Hadi Matar (Photo Courtesy of Chautauqua County Jail)

The Jamestown Post-Journal reports the trial for the man accused of stabbing author Salman Rushdie at Chautauqua Institution last summer could be scheduled for this fall.

Hadi Matar of New Jersey has been charged with 2nd Degree Attempted Murder and 2nd Degree Assault. He pled not guilty to those charges in Chautauqua County Court and has been in the County Jail in Mayville without bail. Matar faces 32 years to life in prison if found guilty of the charges.

Matar is accused with stabbing Rushdie on August 19 at the Institution. Rushdie lost his sight in one eye and one of his hands is “incapacitated” following the attack.

Matar is being represented by Public Defender Ned Barone.

Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy’s Twan Leenders presents to the Jamestown Local Development Corporation board (March 15, 2023)

The Jamestown Local Development Corporation board has approved over $360,000 toward Chadakoin River bank stabilization and debris removal.

Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy Conservation Director Twan Leenders presented a request for $362,925 in American Rescue Plan funding to remove debris in the Chadakoin River basin as well as do bank stabilization work on the basin’s north shore as well as the north and south shores between the Warner Dam and Main Street Bridge.

Leenders said with the city receiving funding to activate the Chadakoin River basin, there are other projects that should take place first, “It involves items like the existence of tree stumps and vertical spikes in the basin. If you go down to the Chadakoin basin right now, with the water level being as low as it is, you’ll see three, four-foot spikes sticking up out of the sediment. You’ll see tree stumps sticking up. And, you know at this point the dam is still open because it’s on the winter regime, so it’s mostly for flood control just getting water from Chautauqua Lake, melting water, rain water, to feed it out as soon as possible.”

Leenders said the dam will close on May 1, causing water levels in the basin to rise to the same level as Chautauqua Lake and hiding those spikes from boaters. He recommended the debris removal be done as soon as possible given that water levels are low and the DEC will prohibit work in the river come April 1 when fish spawning season arrives.

Leenders said Chautauqua County Soil and Water Conservation District would be contracted to do the work for all of the projects.

JLDC broke up CWC’s request by approving $35,000 for the debris removal project so that that project could begin immediately. They then approved a second resolution for the remaining $327,925 for bank stabilization work.

City Council will review the $327,925 funding request at its work session on Monday, March 20th where Leenders is expected to present on the request.

Council previously approved $277,750 from the Water, Sewer and Broadband funds category to fund phase one of the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy Chadakoin River Stabilization Project. Phase one, which involved the CWC removing debris and clearing trees out of the lower Chadakoin River, was completed in Summer 2022.

Chautauqua Institution‘s Symphony Orchestra was granted $50,000 in Downtown Programming funds for a concert at the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts.

The program will be “The Music of Billy Joel featuring Michael Cavanaugh with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra” and is scheduled to take place Thursday, August 17.

This will be the first time the Chautauqua Symphony performs off the Institution’s grounds. Their previously scheduled performance in 2020 was canceled due to the Pandemic and the performance scheduled for August 2022 was canceled after author Salman Rushdie was attacked at the Institution’s Amphiteatre the same day.

Doug Sitler addresses Jamestown Local Development Corporation (January 3, 2023)

The Jamestown Local Development Corporation has approved a downtown programming request to bring in Ace Frehley for a concert downtown.

Ace Frehley is formerly of the rock band, Kiss, who have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Doug Sitler requested $50,000 from the programming fund to put on the concert. This is his fourth request of downtown program funding, previously being approved funding of $31,850 for the “Best Day Ever” in 2019 that featured a free concert by Michael Glabicki of Rusted Root and funding of $31,000 for last year’s 10,000 Maniacs‘ 40th Anniversary concert.

Sitler said he has come in under budget for all the events he has put on, “And I don’t make any money until we sell like 350 tickets on this amount. But once we make around 500, 600 tickets sold then we go into what’s called the backend and we start divvying up the overage, I guess you would say. And I think there will be a potential of getting back, if it was a sold out event, $10,000 of the grant back.”

Sitler said one cost increase is requested additional security for this event following the stabbing of Salman Rushdie at Chautauqua Institution in 2022.

Director of Development Crystal Surdyk said the concert would take place at the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts.

Salman Rushdie

Author Salman Rushdie has lost his sight in one eye and one of his hands is “incapacitated” following a stabbing attack in August.

The update came in an interview given by Rushdie’s agent to a Spanish newspaper. Literary agent Andrew Wylie declined to tell the newspaper, El País, if Rushdie was still hospitalized and did not say when he had been last updated on his condition.

Rushdie underwent emergency surgery after he was stabbed several times before his scheduled lecture at Chautauqua Institution on August 12.

24-year-old Hadi Matar of Fairview, New Jersey was arrested and has pleaded not guilty to 2nd Degree attempted murder and 2nd degree assault in attack.

Chautauqua County Courthouse, Mayville

A protection order has been granted in Salman Rushdie stabbing case.

Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt issued a statement saying County Court Judge David Foley approved the prosecution’s request to preserve the confidentiality, and limit access to the identities, and of the factual witnesses in this case.

