Friday News Brief
Written by Dan Fischer on April 27, 2023
Heritage Health and Housing Inc. of Harlem and Evergreen Health of Buffalo are suing the New York State Department of Health Medicaid director Amir Bassiri for what they say is fraud against federally qualified health centers, the New York State Supreme court and the state legislature. They are alleging that Bassiri lied about the new medicaid pharmacy benefit program. They say that Bassiri lied to the legislature about savings to New York taxpayers when each taxpayer is expected to have to pay 250 dollars more under the new program. They say Bassiri lied to the Supreme court by omitting information in asking for a restraining order against Evergreen Health and Heritage Health and Housing when they complained about the new program. Finally they allege he lied to FQHCs by saying they wouldn’t be impacted negatively by the program. The lawsuit says that all New York State Federally Qualified Health Centers are losing millions in funding and are facing mass layoffs due to changes Bassiri pushed. Governor Hochul touted the new program as expanding access to prescription medication while in actuality it cut roughly 30 percent of funding for most health centers. That money went directly to drug companies which were supposed to lower prices on drugs for customers.
40 year old Richard Castillo of Oakfield was sentenced to 5 years in prison with 10 years of post-release supervision on Thursday for rape in the 2nd degree. He is also likely serving 5 years in prison for charges in Genesee County court that he pleaded guilty to and will be sentenced in June. He will most likely serve a total of 10 years. He raped a child who was 15 at the time in the villages of Oakfield and Elba.
The Ogden Police Department announced the arrest of a man for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars from the Tops Friendly Markets on Slayton Avenue. 35 year old Simon Reznichenko, is charged with third-degree burglary and third-degree grand larceny in connection to the incident. Police said he is a parolee who was being monitored by GPS tracking. Officers were contacted Wednesday morning by employees at the store who reported an overnight theft. Police said the suspect entered the store around 11 p.m. Tuesday claiming to be an acquaintance of an overnight cleaning staff member. The suspect then spent several hours wandering the store posing as a cleaner and stealing from the store, before leaving around 6 a.m., according to police. Wednesday night, officers spotted the person wanted for the theft in the village of Spencerport and took Reznichenko into custody without incident. Police said they recovered around $7,000 in cash during the arrest.
Rochester isn’t the only place getting hit with cooking oil thefts. Buffalo has had similar incidents with many restaurants having their oil stolen. Biodiesel refineries which buy the cooking oil have lost money from the thefts as their usual suppliers have been coming up dry. The thieves then turn around and sell to other refineries. Buffalo Biodiesel says they have lost 10 million dollars in the last year. The company has added an investigator to help stop the thieves.
The Holland Land Office Museum is hosting its next installment of its guest speaker series Wednesday May 10th at 6:30. Derrick Pratt of the Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse will be talking about the choice between Buffalo or its neighbor Black Rock as the western terminus of the Erie Canal. Admission is 5 dollars or 3 for members. Trivia night will be Thursday May 11th at 7pm. The topic will be Sherlock Holmes and his creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Trivia night will be held at GO ART! Admission is 5 dollars or 3 for members. The concert series at the Holland Land Office will continue with Don Dwyer on May 19th. Dwyer is a Musician, singer, and songwriter from Buffalo. He specializes in music and stories of the Civil War. Admission is 4 dollars for members or 5 for non members. Java with Joe will be held May 25th at 2pm. This month’s presenter is former Batavia resident and now local author David Reilly. David will be sharing stories from his childhood growing up in Batavia in the 1950s and 1960s, which are in his new book “Small Town Talk: Growing Up in Batavia, New York in the 1950s & 1960s.” Copies of the book will be available. Admission is free, and coffee and donuts will still be provided.
