Morning News Brief

Governor Hochul announced as part of the State Budget’s tax relief for residents that the state gas tax will be suspended from June 1st to December 31st.  This will cost the state roughly 600 million in tax revenue and save the consumer 16 cents per gallon at the pump.  Hochul has also suggested that counties suspend their gas taxes but, according to Genesee County Manager Matt Landers, Genesee county and any county government he has spoken with are not planning on suspending their taxes.  Landers said about suspending the tax, “I don’t remember, specifically, which counties responded but all the ones that did said that was not something currently on their radar.”  State Assemblyman Stephen Hawley yesterday said Republicans supported legislation to remove 33 cents from the cost of a gallon of gas, as well as state sales tax breaks on home cleaning supplies, clothing and food.

The former JC Penney Building at the Batavia City Center has a new owner who has some plans to flip the building.  According to the Batavian the building was quietly bought by a west coast businessman named Yong Guang Ye back in February of 2021 for half a million dollars.  Ye is listing the property for sale for 1.3 million.  The realtor, Jonathan Maurer of Fairport, says they are trying to sell the property to hotel chains as a downtown hotel and event space.  BID Executive Director Shannon Maute said she could easily see a boutiquey micro-hotel situated within the 38,584 square-foot building. This area is lacking a venue for conferences and special events, she said, and the property is zoned for all of that, including building on two additional floors.

A line was down on Lewiston Road after a pickup truck struck a pole and fled north just after 9pm last night.  A black pickup truck reportedly hit a utility pole in the area of 7790 Lewiston Road, just north of Galloway Road, Batavia, and then fled north on Route 63 at a high rate of speed.  Lines came down after the accident and blocked the whole roadway.  Police and fire departments had the road closed by 9:15.  National grid was on the scene by 9:50.

Burritos for police doggies?  On Saturday, April 16 from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm the Batavia Chipotle is hosting a fundraiser for the City of Batavia Police K-9 program. A portion of sales will go directly to help keep K-9 officer Batu happy and healthy.  Go to Chipotle between 5 and 9 on Saturday and tell them you are there to support Batu.  If ordering online use the special code D2RNW3C when placing orders to ensure donations make it to the program.

Police in Leroy were pulling people over to give them gifts instead of tickets yesterday.  Madison “Maddie” Masters died unexpectedly on September 25th, 2020 at the age of 17.  Monday would have been Maddie’s 19th birthday. A donor, who wished to remain anonymous, provided The Le Roy Police Department with eleven 50-dollar gift cards to distribute within the community as a random act of kindness in memory of Maddie.  Officers conducted traffic enforcement Monday afternoon, but instead of tickets, officers issued gift cards.