In Years Past
100 Years Ago
In 1909, Wallace Arnold of Bethel, Vt., and Warren G. Strickland of Akeley, Pa., both of whom were confined in the Erie County jail charged with passing counterfeit money had made a detailed confession.
A. John Peterson of Jamestown, the previous afternoon, hooked a muskellunge which it was thought would weigh 35 pounds. The fish broke away and all he had to show for it was a part of the jaw.
50 Years Ago
In 1959, a far-reaching program for Chautauqua County to attract a chunk of the whopping big national tourist business was laid out at the Small Business Workshop in the Hotel Jamestown. Henry A. Varhely administrative assistant of the Utica Chamber of Commerce, said nature had provided Chautauqua County with a perfect tourist blueprint. He said that while the nation was "spending itself rich" and inflation was rampant, it was time for this county to get some more of the money.
Jamestown Police Chief John Paladino blasted back at Harold P. Kane, Board of Education member, who earlier in the week had disparaged police supervision of student driving habits. Chief Paladino said Mr. Kane had appointed himself a "supreme censor of our youth" and added that "if a person is looking for publicity any minor issue can be used." Mr. Kane said the police department and Chief Paladino had "backed away" from what he said was a problem caused by students driving to school. He said students had parked in front of the high school "necking and smoking" and setting a bad example for the younger students.
25 Years Ago
In 1984, Chautauqua County Executive John A. Glenzer said he could not support new state legislation granting property tax exemptions to veterans "when I consider the disastrous effect it can have." Because it could increase full-value property tax exemptions from $14.3 million to $127.4 million, Glenzer said the tax burden would be shifted to industry, senior citizens and non-veteran taxpayers.
"They're big lake flies. They were at my house," Douglas E. Conroe, executive director of the Chautauqua Lake Association, said when queried as to the identity of insects that invaded downtown Jamestown. The flies were visibly abundant after dark, gathering by the hundreds on lighted windows and appearing in swarms along the street. Conroe, who lived at Maple Springs, said a frost or two would end the season for the insects. Dr. Thomas A. Erlandson, a biology professor at Jamestown Community College, said of the situation, "I don't think it's unusual." He said the insects breed in water and damp soil. "With all the rain we've had lately, they could be breeding anywhere," he said.
10 Years Ago
In 1999, the investigation into a shooting blamed on road rage expanded as authorities searched the area where the incident occurred and the vehicle that was damaged. State Police said the passenger in a blue-colored van fired at least four shots at another man's van while they were driving on Route 17 near the exit of the town of Randolph. The driver of the white van, who police said was a 41-year-old man from Coldspring, apparently attempted to pass the blue van, which had two male occupants and Ohio license plates. According to the police report, the three men exchanged heated words and the passenger in the blue van threw a beer bottle at the man in the white van before firing shots into the vehicle.
More than 100 residents attended a meeting to see new plans for the sports complex proposed at the Jefferson Middle School in the Jamestown Public Schools District. The changes to the original proposal were subtle, but school officials hoped they would quell the controversy surrounding the original plan. No time frame was given for when construction of the complex would begin.
