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WACS gets update on project timeline

Westfield Academy and Central School Board of Education members learned about the progress and timeline for the work on the Capital Improvement Project at their meeting earlier this month. WACS Superintendent Ryan Sikorski told board members the foundation for the new concession stand has been poured and the new scoreboard has been delivered. Also, he reported that the internal wall tiling has been laid, and is awaiting final approval before the work begins full time. Beginning this week, abatement signs were to be posted, Sikorski said. However, no work will begin until summer ...

Gerry to open buried time capsule on Fourth

GERRY — This weekend is the July Fourth holiday, and America’s 250th birthday, but in the town of Gerry another special event will be afoot with the opening of a time capsule that was buried around that same day 50 years ago. Town clerk Jodie Fehlman, said the idea for the time capsule was brought up and put together by town resident Herbert Best, who has been a resident of Gerry his whole life. “In July of 1976 he decided to put this together and to have it opened in 2026 marking 50 years,” Fehlman said. “The time capsule was buried around July 4th, 1976. The Gerry Town ...

Legislature OKs new paralegal, security gates at airport

MAYVILLE – Chautauqua County is moving forward with a plan to add staff to its Law Department, although not all county leaders are in support of the move. During the recent legislature meeting, county lawmakers voted 18-1 to use $105,982 from the county’s unobligated fund balance. About half of the money will be used to hire a new paralegal to help deal with the increase of Freedom Of Information Requests. The other half will be used to cover a budgetary error in 2026. Voting no to the resolution was Legislator Fred Johnson, R-Westfield. During a prior committee meeting, ...

Judges to be required to visit jails

Judges serving in criminal and family courts will be required to visit a prison, jail or other detention starting in January 2028. The rule was announced recently by the state Unified Court System under rules being implemented by Judge Rowan Masters, the state’s chief judge. The rule would ...

Silver Creek celebrates ‘coaches’ at graduation

SILVER CREEK — Silver Creek Central School District celebrated its 74th annual commencement by encouraging the 64 graduating seniors to put in the hard work and seize the day. On Friday, the Class of 2026 proceeded to the stage to the tune of “Pomp and Circumstance” and the program ...

Gillibrand, others push to cap Medicare costs

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), ranking member of the Senate Aging Committee, along with 14 of her Senate colleagues, introduced the Medicare Cost Cap Act to create a $5,000 cap on out-of-pocket costs for Traditional Medicare (Parts A and B) beneficiaries. Currently, Traditional Medicare does not have a limit on out-of-pocket costs, meaning beneficiaries are confronted with unlimited, catastrophic health care costs if they face serious illness or hospitalization. Medicare Advantage (MA), employer-sponsored insurance, and insurance bought on the marketplace all have annual caps on ...