Morning News Brief

A man has been arrested in connection to the murder of a 15-year-old boy earlier this year.  Rochester Police said Brandon Williams, 18, is now charged in the killing of Suade McKnight, who was shot to death inside a drug house on Alphonse Street back in February, after multiple suspects entered the building seemingly to rob the location.  Williams, who was 17 at the time of the incident, was found on Remington Street with a gunshot wound 15 minutes after the murder.  After new evidence was recently presented to a grand jury, Williams was identified as a suspect and was taken into custody this Wednesday.  Williams is charged with second-degree murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, according to police.  He was arraigned and taken back into custody, and is set to appear in court Sept. 13 for a juvenile review.

An overturned truck spilled 10 tons of Potash onto the road in Stafford Tuesday afternoon.  Just before 2pm the truck tried to take the turn at Main Rd and Rt 237 too fast according to First Assistant Chief Mark Dougherty.  Officers from the DEC, the Fire Department and employees of Carolina Eastern helped on scene to clean up the fertilizer spill so it wouldn’t get washed into nearby Black Creek.  Dougherty also said there was a minor spill of Diesel fuel and Hydraulic fluid that was easily contained.  

Assemblyman Steve Hawley, along with his Assembly Republican colleagues, is calling on Gov. Hochul to convene an extraordinary legislative session to address the migrant crisis across the state. Over 100,000 migrants have arrived in New York and communities and localities are struggling to keep up with this recent influx. Hawley believes a special session would help to implement much-needed reforms such as instituting background checks for incoming immigrants and giving municipalities the ability to choose whether they want to take in migrants.  New York City Mayor Eric Adams said yesterday that the immigration crisis will destroy his home town if the White House doesn’t step in. 

Controversy over Buffalo’s school bus cameras.  The Mayor of Buffalo has proposed to mount cameras on their 634 School Buses to allow the cameras to catch people who pass the buses when their lights are on and stop sign is out and some people are protesting.  A couple years ago Buffalo had installed speed and red light cameras in school zones but had to remove them over race concerns.  People in buffalo complained that the majority of those who were getting tickets for speeding in school zones or running red lights were black and poor and then couldn’t pay for both their tickets and food or medicine.  The response to School Bus Cameras is the same with council persons complaining that black residents will once again be disproportionately affected by efforts to enforce the laws around school buses.  Niagara Falls has had cameras like these on their buses for 4 years and said that they worked to reduce the number of people engaging in risky behavior near buses and students.

Batavia Downs has given a check to Make A Wish Foundation of Western NY on Thursday for over 10 thousand dollars.  The money came from chair rentals for the Rockin The Downs Concert Series.  The money will go to granting wishes made by children with critical illnesses who contact the foundation.  Since 1992 Make A Wish Western NY has granted roughly 3700 wishes.  They hope to grant 150 this year according to regional director Benjamin Marchione.

The rollout of legal pot in New York hasn’t exactly been smooth or efficient with cannabis being legal for years before the first licenses were handed out, and New York State Senator Jeremy Cooney has announced the first ever public senate hearing on the state’s adult-use cannabis market.  The hearing is set for Oct. 30 at 11 a.m. in Albany and will be open to the public.  At a press conference Thursday morning, Cooney said New Yorkers are frustrated with the state’s challenges to launch a safe and legal market for cannabis, adding that they deserve clearer information for what will be happening next.  Recreational cannabis has been legal in New York since March 2021. The first retail licenses were approved back in June 2022, but it was another year before the Rochester-Finger Lakes region had its first retail cannabis licenses awarded.