Afternoon News Brief

Thanks to the actions of a good Samaritan, no one was hurt when a train struck a car in Fairport.  Fairport police said around 7 p.m. Wednesday, a car was heading southbound on Main Street and the driver’s GPS indicated making a right turn onto Railroad Street.  Police said that’s when the driver accidentally turned too early, onto the railroad tracks just before Railroad Street.  The car was suspended on the tracks.  Police said the driver, with the help of a good Samaritan, got out of the car and off the track, just minutes before a westbound train passed by and struck the car.  The car was then dragged roughly half a mile up the tracks and recovered near LiDestri Food and Drink.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz announced that three deaths related to the recent winter weather have been reported in the county.  According to Poloncarz, on Monday a 64-year-old man died while shoveling snow, and a 42-year-old man was killed in a hit-and-run crash in Cheektowaga. On Tuesday, a 57-year-old woman was killed in a snowblower incident.  The victim of the hit-and-run was identified by police as 42-year-old Antwain Hankle. Police said that the driver has still not been identified and was last seen driving west on Losson Road toward Union Road.

The travel bans that were put in place in Erie County on Wednesday due to the heavy lake effect snow were all lifted as of 8 a.m. today.  Although the travel bans have been lifted, the entire county remains under a travel advisory until 7 p.m.  The travel ban that was in place for the City of North Tonawanda was lifted at 8 p.m. on Wednesday. A travel advisory remained in place till noon today.  The New York State Thruway lifted the commercial vehicle driving ban on the I-90 at 8:30 this morning.

Charges could be reduced against three Clyde-Savannah High School football players accused of sexually assaulting a boy in the locker room last fall.  Three teenagers charged in the case faced a judge in Wayne County today. The fourth teenager charged is accused of unlawful surveillance.  Wednesday, the defense filed a motion to reduce the indictment, meaning the charges the defendants are facing could be decreased or dismissed entirely.  On Halloween last year, the Clyde Village Police Department began investigating the alleged sexual assault of a Clyde-Savannah student in the boys’ locker room on school grounds.  Now, three since-suspended varsity football players are facing charges of aggravated sexual abuse, hazing, and forcible touching.  The court’s decision on how the case will proceed is expected to be announced on Friday, Feb. 2.

Saturday is National Use Your Gift Cards Day and if you have unused gift card funds, you could recoup that money through the state.  The Office of the New York State Comptroller is urging New Yorkers to keep track of the gift cards they may have received, after it recovered more than $27 million in unused gift card money in 2023.  After five years of inactivity, unused gift card balances can be turned over to the comptroller’s office of unclaimed funds.  DiNapoli said his office returns an average of $1.5 million in unclaimed funds every day by working with retailers to identify the owners of unused gift cards.