Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren is asking the state legislature to allow the city to have its own traffic violations agency. In return, the mayor says she’d let residents work out payment plans or enter a plea bargain for their traffic tickets.
City Council voted unanimously at a special meeting this morning to back the mayor’s request. The city says Assembly Member David Gantt and State Senator Joe Robach have already introduced the enabling legislation in Albany.
Warren says the current system is administered by the state, and people either pay the fine or lose their driver’s license. She says that means losing their ability to work or go to school. She says it’s one more thing that adds on to the cycle of poverty for low income people.
The mayor says suburban town courts have the flexibility to give residents options in paying tickets and the city should have the same to be fair to its people.
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City Council began hearings this morning on the 2016 city budget, looking at the city administration spending.
Councilmembers asked about the city’s commitment to the Pathways to Peace program which tries to engage young people through city rec centers with anti-violence advocates. City officials said they’re hoping to close a partnership with the City School District to enhance that effort.
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Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley says a grand jury has found a Rochester SWAT team member was justified in firing on a navy veteran who aimed a shotgun at police.
That shot struck and killed Phillip Vitullo, ending a four-hour standoff at an apartment building on Lake Avenue.
Police were called in early on March 7th when Vitullo began waving the gun around in the apartment building, then fired a shot at police and another inside. Police evacuated residents and negotiated with Vitullo but couldn’t get him to stand down. When he raised the shotgun from a window, the SWAT team fired and killed him.
The grand jury found the officer acted in self defense.
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Firefighters rescued a woman from a burning home in Greece this morning.
She called 911 about 5:45 a.m. to report smoke in her home on Lettington Lane. North Greece Firefighters arrived and had to search through the smoke and around piles of her belongings to find the woman, who had apparently fallen behind her bed.
She was breathing, but not conscious and she was taken to Strong Memorial Hospital.
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The United Way of Greater Rochester topped $25 million in its spring campaign.
United Way 2016 Campaign Chair Martin Mucci announced that volunteers raised $25,107,418. That goes over a goal that was set above last year’s for the first time in nearly a decade.
Mucci — who’s also the CEO of Paychex — says this demonstrates the Rochester area’s generosity and commitment to working together for those most in need.
United Way funding supports programs and nonprofit agencies throughout the community, providing after school programs, meals and other services.
United Way CEO Fran Weisberg says this is a transformational year for the organization.
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Gates firefighters were out this morning and are out this afternoon until 6:00 with their annual “Fill The Boot” campaign–raising funds for research and treatment of Muscular Dystrophy.
They’re collecting change in their fire boots at the corner of Long Pond and Spencerport Roads.
The Muscular Dystrophy Association says Rochester and Buffalo Area fire departments have been doing this every spring for more than 60 years.
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Governor Cuomo got to push the plunger today to blow up the old Route 219 Bridge over Cattaraugus Creek, linking Erie and Cattaraugus Counties.
The bridge will be replaced with a new, multi-million dollar copy after the 300 tons of old steel were sent plunging into the gorge.
With that out of the way, maybe the DOT 
can do
something about the one-third of all highway bridges around the state rated subpar by TRIP…The Road Improvement Project.
The Genesee Transportation Council has said it would need a 60 percent boost in available maintenance and repair funding to get all Rochester-area bridges back into good condition over the next 25 years.