Morning News Brief
Written by Tom Tharp on March 21, 2023
Batavia City School board members unanimously approved nearly $36,000 in settlement funds Monday from a lawsuit in which the district claimed injury, malice, oppression and fraud against Juul Labs. The city school district was one of 143 districts involved in the lawsuit against the makers of the popular vaping products, alleging that the company “fraudulently and intentionally marketed” its products to children and that those products caused numerous health, financial and structural damages to the district and students. Superintendent Jason Smith said that the expected proceeds were going to be invested into the city district’s “preventative and restorative” program called Vape University.
Congresswoman Claudia Tenney invited High School students from New York’s 24th district to participate in the 2023 Congressional Art Competition. Started in 1982 by members of the U.S. House of Representatives, High School students across the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories are invited to participate in a nationwide annual art competition. Since its creation, over 650,000 high school students have submitted their artwork to the contest. The contest winner will have their artwork displayed in the U.S. Capitol for a year.
A new study ranks New York state next to last when it comes to affordability for seniors on a budget. The study was done by networking company Seniorly and looked at eight financial metrics impacting seniors, including health care, retirement income and taxes. The study looked into the relationship between retirement income and cost of living. Out of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., the study ranked New York only in front of Massachusetts. The study found that more than 31 percent of retirees in New York spend 30 percent or more of their income on housing. It’s also reportedly one of the least tax-friendly states for seniors.
The lineup has been finalized for the 20th annual CGI Rochester International Jazz Festival. Headliners performing ticketed shows at Eastman Theatre’s Kodak Hall include Pat Metheny, Keb’ Mo’, Omara Portuondo and Bonnie Raitt. St. Paul and The Broken Bones will perform a free show June 24 at 9 p.m. at the corner of East Avenue and Chestnut Street. Four other free headliner shows will take place at Parcel 5, including Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers, Southside Johnny, Artimus Pyle Band and Trombone Shorty. The festival runs June 23-July 1 at venues throughout the city.
The Sabres playoff hopes are more of a distant dream as they dropped their fourth straight game Tuesday night against the Nashville Predators 7 to 3. Skinner, Cozens and Thompson scored for Buffalo. Anderson let in 6 goals and Luukonen let in one out of the 26 shots on the goal from Nashville. The Sabres face off with the New Jersey Devils on Friday at 7 at the Keybank Center.
