PENN YAN--At 3:23 a.m. Jan. 12, Penn Yan Police were called to a residence on E. Elm Street for a report of a subject with a gun threatening to shoot people. On arrival, officers were able to secure the immediate area and learned that the subject was armed with a shotgun and had allegedly barricaded themselves in the bathroom of a multi-unit rental house. Officers were able to make contact with all of the other residents in the building and safely evacuate them. Police also contacted neighbors in the area and had some evacuate and others hold in place.

WATKINS GLEN--Two more projects associated with the nearly $10 million state Downtown Revitalization Initiative in Watkins Glen are set to hit the ground running in 2022. The locations include 202 South Franklin St. and the former Veterans of Foreign Wars building on the corner of North Franklin and First Street. Combined, the two locations will see roughly $2.7 million worth of work being done that will bring new housing, new commercial space and a fitness center.

The United States Department of Health and Human Services in conjunction with the United States Postal Service will begin accepting orders for at-home COVID-19 tests, Wednesday, Jan. 19. Every home is eligible to order four free at-home COVID-19 tests. Orders will usually ship in seven to 12 days. The website at www.covidtests.gov will take and manage the orders.

WASHINGTON (AP)--The Environmental Protection Agency issued preliminary rulings last week seeking to further regulate waste generated by coal-burning power plants, ordering sites to stop dumping waste into unlined storage ponds and speed up plans to close them altogether. Plants in four states will have to close the coal ash ponds months or years ahead of schedule, the EPA said last Tuesday, citing deficiencies with groundwater monitoring, cleanup or other problems.

SENECA LAKE--Starkey's Lookout has been sold to Tin Barn Brewing located in Chester, New York (roughly an hour outside of New York City) and will become a new Tin Barn Brewing FLX location in the spring. Tin Barn is joining a growing trend of downstate breweries that are looking to open a second location in the Finger Lakes or Southern Tier regions.

YATES COUNTY--The Yates County Sheriff's Office provided an update Saturday, Jan. 8 on the horse and buggy struck by a car accident that occurred in July. The collision occurred July 21, 2021 at 2:36 p.m. on State Route 14A just north of the village of Penn Yan. At the time of the crash, the investigation was ongoing with the expectation of a grand jury hearing.

WATKINS GLEN--Clute Park remained a focus of the Watkins Glen board of trustees during their meeting Tuesday, Jan. 4. The board voted to award a Request For Qualifications worth $22,100 to the company LaBella to do preliminary engineering work on a plan to expand the number of camper spots by roughly 20. "We are still working on the last piece of the puzzle which is getting Cargill (Salt) to OK it because we can't do anything unless they say we can," said Mayor Luke Leszyk.

PENN YAN--Sheriff Ron Spike has temporarily suspended all visitation to the Yates County Jail again effective Monday, Jan. 11 as a cautionary move to reduce the risk of any COVID-19 and its variants exposure issues to inmates or staff. The jail administration, county public health, jail physician and jail medical staff concur with this temporary order.

YATES COUNTY--For the first time in its 50 year history, the Yates County Legislature will have a woman serving as chairperson after Legislator Leslie Church was elected to the position during a special meeting on Jan. 3. Church replaces previous chair, Douglas Paddock. Upon her election, those in attendance broke out into applause.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- In her first State of the State address Wednesday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul outlined an agenda for an economic comeback from the coronavirus pandemic and new government investments in health care, housing and renewable energy. Hochul, the state's first female governor, spoke before a limited, socially distanced audience in the Assembly chamber at the New York State Capitol in Albany amid the worst surge in coronavirus infections since the early days of the pandemic.

NEW YORK STATE--The New York Department of Health amended its guidance last week on COVID isolation protocols based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance. These directions went out to local health departments, schools, congregate care settings and healthcare providers. This guidance is again interim direction meaning it could change at any time based on observed conditions.

NEW YORK--Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the "Winter Surge Plan 2.0," a new targeted effort to bolster New York's fight against the winter surge of COVID-19. Hochul's plan focuses on five core areas: keeping students in school, doubling down on masks and testing, preventing severe illness and death, increasing access to vaccines and boosters, and working together with local leaders.

YATES COUNTY--The Yates County Legislature has approved a weapons ban in buildings owned or leased by the county at a special year-end meeting, Wednesday, Dec. 29. The ban, which explicitly notes open carrying in this version, had previously failed to pass in September when it did not get the minimum of eight votes.

ODESSA--At 8:03 a.m. Friday, Dec. 31, the Odessa Fire Department was dispatched by the Schuyler County 911 Center to a structure fire at 5212 County Road 14 in the Town of Catharine. Upon arrival, the department found a two story wood frame residence with fire throughout the building. A second, and later, a third alarm were requested for additional tankers and additional firefighting personnel.

ALBANY--The New York state Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) announced Monday, Jan. 3 they have issued a final siting permit for a major solar facility, Watkins Glen Solar Energy Center, LLC. The Watkins project is a 50-megawatt solar electric facility in the Town of Dix, Schuyler County. This solar facility is expected to generate enough clean power to more than 12,000 New York homes and reduce carbon emissions by over 42,000 metric tons annually, the equivalent of taking more than 8,200 cars off the road every year.

