Morning News Brief

According to the New York Council of School Superintendents, Governor Hochul is planning to extend the Mask Mandate in schools for another 2 weeks and then reevaluate after the February break.  The mandate for businesses and venues is set to expire Thursday and the one for schools will expire on the 21st.  School superintendents from Monroe, Livingston, Genesee, Niagara, and Orleans counties have written to the governor asking for a return to being able to control their own health regulations and roadmap for when the mandates will end.  As for the business and venue mandate, Hochul plans for New York to join other states like California in dropping the statewide mandate for indoor spaces.

Businesses that try to get a head start on opening head shops and selling recreational marijauna before regulations are put out by the NYS Office of Cannabis Management could lose their opportunity to have a license and face steep fines and even jail time.  Marijuana has been legalized but it is still illegal to sell it or “gift” it by including marijuana with other sales, until the state office sends out the regulations.  These are expected in early to mid spring.  Companies that have started early are being sent cease and desist letters.  

If you have a Hyundai Santa Fe or Tucson or a Kia Sportage or k900 you may want to check if you have a recall notice.  Nearly 485,000 vehicles in the United States are being recalled by the two Korean automakers over concerns of fire and engine problems.  A contamination in the antilock brake control module can cause an electrical short.  Dealers will replace a fuse and replace the control module in the Hyundais if needed.

A change of regulations is being proposed in the NYS Assembly that would give Hochul emergency powers indefinitely and Steve Hawley is voicing his concerns.  In a press release Hawley says this policy would essentially return emergency powers to Gov. Hochul in perpetuity, depriving the Legislature of its authority to design and implement such orders and the ability of local health departments to cater their pandemic response toward the unique circumstances faced by their communities.  Hawley is joining with the Assembly minority to draft a letter to Governor Hochul and other officials opposing the new regulation.

The film shot in Buffalo during February of 2020, ‘Nightmare Alley’, is up for a Best Picture at the Oscars.  The film, which stars Cate Blanchett and Bradley Cooper, features Buffalo’s Pierce Arrow Museum cars and shots of Niagara square.  Guillermo Del Toro said that “This city has a pristine reputation as a place to shoot.”   ‘Nightmare Alley’ is also nominated for production design, cinematography, and costume design.