Evening News Brief
Written by Tom Tharp on February 22, 2021
Genesee Orleans and Wyoming Counties are under a winter weather advisory until 7pm tonight. There could be snow mixed with rain falling and up to 2 inches of accumulation. This could make for slippery conditions on the roads.
For the first time since November western New York has a positivity rate of less than 3 percent. The finger lakes region and western NY have a positivity rate of 2.3 percent. Nationally the rates of death and transmission has dropped significantly. Hopes are being expressed by officials in the medical community of new vaccines such as Johnson and Johnson’s vaccine being approved and more production being brought to bear that will speed up vaccinations and lead to things getting back to normal.
The South African Strain of COVID has been identified in Nassau County, the first time it has been detected in New York state. Governor Cuomo warns that people still need to be cautious about masking and hand washing. The South African strain has not been shown to be any more dangerous that COVID 19 and the vaccines have so far proven to be equally effective at fighting the new strains including the South African strain.
Senator Schumer is calling for an investigation into army and national guard vertical lift programs after the crash of a helicopter and death of 3 national guardsmen East of Rochester and a second crash in Idaho that claimed the lives of another 3 guardsmen. Schumer cited a report that in 2019 Congress created the Commission to examine past aviation safety and readiness mishaps and it reported that since 2013, more than 6000 U.S. noncombat military aviation mishaps occurred during training or routine operations, claiming the lives of 224 servicemembers. The senator said that these reports, cite a perfect storm of issues, including budgetary and administrative, that have resulted in lives lost, 186 aircraft destroyed, and taxpayers costs of approximately $11.66 billion.
Gas prices are up 11 cents since last week to 2.63. The price also has gone higher than last years average across New York state. Last year the price for a gallon of regular was 2.61.
The Sabres broke their 4 game losing streak with a win against the Jersey Devils Saturday. Their 3 to 2 victory was thanks to 2 goals from Sam Reinhart and 1 from Colin Miller. Their next game will be against The New York Islanders tonight at 7pm.
