Weekend News Brief

A fire on Montclair Ave in Batavia left a home heavily damaged.  Batavia City fire responded at around 9pm on Friday to a report of a structure fire at 29 Montclair Ave.  When they arrived they found a large fire enveloping  the front of the 2 and a half story family home.  Interim Fire Chief Herberger says that when they knocked down the fire and entered the home they found it was burning on the first second and attic floors.    Downed Power lines hampered the firefighting efforts.  Several occupants were home at the time the fire was reported, Herberger said.  None were injured.  The American Red Cross is assisting one resident.  A firefighter was transported to UMMC by fire department personnel with heat exhaustion.  City Fire and Batavia PD are conducting a joint investigation to determine the cause of the fire.

There is a major shortage of referees for school and community sports with nearly 47 percent of new officials quitting every year and 2 local lawmakers think they know why.  Senator Patrick Gallivan and Assemblyman William Conrad say its because of the abuse they suffer from the fans and they are introducing legislation to protect referees.  The new bill aims to modify New York’s penal law governing harassment and aggravated assault to include referees and officials in every sport at every level. The new legislation would raise the charge for harassment from a violation to a misdemeanor, and assault from a misdemeanor to a felony.  This would bring New York in line with thirty three other states who have created protections within the law for sports officials.

The Genesee County Health department is hosting a Free drive thru rabies immunization clinic this coming Thursday from 4 to 7 at the Genesee County
Fairgrounds.  Vaccinations are free for dogs, cats and ferrets, but voluntary donations are accepted. Animals must be at least 3 months old. Each animal must be leashed or crated and accompanied by an adult who can control the animal—limit 4 pets per car maximum.  There will be other clinics in August, September and October.  

Bottled Water should be essential according to a NY politician.  Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara has announced new legislation he hopes will remove the current tax on bottled water in the state of New York.  The elimination of the 4% tax would place bottled water under “essential grocery items” that are exempt under rules that they are sold for human consumption.  Other items that are tax free are potato chips. food coloring, and cookies.  Items like beer and soda and pet food remain taxed under current law.  The Assemblyman says that removing the tax would mean NY joins 33 other states that do not have a tax on bottled water.  The removal of the tax would not affect the bottle deposit return paid by consumers.