Morning News Brief
Written by Tom Tharp on July 26, 2023
Small businesses will be getting a bill in the mail from the State very soon if they haven’t already. The bill for “Interest Assessment Surcharge” is a new annual fee that the State of NY created last year to try to recoup some of the spending on the unemployment insurance costs during COVID shutdowns. The state owes the federal government 6.5 Billion dollars and decided that small businesses were the way to get the money back. The National Federation of Independent Business released a statement Monday calling on Governor Kathy Hochul to use federal pandemic relief funds to pay off the debt. A New York State Comptroller audit in 2022 found that the state lost $11 billion from unemployment insurance fraud, even after receiving repeated warnings that the system was susceptible to fraud.
Rochester Police arrested a Level 3 sex offender for the fatal stabbing of a woman on Whitney Street last week. 30 year old Kevin Dukes Jr. is accused of stabbing 38 year old Constance Henry multiple times at a home on Whitney Street Friday evening. Police said Dukes was at the home of Henry’s friend, a woman who had an active order of protection against him when they got into an altercation. Henry allegedly came to the woman’s defense, when Dukes stabbed her. According to the felony complaint, Dukes stabbed Henry with a knife in the chest and neck, moved her body into a bedroom and stabbed her multiple times in the back. A roommate discovered Henry the next day. Members of U.S. Marshals task force located Dukes on Monday and took him into custody. He’s charged with second-degree murder in Henry’s death and first-degree criminal contempt for the incident involving the other woman.
Buffalo police say they have made an arrest in connection with recent vandalism incidents at Cazenovia Park. Investigators say it was a 13-year-old boy who caused thousands of dollars worth of damage at the park. The Department of Public Works commissioner says buildings at the park are now going to be closed earlier to try and prevent any future crime. The teen is facing a felony charge.
The Division of Consumer Protection is offering tips to help protect kids and animals from heat stroke in hot cars. Officials say the best suggestion is to never leave a child or animal alone in a vehicle during hot weather, even if the windows are rolled down. Also, if you spot a child or animal in a hot car that appears to be in distress, dial 911 immediately. Since 1998, 942 children nationwide have died due to Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke. Last year, 56 animals passed away from heat-related issues.
Well that’s one way to avoid a parking ticket. The Erie County District Attorney’s Office announced that 51-year-old Peter P. Christopher of Buffalo was arraigned Tuesday in Buffalo City Court on 91 counts of fourth-degree grand larceny and 91 counts of fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property. The district attorney’s office said between May 1 and May 19 Christopher allegedly stole 91 city parking meters from various locations in Downtown Buffalo. The meters are valued at around $1,000 each. He was given an appearance ticket to be arraigned on July 6 and a bench warrant was issued after he failed to appear. Christopher is also facing other charges in connection to allegedly intentionally causing damage to a vehicle while attempting to remove and steal the exhaust system on July 25. The incident occurred at an auto parts store on Clinton Street and New Babcock Street. According to the district attorney’s office, Christopher has outstanding warrants from Cheektowaga and has two additional pending criminal cases in Buffalo City Court.
The Buffalo Bills will be kicking off a journey today that they hope ends in the franchise winning its first-ever Super Bowl. The Bills are set to start training camp on the campus of Saint John Fisher University. Fans who do not already have tickets to see the team up close are out of luck because all of those tickets have been claimed. The Bills begin the regular season on Monday, September 11th when they visit Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets.
