Morning News Brief
Written by Tom Tharp on May 16, 2023
New legislation has been signed off on by Governor Hochul that she hopes will help combat New York’s current nursing shortage. The latest measure allows nurses to complete up to one-third of their training through clinical simulations. The governor says this high-tech training is just like working with real patients, and it comes highly recommended by industry professionals. The governor has already said she’s committed to boosting the workforce of nurses by 20-percent over the next five years. It is estimated that the state will have a workforce need of nearly 40,000 employees by 2030.
The 2023 county health rankings have been released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and Genesee County ranks behind 2 thirds of counties in New York State. According to the Rankings, the five healthiest counties in New York State starting with the most healthy are Putnam, followed by Saratoga, Nassau, Rockland and Tompkins. The five counties with the poorest health, starting with the least healthy are Bronx, Cattaraugus, Sullivan, Chemung, and Montgomery. Genesee County sits at 42 out of 62. It has dropped 4 places since 2022. Major factors against Genesee county are low access to physicians, mental health providers, and dentists along with high alcohol use, obesity and adult smoking. You can look at the stats on our news partner the Batavian or go look at the whole rankings on www.countyhealthrankings.org.
School budget votes are today. All school districts in Genesee County are having their votes for budgets, busses, school board members and personnel among other things. Alexander is having their vote on the over 20 million dollar budget from 1 to 8 at the Middle School in room 112. Batavia is having their vote from 11 to 9 at regular polling places on the nearly 59 million dollar budget. Byron Bergen is having the vote on their nearly 26 million dollar budget and tax increase from noon to 9 at the Senior High School gym. Elba’s nearly 12 million dollar budget voting is noon to 8 in the school auditorium lobby. LeRoy has an increase of 9.1 percent to over 30 million dollars in its budget. Voting is 8 to 8 in the Library at Wolcott St. School. Pembroke’s budget of nearly 27 million dollars including a tax increase is noon to 8 at the Jr/Sr High School Gym
A pair of mail carriers in the Rochester area recently fell victim to violent crimes, an issue that’s rising in frequency across the nation. One of them was robbed at gunpoint on Culver Road and Parsells Avenue Saturday morning, just a day before one of their carriers was also robbed near the Westgate area in the Town of Gates. Five postal workers have been robbed while making deliveries in Rochester this year. President of the Letter Carriers Association Branch 210 Kenny Montgomery said things took a turn for the worse in 2020, when the Postmaster General removed Rochester’s Postal Police from the streets. The suspect involved in Saturday’s robbery near Culver and Parsells has since been taken into custody.
The Professional Football Writers of America have selected Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin as the 2023 George Halas Award winner. According to the PFWA, the award is given to an NFL player, coach, or staff member who overcomes the most adversity to succeed. Hamlin and Kevin Everett, who was named the winner in 2008, are the only members of the Bills organization to have won the award.
The Buffalo Bills have finalized their 2023 schedule by announcing when the team will be taking the field for preseason games. The Bills will host the Indianapolis Colts at Highmark Stadium on August 12th. That will be followed by road games on August 19th against the Pittsburgh Steelers and August 26th against the Chicago Bears. Buffalo begins its regular season on the road September 11th when they battle the New York Jets.
