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Jail Lawsuit Is Missing A Defendant – New York State

We recently reported on a lawsuit filed against Chautauqua County involving the death of a Gowanda youth in the jail. The case is going to be heard in U.S. federal court because it alleges violations of the U.S. Constitution, but the case largely alleges county jail staff didn’t address Maybee’s suicidal thoughts and behaviors before his December 2022 death. Maybee had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, had been hospitalized for a month and undergone a few days of electroconvulsive therapy at the Erie County Medical Center. He was released from ECMC on Nov. 8, ...

Mundane County Resolution Shows Why Discovery Reform Is Needed

Before Jason Schmidt had been elected Chautauqua County’s District Attorney, he didn’t think he needed changes to bail reform and discovery laws. He was just going to deal with them, he told The Post-Journal and OBSERVER during a candidate debate before he was elected. Then, he quickly found out that dealing with the state’s discovery rules wasn’t something to simply be dealt with. Things have changed since then. Schmidt and other district attorneys around the state have lobbied hard for discovery reforms in an attempt to reverse a statewide trend of increasing dismissal of ...

Eventually The Hitchhiker Will Land In Chautauqua County

It was good news last week when the state DEC told The Post-Journal that the spotted lanternfly found at Hogan’s Hut recently was likely a hitchhiker that found its way here. Unfortunately, we all know it’s going to be a brief reprieve. Eventually, this unwanted hitchhiker is going to find its way to Chautauqua County. For years, this region has heard warnings about the devastation this creature can bring to agriculture, especially grape vineyards. We’ve spent hundreds of thousands of dollars eradicating one of the spotted lanternfly’s favorite host plants, the Tree of Heaven, ...

City Makes Progress Building New Shelters

Jamestown is making progress in creating places for those who need a helping hand. Recently, the Salvation Army held a ceremonial groundbreaking for a $5.7 million project, which will create a 7-unit, 19-bed temporary housing shelter. The new shelter will also offer counseling services, legal assistance, and educational programs to support survivors of domestic violence. There has long been a need for expanded services for domestic violence survivors, and it’s encouraging after years of looking for a site that one has been found so work can begin. A year ago during Domestic ...

It’s Time To Seriously Consider Police Consolidation

It was encouraging to see the city and the union representing Jamestown police officers come to a contract agreement last week. The lawsuit challenging the city’s 22% health care premium increase made us wonder if the city was in for a lengthy arbitration with the police union, so seeing the communication between the city and union attorneys and then Monday’s contract approval was a welcome sight. Cities don’t tend to come out ahead when they take public safety contracts to the Public Employees Relations Board, so the city likely did well by taxpayers by coming to agreement at ...

Last-Minute Fund Drive Illustrates Problem With Lake Maintenance Model

The Chautauqua Lake Partnership got an unexpected gift recently when the state DEC approved more acres of Chautauqua Lake for herbicide treatment than CLP officials probably expected. Recent history has been that the CLP receives herbicide treatment permits for roughly one-third of the acreage it requests. So imagine the CLP’s surprise when it received notification that the DEC had approved nearly all of the acreage requested - 95 acres in Busti, 66 acres in Lakewood, 131 acres in Ellery, 68 acres in Bemus Point and 90 acres in Ellicott and Celoron. In total the DEC approved 450 ...