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Silver Creek woman accused of selling narcotics at grocery store

NORTH COLLINS – Erie County Sheriff John C. Garcia has announced the arrest of Ashley Bertino, 35, of Silver Creek after a long-term investigation into illegal narcotic sales at a grocery store. Following a citizen complaint, the Erie County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics and Intelligence Unit established a surveillance operation at the store which is located on Main Street in the village of North Collins. It is alleged that drug purchases were made from Bertino, who was working as a manager at the time, by the unit. An arrest warrant was signed by the Honorable John Stevens of North ...

County to backtrack on senior property exemption level

A month after more than doubling the property tax income exemption for seniors, Chautauqua County is looking to lower it significantly, but still keep it higher than it originally was. In February, the county legislature increased the maximum income exemption for senior citizens from $22,000 to $58,400 per household. During the March committee meetings for Administrative Services and Audit and Control, Real Property Tax Director Kim Meleen told committee members that the state does not allow exemptions for seniors to be that high, which means the amount that was approved in February ...

Forestville eyes ‘significant’ project for 2025

FORESTVILLE — For the first time this school year, the Forestville Central School District held its regular monthly Board of Education meeting in the Alene J. Bradigan Library at the Middle/High School. But this time, the once familiar spot for the Board to convene looked a lot different.The ...

DEPARTMENTS Keep open mind for possible merger

There should be one overriding factor as four area fire departments in the town of Chautauqua discuss a merger - will the merger result in better service for town residents? At first blush, we have a feeling it will. But there is a lot of work to do to make sure that initial read is accurate. We start this editorial setting the need for better service as the north star in these talks because, inevitably, a myriad of ancillary issues will arise that seem like they are of earth-shattering importance that are worth keeping the status quo. As our Gregory Bacon wrote in Monday’s ...

Molitor gets Conservative backing

Assembly candidate Andrew Molitor received a second endorsement as the Chautauqua County Conservative committee backed his candidacy. Molitor previously received the support of the Chautauqua County Republican committee in his bid for the position. “As a newcomer to politics, I'm grateful to both the Republican and Conservative committees for putting their faith and trust in me as their candidate for the 150th Assembly District,” said Molitor. “I am looking forward to meeting residents and voters in the District over the next several months to earn their support as ...

City schools eyeing $59M budget

The Dunkirk City School District, like many districts, is eyeing a 2024-25 budget with increased expenses. Superintendent Michael Mansfield told the Dunkirk Board of Education Wednesday the projected 2024-25 expenditures for the district are up 4.67% — amounting to a $2,507,395 increase, to $58,958,090. That’s even after district budget planners managed to cut $678,463 in expenses. Mansfield explained the sources for the increase. The main one was the special education program, which is up $1,394,427. “That’s just students coming in…that we have to place,” Mansfield said. ...