Regional Briefs – February 11, 2018

Glitch Knocks Out Traffic Lights Across NYC

NEW YORK – A glitch led to hundreds of malfunctioning traffic signals across the city early Saturday, a problem that was mostly fixed by the afternoon, the New York Post reported. Drivers were greeted with flashing red and yellow signals in all five boroughs, including on Brooklyn’s McDonald Ave.

Date Set for 11 Special Elections to Fill Empty Seats

ALBANY – April 24 has been set as the day for special elections to fill 11 seats in the state legislature after lawmakers resigned. There are nine vacant Assembly seats in Albany, Long Island, NYC and Buffalo, while two seats in the Senate are in Westchester and the Bronx.

Man Arrested in Attempted Arson of Police Station

GALLOWAY, N.J. – An arsonist was arrested for trying to set a police station on fire in December, The Associated Press reported. Sean Shearer was seen approaching the lobby and lighting a glass bottle and throwing it onto the concrete in front of the entrance doors before fleeing. There were no injuries.

Public Defenders Walk Out in Protest of ICE Court Arrests

BRONX – More than 100 public defenders walked out of a Bronx courthouse on Thursday in protest of their clients getting detained at the courthouse by federal immigration officials, WABC reported. One of the detainees, an illegal, had federal agents waiting outside the court to arrest him for assaulting someone on a bus.

This article appeared in print on page 5 of the February 12th, 2018 edition of Hamodia.