Morning News Brief

Members of the Rochester Union of Nurses and Allied Professionals have voted to authorize a strike at Rochester General Hospital.  The vote yesterday was more than 90-percent in favor of authorizing a strike, which would be held next month.  The hospital says it has a plan in place if a strike is held.  Union members say they’ve been negotiating with the hospital system for most of the last year but have been unable to reach agreement on staffing shortages and wage levels.  Hospital officials say they’ve recruited more than 150 nurses so far this year and another 100 are expected to be hired next year.  

Severe storms rolled across Western New York last night, knocking down power lines and leaving thousands of utility customers in the dark.  The storm brought heavy rains, high wind and some small hail.  Most of the National Grid customers who lost power were in Erie County.  More than three-thousand were without electricity in Chautauqua County.  New York State Electric and Gas reported more than 11-thousand customers were without power late last night.  Governor Kathy Hochul says her teams are ready to help local communities with equipment and whatever other resources are necessary to recover from the storm.   

Ahead of the upcoming winter months, the Erie County Legislature has approved a plan to temporarily drop all county sales tax on home heating bills.  The sales tax would not be added to customers’ bills during the coldest months of winter — December, January and February.  The bill’s passage yesterday enjoyed bipartisan support from the county legislature.  Right now, Erie County has a four-point-seven-five-percent sales on home heating bills.

The two people who allegedly dragged a woman out of a Henrietta hotel as part of a prostitution related kidnapping have plead not guilty to sex trafficking charges.  Cordell Brooks and Shuntiayana Sims are accused of trafficking the woman seen on security camera videos from the hotel for several weeks.  Brooks is accused of trafficking several women.  The pair were apprehended after a concerned guest called 911 after seeing them drag a woman out of the hotel and into a car from his hotel room window.  The unidentified guest said he thought he was witnessing a domestic violence incident.  The hotel worker in the lobby also called 911.  Assistant District Attorney Rachel Clark noted it was particularly disturbing that the incident happened at a hotel in a heavily commercial area that many people pass through on any given day.

Genesee Valley BOCES and Mount Morris BOCES were given 10,000 dollars by Power and Construction Group, the industry leader announced on Thursday.  The money will go towards conservation programs and acquiring the essential equipment to teach students the skills necessary to help safeguard and work with the environment.  Vice President of Power and Construction Group, Jason Buchinger, said that the company invests in students to build a strong future workforce.

State senator George Borrello has introduced legislation to ban the public use of marijuana in New York state unless authorized by local laws.  The 57th District Republican says his bill would enable local authorities to regulate whether and where marijuana could be publicly consumed.  Currently, he says marijuana smoking is allowed anywhere tobacco smoking is permitted. He says he thinks New Yorkers don’t want to be exposed to marijuana smoke.