Latest news with #TopsFriendlyMarket
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
City of Erie police hosting drug take back event: Here's what you should know
Leftover prescription medicines are often misused by their owners' friends and relatives — That's according to City of Erie Police Lt. Jamie Russo. On Thursday, Russo announced a drug take-back program that's free and open to the public with no questions asked. Tops Friendly Market reminds customers of year-round drug drop-off bins amid National Drug Take Back Day From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. this weekend, city residents can bring unwanted narcotics to either of two drop-off locations for safe disposal. Those locations are City Hall and UPMC Hamot. Lt. Russo said cleaning out your cabinets can help prevent drugs from causing or feeding a loved one's addiction. Easter weekend DUI arrests decline, crashes rise from 2024: PSP 'What they've learned is that these prescription medications, which are so easily available a lot of times in our own family members' homes, is the gateway drug to begin, unfortunately, addiction and/or some harder type of illegal substances,' said Russo. Lt. Russo said not to flush medications down the toilet because they could impact water systems. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Environmental impact: 5 years since New York's plastic bag ban
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — It has been just over five years since former Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the New York State Bag Waste Reduction Act, which meant all stores collecting sales tax were no longer able to distribute plastic bags. The goal was to eliminate the use of extra plastic and help keep communities clean and safe. Now, many grocery stores, like Tops Friendly Market on Mt. Read Boulevard, have begun pushing consumers to invest in reusable bags. 'We encourage customers to use the reusable bags so that as a company, we are being more environmentally friendly,' says Dave Williams, the Mt. Read Boulevard location store manager. 'We want to do what we can to prevent any kind of plastics going into the landfill, trying to do our best to really push the use of reusable bags, as they are best for the environment.' Along with most other grocery stores, Tops does provide paper bags to customers, but even paper bags can be harmful for the environment. A spokesperson from the supermarket chain says that although paper is much more environmentally friendly than plastic, it can still present potential issues, as the production of paper bags can release air and water pollutants. As Williams explains, reusable bags are better for the environment, and your wallet. 'We want to be customer friendly,' he says. 'So we do provide paper bags at a small cost, so there is a savings long term by using reusable bags.' Even though Tops and other supermarkets were enjoying the reusable bags, many customers weren't on board right away. 'Originally, I missed them,' said Dorothy Madigan, a Town of Greece resident. 'I would use them for trash and everything else.' Another Greece resident agreed with Dorothy. 'I liked the plastic bags,' says Anne Murphy. 'I have a cat and I would find other uses for the bags outside of just holding groceries.' Eventually though, they both came around to the many positive aspects of the reusable bags. 'Now I have several different bags from different vendors and I use them everywhere I go,' says Murphy. 'It's a way to restore energy and not have to worry about things.' 'Their easier to carry, easier to pack, their just all around better,' said Madigan, referring to reusable bags. 'You keep them in your car, take them in the store, bring them home, and nothing gets trashed. They last a long time and their relatively cheap too.' Aside from the environmental aspects, Williams says that by purchasing certain reusable bags at any local Tops locations, you can be giving to those in need as well. Through a charitable program called 'Totes For Change', for every special charity-design reusable bag they sell, a portion of proceeds go to a number of organizations, including United Way, Feeding America, Golisano Children's Hospital, and many more. 'To date,' Williams explains. 'We have donated over $739,000 to so many organizations that help local families.' We also reached out to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, who told us because of the plastic bag ban, we have seen a significant reduction in the amount of waste and litter statewide. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Tops Friendly Market reminds customers of year-round drug drop-off bins amid National Drug Take Back Day
(WJET/WFXP) — A regional supermarket chain is reminding customers of their year-round initiative as National Perscription Drug Take Back Day approaches. Tops Friendly Market sent out a reminder to shoppers that drug drop-off bins are available in their pharmacies year-round. Pennsylvania food banks begin to feel effects from federal funding cuts Each pharmacy is equipped with a clearly marked bin where customers can safely discard medications they no longer need. Matthew Hamed, director of pharmacy for Northeast Shared Services, said that these bins are an important part of the Tops initiative. Senator Dave McCormick talks growth, investment during Erie visit 'Tops is proud to support National Drug Take Back Day and play an active role in the communities we serve,' said Hamed. 'Our commitment to proper medication disposal extends beyond this single event—it's a year-round priority. Disposing of medications responsibly protects both our environment and the people in our neighborhoods.' To find the Tops location nearest to you, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
