission approved creation of a $3.5 million housing subdivision near Allen Park called Valleyview. Plans called for between 227 and 243 new homes in a subdivision bounded on the north and south by Valleyview Avenue and Fairdale Avenue and extending them from near Allen Park on the west to Collins Avenue on the east. Most of the homes would cost between $12,000 and $18,000.

The Jamestown Manufacturers Association, at its 64th annual meeting, changed its name to the Manufacturers Association of the Jamestown Area to underscore a major program for expanding its activities. Officials said the name change indicated a responsibility for the group to perform its role in an expanded area after previously spending most of its time in the Jamestown area. Under the new name, the association would embrace industrial activities within a 35 mile radius to now include Dunkirk and Warren.

Tempers flared on both sides of the aisle after Legislator Jim Caflisch, R-French Creek, introduced a resolution for the Chautauqua County Legislature to continue an investigation of Terry Niebel, Republican election commissioner. Several legislators spoke out against the resolution, calling it a political matter to be handled by county Republicans, not by the county legislature. I think this smells rather badly, and the longer it’s discussed the worse it gets, said Sallie Pullano, D-Fredonia.

Two of the leading candidates for governor and other state leaders were pushing for some of the most aggressive reform measures to be discussed in Albany in years. Republican candidate for governor Bill Weld was calling for a constitutional convention to rewrite how Albany operates and elects politicians. He also wanted to create a commission to root out corruption. Eliot Spitzer, Democratic candidate, targeted New York’s gerrymandering. It is clear that New York lawmakers should heed the growing chorus for reform from candidates for statewide office, said Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group. As candidates call for reform, it is occurring at the same time the Legislature is contemplating reforms. It feeds on each other and if lawmakers thought last year was going to be enough, it’s dawning on them that it won’t be.

The county Chamber of Commerce was asking county legislators not to make any changes to the current exemption of sales tax on clothing and footwear purchases. Todd Tranum, president and chief executive officer of the county chamber, sent legislators an e-mail recently expressing the chamber’s view. Debated in December, the proposal to change the exemption limit from the current $110 level to $55 was tabled and will be discussed again today. The reason for tabling the resolution was to get input from area merchants as well as the chamber. We appreciate that the legislature consulted with us on this issue, Tranum wrote. The Chamber of Commerce is opposed to the reducing the sales tax exemption from $110 to $55 and we ask that you not make any changes to the exemption at this time.

The United Way of Southern Chautauqua County had chosen Tory Irgang as its new executive director, effective Feb. 23. Mrs. Irgang is currently program manager with the Chautauqua County Health Network, where she has been responsible for grant writing, developing and submitting program and grant reports, managing budgets for business operations, and managing contracts and service agreements. I am honored to be selected by the board as the new executive director, Mrs. Irgang said. There are obviously big shoes to fill, but I look forward to bringing my experience, enthusiasm, and passion for this community to the United Way. That combined with a terrific staff should ensure a smooth transition and great things ahead.

In Years Past

More than 750 people attended the annual Chautauqua Region speed skating championships at the Lakewood ice rink. Racing featured racing stars from throughout Western New York, with out-of-town stars taking honors in major meets. Meanwhile, 30 youth under the age of 15 took part in a juvenile ski meet of the Jamestown Ski Club in cooperation with the Jamestown Recreational Council at Allen Park.

That the work being done by the English people and others in Jamestown for the relief of war-stricken England was appreciated was indicated in a recent article in a newspaper published at Halifax. “A welcome gift of $22 have been subscribed to the Blingley Spitfire Fund by a number of former residents of the district now living in Jamestown, America. … This little colony out in the States are doing their bit for the Mother Country in other directions, too. They are working in knitting comforts and such like through the British War Relief organization in Jamestown. That committee, it is interesting to note, raised $500 at a recent concert and altogether has spent 600 dollars in the purchase of yarn. The result is that 300 pairs of socks in addition to mittens, sweaters and other things have been made,” the newspaper reported.

The Jamestown City Council eased its ban on giving advance notice of council resolutions by agreeing to make council agendas available no later than 5 p.m. on the day after they were mailed to council members. The decision wasn’t without controversy. Robert E. Godfrey, D-Ward 5, accused The Post-Journal of being more motivated by its own interests than by a desire to serve the public and citing a long list of articles and editorials on the subject. Councilman Louis Peterson, D-Ward 2, replied that it was essential that citizens of Jamestown be given an opportunity to inform themselves in advance of matters considered of interest at council meetings.

Chautauqua County Health Department officials were still waiting for Jamestown to correct alleged violations at its refuse disposal area on Fluvanna Avenue. City officials had indicated a cleanup schedule would be forthcoming shortly after a September meeting. Violations included polluting the outlet, failure to compact and cover refuse daily with at least six inches of suitable material and a final compact cover of at least two feet of suitable cover material, along with failure to provide adequate fencing or means to control blowing papers and other lightweight materials that had resulted in frequent nuisance complaints. Leonard Facciani, county director of environmental health, said the city had cleaned up the site considerably but the health department wanted the city to phase out the operation.

More than 20 city residents attended a Jamestown Public Schools board meeting to learn more about a civil lawsuit filed against a former marching band booster for alleged sexual abuse and a former teacher for negligent action. Ray Fashano, superintendent, said in May 2003, a former high school teacher approached administrators and sadi a senior student was having a relationship with a recent graduate who was helping the band boosters. The graduate was then removed from the boosters. The abuse allegedly happened in 2001. The notice of claim was filed in November 2004.

A new state law would create civil confinement for the worst sex offenders. According to state Sen. Cathy Young, R-Olean, civil confinement would take place in a designated state facility, leaving no extra local costs. Where mental health officials would do evaluations to determine whether they’re still dangerous, Mrs. Young said.

The historic building that has long been the symbol for Cockaigne Ski Center was gone. Fire gutted the Austrian World’s Fair Pavilion that stood at the base of the Cherry Creek resort’s slopes Monday night as fire crews from throughout the region scurried to contain the blaze. The building was fully engulfed when we got here, Cherry Creek Fire Chief Jim Abbey said. At that point it became a defensive fire. Our concern now it keeping those arches from falling, and there are oxygen bottles in the first aid room. The fire marks the end for a building that was filled with history. The pavilion, originally constructed in Austria for $1 million, was designed for the 1964 World’s Fair in New York City, where it won top awards for its innovative design. Cockaigne Inc., then purchased the building $3,000 in 1965 from the Austrian Trade Delegation. The pavilion was the transported in pieces from Flushing, N.Y., to Jamestown via rail and road and finally reassembled in the winter of 1966. The final piece of the building’s history was Monday with firefighters from nine departments working into the early morning.

In Years Past

In 1941, Allen E. Bargar, Jamestown City Court judge and member of the Citizens’ Stadium Committee, requested that the new municipal stadium not be named after him. “I want to live in Jamestown for a long time,” Bargar said. “I want to enjoy the normal companionship of my fellow men. I hope to have some usefulness in future years in civic matters. Under the circumstances I don’t want any monuments, nor do I feel I deserve any.”

The Little Theater’s English melodrama, “Night Must Fall,” would be repeated as a benefit performance for the British War Relief Fund. “Tickets are already going like hot-cakes to the general public, all receipts to be donated toward relief of the beleaguered Britishers,” the Journal reported.

In 1966, Weary highway crews continued their struggle to clean up a weekend snowstorm that dumped nearly two feet of snow on the area. All county roads were reported open but snow covered and slippery. The municipal airport was closed Jan. 23 due to poor visibility. Cars stuck along major roads were freed as highway crews appeared, and no major accidents were reported due to the storm.

Twisted girders and flame-ravaged debris were all that remained of the Chautauqua Central School’s bus garage building after a fire destroyed the $300,000 building. Josh Turner, supervising principal, said the school would remain closed at least until Jan. 25, with administrators hoping to resume classes by doubling up on bus schedules. The fire loss included 12 vehicles, including seven school buses. Also lost were a driver training car, station wagon, pick-up truck, tractor and snow plow. Firefighters were at the site for more than four hours and, while unable to save the garage, did keep the flames from spreading to the main school building about 70 feet away.

In 2006, controversy over a memorial for J.C. Matteson, the first area native to be killed during Operation Iraqi Freedom, continued to dominate Celoron Village Board meetings. Some argued. Some encouraged everyone to work together. Some directed contentious comments toward James Matteson, Matteson’s father, and Tom Bartolo, village mayor. “This could have been one of the most bipartisan things we could have done,” said Paul Shanahan, village resident. “The real problem is how we’ve gotten to this point.”

Lakewood Village Board members were discussing a way to protect public use of docks located on public property but installed and maintained by private residents. Land along the shoreline was open to anyone provided they comply with village regulations. But neighbors had gradually encroached on the public access points, sometimes setting up their own docks connected to the public access areas. “The problem is people aren’t following procedure,” said Joe Troche, village board member. “People think they’re private docks, but they’re public docks.” Troche wanted to allow individual residents to establish an association to spread the cost of the dock maintenance around, with the village leasing the residents the right of way. The village’s attorney advised looking into the idea further before making a decision.

In 2011, Nancy Zimpher, SUNY chancellor, wanted to deliver a more competitive SUNY. Throughout her speech, Zimpher also focused on ideas like creating smoother transfers between campuses, expanding SUNY’s global reach for students and again implementing programs that increase students’ access to classes, ultimately decreasing the amount of time it takes for students to graduate. That wasn’t a problem for Dennis Hefner, State University at Fredonia president. “We pride ourselves on the fact that we are seventh in the nation in four-year graduation rates. We are going to ensure students have access to the classes that they need to graduate on time,” said Hefner, who believes that doing so is part of the school’s responsibility.

In Years Past

In 1941, An unknown robber held up Mrs. Floyd Chamberlain, wife of a Mayville liquor store owner, a short distance from her home. The robber made off with $30, but Mrs. Chamberlain hid an additional $75 in a paper bag. The money had been taken from the liquor store cash register to be stored at the Chamberlain home overnight. Police discovered from neighbors that the man had peered into the window of the liquor store while Mrs. Chamberlain was counting money but did not enter. After looking in the front window the man walked around the side of the business, spoke with someone and then drove away before coming back later to commit the robbery.

