Morning News Brief
Written by Michael Baldwin on July 13, 2021
Despite receiving prior assurances from several Batavia City Council members that Centennial Park was off the table as a possible location for a disc golf course in the city, representatives of the “Save the Park” committee weren’t taking any chances. About 16 of them made their way to the City Council Conference meeting, with five of those people urging the board to maintain the aesthetics of the 14-acre natural setting by finding another place to put a nine-hole disc golf layout proposed by Batavia resident Phillip Boyd. Council President Eugene Jankowski Jr. informed the group that Centennial Park is “off the list … and not even a consideration.”
Six Flags Darien Lake has announced the formal launch of Project Ed. This hiring initiative is an opportunity for all educators and school employees to earn extra cash this summer, free tickets, and school supplies for their classroom in the fall. According to a press release – Participants will be paid premium wages and those who work an average of 24 hours for eight weeks in a variety of leadership roles have the opportunity to earn more than $3,000. They’ll be automatically entered into a raffle to earn up to $250 in gift cards for supplies in their classrooms.
New York State’s COVID rate continues to edge up. In the latest report, the statewide 7-day average positivity rate has grown to 0.88%. Hospitalizations have also increased, now standing at 348 – an increase of nine from the last report. Patients admitted to the ICU has also increased.
More than 10,000 traffic tickets were issued by state police in New York during the July 4th weekend enforcement campaign. Troopers arrested 195 people for DWI and investigated 648 crashes, including 122 personal injury crashes and two fatalities. As part of the enforcement, Troopers also targeted speeding and aggressive drivers across the state. Just shy of 4,000 speeding tickets were issued and 202 for distracted driving.
Dominic Pezzola, the Rochester man seen on video smashing a window at the U.S. Capitol with a police shield on January 6, has filed a motion for conditional release. According to WROC-TV, Pezzola is accused of smashing a window at the U.S. Capitol, smoking a cigar inside the building, and threatening to kill former Vice President Mike Pence. The motion argues conditions in the D.C. jail where Pezzola is being held violate his human rights, and prevent him from privately speaking with his attorneys and reviewing the evidence against him. Pezzola’s attorneys unsuccessfully filed for his release in February. That motion was denied in March when a judge signed a detention order that holds Pezzola until his trial date, which has not yet been set.
The New York State Division of Consumer Protection and the Department of Motor Vehicles today warned New Yorkers of a text message phishing scheme. Phishing texts are fraudulent messages designed to obtain data or sensitive personal information to be used to commit identity theft or trick the recipient into installing malicious software onto a computer or mobile device. The illegitimate text messages reference the Secretary of State NY Drivers License Facility and tells recipients they are required to update their data for their current NY Drivers License. Anyone who received such a text message should delete it right away.
