Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

Two people were seriously hurt when their vehicles collided head-on this morning on Route 62 in Kiantone. Chautauqua County Sheriff’s deputies say 48-year-old Radha Latona of Kiantone was traveling north, but her vehicle crossed the center line and hit a vehicle driven by 67-year-old Douglas Bergstrom of Jamestown. Latona had to be freed from her vehicle by personnel from the Warren, Frewsburg and Kiantone fire department. Both she and Bergstrom had to be flown to UPMC Hamot for treatment. Deputies are continuing their investigation and say charges may be filed. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

A 27-year-old Busti, New York, man is accused of having sex with a 16-year-old girl last summer. State police charged Michael Clark with rape following a lengthy investigation into the incident that happened in the Town of Kiantone. Clark is jailed on $25,000 bail. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

Civil War cannons are cool – but not when one of them is being fired at your home. But neighbors of 52-year-old Brian Malta in the Chautauqua County Town of Kiantone says that’s exactly what he was doing. Sheriff’s deputies got a search warrant and found the cannon. Malta was charged with menacing and harassment and was sent to jail on $2,500 bail. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

The case of a convenience store robbery early this morning was solved quickly, thanks to the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Department K-9 officer. Deputies say 34-year-old David Zembardo of Jamestown confronted the clerk in a parking lot of the Kwik Fill on Route 60 in the Town of Kiantone after she closed the store. They say he pulled a knife on her, forced her back into the store and took an undisclosed amount of cash. Drago, the K-9 officer, was able to track Zembardo to an area behind some businesses on Foote Avenue in Jamestown. Zembardo is charged with robbery, criminal possession of a weapon, menacing and petit larceny. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

A Chautauqua County man is accused of taking state police on a 7-mile chase in the Town of Harmony early this morning. Police say they got a report at around midnight about a car racing near Hoag Road. A patrol car attempted to pull over 33-year-old Matthew Harrison of Kiantone, but he sped off. Harrison is charged with felony drunken driving, reckless driving, fleeing from police, resisting arrest and aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

A 6-year-old girl and a 2-year-old St. Bernard will be honored Monday for saving a family from a fire earlier this year. At 12:30 a.m. back on January 17, Menash Petscher was awakened by his dog Nana relentlessly licking his face, something he said she had never done before. As he quickly learned, Nana was letting him know there was a fire in the family’s two-story home in Kiantone. Petscher managed to get his wife and three young daughters out of the house, thanks to his daughter Madelyn, who was 5 years old at the time, and who insisted her family have a fire escape plan. Petschers other daughters were 3 years old and 6 months old at the time. It wasn’t until after the fire that Petscher learned Madelyn had gone on a field trip three months early to the Chautauqua Children’s Safety Education Village, where she learned about making and practicing a fire escape plan. Nana, however, died in the fire. The Petscher family believes she was either trying to find her feline companion, "...

Police have new information about a Jamestown man who has been missing since late January. The last confirmed sighting of 48-year-old Michael Whitehill was on South Main Street in Jamestown at around 8 p.m. on January 22, but police have learned that he may have been involved in an accident at 11 o’clock that night on Riverside Road in the Town of Kiantone. A person told police they believe Whitehill was sitting in a disabled vehicle. Whitehill’s vehicle was found abandoned that night with damage to its hood and driver’s side. Investigators believe Whitemall may have walked away from his vehicle and was possibly picked up by another person driving by. Anyone who has seen him is asked to call detectives at 716-483-8477. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947