Morning News Brief
Written by Dan Fischer on May 2, 2023
New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that she has secured an agreement with Insulin manufacturers Eli Lilly and Company and Sanofi-Aventus to cap the price of insulin at 35 dollars a month for people who are uninsured in the State of New York. An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General found that the list prices set by insulin manufacturers for patients resulted in significant out-of-pocket costs for certain insulin users, causing some to ration their insulin or forgo it altogether. Under Tuesday’s agreements, any uninsured New Yorker who uses Lilly or Sanofi insulin products will not be charged more than $35 for a monthly supply of insulin for the next five years, and both companies also committed to offering free insulin for the neediest patients.
Governor Hochul signed legislation on Tuesday designating New York as a safe harbor state for abortions. The first in the US. Part of the legislation makes hormonal contraceptives an over the counter drug. The bill also makes it so every student at a SUNY or CUNY campus can get medical abortions on campus and also requires campuses to either employ or contract with authorized individuals who may prescribe abortion prescription drugs, or by providing students with information and referrals to authorized providers. Hochul also announced 1.68 million dollars in grants for abortion providers through the state’s Securing Reproductive Health Centers Program.
Will Buffalo become a tourist destination for Great Lakes Cruises? That’s the question being discussed by the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation. Representatives from Great Lakes Cruises were in town talking about the over 150,000 tourists that visit Cleveland, Milwaukee and Toronto annually and the need for a cruise terminal, welcome center and dock if Buffalo is thinking of making this a reality for their city as well. There are currently 11 ships belonging to companies like American Queen Voyages and Viking that are part of the great lakes cruise industry.
Main St 56 theater is continuing their fundraising campaign “Be Our Guest” to purchase new seating, lighting and sound equipment. The goal of the campaign is to raise 150,000 dollars. They started the campaign in April with Broadway actor John Bolton coming to kick it off. Bolton talked about the importance of a live theatre for the community. You can read the interview at our news partners The Batavian. The Batavia Players have been in existence for nearly 93 years.
The New York State DEC Commissioner, Basil Seggos announced that 231,961 deer were harvested in 2022. This is an increase of 10 percent since 2021. The 2022-23 estimated deer take included 116,425 antlered bucks and 115,536 antlerless deer. Statewide, this represents a five-percent increase in antlered buck harvest and a 15-percent increase in antlerless deer harvest from last season. Across the state, hunters continued to voluntarily pass up young bucks, and about 64 percent of the antlered bucks harvested were 2.5 years old or older. DEC’s Let Young Bucks Go and Watch Them Grow educational campaign promotes individual choice and voluntary restraint to shift the age composition of bucks harvested in New York State towards older age classes, while still providing hunters the freedom to harvest any buck they desire. Since the campaign’s implementation, DEC has documented a steady increase in the proportion of bucks harvested by hunters that are 2.5 years old or older.
2 people involved in buying and selling stolen identities online have been charged in Buffalo. 33 year old Terrance Michael Ciszek and 41 year old Corey Robert Dodge, a detective with the Buffalo Police department, were caught allegedly buying stolen data on a dark web online marketplace called Genesis Market. This market sells email addresses, mobile device identifiers, usernames and passwords and other information including credit card information that has been hacked from computers around the world. Ciszek purchased 11 packages of information in 2020. Dodge purchased 14 packages in 2021. Czisek has been suspended with pay from the Buffalo Police Department pending further internal investigation.
Sweet Bettys Closed in December of last year after experiencing staff shortages but it is being reopened today. Steven Kelso and Kristen Beardsley say some of the original staff are coming back to work there. They will have the ice cream and beverages people knew and loved and the menu is roughly the same as it was before the shut down. Hours will be Wednesday through Saturday 11 to 9, Sunday 12 to 8 and Monday 11 to 8.
United Memorial Medical Center has earned the award Center of Distinction for the 7th year in a row for its Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Center. It has also, for the first time, received a Clinical Excellence Award. To earn COD designation, the Center achieved outstanding clinical outcomes for twelve consecutive months, including a patient satisfaction rate of 95% , and a wound adjusted healing rate of 87%.
