Thursday News Brief
Written by Pete Zehler on July 23, 2026
THE GOOSE COMMUNITY CENTER ENTERS A NEW CHAPTER
A longtime community gathering place in Oakfield is entering a new chapter.
The team behind The Goose Community Center has announced it is selling the South Main Street building to the Ognibene family. While ownership is changing, organizers say the facility will continue operating as a community center and food pantry, and all scheduled events will continue as planned.
The Goose thanked residents for years of support, saying the building became much more than just a meeting place because of the volunteers, donors and families who embraced it. The organization says it hopes the center will continue serving the community for years to come.
The food pantry first opened in Oakfield-Alabama Central School in 2018 before moving to its current home in 2020. The building itself was once home to the Yellow Goose before becoming part of the GOOSE Program, an outreach of Warrior House of Western New York. The Ognibene family is not commenting on the sale at this time.
TOWN MOVES FORWARD WITH $1.6 MILLION SEWER PROJECT
The Batavia Town Board has cleared another hurdle in a 1.6 million dollar infrastructure project for Sewer District Number Two.
A public hearing on the proposal was held Wednesday, but no residents spoke before the board authorized moving ahead with the financing process. The project includes rehabilitating aging manholes by cleaning them, applying protective spray coatings, rebuilding damaged sewer pipe connections and completing related site work.
Town Supervisor Greg Post says the next step is pursuing grants and other outside funding sources to reduce the amount the town would need to borrow through serial bonds. Any state, federal or county funding received would lower the cost passed on to property owners in the district.
Sewer District Number Two stretches from the courthouse north along Lewiston Road to the New York State Thruway, and also includes Park Road, Veterans Memorial Drive, and portions of West Main Street Road and West Main Street. Post says the district boundaries remain unchanged from previous sewer improvement projects.
STAFFORD BETTERMENT COMMITTEE ANNOUNCES SUMMER EVENTS
The Betterment Committee of Stafford has announced several upcoming community events.
The Music in the Park series continues at Emery Park with the Gingerwood Duo performing songs from the ’70s on Tuesday, July 28, followed by Craig Wilkins on August 11. The committee is also preparing for its final Junk in the Trunk Community Garage Sale on August 8 and its first-ever Car Cruise and Craft Show on August 23, featuring dozens of vendors, classic vehicles, food and family activities. More information is available on the Betterment Committee of Stafford’s Facebook page.
CHILD RAPIST SENT BACK TO PRISON AFTER CONTACT VIOLATION
A convicted child rapist has been sent back to prison after violating a court order just days after his release.
Twenty-seven-year-old Leonard E. Hahn the Fourth was sentenced in Wyoming County Court to 18 months to three years in state prison after pleading guilty to aggravated family offense. Prosecutors say Hahn was released from Attica Correctional Facility in April after serving nine years for child rape convictions, then went to the home of one of his victims on two consecutive days. Hahn was convicted in 2017 of raping multiple children in Genesee and Wyoming counties and is classified as a sexually violent offender under New York law.
OPENAI INVESTIGATES AI CYBERATTACK
OpenAI says it is continuing to investigate what it calls an unprecedented cyber incident after two of its artificial intelligence models escaped a testing environment and hacked into another AI company.
According to OpenAI, the AI models used stolen credentials and exploited a previously unknown software vulnerability to gain access to Hugging Face, a popular AI development platform. The company says the models were operating with reduced safeguards inside a testing sandbox before finding their own way onto the internet.
Cybersecurity experts are divided over whether the incident reflects true AI autonomy or human decisions to disable safety protections. The breach has intensified calls for stronger guardrails as AI systems become increasingly capable.
HOUSE PASSES $95 BILLION GOP BUDGET PACKAGE
House Republicans narrowly approved a 95 billion dollar budget package Wednesday that would fund the war in Iran, provide aid to farmers, and advance several White House priorities.
The measure passed 216 to 214, with only Republican support after two GOP lawmakers and one independent joined Democrats in voting no. The package includes 60 billion dollars for the Pentagon, 13 billion for other national security programs, 12 billion in farm aid, and 10 billion for voting law changes backed by President Trump.
The proposal now heads to the Senate, where its future remains uncertain. Some Republican senators want additional defense funding, while others say the costs should be offset with spending cuts.
MUCKDOGS FALL TO DOUBLEDAYS
The Batavia Muckdogs dropped an 8-4 decision to the Auburn Doubledays on the road Wednesday night.
Batavia will have a chance to even the series this afternoon when the two teams meet again, this time at Dwyer Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for later today as the Muckdogs look to bounce back and continue their push toward the top of the PGCBL Western Division.
