Morning News Briefing

COVID-19 cases are spiking in Genesee County. In the last two days, 20 new cases were confirmed. The latest infections involve people from Alabama, Batavia, Bergen, Elba, Le Roy, Oakfield and Pembroke. Twenty-eight new individuals are on precautionary quarantine due to travel from restricted states. The new cases include two students and one staff member at the Alexander Middle / High School and one Alexander Central School District staff member. The Health Department was also notified of a positive staff member of the Genesee Valley BOCES, Batavia Center. The individual is on mandatory isolation until recovered. Contact tracing is in process for those who are considered close contacts and will be placed on mandatory quarantine for 14 days from the last contact with the positive individual.

A Batavia man is due in court next week to answer a felony charge. Batavia police say they arrested 33-year-old Brandon Dodd of Highland Park. He was charged with grand larceny involving the theft of a motor vehicle as well as unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. Dodd was arraigned and released under supervision and placed under 24/7 house arrest. He’ll head back to court Tuesday afternoon.

The Genesee County Legislature’s Ways & Means Committee has hit the pause button on a resolution to terminate the county’s youth bureau operating agreement with the City of Batavia. The Batavian reached out to a couple of lawmakers, who declined comment. Interim City Manager Rachael Tabelski said that City Council plans to address a similar resolution at its Nov. 23 Conference Meeting, but speculated that the situation may come up at next Monday’s Business Meeting.

Warsaw-based State Police have filed a criminal charge against a Batavia man. Troopers said they arrested 19-year-old Jordan Rose. He was charged with assault with intent to cause physical injury. He’ll appear in Town of Attica court at a later date.

If you made a mistake on your NY absentee vote and your ballot was rejected, it’s required that you be notified. New York Attorney General Letitia James is reminding residents of their rights under the state’s new “notice and cure” law. Local boards of elections are required to notify voters if their absentee ballots include errors. If voters received a notice of deficiency between October 27 and November 3, they have seven days to address the issue to ensure their vote is counted.

While New York Senate Democrats had hoped to gain a “supermajority,” or veto-proof majority with two-thirds of the seats in the chamber, it appears it’s the Republicans who will be gaining some seats. While absentee ballots still need to be counted and results haven’t been finalized, based on the current numbers, Republicans who currently hold 20 out of the 63 Senate seats are confident they’re picking up more, especially on Long Island and the Hudson Valley. They say bail reform was a key issue.

Alexander High School will continue remote instruction through at least November 18th. New COVID cases prompted the move. New cases have also been reported at Notre Dame High School and Kendall. No changes have been reported for Alexander Elementary or the Middle School.