Wednesday News Brief

From the City of Batavia Police blotter: 38-year-old Heather Holbrook has been arrested on a bench warrant. She was initially arrested last May for Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Sell (a class C felony). Holbrook was arraigned in Batavia City Court and released on her own recognizance. However, she allegedly failed to appear at her next court date in mid-July resulting in the issuing of another warrant. On July 18th, Holbrook was located and arrested. She was arraigned in CAP Court, where she was again released. Holbrook is due back in court at a later date.

 

 

27-year-old Bleyke Culver of Batavia has been arrested on a warrant. It’s alleged that on June 23rd, he violated an order of protection by entering the residence of the protected party. When located by police in Austin Park, Culver attempted to flee but was quickly taken into custody. At the time of his arrest, he was allegedly with the protected party, in violation of the order of protection. Culver was charged with an additional count of Criminal Contempt. He was arraigned in CAP Court and remanded to custody of the Genesee County Jail.

 

 

19-year-old Zakara Jackson of Batavia was arrested on two warrants. The first charges her with bail jumping. It’s alleged that Jackson had been previously charged with a separate count of Bail Jumping. She was arraigned and released on that charge; but then failed to appear back in court. The second warrant charges her with Bail Jumping, in relation to a charge of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance. Jackson was arraigned on that charge and released, but then once again failed to appear in court. She was arraigned on the warrants and released under the supervision of Genesee Justice. Jackson is due back in court on September 13th.

 

 

34-year-old Kimberly Blue was arrested for Bail Jumping. She had previously been arrested and charged with Endangering the Welfare of a Child. Blue was arraigned on that charge and released but allegedly failed to appear at the scheduled court time. On July 20th, Blue was arrested at the Genesee County Jail, where she was incarcerated on an unrelated matter. She was arraigned in CAP Court and is due back in Batavia City Court at a later date. ALSO: 57-year-old Michelle Preston of Batavia has been arrested for Petit Larceny. It’s alleged she used another person’s debit card information without their permission to make several purchases online. Preston was issued an appearance ticket for Batavia City Court next Monday. ALSO: 23-year-old Tyler Mills of Batavia was arrested for Harassment. He was arrested after officers responded to a disturbance on Washington Avenue. It’s alleged that Mills shoved the victim and threw an item at her. He was arraigned in CAP Court and released. Mills is due back in Batavia City Court at a later date.

 

As reported by Tom Tharp this morning: Families who would rather their kids not be in public school are asking that their kids be included in public school sports. State Senator George Borello is co-sponsoring a bill that would allow home school students to participate in interscholastic sports. He cites that those families still pay school taxes and should be able to take part in sports programs. Borello said that 30 other states allow this and New York should get onboard. In New York State, the Department of Education says in order to enroll in an ‘interscholastic sport,’ students must be enrolled in a public school.

 

 

Time is running out for officials with Rochester Regional Health and a union that represents nurses to reach an agreement on a brand-new contract. If a deal is not in place tomorrow, nurses are planning to go on strike for two days. A final round of talks between both sides is expected to today. If there is a strike, hundreds of temporary nurses will be brought in so patient care doesn’t suffer.

 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has introduced a bill that he says would sanction China and Mexico for their involvement in the current fentanyl epidemic. The New York Democrat revealed details of the measure during a visit to Albion yesterday. Schumer says the “Fend Off Fentanyl Act” would give the president emergency powers that can be used to prevent the flow of fentanyl into the United States from foreign countries. International fentanyl trafficking would also be declared a national emergency.

 

The Town of Tonawanda is joining a lawsuit that has been filed against automakers Kia and Hyundai. Legal action has been taken by other communities such as Buffalo and Rochester due to the high number of vehicles stolen in the last several months. Kia and Hyundai are accused of not making sure proper parts are installed to stop these thefts. Most of the vehicles that have been taken were built between the 2011 and 2021 model years.

 

A lieutenant with the Buffalo Police Department has been charged for his alleged role in a domestic violence incident. Investigators say 37-year-old Larry Muhammad Jr. was speeding and driving recklessly earlier this week, which put the life of his female passenger at risk. He is also accused of taking away the woman’s phone when she attempted to dial 911 and firing a shot from a handgun. Muhammad was off-duty at the time of the incident and is suspended without pay.

 

 

ELSEWHERE…

 

A new poll shows President Biden and former President Trump tied in 2024 general election rematch. The New York Times/Siena College poll shows both candidates receiving 43-percent of support from registered voters if the election were held today. Both candidates, however, continue to have high disapproval numbers.

 

Striking writers and Hollywood studios will start talking again this week. The writers’ union, the Writers Guild of America, confirmed Tuesday night that it will resume talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers about negotiations on Friday. That confirmation came hours after Deadline reported that both the writers and the studios had a new sense of guarded optimism as the strike heads toward its 100th day next week.

 

Marc Gilpin, who played the younger son of Roy Scheider’s Police Chief Martin Brody in Jaws 2, has died. He was 56. Gilpin died Saturday in Dallas after a long battle with glioblastoma, his older sister, Frasier actress Peri Gilpin, announced. After answering a casting call, Gilpin beat out hundreds of other boys to get hired as Sean Brody in the 1978 sequel to the blockbuster Jaws (1975), directed by Steven Spielberg. He was 11 when the movie reached theaters.

 

 

The Niagara County fair is set to officially kick off at the fairgrounds that are located in Lockport today. The fair runs until Sunday and will feature great food, live music, shows, contests, rides and more. Admission is 10-dollars per person today through Saturday, and children six and under get in for free. On Sunday, admission will be either 20 dollars per carload or seven bucks per person. To check out the complete schedule of what’s going to be happening, visit cceniagaracounty.org.

 

The Mega Millions jackpot continues to soar after Tuesday night’s drawing resulted in no grand prizewinner. That’s been the case for three and a half months now. The lack of a lucky ticket holder means the next drawing on Friday will be worth and estimated $1.25 billion. Please play responsibly.

 

 

A deputy in Florida is responsible for stopping a runaway boat over the weekend. Authorities were working with the Coast Guard to wrangle an unmanned vessel that was traveling more than 40 miles per hour on Sunday, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. The operator had fallen off the boat, causing it to continue on course without a driver. One of the deputy’s was able to jump onto the vessel from his watercraft to take control of it. The sheriff’s office posted a video of the rescue on social media, joking that Deputy Constant does his own stunts. The operator of the runaway boat was eventually rescued by a Good Samaritan.

 

Bed Bath & Beyond is back – sort of. Overstock is now Bed Bath & Beyond after buying its intellectual property for $21.5 million, after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. When you search for either online you’ll be taken to the same landing page, where both companies’ logos will be displayed for the next few months until the re-branding is complete.

 

Today is Wednesday, August 2nd, the 214th day of the year.

August 2 in history…

…In 1858, the first mailboxes in the United States were installed along the streets of Boston and New York City.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…In 1939, Albert Einstein penned a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The letter was about the atom bomb, urging the U.S. to start researching atomic weaponry.

 

 

 

…In 1949, Comedian Bob Hope ended up in Hollywood’s Presbyterian Hospital as a result of been bucked off by his fake steed while working on a Hollywood film set. Hope was straddling a barrel rocked by Lucille Ball when it rolled over and sent him flying. He was under doctor’s orders to stay quiet in a hospital bed for several days, since the accident knocked him unconscious.

 

 

 

…In 1962, singer Aretha Franklin made her TV debut on “American Bandstand.”