Morning News Brief
Written by Tom Tharp on October 31, 2023
2 people were seriously injured in a crash at the Warsaw Orangeville townline on Rt 20A early Tuesday morning. Police were called to a head on collision between a 2023 Ford truck and a 2019 Dodge Ram at 6:50am. Evidence at the scene suggests that the Ram didn’t make the curve and crossed the center line in front of the Ford, hitting it head on. Both drivers were trapped in their vehicles and were taken to ECMC with non-life threatening but serious injuries. No charges have been filed at this time as the incident remains under investigation, and names of those involved are being withheld due to ongoing family notifications.
The Genesee County Local Drug Enforcement Task Force searched a house at 14 Spruce Street on Saturday and arrested 4 people. 30 year old Michael Torres, 32 year old Jason Freeman, 24 Year old Haley Lardner and 63 year old Dawn Morford were all arrested and charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminal possession of a weapon. The search warrant was a result of a several month investigation into the illegal possession and sale of narcotics from 14 S. Spruce Street and weapons possession. Torres, Lardner, Morford and Freeman were held at the Genesee County Jail pending C.A.P. Court arraignment.
A national story that has local implications, the UAW union and General Motors have reached a tentative agreement which, along with agreements with Ford and Stellaris, may mean an end to the auto workers strike. The big 3 auto makers agreed to very generous deals to get the workers to go back to work. Negotiators got them pay and cost-of-living raises that would top 30% by the time the contracts expire in April 2028. Workers would get an immediate 11% pay bump upon ratification. Over 4 thousand workers in New York will be getting back to the job if the deal goes through. Though analysts say that the new contracts will cause a big jump in auto prices and cost the big 3 billions of dollars. Time will tell how this impacts the market and consumers.
Beginning November 1, applications for the Home Energy Assistance Program benefits will be accepted. HEAP is federally funded with the goal of helping low-income households with their energy needs. Eligibility is based on income, household size, primary heat source, and whether there are elderly residents or children in the house. Benefit eligibility is based on the last 30 days of household gross income from the date of application. One HEAP benefit will be awarded to eligible households per program year. Those currently receiving Temporary Assistance and/or SNAP benefits may qualify for an automatic regular HEAP benefit and may not be required to file a separate application. Interested applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.
The St Lawrence Seaway is back open again after Union Workers and the Seaway management agreed to a deal late on Sunday. The union announced that the workers returned back to the job on Monday morning and the big ships carrying grain, equipment, and other items from the great lakes to the ocean and back are sailing once again. Around 360 workers in Ontario and Quebec with Unifor, Canada’s largest private-sector union, walked out Oct. 22 in a dispute over wages with the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. It may not sound like a lot of workers, but those workers controlled a vital shipping lane for a lot of the North’s goods.
A boarded-up window and empty boxes is what remains of a break-in and theft at the Foodlink facility on Mount Read Blvd. in Rochester Sunday night. Foodlink said suspects broke a small garage door window to get into the building, propped open an exit door and loaded a truck with boxes of various items including diapers, paper towels and non-perishable foods. All the items were intended to be distributed to food pantries and banks out of state, because they didn’t meet local health or quality standards Foodlink adheres to. The incident comes just ahead of November, Foodlink’s busiest month, when the nonprofit said it moves 2 million pounds of food to organizations in need.
