Midday News Brief
Written by Dan Fischer on February 1, 2021
Nasty winter weather is all around us, but for now at least, Genesee County is doing OK.
We are one of the few counties in New York State without an active weather alert.
Monroe and Livingston Counties have winter weather advisories until tomorrow morning.
The farther east you travel, look out.
Governor Cuomo today declared a state of emergency in New York City and 9 other counties throughout the Hudson Valley and Long Island.
Western New York drivers are still seeing an increase in prices at the gas pumps. According to Triple A, the average cost for a gallon of regular in Batavia is $2.39 – up two cents from last week.
That price is still nearly 25-cents a gallon less than a year ago.
The Batavia City Council begins its Budget Review tonight.
Council meets at 6 tonight – open to the public – and will go over budgets for General Administrative Services and the Police Department.
On Wednesday night, council will review the DPW and Fire Department budgets.
Adoption of the final budget is set for March 8th.
In its present form, the city budget would result in a tax increase of 1.4-percent, a substantial increase in water rates.
The budget calls for layoff of a DPW ordinance enforcement officer, and leaves vacant two police officer positions and three firefighter positions.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer isn’t a fan of what he’s seeing lately on Wall Street. With retail investors on Reddit driving up the stock price of GameStop, Schumer described recent market action as “really messed up.” He said many questions must be addressed right away. The New York Democrat added he wants Senate committees to look at the issue as well. Schumer insisted players in the stock market can’t referee as well.
