The summer heat is creating serious issues for residents of Western New York. Yesterday, temperatures in the 90s triggered an air quality warning. Storm Team 2 says say the high temperatures are slated to last for the rest of the week, so residents are reminded to limit outdoor activities and drink plenty of water. The heat wave is affecting multiple eastern states.
A rape was reported early Monday morning in Amherst. Police say a 20-year-old woman told them she was walking under the Thruway overpass on Wehrle Drive at about 1 a.m. Monday when a man jumped out of some bushes. He allegedly grabbed the woman, pushed her to the ground and raped her, then taking the woman’s debit card and twenty dollars in cash. The attacker was described as a six-foot black male, 180-pounds, with brown eyes and braided black hair, wearing a black v-neck short-sleeved t-shirt, dark jeans and diamond earrings. Anyone with information is asked to contact Amherst police at (716) 689-1311.
Buffalo police have made an arrest in a Monday night stabbing. The male victim was attacked on the 100 block of Dodge Street in the city. He was transported to Buffalo General Hospital with serious injuries. Cops apprehended a man in connection with the stabbings on nearby Northampton Street. The identities of the men, and the condition of the victim, have not yet been released.
Two men are in the hospital after their car crashed on Grand Island. 24-year-old Donald Holdoway of Grand Island and 24-year-old Michael Vallina of West Seneca were pulled from their vehicle, which went out of control down an embankment and struck a tree early Monday morning. The two were taken to Erie County Medical Center in stable condition.
A 50-year-old Kitchener man is dead and a Niagara Falls teenager is under arrest, after a head-on crash on the QEW. The accident occurred just after 2 a.m. Monday, and closed the Toronto-bound roadway for five hours. An 18-year-old driver appeared to be traveling the wrong way when he struck a car carrying a Canadian family. The Kitchener man was pronounced dead at the scene, while his wife and two daughters were hospitalized. Police are looking into alcohol as a factor.
Two men were arrested for DWI in separate incidents over the weekend. 45-year-old Mark McLaughlin of Buffalo was arrested after he drove off the road in Collins. And 45-year-old Joseph Faust of Arcade was stopped for erratic driving in Sardinia. Both men were charged with aggravated DWI and multiple traffic infractions.
Officials are investigating a fire that damaged two homes in Hamburg. Seven fire crews rushed to the burning house on East Main near Buffalo Street just before midnight Sunday. The flames had spread to a second house by the time firefighters arrived. No injuries were reported, but one family was unable to return to their home. Crews spent most of the night putting out the fires.
Governor David Paterson has promised further action on the state budget after the holiday break, but a specific time-line is still up in the air. The state’s spending plan for the current fiscal year is now 96 days late. During last week’s special session the Assembly passed the complete budget package, while the Senate passed all the items in the budget except for the revenue bill. Legislators say the amount of aid they’re slated to receive for Medicare funding from Washington is preventing them from moving forward. Lawmakers are expected to return to working on the budget today.
State Democratic leaders are reportedly looking to oust Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada from the Democratic party. The “New York Post” reports that a party official has drafted a letter to the Bronx Democratic chairman to start the process of kicking out Espada. The letter says the Senator’s views are out of step with the party, and accuses Espada of being a Democrat for personal gain only. Espada was previously accused of stealing millions from a Bronx health clinic.
Salaries of over 100-thousand-dollars aren’t uncommon with state authorities. Yesterday, the Authorities Budget Office released a new report detailing the current staffing levels for authorities across the state. The report finds that the state Housing Finance Agency and the Long Island Power Authority have the highest percentages of employees making over 100-thousand; with each having more than 45-percent of their staffers at that level. High salaries include staffers making over 200-thousand-dollars at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute Corporation and 163-thousand-dollars at the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority.
