Wooly Hemlock Adelgid (NYS DEC)

Free lectures will be held at SUNY Fredonia this week as part of New York State’s 10th Annual Invasive Species Awareness Week.

The New York State Departments of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Agriculture and Markets (AGM) are holding free events and invasive species challenges through June 11 across the state and online, including daily webinars at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., through Friday.

Invasive species are plants, animals, insects, and pathogens not native to an area that cause harm to the environment, agriculture, economy, or public health. New York is particularly vulnerable to these pests due to its role as a center for international trade and travel.

In Chautauqua County, two lectures will take place at SUNY Fredonia on Wednesday, June 7. Registration is required for both lectures.

A two-hour workshop on Best Management Practices for invasive forest pests and diseases including hemlock woolly adelgid, spongy moth, spotted lanternfly and beech leaf disease will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

To register, visit: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfb4cWkznp-f5hi8rI3FPsvpRM3mhMIWw-mPaTgPI1t4uGuNQ/viewform

And then from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., a workshop on aquatic invasive plant species management will be held.

To register, visit: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdFBiAIgAGQ2v451AtaleU1Lrp6Kd-ZivFXnsCqmfuTX9DyNw/viewform

To learn more about the invasive species that are a concern for New York agriculture, visit https://agriculture.ny.gov/plant-industry/plant-health.

Author and SUNY Fredonia Professor Christina Jarvis joined WRFA’s Anthony Merchant in studio to discuss her new book on Kurt Vonnegut’s Planetary Citizenship called “Lucky Mud and Other Foma”, teaching a class on Vonnegut, how creativity strikes Christina, rediscovering books from your youth and how the messages change and much more

https://www.sevenstories.com/books/4452-lucky-mud-and-other-foma

https://www.fredonia.edu/academics/colleges-schools/college-liberal-arts-sciences/english/faculty/Christina-Jarvis

Mike Metzger

Longtime Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency Board Chair Mike Metzger has resigned.

Metzger submitted his resignation to the IDA on December 22. IDA CEO Mark Geise said Metzger had been discussing stepping down from the board, citing his pending retirement from SUNY Fredonia as its Vice-President of Finance and Administration.

Metzger was appointed to the IDA Board in March 1999 and has served as its chair for a number of years. He also was a voting member of the State Regional Economic Development Council.

Fancher Chair CEO and Owner Gary Henry is now the new chair of the IDA board.

Sandra Lewis

The Democratic candidate for the 150th New York State Assembly race is running to “bring new perspective.”

Sandra Lewis, who is facing Republican Incumbent Andy Goodell, said she wants to bring new experience to the job, “And I think it will help having a person on the Democratic ticket who can work with the majority leadership. And I want to promote economic development in our county, affordable housing, and to strengthen mental health services for the betterment of all the people.”

Lewis says affordable housing is something our area struggles with, “I would support legislation to have lower interest rates for buying a home. I would support a program to have rent-to-own. And I’ve heard about low-income housing tax credits where people can get tax credits to build low-income house and good housing.”

Lewis is retired from SUNY Fredonia, after working there for over 30 years. She has been active in the community including serving recently on the County’s Redistricting Committee and on the United Way’s Chautauqua County I.D.E.A. (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility) coalition.

Lewis and Goodell will appear in a debate against each other on WRFA at 6:00 p.m., Thursday, October 13. The event will be aired live on 107.9 FM as well as livestreamed online via wrfalp.com, and on our Facebook and YouTube pages.

Jamestown Community College

The initial rollout of “JCC + FRED: Bachelor’s Opportunities Locally Delivered” will include Early Childhood/Childhood Education, and Business Administration. College officials say the goal is to bring greater ease to the pursuit of a bachelor’s degree for those who have already attained an associate’s degree in these areas.

The classes will be available in late afternoon and evening to accommodate working adults and traditional students.

SUNY Fredonia faculty will teach courses on the Jamestown Campus with a live feed simultaneously available for JCC’s Cattaraugus County Campus, extending the reach of JCC + FRED: BOLD to serve students in Olean and surrounding areas.

Recent college and soon-to-be high school graduates, as well as adults with associate’s degrees who seek retraining or are interested in pursuing a bachelor’s degree are also eligible for JCC + FRED: BOLD.

