Afternoon News Brief
Written by Tom Tharp on January 11, 2024
If you battened down the hatches for the last couple days of high winds you may just want to leave them battened down. From Friday at 7pm till Sunday at 4am Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming Counties are expected to get hit by 20 to 30 mile per hour winds coming out of the Southwest on Friday and then ramping up to 40 mile per hour with gusts of up to 65 MPH Saturday into Sunday. Falling branches could knock down power lines, high profile vehicles may find it dangerous to be on the roads.
A Rochester police officer was involved in a crash on the city’s north side late Wednesday afternoon. Around 4:30 p.m., an officer was responding to a request for assistance from New York State Police, and was driving in the 700 block of Joseph Avenue, when a vehicle pulled out from Berlin Street and began driving southbound in the northbound lane on Joseph, crashing head-on with the officer. Police said the officer’s patrol car was sent off the road and crashed into the front of an unoccupied building on Joseph. The officer involved was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to police. The driver of the vehicle involved, now identified as a 51-year-old woman from Rochester, was taken to the hospital as a precaution. Officers determined she was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol and will only be issued traffic citations.
Rochester Police are investigating a five-vehicle crash on Portland Avenue near Clifford Avenue Wednesday night. Investigators said around 5:45 p.m., a vehicle on Portland crossed into oncoming traffic, hitting another vehicle. That driver tried to overcorrect, spinning out and hitting three other vehicles. One of the drivers had a minor injury and was treated at the scene. The driver of the vehicle that started the chain of events was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence, and was issued several traffic citations, according to police.
Governor Hochul said in her state of the state address that she would form a Smash and Grab crime task force out of the State Police to deal with property crimes and lawmakers and police don’t think it will help. Assemblyman Josh Jensen who represents the 134th district says that it’s a step in the right direction but “a task force isn’t going to work.” In addition “what is needed is a way to
Hold people accountable for their actions, whether that’s violent crimes, or thefts at a CVS or a corner store.” According to Monroe County Sheriff’s Sergeant David Bolton says out of 117 arrests in 2023 for property theft it was found that “more than 50 percent of those issued appearance tickets never showed up for court, which then caused warrants to be put out. They’d be picked up, and because the underlying offense wasn’t a bail offense, they’d get another appearance ticket that they don’t show up on, and it’s a never-ending cycle.”
Schools in western NY have announced changes to their mascots, team names and logos as the deadline looms banning schools from using Native American imagery. Iroquois CSD changed theirs from Chiefs to Red Hawks. Cheektowaga CSD changed theirs from the Warriors to the Chargers. Tonawanda CSD changed theirs from the Warriors to the Timberwolves. Jamestown CSD changed theirs from the Red Raiders to the Red and Green. Now the schools are turning their eye toward funding the changes as all images in and around the schools, uniforms, letterhead, websites and more have to be changed with some schools estimating it will cost over half a million dollars to make the changes.
The Great Batavia Train Show is coming up on April 14th at the Richard C Call Arena at GCC. The train show will feature model train vendors, free parking, and a snack bar. All forms of model railroad and train-related merchandise will be available. Over 100 vendors will be offering all scales of model trains and historic railroad items. Modeling demonstrations, and a limited number of portable layouts, free parking, on-site concession stand, and plenty of seating will be available. The show will run from 9:30 to 3:30 and admission is 6 dollars for adults and 3 for kids 13 to 18. Under 13 year olds get in free.
