Wednesday News Brief

33-year-old Cameron Youngs of Buffalo has been arrested. He’s charged with assault and endangering the welfare of a child. He’s accused of intentionally causing physical injury to a 6-year-old child in Perry. Youngs was arraigned in Warsaw Town Court and committed to the Wyoming County Jail. He’s scheduled to appear in Arcade Court on January 11th.

 

 

 

 

A Syracuse area man has been identified as the driver who caused a fiery crash in Rochester on New Year’s Day. According to authorities, 35-year-old Michael Avery drove a Ford Expedition filled with gas cans into a ride-share vehicle and also a group of pedestrians outside the Kodak Center on Monday. Avery, 29-year-old Joshua Orr, and 28-year-old Justina Hughes died and several other people were hurt. The FBI and law enforcement are asking anyone with information on this case to call 585-428-7157.

 

 

Governor Hochul is focusing in on consumer protection and affordability for New Yorkers. It’s the first of many proposals Hochul plans to lay out in her 2024 State of the State address, which is set for next Tuesday. The governor plans to expand New York’s consumer protection law for the first time in 40 years to ensure fairness in “Buy Now Pay Later” services while also increase paid medical and disability leave benefits for the first time since 1989. Hochul wants to eliminate co-pays for insulin, which is expected to save New Yorkers roughly $14 million in 2025. The governor says she spent the last two years putting more money in New Yorkers’ pockets and now she wants to enact legislation that keeps it there.

 

Members of the legislature will be back at the State Capitol in Albany today to kick-off their brand-new legislative session. The first few weeks will likely focus on working out an agreement on the state budget that is due April 1st. Other issues that might be discussed and voted on include housing production, health care, cannabis reform and improving the environment. This year’s legislative session is set to wrap up in June.

 

According to Triple A this morning, the national average price for a gallon of regular gas is now $3.10. The state average – always a little higher – is $3.35. In Batavia, we’re paying $3.41; that’s down 3 cents from a week ago and 15 cents from a month ago today. Christmas travel was slightly lower than anticipated on the roads so the hike in gas costs that was predicted failed to appear. Experts are still predicting the prices to stay the same or rise slightly over the next few weeks.

 

The City of Batavia received 350K in the form of a Community Development Block Grant just before the end of 2023. The funds would enable homeowners to make home repairs with grant and deferred loan funding. Assistant City Manager Erik Fix says that the details are still being worked out and how the money will be allocated and who will receive the grant money will be announced in the next few months.

 

With exercising more being a top priority for people at the start of the year, the state Division of Consumer Protection is offering tips to help folks avoid gym membership mistakes. It’s recommended that people review any contract before signing it, and to be aware of add-on fees. Knowing termination fees is important if anyone decides to cancel their membership. State law also requires businesses with auto-renewal programs to disclose terms of those offers when consumers are enrolling.

 

 

ELSEWHERE…

 

A woman is suing Hershey after she unwrapped a Reese’s Halloween Peanut Butter cup without its signature “cute pumpkin face.” Cynthia Kelly expected the pumpkin-shaped chocolate to have a jack-o-lantern face carved onto it the way it’s pictured on the wrapper. Instead, it was a plain pumpkin-shaped candy. Kelly filed a lawsuit against the maker of Reese’s, Hershey, claiming it falsely represented several of the holiday products on its packaging. She says in the lawsuit she “would not have purchased the Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkins product if she knew that it did not have the detailed carvings of the mouth and/or eyes as pictured on the product label.”

 

There are twins that were just born in both New Jersey and Connecticut in separate years. Virtua health officials say parents came to Virtua Voorhees Hospital and had one baby born at 11:58pm on New Year’s Eve while the second baby was born after midnight on New Year’s Day. The same thing happened in Connecticut at Yale New Haven Hospital. Those twins were only born three minutes apart but one arrived in 2023 and the other in 2024.

 

A winter storm is slated to bring snow, rain and wind to the East this weekend. Forecasters aren’t yet sure how much snow the system can be expected to bring, especially for areas near the I-95 corridor. The storm should begin dissipating late on Sunday.

 

Today is Wednesday, Jan. 3, the third day of 2024 with 363 to follow.

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

January 3 in history…

 

…In 1938, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the March of Dimes, a non-profit that began with an appeal for dimes to fight polio. After polio was effectively eliminated in the United States, the organization changed its mission to provide health and wellness for moms and babies.

 

 

…In 1959, Alaska became the 49th state of the United States. Happy 65th birthday!

 

 

 

 

 

…In 1969 New Jersey police seized 30-thousand copies of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s album “Two Virgins” after authorities declared the cover, which featured Lennon and Ono naked, pornographic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

…In 1987 Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer” broke into the Top 40 chart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

…In 2003, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was born; happy 21st!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…In 2008, Young Sheldon’s little sister, actor Raegan Revord was born; happy 16th!