Randall Rolison

The Jamestown man charged in two fatal crashes has pleaded guilty in Chautauqua County Court.

District Attorney Jason Schmidt announced that 60-year old Randall Rolison pled guilty to Second Degree Manslaughter for the vehicular fatality that took the life of 15-year old Lexy Hughan on December 31, 2021 in Jamestown. He also pled guilty to Aggravated Vehicular Homicide for the vehicular fatality in Arkwright that resulted in the death of 71-year old Linda Kraemer of South Dayton.

Rolison will be sentenced on August 28 and faces a total of 13 1/3 to 40 years in prison.

Schmidt said the pending weapons possesion charges were dismissed as part of the plea deal.

He said the plea came following consultation with the Hughan and Kraemer families.

Lexy Hughan’s mother, Sara Rafaloski, expressed her relief that the court case is over, “And I’m really glad that it’s over. I’m glad that I don’t have to sit through any grueling details of any case stuff that nobody needs to hear. No fighting over something that obviously happened that’s obviously his fault. It’s all done and over. I’m much happier about that.”

A bench and picnic table dedication was held Saturday morning at Dow Park in Jamestown that memorializes Lexy Hughan.

Melissa Paterniti, who fundraised the money for the bench and table, said a roadside memorial had initially gone up near the site where Lexy had died, “And things on the side of the road had kind of started to get dusty and dirty. And people were saying stuff about it and I thought, ‘How can I help? How can I help this little girl have a beautiful memorial somewhere in the city of Jamestown to come and visit and celebrate her life?'”

Friends and Family cut the ribbon on a bench installed in memory of Lexy Hughan in Dow Park (June 10, 2023)

Rafaloski said it was amazing to have the community to come together to create the memorial. The dedication coincided with the start of the Jamestown Pride Festival, something she said Lexy would have been really happy about.

Jamestown School Board candidates
Top Row: Paul Abbott, John Panebianco
Bottom Row: Missy Paterniti, Christine Schnars

Four candidates are running for three open seats on the Jamestown School Board.

Shelly Leathers is not seeking re-election for her seat, leaving that open for a newcomer.

Paul Abbott is seeking his sixth term. He has served as the Board of Education President since 2016. He is a JHS alumnus and graduated from Jamestown Community College, the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Academy and the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va. He is retired as the Investigative Commander of the Jamestown Police Department and is currently employed by the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Department.

John Panebianco is seeking his first term on the Board of Education. He worked for Jamestown Public Schools for 14 years, retiring as director of human resources. Panebianco is a United States Air Force and Army National Guard veteran and holds an associate’s degree from JCC and a bachelor’s, master’s and two administrative degrees from SUNY Fredonia.

Missy Paterniti is also seeking her first term on the board. She graduated from Jamestown High School in 1993 and received an associate’s degree from Jamestown Community College in 1996. Paterniti previously worked for The Resource Center and Uber/Lyft rideshare services. She currently works for Ballgame Heroes. Paterniti is a member of the JPS Safety Committee.

Christine Schnars is seeking her third term on the board since returning to it in 2017. She has been a member of the BOE for 31 years. She currently serves as second vice president and Area 3 Director for the New York State School Board Association and is currently a member of the Erie 2 Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES Board. She is a past president of the Fletcher PTA and served on the State Congress of Parent and Teacher Board of Governors.

District voters will have the opportunity to approve the Jamestown Public Schools $101,475,978 budget and vote for three members of the district’s board of education on Tuesday, May 16.

A Budget Hearing will take place at 6:00 p.m., Tuesday, May 9 at Jefferson Middle School.

For more information on the 2023-24 school budget and the board member election, visit jpsny.org/budget.

Alexis “Lexy” Hughan

A fundraising event for a memorial for Lexy Hughan is taking place this Saturday.

Citizen Melissa Paterniti is hosting the event from 12:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the YWCA Lake Lodge in Lakewood. The event will feature refreshments and a basket raffle.

Paterniti is trying to raise $3,000 to purchase a bench and picnic table that will be placed in Dow Park in the City of Jamestown in memory of the 15-year old who died in a hit-and-run accident on December 31, 2021.

Justin Hubbard, Missy Paterniti

Jamestown City Council voted down Mayor Eddie Sundquist‘s citizen appointments to the Board of Public Utilities as well as the reappointment of Justin Hubbard to the Human Rights Commission.

City Clerk Jennifer Williams read a letter from the Human Rights Commission advocating for Hubbard’s reappointment, “We feel it is our duty to try to convey to our elected representatives how much we value Mr. Hubbard and the ideas, thoughtfulness, and passion that he brings to our group. As a teacher, he brings a point of view regarding education that helps us better understand and address human rights issues in our schools.”

Resident Missy Paterniti spoke out against Hubbard being reappointed, saying he publicly attacked her at an HRC meeting by calling her a racist and a bigot in response to her creating a petition to the school district to keep the “Red Raiders” name, “I contacted Elliot Raimondo [City Corporation Counsel] and nothing happened. I wrote to the mayor. And I’m just asking you, as the city council, that have the ability to remove this gentleman from the commission, please do so because he doesn’t belong there.”

Hubbard, speaking at privilege of the floor, said he was approached by Mayor Sundquist following rallies he helped organize after George Floyd‘s death in 2020 about serving on a reinstated Human Rights Commission. Hubbard said while on the HRC, he was approached by members of the community regarding issues on discrimination in relation to religion, race, and sexuality, “Even though I knew that some of these complaints were about members of council and that would make some members of this council unhappy with me for bringing them to the table, I knew that it was my duty to do so. I also believe that the passion I brought to this position made it so that people could feel free to contact me when dealing with very stressful issues.”

Council voted 2 to 6 not to reappoint Hubbard with Brent Sheldon, Marie Carrubba, Andrew Faulkner, Kim Ecklund, Randy Daversa, and Jeff Russell voting no.

The appointment of Sean Conner and Sabrina Gustafson to the BPU Board to replace Jim Olson and Greg Rabb failed 4 to 4 with Brent Sheldon, Andrew Faulkner, Kim Ecklund, and Randy Daversa voting no.

Council President Tony Dolce said while he supported the appointments to the BPU board, he doesn’t know why other council members did not but he guessed it may have come down to qualifications, “In the past, there’s always been a kind of.. not going to say controversy but discussion over replacing long time members that have experience with newcomers. And this mayor wanted to put his people in just like the previous mayor did as well. And so I don’t know specifically why those two individuals were voted down by specific council people.”

Jim Olson and Greg Rabb will remain on the BPU board as holdovers until new appointments can be made.