Rochester Police Chief Michael Ciminelli has sent a letter to City Court Judge Leticia Astacio’s lawyer, confirming that the RPD is not charging the judge with driving on a suspended license.
Stories surfaced this week that the judge was seen driving after her license was suspended following her DWI arrest. Astacio’s attorney, Ed Fiandach, attributes the reports to mistaken identity. He says the judge’s sister has been driving her car while the judge isn’t using it.
Chief Ciminelli’s letter says they investigated the claims raised on June 2nd and found they were unsubstantiated.
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A report from State Comptroller Thomas Dinapoli says overdose deaths from heroin and other opioid drugs are rising faster in New York than most states…with Monroe and Erie Counties among the hardest-hit areas.
Dinapoli’s numbers are from 2014. They show New York’s overdose death rate incresed faster over the previous decade than nearly every other state for which data is available.
The Centers for Disease Control says there were 825 such deaths statewide in 2014…a 24 percent increase from 2013
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Governor Cuomo says New York will complete the renovation of the Niagara Falls State Park after 40 years of neglect.
A $70 million dollar upgrade under the “Parks 2020” plan is now 60 percent complete. In an event at the falls today, the governor says they’re restoring the natural look of the area that designer Frederick Law Ohlmstead envisioned. Scenic trails have been restored to the Three Sisters Islands, the Cave of the Winds Viewing Gallery is reopened and historic viewing areas are restored and renewed with new elevators and utilities.
State Parks and Recreation Commissioner Rose Harvey says Niagara Falls State Park was the result of the first wild river preservation movement in the nation back in the 19th Century. The park draws eight million visitors a year.
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Rochester police say they’re seeing a new type of counterfeit $100 bill in the area.
It copies the new design bills and is apparently made by bleaching a dollar bill so it’s on genuine paper and counterfeit-detecting pens won’t work. The counterfeits also put a strip of tape over the blue security strip to give it the right feel.
The have several examples of these bills passed over the last two weeks and they’re advising people to be aware.
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The Orleans County Sheriff’s Office and Albion Police have arrested a New York State Corrections Officer from Albion on drug sale and possession charges.
They say 32-year-old Ronald Standing Jr. of Holley Road was charged with a total of eight counts and is being held in the Orleans County Jail after arraignment on $25,000 bail.
Standing worked at the Orleans Correctional Facility in Albion. Authorities say they’re not sure if he supplied drugs to inmates. That’s under investigation with the help of the Department of Correctional Services.
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Rochester Police say a 26-year-old city man walked into the emergency department at Rochester General Hospital yesterday suffering from a gunshot wound.
Police found he’d been shot while standing in the parking lot at 886 North Clinton Avenue. His injuries are said to be non-life threatening and police have an ongoing investigation.
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A Geneseo man has been arrested for criminal mischief and trespassing after a domestic incident in North Dansville.
New York State Police say 32-year-old Brian Sanders became violent when locked out of a residence and kicked the door in, then pushed the victim down and damaged and threw around items inside the house. When she ran to a second house he tried to kick that door in, too…and when he failed, threw a construction cone through a window.
Sanders is now in jail on $2,500 bail.