Morning News Brief
Written by Tom Tharp on March 1, 2023
A teenager who intentionally set a man on fire in Rochester has been convicted for murder. Prosecutors said Adriel Riley and Zayvion Perry set Steven Amenhauser on fire March 12, 2021 inside Amenhauser’s apartment on Lyell Avenue. Amenhauser who was 53, died in the hospital four days later. Monroe County Family Court Judge Stacey Romeo found Riley guilty of second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon — though she found him not guilty of arson and a second count of second-degree murder. Perry, 18, pleaded guilty to manslaughter earlier this month and will be sentenced March 27 to 25 years in prison. Riley, 16, will be sentenced March 28. He will face anywhere from 6 1/2 to 15 years to life in prison.
Former New York State Police Sgt. Thomas Loewke allegedly tipped off one of the men accused of running a multimillion-dollar illegal gambling ring in Rochester. According to the complaint against Loewke, an unnamed state trooper performed computer maintenance for a senior New York State Police investigator in December 2020 and saw a document with Ferrari’s name on it in plain view. The unnamed trooper allegedly re-entered the office numerous times and placed multiple calls to Loewke. Ferrari told investigators he was at his brother’s pizza bar in Chili when Loewke asked him to go outside and talk and informed him he was being investigated for gambling, according to the complaint. Other federal court documents allege Ferrari and Amato took steps to protect the gambling operation from the investigation after they were tipped off.
With spring approaching and coyote sightings likely to increase, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation issued guidance to help prevent conflicts between people and coyotes. Coyotes inhabit a variety of habitats throughout the state, from rural farmland and forests to populated suburban and urban areas. For the most part, coyotes will avoid human contact. However, conflicts with people and pets may occur, particularly during the spring denning and pupping period, when coyotes tend to be more territorial and protective of pups. Some Advice they give includes: Never feed coyotes, don’t leave any food outside, feed pets indoors, enclose or fence off compost, if you see a coyote, be loud and aggressive towards it to scare it away and teach your kids to get away from it. And lastly, supervise pets and keep them indoors around sunset and at night.
Six Flags Darien Lake Amusement Park is looking for roughly a thousand seasonal employees and applications are open online. They are looking for ride operators, maintenance, lifeguards, hotel workers, food and beverage workers, admissions personnel, retail and entertainment workers, cleaners, paramedics, security and a variety of other positions. Pay starts at 14.25 an hour and some positions pay more. An in person hiring event will be held on March 25th or you can apply online by following the link at WBTAi.com.
Section V Athletics has a plan for getting more referees to want to work games, asking fans to sit down and shut up. The division has put out psas and taken to social media to ask fans to “bench bad behavior” and be better sportsmen. Athletics officials note that there has been an uptick in bad behavior since the pandemic and that refs don’t want to sign up if they think the crowd will be rowdy. There is already a shortage of officials and this is making a bad situation worse.
The Sabres failed to extend their win streak to 4 Tuesday night as they fell to the Columbus Blue Jackets 5 to 3. Jack Quinn, JJ Peterka and Tage Thompson all put in a puck a piece and Craig Anderson stopped 31 shots but the Sabres just couldn’t keep up with their blue clad opponents. The Sabres will be up against the Boston Bruins on Thursday night at TD Garden Arena. Puck drop is at 7pm.
