Memorial Day News Brief

Health officials say the state’s 7-day average positivity rate is now 0.71%.  That’s the lowest number since the COVID-19 crisis began.  The previous record was 0.75% set in August 2020.  We have now seen 55 days of consecutive decline here in New York State.

Attica celebrated Lt Chelsey Hibsch Day yesterday in honor of the first woman in the Air Force to qualify as a Ranger.  Only about 300 Air Force personnel have qualified as rangers since the Army started accepting Airmen into the program in 1955.  In 2019 Hibsch made the cut.  Hibsch has now been assigned to Travis Air Force Base in California, where she will serve as a flight commander in the 821st 821st Contingency Response Squadron.

Labor shortages, disruptions to trade caused by the COVID pandemic, and a whole lot of new people getting into camping have caused a shortage of camping supplies in Upstate New York.  Tent stakes, fishing rods and many other staples of going out into the outdoors are missing from store shelves because more people are buying and the supply is not coming in.  The closure of the border with Canada and less trade coming in from places like China are reducing the supply to a 42 year low coinciding with a 70-100 percent increase in purchases.  Sales of new powerboats are also up 35 percent.

There are still spots open for the Genesee Park and Forest Environmental Science Camp.  This outdoor hands on camp is for 7^th through 10^th graders and goes from Monday July 12^th through Friday July 16^th from 9am to 4pm.  This weeklong adventure includes wildlife surveys, stream studies, tree identification and more taught by professionals in different fields of Environmental Science.  Deadline to register is Monday June 28^th and the cost is 95 dollars per camper.