Friday News Brief

45-year-old Erich Hildebrant of Batavia has been arrested. He’s charged with endangering the welfare of a child. It’s alleged that during a domestic incident at his home, with a firearm in his hands, he made comments and conducted himself in a manner detrimental to the moral welfare of three children. Hildebrant is scheduled to appear in the Town of Batavia Court on February 27th.

 

 

Bank Street from Main to Washington Avenue will be closed until midday today, as the Bank Street Water project nears completion. Loss of water may occur in the surrounding area depending on valve closures. If your water is discolored when water pressure is regained, please avoid doing laundry or cooking until the water runs clear.

 

 

A convicted sex offender accused of exposing himself to children at different locations across Ontario County last year has now pleaded guilty to felony charges. 54-year-old Paul Goodrell was arrested multiple times for incidents that took place during a four-day stretch in December, though authorities tell us he has a criminal history including similar crimes dating back to 1989. Goodrell is charged with burglary as a sexually motivated felony, public lewdness and endangering the welfare of a child in connection to December’s incidents of public exposure. Orders of protection have been issued for the children involved.

 

 

A verdict in former President Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial is expected today. The New York judge overseeing the case has already found Trump did engage in fraud, and must now decide what penalties he and his company should pay. State Attorney General Letitia James is seeking 370-million dollars and a ban on Trump and other defendants doing business in New York.

 

 

The state Attorney General’s Office is conducting an investigation into the death of an inmate at the Erie County Holding Center. The individual, who has been identified as 23-year-old Shaun Humphrey, was in custody last August when he experienced what appeared to be a seizure. Humphrey became combative and later stopped responding before he was taken to a nearby hospital where he died days later. There has been no comment as yet from the Erie County Sheriff’s Office.

 

 

Flags will be lowered to half-staff across New York State today and tomorrow in honor of New York State Trooper Steven Tyrrell. He recently passed away from an illness connected to his work at Ground Zero in the aftermath of the September 11th terror attacks. Services for the 58-year-old will be today and tomorrow; at Anthony’s Funeral Home and that service will be followed by his funeral tomorrow at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. Tyrrell is survived by his three children.

 

 

Some critical utility bill relief is coming to millions of New Yorkers. Governor Hochul announced the State Public Service Commission adopted a $200 million New York State energy bill credit to be administered by the state’s large electric and gas utilities on behalf of customers. It’s a one-time credit with state funds that will provide energy bill relief to more than eight-million directly-metered electric and gas customers. This is part of the Governor’s plan to help offset energy costs in 2024, and the one-time credit is expected to be allocated to customer accounts within roughly 45 days of the utilities receiving budget funds.

 

A jury has handed down its verdict in the murder trial of Jorge Santana-Torres. Yesterday, the panel found the 36-year-old guilty of opening fire at a house party back in 2022 on Lochner Place in Rochester. A bullet hit and took the life of 35-year-old Alexis Mercedes. Santana-Torres left the area and was later tracked down in Ohio. He is scheduled to be sentenced next month.

 

 

 

New York State’s Independent Redistricting Commission has redrawn the state’s Congressional lines once again. Now, all eyes are on state Democrats, to see if they keep the bipartisan plan, or scrap it to try and send more Democrats to Congress. The Commission’s final report, ordered by a state judge, barely changed the current map. In doing so, experts say, it weakened the reelection chances of just one upstate Republican, while aiding the re-election chances of Republicans in the Hudson Valley and Long Island, where the commission left districts mostly intact. The Democratically controlled legislature can now accept the commission’s map or redraw it to try and benefit more Democrats. An overly gerrymandered 2022 Congressional District Map was rejected by the courts; the court-ordered redrawn map that followed may have helped as many as 5-Republicans win New York seats in a closely divided Congress.

 

State Police have released the results of their latest STOP DWI traffic enforcement campaign. There were more than 6,800 tickets handed out between February 9th and 11th for offenses such as speeding, distracted driving, and seatbelt violations. And, 139 people statewide were arrested for DWI, including nine in our region. Troopers didn’t respond to any fatal crashes during Super Bowl weekend.

 

Charges have been upgraded against the suspects who were involved in a brutal beating on Christmas Day in Rochester. Authorities say 22-year-old Brucewayne Beman and 33-year-old Guy Mustgray the Second have been indicted for murder, robbery, and assault. Allegedly, the pair severely beat 60-year-old Michael DiCesare for almost 20 minutes in the area of Bay Street and Portland Avenue. DiCesare died of his injuries weeks after the attack.

 

 

 

A Williamsville man who threatened to blow up court buildings in Erie County has found out his punishment for that crime. A judge has sentenced 41-year-old Johnathan Rzoska to spend the next three years in prison. Prosecutors say Rzoska called emergency services back in 2022 and claimed that he wanted to blow up both the Erie County Court building and Williamsville Village Court building. Both buildings were evacuated and searched but nothing suspicious was found.

 

 

The Buffalo Sabres have come up short in their bid to win a second straight game; they lost last night on home ice. No Sabres scored as they fell to the Florida Panthers 4-0 at KeyBank Center. Buffalo goaltender Eric Comrie faced 30 shots in the contest and was only able to stop 27 of them. Up next for Buffalo, they saddle up the horse for a game tomorrow afternoon against the Minnesota Wild; face-off there is at 5:00.