Morning News Brief
Written by Tom Tharp on December 22, 2022
Two people were arrested for stealing from Dicks Sporting Goods on Memorial Drive on Wednesday. According to the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office 19 year old Kia Morris and 27 year old Jaszandra Davis loaded up a cart full of items and then left the store. Deputies took them into custody following a brief foot chase. Deputies say they were in possession of stolen goods from multiple stores. Both are facing charges of 4th degree Grand Larceny, 4th degree criminal possession of stolen property, possession of burglar’s tools, and Morris is facing second degree obstruction of government administration.
The West Side of the City of Rochester was told to boil any water they wanted to use after a water main break on Favor St at around 5pm. It led to severe flooding down Ford St. and surrounding blocks in residential neighborhoods. Many businesses and homes were left without water. Restaurants in the area were forced to stop service just before the dinner hours. The City of Rochester closed several buildings in the area, including the Tyshaun Cauldwell R-Center for Hope, Edgerton R-Center, and the Rochester Community Sports Complex. The city branch libraries are also closed, including the Phillis Wheatley Community Library, the Arnett branch, the Lyell branch, and the Central branch. School was canceled for RCSD on Thursday as well. The boil water advisory will remain in effect for well over half the city till Saturday.
People from over half a dozen churches and from as far away as Hawaii gathered Wednesday night in front of Planned Parenthood in Batavia for Glow4Babie’s celebration of the birth of Jesus and Babies in the womb candlelight vigil. Care A Van Ministries set up across the street with coffee and cookies. Group founder Anne Scalia organized the event to celebrate the baby in the womb at Christmas. The group stayed for over an hour along West Main Street with signs and music and lights. They offered prayers for an end to abortion in New York State.
An 85-year-old woman crashed her vehicle into a Lockport Burger King on Wednesday. According to the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office, the driver mistook the vehicle’s accelerator for the brake and drove into the exterior wall of the 5720 South Transit Road restaurant. The Town of Lockport Building Inspector determined the building had no structural damage. No one was injured in this crash.
Genesee County has been given a grant of 540K to demolish the old YMCA building and the boiler house at the UMMC. The grant was awarded through the Restore NY Communities program. More than $102 million was awarded to 64 projects through the Initiative. Restore New York supports municipal revitalization efforts across the state. New life for downtown Batavia is to come from the partnership of RRH-UMMC and GLOW YMCA to develop a $33.5 million, two-story, 78,000-square-foot regional health and wellness facility. The new site will integrate a new YMCA facility with state-of-the-art medical space for the Healthy Living program.
A second now-former staff member at the Monroe County Children’s Detention Center has been arrested. 49 year old Gregory Bodine is charged with criminal obstruction of breathing and endangering the welfare of a child for an incident that happened Oct. 23 at the center’s annex on East Henrietta Road in Brighton, against a juvenile who was in detention there. Bodine’s arrest follows the arrest of 23 year old John Kanu who allegedly let two juveniles fight each other in a bathroom at the CDC in Rush last month. Kanu also allegedly struck a juvenile in the face. County officials blame the raise in age at the detention center saying the kids there are older, more violent, and harder to deal with. Many of them are awaiting trial for homicide, assault and illegal gun charges. The center is looking for a new director who can put in new policies and train employees on how to handle the more difficult juveniles.
The Buffalo Bills tweeted that they are headed to Vegas after 4 players were selected for the February 5th Bowl game in Las Vegas. Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs, Mitch Morse and Jordan Poyer were named as playing in the 2023 Pro Bowl. 12 players were also selected as alternates. The Bills next game is against the Bears in Chicago on Christmas Eve at 1pm.
The snowy weather is canceling hockey. The Buffalo Sabres announced the game scheduled for Friday at KeyBank Center against the Tampa Bay Lightning has been postponed due to impending inclement weather. The game has been rescheduled for Saturday, March 4 at 12:30 p.m. at KeyBank Center. The game that was originally set for March 4 against the Philadelphia Flyers will now be played on Monday, January 9 at 7 p.m. According to the Sabres, original tickets for both games can be used for entry to the rescheduled date and time.
