Morning News Briefing

The investigation continues after a 74-year-old woman from Bergen died Thursday afternoon following a two-car collision on Route 19 near Creamery Road. Another person was seriously injured. Authorities identified the victim as Caroline Bianchi. Deputies say Bianchi was southbound on Route 19 when she traveled over the centerline and struck a minivan driven by 82-year-old Gary C. Beehler of Hamlin. The vehicles collided head-on. Beehler was transported by Mercy Flight to Strong Memorial Hospital with serious physical injuries. Bianchi was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators have yet to determine why her vehicle failed to maintain its lane of travel.

Electric and gas delivery rates for NYSEG and RG&E customers will rise but at a cost drastically reduced from the double-digit percentage increases in the original utility proposal. The state Public Service Commission staff and utility representatives agreed to keep rate increases for both electric and natural gas delivery rates to below 2% annually over the three-year term which will extend to April 2023.

Batavia City School officials now say that on Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week, they’ll be going to full remote learning.  The Superintendent said that a large percentage of teachers and staff come from orange zones which makes getting substitutes difficult, that several staff and students are already in quarantine, and that there are growing case numbers…all of which factored into the decision.  The determination was made to have no students in any of the district buildings on the two days prior to Thanksgiving.  This does not affect those who attend in person classes at BOCES.

New York Farm Bureau’s 2020 Market Basket Survey shows the price of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner saw a modest uptick from last year’s meal. The average total price, which includes a 16-pound turkey and other common items found on a holiday dinner table, is $49.23 or a $2.86 increase over last year.

Twenty new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Genesee County. Those newly infected come from Alexander, Batavia, Elba, Le Roy, Pembroke and Stafford. Four of the new positive individuals are residents at The Grand Rehabilitation and Nursing at Batavia. The county also reports another death. In Orleans County, three new COVID cases were confirmed and in Wyoming County, five new cases were reported.

A community survey conducted by the Le Roy Police Department came back with some pretty high marks in terms of “overall satisfaction.” The village police force received an average grade of 8.5 out of 10 in response to the question, “How would you rate your overall satisfaction with the Le Roy Police Department? (1 star being poor and 10 stars being exceptional).” The survey was conducted in conjunction with the department’s 15-member committee formed in compliance with Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Executive Order on policing policy and procedure improvements. It was available for village residents and nonresidents over a three-week period, ending last Friday.

St. Ann’s Community is one of several skilled nursing facilities in the Greater Rochester area, including one in Le Roy, to receive rapid testing devices from the Centers for Medicaid Services with the goal of rapid detection of COVID-19 in nursing home staff. Under state regs, nursing home staff must be tested a minimum of once per week in order to minimize virus exposure and spread to residents and other staff members. The devices provided to St. Ann’s Community can read a sample in approximately three seconds and give a COVID-19 positive or negative result. This rapid testing has made for a much easier and more efficient way of testing the nearly 1,200 staff members at St. Ann’s Community.