In 1909, in the state election direct primaries were an issue and Democratic candidates pledged to primary reform defeated Republican candidates in Republican strongholds. Sixteen Democrats would next year represent districts which last year elected Republicans.

Less than 2,000 votes were cast in Jamestown at the election yesterday. Eleven Chautauqua County towns voted on the excise question at the election. Six voted no license and five voted in favor of license.

In 1959, a long-sounding automobile horn at 7:55 a.m. led to the arrest of two Salamanca residents on charges of disorderly conduct. The incident occurred in Falconer in front of Ellicott Town Hall at 19 N. Work St. where Peace Justice A.E. Harry Johnson was conducting a court session. Officer Kenneth Kessinger was sent out to investigate the noise. He found a woman at the steering wheel, blowing the horn, and the owner of the car attempting to take the keys of the vehicle away from her. After a brief tussle with both, the officer arraigned the Salamancans before the peace justice.

A Cook Avenue man drove his 1952 model car into Jamestown's Company 5 fire station, 195 Fairmount Ave., at 10 p.m. and firemen extinguished a blaze inside the auto. Firemen said the front floor mat of the car of Charles Weber, was burning, possibly from a discarded cigarette. They removed the burned section and confined damage to the mat.

In 1984, with four turns of a big, red valve wheel in the noisy Samuel A. Carlson Generating Plant, thousands of gallons of hot water gushed through 4,000 feet of carbon-steel pipe, inaugurating the first district heating system in the state. State Energy Commissioner William D. Cotter said that the project was another example of the nation's "weaning off the OPEC bottle." He said that 20,000 barrels of oil would be saved by the pilot system during its first year because the heat from the plant's water cooling system had previously gone to waste.

A new service of interest to athletes, coaches and everyone in the area who was involved in sports would begin at WCA Hospital. On Nov. 5, WCA would open its new Sports Medicine Center at the hospital. The Sports Medicine Center would be staffed by three orthopedic surgeons as well as by physical therapists from the hospital's Department of Physical Therapy.

In 1999, Jamestown voters elected Democrat Samuel Teresi as the new mayor by a margin of 4,655 to 3,209 over incumbent Richard Kimball. "I was humbled by all the people who believed in me," Teresi said. "When I went to campaign headquarters on a Friday night and there were 50 people there working...it humbled me." Kimball wished Teresi well and said the community obviously wanted a change. "The people of this community have made their decision loud and clear," Kimball said. "I certainly wish Sam the best. Anything I can do to make the transition smooth, I'm certainly willing to do that."

Out of bed by 5:20 a.m., Steven Sweeney was one of the first people at the polls, eager to vote in his first election - as both a voter and a candidate. "It was the first time he ever voted and he got to vote for himself," his father, Sid Sweeney, said. "How many people can say that?" At age 18, Sweeney defeated his Democratic opponent David Daversa and became the youngest person ever elected to the Chautauqua County Legislature, by a vote of 844 to 736.