Council meetings move to ZOOM amid surge

January 5, 2021

This month’s meetings of the Dunkirk Common Council are being moved to ZOOM. After conversations between the Dunkirk fire chief Mike Edwards and Councilman-at-large Paul VanDenVouver, the decision was made that in light of the recent upswing in COVID-19 cases around the area that it would be best to go that route. “It’s been hitting us pretty hard and we do have a couple council members that tested positive for it,” VanDenVouver said Monday. “We’re going to keep this going all of January and just play it by ear. We’ll see if the cases go down; it seems we’re right back ...

Active COVID cases reach 680 in Chautauqua County

January 5, 2021

The number of active cases of COVID-19 continue to rise in Chautauqua County. The health department on Tuesday announced there were currently 680 active cases in addition to 102 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus. To date, 4,199 people within the county have been confirmed to have the virus. The county recorded one new hospitalization, currently at 51. Of the new cases reported Tuesday, 38 involve people living in the Dunkirk zip code, 18 in Fredonia, 21 in Jamestown, and six in Silver Creek.

Festivals Fredonia looks to get ‘back in action’

January 4, 2021

Festivals Fredonia is looking to get “back in action” come next year. “We plan on doing all of them,” said chairman Larry Fiorella. “They don’t start until June so hopefully most things will have changed by then. We’re really hoping that we don’t have to have any restrictions ...

VACCINES ‘Warp speed’ is best we can do

January 4, 2021

Distribution of millions of doses of vaccine effective against COVID-19 was no Christmas miracle. It happened only because many people at private drug companies worked hard and at top speed — encouraged by the federal government — to develop and test the vaccines. And they were released much sooner than would normally have happened because regulatory agencies adopted President Donald Trump’s “warp speed” strategy. One need not be an admirer of Trump to give him and his administration credit for that. Their efforts to get the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines available quickly have ...

Revitalize Dunkirk busy in difficult 2020

January 4, 2021

Although COVID-19 forced cancellation this year of most Revitalize Dunkirk general membership and committee meetings, members still completed many projects while working in small groups, wearing masks and socially distancing. Perhaps best known for initiating and funding Dunkirk’s ...

County surpasses 3,700 positive cases

January 4, 2021

According to New York state, Chautauqua County has surpassed 3,700 positive COVID-19 cases. Through Saturday, New York Forward, the state’s online hub for coronavirus-related data, reported 3,785 total cases, up from 3,681 — the last reported number by the county on Thursday. New York state also reported two county deaths. Chautauqua County does not update numbers on weekends or holidays. Hospitalizations across Western New York, which had been increasing, were down for the second straight day on Saturday to 504 after a spike of 544 on Thursday. According to a release from ...