Krist Hansen, Jamestown parks superintendent, discussed his memories growing up in Norway during World War I when it was not uncommon to see floating mines wash ashore. Many of the mines exploded as they hit the rocks of the coast or were exploded by the Norwegian Coast Guard. Hansen came to the United States in 1928 and took out citizenship as soon as possible. He had been employed by the Parks Department ever since arriving in Jamestown. His parents still lived in his native Western Islands, saying a recent letter from his mother revealed the family had more food now than during World War I. “This may not mean they have much,’ Hansen said, “as there were many times when we went for days with nothing but herring and potatoes.”

In 2006, David Leathers was named by the Board of Public Utilities as its new deputy general manager with responsibility for business development, key projects management and implementation of strategic plans for all five divisions. “I am very excited to join the BPU team and to be provided an opportunity to help this organization drive improvement and growth for the betterment of this region, Leathers said. “My family and I have made a commitment to stay in Jamestown; my efforts will be solely focused on using my background and experience to help the BPU team achieve its mission of service excellence.”

Area foundation officials were excited over Jamestown’s Urban Design Plan, though all wanted to see the plan implemented to its fullest. Overuse of single-family homes as multiple dwellings and lukewarm interest in business development were as big a problem in 2006 as they were in the 1967 Comprehensive Plan. “There is definitely strong feelings amongst the foundations and the city to get this plan implemented,” said Randall Sweeney, Chautauqua Region Community Foundation executive director. Mayor Sam Teresi, meanwhile, deferred action to a group that had yet to be formed, though he too wanted to see work taking place. “We’ve been thinking of an oversight group of downtown stakeholders whose job it will be to keep everybody’s feet to the fire,” Teresi said. “We didn’t engage in this so the plan will grace the shelves of the Prendergast Library and be content to leave it at that.”

In 2011, Chautauqua Institution officials were preparing for a large influx of hits to its website and calls to its switchboard the morning of Feb. 1, thinking thousands of people across the nation were going to be looking for more information after viewing “Chautauqua: An American Narrative” on PBS affiliates nationwide. About 2.5 million viewers were expected to tune in, and Thomas Becker, Chautauqua Institution president, said the coast-to-coast exposure was “a very big deal.” “It’s really quite a significant, rather monumental event for us,” he said. “Preparing for it has meant that we’ve looked at all our systems for conveying information, for orienting people to the place for selling tickets online, for providing information about accommodations, for the manning of call-center work – all of that has been turned on its head and redesigned at a much higher level of delivery.”

A new report from the leading advocacy group for medical care in the state of New York indicated the number of doctors will continue to slide in several Western New York counties. The new figures from the Healthcare Association of New York State followed a study from 2009 that showed a rise in the number of doctors entering retirement. It stated the latest information from the region revealed the dilemma of “retiring baby boomer” physicians was compounded by difficulties in recruiting “new talent” to replace them. The HANYS study revealed that in 2009, 130 physicians retired or left Western New York, and another 287 were expected to do so by the end of 2011. Since 43 percent of physicians in Western New York were over the age of 55, it argued this trend would continue for the foreseeable future.

In Years Past

In 1941, Herbert A. Stone, 21, of Jamestown as rising rapidly in the ranks of the U.S. Army. He had recently been promoted to staff sergeant in the commissary department with Company E, 174th Regiment, at Fort Dix. When the Fenton Guards left Jamestown last September Stone was a first class private acting as a mess sergeant. Upon reaching camp he was appointed mess sergeant and then was put in charge of food supplies for nine kitchens. Stone graduated from Jamestown High School when he was 16 years old and worked at Marlin-Rockwell Corp. before leaving for Fort Dix.

Attorney General Robert H. Jackson was again rumored to be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court in the wake of Justice James Clark McReynolds’ retirement. McReynolds was the only member of the court described by Roosevelt officials as conservative due to his persistent opposition to New Deal programs.

In 1966, another attempt would be made to end the Democratic city administration’s blackout on public information when the City Council met on Monday. The resolution was the same as one dismissed earlier in the month except for removal of a provision to broadcast or televise council meetings. It was sponsored by Louis Peterson, D-Ward 2, and was the first time a Democratic councilperson had taken the lead in breaking the information ban and could forecast a softening of the council’s position.

Lt. Steven Maisto, president of the Jamestown Police Deptartment Association, and Patrolman Thomas Trusso, president of the Kendall Club, called on local government agencies and civic agencies for support of legislation to establish minimum pay standards for local police. The measure had been proposed by Gov. Nelson Rockefeller to improve local police forces. “We must make the job of the local police officer as attractive, from the standpoint of its financial return, as it is important to the life and limb of the public, and the property, which he protects,” they said. “We have long been concerned with the low salaries paid generally to police officers throughout the state. The only remedy to the situation appears to be for the state to mandate minimum standards which can be met by the localities, perhaps supported in part by the state.”

In 2011, 50 years ago, a siren sliced through the crisp, early morning air at the Chautauqua Institution. What began as the local effort to extinguish a fire inside the historic Colonnade Building grew into a gruelling 12-hour battle against flames, all the while having to endure the harshest of wintry conditions. The Colonnade blaze changed the way fires were fought, and the lessons influenced a wide audience. “It wasn’t just Chautauqua who rewrote their plan, it was the county coordinators looking at what went right and what went wrong,” said Rosemary Rappole, a local resident who pieced together testimony from her predecessors in the Chautauqua Fire Department. In particular, the institution’s reliance on a single entrance forced incoming emergency vehicles to gather at the Main Gate, and they were then dispatched one at a time. In this fashion, staging became a significant part of mutual aid in the county,” Rappole said, and “control points have been used since the 1960s.”

Blair’s parent company Orchard Brands filed for bankruptcy in a Delaware court late Wednesday afternoon, using a pre-negotiated deal that will cut the company’s debt by more than $420 million. The move into Chapter 11 had been expected after Orchard Brands owner Golden Gate Capital failed to find a buyer for the company in October. In a statement issued by Orchard Brands, the company said it sought court approval for a $140 million debtor-in-possession loan to continue operations while in bankruptcy.

In Years Past

In 1941, Robert H. Jackson and a group of 20 other prominent Democrats presented a set of the “Book of Knowledge” to President Franklin D. Roosevelt as an inaugural gift. Each of the donors contributed one volume. The gift set, valued at $10,000 and refused for sale to private collectors, was printed in the United States and bound in hand in England for display at the Philadelphia Sesquicentennial Exposition. Each volume had a different design motif illustrating its text, were bound in the finest leather, with covers and leaf edges in color blended with 22 Karat gold leaf.

Former owners of properties acquired by the federal government for a new post office to be located between Second and Third streets near Prendergast Avenue, were refused refunds on taxes levied on the properties during 1940. The property owners argued the properties became worthless as revenue producers after negotiations for their sale to the government ended. There was a considerable interval from the time negotiations ended and when the sale actually closed.

In 1966, about 200 people inspected Eason Hall during an open house and seemed well pleased with the remodeling and offices that were made inside for village and town officials. There were no adverse comments heard by any of the officials who acted as tour guides.

The corridors of the Jamestown General Hospital wouldn’t be the same without the cheerful smile of white-haired J. Chandler Carlson, who was retiring after 36 years of helping the sick as an orderly at the hospital. Carlson expected to have time to call on former patients and to do a lot of gardening Mrs. Carlson said she hoped they would be able to visit their son, the Rev. Daniel Carlson, and his wife, Faith, a registered nurse, in Rhode Island. Carlson was the subject of a reception in the hospital cafeteria. Carlson joined the hospital on May 1, 1930, and noted, “The pay then was 30 cents an hour.”

In 2011, Art Thomas, an 88-year-old who sits on the North Harmony Town Board, had “A Ferry Tale” to tell. He had done so in his 150-page book about the Bemus Point-Stow Ferry that he spent the last three years compiling, and which the town would publish. Thomas said he became interested in the ferry about 20 years ago when he moved to the area. He gave lectures to area historical groups about what he knew about the ferry, mostly from the 1950s onward, and people shared tidbits about it with him too. “There’s a lot to remember about the ferry,” he said, adding people have fond memories of riding across Chautauqua Lake on the vessel that carries them and their vehicles and will celebrate its bicentennial this July.

The Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court, Third Department, has ruled that 11 small-city school districts don’t receive enough state aid. The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed last year by Jamestown Public School District and 10 other districts like Jamestown, which the state recently appealed – and was denied. The lawsuit, titled Hussein et al. v State of New York, was filed over a year ago, and it has since turned into an ongoing battle that “is a mirror image of the past fiscal equity case from New York City,” according to Jamestown Public School District superintendent Daniel Kathman. The discouraging news for the 11 districts currently involved, however, is that though New York City school districts won their case, it took the courts 10 years to reach a final verdict. “I hope that’s not an indication of what we can expect to see here, said Kathman. “It’s moving forward now and we will no doubt have district representatives deposed. We’ve already sent in records, information and data supporting the case, as have all other school districts involved.”

In Years Past

In 1941, brothers unaware of each other’s existence met in Alfred after being separated for 40 years. Milton H. Lloyd of Mayville was reunited with relatives, including his brother William C. Stillman, whom he had not seen since infancy. Several months prior, Lloyd was informed that he and his brother had been adopted by different families. Each grew to manhood unaware of each other’s existence. He chased down clues that finally led to the location of his brother and met in Alfred.

August E. Hultberg, who was in charge of the Marlin-Rockwell company flower gardens for 22 years and whose tulip displays attracted hundreds of people each year, died at his Jamestown home at the age of 83. Hultberg was born in Sweden and had lived in Jamestown since 1881.

In 1966, U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy visited Jamestown to announce a federal grant for the James Prendergast Free Library. The library would receive $153,000 from the Appalachian Regional Commission for an expansion project. The reception was part of a three-and-a-half hour visit in Jamestown that included a visit to Bigelow’s Department Store and a meeting with Franklin W. Bigelow, store president, and other Jamestown business leaders. He then walked to The Post-Journal to meet with Robert S. Koon, managing editor. The senator then went to the library, speaking briefly to the crowd before going to Washington Junior High School for two more meetings.

