Afternoon News Brief

21-year-old Fantasia Speed of Rochester and 30-year-old Dontaya Kyles of Greece, are each charged with grand larceny in the 3rd degree with property value exceeding $3,000, after an investigation into a larceny complaint at the Walmart on Veteran’s Memorial Drive on June 20. Speed and Kyles allegedly passed all points of purchase without paying for the merchandise. Speed was additionally charged with conspiracy and arrested on a warrant for criminal possession of stolen property. Kyles was arraigned in Batavia Town Court and released on her own recognizance. She will re-appear in Batavia Town Court on August 8th.

 

Two Attica residents have been fined $500 each for keeping a raccoon as a pet; because raccoons are at higher risk than other animals for contracting rabies, they’re considered a dangerous wild animal in New York State. The man and his girlfriend reportedly took the animal to a pet store to get food and supplies; one of the store’s employees contacted authorities. Using store surveillance cameras and license plate information, The Department of Environmental Conservation tracked them down. The animal tested negative for rabies.  Photo provided by The Department of Environmental Conservation.

 

Clutter both outside and inside a burning house significantly hampered firemen’s efforts to get inside and save a 22-year-old man. The fire on Freeman Road in Shelby was believed to have started in the kitchen; upon first responders’ arrival, they assisted to rescue three individuals hanging outside a window; two were okay once safely out of the house, however one of the individuals was transported to the Erie County Medical Center by Mercy Flight helicopter. When firemen attempted to access the house to assist the man still inside, they found both of the front doors were boarded over, with cabinets and other debris in front. The only other access to the house was in the rear, where there was so much clutter firemen couldn’t get inside. Once debris was cleared and firefighters could enter, they found the man had died.

 

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has lowered the Covid community level for both Genesee and Orleans counties from medium to low. The two counties were both put in the high community level about two months ago. But the confirmed Covid cases have steadily been dropping. Orleans reported 15 cases total from June 15 to 21, which was down from 36 the week before. Genesee reported 34 cases, down from 43 the previous week. To put this in perspective, Genesee County had 278 cases during the third week of April.

 

 

Two local congressmen are casting doubts over President Biden’s call for a gas tax holiday to help manage rising gas prices. Buffalo Congressman Brian Higgins and Orchard Park Congressman Chris Jacobs say something needs to be done to help ease the pain at the pump for consumers but pausing the federal gas tax is not the way to do it. Higgins, a Democrat, says a recent survey shows the temporary suspension of the state gas tax has not had a substantial impact on local gas prices. And Jacobs, a Republican, calls it a band-aid on the real problem.

 

Tomorrow there will be some road construction for you to stay mindful of…delays will occur during the second phase of paving work on Columbia, Seneca and Miller Avenues. The work is scheduled for tomorrow from 7:00am to 3:00pm. Stretches of each avenue will be closed to all through traffic during times of roadwork. Local traffic will be permitted to and from their property but should plan accordingly for delays and there is no parking on the street when work is underway. The project is weather dependent. If work is postponed it shall progress the next workday. Call the Bureau of Maintenance at (585) 345-6400 Option 1 for more information.

 

40-year-old Lauren Kay Pellegrino of West Main Street, Le Roy, is charged with assault and menacing. She is accused of assaulting another person on June 20 and has been arrested and arraigned in Le Roy Town Court. She was released on her own recognizance and an order of protection was issued for her alleged victim.

 

The U.S. Department of Education has announced that Genesee Community College’s TRiO Upward Bound Program will receive a 5-year, $3 million federal Upward Bound grant to be equally divided between Genesee and Wyoming counties. The funding will provide opportunities to assist more low-income students who would be the first members of their families to earn degrees, to prepare for and enroll in college. Upward Bound is an intensive intervention program that prepares students for higher education through various enrichment courses. At least two-thirds of the students in each local Upward Bound program are from low-income economic backgrounds and families in which neither parent has a bachelor’s degree. GCC’s Upward Bound program services seven schools in Genesee and Wyoming Counties.

 

A survey says Rochester is among the worst run cities in the nation. The survey comes from the financial website WalletHub. It evaluated the top 150 cities in the United States according to credit rating, debt, crime rate and other categories. Rochester fell to Number 13 among the lowest-ranked cities. Washington D-C and San Francisco ranked at the bottom because of their city debt per capita.

 

Parents of students attending Dr. Lydia T. Wright School are upset that many in the graduating class didn’t move on to high school. Earlier this week, parents learned only eight of the 65 eighth grade students at the school would be graduating. Then Tuesday, administrators said the number grew to 17 and yesterday, 39 students took part in graduation ceremonies. Parents say they were never notified that their children were not moving up. Administrators now say another ceremony may be held tomorrow to graduate students who were not part yesterday’s ceremony.

 

The City of Henrietta has rejected a request for a permit by Planned Parenthood to operate a clinic in the city. Last week, New York State had expanded legal protections for people seeking and providing abortion. But at a packed meeting last night, the Henrietta Town Board narrowly voted down the request by Planned Parenthood. Last year, a proposal to build a Planned Parenthood clinic in Brighton won approval by the city’s Planning Board.