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner and Climate Action Council Co-Chair Basil Seggos announced the release of the state's first-ever statewide greenhouse gas emissions report compliant with the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). The report describes statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for 1990 through 2019, and will be produced annually as required by New York's climate law.

FINGER LAKES--State Senator Tom O'Mara (R,C,I- Big Flats) and Assemblyman Phil Palmesano (R,C,I-Corning) said local bridge and culvert improvement projects in Yates, Schuyler, Steuben, Chemung and Tompkins Counties are being awarded aid through the latest round of funding through the state's BRIDGE-NY program.

WATKINS GLEN--Three days after the law firm representing Brandon Matthews announced the charges against their client were dismissed, a Schuyler County grand jury voted to indict the former sergeant in charge of the Watkins Glen Police Department, Friday, Dec. 17. The state police had originally reported they arrested Brandon Matthews, Friday, Dec. 3 and he was charged with eight counts of perjury first degree and one count of official misconduct.

FINGER LAKES--Please click the 'Read More...' link to see the weekly sports results for Penn Yan, Dundee, Hammondsport, Watkins Glen and Odessa-Montour. These results appeared in the Jan. 19 newspapers.

FINGER LAKES--Please click the 'Read More...' link to see the weekly sports results for Dundee, Penn Yan, Hammondsport, Watkins Glen and Odessa-Montour. These results appeared in the Jan. 12 newspapers.

FINGER LAKES--Please click the 'Read More...' link to see the weekly sports results for Dundee, Penn Yan, Hammondsport, Watkins Glen and Odessa-Montour. These results appeared in the Jan. 5 newspapers.

FINGER LAKES--Please click the 'Read More...' link to see the weekly sports results for Watkins Glen, Odessa-Montour, Dundee, Penn Yan and Hammondsport. These results appeared in the Dec. 22 newspapers.

FINGER LAKES--Please click the 'Read More...' link to see the weekly sports results for Dundee, Penn Yan, Hammondsport, Watkins Glen and Odessa-Montour. These results appeared in the Dec. 15 newspapers.

FINGER LAKES--Please click the 'Read More...' link to see the weekly sports results for Penn Yan, Dundee, Hammondsport, Watkins Glen and Odessa-Montour, . These results appeared in the Dec. 8 newspapers.

FINGER LAKES--Please click the 'Read More...' link to see the weekly sports results for Watkins Glen, Odessa-Montour, Penn Yan, Dundee and Hammondsport. These results appeared in the Nov. 10 newspapers.

FINGER LAKES--Please click the 'Read More...' link to see the weekly sports results for Dundee, Penn Yan, Hammondsport, Watkins Glen and Odessa-Montour. These results appeared in the Nov. 3 newspapers.

FINGER LAKES--Please click the 'Read More...' link to see the weekly sports results for Penn Yan, Dundee, Hammondsport, Watkins Glen and Odessa-Montour. These results appeared in the Oct. 27 newspapers.

FINGER LAKES--Please click the 'Read More...' link to see the weekly sports results for Dundee, Penn Yan, Hammondsport, Watkins Glen and Odessa-Montour. These results appeared in the Oct. 20 newspapers.

FINGER LAKES--Please click the 'Read More...' link to see the weekly sports results for Penn Yan, Dundee, Hammondsport, Watkins Glen and Odessa-Montour. These results appeared in the Oct. 13 newspapers.

FINGER LAKES--Please click the 'Read More...' link to see the weekly sports results for Penn Yan, Dundee, Hammondsport, Watkins Glen and Odessa-Montour. These results appeared in the Oct. 6 newspapers.

FINGER LAKES--Please click the 'Read More...' link to see the weekly sports results for Penn Yan, Dundee, Hammondsport, Watkins Glen and Odessa-Montour. These results appeared in the Sept. 29 newspapers.

FINGER LAKES--Please click the 'Read More...' link to see the weekly sports results for Penn Yan, Dundee, Hammondsport, Watkins Glen and Odessa-Montour. These results appeared in the Sept. 22 newspapers.

FINGER LAKES--Please click the 'Read More...' link to see the weekly sports results for Dundee, Penn Yan, Hammondsport, Watkins Glen and Odessa-Montour. These results appeared in the Sept. 15 newspapers.

FINGER LAKES--Please click the 'Read More...' link to see the weekly sports results for Dundee, Penn Yan, Hammondsport, Watkins Glen and Odessa-Montour. These results appeared in the Sept. 8 newspapers.

WATKINS GLEN (AP) -- Kyle Larson took another step toward a regular-season NASCAR Cup title. Chase Elliott lamented a race that he let get away. Larson gained the lead from Martin Truex Jr. during green flag pit stops in the final stage Sunday, built a big lead and kept his hard-charging Hendrick Motorsports teammate at bay over the final laps to win at Watkins Glen International.

FINGER LAKES--The United Southern Tier Aquatics team have won a 2021 AAU National Champions after they beat out Team Florida and Team New England at the Junior Olympic Championships in Houston, Texas. The margin of victory was by less than 150 with the team consisting of swimmers from Watkins Glen to Syracuse.