Morning News Brief

World Famous author Salman Rushdie was stabbed while on stage at the Chautauqua Institute on Friday.  The 75 year old author was stabbed in the neck, arm and side by a 24 year old man from New Jersey who has been identified as Hadi Matar.  Rushdie was rushed to the hospital in Erie, PA and is now off the ventilator and talking again according to Michael Hill, president of Chautauqua Institute.  His agent said that he has severed nerves in his arm, liver damage and is likely to lose an eye.  Matar has been charged with 2nd degree attempted murder and second degree assault.  The reason for the attack has not been released but may have something to do with the ongoing Fatwa that was declared against Rushdie by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989 after the publishing of the novel “The Satanic Verses” which was deemed insulting to Muslim Prophet Muhammad.  Rushdie had to go into hiding for several years protected by the British government due to threats and attacks from the Fatwa. He wrote the stories, “1000 Days in a Balloon” and “The Disappeared” about this period of his life.  

According to the Office of Emergency Management in Genesee County there is a slowly building crisis that is going unnoticed by the community at large.  EMS and Fire services are not going to be able to keep up with the demand for their services in the near future.  Meaning fire and ambulance calls may start having longer response times and someone may die because it takes too long for emergency services to get to them.  The reason for this: a lack of volunteers coupled with a rise in the price of equipment and training.  Keeping EMS services staffed is both a challenge for volunteer departments and Mercy EMS and Le Roy Ambulance.  The training hours to qualify as a crew member can be up to 150 hours and the duty is hard and often puts EMTs in harm’s way.  Volunteer Firefighters have to train for dozens of hours a year and receive no pay as it goes against NY State law.  Many EMTs and Firefighters have left because it is too difficult or demanding.  The Office of Emergency Management has put forward a 278 page report with 95 recommendations to help with these problems.  To read the report go to The Batavian for a full PDF download.

A Warsaw man is dead after a crash in Leroy on Saturday.  Troopers responded to the report of a collision on State Route 19 in the town of LeRoy around 1:20 p.m. on Saturday.  The investigation determined that a 1994 Ford F-150 operated by 66 year old Duane Hamill of Warsaw was traveling south bound on State Route 19 and swerved into the oncoming lane and struck a 2015 Chevrolet Trax traveling north bound.  The Ford exited the roadway and overturned, ejecting Hamill.  Hamill was transported by ambulance to Strong Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead.  The operator of the Trax was also transported to Strong for non-life-threatening injuries.  This is still an active investigation.

On Friday, Governor Kathy Hochul signed a pair of new laws. These laws are meant to keep pedestrians and cyclists safer on the roads. The first law gives cities and towns the ability to reduce their speed limits to 25mph instead of the current 30mph. The second law increases the fine for hit and run offenses. The law will go into effect in January 2023.

Governor Kathy Hochul announced Sunday that, within the past three months, there has been a significant rise in Red Flag, or Extreme Risk Protection Order, applications.  The Red Flag Law went into effect in 2019 in an effort to prevent individuals who posed a threat to themselves or to others from having access to firearms.  From August 2019 to April 2022, over 1,000 ERPOs were reported. Since the shooting at Tops in May, more than 800 ERPOs have been reported.