Morning News Brief

Five children and a bus aide were injured after a school bus crashed on the I-290 east in Amherst Friday morning.  The crash happened just before 8 a.m. between Harlem Road and Main Street and closed the Harlem Road on-ramp to the I-290. The right lane of the 290 eastbound near Exit 6, which is the Sheridan Drive off-ramp, was also shut down due to the crash.  Police said the crash involved a First Student bus and a pickup truck. The truck was attempting to merge into traffic and lost control and struck the bus causing it to overturn and go into the ditch. Seven people were on the bus — a driver, an aide, and five children. The aide was significantly injured and transported to ECMC, the five children suffered minor injuries and were taken to Oishei Children’s Hospital for evaluation. Neither driver was injured.  According to police, the bus was transporting the children to the Beyond Learning Center, formerly known as the Cantalician Center for Learning.

Efforts are continuing to prevent the recent rash of car thefts across Monroe County and the rest of New York state.  The Car Theft Prevention Act, a bill recently introduced by NY State Senator Jeremy Cooney, would give judges more discretion with bail or remanding a suspect to custody in cases involving stolen vehicles.  According to Cooney, car thefts in Monroe County jumped 345 percent in 2023. In Rochester, that number increased by a staggering 829 percent.  While Cooney’s new bill would help judges have more power in these cases, police said preventing the issue can start with helping drivers with car locks and other preventions.  The Car Theft Prevention Act is currently in the committee review stage. Cooney said the legislation came directly from neighbors across Rochester who were asking for help with the issue.

You may have seen the large light up gargoyle and scarecrow with a jack o lantern for a head on Bank Street but you may not know that there is a haunted house there as well.  David Raines has lived in Batavia 17 years and says he loves Halloween.  So much so that he decided to create a free haunted house in his backyard at 209 Bank Street.  Nightmare on Bank Street is open 7-9 on Saturday and 5-11 on Halloween.  You have an option when going in, red, yellow and green, which lets the actors know how scary to be and whether the lights should be on or off.  Raines says it can be scary enough to send people running down the street screaming or fully lit and the actors don’t scare at all.  Although the haunted house is free Raines is accepting donations to cover the costs. 

The Bills are gearing up to face a struggling 1-5 Patriots team on the road this Sunday.  In terms of the injury report, Josh Allen is set to play this weekend after injuring his shoulder in the win over the Giants in Week 6.  However, the defense will be without another key piece on the defensive end, Ed Oliver will not play, as he continues to nurse a toe injury.  Buffalo is 4-2 on the season after their loss to the Jaguars in London last week.