Morning News Brief

The Batavia City Council has some reservations about the work being done at Ellicott station, specifically about whether or not it will ever get done.  Discussion of the work shows that the committee has little trust that after 5 and half years of planning, working with NYS, COVID delays, Cost overruns and seeking permissions from various agencies that Savarino’s will begin actual physical work on the project.  The council did vote 7 to 1 to let the work continue with Rosemary Christian the only no vote on two resolutions, one to take a 500 thousand dollar grant to support the work and two to require Savarino’s to enter an Undertaking Agreement which makes the company responsible for meeting the grants requirements.  City Council President Eugene Jankowski argued to give them a chance.  Christian accompanied her No votes by saying she had no faith in the company.

Congressman Chris Jacobs criticized the Federal trade Commission for its lack of approval for the Tops Price Chopper merger which was announced earlier this year.  The deadline for the FTC to approve the deal is November 8th but so far there has been no movement from the federal agency to allow the companies to make the move.  Jacobs says that this could cause the closure of many Tops Friendly Markets locations, 30 of which are in his district.  Tops Markets is one of the largest private employers in Western New York and the largest grocery chain. Tops and Price Chopper have so far adhered to all the requests of the staff at the FTC, such as selling off approximately seven stores for anti-trust reasons.  The merger of Price Chopper/Market 32 and Tops Markets grocery store chains will create a “powerhouse” company with nearly 300 supermarkets.

The chief of police for Greece has resigned following a crash on Thursday where he says he swerved to avoid a deer and totaled his police issue vehicle.  Forsythe drove nearly six miles to English and North Greece roads. At least two people called 911 and reported seeing a damaged vehicle in that vicinity just before 2 a.m. One caller said the vehicle was sparking and appeared to be missing a tire.  He says the crash disabled the radio and put his phone out of reach and he had to drive to get help.  The department says Forsythe was not given a breathalyzer test because alcohol impairment wasn’t suspected. An officer drove him home.  Town Supervisor Bill Reilich says the town had lost faith in the chief because of the crash and the right thing to do was ask for his resignation.

The Sabres beat the Stanley Cup Champs the Lightning 5 to 1 last night to go to 4 and 1 and 1 in the season.  Buffalo hasn’t beat Tampa Bay since November of 2018 and this breaks a 7 game losing streak against the Lightning.  Victor Olofsson, Drake Caggiula, Vinnie Hinostoza and Robert Hagg all scored with Olofsson putting in 2.  The Sabres will now head West for a four-game road trip that begins this Thursday.