The fact that Doug Cook, 4, had known how to swim since he was 2 likely saved his life. Cook was pushed out of a truck cab window as the vehicle, with a snowplow attached, started to sink through the ice on Chautauqua Lake at Point Stockholm. “I taught each one of my children how to swim at an early age,” said Don Cook Sr. of Fluvanna Townline Road. As the truck began to sink through four inches of ice, Cook pushed his son out of the window when he was unable to escape. Cook and Phil Eddy escaped through the same window. The trio was on their way home from the Lakewood Rode and Gun Club on the opposite side of the lake and had removed snow from a large area of the lake near the club house for an ice skating rink for Rod and Gun Club members. Cook and friends spent time Wednesday cutting a channel through the ice to remove the truck from the water. It sank in about seven feet of water and only the cab was above the waterline.

In 2011, the system for providing social services in Northern Chautauqua County is not working well, according to the League of Women Voters. Minda Rae Amiran addressed the County Legislature’s Human Services Committee on Wednesday, representing the group. In her comments, she reiterated many of the concerns which have been expressed repeatedly in the nearly one year since the Masonic Temple fire on Feb. 24 forced changes to be made in the Department of Social Services. “In short,” Amiran concluded, “it seems to us that it would be more efficient and cost-effective to return those 66 workers to Dunkirk than to pay transportation costs for them in Jamestown and around the county. And we believe such a move would also increase access and quality for northern Chautauqua County clients.”

Citing a number of violations of snowmobilers riding on village streets and sidewalks, Bemus Point officials planned to contact the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Department in hopes of curbing the problem. Mayor Bryan Dahlberg said a resident visited a recent Village Board meeting to voice concerns about snowmobiling within the village. Dahlberg said village public works officials are also concerned about the snowmobilers riding on sidewalks since their tracks pack snow down, making it difficult to plow. Dahlberg said there is a snowmobiling trail that goes onto a golf course in the village, “but,” he said, “village streets and sidewalks are off limits to snowmobiles. Due to a large number of those riding on the village streets and sidewalks, however,” he said, “officials will contact law enforcement to make them aware so violators can be ticketed.”

In Years Past

Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Deputies were investigating the death of Margaret Marie Arrowsmith of Little Valley. The mother of two was found dead in a car on a lonely road with three bullet wounds. Joseph F. Bruno of Salamanca was also in the car, according to police. The vehicle was found by a Hinsdale Central School bus driver. The right front door of the car was open, which led coroners to believe the woman had tried to escape the vehicle.

A Democratic Party plan to redistrict New York’s Assembly seats was unveiled. The plan would place Dunkirk and six towns in the northern part of the county in the 149th Assembly District along with all of Cattaraugus County. The 150th District would then include the remaining towns in Chautauqua County and Jamestown. The plan would eliminate having two sitting Assembly members running against each other for re-election.

Threatening a criminal investigation, Jim Caflisch, R-French Creek, asked Terry Niebel, Republican county election commissioner, to resign his position. Niebel declined. “I have no intention of resigning, period, Niebel said. It’s best for everyone concerned if he just steps aside and we go on with someone else in that position,” Caflisch said.

“The poor example he sets is a reflection that goes to other county managers too, and other workers should not be tarnished by actions of Mr. Niebel.”

According to Minority Leader Fred Croscut, R-Sherman, Caflisch asked other legislators to sign the letter but they chose not to. Croscut said while he and others in the party support Caflisch’s decision to come forward with the information he and Goggin have, each legislator will have to decide whether to join in asking for his resignation. He said legislators will have to consult their local Republican committees to see how they would like to proceed. Many local committee chairs support Niebel and happy with the job he’s doing, Croscut said.

Jamestown Community College opened the doors to its renovated physical education complex after a $2.69 million project. Changes included changing the gym floor from a synthetic surface to wood, extending the point of entry to protect the floor and creating a more suitable entrance to the pool area. This facility will help us fulfill our promise to students by challenging them, caring for them and connecting with them, said Gregory DeCinque, JCC president.

Steve Wickmark would end his tenure as the county’s commissioner of Social Services effective April 29. News of the department head’s resignation was announced Tuesday by County Executive Greg Edwards. Wickmark will continue to serve locally, however, working in the Office of Courts Administration’s Family Court Improvement Project. Wickmark and the Department of Social Services were in the news several times in 2010 following departmental changes made after a fire at the department’s offices in Dunkirk. Then, late in the year, Wickmark and the department came under fire after members of the department gave inaccurate testimony during a custody case.

Up close and wonderful was at the core of Jamestown’s new identity. At a recent business meeting of the Downtown Jamestown Development Corporation, Lee Harkness announced the completion of a marketing study for the city. However, hints of the new branding campaign have been already visible in the lead up to the international hockey pre-tournament camp in December. Printed on city maps and applied to storefront windows, a common logo features Up Close and Wonderful: Jamestown, New York in lively arranged letters and inviting font color. What we will want is for everybody to use this on their stationary and advertising. If everybody uses it, pretty soon it will be universally recognized as Jamestown, said Harkness.

In Years Past

Jamestown’s taxes were to increase 27 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation. The budget came after the City Council spent six weeks studying required spending. The new budget included appropriation to build the new municipal baseball stadium, now known as Russell E. Diethrick Stadium, including adequate lighting for night-time competition.

All of the $6,200 available to date to dredge the Chadakoin River between the Warner Dam and the Boatlanding had been spent, but only two-thirds of the job had been done and another $3,000 would be required to finish the work. Workmen dredged the north side of the river to a point opposite Sprague Street, then proceeded under the Sprague Street bridge and cleaned out the channel with a drag line. The crew then moved to the Erie Railroad bridge, south of the Boatlanding, dragging the river bed near the center piers. Shoals under the Fairmount Avenue bridge were dragged another 100 feet north of the bridge. The workmen were then to remove a 25-foot strip from one side of Grass Island between the Warner Dam and Sprague Street bridge to widen the stream. Plans also called for cleaning out the millrace opposite Grass Island and removal of a sharp curve about midway between the Third and Sprague Street bridges.

For “untiring devotion to the health and welfare of the community,” Russell E. Diethrick Jr., city recreation director, was designated Jamestown’s Outstanding Young Man of the Year at the annual Bosses Night Dinner of the Jaycees. The award was presented by Sam Colera, Jamestown Jaycees president. Diethrick was credited with expanding the playground program, helping save the municipal golf course for at least another season of operation, transferring Little League baseball from Fluvanna Avenue to Roseland Park, sparking completion of the Allen Park Bandshell and construction of a proposed community center building in Allen Park.

Jamestown would be split into two state Assembly districts under a plan made public by Republican members of the Joint Legislative Committee on Reapportionment. The redistricting, ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court’s one man, one vote ruling in June 1964, would put Assemblyman Jess Present of Jamestown and Assemblyman A. Bruce Manley of Fredonia in the same district. The eastern half of Jamestown would be part of the 149th district with Carroll, Kiantone, Busti, Poland and part of Cattaraugus County while the western half of the city would be part of the 150th district and be paired with the rest of Chautauqua County.

The town of Busti would join Lakewood in applying for grant money to study the use of Jamestown Board of Public Utilities to supply electricity. The grant was through the state’s Shared Municipal Service Incentive Grant, a program to encourage intermunicipal cooperation. Lakewood approved pursuing the grant earlier in the month, hoping to one day buy out the infrastructure from Niagara Mohawk to contract with the BPU for electricity.

Republicans on the Chautauqua County Legislature were charging Terry Niebel, Republican election commissioner, with falsifying time records and engaging in personal business during his time at work. Jim Caflisch, R-Clymer, and County Comptroller Dennis Goggin presented records of Niebel’s sign-in times during an Administrative Services Committee meeting. Mr.. Caflisch’s politically motivated allegations are completely without merit, Niebel said in a written statement. He knows I am a salaried employee, as are the county comptroller, county clerk and county executive, and that I have an atypical work schedule.

When is the right time to talk to a child about the dangers of drugs? This is a question to which some parents do not know the answer, said Billy Torres, manager of the Eastside Family YMCA, and he adds other folks may hope to put off their worries until their children reach their teen years. But the fact is that even middle school youth are at risk and vulnerable and may do it just to fit in, he said. The truth is that, as terrifying as it is, the younger you can educate and prepare young children about the dangers and risk involved with drugs, the better.

Vision, courage and strength. Those were just some of the attributes that made Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. the leader he was and were among the words used to describe the civil rights activist during a communitywide celebration on the 25th observation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. “You can see the progress from the “I Have a Dream” speech in ’63, to his death in ’68, to Ronald Reagan making it a national holiday 25 years ago to now,” said Michael Taylor, D-Ward 3. The progress that’s been made, the impact that he had, is not just across the nation – it’s been across the world.

In Years Past

In 1941, Chautauqua County was to furnish 66 more young men for the U.S. Army under the selective service act. There was no band music, no speechmaking and no ceremony for the 25 Jamestown men who left for Buffalo on the first leg of their journey to Camp Upton in Long Island. Between 250 and 300 of the relatives and friends of the young men gathered at the Erie train station for their departure.

A simple new device for shutting off a sprinkler head saved the Tillotson Furniture Corp., 16-32 Steele St., from thousands of dollars worth of damage when fire broke out in a second-floor finishing room of the three-story plant. Before the torrent of water was shut off it had caused damage estimated at $2,500, but the new sprinkler “tong” and prompt action by firemen staved off damage that could have resulted in the temporary shutdown of the plant. The factory was operating at full capacity the morning after the fire.

In 1966, Chautauqua County started the week in the cold grip of winter, with sub-zero temperatures, snow and sleet. Most areas reported low temperatures, including negative 8 in Sinclairville, negative 3 in Jamestown and negative 2 in Mayville. In Jamestown, Lawrence W. Fletcher, acting public works director, said all available plows, salt trucks and cinder trucks were out.

Store officials estimated damage at between $10,000 and $20,000 after a fire early Sunday morning at the Midland Discount Store, 24 E. Third St.. Fire broke out between the false ceiling in the store and the floor above. Firemen tore out part of the ceiling in order to reach the seat of the fire. A 74-year-old retired mail carrier was rescued from his third-floor, smoke-filled apartment by firefighters.

In 2006, a potential state proposal to add a $1.50 tax for cigarettes had area smokers fuming – and making plans to make their next purchase at an area Native American reservation. With state taxes pushing some brands to more than $5 a pack, many smokers said they would turn to reservations. “I don’t see how raising the taxes is going to benefit the state at all,” said Robert Metzger of Silver Creek.

The book, “Terror Unleashed: The Coming Bird Flu, Oil, Terrorist and Financial Crisis,” by Dr. Bradford Frank of Lakewood was to educate Americans of the danger they will face in the 21st century and help them better prepare for disaster. “The book talks about the major problems we face,” Frank said. “The book is a warning about these things, saying, “Wake up. Live your life accordingly.”

