Afternoon News Brief

Most of western NY including Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming Counties is under a high wind warning till 4am tomorrow.  Winds coming from the southeast at 30 to 40 miles per hour with 65 mile per hour gusts are expected.  Damaging winds will blow down trees and power lines. Widespread power outages are expected. Travel will be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles.  Weather authorities advise that people should avoid being outside in forested areas and around trees and branches. If possible, remain in the lower levels of your home during the windstorm, and avoid windows. Use caution if you must drive.

Two rallies were held over the weekend in Rochester.  The first was a rally calling for greater police accountability after the shooting of Todd Novick by RPD officers on Christmas Eve.  Novick was shot after running from police and then pulling out what appeared to be a gun but was later found to be a realistic looking replica. The Justice For Todd Novick rally was on the steps of City Hall and participants called for police reforms including a foot pursuit policy and more funds being spent in lower income areas of the community.  The opposing rally which happened at the same time on Saturday took place on North Plymouth Ave and West Main Street.  It was lead by the Chaplain for the Gates Police Department who said that they were there to support police and that officers had done their job on that night.

Fire crews from 9 departments responded to a commercial building fire at 7724 Banks Road in the Town of Pike on Friday evening, after a passerby reported flames showing through the roof.  Crews from Pike, Bliss, Castile, Silver Springs, Perry, Gainesville, Centerville, Wiscoy-Rossburg and Fillmore responded to the CK Belt Company, owned by Chester and Katie Girod, about 6:05p.m.  The commercial building, along with the machinery and inventory inside were a total loss, according to the Wyoming County Office of Emergency Service.  No injuries were reported.  The cause of the fire is under investigation.

A man from Buffalo was arrested following a high speed chase that started in Batavia and ended in Corfu.  Officers in Batavia attempted to pull over a car driven by Timothy Cobb in the afternoon of January 3rd.  Cobb allegedly sped off and entered the Thruway heading west.  He then left the Thruway and drove into Corfu.  He was stopped when Corfu police deployed spike strips.  Cobb was charged with reckless endangerment, unlawful fleeing from a police officer in a motor vehicle, reckless driving, aggravated unlicensed operation, suspended registration and 24 Vehicle and Traffic Law violations.

More than 100,000 tickets were issued over the Christmas New Years Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over traffic enforcement period according to the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee.  The initiative started December 13th and went through January 1st.  Over 20K speeding tickets, 3K impaired driving citations, 2500 Seatbelt violations and 1K distracted driving citations were issued.  The vast majority of tickets were listed as other violations.  State Troopers arrested 510 people for DWI and investigated 3,210 accidents, which resulted in 420 people being injured and five fatalities.