Morning News Brief

The Flood Watch remains in effect today through Friday across all of western NY.  Temperatures in the 50s combined with rain this morning through early afternoon may cause creeks and rivers to rise and overflow their banks.  Flooding may occur on roadways that have poor drainage.  Ice flows may jam at bridges and pipes causing water to back up.  Don’t enter water on a roadway, be aware of areas that are prone to flooding.  In addition to the Flood Watch there is also a Winter Weather Advisory for Orleans County from 5pm today through 9am Friday.  Snow accumulation of between 4 and 7 inches and falling temperatures could result in reduced visibility and icy and snow-covered roads.  

The Genesee County Legislature wants to honor the sacrifice of veterans who take up the mantle of Honor Guard at the Western NY National Cemetery in Corfu by providing them uniforms to wear while they go about their duties.  The legislature agreed to a resolution to spend up to 8000 dollars to make sure that the honor guard had proper uniforms.  The uniforms would belong to the members of the honor guard but would be required to be surrendered if they left the honor guard.  The WNY National Cemetery Honor Guard, Inc. consists of 32 members, all volunteers, who serve their fallen military member’s families at the burial grounds.  The final vote is this coming Wednesday. 

The organization Western New York Students First has filed a lawsuit against the state to end the indoor mask requirement for students 2 and up in daycares, preschools and k-12 schools.  They say their suit is supported by experts in the fields of epidemiology, virology and pediatric psychology.  The lawsuit was filed by WNY Students First on February 11 in State Supreme Court in Westchester County against New York Governor Kathy Hochul, the New York State Department of Health, New York State Office of Children and Family Services, Public Health and Health Planning Council and New York State Education Department.  From their press release: “Through our experts, we show that the State has failed to cite to any evidence that establishes a causal link between masking children and reducing transmission of COVID-19 in daycares or schools, and therefore such policies are arbitrary, capricious, and lacks a rational basis.”  Governor Hochul said that she would consider dropping the mask mandate for schools at the beginning of March but that she is still following “the science” to determine if it needs to remain in place.  

Police Departments are warning vehicle owners across Western New York about an increase in vehicles being stolen across the area.  The Lackawanna Police Department and Town of Hamburg Police Department have issued public warnings on Facebook.  Lackawanna police said Friday: “We are investigating a rash of vehicles that have been stolen over the past three days. In all instances owners have started their vehicles to warm them up or left them running while they run into an establishment for “a minute”, and left them unattended. Please take the precaution of locking your vehicle if and or when it is left unattended.”

The graduation rate in New York rose this year from 84.8 to 86.1 percent according to the New York State Education Department.  This is an almost 10 percentage point increase from 2012.  Although this is good news some point to lowered graduation requirements from the COVID pandemic such as dropping regents exams and other standardized testing requirements as artificially increasing the number of graduates.  Colleges in 2020 and 2021 reported that high school graduates entering college were less prepared than previous years.  Department of Education Commissioner Rosa said that “a diploma is the key to unlocking opportunities,” and that we can “recognize education equity by enabling all students to earn this key.”