In 2011, Albany was coming closer to making a final decision on what types of cuts in state education aid would be made for the year, and at what percentage. “We find it best to err on the side of caution,” said Daniel George, Southwestern Central School district superintendent. “The district’s Board of Education – like many others throughout the state – is no longer talking about serious state aid reduction in a ‘what if’ manner. Now, it is, ‘When, and how bad?’A lot of this is tough for me to say, but if reductions in state aid continue this way over the next two years, as a district we will be in structural deficit,” said George, who continued to explain that the district is experiencing a loss in aid equal to $1,000 per student.

In Years Past

In 1941, a shipment of knit goods, used clothing and soap had been sent by the Knitting Society of Royal Oak Lodge, Daughters of St. George. Included in the shipment were 34 pairs of socks, nine pairs of sea-boot stockings, eight long-sleeve sweaters for the Navy, 14 sleeveless sweaters for the Royal Air Force and two scarves.

Fire early in the morning destroyed a popular summer combination grocery store, refreshment store and gasoline station operated in the past year by Leonard Holmes of Bradford, Pa., at Cheney’s Point near Ashville. The building was commonly known as Knorr’s, having been formerly owned by Mr. and Mrs. George Knorr of Jamestown.

In 2006, taking out the trash for an elderly neighbor could come with a cash reward under a state program that would pay people to do chores for senior citizens. “Cleaning, shopping, transportation – we need to find new ways to support those kind of tasks that don’t require a skilled work force,” said Neil Lane, executive director of the state Office for the Aging. The office was reviewing details surrounding how to implement the idea.

Pastor Maria Jones of Emmanuel Baptist Church, guest speaker for the city’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration, said everyone may not be able to affect the world as Dr. King did during his life. “We should be asking ourselves daily, ‘What am I doing for others?'” she said. “Not many of us will have the opportunity to change the world like Dr. King did, but that’s okay. Make change within your circle of influence. Let us not give up the dream alive.”

In 2011, driving down the residential streets in Jamestown, it was easy to spot the vacant homes -?whose driveways, mailboxes and porches were masked by an undisturbed blanket of snow. But the neighborhoods of Jamestown were shedding this image, one new homeowner at a time. John Murphy, executive director of the Chautauqua Home Rehabilitation and Improvement Corporation, said a lasting commitment to fix neglected and dilapidated houses converted a recent crop to occupancy status. And as CHRIC set its sights on the next round of work, he announced six of these homes were ready for new owners. “I can show how the city has done this comprehensive plan, they are taking public input and really taking innovative ways to get this done,” Murphy said. “And I can say, based on that plan, we would like to come in and help them with a portion of that neighborhood revitalization. It makes my job easier.”

The Cuban song Babalu might have been Desi Arnaz’s signature song on the television show “I Love Lucy,” but in downtown Jamestown it was a cafe. The Babalu Cafe, 14. E. Second St., next to Lucille Ball Little Theater, held a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of the restaurant. April Pintagro, Babalu Cafe owner, said the business opened its doors on Nov. 18 and so far business had been good. “Things are going fabulously well,” she said. “The cafe gives people a nice location to come and meet.”

In Years Past

In 1941, all 1,600 seats in the Shea Theater were occupied for the opening session of the Jamestown Evening Journal’s free cooking school. The school was hosted by Mrs. Dorothy Ayers Loudon, nationally known home economist. Large groups entered the theater as soon as the doors opened. “This is the surprise of my life,” said Robert Horning, Shea’s manager. “I never dreamed that all seats would be filled on a cold winter morning.”

The Board of Education of Central School 1 of the towns of Ellery, Ellicott, Gerry and Stockton discussed graduation requirements and Regent’s exams. It was felt that no one should be barred from taking Regents exams and that if a pupil kept an average of between 70 and 80 percent, the pupil would pass the course on local credit. Not attaining the C average meant the pupil could still pass the course as long as the student passed the final examination in the course. Seniors whose averages were C or better at the end of the third quarter would be sure of graduation, while those whose averages were less than a C would need to pass final exams in order to receive credit and graduate.

In 1966, two people were hurt when a county Sheriff’s Department vehicle collided with a Bemus Point Central School bus. There were no passengers on the bus. According to deputies, the Sheriff’s Department vehicle was unable to stop on an icy stretch of road and went through a stop sign.

An 18-year-old Allegany girl pulled two companions to safety after the car in which they were riding crashed, upside down, into the Allegheny River. Judith Beatty of Five Mile Road, Allegany, a passenger in the car, remained calm and opened the car door and helped her friends to safety. The vehicle slid on South Nine Mile Road and crashed through wooden guardrails on a small bridge crossing the river. The car landed in four to five feet of water on its top, pinning the girls inside. The only injuries were cuts and scratches for Beatty.

In 2006, problems with the new Medicare Part D were affecting senior citizens throughout the area, including Mary South, a 77-year-old Sinclairville resident who had difficulty breathing without her asthma medicine. When she wasn’t able to pick the prescription up and spent a few days off the drug, she was rushed to the hospital suffering from pneumonia and on the verge of heat stroke. Her Medicare Part D plan no longer allowed the drug, leaving her searching for alternatives that had been ineffective in the past. “I don’t think anybody should play God and say, ‘Well, you can’t have that drug,'” South said.

All but seven area schools had seen a decrease in enrollment, with the average decrease being about 5 percent. “Even before a decrease in enrollment, a small school district already has an issue with trying to provide enough extra-curricular activities,” said Carol Hay, Panama Central School superintendent, whose district had seen an 11 percent enrollment decrease over the past five years. She said fewer students could help instruction, however. “When you have fewer students you can have more intense instruction. That’s a positive part about having smaller enrollment numbers. When kids feel someone takes a special interest in them, they perform better.”

In 2011, area officials want to develop a health care talent pipeline. A health care career fair for high school students at WCA Hospital was one way to do so, said Kerri Brown of the Workforce Investment Board at Chautauqua Works, which sponsored the fair in partnership with the Chautauqua County Health Network. The fair was supported by a grant from the Sheldon Foundation. Mrs. Brown said it was held in order to introduce high schoolers to career choices that will need to be filled in the area, along with connecting them with employers. It is a way, she said, to “grow your own talent.”

“They’re something most of us toss in the trash or recycling bin regularly without a second thought. But normal, everyday coupons can be a financial blessing for military men and women living overseas,” says Theresa Perrin, president of the Lakewood-Busti Golden Agers. That is why, she said, the senior organization is working with several others in the area to clip, clip, clip away in support of the cause. “I would never have given it a thought,” Mrs. Perrin said of sending coupons to troops. “You hear about people collecting items in a box to send over to the military, which is wonderful, but it still costs money. This is something that people are throwing away, that you can just clip and it’s a value to other people.”

In Years Past

In 1941, Mertin P. Corwin, Jamestown High School principal, and Garret Nyweide, director of guidance and research, were to take part in a state effort to check students who left school in the past year. The project was designed to introduce a technique to permanently improve the quality of guidance service to youth and to get data for a current statewide study of employment and related educational problems of youth.

The Chautauqua Region Speed Skating Championships were scheduled for Lakewood at the end of the week. The meet was sanctioned by the Western New York Speed Skating Association. Members of the racing committee reported the ice was in excellent condition. It was proposed to lay out a six-lap to the mile track on which the district titles would be contested. Entry blanks had been sent to Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Erie and Cleveland and a number of skaters in the tri-state area had indicated they would compete.

In 1966, work on the final report of the comprehensive sewer survey for lower Chautauqua Lake was about 85 percent complete and was expected to be finished in February. Quantity take-offs for preparation of trunk sewer cost estimates were completed and work was continuing on a final draft of the report. The system would include lower Chautauqua Lake from Stow on the west and Maple Springs on the east and include Lakewood, Celoron, Bemus Point, Fluvanna, Jamestown and Falconer.

Don Spitz came one pin from a perfect game of bowling. After bowling in the WJTN Classic league, Spitz, rolling on four different alleys, had tossed 11 straight strikes and settled for a 299 game, leaving only the 10 pin in the 10th frame standing.

In 2006, the minimum wage had risen from $6 to $6.75 per hour with the hope lower income workers could find a more comfortable living. Roberta Keller, Chautuaqua Opportunities Inc. executive director, said the exact opposite was happening. Many workers who had been receiving public assistance benefits found themselves ineligible, hurting the working poor.

A warm January meant unfamiliar winter sights, like two people in a sailboat on Burtis Bay or golfers playing a round of golf at Sunset Valley Golf Course. Sandy Colseon, a recent retired truck driver and Ashville resident, was one of those golfers and, on the 14th hole, landed a hole-in-one. “It’s a great thing to do,” he said. “This time of year, you’d never think something like this would happen.”

In 2011, a change in attitude was needed. Talking about such change, however, is only that – just talk. For that reason, New York’s new governor brought his State of the State message to Western New York on Thursday. “I wanted to change the tradition a little bit,” Andrew Cuomo told a capacity crowd at the Robert H. Jackson Center. “We have to make a lot of changes in Albany, and one of the changes is the attitude that people are going to come and hear their government in Albany.”

By 2014, the hilltops of the town of South Valley could be sporting a new feature: up to 40 wind turbines. Skip Brennan, East Region development director for Iberdrola Renewables, addressed about two dozen landowners in the town hall about a potential project that could make money for both them and the rest of the community, he said. ‘We see a project here in South Valley as quite feasible,” Brennan said. “I think the community could benefit in many different ways.”

In Years Past

In 1941, just 60 years after the late Fred Briggs came from England and erected the Jamestown Cotton Mills on Center Street, the present owner and occupant of the property, the Crescent Tool Company, was building another addition to the plant. The addition was one-story, made of brick and steel, just south of the forge shop on Foote Avenue. Marvin L. Peterson, company president, said the addition was required by the increased use of alloy steel in the hard tools manufactured in connection with the national defense program. The addition was to be ready by the middle of February.

Three people narrowly escaped death by fire when flames destroyed Krist’s roadhouse, formerly known as Mike’s Tavern, on Kimball Stand-Stockton Road. The only three occupants of the rambling structure were in bed and asleep when the fire was discovered. Sinclairville firefighters had to lay water lines for 1,200 feet to a small creek to get water. Only a few walls of the frame structure were standing when firefighters left eight hours after the fire was discovered.

