Morning News Brief

409 people voted in Batavia’s City School budget vote on Tuesday.  The 54.8 million dollar budget passed, 301 to 108.  The 1 percent tax levy increase also passed.  Chezeray Rolle, John Marucci and Korinne Anderson won their school board races.  In Alexander the budget and related tax levy passed 83 to 44.  Residents also voted to buy 2 busses 92 to 35 and to spend 56 thousand dollars of the equipment capital reserve fund.  Props 4 and 5 passed as well.  In Elba the budget passed 100 to 17 and all props passed as well.  LeRoy’s General budget and library budget passed.  Peter Loftus , Jason Karcher and Rachael Greene won their school board bids.  

The National Transportation Safety Board released its initial report on the Genesee County helicopter crash that killed two people last month.  The helicopter careened to the ground, in Elba, Genesee County just after 1 p.m. on April 26th.  The tail rudder was found about 300 yards away from where the rest of the chopper crashed.  The report says that the helicopter’s rotors struck electrical wires on its second training flight of the day.  The NTSB said the entire investigation could take up to a year before a final report is released.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand called on President Biden to utilize the wartime production act to get baby formula made and distributed faster in order to end the shortage.  Following a recall at Abbott Nutrition, the nation’s largest infant formula manufacturer, reports suggest that roughly 40% of formula nationwide is out of stock. Compounded by supply chain disruptions as a result of the pandemic, this recall has created a life or death situation for many of the millions of families that depend on formula to feed their infants, and without immediate action to speed up the production and distribution of formula, babies who rely on formula may go hungry or starve. Senator Gillibrand’s plan will help ensure that desperately needed formula gets to vulnerable children and families as quickly as possible.  Gillibrand is also proposing the Emergency Infant Formula Act to increase domestic production and expand sourcing of the formula.

Genesee County, the town of Alabama, and several people are all named in a lawsuit by an Oakfield woman who was in an accident at the intersection of Ledge road and Rt 77.  The reason for the lawsuit, the town and county didn’t install a roundabout which led to her accident and subsequent ongoing problems from the injuries she sustained.  The New York State DOT said in 2019 that a roundabout was a good idea at the intersection but the town sent a letter back saying farm equipment, trucks and plows would have difficulty with the roundabout in that location.  Also that it would increase low speed accidents which would require more attention from firefighters.  Traffic engineers generally support roundabouts because roundabouts lead to a 60 percent reduction in all types of accidents and a 99 percent reduction in fatal accidents because they eliminate head-on and right-angle, high-speed collisions.  During the state’s proposal process for the roundabout, the DOT stated that between April 1, 2013, and May 31, 2018, there were 56 crashes in the area and 31 of them at the intersection. Two of the accidents were fatal.