Morning News Brief
Written by Tom Tharp on March 27, 2023
The Amherst Police Department announced an arrest has been made in connection to a criminal mischief complaint at CompassCare. Police said the incident occurred around 12:30 a.m. on March 23. CompassCare, a pregnancy services clinic located on Eggert Road, posted a link to surveillance video of the alleged incident on its website which shows its sign being vandalized with graffiti. On Saturday, police announced that 39-year-old Hannah Kamke was arrested and charged with one count of third-degree criminal mischief. The FBI still has a reward posted for information leading to the arrest of the firebombing of the center in June of last year.
The owner of Pharoahs Strip Club in Cheektowaga is behind bars on charges after federal prosecutors say he was paying bribes to a former federal agent to avoid criminal investigations and prosecution. He has also just been charged with witness tampering and distributing cocaine. The prosecutors say he intimidated, threatened and corruptly persuaded a witness by using facebook to send messages to them. Gerace is set to stay in jail until June when his trial will be held. The judge has refused to let him out on bail.
A five-planet alignment of Jupiter, Venus, Uranus, Mars, and Mercury will be visible in the night sky tonight. Here in Western New York skies are expected to be clear for viewing. After sunset near the western horizon will be Mercury and Jupiter. The brighter of the two will be Jupiter. Venus will be the brightest planet to spot while Uranus will look like a green star and will be hard to see. Mars will be on top of Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Uranus, and the moon. The best time to go outside is soon after sunset as Jupiter and Mercury will disappear about 45 minutes after sundown. The next five-planet alignment won’t occur until 2040.
Tech wars winners announced. On Thursday, March 23, nearly 800 middle and high school students from 24 schools in the GLOW Region gathered for the Genesee Community College’s 14th Tech Wars. The event was a huge success, with students showcasing their skills and knowledge in technology and engineering. In the middle school category, Warsaw took the top prize, followed by Wayland Cohocton in second place, and a tie for third place between Alexander and Kendall. In the high school category, Alexander took home first place, with Dansville in second place, and a tie for third place between Geneseo and Pioneer. In addition to Tech Wars, GCC also hosted close to 200 students for the Genesee County Youth Bureau Youth Conference on Tuesday, March 21 and over 600 students from 28 school districts for the GLOW with Your Hands: Healthcare career exploration event on Friday, March 24.
According to a report from Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Buffalo Bills will sign former Los Angeles Rams safety Taylor Rapp to a one-year deal. Rapp was drafted by the Rams in the second round, 61st overall, in the 2019 NFL Draft. In four years with the Rams, he played in 57 games and had 330 total tackles, nine interceptions, one forced fumble and three fumble recoveries.
The Buffalo Sabres lost Monday night against the Montreal Canadiens at Keybank Center after a grueling game and then a 6 round shootout. The final score was 4 to 3 for the Canadian team. JJ Peterka, Riley Stillman and Lukas Rousek scored for Buffalo. It was Rousek’s first game in the NHL. Eric Comrie saved 38 shots in the goal. The Sabres will be back on the ice on Friday against the New York Rangers at the Keybank Center at 7pm. Monday night’s game was pride night at the Keybank Center and defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin refused to wear the rainbow uniform during the warmup because of anti LGBT laws in his home country of Russia and fears that if he was seen wearing the pride jersey that there would be retaliation against his family in Moscow. Other players such as Captain Kyle Okposo came to his defense in his decision.
