Morning News Brief
Written by Tom Tharp on December 13, 2022
A 40 year old Batavia man has been arrested and charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell and tampering with evidence. Eric Motquin of Ellicott Street was arrested after a traffic stop on December 3rd where he struggled with officers and tried to destroy the drugs he had. He was also arrested for failure to appear for another crime.
GCASA has hired a new Recovery Services Director. 58 year old Luke Granger has a resume that includes service in the Army, being a full time Baptist minister with a degree from Jacksonville Baptist Theological Seminary, running theological education for Fort Drum and in Germany for the Army, Missionary work in Honduras and Costa Rica, and being the Director of IT services for a company in Texas. He now resides in Mt Morris and will oversee 30 staff at the Genesee Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse.
Batavia and Elba Fire departments responded to the Koolatron building on Commerce Dr Monday at just after 7pm for a fire. Employees called in saying that a stack of boxes was on fire. The dispatcher could hear the fire alarms going off and said the sprinklers were activated in the building. The fire was put out by the combined firefighting forces. No injuries were reported.
A Labor day tradition for over 4 decades will not be happening this coming year. The Dansville Balloon Festival has been canceled due to lack of help. Organizers say there has been a decline in volunteers for the last couple years and they just can’t make the festival work without people to staff it. They also cited the financial environment. Organizers said the festival, which brought in an estimated 30,000 visitors annually, had donated more than $225,000 to local organizations since 2001.
4 girls from North Tonawanda are going on the big stage in New York City to sing for the “Christmas Spectacular” show with the Rockettes. The Spotlight Kidz show invited the girls, who are between and 10 and 14 years old, to come sing after they’re performance on YouTube and Instagram of several songs went viral and they were on several national shows singing. Grace, Ashlyn Piper and Macy will be singing ‘Rocking Around the Christmas Tree’ and ‘Christmas in New York’.
Dinosaur Adventure organizers say the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center will be transformed into a prehistoric exhibit this weekend. The event will be held Saturday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. According to organizers, guests can expect the average adventure to last between two to three hours. Tickets are limited and sold on a per-day, per-hour basis.
The Buffalo Sabres are hoping the support of their home crowd helps them snap their current two-game losing streak tonight. The Sabres are set to host the Los Angeles Kings at KeyBank Center. Buffalo last played Saturday night when they were beaten by the Pittsburgh Penguins three-to-one. Face-off for tonight’s contest is scheduled for seven p-m.