Former JCC students who have some college credit but did not complete a degree program will be able to continue their education and ultimately receive degrees from both institutions. The business program can serve both full and part-time students, while the education programs are primarily geared to full-time learners.

For more information, visit sunyjcc.edu/bold or fredonia.edu/bold

WATCH

ABOUT AOF LIVE: Arts On Fire LIVE brings you the very best of Chautauqua County’s local artists via a live, in-studio performance! The programs are not only  broadcast live, but also replayed the following week during our regular Arts on Fire time slot – Fridays at 5 p.m. on WRFA!  The show is produced and broadcast by WRFA-LP 107.9 FM, Kranky Plate Productions, and the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts in Jamestown, NY. All 2022 Arts on Fire LIVE performances are made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s American Rescue Plan Act Stabilization Grant.

College Lodge Forest, Fredonia

The Western New York Land Conservancy and the Friends of the College Lodge Forest have announced the Land Conservancy has officially purchased the College Lodge Forest in Fredonia.

The College Lodge Forest becomes the newest Land Conservancy preserve. It will remain open year-round as a publicly accessible nature sanctuary with miles of existing hiking, snowshoeing, and cross-country ski trails. The Faculty Student Association (FSA), a non-profit auxiliary of SUNY Fredonia from which the Land Conservancy purchased the forest, will continue to own the historic lodge and the 33 acres surrounding it.

At a ribbon cutting ceremony on May 27, the College Lodge Forest was formally inducted into the national Old-Growth Forest Network (OGFN).

During the past few years, the Land Conservancy and the Friends of the College Lodge Forest carried out an ambitious fundraising campaign to protect the property. Purchased in 1939 by SUNY Fredonia students, with their own funds, for the main objective of promoting health outdoors, the land has been a prized learning laboratory for thousands of teachers, researchers, students, and the entire community ever since. The FSA has owned the property and operated the lodge since 1969.

In addition to being a sanctuary for people, the College Lodge Forest is home to an incredible diversity of wildlife, a pristine wetland with carnivorous plants, old-growth trees, and unique native orchids. It is also part of a significant migratory bird corridor.

SUNY Fredonia Biology Professor Dr. Jonathan Titus will present at 6:30 p.m., Monday, April 25 in the Carnahan Center at JCC on the topic.

Titus’ discussion is free and open to the public. He will share the problems invasive and non-native plants create, and why it is important to use native species. Titus will provide tips on how to choose plants to create spaces that are friendly to birds and pollinators.

The Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy will provide promotional materials regarding their Chautauqua County Wildlife Habitat project at this event. With community assistance, the CWC is working to certify Chautauqua County as a National Wildlife Federation Community Habitat.

SUNY Fredonia

Governor Kathy Hochul announced the initiative, which includes the distribution of $4.5 million in federal and state funding. The monies will support current centers, a program to train the next generation of child care professionals, and the development of a long-term plan to achieve the Governor’s State of the State goal to eliminate child care deserts across SUNY. The Governor’s Executive Budget includes $10.8 million to support the creation of additional child care centers on SUNY campuses.

During the 2020-2021 academic year, SUNY served 1,200 student parents with more than 4,000 child care spots across the 46 SUNY campuses that have a child care center onsite. The centers also serve faculty, staff, and state employees, as well as the neighboring community – each utilizing about a third of total child care spots. 18 more centers are currently needed to fully cover all 64 of SUNY’s campuses statewide.

The State announced two #VaxForKids pop-up vaccination clinics that will take place today. One clinic will be from 10-11:00 a.m. at Silver Creek Central School for students of that school only. Another clinic will take place from 1-3:00 p.m. for students of Forestville Central School.

The County also announced clinics that are open to all eligible members of the public.

Participants must bring proper identification to the clinic and wear a mask. Consent must be provided at the clinic by a parent or legal guardian.

Please bring your vaccine card to all clinics. Dates of prior vaccinations must be entered during the registration process, so have your card ready when pre-registering.

A Pfizer Clinic will be held at Love Elementary School from 3 to 6:30 p.m. , Friday, February 11. Walk-ins will be taken but people may pre-register at chqgov.com. This clinic is open to anyone age 5 and up.

A Moderna and Pfizer vaccine clinic also will be held at SUNY Fredonia‘s Steele Hall from 3-6:00 p.m. on Friday, February 18.

Walk ins will be accepted with pre-registration available at https://chqgov.com/public-health/covid-19-vaccination-clinics.