Afternoon News Brief

The 21-year-old woman who was found dead on the Kensington Expressway earlier this month had climbed out the window of an Uber, Cheektowaga police announced Thursday afternoon. The woman was the lone passenger in the vehicle that was traveling on the westbound 33 on the night of February 8. According to investigators, evidence shows she climbed out of the rear window while the vehicle was moving. The woman fell onto a stretch of the expressway between Cayuga and Union, where she was hit by another vehicle. It is unclear what caused the woman to fall from the window, police said. Both the driver of the Uber and the driver of the other vehicle have fully cooperated with the investigation, and no one will face charges. The woman’s death has been ruled accidental.

Police are investigating an incident that left one person dead and injured another person Thursday morning. Officers responded to Farragut Street near Prescott Street around 11:45 a.m. for a report of a shooting. Police found a man in his 20s shot in the upper body. He was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. Officers found another man inside a home with traumatic injuries to his upper body. He was pronounced dead at the scene, though it’s unclear what caused his death. Police believe there was some sort of altercation inside the home. No one is in custody, but police are interviewing people who may have information.

National Grid blamed Mylar balloons for a power outage that impacted thousands of customers in Monroe and Orleans counties this morning. A spokesperson said that a cluster of balloons made contact with a distribution line in Hamlin around 4:35 a.m. resulting in 6,490 customers losing power. Most of the outages were in Hamlin, Clarkson, Kendall and Murray. National Grid confirmed that crews restored service to all customers just before 7 a.m.

A federal Housing and Urban Development grant of more than $1.1 million for Genesee Orleans Health Department will put money right into the homes that need help to combat everything from infectious pests and noxious materials to fire hazards and ventilation obstructions according to director of health promotion Kaitlin Pettine. The grant of almost 1.2 million dollars was announced this week as part of a larger $39 million package for 15 states, including three recipients in New York counties of Albany, Madison and Genesee. Pettine expects the local program to begin in mid-April for the GLOW region, as it is open to Genesee, Livingston, Orleans, and Wyoming county families that meet low-income eligibility of at or below 80 percent of the area median income level. It will run for 42 months.

The Buffalo Bills hired former Tennessee Titans assistant coach Scott Booker to the role of nickelback’s coach and senior defensive assistant on Wednesday. Booker spent the past six seasons in various defensive roles, including safeties coach, with the Titans. He is taking on a prominent position in Buffalo on Sean McDermott’s revamped defensive staff now headed by newly promoted coordinator Bobby Babich. Before joining the Titans, Booker spent 15 seasons coaching at various colleges, including Nebraska in 2017 and Notre Dame from 2010-16.

O’Lacy’s Irish Pub is going to continue operations with a new owner after closing a couple months ago. Derek Geib said on Thursday that he is applying for a liquor license as part of buying the Public House on School Street. Geib already owns Bourbon and Burger, Coffee Press, and Roman’s. No definite date for the reopening has been announced.