Morning News Brief
Written by Tom Tharp on October 20, 2023
The GEICO Insurance company is having mass layoffs including in the Western NY region. In a memo, GEICO says it is reducing its workforce by roughly 2,000 associates or 6% of its total workforce. This impacts about 5.5% of the Buffalo area workforce. Those impacted were contacted Thursday, according to the memo. The memo says they will offer career transition assistance, including individual career coaching sessions, assistance with resume updates, on-demand interviewing and networking resources, and tips to enhance one’s social media presence. GEICO is also telling workers to go back to the office after allowing people to work from home since the pandemic.
Two teenagers have been arrested in connection with a murder that happened in Rochester earlier this month. Authorities say the 15-year-old and 16-year-old were involved in the shooting of 32-year-old Shalar Davy during a robbery outside of a store on Portland Avenue October 5th. Davy was taken to a nearby hospital but could not be saved. Both suspects were arraigned and are currently in custody.
The Rochester City School District Board of Education has given the green light to a reconfiguration plan. As a result, 11 schools and five buildings are going to be closed by the end of the current academic year. The superintendent says that all schools will be reorganized as either Pre-K to sixth grade, seventh grade to eighth grade, and ninth grade to 12th grade. A lottery will be held in December to find out what schools affected students will go to.
The New York State Police have announced a plan to begin a brand-new recruitment campaign. Applications for the upcoming New York State Trooper Entrance Exam open on Monday, and they’ll be accepted through March 4th. The final day to take the actual test is March 17th. Some of the qualifications to be a Trooper include being a United States citizen, being between 20 and 34 years old and having a high school diploma. The starting salary for a Trooper is over 59-thousand dollars a year.
Genesee County Office for the Aging is hosting an event on October 23rd at 2pm to help elderly citizens be on guard against financial fraud. Criminal organizations target elderly individuals to scam them out of their money and the number of incidents is on the rise. The Office for the Aging encourages all Genesee County residents to attend the event to arm themselves with information to protect their finances. The presentation is sponsored by M&T Bank Financial Crimes Unit and the AARP.
National Drug Takeback Day is next Saturday, October 28th, from 10am to 2pm. There are 3 locations across Genesee County where the public has the opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. The Batavia Police Department will be accepting prescription drugs and sharps in the Alva Place parking lot across the street from Batavia Showtime. The Genesee County Sheriff’s Office will accept prescription drugs ONLY at the Pembroke Town Hall, 1145 Main Rd. Corfu. The LeRoy Police Department will be accepting prescription drugs ONLY at their headquarters located at 3 West Main Street, LeRoy.
