Afternoon News Brief

FROM THE GENESEE COUNTY SHERIFF: 39-year-old Jennifer Lee of Rochester is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia while inside the Genesee County Jail. Lee was held pending a CAP Court arraignment. ALSO: 31-year-old Allison Forsha of Nunda is charged with petit larceny after she was observed at Dick’s Sporting Goods allegedly stealing various items from the store. She was issued an appearance ticket to return to Town Court later this month.

 

 

The results of a new poll show that a lot of New Yorkers are happy living in the Empire State. According to the Siena College Research Institute, 70% of folks surveyed said they’re glad to be in New York, while 30% said they wish they were somewhere else. Data also showed that 71% of respondents are planning to be living in New York in 5 years. The state received high grades for things including education and healthcare but low grades for politics, safety, and affordability.

 

 

Genesee County Parks, Recreation & Forestry is offering free birding walks this spring. The next one is scheduled for this Saturday from 7:00am to 10:00am at DeWitt Recreation Area. You’ll learn things like how to identify birds by sight and sound. The walk is about one mile long over easy terrain. Call 344-1122 to sign up or for more information.

 

 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is calling for increased safety measures following deadly crashes involving helicopters. Back In 2021, three soldiers lost their lives in an accident that happened in Mendon; and just a few weeks ago, nine people were killed during a training exercise in Kentucky. Schumer says the Government Accountability Office has finished its investigation into both tragedies and made recommendations. They include improving efforts to ensure pilots get the required number of training hours and creating a database to track incidents and the implementation of post-crash recommendations.

 

The Genesee County Legislature has approved an additional expense of $23,094 for unexpected costs related to the capital project for dispatch center console furniture. The project initially was for $320,000 in February 2022 and was adopted last July for $380,000. The director of Emergency Communications requested the latest additional funding to complete the project, which was estimated to be 95 percent finished. Individual monitors are to be installed within the next week or so. The outdated communications monitor that was several years old was removed at no charge. Joanne Beck provided the comprehensive story to our news partner, The Batavian. Here is a direct link to the story:

https://www.thebatavian.com/joanne-beck/out-with-the-old-in-with-a-new-400k-dispatch-console-revenue-from-inmate-communications

 

 

36-year-old Nathan Follett of Rochester has pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography, which requires a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, with a maximum of 20 years, and a $250,000 fine. Follett had engaged in sexually explicit communications with 11 minor victims, knowing that each was under the age of 18. During the conversations, he coerced them to produce images and videos of themselves engaged in sexually explicit conduct and send the images to him. Sentencing is scheduled for August.

 

Juul is paying $462,000,000 (million) in a multi-state settlement and New York is getting its share. New York will receive nearly $113,000,000 in the lawsuit that claimed Juul was partially responsible for the rise in vaping among young people. The settlement also requires retailers to keep Juul products behind counters and also ID customers trying to purchase vaping products. The company must also stop using people under the age of 35 in their marketing campaigns. New York Attorney General Letitia James says much of the settlement will go towards programs that deter underage smoking.

 

 

A California man who was wanted in connection with a robbery in West Virginia has been captured in Western New York. Orchard Park police say a vehicle associated with 45-year-old Tushaun Glenn was pulled over for a traffic stop Monday. Glenn lied about his identity, but police eventually determined who he was and took him into custody. Glenn is being held in the Erie County Holding Center and is awaiting extradition.

 

 

 

 

Plans have been announced for the memorial events that will be held to honor the victims of a deadly shooting at a Tops store in Buffalo. Yesterday, Mayor Byron Brown revealed plans for what is being called the “5/14 Remembrance Weekend of Reflection, Healing and Hope.” Events will start Friday, May 12th and continue until Sunday, May 14th, which will be the one-year anniversary of the shooting on Jefferson Avenue that left 10 people dead and three others hurt. The shooter, Payton Gendron has already been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison.

 

 

A Town of Tonawanda employee charged with DWI is no longer on the job following his involvement in a crash. According to officials, Roger Murphy was operating a street sweeper on the Interstate 290 expressway last week when it ended up tipping over. Town Supervisor Joseph Emminger tells The Buffalo News street sweepers don’t clean the highway, but drivers do use the road to get across town quickly. Murphy claimed the accident happened when he was cut off by another driver but an investigation revealed that wasn’t the case. (Provided photo)

 

Even though they are eliminated from the playoff race, the Buffalo Sabres have one final chance to play in front of their home crowd tonight. The Sabres are hosting the Ottawa Senators at KeyBank Center. Buffalo is coming off a 6-2 loss on the road to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night that extended their postseason drought to 12 seasons. Face-off this evening is scheduled for 7:00.

 

 

 

ELSEWHERE…

 

Splash Mountain at Disneyland will make its final run on May 30th, right after Memorial Day weekend. The log flume ride is based on the 1946 movie “Song of the South” and is shutting down after complaints of racist imagery. The attraction will reopen in 2024 as “Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.” The new theme is based on the 2009 film “The Princess and the Frog.”

 

 

Former President Donald Trump is in New York today for another deposition in the civil fraud case brought by state Attorney General Letitia James. James has filed a quarter-billion-dollar lawsuit against Trump and his company, accusing the former president and his businesses of misleading banks by misstating the value of many of his properties.

 

 

Forecasters are calling the torrential downpours in southern Florida a “particularly dangerous situation.” The National Weather Service in Miami used exclamation points Wednesday night to warn people living in Broward County to “move to higher ground now,” as a flash flood emergency was issued for the area. Over a foot of rain has fallen in the region and rescue officials say Fort Lauderdale is “experiencing severe flooding in multiple areas of the city.”

 

 

New York City is hiring a full time person to try and tackle the city’s rat problem. Kathleen Corradi is the city’s new rat czar, and will oversee the multiple strategies being used by the city to try and reduce the rat population. Corradi says she will bring science to a systems-based approach with a strong focus on cutting off food, water and shelter for rats.