Tuesday News Brief

19-year-old Zoro Reisman of Batavia has been arrested. He faces charges of robbery, grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property (credit card) and petit larceny. It’s alleged that Reisman forcibly took the victim’s wallet from her hands and ran. He was brought to Genesee County Jail where he is being held pending his CAP Court arraignment.

 

New York State Police have arrested 29-year-old Fnu Raine of Medina for sex crimes against children. This followed an investigation in the town of Shelby that determined he possessed child pornography. Raine is charged with 10 counts of possessing a sexual performance by a child. He was issued appearance tickets and is scheduled to return to the Town of Shelby Court in August.

 

Members of the New York State Assembly are going to be back at the State Capitol in Albany today for a special session. Lawmakers will be voting on bills that they did not get to decide the fate of before this year’s legislative session ended earlier this month. Among the measures they might take up include a proposal to establish the statewide regulation of short-term rentals and a bill that’d provide early parole for some incarcerated individuals 55 and older. The Senate isn’t expected to return until January.

 

 

No injuries have been reported after a train goes off the tracks in Darien and Corfu. The derailment happened early in the afternoon yesterday in the area of the Fargo Road railroad crossing in Corfu. The county fire coordinator says four cars carrying mostly empty tractor-trailers were involved in the incident that may have been caused by a mechanical problem. No hazardous materials or chemical spills occurred. It’s expected that the crossings between Snipery Road and Townline Road are going to be closed down for a couple of days. Photo: CSX website

 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is making a push for the region to become the center of the country’s very first green hydrogen hub. The New York Democrat made an appearance at the Plug Power gigafactory that’s located in Henrietta yesterday. Schumer says over one point-two-billion-dollars from the Department of Energy would be used towards creating regional hydrogen hubs in places such as the Finger Lakes. He called Plug Power a prime example of green energy production.

 

 

Two meetings are going to be taking place today to discuss the future of the Kensington Expressway project in Buffalo. They’ll be happening from 11:00am until 2:00pm and 5:00pm until 8:00pm at the Buffalo Museum of Science which is on Humboldt Parkway. The goal of this project is to help reconnect areas that were split up by the highway years ago. The meetings will give residents the chance to hear from project leaders, allow them to provide feedback and get their questions answered.

 

The Muckdogs won their game last night after coming back from a first inning, 3 run deficit against the Newark Pilots; the final score was 6-5. Tonight they play in Elmira and then it’s a 3-game series against the Tarp Skunks that starts with a double-header in Jamestown tomorrow. The ‘Dogs return home Thursday for game 3; they’ll take the field at 6:35. Photo: 13WHAM

 

 

The Genesee County Spartans semi-pro football team will be honoring the Batavia Titans, who won the semi-pro football championship in 1998. At that time, Kenny Mistler was the owner of the team. He and as many of the 1998 Titans that are available to attend, will be honored at half-time this Saturday evening on the new field at G.C.C. behind the Call Centre. The game starts at 7:00.

 

 

ELSEWHERE…

 

 

A Long Island-based crew has joined the search for the missing submersible at the site of the Titanic wreckage. An HC-130J aircraft, carrying a team from the 106th Rescue Wing New York National Guard unit based in Westhampton reached the search area Monday. Newsday reports it’s got six crew on board: one combat rescue officer, four parachute jumpers and two crew chiefs. The 106th first got the call from the Coast Guard around 10 a.m. Monday. Their first flight, loaded with water rescue gear, took off five hours later.  NBC Photo.

 

 

A 21-year-old California man is celebrating his tenth Guinness World Record. He solved a Rubik’s Cube in the fastest time ever — only 3.23 seconds. Max Park won his first cubing competition at age ten against graduates from MIT and CalTech. He started working the puzzle as therapy after being diagnosed with autism. Rubik’s shared a video of the feat on Instagram, calling it “mind blowing.”

 

 

Research shows morning people tend to live longer than night owls. But a new report suggests that may have less to do with sleep and more to do with what happens when you’re awake. Finnish researchers analyzed data from more than 20,000 people who took a survey in 1981 about their sleep habits, according to the study published last week in the peer-reviewed journal Chronobiology International. They discovered mortality risk in night owls was not because of lack of sleep but mainly tied to smoking and alcohol. Deaths from alcohol-related diseases and poisonings were seen more often in the evening type group. The study doesn’t explain why night owls were more likely to drink and smoke. But Jennifer Martin, professor of medicine at UCLA and former president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, who was not involved in the study, suggests it may have something to do with what establishments are typically open late at night.

 

A new study shows heavy drinkers can’t exactly “hold their liquor.” Instead, the University of Chicago study says those with alcohol use disorder, what used to be called alcoholism, tested significantly impaired on typical habits three hours after having a drink. A coauthor of the study said it’s a “popular perception that experienced drinkers can handle their liquor – like two cowboys in a bar in a drinking competition.” Yet the senior author said only about 10-percent of those with alcohol use disorder go into treatment, and added that binge drinking is on the rise.

 

The Mega Millions jackpot continues to grow and that means there’s going to be a big prize up for grabs tonight. Whoever picks the winning numbers for this evening’s drawing will receive at least $300,000,000 (million). The last time the jackpot was claimed was back in April when someone in East Syracuse won $20,000,000. The drawing will be streamed live online. Please play responsibly.

 

Today is Tuesday, June 20th, the 171st day of the year.

June 20 in history…

 

…In 1782, the Great Seal of the United States was adopted by Congress. The seal consists of an eagle, an olive branch, and 13 arrows. It is still used today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

…In 1893, a New Bedford, Massachusetts jury found Lizzie Borden innocent of the ax murders of her parents.

 

 

 

 

 

…In 1967, refusing to be drafted, Muhammad Ali was convicted in Houston of violating Selective Service laws. He was sentenced to five years but remained free on $5000 bail. The guilty verdict was later overturned by the Supreme Court.

 

 

 

 

…In 1994, O.J. Simpson pled innocent to the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman in Los Angeles.

 

 

 

 

…In 2006, in an unceremonious and controversial move, CBS network president announced that veteran news anchor Dan Rather would be leaving the company after 44 years. Sometime, when you have a few minutes, do a Google search of “Dan Rather and What’s The Frequency, Kenneth” (the latter being an R.E.M. song). Here are the basics of the story:

The title of the song is a reference to an incident that occurred in 1986 when CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather was walking to his apartment in Manhattan one night when he was attacked by two men on Park Avenue, with one of the men repeating, “Kenneth, what is the frequency?”

Rather, at the time noted, “I got mugged. Who understands these things? I didn’t and I don’t now. I didn’t make a lot of it at the time and I don’t now. I wish I knew who did it and why, but I have no idea.”

It was such a weird story that people doubted Rather’s account (it wouldn’t have been the first or last time a celebrity invented an attack for publicity or to disguise the real reason for an attack), but in this instance, a doorman and a building supervisor at a nearby building who ran to Rather’s aid confirmed the newsman’s story, so it just became this weird piece of pop culture, leading to R.E.M using it as the song title.

Rather even performed the song with the band for a comedy bit for David Letterman’s The Late Show.

However, things got a whole lot darker when a man named William Tager was arrested in 1994 for killing a The Today Show stagehand named Campbell Montgomery as part of an attempt to discover what the frequency that NBC was using to beam signals into his brain, which apparently was also his motivation for attacking Rather.

Tager was never charged with Rather’s attack (and he was paroled in 2010 from his killing of Montgomery), but New York District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau said “William Tager’s identity as the man who attacked Mr. Rather was established in the course of an investigation by my office.”