Weekend News Brief

A convicted killer for hire from Rochester is on the run after failing to return to a halfway house Monday.   64 year old Dominic Taddeo was transferred from a medium security prison to a halfway house in Florida and was awaiting official release next year.  He went to a scheduled appointment but never came back.  He is now listed as escaped according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Taddeo was a mob hitman who killed 3 men in Rochester and attempted to kill a mob boss.  He claimed to be a part of La Cosa Nostra.  When he was arrested for a firearms violation in 1987 he made bail and then disappeared for 2 years before being caught and imprisoned.  He was sentenced to 30 years for drug conspiracy, bail jumping and illegal weapons possession and 24 years on top of that.  

Governor Hochul has lifted her previous executive order delaying the implementation of the “Safe Staffing Act,” which requires all long-term care facilities in the state to provide at least 3.5 hours of individual care to each resident, each day. The law had previously been suspended due to pandemic-related staffing shortages.  There have been worker shortages and other issues during the COVID 19 pandemic but Hochul says that nursing homes have to meet their residents’ needs.  No punishments for not having 3.5 hours a day have been announced.

The Batavia Kiwanis Club Easter Egg hunt is back on this year after a 2 year hiatus.  It will be held on Saturday April 16th starting at 9am at Centennial Park.  Age groups will be birth through 3, 4 to 7 and 8 to 10.  In addition, last year’s new tradition, the Golden Prize Egg will still be given. Starting on Saturday, April 9th, there will be a Golden Prize Egg hidden daily at Centennial Park. The egg will be hidden at different times each day to allow for families with different schedules to search and have an equal chance of finding the egg. The Golden Prize Eggs are restricted to kids age 12 and under, although older siblings and family members can help search! 

Its not quite Shark Tank but it is an opportunity to sharpen your idea about starting a new business and it does have prize money.  Genesee community college is hosting a Pitch Competition for people who have a business idea to come and pitch the concept and find out if they can convince a customer or an investor that their plan is a good one.  GCC’s Business Idea Pitch Competition is on Tuesday, April 19, from 9 a.m. to 1pm.  The competition is free and open to the public and prizes of $100 for first place and $75 for second place will be awarded to the most outstanding competitors in the “most likely to succeed” and “most creative” categories. Pitches will be judged by local business leaders.

The Buffalo Sabres beat the Nashville Predators 4 to 3 Friday in an arena with the first sold out crowd in 2 years.  This was the final night for Announcer Rick Jeanneret.  Jeanneret has been the Sabres announcer since 1971 and a banner was added to the Keybank Arena rafters in his name.  Tage Thompson scored twice and Victor Olofsson scored once.  The Sabres host the Florida Panthers on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.