Evening News Brief
Written by Tom Tharp on May 17, 2021
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that capacities at offices, gyms, and casinos and gaming facilities are increasing on Saturday. The capacity at offices is increasing Saturday from 50 percent to 75 percent. The capacity at gyms outside of New York City are increasing from 33 percent to 50 percent. Casinos and gaming facilities are increasing from 25 percent capacity to 50 percent capacity. On Wednesday, May 19, spectator capacity for outdoor events will increase from 20 percent to 33 percent.
In an announcement from New York City today, Cuomo announced all county fairs can reopen this summer with some restrictions. Fairs can reopen at full capacity if they have a permit from their local health department and can ensure six feet of social distancing will be possible for attendees. Fairs and festivals should encourage at least one attendee from each party to sign in during ticketing, or before or immediately upon entering the event space, providing their name, address and phone number for use in potential contact tracing efforts. Fairs and festivals must implement health screening for all individuals including questions on any COVID-19 symptoms, close contacts, recent positive COVID-19 test result, and compliance with State’s travel advisory. Fairs and Festivals May Require Masks for All Attendees
A report from Bloomberg News says that the Canadian government is holding internal discussions about plans to reopen the United States-Canada border to non-essential travel. The border has been closed since March of 2020. Congressman Chris Jacobs said “We are two countries but really one region, we are a regional economic block that has been suffering, in terms of tourism and families.” Hopes are that the border will be reopened soon. The order to keep the border closed expires May 21st.
Gas prices went up slightly this week but haven’t topped 3 dollars yet in western NY. In Batavia the price of a gallon of unleaded went up 2 pennies to 2.96. the New York state Average is 3.06 and the national average is 3.05. The Colonial Pipeline shutdown and the better weather and Memorial Day just around the corner will continue to cause prices to rise.