In 1966, U.S. Rep. Charles E. Goodell of Jamestown was not impressed with President Johnson’s State of the Union message to Congress. “We back the president on the challenge internationally,” Goodell said. “Domestically, it sounds like guns and whipped cream – not butter. He set no priorities at all.” Goodell said not enough was being done about inflation and programs to help the poor were spending money on everything but poor people. “Not only do the poor need to be protected from the poverty program administrators, this waste and abuse is decreasing the value of all our dollars. When a person hands us a bad check, we call him a crook. What do you call an administration that hands out shrinking dollars?”

The possibility of developing the municipal airport into a Greater Jamestown facility with financial support shared by neighboring towns was discussed informally by the Airport Commission. Citing data from the Airport Master Plan, Peter Kote, commission chairman, said the cost of maintaining and operating the facility should be drawn from the area drawing benefit from the airport.

In 2006, deep strategical planning happened too rarely in governments nationwide. That’s why Russ Linden loves Jamestown so, we think. Linden, a University of Virginia professor on government and planning, visited Jamestown’s Strategic Planning Commission to see how his favorite pupils were doing. “I like Jamestown because they listen. Things are actually moving forward here,” Linden said. “When I started here four years ago, the business community was strikingly consistent. They wanted a commission to address downtown development, parking …,” Linden said. “People have for decades seen a lack of progress. They also said, “We don’t want more plans – can we act?”

In 2011, a Texas man was killed when he tried to cross the railroad tracks at Middle Road in the city of Dunkirk with his tractor-trailer rig and was hit by an eastbound passenger train. He was on his way to deliver a load to the Nestle Purina facility in the town of Dunkirk, some 200 yards away from the accident site. Josh Thompson, owner of the trucking company that employed Randolph Todd, said it was time for the crossing to be examined. “Hopefully, this gets some attention, and if the crossing is faulty they get it repaired. I don’t want to see anyone else killed.”

With song, dinner and drink, the Norden Club of Jamestown marked the traditional Swedish last celebration of Christmas at the Elks Club. Making the evening event all the more special was its featured guest, H.E. Jonas Hafstrom, the Swedish ambassador to the United States. Hafstrom was introduced at the event by Norden Club President Chip Johnson, who listed the diplomat’s service record – which from Stockholm has taken him from Iran and Thailand to his current position as Swedish ambassador to the United States. “The club is legendary and I have long wanted to visit Jamestown in general and the Norden Club in particular,” Hafstrom said.

In Years Past

The Blackstone Corp was planning a $7.5 million expansion that would build a new $200,000 plant for the Flux Division; a $1,300,000 addition to the automotive plant and a $6 million malleable iron foundry. The proposed new foundry would employ about 500 people initially with an anticipated peak of 1,300 workers. The new construction was expected to add 150 to 200 jobs and more than $1 million to local payrolls.

The city Planning Commission received word the state Department of Public Works was going to expedite work to build the Allen Street-Foote Avenue extension of the North-South Arterial Highway. The project would complete the arterial from its current end at South Main Street all the way out to the city line on Foote Avenue.

Given the fluctuating costs of fuels and other increasing expenses, the Westfield Academy and Central School Board of Education is canceling field trips throughout the end of the school year. We said we would evaluate the situation and we are in no better a position. The recommendation based on the financial information is that field trips be canceled through the end of the year, said Laura Chabe, district superintendent. Parents or other groups raising funds will find those funds placed into a pool and administrators will make a decision to authorize field trips

Coming soon to a cash register – a smiling Thomas Jefferson looking straight at you from a new nickel that would end nearly a century of tradition for U.S. coins. The Mint plans to begin shipping 80 million of the new five- cent coins today to the 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks. They would be the first of an estimated 1 billion new nickels which will be put into circulation over the next year. Since 1909 when Abraham Lincoln became the first president depicted on a circulating coin, all the presidential images have been in profile. But in a break with that tradition, the new nickel has an image of Jefferson taken from a 1800 Rembrandt Peale portrait in which the nation’s third president is looking forward, with just the hint of a smile.

County lawmakers were taking input from retailers who sell clothing, tallying up how the business owners feel about a possible tax change. County legislators had to choose between continuing the full exemption of clothing and shoes less than $110 or bringing the local exemption in line with the state’s, which would save some headache for retailers.

I’ve been making some phone calls and talking to different retailers, coming up with a list of who is in favor and who isn’t in favor, said Majority Leader Larry Barmore, R-Gerry. For the most part, Republicans spoke in favor of mirroring the state’s changes while Democrats argued against it calling for a continuation of the county’s full exemption.

A very special year at the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center began with the entrance of a new executive director.

The board of directors announced the position had been entrusted to Journey Gunderson, who has been working with the center as a marketing consultant since 2009. The director position was vacant after Corie Curtis stepped down in July, after a tenure of 12 months. “I think everyone can see it is a really great organization, and there is a lot of interest. But from what I have seen, there is untold amounts of interest that we haven’t even tapped into yet,” Gunderson said.

In Years Past

The main building of the Lake Shore Seed Company in Dunkirk was destroyed by a fire, with damage estimated at $300,000. One hundred and fifty people were temporarily out of work, though the company planned to immediately open new quarters at Wright Street and Lincoln Avenue until other plans could be made. The burned building was the main factory.

A proposal to speed up mail service to Jamestown from the east and south was being sought by the Transportation Department of the Chamber of Commerce. Particular attention was being given the service from New York City, Washington, D.C., and way points. Feeling that the trouble may lie in the selection of trains to carry mail from those cities, George L. Hilliard, commissioner of the transportation department, was starting his work by studying the complete list of trains carrying mail and the schedules of other trains that might carry mail.

London was going to receive its first shipment of Blackstone coin-operated washers. A photo in The Post-Journal showed Richard H. Smith, vice president of appliance sales, and Clyde S. Chandler Jr., sales manager of commercial laundry products, with 100 washers that were being shipped. The new distributor had a European franchise for Blackstone coin-op laundry equipment covering England, Scotland, Wales, North Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Switzerland and France.

The Jamestown City Council was still making it difficult to report on items up for discussion after voting down a resolution proposed by councilman Warren T. Erickson that would have directed the city clerk to release the council’s agenda to the public on 3 p.m. the day after it was mailed to council members. The measure was voted down, 9 to 3. Erickson contended if the information was not made available until the day of the meeting then it was too late for citizens interested in particular subjects to make plans to attend council meetings and to prepare petitions or presentations of their views.

Easy parking had arrived again. Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi announced civic officials will open the Cherry Street parking ramp 10:30 a.m. today following a brief ceremony on the Holiday Inn side of Fourth and Cherry streets. The project is the result of more than two years of efforts leveling one crumbling ramp to make room for one that will last.

It’s part of an overall $8.1 million parking development program, that included the new 136-space ramp at Main and West Second streets, the construction and redevelopment of numerous surface lots downtown and this one,” Teresi said.

All of the permits required for the Board of Public Utilities to build a $145 million electric plant in Jamestown could be approved by the end of the year. That was the evaluation by Walter W. Haase, BPU general manager, after the status of the permits was explained in detail at Tuesday’s meeting by Jim Slack, ENSR senior program manager. The Boston-area environmental engineering and consulting company has been retained by the BPU to assist in environmental licensing for the clean coal project that will also include a new operations center. The electric generating plant would be located at the site of the present Samuel A. Carlson Generating Station on Steele Street.

Quick action by a Jamestown man likely saved a mother and her family from a fire in a Barrows Street apartment house. Jamestown firefighters responded to 248 Barrows St. and found that the, rear of the house was heavily involved in fire, according to Jamestown Fire Department Battalion Chief Roger Sigular. The upstairs apartment was unoccupied, he said, however the downstairs apartment was occupied by two adults and two children, ages 5 and 6. The resident of the lower apartment, Heather Crilley, said that if it was not for a resident in the home, they would not have been alerted to the fire. If it weren’t for James Hall, my kids and I would have burnt up in that house, she said.

Westfield Academy and Central School would work to improve its financial operations after an internal audit of the district’s financial operations found several areas where the district could improve. Board of Education members approved the acceptance of an internal audit which examined several areas, including high risk cash disbursements and high risk payroll. Auditors examined all vendor checks paid to key employees for a 16-month period beginning Jan. 1, 2008 and running through Oct. 31, 2009. Auditors examined the checks to determine if the checks contained proper approvals and proper documentation for reimbursement. Of 74 checks examined, auditors found 69 checks included reimbursement for mileage totaling $15,089.07. Three of the mileage checks, the audit said, included reimbursements for items such as moving expenses, memberships and meals.

In Years Past

In 1941, extension of the Marlin Rockwell plant extension on Chandler Street was near completion. The project would increase floor space in the plant by 50 percent. Intensive movement of machinery into the addition would begin around Feb. 1. The new building would allow more spreading out of activities and increased production.

Jamestown’s loss was Akron, Ohio’s gain in the 1800s. Dr. Benjamin F. Goodrich, a Jamestown resident, failed in his efforts to interest Jamestown capital in the establishment of a rubber manufacturing plant in Jamestown – an effort being retold in 1941 in the Tire Review, official publication of the B.f. Goodrich company. Goodrich was engaged in the practice of medicine and was a brother of Mrs. Harvey W. Tew of Jamestown. Goodrich was born in 1841 in Ripley and had a medical practice in Mayville. At the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted and served as surgeon during the entire conflict except for a winter when he studied at the University of Pennsylvania. He continued his medical career in Jamestown after the war but decided life was humdrum and tried his fortunes in the oil fields of Pennsylvania. In 1870, he established Goodrich, Tew and Co. to engage in the rubber business in Akron, with Harvey W. Tew and Robert Newland, for whom Newland Avenue in Jamestown is named, among his partners. In 1885 a loan from Akron residents helped found his rubber manufacturing business. The company grew to have assets of $130 million in 1941.

In 1966, high economic levels in the Jamestown area were reflected in reports by the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce. “That 1965 was a tremendous year in the area is proven by the fact that every indicator shows an increase over the previous year with some gains quite sizeable,” said Murray S. Stephens, chamber executive vice president. Employment, bank clearings, total bank debits, city building permits, parking meter receipts, post office receipts and sales of electrical energy all increased.

