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WJTN News Headlines

A Frewsburg man has been arrested for allegedly being involved in a road rage incident in the town of Busti... then leading police on a high-speed pursuit.  Sheriff's officers say they were called to assist Lakewood-Busti Police with the alleged incident on Baker Street Extension shortly after 11 last Friday night.  Deputies say they located both vehicles -- traveling at a high rate of speed.  Officers tried to stop both vehicles... but, neither complied... and, led deputies on a short pursuit.  Both vehicles were eventually stopped.  Shortly after being stopped... one of the vehicles involved fled the scene.  Officers say that car was later stopped in the town of Carroll... and, the driver, 41 year-old Eric Stohl... was arrested.  Stohl was later arraigned in Busti on charges including speeding... failure to comply... and, reckless driving.  He also faces charges in Carroll... including driving while intoxicated.  Stohl was sent to the County Jail, and posted one-thousand dollars bail.

 

Reform advocates, most voters and Governor Andrew Cuomo want to help clean up scandal-scarred Albany by prohibiting the state's 213 legislators from making serious money on the side.  But... the most recent financial filings show most lawmakers already get by without substantial outside income.  In fact... a majority reported no earnings from sideline work.  Those with other jobs included a pharmacist, a veterinarian and an insurance agency owner.  However, financial disclosures filed last year show 24 lawmakers, mostly lawyers, were making about as much or more in outside income as their 79-thousand-500 dollars base annual pay from the state.  Assemblyman Steve Hawley, a Batavia Republican who reported $450,000 income from his insurance business, says hard-working citizen-legislators could finish state work in 60 days and take a public pay cut.

 

Chautauqua County's top-cop says he's not happy that Governor Cuomo is proposing a 50-percent state aid cut to localities that have navigation patrols for local waterways.  Sheriff Joe Gerace says the cut would be state-wide... and, he adds that the New York State Sheriff's Association is reaching out to state lawmakers... and, formally opposing the cut.  Gerace says the state would not be able to provide the service itself any more efficiently than the local departments. Gerace says -- if the cut is enacted -- the state would only support 25-percent of the cost... which would make it very difficult for New York's counties.  The Sheriff's Office provides navigation patrols on several local lakes in Chautauqua County... and, including Lake Erie and Chautauqua Lake.

 

A Jamestown man who allegedly led police on a foot chase late last week faces several charges... including resisting arrest.  City Police say they pulled over a car, allegedly driven by 52 year-old Michael Deponceau, on Buffalo Street near Blackstone Avenue last Wednesday night.  Officers say he allegedly committed several traffic violations... and, they found him to allegedly be drunk, and driving with a suspended license.  But... during the investigation... Deponceau allegedly got out of the car... and, ran off.  Police caught him after a brief foot pursuit.  Deponceau faces charges including driving while intoxicated, failure to yield, second-degree aggravated unlicensed operation, and resisting arrest.  He ws arrested pending arraignment.

 

An organization that looks out for consumers is also warning New York residents about scam artists posing as state and federal treasury officials this tax season.  Governor Andrew Cuomo says the calls to taxpayers have been reported over the past several weeks.  The Better Business Bureau Spokeswoman Melanie McGovern says you the IRS never contacts taxpayers by phone... nor by e-mail. McGovern warns against giving out any personal information over the phone... and, don't send any funds by money order.  She adds you should not engage the scammer in conversation... but, just hang-up.  McGovern says there seems to be an increase in Tax Scams this time of year because we are into the Tax Filing season... leading up to the annual deadline of April 15th.  She says you can get more information from the Better Business Bureau's website at bbb-dot-ORG.

 

FBI records reviewed by The Associated Press show guns were used in 195 domestic-related killings in New York from 2006 through 2014.  Nationally... records show just over 62-hundred people were killed in such attacks, with current wives and girlfriends accounting for 75 percent of the victims.  New York's number compared with 637 in California, with a population twice as large, and with 798 in Texas, the second most populous state.  Of the killings in New York, 88 of the victims were girlfriends and 74 were wives.  Combined, that was 83 percent of the total. The others included nine boyfriends, seven common-law wives, one ex-husband, eight ex-wives and eight husbands.  Gun ownership rules in New York are among the strictest in the nation and restrict ownership and access by domestic abusers.

 

A winter thaw has triggered sap to flow in maple trees, launching an early start to the maple syrup season for some producers in parts of New England who chose to tap trees early.  Many of those taking advantage of the warmer weather were larger operations with plastic tubing and vacuum systems.  The Corse Farm in the southern Vermont town of Whitingham started tapping on January 31st... the earliest date in the farm's 148-year-old history.  Some of those who tap trees and attach buckets were either caught flat-footed, or elected to hold off.  Tapping trees too early can allow the tap to dry out, limiting flow later.  As for the price of the sweet stuff, which in Vermont goes for an average of about 49-dollars a gallon retail, it's too early to tell how the four-to-six-week season will unfold and how much syrup will be produced.

 

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf will release his 2016-17 budget plan even as he fights to get his major priorities into this year's budget.  Major portions of the current budget plan by the first-term Democrat remain in limbo after a fight with the Republican-controlled Legislature.  Disagreements over school spending, taxes and Republican policy priorities could bleed into deliberations over a new budget.  The new budget year starts July 1st.  Wolf is the first governor in modern Pennsylvania history to come to this point with substantial portions of the budget for the current fiscal year still in limbo.  He has made some revelations about what he will propose Tuesday... including an additional $200 million for public school instruction and operations and another $60 million for pre-kindergarten programs for children of low-income parents.

 

Some 551 New Yorkers have been certified to obtain medical marijuana, nearly one month after the state's program began.  More than 330 physicians, meanwhile, have registered with the state, a requirement for doctors who want to be able to authorize the drug for patients.  The figures come from the state's Department of Health in response to questions posed last Friday by The Associated Press.  To receive marijuana, patients with certain qualifying conditions must get a certification from a physician registered with the state's program.  The patient must then apply for a state registry card.  The medication is available only in non-smokable form and can be obtained from a state-regulated dispensary.  More than 20 states now have medical marijuana programs.

 

Finally... an astounding reunion.  After 50 years of searching, and with a lot of help from her granddaughter, Betty Morrell has finally met her 96-year-old birth mother.  She also has forged a close friendship with a sister she never knew she had.  Morrell, of Spring Hill, Florida, flew to Binghamton, New York, last month to meet Lena Pierce, who as a 13-year-old mother was forced to relinquish her baby girl for adoption in 1933.  Pierce, now living in Hallstead, Pennsylvania, says it was a joy to meet the child she had called Eva May after all these years.  Morrell also met her 65-year-old sister, Minnie Hawk, who lives near Binghamton. She says the two immediately clicked.  Morrell credits her granddaughter Kimberly Miccio's dogged persistence via the Internet for connecting her with her birth family.