Friendly's Ice Cream was not required to give employees at the 14 upstate New York restaurants two-month's advanced notice....
However, U-S Senator Charles Schumer says Friendly's took advantage of a loophole in the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act and, he wants to close it. Under the 1988 act, only workplaces that exceed a 50 employee threshold at any one employment site are mandated to give employees the advanced notice. Schumer noted that by spreading out layoffs across multiple sites throughout the state, Friendly’s was able to skirt its WARN Act obligations. Schumer stated that while Friendly’s might not have violated the current law, the company didn’t adhere to the spirit of the WARN Act. To deal with it, he says he'll be introducing legislation in the Senate to close this loophole by adjusting the applicability of the single site requirements. The Jamestown Friendly's was one of the restaurants that closed back on April 8th.
Wegman's Supermarkets plan to eliminate single-use plastic grocery bags in New York by year's end - just before a state ban takes effect.....
The Rochester, New York-based grocery chain announced the move on Monday along with steps to reduce the usage of bags, straws and other plastic items at its stores in other states. New York will join California and Hawaii when its ban on plastic grocery bags takes effect in March. Under the law, local counties will have the option of imposing a 5-cent fee on paper bags. On Monday, Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, touted the ban he helped pass during a speech on Long Island. He said going without plastic bags will be a "minor inconvenience" compared to the devastating impact of plastic pollution.
Officials in Chautauqua County are getting more information on how proceeds from New York state's ban on plastic bags will be doled out....
County Executive George Borrello says the county will have to decide on whether to opt in to the 5-cent fee for paper bags. County Executive George Borrello says they first want to get a better handle on potential impacts on local people and businesses.
Borrello says the county would get 3-cents for each bag sold, while two-cents would go towards the state's Environmental Protection Fund. He says there would be "other expenses..." including providing free bags -- under the law -- for poor residents. Borrello says he will work county legislators to decide on whether or not to opt in to the 5-cent fee -- or not.
A decision may be made soon on whether the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities effort to annex about four-acres of property in the village of Falconer will go foward....
A five-member Appellate Court panel recently heard oral arguments in the case in Mayville. In the meantime, legal costs have mounted for both sides in the case involving property the BPU owns, and is home to it's Dow Street Substation. That from BPU General Manager Dave Leathers, who says those are now over $300,00.
Leathers says there are times where they have had to spend "ridiculous" amounts of money on the case but, adds there have also been lulls where nothing has occured. The BPU and the city have argued that if they are successful in the annexation, it will save them about z4325,000 a year in taxes. However, the village, Falconer School District, and town of Ellicott maintain that in losing that property would cost them that much a year and, put an unfair burden on the rest of their taxpayers.
A Jamestown man was arrested on menacing charges for allegedly threatening an 11 year-old child with a knife Sunday afternoon.....
City police responded to the area of Winsor and Chandler Streets for a person with a weapon complaint and, spoke with three juveniles who said 48 year-old Johnny Nunez, Senior allegedly pulled out the knife. Nunez was located a short time later and taken into custody without incident. He is being held in the city jail on additional charges of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and endangering the welfare of a child. Officers say none of the juveniles were injured and were released to their parents.
No one was hurt when a large box truck went out of control and, rolled over onto it's side on Route 60 in the town of Pomfret early Monday afternoon....
Sheriff's officers were called to the scene about Noon time and, found the truck resting on it's side in the northbound lane, blocking traffic. Fredonia fire rescuers and the state Department of Transporation investigated and helped clear the scene. No charges have been filed. The driver of the box truck was not identified.
The long-time head of the New York State School Boards Association has announced that he will be retiring at the end of the year after 20-plus years with the organization.....
Executive Director Tim Kreamer says he actually thought about retiring last year but, his board of directors talked him into staying on for a 21st year. Kreamer says, after doing the same work for 19 years in the state of Ohio, he says the timing is right.
Kreamer says he's enjoyed his work and says the School Board's Association does all it can to help assist, and advocate for the board's that govern the state's approximately 700 school districts. He says they've especially worked hard to look ahead to let local school boards know what may be on the horizon. Kreamer says it's their mission to help these "lay people" who have to make enormous decisions on behalf of the communities they live in. He was previously head of the state of Ohio school board's association for 19 years, starting in 1979.
An internationally-recognized expert on harmful Algae Blooms will be the featured lecturer during the Chautauqua Turner Winter Series at the Turner Community Center at Chautauqua tonight.....
The Series will feature an interview of Dr. George Bullerjahn from the Lake Erie Center for Fresh Water and Human Health at 6:30 PM. The Chautauqua Lake Partnership is helping to put on the program, which will focus mainly on the issue of the toxic blooms. The CLP's Paul Johnson says Bullerjahn has proposed placing five mobile phosphorus sensors in Chautauqua Lake to determine phosphorus "Hot Spots" to enable the identification of the areas most needing remediation. The lake is considered to be an ideal test area because it's a relatively small lake.
Work was completed early last evening to repair a broken water valve on North Main Street in Jamestown that occured about Noon Monday and, required the Board of Public Utilities to turn off water between Third and Fourth Streets....
That from BPU Spokeswoman Becky Robbins, who says further work required water on North Main to be shut off from Third to Fifth Streets. Water service was also restored and, because of that, expect widespread discolored water for another few hours, or until late afternoon.
