Tuesday News Brief

A woman has been charged for allegedly stabbing her boyfriend during an incident in Orleans County. Just before 8:00am yesterday morning, the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home on Oak Orchard Road in the town of Barre for a domestic incident involving a knife. Deputies found 59-year-old John Dunn suffering from multiple stab wounds. He was taken to Strong Memorial Hospital, where he’s listed in stable condition, according to deputies. Dunn’s girlfriend, 57-year-old Nathalie Ann Smith was arrested in connection to the incident. She’s charged with felony assault with intent to cause serious physical injury with a weapon and misdemeanor criminal possession of a weapon with intent to use.

 

There is a wind advisory in effect for Genesee and Orleans Counties until 6:00 this evening. The National Weather Service is predicting gusts of up to 50 miles per hour with sustained southwest winds at 20 to 30 miles per hour. Be careful especially when driving high profile vehicles and watch out for debris, tree limbs and unsecured items being blown around and into roadways. Power outages may occur, as well.

 

A man from Tunisia is awaiting a deportation hearing after he allegedly asked a woman to “purchase” her 5-year-old child in Wyoming County. The woman told officers from the Perry Police Department that the man also attempted to entice the child into his vehicle. Police arrested 64-year-old Monji Jelassi on December 2nd and detained him. His only identification at the time was a foreign-issued international driver’s license. U.S. Border Patrol discovered Jelassi was in the U.S. on an expired visa. He was taken to a federal detention facility in Batavia.

 

A new trial date is now set for Timothy Williams, the man accused of raping and killing 14-year-old Wendy Jerome in Rochester on Thanksgiving 1984. Three days of testimony in Williams’ initial trial were complete when the judge declared a mistrial last Wednesday, citing juror misconduct. Attorneys reconvened in court yesterday, agreeing to start the new trial with jury selection beginning February 27th. Multiple witnesses had traveled to Rochester to testify in the trial. They will likely need to be brought back in. The District Attorney says jury selection will be done differently this time to avoid another issue. The new trial will come nearly 40 years after Jerome’s body was found in an alcove outside School No. 33.

 

Plans are moving forward for members of a union at the University of Rochester Medical Center to go on strike. Workers will walk off the job for 17 hours beginning at 6:00am tomorrow. The hospital and union are trying to work out a deal on a new labor contract that addresses issues like higher wages and improved benefits. The previous agreement expired back on October 31st.

 

The names of two people killed in a weekend accident in Buffalo are now being made public. Officials say 20-year-old Joseph Sawicki was riding a motorcycle near South Park Avenue and Aldrich Place Saturday when he struck 33-year-old Ryan Piazza. Piazza lost his life at the scene, and Sawicki later died at Erie County Medical Center. Just what caused the tragedy is still being looked into.

 

Governor Hochul is launching a public awareness effort to ensure New Yorkers earning minimum wage get the raise they deserve come January 1st. The state’s minimum wage is set to increase to $15 an hour upstate and $16 an hour in Long Island, Westchester County, and New York City. Workers who don’t see a bump in their paychecks can file a complaint with the Department of Labor. Minimum wage in the Empire State will increase each year through 2026 and index to inflation in 2027.

 

The Buffalo Sabres are back in the win column after picking up a much-needed win on home ice. JJ Peterka, Payton Krebs, Eric Robinson, and Kyle Okposo each had a goal as the Sabres defeated the Arizona Coyotes 5-2 at KeyBank Center last night. Buffalo goalie Devon Levi stopped 21 of the 23 shots he faced in the contest. Up next for the Sabres is a game against the Avalanche in Colorado tomorrow night; face-off is at 10:00.

 

 

ELSEWHERE…

 

The Texas mother at the center of a lawsuit over the state’s abortion ban has left the state to get healthcare somewhere else. The Center for Reproductive Rights says Kate Cox’s unborn baby was diagnosed with a fatal condition, but her doctors refused to end the pregnancy over fears of prosecution. Last week, a court ruled in Cox’s favor, but that was immediately paused by the state Supreme Court.

 

 

 

More Americans are traveling on planes or by car this holiday season. Travel is still on the upswing after the COVID-19 pandemic. Triple-A predicts over 115-million Americans will travel at least 50 miles over the last 10-days of the year. It’s the highest projection since 2019. Triple-A’s senior vice president of travel said in a news release that this year’s holiday prediction is two-point-five million more than last year. She said “more Americans are investing in travel, despite the cost, to make memories with loved ones and experience new places.”

 

Most Americans who are living paycheck to paycheck say they expect to spend about the same amount or less this holiday season as they did last year. That’s according to a new Forbes Advisor survey that says close to half say they’ll spend about the same, and nearly one in five said they plan to tighten their belts. Another 30% of those whose paycheck just covers their living expenses with little left over say they’ll spend more.

 

Today is Tuesday, Dec. 12, the 346th day of 2023 with 19 to follow.

The moon is new. Morning stars are Jupiter, Uranus and Venus. Evening stars are Jupiter, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus and Venus.

December 12 in history…

 

…In 1901, Italian physicist and radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi sent the first radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean.

 

 

 

…In 1917, the Reverend Edward J. Flanagan, a 31-year-old Irish priest, opened the doors to Boys Town, a home for troubled and neglected children in Omaha. He lived by the adage, “There is no such thing as a bad boy.” It graduated its first class of girls in 1983.

 

 

 

…In 1955, Bill Haley and the Comets recorded “See You Later Alligator.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

…In 1957, disc jockey Al Priddy of KEX, Portland, Oregon, was fired for playing Elvis Presley’s rendition of “White Christmas.” He had violated the radio station’s ban against the song.