Afternoon News Brief

37-year-old Rachelle Laney of Oakfield has been sentenced to 2 and a half years in prison, with shock camp and two years of post-release supervision. Shock camp provides strict, military-style discipline, with expectations of unquestioning obedience and structures days with drill and work. The program was designed to foster self-direction and individual responsibility. In 2020, Laney was found with a variety of drugs and paraphernalia during a traffic stop. It was also found she did not have a valid license because it had been revoked for a driving while impaired conviction the year before.

 

 

 

The Better Business Bureau is advising people to watch out for a new twist on an old scam. Scammers are using technology to create fake parking tickets that look surprisingly official. It could be a phony if people receive a parking ticket but are confident they parked legally. Here’s how it works: You park in a legal parking zone or pay to park on the street or in a garage. While you are away from your car, scammers use high-tech, hand-held printers to make a fake ticket and leave it on your car’s windshield. This phony citation usually asks you to pay online or via PayPal. One recent case used a QR code to direct victims to a fake payment website. If you follow the instructions, you’ll end up paying a fine you don’t owe. One version of the scam sends victims an email and if you click on the link in the message, you’ll download malware onto your computer. Here’s how you can prevent getting scammed:

1) Know before you park — Before visiting a new place, research available parking and local parking requirements. Tourists with out-of-state plates are often the preferred target for parking scams because they need to familiarize themselves with local parking laws.
2) Examine the citation carefully — Scammers can imitate logos and city office names, but an imitation website is usually where the scam comes to light. Do an internet search for the city’s official parking ticket websites and compare what you find to what’s on the ticket. Keep in mind that government sites should end in a .gov or .ca (in Canada) designation, and if there is a payment page, it should always have a secure connection.
3) Double-check the name checks should be made out to. If the ticket allows for payment by check, take a closer look at the address the check should be sent and how it should be addressed. Checks should generally be made to a specific government organization, not a string of initials or personal names.
4) Pay traffic citations by credit card when possible. It will be easier to contest fraudulent charges if you discover you’ve been scammed down the road.

 

A Rochester mother has been arrested for allegedly murdering her one-year-old son and seriously hurting her young daughter. Police responded to a call at the Wilson Commencement Apartment Complex on Joseph Avenue on January 19th and found A’Mias Love injured and had him rushed to Strong Memorial Hospital where he died four days later. The boy’s two-year-old sister was also found injured but is expected to survive. Their mother, 26-year-old Bryasia Love, is now facing multiple charges.

 

 

 

A teacher from School 54 in Rochester was carjacked by 5 kids at about 4:30 yesterday when she was leaving the school and getting into her car. The 49-year-old woman, who said she was just leaving work, was approached by a group of male teens while seated in her car. What was described as a machete was displayed by one of the suspects who then demanded her vehicle. The victim exited her car and complied. Part of the suspect group left in the vehicle they had arrived in and the others left in the victim’s vehicle. Police found the stolen car and initiated a chase that went from Otis St and ended on Mt Read when the underage driver slid in the snow and put the car in a ditch. Police say the five occupants, all juveniles, ran from the stolen vehicle but officers were able to take three boys and two girls into custody.

 

 

Nurses at Rochester General Hospital are protesting unsafe working conditions because of staffing shortages. Members of the newly formed Rochester Union of Nurses and Allied Professionals protested outside the hospital yesterday. They’re looking to sign a deal with the hospital on a new labor contract. Nurses said in some units, the patient-to-nurse ratio is triple the safe standard. They claim, in some cases, one nurse is caring for up to 20 patients. Rochester Regional Health said Rochester General Hospital is seeing, on average, a 20 percent vacancy in registered nurses across all units — similar to other hospitals across the state. On Tuesday Governor Hochul said she would stay committed to keeping the roughly 34 thousand nurses and hospital workers who were fired because of the now voided vaccine mandate out of work.

 

 

The Buffalo History Museum is currently collecting items from the deadly blizzard that rocked the Western New York region in December. Museum officials say they’re looking for people to share things like videos and photos of the weather disaster. Those items will then be preserved in the museum and will be a part of future projects, exhibits and programs. Anyone wishing to make a donation can fill out a form that’s been posted online at https://buffalohistory.org.

 

 

The red-hot Buffalo Sabres continue to roll after picking up their fifth victory in a row. Tage Thompson, Victor Olofsson, and Owen Power had a goal each as the Sabres defeated the Winnipeg Jets on the road last night by a final score of 3-2. Eric Comrie was solid in net for Buffalo and was able to stop 19 of 21 shots. They’ll take on the Minnesota Wild, tomorrow night at 9:00 for the final game of their road trip.

 

 

 

The Powerball jackpot continues to grow and that means there’s an even bigger prize up for grabs tomorrow night. The jackpot has risen to $572,000,000 (million) after no one correctly picked the winning numbers for Wednesday’s drawing. The odds of hitting the jackpot are one in more than 292,000,000 (million). The next drawing will be streamed live online at powerball.com. Please play responsibly.

 

 

Tax season has officially started and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance is reminding people they can file the returns at no cost. The agency says people whose 2022 income is $73,000 or less can file their state and federal returns using the Free File software on the tax department’s website. It’s estimated that hundreds of thousands of folks take advantage of this service each year. The tax department also says the easiest and quickest way to get your return is by direct deposit.