Morning News Brief
Written by Tom Tharp on May 13, 2022
Former New York State Senator George Maziarz is filing a lawsuit against Western Region Off Track Betting, accusing the owner of Batavia Downs of misusing public money. Maziarz spoke outside of Batavia Downs on Thursday. Batavia Downs trucks drove by honking while he was trying to speak. OTB President Henry Woytasek said Maziarz is still stinging over a job he sought at the Downs and did not get. Maziarz is a former State Senator from Niagara County. He retired in 2014 following his guilty plea to election law violations.
Governor Hochul gave some tips for families struggling to find baby formula amid the nationwide shortage to possibly find formula. The shortages are partially caused by a recall of food produced by a Abbotts Nutrition’s Sturgis plant in February and also by several products being blocked from overseas because of FDA packaging regulations. The resources Hochul announced were already available but she wanted to make sure families are aware of them. She said families can call their OBGYN or infants primary care provider to see if they have formula or can suggest an alternative, families can contact their WIC office for benefits eligibility, check at smaller retailers and drugstores, and look online at authorized retailers.
All Babies Cherished on Ellicott Street is asking for public help in getting Baby Formula for the mothers they support. The organization provides families with free resources like baby clothes, diapers and usually formula, but Executive Director Sue Sherman said the shortage is making it tough to keep up with demand. Sherman said she started noticing the shortage after a baby formula recall in February, but in recent weeks it has gotten worse, especially for parents in need of specialty formulas. Anyone wishing to donate baby formula can contact the All Babies Cherished directly at (585) 344.5660 or email Sherman at sueabcherished@gmail.com. Sherman is asking parents, whose children have outgrown formula, to check their pantries for unopened, unexpired product.
A little bit after midnight on Sunday night/Monday morning if you look at the moon you’ll find it has gone dark. A total lunar eclipse is happening and will be fully visible in Western NY in the very early hours of Monday the 16th. If there is visibility you can see the eclipse starting at 9:32 and reaching full eclipse at 12:14am Monday morning although the weather service is calling for clouds and rain.
The Genesee County Chamber of Commerce has launched a new website for tourism in the county. visitGeneseeNY.com provides a digital presence for over 400 businesses in Genesee County. Each business has its own landing page with contact information, hours, pictures and a description of what they do and what the have on offer. A visitor can also click a “whats nearby” feature to see what is close to the business they are looking at. The site also has an events calendar for the over 400 events including theater, outdoor, history and racing events going on in Genesee county.
Bills fans are getting some nice matchups to watch in the late summer and early fall as the 2022 season schedule includes 5 prime time games. It all begins week 1 on Thursday night in Los Angeles for the NFL’s season opener and is followed by their first home prime-time game in week 2 when they host the Tennessee Titans in a Monday night matchup. The Bills are back in the national spotlight in week 8 when they host Green Bay on a Sunday night game. They’ll then play in New England on Thursday night in week 13 before rounding out their prime-time schedule in week 17 when they travel to Cincinnati for Monday night football. The team’s schedule also has them playing on both Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve.
