Afternoon News Brief
Written by Doug Thompson on April 15, 2022
A man has multiple charges filed against him, the most serious of which is attempted murder. 29-year-old Jarrett Coniglio allegedly attacked a person early Tuesday morning. At that time, Genesee County sheriff’s deputies responded to a Sandhill Road residence for a reported assault involving a knife. Coniglio, of Bloomingdale Road in the Tonawanda Reservation, is accused of seriously injuring the victim. He was committed to Genesee County Jail without bail and is scheduled to appear in court next Tuesday.
RECALL ALERT: More than 1 million crafting glue guns are being recalled pursuant to complaints of malfunction, leading to fire or burns. The recall involves Crafter’s Square Glue Guns sold for about $1 nationwide at Dollar Tree stores from August 2020 through February 2022 and at Family Dollar stores in January and February of this year. The plastic guns are black with an orange trigger and tip. They have a silver UL label above the handle with “GLUE GUN” and “XY-15302” printed on it. The guns dispense hot glue when plugged in and the trigger is pulled. Dollar Tree says it has received seven reports of what it calls “electrical malfunctions” when using the gun. There were four reports of fires and one report of a “skin irritation.” The malfunction itself was not identified. Consumers are urged to stop using these glue guns and unplug them immediately. They can be returned to Dollar Tree or Family Dollar for a full refund. Those who bought the guns at www.dollartree.com will be contacted directly, Dollar Tree said.
Efforts will continue today to try and prevent the USS The Sullivans warship from completely sinking. The vessel has been taking on large amounts of water due to a major hull breach and started to slowly submerge. As a safety precaution, the Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Military Park has closed down its museum and the public isn’t allowed to be on Memorial Walkway near the ship. The vessel was decommissioned in 1965 and is named for the Sullivan brothers who lost their lives in World War Two.
Tax Day is on Monday and the state Department of Taxation and Finance is extending hours at its call center to answer any questions last-minute filers may have. Those folks can talk with a member of the agency today between the hours of 8:30am and 6:00pm, tomorrow from 8:30am until 4:30pm and Monday from 8:30am until 7:00pm. The number to call is 518-457-5181. Answers to a wide range of tax-related inquiries can also be found online at tax.ny.gov.
The Food and Drug Administration has issued an emergency use authorization for what it said is the first device that can detect COVID-19 in breath samples. The InspectIR COVID-19 Breathalyzer is about the size of a piece of carry-on luggage, and can be used in doctor’s offices, hospitals and mobile testing sites. The test, which can provide results in less than three minutes, must be carried out under the supervision of a licensed health care provider. The FDA said the device was 91.2% accurate at identifying positive test samples and 99.3% accurate at identifying negative test samples.
Owen Power
Owen Power has scored the first point of his NHL career, but the rest of the Buffalo Sabres offense struggled in a blowout loss at home. Power assisted on one of the two goals the Sabres scored last night in their 6-2 defeat at the hands of the Saint Louis Blues. Buffalo goaltender Craig Anderson was only able to stop 22 of the 28 shots that he faced in last night’s contest at KeyBank Center. The Sabres will be back in action tomorrow night against the Philadelphia Flyers.
New York State has initiated a pilot program with the goal of making roads safer for construction crews. Speed cameras will be installed by the end of the year to help catch drivers speeding through work zones on the Thruway. Offenders will be ticketed automatically and sent a letter and a fine. The program was part of legislation signed by Governor Kathy Hochul.
The New York State budget includes stipulations regarding how school busses will need to work in just 13 years, by 2035: The budget specifies that all busses will have zero emissions by then. School superintendents are skeptical about their ability to make this change, because electric busses are nearly twice as expensive as diesel buses with average costs of about quarter million dollars each. At this time, New York State has not identified repercussions if this quota is not met. However, the budget does indicate that school districts can apply for a two-year moratorium if this 13-year time frame is too short.
