Morning News Briefing

Five arrested in Genesee County drug bust.
What began as an investigation by Genesee County Probation and Child Protective Service ended in arrest for five individuals all accused of possessing drugs.
Members of the Genesee County Local Drug Enforcement Task Force responded to a Liberty Street residence Wednesday to assist County Probation and CPS after a probation officer found 56 bags of cocaine in the home, as well as drug paraphernalia, pills and U.S. currency.
36 year old Marquise Lee and 30 year old Derek Wilcox both of Rochester were arrested along with 46 year old Angela Bateman, 30 year old Nikki Stonebraker, and 25 year old Joseph Burr all of Batavia.
All five were charged with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance and Criminal Use of Drug Paraphernalia with Stonebraker additionally charged for Endangering the Welfare of a Child.
All five suspects were arraigned in Batavia City Court and remanded to jail in lieu of bail with the exception of Lee who was ordered to be held without bail.

A Swan Street resident jailed for bringing drugs into jail.
19 year old Kevin Howard was accused of possessing a dangerous drug as he was entering the Genesee County Jail facility last Thursday.
He was charged with Promoting Prison Contraband and remanded back to jail in lieu of one-thousand dollars bail.

The results are in on workplace satisfaction and, for the second year in a row, the Batavia City School District was recognized as one of the best places to work in the Rochester area.
In addition to receiving a Democrat and Chronicle 2019 Top Workplaces Award at a celebration event held at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center, the District also received an “I Love My Job” award in the large business category for the quantity and quality of the employee responses to a satisfaction survey.

New York State’s attorney general is filing what she calls the nation’s most extensive lawsuit against opioid manufactures and distributors.
Letitia James alleges that six national drug prescription manufactures and four distributors are responsible for creating the opioid epidemic that’s caused widespread overdoses and addictions over recent years.
The attorney general accuses them of using false and deceptive marketing and suggesting that alternative pain relief methods were more dangerous than opioids.
Perdue Pharma, Rochester Drug Cooperative and McKesson Corporation are among the companies named in the suit.
Purdue Pharma and the state of Oklahoma have already settled out of court ahead of a multi-state lawsuit against opioid makers.

It’s time to break out the reusable bags.
New York state lawmakers have reportedly reached a deal that will ban plastic bags and charge five cents for paper bags.
The ban would exempt certain types of plastic bags for restaurants, deli or meat counter products, garments and trash bags.
If approved as part of the budget due April 1st, the measure would go into effect next March.