Breaking News

Local/Region

Coming up …

More information online at www.observertoday.com WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11 Tops NY 890 meeting First United Presbyterian Church, 35 Park Place, Silver Creek. Weigh-ins begin at 8:45 a.m., meeting starts at 9:35 a.m. All are welcome. Use the Main Street entrance. For details, call 716 680-0313. SUNY discussion “Democracy in Action: Engaging Historically Marginalized Groups” SUNY Fredonia, Williams Center, room S204ABC, 10 to 10:50 a.m. Topics: building access to power, decision-making spaces; examining positionality, privilege in civic life; fostering inclusive leadership; ...

Center to host Jackson biographer

The Robert H. Jackson Center will present a free public lecture on Wednesday, March 18, at 6 p.m. featuring Professor G. Edward White. White will discuss his acclaimed new biography, Robert H. Jackson: A Life in Judgment, tracing Jackson’s journey from a self-taught country lawyer in upstate New York to Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court and Chief U.S. Prosecutor at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. The book will be available for purchase at the event. The lecture is the latest program in the center’s ’25 Years of Asking Questions’ series, ...

Spelling Bee regionals this month at SUNY

As the exclusive regional partner for western New York, the State University of New York at Fredonia will host the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee regional competition on Saturday in Juliet J. Rosch Recital Hall. This year marks the inaugural year for SUNY Fredonia as an official Scripps National Spelling Bee regional partner. The event, slated for 10 a.m., has been made possible with the support of the Fredonia College Foundation. Local sponsors of the event include Tops and Highmark BlueCross BlueShield. To date, student spellers from 22 western New York schools will participating ...

Police seek assistance in city hit-and-run

Dunkirk police are asking for the public’s assistance in a hit-and-run accident involving a vehicle and bicyclist. At approximately 8:57 p.m. Sunday, Dunkirk Police along with Dunkirk Fire responded to Lincoln Avenue near West Talcott Street for a report of a bicyclist struck by a vehicle. ...

Former Randolph Post Office employee pleads guilty

BUFFALO — Melissa Olson, 47, of Randolph pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra Jr. to theft of mail by postal employee, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Assistant U.S. Attorney Franz M. Wright, who is handling the case, said Olson was hired by the United States Postal Service (USPS) in 2023 as a rural carrier associate assigned to the Randolph Post Office. Between April and May 2023, Olson opened a stamped, first-class mail envelope that had been entrusted to her for delivery and removed a Visa gift card from the ...

Jamestown man tied to drug ring pleads guilty

BUFFALO — Dwayne Lowery aka Chi Chi, 31, of Jamestown pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo to possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl and kidnapping, which carry a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum of life, and a fine of $5,000,000. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Donna M. Duncan, Joshua A. Violanti, and Louis A. Testani, who are handling the case, stated that on December 7, 2022, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Lowery’s West Cowden Place residence, seizing 59 grams of fentanyl, $1,140 in cash, and ...