YWCA Jamestown’s Broadscast features members of the local YWCA Jamestown team – Hillary Belin, Indo Quinones, Alize Scott, and Cienna Simon – discussing a variety of issues and topics with various guests from the Jamestown and Chautauqua Region.

This episode focuses on Native American Heritage Month and features guest Kaycee Colburn from the Haudenosaunee confederacy, Seneca Nation, Wolf clan.

The Broadscast program covers a wide range of topics, including Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) issues; racial justice and civil rights; empowerment and economic advancement of women and girls; and health and safety of women and girls. It is provided through funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

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The discussion was broadcast live on WRFA radio, with video streaming available on Facebook and Youtube.

The discussion is part of our ongoing series on marginalized and underserved groups from the Jamestown and Chautauqua region. In the Fall of 2021, WRFA presented a three-part series of Community Conversations, connecting the broader Jamestown community with five its marginalized/under-served groups to increase public awareness of their challenges and also identify workable solutions to overcome these challenges. Those groups included: the local African-American Community, the Hispanic Community, LGBTQ+ Community, those affected by Chemical Dependency, as well as Generational Poverty. A follow up conversation focusing on the Disability Community was held in March 2022.

Funding for the Community Conversation is made available by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s American Rescue Plan Act stabilization grant fund.

At a news conference held in Salamanca, Seneca Nation President Ricky Armstrong, Sr. indicated that the Seneca Nation Transportation Department will coordinate with the Thruway Authority and allow work to begin on the rough stretch of roadway.

The announcement follows several days of talks between the Seneca Nation and the Thruway Authority. Armstrong stated that the repairs will take several weeks to complete and some of the work may have to be continued next spring.

Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning)

SALAMANCA – Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY 23) is continuing his criticism of Governor Andrew Cuomo and state officials for allowing its dispute with the Seneca Nation over casino revenue to have an adverse impact on residents and local communities.

On Wednesday Reed held his weekly conference call with local media and was joined by officials from Salamanca to point out how the ongoing dispute has now become a matter of life and death for the Cattaraugus County city.

Salamanca is in dire need of expanding its emergency services department in order to better care for the 5,000 residents living in the city along with the outlying areas it also serves. That includes hiring two more firefighters as well as purchasing an additional EMS vehicle for its fleet.

According to Salamanca officials, the Governor’s office had promised to deliver $6 million this year that was owed to the city due to a casino revenue sharing compact Albany made with the Senecas over a decade ago involving the Seneca Allegany Casino. However, due to an ongoing dispute between the state and the Senecas, the Seneca Nation is now withholding the casino profits from the state, which means they can not be redistributed back to the hosting municipalities, including Salamanca.

Congressman Reed said that regardless of any disputes between the state and the Senecas, the Governor’s office needs to stand by its pledge of getting the city the money it is owed. He also pointed out that even though the city of Niagara Falls is in a similar situation with the Seneca Niagara Casino, it hasn’t stopped the state from getting that city $5 million it was owed under the revenue sharing deal.

Reed says the governor, a Democrat, is playing politics with the city of Salamanca, which not only has a Republican mayor in office, but also one who is a member of the Seneca Nation.

During the call, Salamanca Fire Chief Nick Bocharski shared how someone died last week in Salamanca due to cardiac arrest because of a lack of emergency responders caused by budget shortfalls.

Only one firefighter was available in Salamanca to respond to the call and perform what life saving measures he could by himself. The firefighter had to wait to transport the person suffering from cardiac arrest until the other ambulance could return because they cannot transport without two people staffing, Bocharski explained.

“We had an individual last week who was in cardiac arrest while our ambulance was on the way to the hospital on a separate call. We only had one paramedic left in the city,” Bocharski said. “Our ambulance 20 miles away has to try to turn around in Olean to try to get back to the scene to try to help this person. Unfortunately, this person passed away, even after being revived, due to a 29-minute delay.

“Governor, this falls directly in your lap,” Bocharski concluded.

“It is clear the Governor has taken this political spat with the Seneca Nation too far,” Reed added. “It is time for the Governor to end this dispute. Deliver the funds before someone else dies and resolve the unrelated Seneca dispute in the appropriate forum. We are happy to mediate if needed.”

According to the Buffalo News, officials with the state Division of the Budget say the real fault for Salamanca’s problems lies with the city’s leaders. Unlike officials in Niagara Falls, Salamanca leaders did not directly ask for help in covering the budget hole, when the Seneca Nation stopped making payments to the state out of its casino revenues.

