50 Years Ago

In 1959, few changes could be expected in the Jamestown Administration in 1960, at the start of Mayor Carl F. Sanford's third consecutive term. The mayor indicated that the only appointive changes would be made in membership on boards and commissions, in cases where some members declined appointment. Otherwise, the Sanford administration would remain the same.

Captain E. Bertram Briggs, 78, city editor of the former Jamestown Evening Journal for 34 years, and one of Jamestown's best known newspapermen of former days, died at the Hoyle Nursing Home. He had been in poor health for the past 12 years. Graduating from Jamestown High School in 1899, Captain Briggs entered the employ of The Jamestown Evening Journal Oct. 22, 1900. He served first as assistant advertising manager; then as a reporter, and as city editor from 1907 until the merger of The Jamestown Evening Journal and Jamestown Morning Post Oct. 1, 1941, to form The Jamestown Post-Journal. Mr. Briggs continued on the editorial staff of The Post-Journal for several years until illness forced his retirement 12 years ago.

10 Years Ago

In 1999, snow and slippery conditions might have been a factor in a fatal accident in Ellicottville and could definitely be blamed for a rash of minor accidents in Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties. An Alva, Florida man died in a two-car accident at 11:50 a.m. on Route 219 north of Jackmann Hill Road in Ellicottville. Police said it was wet and snowing at the time of the crash. Dan W. Pearce, 62, was pronounced dead at the scene by Coroner Kevin O'Rourke. A spokesman for Olean-based state police said there had been a series of weather-related accidents, mostly in the Ellicottville and Machias areas.

In a world that was slowly shrinking, the best advice that Ruben Navarrette Jr., a reporter and columnist for the Arizona Republic in Phoenix had was to "avoid being run over by the steam engine." In other words, Navarrette, who spent a two-day residency at Jamestown Community College, awakened locals about the inevitable growth of the Latino community in the United States. "They (Latinos) are slowly becoming the largest ethnic group in the country, he said during a President's Roundtable held at the Weeks Reception Hall of the Arts and Sciences Center at JCC. "We are in a new century where demographic changes are taking control," he advised.