Assistance from U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy allowed a former Jamestown resident to adopt a Vietnamese youth. Henri Vandenheke, a former city resident who now lived in Long Island, adopted the child after Kennedy helped have quota restrictions removed. Vandenheke received a telegram with congratulations and good wishes from President Lyndon Johnson.

In 2006, Ward 3 had a new City Council representative, though the last name would remain familiar. A crowd of family, friends and young people was there for Vivian Taylor as much as they were for his grandson, Michael Taylor, D-Ward 3. After roughly 24 years in service to Ward 3 Jamestowners, Vivian Taylor stepped aside to let Michael Taylor, Taylor’s grandson, take over the family political mantle. “I think I’ll leave him alone. I don’t think I’ll meddle him too much,” the elder Taylor said of the new councilman. “Councilman Vivian Taylor is a true community treasure – someone I’ve come to know as a father figure,” said Mayor Sam Teresi.

A state effort to encourage intermunicipal agreement was well-received in Lakewood and could one day mean lower electricity costs for village residents. Lakewood Village Board members adopted a resolution prepared by the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities to participate in the state’s new Shared Municipal Services Incentive Grant Program. This could mean the village of Lakewood might one day make the switch from Niagara Mohawk to the Jamestown BPU.

In 2011, the system is screwy. Those were the words of the 150th District’s new assemblyman, Andy Goodell, following the governor’s State of the State address. Specifically, Goodell was talking about what he sees as discrepancies in the state’s ethics rules. “It seems to me that we need to bring a little bit more common sense to Albany,” Goodell said. As a new legislator entering the state Assembly, Goodell said he has already found it ridiculous that ethics rules are “ridiculously tight in some areas and ridiculously loose in other areas.”

Dr. Robert Feranec, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the New York State Museum in Albany, was set to speak at Jamestown Community College later in the week. Feranec would introduce some of the most well-known and obscure of ancient New York’s megafauna, including saber-toothed tigers, mammoths, camels and seals, that dominated the landscape then disappeared as the Ice Age eventually came to a close. “Just 10,000 years ago in New York, we had mastodons, mammoths and even giant beavers and ground sloths. Not only are these animals fascinating to look at, but their extinction might also inform us about the effect of climate change and humans on nature today,” Feranec said.

In Years Past

In 1941, snow or no snow, construction of the grandstand for Jamestown’s new municipal stadium progressed. A photo in The Jamestown Evening Journal showed construction progress as Harry Bisgeier, Jamestown Jaguars team president; Joe Brown, stadium consultant, and Judge Allen E. Bargar made an inspection tour. Practically all of the steel work had been installed and concrete would be poured in the early spring.

Capt. Daniel Fisher of Oil City, Pa., whose summer home was near Bemus Point, celebrated his 100th birthday on Jan. 6, showered with cards, telegrams, gifts and flowers. Fisher had voted for Lincoln and for every Republican nominee since and cast a vote in November for Wendell Willkie. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Fisher enlisted in the Pennsylvania cavalry and served with distinction until the end of the war. He then became engaged in the oil business and founded the Fisher Oil Company. He built a summer home in Bemus Point in 1873 and with his family occupied it from May 15 through the end of October each year.

In 2006, Bemus Point Board members wanted to give tourists a reason to make Bemus Point an all-day event. While there were more than eight restaurants in Bemus Point, there were only five retail stores that tourists generally visit. “Bemus Point is always a balance because we have to look at the available parking, available shopping and available restaurants,” said Vince Horrigan, village board member. “It’s always a balance to be able to handle the visitors that come in, while carefully considering the full-time residents that live here, so that we have quality of life for everyone.”

In 2011, the passage of a largely symbolic resolution that takes aim at the current laws for contract negotiations spurred a rallying call among the area’s labor groups. At its final voting session for 2010, the Jamestown City Council approved a measure which Finance Committee Chairman Vince DeJoy and Mayor Sam Teresi said would send a strong message to Albany. It stated the costs of pensions for public union employees will rise an average of 40 percent in the next two years, and current state laws “do not allow local officials to reasonably control the costs such contracts impose on property taxpayers.” David Painter of the Jamestown Labor Council said union members throughout the city needed more information about the resolution before making a formal response. “I’ve had my phone ringing off the hook. We want to make sure (the unions) know what’s going on,” said Painter. “They didn’t know anything about this resolution.

In late 1970, one mother at First Presbyterian Church who found herself in need of child care approached the church about the possibility of it hosting a day care center on site. In February 1971, with one paid staff member and five children, A Children’s Place was born. Sue Culver, the day care center’s director in 2011, said there is nothing quite like the joy of working with the very young as they begin to discover the world around them in new ways. “They bring smiles to everybody’s face every day,” she said of the children. “It can be stressful, but it’s sure fun to play with them and work with them and love them.”

In Years Past

In 1941, Danton Walker, Broadway columnist of the New York Daily News, wrote that Jamestown’s lovely Lucille Ball and her recently-acquired husband were ‘on the verge.’ Another Broadway columnist said the Jamestown native was pressured into marrying Desi Arnaz by a film company. “Now that the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz marriage has dried up the well of ‘romance’ publicity, they are about to tap that ever-vernal spring labeled ‘rift rumors,'” Walker wrote.

The federal government’s food stamp plan to distribute surplus farm products to needy families had been expanded into Jamestown. Walter S. Christopherson, public welfare commissioner, said the plan was a step forward in national defense because it allowed eligible families to obtain a better balanced diet by increasing their food-purchasing power 50 percent through the food stamps. It was estimated 1,367 needy families, representing 2,998 people, would be eligible for the program, which would be accepted at any of Jamestown’s 156 food retail stores.

In 1966, officials at Cockaigne breathed a sigh of relief as the final, but most important, shipments of the dismantled Austrian World’s Fair Pavilion arrived at the recreation center’s site on Sinclairville-Cherry Creek Road. The latest arrivals comprised the rail shipment of the structure and were the last shipments that had started in early November. Cockaigne purchased the pavilion form the Austrian Trade Delegation and had it dismantled, shipped to Chautauqua County and then re-erected for use as an activity center.

The suggestion that Chautauqua County become the site of a $100 million electrical generating “peaking plant” capable of producing 1.7 million kilowatts of power had been included in a review submitted to Gov. Nelson Rockefeller by the state Power Authority. The review was part of a report concerning regulation of the Great Lakes. The Chautauqua County plant would use steam generated electricity to pump water from Lake Erie to a reservoir 925 feet above the lake during off-peak hours. At peak periods, the water would be released back into Lake Erie, powering generators on its descent. “Its construction will in no way adversely affect the low-cost power advantages which the communities on the Niagara Frontier receive from the Niagara hydro project, nor will it require drastic reconstruction facilities in Niagara Falls and the resultant community disruption,” the report stated.

In 2006, even though Mayor David Crandall said he planned on leaving office and is no longer in New York, he’s still Mayville’s official mayor. In October, a teary-eyed Crandall announced he would be leaving his post effective Jan. 1. He has been the village’s mayor since 1989. Before that, he was a village trustee for three years. But according to village clerk Charles Kelsey, Crandall has not formally resigned from his position. He’s still our mayor, Kelsey said. His intentions were to resign, but obviously he hasn’t. Crandall was reached by telephone in Florida and said he thought he had formally resigned. No, I have resigned, he said. I’m enjoying myself down here and don’t intend to return.”

Complaints about Cassadaga’s continuing discolored water conditions were addressed at a village board meeting. Mayor Mary Jo Carlson read several letters she received about the problem. Officials say it began when the village was required to add chlorine to the municipal water supply to control low levels of coliform bacteria. The discoloration is caused by the reaction of the chlorine to the natural iron content of the water which has always been present in the village’s water supply, she said.

?In 2011, the Busti town and Lakewood village boards would work to find ways to cut costs. On Monday, during a Busti Town Board meeting, members of the Lakewood Village Board joined the meeting so the two municipal groups could talk about ways of sharing services. Kathleen Sullivan, Busti supervisor, said the two groups discussed sharing services through the Highway Department, town and village parks and buildings and gas costs. “We talked about some of the things we’ve talked about in the past. We talked about where it makes the most sense to share services,” she said. “We broke into sub groups where two people from the village and two from the town will discuss the specific area on their own. They will meet during the next few months.”

An internal audit examining cash disbursements and other items within the Westfield Academy and Central School District was expected to be released to the public at the district’s monthly Board of Education meeting. The audit, according to Marie Edwards, Board of Education president, took some time to complete because the district was converting its financial software, adding auditors needed time to locate certain district records. Edwards also said she couldn’t release any information contained within the audit because it deals with district personnel. “We’re not going to sit down and have an open discussion about it because its personnel,” Edwards said. “I think with the area we chose, you’re talking a little bit more about a sensitive issue anyways.”

In Years Past

In 1941, three young Jamestown pilots were to travel to Florida for the fourth annual All-American air maneuvers. Donald Diamond, Sherwood Holmes and Ray Cornell, all private license holders employed by Neil R. McCray at the municipal airport, would participate in the event. About 1,500 people were expected to attend.

A new fish hatchery would be discussed later in the week to improve on the one that was located in Bemus Point. Ross E. Davis, temporary chairman of the committee for lake fishing improvement, said if the program was carried out, it would improve Chautauqua Lake as a fishing ground and attract thousands of visitors.

In 1966, the Hotel Jamestown, which had been placed into receivership in December, may not have had the financial problems it was facing had a $150,000 Small Business Administration loan approved in August actually been received by the hotel. Seymour Minsker, Hotel Jamestown manager, said the money would certainly take care of a major portion of the hotel’s financial problems. The hotel was to use the federal money to purchase machinery, equipment and make improvements to the property.

There was competition for a local ultra-high frequency television station on channel 48 assigned to Jamestown. James Broadcasting Inc. operator of WJTN-AM-FM and one-third owner of Jamestown Cablevision, asked permission to add television broadcasting to its operations by building a 544-foot tower and transmitter in West Ellicott. WJTN was given a grant for a UHF station in Jamestown in 1953 and owned the proposed transmitter site located across Hunt Road from Southwestern Central School. Trend Radio Inc., operator of WKSN-Am-FM, applied several weeks prior for the Jamestown channel and proposed to locate a tower, transmitter and studios at a site on Orr Street, Busti. Lowell Paxson, WKSN owner and general manager, said the competing application “would delay Jamestown having its own TV broadcasting station by nearly two years.”