USA Today
03-04-2025
- USA Today
Man who killed 10 in Buffalo mass shooting wants death penalty trial relocated to NYC
Man who killed 10 in Buffalo mass shooting wants death penalty trial relocated to NYC Show Caption Hide Caption Mass shootings: How to talk to your kids about acts of violence Talking about acts of violence like mass shootings with your children is not easy. If you have to have that difficult talk, remember the four S's. USA TODAY A white gunman who killed 10 Black people in a Buffalo supermarket is requesting to move his death penalty trial to New York City in order to be judged by a racially diverse jury, according to his attorney's court filing. Payton Gendron's attorneys filed the request Monday in U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York, arguing that assembling an impartial jury would be impossible in the area affected by the shooting. Gendron pleaded guilty to 15 state charges in 2022 for the massacre at the Tops Friendly Market in East Buffalo and now faces a separate jury to decide whether he will be put to death. "Due to the overwhelming amount of pretrial publicity, combined with the impact of this case on Buffalo's segregated communities of color, it is impossible for Payton Gendron to select a fair and impartial jury in the Western District of New York," Gendron's lawyers wrote. Gendron's lawyers say the majority of Black Buffalo residents live in East Buffalo. Gendron targeted the Tops Friendly Market to maximize the number of Black victims, according to his lawyers. "If the verdict in this case is to carry any moral authority, it should be delivered by a diverse group of citizens," Gendron's attorneys Sonya Zoghlin, Monica Foster, Marybeth Covert and Julie Brain wrote in court documents. Zoghlin, Foster and Covert are federal public defenders. Brain is a Philadelphia-based lawyer who primarily represents people facing the death penalty. New York state, where Gendron pleaded guilty to the state charges, does not have the death penalty. But federal authorities independently opted to pursue hate crime charges against Gendron that carry a death sentence. The attorneys proposed moving the case to a federal court in New York City, where there are a sufficient number of minorities who weren't directly impacted by the shooting that could potentially serve on the jury. Gendron's lawyers didn't immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for comment. In May 2022, Gendron shot 13 people with a semiautomatic rifle at the upstate New York supermarket. Three people survived the attack, which he livestreamed. According to documents posted online, Gendron hoped the shooting would help preserve white power in the U.S. A N.Y. judge handed Gendron a lengthy prison sentence in 2023 after Gendron pleaded guilty to 10 counts of first-degree murder, one count of domestic terrorism motivated by hate, three counts of attempted murder as a hate crime and one count of criminal possession of a weapon. He is serving 11 life sentences, which are running concurrently, 25 years for each attempted murder charge and 15 years for the weapons charge. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Buffalo declined to comment on the filing. Federal prosecutors have not filed a response to the motion. Lawyers: Media coverage, survivors complicate jury trial in Buffalo According to the filing, the attorneys estimated that more than 800 articles have been published by Buffalo media outlets since May 2022 about the shooting, Gendron, victims and sentencing in state court. They noted the estimate was conservative as they relied on keyword searches that didn't capture all possible terms. They said that remarks from former President Joe Biden calling Gendron "a hate-filled soul" in the Associated Press, New York Governor Kathy Hochul calling the shooting an act of terrorism in the Buffalo News and statements from other politicians created adverse media coverage. "The media frenzy in the days and weeks following the shooting was extraordinary though perhaps not entirely unexpected," the attorneys wrote. "The defense tracked 130 local news articles in the fourteen days following the shooting." They added that the Supreme Court of the U.S. upheld the belief that when a community selects jurors from an area affected by negative media coverage, "there arises a presumption of prejudice." "The impact of the shooting on East Buffalo was felt far beyond those who were killed, injured, or in the vicinity when the shooting occurred," attorneys wrote. "The entire neighborhood was impacted dramatically." More than 75 volunteer or community organizations helped survivors and the neighborhood recover from the shooting, the court filing said. Gendron's