Morning News Brief
Written by Tom Tharp on June 23, 2022
A medical issue may be to blame for a crash involving a car and a parked van in Pembroke on Thursday evening. At around 5:45 a car being driven by an elderly man was going east on Main Road in Pembroke when it left the road and struck a van that was parked at Kutter’s Cheese Factory Store. The driver was extricated by Pembroke and Indian Falls Firefighters and was in and out of consciousness. He was flown to ECMC by Mercy Flight with life threatening injuries. The elderly female passenger had non-life threatening injuries and was flown by a second helicopter. The reason for the crash is under investigation but the driver may have suffered a medical issue which caused the car to veer off the road.
The US Supreme court struck down a gun law in New York State that required people getting a concealed carry license to have a stated reason for wanting a license. In a 6-3 decision the court found that there was no Constitutional right that required a stated reason to be articulated before the citizen was allowed to exercise that right. Governor Hochul said that this is a “a deeply disturbing day” and said that this would cause gun violence to increase. Law enforcement including Peter Kehoe, Executive director of the New York State Sheriffs Association, said this won’t increase violence and most people who shoot others or shoot at police have handguns illegally. Chief Long of the Gates police department said “I can’t remember the last time we arrested a permit carrying member of our community who used it in any sort of crime.”
Batavia Downs took in nearly 90 million dollars in the month of May according to the Chief Financial Officer for Western Regional Off Track Betting Corp. 6.4 million was paid back in winnings with 31.6 million paid back so far this year. Half of that number gets taken by the New York State gaming Commission which puts 90 percent of its share towards education. The casino gives a portion of its income to 15 counties and Rochester and Buffalo. In 2021 Genesee County got 123,409 dollars.
Gubernatorial Candidate Lee Zeldin is set to have a rally in Batavia at the old courthouse. Today at around noon he is planning a Save Our State rally. Zeldin, from Long Island, is running as a republican on the platform of bringing people back to the Empire State and reducing regulations and taxes. He has visited Batavia before to talk with business leaders about what they need from a governor.
GCC is getting some new improvements thanks to Genesee County agreeing to a request for 1.3 million dollars in funding for capital projects. A new turf field, cooling tower, arts center connector and a roof for Conable Technology Building, costing a total of 2.6 million dollars will be built with half the money being paid by Genesee county and the other by New York State. The turf field will be a replacement for the nearly 13-year-old soccer and lacrosse field adjacent to Richard C. Call Arena; a new cooling tower would replace one that is “well past its useful life,”while an updated connective corridor will be situated between original buildings, from the cafeteria to the fine arts building and theater. A new roof for the Conable Technology Building would shore up one that was part of the original 2000 structure, which has developed leaks.
