Morning News Brief

A former Rochester police officer was arrested and charged with rape Tuesday, according to New York State Police.  39 year old Shawn Jordan allegedly forced a 13-year-old girl to have sex with him in the town of South Bristol in Ontario County. Troopers said this allegedly happened between April and June of 2022.  Jordan was taken to Ontario County Jail for arraignment, as the investigation continues.  He was arrested by state police back in March for allegedly exposing himself to a 16-year-old girl in an online video chat while he was still with RPD. That case was waived to a grand jury in May.

An illegal nightclub in Rochester was shut down after shots were fired Friday night.  Police responded to a noise complaint Friday evening, where a large party was being held in the Drip Lounge on North Clinton Avenue. At that time, authorities issued a noise ordinance citation.  Three hours later, police were alerted to shots fired in the lounge, and on arrival, officers said people were running out of the building.  Investigators reportedly found five handguns, an AR-style rifle, some with illegal modifications, and a mix of drugs suspected to be cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl. Lab results on the drugs are still pending.

A drag show in Albion has brought the pastors of Orleans County together in protest.  Led by Pastor Tim Lindsay of Harvest Christian Fellowship, 24 pastors and their wives signed onto an open letter which was published in the Orleans Hub.  The issue, a drag show brunch at the Lockstone in Albion on October 1st with performers coming from Rochester.  The pastors are concerned, according to the letter, with the sexualized show, which is designed and promoted as an adult event, leading to events targeted at children as some of the performers already do in Rochester.  The drag performers responded with messages saying “love is appropriate everywhere”, and “we are supposed to love everybody”.  

Senator George Borrello has joined a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of New York State’s newly implemented ammunition registration law which requires that purchasers submit to and pay for a background check for ammunition transactions.  Borrello says that the law is unconstitutional and a failure in both the technological and administrative areas.  Along with Senator Borrello, plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the New York State Firearms Association, Assemblyman David DiPietro, William Ortman and Aaron Dorr. The defendant is Steven A. Nigrelli, Acting Superintendent of the New York State Police.

Fall is near and the I LOVE NY Fall Foliage Report is here.  You can track the colorful fall foliage throughout New York State with a weekly report from the I LOVE NY website.  I LOVE NY says the reports are obtained from volunteer field observers and reflect expected color conditions for the coming weekend. They are issued every Wednesday afternoon.  One report has been issued so far this season. For the week beginning September 13 and ending September 19, the first signs of colorful fall foliage were emerging in areas in the Adirondacks, the Catskills and portions of the Chautauqua-Allegheny region.

The community response to the Christmas blizzard of 2022 made Readers Digest choose Buffalo as 2023’s Nicest Place in America.  Every year Reader’s Digest searches for the Nicest Places in America which are “places where people are kind, differences are celebrated and neighbors work together to make their communities better.”  Reader’s Digest cited examples of people helping stranded motorists and opening their businesses to those trapped in the snow as well as other examples like community togetherness following tragedies the Tops Shooting and Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest on the football field.