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Wdowiasz announces city meeting Friday

Dunkirk Mayor Kate Wdowiasz has announced her own city government meeting Friday. The OBSERVER received notice Wednesday afternoon of a “Mayor Wdowiasz Department Head Meeting” set for 1 p.m. Friday in the Stearns Building Conference Room. The notice was emailed to 17 recipients — including all five Common Council members. City department heads and members of the media also got the notice. Wdowiasz is no longer attending Common Council meetings, announcing at a May session that would be her last one. The mayor said at the time she was looking into convening her own city ...

Rape charges filed in city on man

A report was filed with the Dunkirk Police Department regarding an alleged inappropriate sexual relationship between a juvenile subject and an adult male. Through an investigation conducted by the Dunkirk Police Department and a forensic interview through the Child Advocacy Program it was determined Vernal F. Carpenter, 44, and the juvenile subject allegedly engaged in sexual contact on several occasions. At 2:20 p.m. Monday, Carpenter was arraigned in Dunkirk City Court on two counts of second-degree rape, and one count of second-degree rape. Carpenter was transported back to the ...

Southern Tier Brewing, Comedy Center partner for ALS fundraiser

Southern Tier Brewing Company and the National Comedy Center have partnered to launch Bit by Bit Blonde Ale, a limited-release 5.1% Blonde Ale created to raise funds and awareness for ALS research. The beer is now available at Southern Tier Brewing Company taprooms and the National Comedy Center, as well as select local retailers, with proceeds benefitting ALS Therapy Development Institute and the Sean M. Healey & AMG Center for ALS at Massachusetts General Hospital. Throughout the campaign, Southern Tier Brewing Company will donate $1 from every draft pint sold and $1 from every ...

New secondary school principal hired in Westfield

At their meeting last month, Westfield Academy and Central School Board of Education members approved the appointment of Andrea Marsh as Secondary School Principal, effective Monday through June 15, 2030. Marsh comes to WACS from the Fredonia School District, where she has served as Assistant Principal for the last two years. Before that, she was the Assistant Principal of a middle school in Jamestown for four years, and she has also served as a K through 12 Instructional Coach in Jamestown in the areas of Math and ELA. Board members received a presentation from Erie ...

Faculty transitions top Ripley school meeting

At its May meeting, Ripley Central School Board of Education members learned that the district will implement several faculty transitions for the 2026-27 school year due to increasing enrollment. Ripley Principal Sara Centanni told board members that the district welcomed more than 20 new ...

Deputies say driver who hit bicyclist was drunk

A Dunkirk man who allegedly hit a bicyclist while intoxicated over the weekend was arrested. On Saturday around 9:45 p.m. Deputies of the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office responded to a personal injury accident on Route 60 in the town of Dunkirk where a subject was struck on a bicycle. Prior to Deputies arrival the suspect fled the scene, but was later located due to a witness following the vehicle into the city of Dunkirk. The operator was found to be Pascual Pablo-Domingo, 52. He was arrested on charges of leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, consumption of alcohol ...