Afternoon News Brief
Written by Tom Tharp on October 8, 2020
Additional charges were filed today against 48 year old Batavia Funeral Director Michael Tomaszewski based on 11 victims who said they pre-paid funerals and grave markers Tomaszewski did not use the money the way they directed. These people came forward after he was arrested. Tomaszewski was charged with 91 counts of grand larceny for similar accusations at the time of his arrest. He was arraigned virtually and released on his own recognizance.
The Village of Leroy police reform and reinvention collaborative met for the first time and the 15 member group talked about several subjects important to the community. Police Chief Hayward talked about how the police have been falling behind in record keeping and have very little ability to discipline the officers if there is a complaint or transgression. The committee said they would work on those things and attempt to raise public trust in the police which they said was at an all time low. The Batavia committee meets tonight.
COVID Update: Genesee county has 2 new cases and 1 person has recovered. Orleans county has 3 new cases and 7 new people on travel quarantine. There are 19 active cases in Genesee county and 6 in Orleans.
Governor Cuomo warns New Yorkers that the COVID rates are rising in the empire state. After the statewide rate of infection was below 1 percent for several weeks it is now at 1.01 percent with hotspots getting as high as 5.8 percent. Western NY is at 1.4 percent. This is out of the 145 thousand tests taken on Wednesday. Cuomo says he will impose shutdowns on areas where there are outbreaks and cited shutting down Jewish synagogues and churches if they don’t social distance and wear masks.
