Morning News Briefing

Rep. Chris Collins

The race to the 27th Congressional District seat is a tight one according to a new independent poll.
The Spectrum News-Siena Research Institute survey puts Republican Congressman Chris Collins only 3 points over Democrat Nate McMurray with a 46 to 43 percent lead.
That small of a difference lands within the poll’s margin of error which puts the race at a near dead heat.
The District race has become unexpectedly close following the indictment of incumbent Collins on insider trading charges in August.
According to The Buffalo News contributions to Collins campaign have also drastically dropped since his arrest.

Batavia Downs shows interest in K-Mart site after announcement of impending closure.
Following the news that another Big-Box store in Batavia was shutting its doors, the neighboring business has identified the K-Mart location as a possible property to pick up down the road.
Director of marketing for Batavia Downs Ryan Hasenauer, said in a statement yesterday morning that, while they do not currently have any timeline information on the store’s closing, they would not rule out an interest in this or any adjacent property to Batavia Downs if it were to become available.
Hasenauer went on to say that regardless of what happens with the property, the Downs will reach out to Kmart management with some job placement opportunities for the laid off Kmart employees.
President of the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce Tom Turnbull told our news partner The Batavian It makes a lot of sense for them to have that property and that it would be good for everybody.
For more on the story check the article by our news partner The Batavian.

BID director Beth Kemp has resigned.
Executive director of the Batavia Improvement District Beth Kemp, has decided she needs to focus more of her time and attention at T-Shirts, Etc the business she co-owns with her husband Brian and has stepped down from her position.
Kemp said her growing business is demanding more of her time and it was an extremely hard decision for her to make.
Kemp has given notice to the board but she didn’t share her final work day.

Grim discovery on a farm in Sodus may be remains of a missing toddler.
The Wayne County Sheriff says bones found on a Sodus farm are believed to be those of 14-month-old Owen Hidalgo-Calderon.
Investigators say the remains were found close to where his mother Selena Hidalgo-Calderon’s body was discovered in May.
The child was the subject of a lengthy missing persons’ investigation after his mother was allegedly killed and buried by her boyfriend Everardo Donoteo-Reyes an illegal immigrant from Mexico.
The bones have been sent to a lab to confirm they belong to Owen.
That could take up to three months.

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen has been ruled out for this week’s game against the Indianapolis Colts.
According to NFL dot com, Allen suffered an elbow sprain during Sunday’s loss to the Houston Texans.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott wouldn’t reveal how many games Allen could miss, only saying he’s week to week.
There’s no word on who could start in Allen’s place.

The Batavia City Fire Department will be flushing fire hydrants today south of Main Street and east of Jackson Street from approximately 9 am to 3 pm.
The Department will continue flushing fire hydrants on tomorrow north of Main Street and east of Bank Street.