4th of July News Brief

In a response to the Supreme Court Decision that New York’s restriction that someone applying to get a concealed carry permit need a stated reason for carrying outside the home is unconstitutional Governor Hochul announced signing emergency legislation to restrict gun owners.  The new legislation restricts places where permit holders are allowed to carry firearms.  Areas where guns will not be allowed to be carried include Times Square, churches, bars, restaurants, airports, public parks, subways, trains, buses, ferries, schools, libraries, public parks, zoos, homeless shelters, and private property without permission of the property owner.  Democrats hail this as a landmark decision with Hochul saying this will make New Yorkers “feel safer.” And that it is the “embodiment of what it means to be an American. In honor of our 4th of July weekend.”  Republicans called it a “national embarrassment” and vowed that these restrictions would also be declared unconstitutional.  

Don’t go swimming in ponds in Clarence.  You might just brush up against an alligator.  New York State Police reported finding 2 alligators at the Clarence Town Park after a fisherman caught one and called it in.  The alligators were 3 feet long.  The DEC was called in to handle the reptiles and they had to be euthanized.  It is illegal to own an alligator in New York and police don’t know how they got there.  They are guessing that someone bought them as babies and then dropped them off at the pond when they grew too big.  Two weeks before, state troopers were called to Derby where they wrangled a 9-foot boa constrictor. The snake was then sent to the SPCA Serving Erie County.

The Genesee County Sheriffs Office unveiled a new k9 training course located at the Genesee County Fire Training Center.  Everything used to make the course, from the materials and labor, to the design and layout were donated by local businesses and through several grants.  Countrymax, Home Depot, Keybank, BOCES, Hoselton Automall and the Rochester Area Crime Stoppers donated to the project.  The course will primarily be used by the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office K9 unit as well as other outside law enforcement K9 units upon request and availability.

Chase, Fisher Parks, Seneca, Miller and Columbia avenues are getting a sidewalk upgrade thanks to a deal between the Batavia City Council and contractor Master’s Edge Inc. to replace about 6400 feet of sidewalks and handicap ramps.  The contract is for just over 490 thousand dollars with 94.5 thousand available for overages.  The State Funded Consolidated Highway Improvement Program is set to help with the expenses.  Work has already started and no end date has been announced.

A hundred year old veteran is getting to live out his dream of being a pro baseball player.  Today at the Buffalo Bisons game Roy Kinyon will finally accept the offer the Bisons made to him 80 years ago when they tried to recruit him in 1942.  He told them he was bound for the Navy the next day.  Today he signs a 1 day contract and throws out the 1st pitch for the 6 o clock game.  Kinyon served in the US Navy for four years, rising to the ranks of Chief, Motorist Machinist. His vessel, the USS Shoshone, was an amphibious cargo assault ship active in the Pacific Theater. Kinyon was aboard his ship off the shores of Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945 where he watched six US Marines raise an American flag atop the summit of Mount Suribachi.