Morning News Briefing
Written by Michael Baldwin on December 17, 2020
Arc of Genesee Orleans Transfer Station, 3785 West Main Street Road in Batavia has reduced its hours of operation until further notice. The Transfer Station will be closed on Fridays, but normal hours will be in effect on Mondays (8 – 2), Wednesdays (8 – 6) and Saturdays (8 – 2). Customers are asked to please stay in their vehicle at the transfer station and reminded that masks are required.
The Batavia Police Department is currently investigating the passing of counterfeit $100 bills throughout the area. The department recommends that anyone receiving a $100 bill use extra caution to check its authenticity. If you feel that you may be victim in receiving counterfeit bills, please report it to the Police Department.
Tomorrow, members of the City of Batavia Police Department will be holding a Christmas event in place of the annual “Shop with a Cop” that is held at Walmart each year, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Batavia Police Benevolent Association, Batavia CSEA members, and the City’s “Jeans for Friday” program donated the funding for this year’s event and the City of Batavia Schools assisted with choosing the families to participate. One family from each city school was selected and will receive Christmas presents for children to open Christmas morning. The selected families provided Batavia PD with a “wish list” of items, which included toys and more. The gifts have been wrapped and will be delivered via police cruiser.
Sixty-two new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Genesee County. Twenty-four people are currently hospitalized. Six of the new positive cases are residents at LeRoy Village Green Residential Healthcare Facility, six more are residents at Premier Genesee Center for Nursing & Rehabilitation and one of the positive individuals is at the VA Medical Center. In Orleans County, 28 new positive cases have been confirmed while 26 more cases were reported in Wyoming County.
An Orleans County man faces felony and other charges following a traffic stop on State Route 39 in Wyoming County. Now, 39-year-old Shawn Story of Holley has some explaining to do to a local justice. It didn’t begin well…a data check showed Story did not have a license and was suspended a total of 9 times, with 8 scoffs on 5 dates. While speaking with Story the deputy believed that Story may have been under the influence and initiated a roadside DWI investigation, which included standardized field sobriety testing. Story allegedly performed poorly on the tests. He was ultimately charged with felony first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, driving while ability impaired by drugs and unlicensed operator. There were other charges, but you get the point. Story was issued appearance tickets and is scheduled to appear in the Town of Castile Court at a later date.
New York State has created a new website that is a one-stop-shop for all information on the COVID-19 vaccine. The website is NY.gov/vaccine. During his daily briefing Wednesday, Gov. Cuomo also announced that no one in the state of New York will have to pay for the vaccine. The governor said that Regional Vaccination Hubs have been established. They will be led by local hospital systems and develop a plan to distribute the vaccine when New York hits Phase II of the vaccine implementation. The plans must be submitted by the first week of January and then will be reviewed by the New York State Department of Health.
