Morning News Brief
Written by Tom Tharp on April 2, 2023
The FDA has a plan to make sure the Baby Formula shortage that had moms scrounging in stores states away for food for their children doesn’t happen again. They announced Friday that they are instituting new measures to make any potential disruptions of production less severe. Among these new measures are better training for inspectors, expediting review of new formulas and products, establishing supply models to forecast demand, and improving education.
Amid the opioid epidemic that has impacted millions of American families, this week the FDA approved over-the-counter sales of the overdose-reversing naloxone. The hope is that by increasing access to the medicine, it will decrease the number of overdose deaths. According to the National Institutes of Health, nearly 107,000 Americans died of overdoses in 2021. More than 80,000 of those deaths involved opioids. People can anticipate pharmacies to house the life-saving medicine in their stores in late summer and health officials and pharmacists say that if there is a suspected overdose, administering Naloxone without hesitation can save lives.
Our News Partner the Batavian has been honored with a Best Online News Coverage Award by the New York Press Association for their covering Winter Storm Elliott. The stories of the storm that led to the award were written by Howard Owens and Joanne Beck. Second place in the Online Breaking News category went to the Albany Times Union for a deputy-involved shootout, and third place went to the Queens Chronicle for Winter Storm Elliott coverage.
Students at Oakfield Alabama went bald for cancer research on Friday. They held a fundraiser for Roswell Cancer Institute in Buffalo called Bald for Bucks. My Cut Barbershop in Batavia was on hand alongside stylists from Jagged Edges and Canzoneri’s to trim anyone who wanted to help raise money for the cause. This is the first time Oakfield Alabama has been able to hold the event since 2018.
Gas Prices Update: Western New Yorkers are paying more at the pump. The average in Batavia for a gallon of regular is 3.44 which is up 9 cents from last week and last month. It is down 88 cents from last year at this time. The highest on record was June of 2022 when it hit 4.92. The average in New York State is 3.47 and in the US the average is 3.50.
The Buffalo Sabres were victorious over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday with a 6 to 3 win. Kyle Okposo, Jordan Greenway and Jeff Skinner all scored once each for Buffalo and Alex Tuch scored a hat trick. The win puts the Sabres’ point total at 81. Just four back of the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. Buffalo will stay on the road for their next game. A pivotal matchup with the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.