lawyers said Buffalo's motto of being a "city of good neighbors" meant many people who assisted those organizations would be unfit to serve on a jury because of their emotional ties to the case. Gendron's attorneys are seeking a racially diverse pool that would effectively "express the conscience of the community" in a case that has centered around hate-motivated murder. They argued that Gendron's death penalty verdict "must not be returned by a racially monolithic body. Federal juries are frequently criticized for their whiteness and for their lack of diversity." That happened in the 2012 trial of George Zimmerman, who prosecutors said shot and killed Trayvon Martin, a Black child. In the trial, he was acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges by an all-women jury that had only one nonwhite juror. Gendron's attorney said a New York City jury and courtroom would be a better fit for the death penalty trial to deliver a fair verdict and handle what they expect to be an overwhelming number of spectators and media. U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo hasn't yet issued a hearing for Gendron's request. Feds pursuing the death penalty against Luigi Mangione, others Gendron is one of several people for whom federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in 2025. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Tuesday she directed the Justice Department to pursue the death penalty against Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City. Mangione faces federal and state criminal charges in Thompson's Dec. 4 death outside of a hotel. His lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo called the DOJ's move "political." Only three people are on death row in the federal system - Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Robert Bowers and Dylann Roof. Biden declined to commute their sentences because they were convicted of terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder. He commuted the sentences of 37 people to prevent the Trump administration from resuming executions he stopped. Tsarnaev was convicted of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that killed three people and injured more than 260. Bowers was convicted of the 2018 mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh that killed 11 people. Roof was convicted in the 2015 Charleston, South Carolina, mass shooting where he killed nine people at Mother Emanuel, a historically Black church. Contact reporter Krystal Nurse at knurse@ Follow her on X @KrystalRNurse, and on BlueSky @
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Buffalo supermarket shooter Payton Gendron wants his death penalty trial moved to NYC for a diverse, impartial jury
Attorneys for a white gunman who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket want to move his death penalty-eligible trial to New York City, writing in a court filing that it would be difficult to seat a diverse and impartial jury in the upstate city. About 85% of Buffalo's Black residents live in East Buffalo, where the shooting occurred, Payton Gendron's lawyers wrote Monday, and many would be prevented from serving on the jury because of ties to the case. 'If the verdict in this case is to carry any moral authority, it should be delivered by a diverse group of citizens. But, given the history of segregation in Buffalo, that is exceedingly unlikely' if the case is tried in Buffalo, they said. The filing also cited the hundreds of local news stories that have been published since the May 2022 attack at the Tops Friendly Market. Gendron carefully planned and carried out the shooting with a semiautomatic rifle 'to prevent Black people from replacing white people and eliminating the white race, and to inspire others to commit similar acts,' according to a criminal complaint. A portable camera strapped to his tactical-style helmet livestreamed as Gendron roamed the parking lot and aisles of the store, firing on shoppers and employees. Those killed ranged in age from 32 to 86. Three people were wounded and dozens of others in and outside the neighborhood's only grocery store escaped injury. Citing the 'outsized number' of people directly impacted by the shooting, Gendron's lawyers suggested moving the trial to federal court in New York City, 'a jurisdiction that is far enough from the local media market to be less impacted by it.' The district 'also has sufficient minority representation that has not been directly impacted by the shooting and its aftermath that a diverse and representative jury should be able to be selected,' the filing says. The US Attorney's office in Buffalo did not immediately comment. Gendron is serving a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty in November 2022 to multiple state charges, including murder. Then-Attorney General Merrick Garland last year announced the government would seek the death penalty in a parallel federal case charging him with hate crimes and weapons counts. Gendron's attorneys, in an earlier filing, argued that Gendron should be exempt from the death penalty because he was 18 years old at the time of the shooting, an age when the brain is still developing. That motion is pending. The trial is scheduled to start in September.
