Morning News Brief
Written by Tom Tharp on June 19, 2023
After the State Assembly decided to put the casino deal on hold because of protests by Rochester city leaders and community members, the Seneca Nation put out a statement. They said that the reason for Rochester officials being left out of discussions on putting a new casino in downtown Rochester lies completely with governor Hochul. According to the press release Governor Hochul and the Seneca Nation have been negotiating for 11 months. No one in Rochester or the surrounding areas was informed that a casino was being planned for the city. When it was announced last week it drew instant condemnation. Hochul declared that there were non disclosure agreements in place so she hadn’t been able to make the plans public. The Seneca Nation says there were no such agreements. They also said that Delaware North, which owns Finger Lakes Gaming and Hamburg Gaming, was being benefited by the deal not going through and that meant Hochul was prioritizing special interests over the Seneca Nation.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James attended the Juneteenth Freedom Day event on Saturday Afternoon in Williams Park. The celebration had vendors, live music, a chicken bbq, spoken word performances, African drums and African dancers. James said she heard of Just Kings, a grassroots group of black men with a mission to give back to the community through Christmas toy drives, school supply backpack giveaways, chicken barbecue fundraisers and the Juneteenth event. She said that the group were examples of Faith, Family and community. Event organizers said that this year’s event was better attended than previous years.
3 people have died from a car crash in Freedom Saturday. According to State Police the crash involved siblings driving in opposite directions. 21 year old Evan Klink was driving a pickup truck on Freedom road when he crossed the center line and hit a Ford Focus being driven by his sister, 24 year old Dahlia Klink head on. Dahlia and a 4 year old passenger were taken to the hospital with serious injuries, Dahlia died at ECMC, 2 other passengers in the car, 6 year old Molly Kibler and 17 year old Havanah Lopez were pronounced dead at the scene. Evan was treated for minor injuries at the scene while his passenger, 19 year old Cameron Klink was taken to ECMC with serious injuries. Police say this crash is still under investigation.
Gas prices in Batavia are down a couple pennies this week according to AAA. The current average for a gallon of regular gas is 3.64 which is 2 cents lower than a week ago. The New York Average is holding steady at 3.69 which is up 4 cents from a week ago and down a dollar 30 from this time last year. The national average is 3.57 which is down 2 cents from last week. There is a decrease in demand and domestic gasoline stocks are rising slightly. OPEC is still threatening to lower production but so far that hasn’t affected the price of gasoline much.
The Batavia Concert Band will be returning for their 99th season of public concerts in Batavia’s Centennial Park this summer. Concerts will be held on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. on June 28, July 5, July 12, July 19, July 26, Aug. 2 and Aug. 9. The Band consists of 45-55 brass, woodwind and percussion players ranging from talented high school students to 60-year veterans. Returning for his tenth season as conductor is John Bailey, Instrumental Music teacher at Pembroke Central School District and the organization is under the leadership of General Manager Jason Smith, along with a group of officers and a dedicated Board, led by Board President Dan Fischer. Be on the lookout for appearances by band members on WBTA’s “Main & Center” program, where we will go into some depth about the band’s makeup and its history. Also, be listening for weekly radio ads promoting the musical selections for the upcoming concerts, and announcing weekly sponsors.
The Muckdogs swept the Auburn Doubledays on Friday night in a doubleheader victory. They then went on to win one lose one against them in Auburn on Saturday. Sunday the Muckdogs were at Niagara University to play the Niagara Power. Niagara Power beat the Muckdogs 4 to 2. The Muckdogs will be back home tonight to go against the Newark Pilots at 6:35. Currently the Muckdogs are 7 wins and 5 losses on the season.