Wednesday’s conference call was just Reed’s latest effort to pressure Cuomo to resolve the dispute with the Senecas. Last week, Reed asked the Department of Justice to investigate whether Cuomo’s administration was deliberately neglecting a crumbling section of the Thruway that crosses the Senecas’ Cattaraugus reservation.

Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning)

BUFFALO – Chautauqua County’s representative in Washington is calling on the Department of Justice to investigate Governor Andrew Cuomo for withholding federal money designated for a section of the New York State Thruway that runs through the Seneca Nation.

On Tuesday Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY 23) appeared before the U.S. Attorney’s office in Buffalo to voice his concern for the safety of the traveling public along the 3-mile stretch of Interstate 90 which runs through Seneca Territory. The roadway has been in need of repair for several years, but has not received any attention due to an ongoing dispute between New York State and the Seneca Nation involving gaming revenue sharing.

According to Reed’s office, local motorists have reached out in recent weeks expressing their concern with the road conditions. In his remarks, Reed said the federal funds have been delivered to repair the road and its time for the state to fix it.

Reed said he wants the Justice Department to not only investigate the Governor and his office for the misuse of federal funds and the abuse of his power, but to also look into any and all other federal crimes, related or unrelated, uncovered in this investigation.

Reed was joined by Chautauqua County executive George Borrello, who said the dangerous conditions are a threat to the safety and property to all who use it — including thousand of Chautauqua County residents.

Kinzua Dam on the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania was a flashpoint in history for the Seneca Nation of Indians. Completed in 1965, the dam was to mitigate flooding in Pittsburgh, 198 miles downriver, but the 27-mile reservoir that formed above it inundated vast tracts of the Seneca Indians’ ancestral lands, forcing their removal in breach of one of the United States’ oldest treaties.

Set against a backdrop of a federal Indian termination policy, pork-barrel politics, and undisclosed plans for private hydropower, Lake of Betrayal reveals an untold story from American history-a one-sided battle pitting a small Native American nation against some of the strongest political, social, and commercial forces in the country. Although the Seneca suffered irreplaceable cultural losses, the Kinzua crisis became a turning point to build a stronger Seneca Nation.

The film, which is free and open to the public, begins Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Carnahan Center Theatre.

Governor Andrew Cuomo (left) and Seneca Nation President Barry Snyder, Sr. (Photo courtesy of Office of NY Governor)

SALAMANCA – For the first time in 35 years, a sitting New York Governor has personally visited the city of Salamanca. On Thursday, Governor Andrew Cuomo made a joint appearance with Seneca Nation of Indians President Barry Snyder, Sr. at the Salamanca City Central School District to announce that the Seneca Nation has presented the state with $350,000,000 in casino revenue payments.

The payment had been withheld over a four-year dispute about gaming at the Hamburg, Batavia and Finger Lakes racetracks. With the agreement, the state has granted the Senecas an exclusive Western New York zone to operate its casinos and in exchange, the state racetracks will be able to keep their existing video lottery terminals. Of the $350,000,000, $34,500,000 will be reinvested into the Salamanca city government and school district, and Cattaraugus County.

Both Governor Cuomo and President Snyder had made a similar announcement earlier in the day in Niagara Falls.  The Senecas operate three casinos in the region – one each in Salamanca, Niagara Falls and Buffalo.

On Tuesday, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the Upstate NY Gaming Economic Development Act, a comprehensive new law that would establish four destination gaming resorts in Upstate New York. The law will go into effect, pending approval of a referendum this fall.

According to the governor’s office, the new law will boost tourism and economic development in communities across the region. Under the casino gaming plan outlined in the new law, all localities in the state will share in increased education aid, or lower property taxes, no matter where the casinos are located.

The new law authorizes four upstate destination gaming resorts, although they can not be in competition with casinos already in operation by Native American tribes, including the Seneca Nation. As a result, there will be no new casinos developed in Western New York.

The Post Journal is reporting Friday that the Cattaraugus County city has not received any casino revenues from the Seneca Nation of Indians since 2009. The withholding of the money is largely due to the gaming compact dispute between the Seneca Nation of Indians and the state. But as a result, Salamanca has been in financial dire straits and on the verge of not being able to pay its bills.

Salamanca officials hope the non-interest loan from the state will help to keep the city afloat until an agreement between the state and Senecas can be reached.  A three-member panel led by Judith Kaye, former state Court of Appeals chief justice, has been charged with settling the disagreement through arbitration. It is not known when the decision will be reached.

As for the non-interest loan, half of the $5 million loan will offset the present budget crisis in Salamanca, and the other half will be set aside for next year.