Foley also approved a request by the District Attorney for an extension of time to provide the defense with discoverable materials under New York’s reformed discovery laws. The prosecution now has 60 days from September 21 to provide those disclosures to the defense.

Hadi Matar remains in the County Jail on charges of attempted murder of author, Rushdie, after being accused of stabbing him and another speaker at a lecture at Chautauqua Institution in August.

Jason Schmidt

The Chautauqua County District Attorney says he needs more time to review evidence in the case against the man accused of stabbing author Salman Rushdie.

DA Jason Schmidt, Public Defender Ned Barone, and the man accused in the case, Hadi Matar, were in Chautauqua County Court for a discovery conference Wednesday.

Schmidt told Judge Dave Foley that the prosecution was still reviewing over 30,000 files from the State Police as part of its investigation. In a statement to media, Schmidt said due to this “exceptionally voluminous” amount of materials the prosecution is afforded an additional 30 days to meet its obligation without making a motion in court.

Under New York’s discovery laws, the prosecution is required to comply with disclosure obligations within 20 days after a defendant is arraigned on an indictment.

All parties will appear in court again on Tuesday, September 13. Schmidt stated he plans to request a limit on who is allowed to review material disclosed ahead of trial.

Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel discusses the incident at Chautauqua Institution on August 12, 2022 involving the attack on author Salman Rushdie and the County’s response. He also discusses work on the 2023 County Budget, new hires, a retirement, and more.

PJ Wendel

First Assistant County Attorney Pat Slagle explained to legislative committees last week that the contract is being extended following the recent resignation of the former Human Resources Director and hiring of the new one in order to allow both sides to get everything together.

Legislator Terry Niebel said he reviewed the extension and thinks it’s fair to the taxpayers and county employees, “It calls for a one-time payment of $750 and a 3% increase in salary for about 900 employees. The cost of this extension is about $2.3 million. I think the county negotiating team, the union, and the county executive did a very good job.”

Finance Director Kitty Crow said in committees that the extension amount is included in 2023 budget that’s being put together right now.

Negotiations on the next contract with CSEA will begin in February 2023.

The County Legislature also voted to rescind local law 6-22 which established a public relations officer position. County Executive PJ Wendel said he recommended the law be rescinded, citing the incident on August 12 where author Salman Rushdie was attacked at Chautauqua Institution.

He said his office and the District Attorney’s Office received calls from all over the world and showed a need more for a Public Information Officer, “So upon further review, it’s better to make sure we have a position that is rightly fitted, and rightly described, and a job description is fitting for what for what we’re looking for is Public Information Officer that is able to disseminate the information, make sure that social media is taken care of and the messages are consistent and professional in coming out.”

Wendel added that he was advised by his legal team to ask the Legislature to rescind the law.

Hadi Matar (Photo Courtesy of Chautauqua County Jail)

The man accused of stabbing author Salman Rushdie last week at Chautauqua Institution pleaded not guilty to second-degree attempted murder and assault charges on Thursday and was held without bail.

24-year old Hadi Matar was arraigned in Chautauqua County Court on an indictment returned earlier in the day by a grand jury that charged him with one count of second-degree attempted murder, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, and one count of second-degree assault.

Judge Dave Foley issed a temporary order of protection for Matar to have no contact with Rushdie and Henry Reese, who also was injured in last week’s attack. He also ordered all lawyers to not discuss the case in the media. He said he would consider Public Defender Ned Barone‘s request to release Matar on bail.

Barone requested a gag order on all parties, citing concern that high media attention could taint perspective jurors, “The more things are leaked or the more things are spread out there is going to influence the jurors in this county and the opinions they’re forming. So, one of the constitutional rights for anybody, I’m not talking about Mr. Matar, anyone accused of a crime is entitled to a fair trial. I made this arguement in the court room and that is something that is the cornerstone of our society.”

Foley is expected to rule further on the gag order at a later date.

Matar will return to court at 9:00 a.m., September 7 for an evidence discovery conference.

Assemblyman Andy Goodell speaking at event with Nick Langworthy and County Executive PJ Wendel (August 15, 2022)

State Senator George Borrello and Assemblyman Andy Goodell are asking Governor Kathy Hochul to convene a special session to pass legislation that would strengthen security at Chautauqua Institution.

This comes in the wake of last week’s attack on author Salman Rushdie at the Institution.

Goodell said he and Borrello sent a letter to Hochul on Monday outlining the need for the legislation which would grant ‘peace officer’ status to the organization’s public safety personnel, “That would enable them to arrest people, obviously, concealed carry of a service revolver, and work directly with all of our law enforcement officers.”

Currently, the Chautauqua Institution safety personnel must call for assistance from the Sheriff’s Department or the State Police to make arrests.

Borrello said in a release, “In her remarks at Chautauqua Institution on Sunday, the Governor indicated she would sign this legislation if it comes to her desk. Recalling the legislature and working for passage of our bill is the first step towards making that happen.”

The legislation had previously passed the State Legislature, but was vetoed by former Governor Andrew Cuomo.