Morning News Brief
Written by Tom Tharp on October 17, 2022
Gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin was endorsed by Donald Trump over the weekend. The former president said that he has known Zeldin for many years and that he would make a great governor. Zeldin’s opponent, current Governor Kathy Hochul, issued a response on twitter following the announcement, saying, “Donald Trump just officially endorsed my opponent. Lee Zeldin has enabled and embraced the former president’s extremism since day one — but New Yorkers rejected Trump and they’ll do the same for Lee in November.” Zeldin is within a couple points of Hochul in the polls with realclearpolitics calling the race a tossup with just weeks to go before the election. Zeldin says he will issue a state of emergency on crime in the Empire State on day 1 if he gets elected.
The student loan debt forgiveness applications went live on Friday. Borrowers are eligible to cancel $10,000 of student loan debt. Pell Grant recipients are eligible for up to $20,000 of relief. The application takes less than five minutes to fill out. In order to access the application, go to studentaid.gov and click on learn about one time student loan debt relief. The application is in the beta testing phase, which means technical teams are focusing on fixing any bugs or technical issues that may present themselves in the process.
A student from Long Island is dead after being stabbed during a visit to the University of Buffalo. On-campus police believe the incident stemmed from a fight on Friday night. The victim, 19-year-old Tyler Lewis was attending Buffalo State College. Authorities believe up to four people may have been involved, and are seeking a person of interest between the ages of 19 and 22 who was left with a cut face and a blood-covered shirt.
Western NY drivers are seeing consistent prices at the pump when it comes time to fill up their vehicles. According to Triple A, the average cost for a gallon of regular gas is now three-69. That’s the same price as one week ago and is 20 cents cheaper than this time last month. The state average is three-67 a gallon and nationally it’s three-89.
No injuries have been reported following a massive blaze at a storage facility in Rochester. When crews arrived at the scene on Leighton Avenue last night, the building was engulfed in heavy smoke and flames. There were also several loud bangs heard inside the building due to tires and other items that exploded because of the intense heat. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
At the annual Wiener dog races Batavia Downs crowned Louie the 2022 winner on Sunday. Louie the wiener dog bested 47 other dogs in a tightly contested competition. Both Louie and his owners received a Hotel and Restaurant Stay and Play at Batavia Downs along with a gift basket from Genesee Feeds. Second place Piper and third place Ted also received a Hotel and Restaurant Stay and Play. Each “heat” winner received a Free Play prize.
The City Center in Batavia is full of empty hallways ready for vendors to set up and hawk their wares. Batavia officials have decided to hold saturday morning indoor markets in the center October 29th through the end of the year. Each market will run from 8 to 11:30am. Spaces are $40 per day, $100 for three days, and $150 for seven days. It is open to any Farmers Market vendor or anyone else who has goods to sell.
The Buffalo Sabres fell just short in a 4-3 contest to the reigning NHL Presidents’ Trophy winner Florida Panthers Saturday afternoon at the KeyBank Center. Alex Tuch, Zemgus Girgensons and Rasmus Dahlin scored for the Sabres but couldn’t catch up to the Panthers during the scoreless third period. Their next game will be against the Oilers at Edmonton at 9pm on Tuesday.
The Buffalo Bills kept their winning streak going Sunday night against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Bills won the game against the team that ended their playoff run for the last 2 years with a touchdown with less than 2 minutes left on the clock for a score of 24 to 20. They move to 5-1 on the season, and are currently in first place in the AFC. This week is Buffalo’s bye week. The Bills next game will be against the Green Bay Packers at Highmark Stadium on Sunday October 30th at 8:20pm.
