Morning News Brief
Written by Tom Tharp on January 10, 2022
Daily Cancellations: Attica central schools are closed today because of a water main break
As part of her State of the State address last week, Governor Hochul proposed a measure that would ban new buildings built in New York State from having natural gas hookups. Hochul said that “New construction in the state will be zero-emission by 2027, and we will build climate-friendly electric homes and promote electric cars, trucks and buses.” The plan would also require energy analyses of every new building’s energy usage, known as ‘benchmarking.’ Hochul’s climate change agenda also sets a goal of 2 million electrified homes by 2030.” Green Energy think tank Rocky Mountain Institute estimates that this may have the carbon reduction equal to taking 450,000 cars off the road by 2040.
UMMC suspended elective surgeries on the 23rd of December and it was supposed to go for 2 weeks. The New York State Health Department just extended that for another 2 weeks. The directive came down Saturday that, because of a limitation on staffed patient bed capacity, 40 hospitals across NY have to cease these operations. Also in our area are Wyoming County Community Hospital and Medina Memorial Hospital.
Gas Price Update: The average price of a gallon of regular dropped in Batavia by 2 cents to 3.44 according to AAA. In NY the average price stayed at 3.49. Prices across the country are more than a dollar up from last year at this time. New York’s difference is 1.16. Prices are expected to drop through January.
Batavia City Schools is considering a contract with the company Enviro-Mist to deploy medical grade disinfectant devices in the schools to help combat COVID. Enviro-Mist uses a Ionized Hydrogen Peroxide technology to kill pathogens on surfaces and in the air. The Board is set to review the bid on Tuesday at 6pm. Also on the agenda are repairs to the Batavia High School Roof after the wind storm in December damaged it. The board is looking at a 2 phase repair that costs a total of 43 thousand dollars.
The Buffalo Bills beat the New York Jets 27 to 10 Sunday afternoon, clinching the AFC East for the first time since 1995. The Bills are at 11 and 6 and are the number 3 seed going into the playoffs. They are playing the Patriots in a wild card round on January 15th. This is the first time the Bills and Patriots will play against each other in the playoffs since 1966. In other Bills related news, Atlanta Falcons Quarterback Matt Ryan has been fined 10 thousand dollars for taunting Bills Safety Jordan Poyer during last week’s game. Ryan thought he scored a touchdown to cut the Bills lead late in the fourth quarter and got up while throwing the ball down at Poyers feet and saying something to him before pulling away quickly. The touchdown was overturned and the Falcons had to move back 15 yards.
