Chautauqua County

Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel has been dealing with the coronavirus for ten months and has watched the COVID numbers rise and subside.  Currently, Wendel says, "The numbers are going up."

Some universal issues are bringing voters to the polls throughout Western New York like COVID-19 and the future of the economy. But in Chautauqua County, police reform is front and center as a tightly contested race for district attorney moves forward. Chautauqua Today news director Dave Rowley spoke with WBFO reporter Nick Lippa about how it’s taking shape.

Chautauqua County officials are launching a website designed to provide easily-accessible information on addiction, prevention, and treatment and recovery services. Leaders say despite the efforts to keep addiction services available during the pandemic, overdoses have risen.

It's about as easy to put together a county budget for 2021 as it is to figure out how soon there will be enough COVID-19 vaccine around to take care of everyone who wants it. Chautauqua County Executive P.J. Wendel submitted his budget for next year to the County Legislature Wednesday.

Chautauqua County officials say there is a COVID-19 hot spot at a Dunkirk ice cream plant, with 22 new cases and more expected in an all-out push to test everyone connected with Fieldbrook Foods.

Sometime in the near future, county health departments across New York State will be told by Albany what to do if a student, teacher or staff member in a school becomes infected with COVID-19. Until then, many questions remain.

There was a time when the fruits of hot summer misbehavior were hangovers and bad sunburns. Chautauqua County is seeing COVID-19 infections.

Western New York is inching closer to starting the reopening process under the state's seven criteria for starting up. The statewide lockdown order, also called PAUSE, is set to expire May 15.

Some have raised questions on the practicality of grouping southern counties in with Erie County and Western New York, as opposed to the Southern Tier in re-opening plans.

While Chautauqua County sits adjacent to Erie County, the coronavirus has had a drastically different impact on the two entities. Hundreds of Erie County residents have been infected with the virus, with 266 deaths attributed to COVID-19.  In Chautauqua County, there have been less than 40 confirmed cases of COVID-19; three lives have been claimed by the virus. County Executive P.J. Wendel reports four county residents are currently dealing with the virus. "Prior to Tuesday, we had not had a hospitalization for  COVID-19 since the eighth of April."

You have limited advance knowledge of how much money you will get from Washington or Albany, you don't know what your sales tax will be and you don't know what your Medicaid costs will be because there is a pandemic roiling the world. Now, running a local government, town or county.