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Thursday, March 28, 2024
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News briefs

What you need to know in local, national and global news

Campus

UB team creates portable cancer detection tool

 UB professors created a portable cancer detection tool intended to help detect cancer in patients in areas that do not have hospitals.

Yun Wu, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering and a co-lead author of the study, said that, in preliminary tests, the tool has proven to be nearly as effective as the diagnostic tests used in hospitals.

The tool uses a gold biosensor to detect light intensity changes in blood samples when held under an LED light. This detects any cancer biomarkers that are present in the blood.

Additional authors of the paper include Qiaoqiang Gan, assistant professor of electrical engineering, Josep Jornet, assistant professor of electrical engineering, Mary Reid, professor of oncology at the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and research associate professor in UB’s School of Public Health and Xiandong Gu, professor of electrical engineering at Fudan University in China.

School security conference to be held in Washington, D.C.

Jeremy Finn, a professor in UB’s Graduate School of Education, and Timothy J. Servoss, an associate professor of psychology at Canisius College, have organized a conference to discuss the effectiveness of school security, according to UBNow.

Twenty-five of the country’s school security experts will gather Oct. 21-23 in Washington, D.C. to evaluate school security practices across the nation.

Finn has expressed concerns over the effectiveness and high cost of security measures.

Goals of the conference include summarizing research on security measures, identifying gaps and identifying strengths and weaknesses in government data. The conference will produce a report for policy makers on the impacts of school security measures.

Local

Kenmore police chief arrested, charged with possessing painkillers

Kenmore Police Chief Peter Breitnauer, 68, was arrested on Friday for possession of painkillers, according to The Buffalo News. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement that Breitnauer also admitted to stealing pills from a medication drop box at the Kenmore Police Station for personal use.

Prosecutors said that Breitnauer showed FBI agents a closet containing over 100 hydrocodone pills he had taken from the box, following his arrest for possession. According to Mayor Patrick Mang, Breitnauer has been placed on administrative leave while the village does a full investigation into the matter.

State report cites four safety violations in Officer Craig Lehner's diving death

New York State’s Public Employee Safety and Health Bureau completed an investigation into Buffalo Police Officer Craig Lehner’s diving death Friday. PESH identified four safety violations by the police department’s dive team, but did not go so far as to fine the city, according to The Buffalo News.

Failure to recognize the hazardous condition of the rapidly flowing river, provide Lehner with “rescue/self-rescue training,” require police Underwater Rescue Team members to bring additional emergency air tanks and to keep adequate records all violated federal safety standards, according to PESH.

Lehner, 34, a nine-year police veteran who also served on the department’s K-9 unit, drowned while training to dive in the Niagara River last October, PESH’s investigation found. Police department divers have not trained in the Niagara River since Lehner’s death.

The city will have 60 days to bring its dive team's training into compliance.

National 

Twenty dead after limousine crash in Upstate New York; nation’s deadliest accident in nine years
 Twenty people are dead after a limousine crashed into bystanders Saturday afternoon in Schoharie, New York, according to The New York Times. The crash killed all 18 people in the limousine and two bystanders.
 The accident was the nation’s deadliest accident in nine years. 

Those who were killed included at least two pairs of newlyweds and young parents. 

State officials declined to say where the group came from or was heading to, despite initial reports that stated the limousine rental was wedding-related.  

Virginia Jewish Community Center vandalized with swastikas
 The Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia was vandalized early Saturday morning for the second time in 18 months, according to CNN.
 Fairfax County Police released a video of a masked vandal who spray-painted 19 swastikas on the outside of the building.
 The president of the center, David Yaffe, said the first time the building was vandalized the community reeled in shock but that did not happen this time.
 “It’s in the air around us, in the country around us. There are expressions of support, but they are tinged with fatigue … how much rage can you sustain for that long period of time?” Yaffe said.
 

Global 

Turkey officials report missing journalist was murdered

Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi went missing after attending a Saudi consulate in Istanbul, according to the BBC. A Turkish official said initial investigations indicate the journalist from Saudi Arabia was murdered. 

Saudi Arabia has denied the allegation and said they are working to search for Khashoggi. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman commented on the situation the day after the consulate on Bloomberg News. Salman welcomes Turkish officials to search the building, stating they have “nothing to hide.”

Khashoggi, a high-profile critic of the crown prince, was last seen going to the consulate on Tuesday to obtain a document confirming he had divorced his ex-wife. Hatice Cengiz, his fiancée, said she waited outside for 11 hours but he never came back.

Violence erupts at a German far-right concert

A far-right concert on Saturday night ended abruptly due to an outbreak of violence that slightly injured eight police officers, according to the BBC.

Dubbed "Rock Against the Overflow of Foreigners," the concert was attended by approximately 700 neo-Nazis. It took place in the east German town of Apolda, Thuringia. 

A counter-demonstration happened earlier in the day, attracting a similar number of people. A church service in protest of the concert was also held on the day of the concert.

Bottles were thrown at police and officers used pepper spray in response to a demonstrator attempting to jump the barrier checks.

News Desk can be reached at news@ubspectrum.com

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