In 2006, Chautauqua Town Supervisor Sid Compton smiled a bit when he talks about town taxes in lieu of the former Mayville School. This year the Chautauqua town tax rate will be less than 1 cent per $1,000 assessment for town residents who live outside the village of Mayville. Village residents’ tax rate is 82 cents per $1,000. Both are among the lowest in the county. Compton is hoping both rates will be able to drop even further by using revenue from the former Mayville School. “So far this is looking pretty good,” he said. “We want that building to pay for itself and then if we can, we’re going to lower our tax rate.”

Bemus Point was celebrating its 200th anniversary. While Ellery was founded in 1806 by William Bemus, Bemus Point was not incorporated as a village until 1911. “There was never much industry here – because of the steam boat, the train that passed through the area and world class entertainment, there was a lot of tourism,” said Mary Jane Stahley, village historian.

In 2011, to be more flexible and cost-effective, Bush Industries has laid off both hourly and management employees. Dennis Roberts, Bush Industries head of human resources, said around 25 full-time workers were laid off as the business expands into new arenas. The company had traditionally been involved in just supplying office superstores like Office Max and Staples, but now has also ventured into commercial and home furnishing markets. “We have recently reorganized into what we call three channels,” Roberts said. “We formed the three separate groups with the philosophy that support would be from internal resources and some support from flexible external resources. Basically, the layoffs were done to be more flexible and cost-productive.”

Issues in the Cassadaga Public Works Department caused an argument between Village Board members and, before the meeting was done, a resignation. Rudy Abersold, deputy mayor and trustee, and fellow trustee Jeff Frick got into a debate during the meeting during which Frick told Abersold not to raise his voice. At the end of the meeting, during the time allotted to give his report, Abersold read a letter of resignation. … “It is my opinion that with the current administration’s leadership and Village Attorney I can no longer be a part of this debacle,” Abersold said in his letter.

In Years Past

In 1941, the overwhelming extent of the Justice Department directed by Attorney General Robert H. Jackson was revealed to Congress in a 261 page volume. Among recommendations Jackson had for the coming year were a nationwide registration of firearms, provision be made for adoption of an indeterminate sentence for criminal cases, that a system of public defenders in U.S. District Courts be created, that in the investigation of espionage and other grave crimes, law enforcement officers when expressly permitted to do so by higher authority for a particular case be allowed to intercept telephone, telegraph and radio messages.

Mildred Sherman, 22, of Jamestown became the first Jamestown woman to obtain a flight license on the basis of training secured solely in Jamestown. She was one of 59 Jamestown area residents to enroll in the first course conducted under the Civilian Pilot Training program conducted by the federal government. She won one of 10 flight scholarships based on her work in ground school.

In 1966, U.S. Rep. Charles Goodell, R-Jamestown, said a drastic shakeup and new strategy in the war on poverty was necessary. Goodell said the administration’s anti-poverty program had started on the wrong foot and could not survive the pressures of the war in Vietnam unless changes were made. Among his suggestions were making sure local community action boards included representation from the poor, comprising at least one-third of each board; provide a bonus to states willing to put up half the cost of additional poverty programs in their state; separate rural and urban programs; give highest priority to children of the poor because “they can be saved by a relatively small effort through such programs as head start, child development centers and community action;” and require strict auditing of poverty programs before they get under way, not wait until months after they are started.

Mayor Fred H. Dunn’s record $8,555,661 budget grew by $22,360 when the City Council added the cost of traffic lights at 12 locations on the Fifth and Sixth street section of the East-West Arterial Highway and an additional $5,000 to the James Prendergast library to pay for a professionally trained children’s librarian.

In 2006, “It’s a new family of test,” said James Kadamus, State Education Department deputy commissioner, about the expanded state standardized test that will start Monday. Beginning Monday, state assessments in ELA and math – which is issued in March will expand to third, fifth, sixth and seventh grades. Previously, the exams were only administered to pupils in fourth and eighth grades. Third- through fifth-grade pupils will start taking the test Monday, with sixth- through eighth-grade pupils taking the test toward the end of the month. The test expansion is required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The test, aligned with state learning standards, assesses a student’s level of knowledge and skill,

Kadamus said. “The new test will provide educators and teachers new information,” he said. “Before, there was a snapshot of fourth-graders and a snapshot of eighth-graders. Now we will be able to see the complete picture of a student’s progress.”

In 2011, the first study to link a childhood vaccine to autism was based on doctored information about the children involved, according to a new report on the widely discredited research. The conclusions of the 1998 paper by Andrew Wakefield and colleagues was renounced by 10 of its 13 authors and later retracted by the medical journal Lancet, where it was published. Still, the suggestion the MMR shot was connected to autism spooked parents worldwide and immunization rates for measles, mumps and rubella have never fully recovered.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo visited Jamestown to speak about his agenda for the coming year. “From a substance standpoint, I have to say his diagnosis from the state’s problems was spot-on,” said Mayor Sam Teresi. “The real key … is to make sure the right prescription is written and filled. It does no good to merely talk about property taxes, unless you are addressing the reasons for those high property taxes.” He added Albany should work to destroy the endemic disease, not the beleaguered patient. That means a property tax cap – hailed by Cuomo as a certainty in his address – has to be passed in the state Legislature along with a significant reduction in the costs handed down from Albany, Teresi said. To push for a property tax cap alone would be like putting beautiful curtains over broken windows, he said, while a property tax cap done right would effectively attack the causes that are killing local government and the state.

In Years Past

Gov. Nelson Rockefeller was promising to hold the line on taxes in 1966 and seek better ways of meeting school costs. He hinted at the possibility of more state aid to education and promised to come up with specific recommendations to improve existing programs for meeting “the state’s fair share of ever-increasing school costs, with emphasis on educational quality and opportunity for all.” A broad increase in state aid to education, such as the $157 million boost approved in 1965, was considered unlikely.

In reply to a question concerning the condition of college stadium, Dr. Albert W. Baisler, JCC president, said the facility was deteriorating while putting the City Council on notice that the time was approaching for the college to see support for a major repair of the facility. The remarks came during a City Council review of the college’s proposed 1966-67 budget. Baisler also said enrollments were expected to increase 16 percent in September.

Jamestown’s latest hotel was under way. Construction finally began just after Thanksgiving for a Hampton Inn and Suites talked about among developers and economic development officials since 2001. The last mention of the Interstate 86-North Main Street interchange hotel site in public was more than a year ago, when various government agencies approved major tax incentives along with a low-interest loan. We would have the hotel opened by now, but we were waiting for the franchise, said Jay Patel, co-developer of the Hampton Inn project.

With pleas from state educators to release a new math exam to accompany a new math curriculum, the Board of Regents has decided to wait until June 2008 to release a new Regents test. The 2008 release date is earlier than originally planned for 2009, but some educators wanted a 2007 date to better assess students under the new math curriculum that went into effect in the fall. Teachers are anxious to move forward with the new curriculum and if the assessment doesn’t match curricula, it’s hard to assess the students, said Jessie Reilly, Jamestown Public School District mathematics chairperson. The teachers are anxious to have the final project in place and move forward.

The city’s plan for neighborhood revitalization would soon take shape among the side streets and brick avenues of Jamestown. And while the consultant study by czb LLC remained at the heart of the strategy, the City Council approved a document that is the integration of something a little bit broader, according to Steve Centi, city development director. It is titled “City of Jamestown, New York: A Livable Community.

The content in the proposed plan is based on sound planning principles appropriate for the community’s needs and is a framework for additional actions to be taken, said Martha Zenns, city Planning Commission chairperson, adding the success of the plan depends on the public and private sector working in a complimentary fashion.

The James Prendergast Library’s doors still locked at the same times, but its hours were actually 24-7-365. A select number of titles are now available to the library’s patrons whenever they want to check them out, as the library has recently joined the ranks of those around the nation offering titles in digital format. Titles can now be downloaded through the library’s collaboration with eBook vendor OverDrive. We knew it was a trend that was growing, and I think it’s going to continue to grow, said Tina Scott, assistant director of the Prendergast Library. Some day, with kids growing up, I think this is how they’re going to be used to reading they have all these handheld devices to access their information.

In Years Past

A proposal to establish a municipal bathing beach on a several hundred foot strip of lake front property at Fluvanna, which would be acquired in exchange for several properties in Jamestown acquired by the city for non-payment of taxes, was presented to the City Council. Mayor Leon F. Roberts said agitation for a municipal bathing beach on Chautauqua Lake had persisted for several years. “This may be just the opportunity the city has been waiting for,” Roberts said. Roberts said the beach could be similar to the village of Mayville’s public beach.

Marian Derby, who had spent the previous five years at the Crandon Institute in Montevideo, Uragauy, as a teacher in a boarding and day school, was honored at a homecoming celebration a the Frewsburg Methodist Church. She was sent to the South American country by the Woman’s Division of the Methodist Missionary Board and was one of 12 girls. She was a graduate of Little Valley High School and would remain home for a year.

Jamestown was on the brink of acquiring a new cobalt therapy unit that would provide the city the complete facilities for the diagnosis, treatment and control of cancer. Glen W. Ebersole, local radiologist, said during his remarks to the Rotary Club that delivery of the unit had been promised and that the purchase of the unit was “the greatest single step in medical management of cancer ever experienced in Jamestown.”

A Post-Journal staff photo under the headline “No Use Crying Over It” showed the result when 20 milk cans were dislodged from a Chautauqua Malted Milk Co. tractor-trailer at Washington and Eighth Streets, spilling their contents on the pavement. Firemen flushed the milk from the street.

A group of casino opponents sued Interior Secretary Gale Norton and other federal officials Tuesday to try to stop a nine-acre city parcel from becoming a Seneca Indian casino, likening the plan to self-cannibalization. Why would (New York state) place right in the heart of its second-largest city a foreign country to reach out and pick the pockets of the poorest in its community?” asked Joseph Finnerty, an attorney representing the coalition of gambling opponents, religious leaders and preservationists in the U.S. District Court lawsuit. The suit contends Norton and other Interior Department and National Indian Gaming Commission officials evaded or misapplied laws governing the siting of Indian casinos, the environment and historic preservation when they approved casino plans negotiated by Gov. George Pataki and the western New York tribe.

