Morning News Brief
Written by Tom Tharp on May 31, 2023
38 year old Batavia resident Heather Holbrook of Walnut Street was arrested on May 17th after a traffic stop on East Main where she was found to have an active warrant and significant amounts of illegal narcotics in her possession. She was already wanted by the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office. She is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the 4th degree and intent to sell in the 3rd. She was arraigned and released and will be back in court on Thursday
Evidence released on Tuesday appears to show the office of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo used state employees and state resources to help write Cuomo’s COVID-19 book “An American Crisis” during the height of the pandemic. Cuomo was paid $5.1 million for the memoir — money state ethics panels have been trying to force him to return. The Empire Center has released emails it obtained through Freedom of Information requests. The emails show speechwriters on the state payroll sending messages soliciting and exchanging ideas about the writing of a project. It begins with state-employed speechwriters Thomas Topousis and Jamie Malanowski talking about a preface as early as late March of 2020. It goes on to ask for recollections of a specific meeting. Despite all those emails, and the mention from one aide that this was under the direction of DeRosa, Malanowski claims he had nothing to do with what eventually became the Cuomo memoir.
St. Paul Lutheran School’s fifth- and sixth-grade classes and parents traveled to the Bath National Cemetery in Bath to participate in the laying of flags on all 20,000 grave sites for the commemoration of Memorial Day. They joined the local fifth grade class that has been participating for the last 43 years. Their teacher, Mrs. Dunn, has a personal connection to the cemetery, as her grandfather, Vernon Rowe who was in the Navy, and her grandmother Pearl Jean Rowe, are buried there. The students identified the Civil War, Spanish War, Korean War, World War I and II sites among others including Medal of Honor recipients. All felt overwhelmed and honored to participate in this special day.
A man was hospitalized after a shooting in the city of Rochester Tuesday night. Police responded to the area of Fraser Street for the report of two people shot. Once there, they found 27-year-old man who was shot at least once. He was taken to the hospital with critical injuries, according to police. Officers were unable to find a second victim. No arrests have been made, and anyone with information is asked to call 911.
A major hurdle is now out of the way for those looking to own marijuana dispensaries in the Rochester-Finger Lakes region. State Sen. Jeremy Cooney, who serves as chair of the Senate’s cannabis subcommittee, announced Tuesday that a settlement has been reached that effectively opens the door for business owners to obtain licenses for operation. The settlement comes after a Michigan-based applicant filed a lawsuit claiming New York discriminated against applicants applying from out of state — prompting a federal judge to block New York state from giving out marijuana licenses to five regions, including the Finger Lakes. All other regions in the state had since been cleared to move forward, but the Finger Lakes region was still held back by the injunction. The Office of Cannabis Management could not provide further details about when licenses will be issued to Finger Lakes applicants, until the settlement is finalized.
Genesee County Youth Bureau will be hosting its 20th annual Family Game Night from 5 to 7 p.m. this Friday at the David McCarthy Memorial Ice Arena, 22 Evans St. in Batavia. The night will consist of interactive booths with activities, games and prizes for families and youth serving organizations. This event is free and includes pizza and assorted beverages. Each family will take home one brand new board game after they visit each booth so they can start their own family game night! Just for attending you will be entered into a raffle to win one of several prizes from businesses all around Genesee County. Following the event, please stick around for free roller skating with your family! Adults must be accompanied by a child to receive the board game. For more information or to register call the Youth Bureau at 585-344-3960.
