Morning News Briefing
Written by Dan Fischer on June 23, 2020
Genesee County voters get to cast ballots today in two different elections.
One is a special election to fill the vacant congressional seat once occupied by Chris Collins. State Senator Chris Jacobs and Democrat Nate McMurray are competing for that post. The winner will serve until the end of the year.
Also today, there is a republican primary to select the party’s candidate for the November election in the 27 district.
The candidate include Jacobs, Darien Attorney Beth Parlato and Erie County Comptroller Stefan Mychajliw. The winner will square off against McMurray for a full two year term.
Voting takes place today until 9 tonight.
Batavia City Council has no plan – yet – to replace former City Manager Martin Moore.
Moore left city hall last Friday in a mutual agreement with council.
Council president Gene Jankowski says one option to replace Moore is to exercise the guarantee that came along with Moore when he was selected two years ago.
That guarantee was from Novak Consulting the Ohio firm that was paid $26,000 by Batavia to find a city manager.
Novak offered another free search if the person they recommended didn’t last a full two years. Moore’s tenure was just under that.
Four new positive cases of COVID-19 reported in Genesee County over the past 24 hours.
There has also been one death reported at the Orchard Rehab and Nursing Center in Medina.
That brings the death toll in Orleans County to 50 since the pandemic began.
All but one of those deaths occurred at the Orchard Nursing Home in Medina or the Villages of Orleans in Albion.
There have been a total of five deaths in Genesee County…none of them in a nursing home.
Visitors to New York from out-of-state may soon have to quarantine when they get here.
Governor Cuomo says he’s considering a mandatory isolation period for people from states with high numbers of coronavirus cases such as Florida and Texas.
Cuomo says he’s concerned that if infected individuals arrive, it could cause another spike in COVID-19 cases in New York.
From the police blotter:
38 year old Ray Tucker of Williams Street in Batavia: Arrested for allegedly displaying a dagger while in the midst of a fracas with his neighbor…
63 year old James Karas of Ross Street charged with Harassment and endangering the welfare of a child. Batavia Police say Karas subjected two young girls to unwanted physical contact in Austin Park
