Tuesday News Brief

FROM THE GENESEE COUNTY SHERIFF: 34-year-old Benjamin Evans of Batavia has been arrested. He’s charged with petit larceny and criminal possession of a controlled substance following an incident on Veteran’s Memorial Drive. Evans was released on an appearance ticket and is scheduled for Batavia Town Court on September 5th.  ALSO: 38-year-old Jason Howard of Angus Ontario Canada was arrested for trespass and disorderly conduct. It’s alleged he stayed at Six Flags Darien Lake after being told multiple times to leave by their security. Howard was also yelling obscenities and was causing a public inconvenience by making unreasonable noises. He was issued appearance tickets and is scheduled to return to Darien Town Court early next month. ALSO: 22-year-old Rebecca Fugate of Batavia has been arrested for harassment and physical contact. It’s alleged she struck another person in the chest with her hand. Fugate was issued an appearance ticket and is scheduled to return to Batavia Town Court next Tuesday afternoon.

 

34-year-old Crystal Bouter of Batavia has been arrested and charged with criminal mischief. She was arrested following an investigation into an altercation in the parking lot of a local business, where Bouter allegedly damaged another person’s cell phone. She was issued an appearance ticket and is scheduled for Batavia City Court today.

 

Governor Kathy Hochul says New York state residents should expect that smoke from the Canadian wildfires will continue to affect the state’s air quality today. However, improving air quality conditions are predicted. State health officials have allowed the air quality alert to expire in Western New York. The latest 13WHAM forecast is always just a few minutes away on WBTA.

 

 

Tucker the Dog who helped capture Michael Burham — the man who had “survivalist skills” and escaped from a Pennsylvania prison last week — will receive a reward for his bravery. Today, the Warren County Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers will give the owners of Tucker the Dog a $2,000 cash reward. Tucker alerted his owners that Burham was on their property and led to his capture. More than 200 officers had joined the search in parts of Western New York.

 

A Grand Island man is in custody following a drug bust. Erie County officials say a home on Carl Road was a base for dealing drugs, along with housing an armory of five dangerous weapons. A two-year-old child was also found living inside the house, along with an aggressive dog. The child’s father, 42-year-old Anson Whitted, now faces various counts of drug possession and sales, illegal weapons, and endangering the welfare of a child.

 

 

 

Erie County officials are warning residents not to use swimming pool rental apps. The apps, like one called “Swimply,” are like AirBnB’s for pools, allowing people to schedule a time and pay an hourly rate to use someone else’s backyard pool. Officials say the app is illegal, as New York residents are not allowed to rent out their swimming pools without the proper permit. There is also the issue that backyard pools are not held to the same standards as public ones.

 

As reported earlier today by Tom Tharp: Two of the new board members of the Western Regional Off Track Betting are high-ranking members of the Erie County Democratic Committee. Jennifer Hibit is the Secretary and Crystal Rodriguez-Dabney is the Vice Chair of the ECDC. The board was disbanded in May by the New York State Assembly, Senate leaders and Governor Hochul in response to a proposal by Democratic State Senator Tim Kennedy of Buffalo. The move would reconfigure the voting method from one municipality/one vote to a weighted system based on population. As a result, the majority of the 100 votes are in the hands of directors from Erie and Monroe counties and Buffalo and Rochester. The weighted voting system gives Erie County 24 votes, followed by Monroe County (20), Buffalo (10) and Rochester (eight). Niagara County also has eight votes, while Chautauqua has five; Oswego, four; Steuben, Wayne, Cattaraugus and Cayuga, three each; Livingston and Genesee, two each; Wyoming, Orleans, Seneca and Schuyler, one each. The directors will serve four-year terms.

 

ELSEWHERE…

 

An Australian man and his dog are safe after spending three months adrift at sea. Timothy Shaddock and his canine, Bella, were rescued in the Pacific by a Mexican tuna boat. The pair were apparently in rough shape went they were found but were given food, water and medical attention. Shaddock said he’d been surviving on rainwater and raw fish after a storm severely damaged his vessel en route to French Polynesia.

 

Parents have a new weapon to protect their kids from RSV. The FDA has approved the drug Beyfortus for injection, a ready-made antibody that can bind to the virus and stop it from infecting cells. It’s the first long-lasting drug for at-risk toddlers and infants susceptible to the respiratory illness. RSV was part of last year’s so-called “tripledemic,” which also included the flu and COVID.

 

 

 

Today is expected to be another day of investigators combing through the belongings of suspected Long Island serial killer Rex Heuermann. Detectives were inside Heuermann’s home Monday with reports saying police found nearly 300 firearms in a walled-off vault behind a metal door in his basement. Heuermann remains behind bars and on suicide watch in a Suffolk County, New York jail following his arrest last week.

 

The Powerball jackpot has reached a billion dollars after there was no grand prizewinner in Monday night’s big drawing. The cash option on that works out to nearly $517 million. Last night’s drawing did make $1,000,000 (million) winners out of players in five states. Three lucky tickets worth $2,000,000 were sold in Georgia, Arkansas and Texas. Meanwhile, Tuesday night’s Mega Millions drawing is also through the roof with $640 million up for grabs.

 

A punishing heat wave being felt across the Southwest is showing no signs of letting up. Phoenix hit 110 degrees Monday for a record-tying 18th consecutive day. Temperatures of at least 115 degrees are in the forecast for the next several days.

 

Today is Tuesday, July 18th, the 199th day of the year.

 

July 18 in history…

…In 1921, Babe Ruth achieved 139 home runs and became the all-time home run leader in Major League Baseball. Babe’s home run record stood for a very long time, until Hank Aaron came along…

 

 

 

 

…In 1936, the first Oscar Mayer Wienermobile was completed. The hotdog-shaped vehicle promotes the famous Oscar Mayer wiener.

 

 

 

 

…In 1940, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was nominated for a third presidential term. He first took office in 1933 as America’s 32nd president. F-D-R eventually went on to serve four consecutive terms becoming the only president to serve more than two.

 

 

…In 1976, 14-year-old Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci earned a perfect score of ten on the uneven parallel bars in the Olympic Games. It was the first ten ever given in the event. She went on to win three gold medals, a silver and a bronze.

 

 

 

 

 

 

…In 1989, “My Sister Sam” actress Rebecca Schaeffer was shot and killed at her home in Los Angeles by an obsessed fan. She was 21. The suspect, Robert John Bardo, was later sentenced to life in prison for the Schaeffer’s murder.

 

 

…In 1994, Crayola announced their introduction of scented crayons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

…In 2003, authorities in Colorado charged Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant with sexual assault in connection to an incident that took place June 30th, 2003 at a resort hotel in Vail, Colorado. A 19-year-old woman claimed the NBA all-star sexually assaulted her in his hotel room. In his defense, Bryant issued a statement saying he made the mistake of adultery, but did not assault the woman. Bryant was 24 at the time. He was charged with one count of felony assault. It took 14 months for the criminal case to be resolved. The accuser decided she would not testify, and prosecutors dropped the case Sept. 1, 2004.