Morning News Brief

Thanks to the Keep Kids Fed program Batavia city schools are offering free meals through the summer for kids 18 and under. Two meals a day will be available until August 26th. Families may pick up a free breakfast and lunch bundle from 9 a.m. to noon Mondays and Wednesdays at John Kennedy Intermediate School, and Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at Genesee Country Farmers Market in the former JC Penney’s parking lot downtown.  The meals will also be available Monday through Friday 9-12 at Jackson Primary. 

If you run a hotel you are obligated to post human trafficking hotline and help information in public places said NY Attorney General Letitia James as a reminder to all hotels in NY.  New York law requires hotels and lodging facilities to post informational cards that contain only information about services for human trafficking victims.  The cards must be in plain view and prominently display the national human trafficking hotline number.  According to the most recent Federal Human Trafficking Report from June, 57% of all human trafficking victims in 2021 were minors and 92% were sex trafficking cases.  New York remains among the top five states with the highest number of new sex trafficking cases, active sex trafficking cases, and cases involving minors.

The Great Northern Grain Elevator near Buffalo’s waterfront is finally going to be torn down after a judge ruled Wednesday to go ahead with it’s demolition.  The grain elevator was damaged during a windstorm on December 11, 2021 and lost a significant portion of one of its brick exterior walls. The owner of the building, ADM Milling Company, then filed for emergency demolition and on December 17,  the City of Buffalo announced it would grant an emergency demolition permit.  Preservation groups sued to stop the demolition of the over 100 year old building.  Some groups even offered to buy the building and repair it or turn it into a multi use building. All those plans fell through a judge reached the decision that the building could not survive the damages and ordered it torn down.

Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of President Abraham Lincoln, will be visiting the Richmond Memorial Library on July 16th at 2pm to share a tea time with all who gather with her and talk about her life, achievements and more. Learn how Mary’s knowledge of both politics and social customs made it possible for a backwoods frontier attorney to achieve the highest office in the land and lead America through the darkest time in its history. Librarian Laura Keyes shares Mary’s story in an entertaining and educational program entitled “Mrs. Lincoln in Love,” which is set on January 31st 1862.

In 2018 over 7000 people answered the survey to share their health information. This year Common Ground Health wants 10000 people from western NY and the Finger Lakes regions to answer their survey to help deepen understanding of the dynamics that drive health equity, and reveal where program and policy changes could make our communities healthier. The survey will be open throughout the summer.