Gowanda/Schools
The Gowanda Central School District Board of Education has approved several new staff hires ahead of the 2026-27 school year. Lauren Schraft of Silver Creek, certified in Spanish for grades 7-12 and in teaching English to speakers of other languages, joins Gowanda High School as its new Spanish teacher after previous posts at Buffalo Academy of Science Charter School and Global Concepts Charter School. Michelle Gilson was approved to fill a school nurse vacancy this fall, replacing Kristen Pagett, who resigned. The board also approved Sarah Glashauser as a school counselor and Cameron Nagel as an elementary teacher, both on four-year probationary appointments, along with shared athletic agreements with Pine Valley Central School for football, soccer and wrestling.
Olean/Political
City officials announced Olean has formally launched its partnership with MakeMyMove.com, an online platform that markets communities to remote workers looking to relocate. The program offers a combined $20,000 in cash incentives meant to attract five remote workers or job seekers, along with their families, to move to the city, with eligibility tied to minimum household income thresholds. The initiative follows the Common Council's approval in May of a roughly $50,000 contract with TMPA, the firm that operates MakeMyMove, to promote Olean nationally as a relocation destination. Supporters on the council have framed the effort as a low-cost way to grow the city's population and tax base by drawing remote-work households rather than competing for traditional employers.
Friendship/Communal
Allegany County Route 31 will close daily during the work week from Thursday, Aug. 6 through Thursday, Aug. 20, as crews replace a series of culverts along the roadway. The project starts in the Town of Friendship and works toward County Route 9 in the Town of Scio. The county says the road will reopen each night and remain open on weekends, but there is no marked on-site detour, so drivers are being urged to plan alternate routes during the closure window. The work is part of ongoing infrastructure maintenance on county roads in the area.
Belmont/Communal
The Allegany County Department of Health, based in Belmont, says two more people are presumed positive for measles after developing symptoms consistent with the disease, a reversal from its August 5 update that had reported no new infections. The department, which has now identified 45 direct contacts of the original confirmed case through contact tracing, says the two additional individuals have not been lab-confirmed but are being treated as positive based on their symptoms. Health officials are continuing to work with area health care facilities and community partners to monitor those exposed and limit further spread. The original case, involving an unvaccinated resident with recent travel to Ohio, was first confirmed August 2.