In time, the former Welch Building in Brocton will be the newest development-ready site in Chautauqua County. In 2006, however, the site took its first step toward that lofty goal as workers started demolishing the former grape-processing plant. Brocton Mayor Judith Gilbert said she was glad to see the red brick walls come tumbling down. The site is owned by the county, which, I believe, will be marketing it once the cleanup is completed. We hope to see some major development here,” she said.

Along with the ball drop in Times Square and Auld Lang Syne being sung at midnight, people could also count on changes in tax laws each New Year’s Day. Certified public accountants, especially this year, will have to be prepared for new tax laws. On Dec. 17, President Barack Obama signed the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010, which provided tax relief and investments in American workers to hopefully create more jobs and assist with economic growth. The bill allows tax rates to be lowered for middle class Americans, offers extensions on certain tax credits and offers other benefits to employers and working families.

Fred Croscut was the sole name put up for chair of the County Legislature on Monday, with all 24 of the Sherman Republican’s fellow lawmakers voting to return him to the position. “As I look back on last year, Croscut said, “I see budget issues and financial issues rise to the top of the pile. And they will this year again, I can assure you of that. I’m not going to debate whether we should cut Veterans Services or Office of the Aging, but what I am going to encourage is that everyone in this body work to find out the facts before voting on something.

In Years Past

In 1941, negotiations to secure a responsible organization or group to operate the Jamestown Worsted Mills and reopen the plant were continuing, but no definite decision had been reached, according to Wilson C. Price, president of a group of local men who purchased the plant of the company at a recent liquidation sale. Price said negotiations were being pushed with out-of-town groups that showed interest, but nothing definite developed.

An appeal had been filed in the case of a Dunkirk teacher whose suspension without pay was seen as a vital test of the state’s teacher tenure laws. Wells M. Gould said he would appeal his case before Ernest E. Cole, state education commissioner, claiming outside factors over which he had no control were responsible for the low number of students passing Regents tests in his class.

In 1966, golf clubs, frogs, robins and ducks were all included in unseasonable signs of spring reported by area residents who reveled in balmy breezes and above average temperatures. The Lakewood home of Mrs. Delle Johnson, a noted area golfer, was the site of teen-age putting in a miniature nine-hole golf course that surrounds the house. Merry Carol Stormer was seen giving chase to a frog on New Year’s Day while Mrs. Axel Olson reported five robins searching for worms on the front lawn of her Celoron home.

A $65,000 fire of undetermined origin destroyed a large barn, its contents and 66 animals, including a prized palomino stallion on the Joseph Boswell farm on Spring Brook Road, Dewittville. More than 50 volunteer firefighters battled the flames for eight hours during a rainstorm. The barn was across the road from the house, which was not in any danger. There were several tons of hay and new farm machinery in the barn. The prized stallion was often seen participating in horse shows and parades in the area.

In 2006, it took until Jan. 2, but there finally was a New Year’s baby born in the region. On Monday at 4:58 a.m., Sally Marie Wengerd was born at Westfield Memorial Hospital. She was 6 pounds, 14 ounces. Sally is the second child for Cindy and Rudy Wengerd of Clymer. An Amish family, the Wengerd’s live on Clymer Hill Road. Mr. Wengerd works for his brother’s sawmill. The baby’s maternal grandparents are Kenny and Sally Miller of Clymer. Her paternal grandparents are Atlee and Lovina Wengerd of Clymer.

In 2011, though an upswing in milk prices in the last few months of 2010 gave local dairy farmers some relief, it was nowhere near enough. “It was better than 2009, which was absolutely devastating,” said Richard Kimball, a dairy farmer in Dewittville on a farm milking 600 cows. “But it was still pretty tough. With the price of milk bottoming out under $11 per hundredweight for the first half of 2009 – with a cost of operation of more than $17 per hundredweight, Kimball said – many dairy farms dug themselves into holes that the resurgence of milk prices in late 2010 just isn’t going to be enough to pull them from. “It doesn’t take long, on a million-something pounds of milk a month, to bleed pretty bad,” Kimball said.

“A lot of people ask, ‘How do you stay in business?’ Well, you use your equity, you borrow money. We’ve had to do it, and a lot of people I talk to have had to do it.”

With the inaugural parties over, Gov. Andrew Cuomo was in his office working on an emergency plan to reduce the size of government and to push his major priority of a cap on property tax growth. Cuomo also issued an executive order requiring top executive branch officials to undergo ethics training that must begin by Jan. 31 and to be re-certified every two years to work in what has been a scandal-plagued state government. “Honor and integrity will be a hallmark of this administration,” Cuomo said. “Top government employees should have no questions, no gray areas and no possibility of confusion regarding what is proper and what is not.”

In Years Past

In 1941, Mayor Leon Roberts was dividing his time equally between his new job as commercial manager of the Jamestown Telephone Company and as mayor – a situation that was perfectly legal, according to Samuel C. Alessi, corporation counsel. “Since the resignation of Mayor Roberts was withdrawn by him before it reached the City Council and before it was acted upon or accepted by the City Council, in reality, there is no resignation,” Alessi said.

Jamestown’s two draft areas were to supply 30 additional men for the federal conscript army by the end of January, according to an unexpected requisition received by phone from the state draft headquarters in Albany. The quotes allotted were in addition to quotas previously announced that had to be filled by Jan. 17.

In 2006, Jan. 1 marked not only the first day of 2006, it also ushered in a new day of Republican leadership in Chautauqua County. Not since 1985 have three countywide offices all been won by a member of the Grand Old Party. On Sunday County Executive Greg Edwards, District Attorney David Foley and County Clerk Sandy Sopak were all sworn in to office.

A professional fund-raising company was no longer being used by the Lakewood-Busti Police Benevolent Association after that company kept nearly 75 percent of all the money it raised last year.

State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer recently issued a report entitled Pennies for Charity, Where Your Money Goes: Telemarketing by Professional Fund Raisers. In it, it states that of $170.6 million raised on behalf of 440 charities in 2004 by 555 telemarketing campaigns, only $63.5 million was retained by charitable organizations. The remainder was paid to the fund-raisers for fees and other campaign-related costs. According to the report, in 2004 Royalty Services Inc. raised $30,940 but only returned $8,391 to the PBA, or 27 percent.

In 2011, beginning the downsizing process before receiving federal census figures was do-able, according to Minority Leader Rudy Mueller, D-Lakewood.

Niagara County is doing just that, Mueller said recently after the idea to downsize the legislature was again defeated by the Chautauqua County Legislature in December. Following shorter than usual discussion on the topic, the Republican majority killed the proposal. All 14 of the party’s caucus voted against the proposal, while the body’s 10 Democrats and one Independence Party member voted for it.

Scott Kindberg, then The Post-Journal’s assistant sports editor, made the case for Shane Conlan’s induction in the College Football Hall of Fame. Part of the case was Conlan’s 1987 Fiesta Bowl performance in which he had eight tackles and picked off two passes, returning the second one 38 yards to the 5-yard line to set up the game-winning touchdown as Penn State prevailed, 14-10. Conlan, once again, was named the defensive Most Valuable Player. “It was a fitting end to one of the greatest careers in Penn State history and one of the greatest careers of any linebacker to play college football,” Kindberg wrote. “That’s why I think Conlan deserves to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.”

In Years Past

In 1941, downtown streets were strewn this morning in 1941 with debris of one of Jamestown’s gayest New Year’s Eve celebrations. Thousands greeted the arrival of 1941 with boisterous acclaim. One of the highlights of the celebration was a long automobile parade which coursed through town with many pedestrians standing on the curbs. Strains of Auld Lang Syne filled the air in hotels and restaurants. Liquor stores reported the best business in years and night spots and theaters featuring special entertainment programs were crowded.

Four new factory buildings constructed during 1940 swelled new construction in Jamestown to $466,255 – the highest since 1936. There were also 13 dwellings, 14 mercantile buildings, 148 general alterations and additions, six factory alterations and additions and one warehouse built in the city in 1940.

In 2006, Chautauqua County Sheriff Joe Gerace was going to find out what it would cost to put an addition on the Chautauqua County Jail. Gerace said there was no need for space at the time, but that if the county legislators had concerns about the size of the jail it made sense to do it as part of the existing project. “In no way, shape or form am I requesting a larger project,” Gerace said. I didn’t want to expand this in the first place. The 2006 project expanded the jail’s maximum capacity from 277 inmates to 327 inmates.

New assessments aren’t in yet, but assessors working for Jamestown were ready to take questions. Employees of GAR Associates of Amherst have been working for nearly two years to update the value of every parcel, lot and building within city limits for the first time in more than 30 years. To help city property taxpayers understand the process neighboring towns experience almost every year now, GAR and Randy Holcomb, Jamestown assessor, have announced more sessions to explain the progress made so far and how Jamestown neighborhoods will be affected. “I hope the average person takes away from the informational series that the whole process shows we are being fair with every property owner,” he said. “And it’s going to have a dramatic effect on property values.”

In 2011, the county would be 200 years old, and county officials would need a year to tell its complete story. Michelle Henry, Chautauqua County historian, said a greater awareness of the county’s history would be experienced not in one central place, but throughout the towns, hamlets and villages. “Each municipality has an appointed historian, and we have always met to discuss ongoing events,” she said. “At the beginning of 2010, we met and talked about starting to collectively plan the county bicentennial,” said Ms. Henry.”I really wanted to find out from the historians themselves what they thought we should do, because in many cases, those are the people in the community who are the driving force behind history and its education and preservation.”

An anonymous donation helped Don and Sandy DeAngelo open the Faith Outreach Center Church in a former place of worship on Chandler Street. Mrs. DeAngelo said the building required much work, but they turned the interior into a humble center for worship on the ground floor and a loft parsonage above. However, the minister couple were surprised earlier this year to find out there was a foreclosure notice, left over from the previous owner. During its years of inactivity, the building’s nonprofit status as a church had been rescinded – and the taxes stayed with the building. Desperate to find help from any resource in the area, Ms. DeAngelo said they were steered toward the direction of a local foundation, and during several meetings they developed a relationship with the board chairman. Despite the lack of grants at the foundation, she said the chairman – who requested to remain anonymous – was persistent in finding a solution to their dilemma. “He called and said we will do this personally as a loan at 1 percent interest, and you can take as long as you want to pay it back,” said Ms. Anderson. She said they were gracious for his good will, but the DeAngelos were surprised once again when they arrived to sign the loan contract. In place of the agreement, the anonymous benefactor decided to simply write a check for their expense.

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