Monday News Brief

Western New York is expected to receive as much as a foot and a half of snow this week as a series of lake effect storms are set to roll through. High winds and subzero wind chills will accompany heavy snow at times creating a dangerous environment for drivers and outdoor workers.  New York State’s department of transportation announced that they have rolled out over 1600 plows state wide along with emergency response assets and resources to help keep the snow from Erie and Onondaga off the road, however the Governor is urging people to stay off the roads if at all possible, have ample supplies on hand, check on vulnerable neighbors and have a plan for possible outages. It is also recommended that if you must travel, to have blankets and water available in your vehicle.

The Pentagon has readied 1500 active duty us soldiers to prepare for a potential deployment to Minnesota in case violence escalates. The move is precautionary in light of the ongoing protests of ice, and the shooting of Renee Good on January 7^th. The deployment of troops would have to come after a formal invoking of the insurrection act, which president trump hinted toward last Friday.  Additionally, the US district court has issued an injunction to active federal officers in Minnesota against detaining lawful protests or using pepper spray on peaceful observers. This warning comes. Some officials argue that the use of pepper spray was needed to quell violent criminal behavior and governor Tim Walz is asking residents to help establish a record of what is going on

President trump is applying further pressure on European countries as he remains set on Greenland. 8 European countries will have a 10 percent tariff imposed on them for opposing the U.s control of Greenland. Greenland is believed to play a very large role in the next century as arctic ice continues to melt, exposing new trade routes and universally important resources. Trump claims that Russia and China are eying it up for its minerals and doesn’t believe that Denmark is doing enough to protect it. Nato and Denmark has responded by increasing their presence on the island. Trump plans to meet with the European countries tomorrow and if no deal is reached by June he intends to raise the tariff to 25 percent.

New York State has awarded 6.65 million dollars through the water quality improvement program to the city of Batavia for a filtration system project that will reduce nutrient pollution and improve the quality of the Tonawanda creek. Additionally, a million dollars will go towards projects in the Iroquois wildlife refuge and for a new salt storage facility that will protect water quality in oak orchard creek. The money for these projects comes from multiple grant opportunities from the DEC and other conservation organizations. These projects are part of a state wide investment that includes 265 million dollars for water improvement efforts.