Morning News Brief
Written by Tom Tharp on May 25, 2022
The US History and Government Regents exam has been canceled across New York State. It was scheduled to be administered June 1st but the Department of Education says it may have triggering questions and content because of the shooting at the TOPS in Buffalo. New York State Department of Education reviewed Regents exam content and found that this particular test, “has the potential to compound student trauma caused by the recent violence in Buffalo.” Any student scheduled to take the exam will receive an exemption for graduation, which means it won’t delay anyone from graduating high school on time with a Regents diploma. A spokesperson for the department said mostly juniors and seniors were scheduled to take this exam. This is the second time the Regents exams were canceled. In January 2022 Regents exams were canceled due to the omicron COVID surge.
The USS The Sullivans is back up and ready for visitors. It’s been five weeks since the partial sinking of the U.S.S. The Sullivans, but come this Saturday for Memorial Day Weekend, the Naval Park will be welcoming visitors once again. While they are still doing cleanup and salvage, the Naval Park is planning many events for the Memorial day weekend including a marathon and ceremonies. Park President Paul Marzello says that memorial day is very important to them, The Sullivans is named for 5 brothers who were killed fighting for the US in World War 2, marking the greatest loss by one family during WW2.
The Rochester Police Accountability Board is being scrutinized over its lack of action. With a budget of over 5 million dollars and a mandate to investigate up to 500 complaints in 2022, the PAB has yet to look at any complaints or even meet with the Rochester Police Department. When asked about their budget use, members of the board were unable to say what the money had been going towards. The Police Accountability Board’s Chief of Investigations said the lack of any work being done is because of software problems and lack of staff. The board has hired 34 people so far and the City Council froze their hiring recently. The Mayor of Rochester approved a renewal of their 5 million dollar budget but the City council says it isn’t sure it will approve it.
Summer Hours begin soon for Genesee County Offices. Starting on May 31st county offices will be open from 8 to 4:30 instead of 8:30 to 5. The hours will go back to normal on September 6th. This slight shift to summer hours provides county employees the opportunity to start the workday earlier while maintaining the same number of hours of operation for the public to access services.
Pipe replacement closes a road near Oakfield. Macomber road between Towney Place and Batavia Oakfield Townline Road, will be shut down until June 3rd while an underground pipe is replaced. Macomber Road will be closed to all traffic till the work is done.
