Friday News Brief

A former Greece police officer is facing a long prison sentence after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says 57-year-old Raymond DiPasquale has admitted to using devices to store, receive and view hundreds of disturbing photos and videos. DiPasqaule may be behind bars for up to 20 years and have to pay a $250,000 fine. He’s scheduled to be sentenced in July.

 

 

FROM THE GENESEE COUNTY SHERIFF: 44-year-old Joseph Marr of Batavia has been arrested and charged with grand larceny. It’s alleged he stole a phone at 8315 Park Road, Batavia; Marr was transported to County Jail and issued an appearance ticket for a May court date. ALSO: 50-year-old Kelly Rodriguez of Batavia is charged with criminal contempt after allegedly violating an order of protection. Rodriguez was issued an appearance ticket for Batavia Town Court scheduled for next Tuesday.

 

 

Tomorrow from 10:00am to 2:00pm, law enforcement agencies across Genesee County will provide the public the opportunity to dispose of unwanted, expired or unused prescription drugs. The Batavia Police Department will be accepting prescription drugs and sharps in the Alva Place parking lot, across the street from Batavia Showtime. The service is free and anonymous with no questions asked.

 

State lawmakers have once again taken action to make sure that the government keeps running and that thousands of state workers can get paid. They passed another budget extender yesterday that’ll last through this coming Monday. Negotiations on a final budget have been ongoing for weeks among Governor Hochul and leaders of the Legislature, but there’s no word yet when a deal might get done. The original budget deadline was back on April 1st.

 

It doesn’t look like Governor Kathy Hochul will get her major affordable housing plan into the budget, which is still not finalized. Several news outlets are reporting that state lawmakers are rejecting Hochul’s plan to force municipalities to increase their housing stock or the state would step in to approve new construction. Sources say there will be no significant housing spending plan in the budget, which is three weeks late with no deal in sight. Hochul’s goal is to create 800,000 new housing units over the next decade, about twice the pace of the previous ten years.

 

At around 1:00 yesterday afternoon, the Genesee County 9-1-1 Dispatch Center received a report from the Veteran’s Administration Hotline that a male subject had called and stated they were going to get a weapon and “shoot up a school.” This information was immediately relayed to City Police and County Sheriffs. An initial trace of the number provided showed the call came from within the City of Batavia. Patrols were dispatched to each school in Genesee County as a precautionary measure and all countywide schools engaged lockout procedures. An investigation showed there was no threat. The City of Batavia Detective Bureau interviewed a juvenile apparently about the phone call; no additional information is available at this time. All schools ended the lockout at approximately 2:25, in time for regular dismissal. Genesee County was not the only one hit by threats, Allegany County Schools also engaged in a precautionary lockout yesterday.

 

State Police have released new information about a crash on the Thruway that left a teenager dead. They say 14-year-old Sanaullah Abid of Erie Pennsylvania, was speeding on the highway in West Seneca on April 8th when the vehicle he was operating struck a tractor-trailer. Abid’s vehicle then hit a Jersey barrier and it ended up catching fire. Abid passed away at the scene but the driver of the tractor-trailer wasn’t hurt.

 

 

No injuries have been reported after a tractor-trailer and train collided in Wyoming County. The incident happened yesterday in the area of Treusell Road and Wilder Road in the Village of Warsaw. Thankfully, the impact did not lead to the train being knocked off the tracks. State Police have not said yet what caused the accident. (Photo: New York State Police)

 

 

The Buffalo woman who is accused of vandalizing a sign at CompassCare in Amherst has made an appearance in court. Yesterday, 39-year-old Hannah Kamke was arraigned on a criminal mischief charge. Prosecutors say that Kamke spray painted the sign back in March and caused about $500 worth of damage. Kamke has been ordered to stay away from the business and is facing up to four years in prison if convicted.

 

The Buffalo Bills and kicker Tyler Bass have reached an agreement that includes a four-year extension worth up to $21 million dollars, with $12.3 million in guarantees. Last season Bass was 27-31 on field goal attempts while going 48-50 on extra points. Over the course of his three-year career in Buffalo he’s made 85.6% of all his field goals. And last season alone, accounted for four game-winning field goals; three in the regular season and one in the preseason against Indianapolis.

 

The Buffalo Bills and American Heart Association have formed a new partnership that they believe will save lives. The goal of this team up is to help train thousands of people across the region in CPR. Early in the season, Damar Hamlin of the Bills collapsed during a game with the Cincinnati Bengals and had to be resuscitated using CPR. The Bills will also be committing $1,000,000 (million) in funding to the American Heart Association over the next five years.

 

ELSEWHERE…

 

A 97-year-old Texas woman will graduate next month from San Antonio’s Northeast Lakeview College. Hazel Feldman graduated from a New Jersey high school in 1943. She finally started college in New Jersey in the 1980s, but took a 15-year break after moving to San Antonio. After enrolling at Northeast Lakeview, she says she had been taking one course at a time since she was in her 90s. The Alamo Colleges Board of Trustees granted her request to accept life experiences as credit and will present her an honorary Associate of Arts degree.

 

A new report from the CDC finds about one in three U.S. households used the free at-home COVID tests offered by the Biden administration. The report found that over 32-percent of households surveyed between April and May 2022 used the kits.

 

 

 

National Public Radio and the Canadian Broadcasting Company haven’t said if they’ll start using their Twitter accounts again now that the label “government funded” is being removed from their accounts. The two networks had stopped using their accounts earlier this month in protest of the label. Accounts of journalists with outlets backed by the Chinese government are also no longer labeled with “China state-affiliated media.”

 

A new poll shows former President Donald Trump with a solid lead over likely Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis. The Wall Street Journal poll out today shows Trump with 51% support from likely GOP voters, and the Florida governor at 38%.