Morning News Briefing
Written by Dan Fischer on May 21, 2020
Money saving steps taken by Genesee County over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic seem to be paying off.
Assistant County Manager Matt Landers told the legislatures Way and Means Committee last night that the county has saved about 1.4-million dollars on its budget.
The county imposed a hiring freeze and furloughed some employees. Money has also been saved in the jail budget because not as many people are being put behind bars.
Landers is quick to point out that the projected savings do not factor in cuts in state aid or the projected loss of sales tax revenues.
Criminal charges have now been filed against both halves of a physical altercation in the Town of Alabama.
On Tuesday, the male half of the fracas was charged with attempted assault and menacing for allegedly threatening another person with a knife.
Now, deputies have charged another suspected player in the feud, 27 year old Shannon Armstead of Bloomingdale Road. Shannon has also been charged with menacing.
New COVID-19 cases in Genesee County: four of them reported late yesterday, all four from either Batavia or LeRoy.
Small religious gatherings will be able to resume in New York today.
Those gatherings will be limited to 10 people and everyone in attendance must wear a mask and follow proper social distancing protocols.
Earlier this week, state officials said full congregation gatherings inside churches or other places of worship will not be allowed until a region reaches the final phase of New York’s reopening process
Governor Cuomo continues to defend his handling of nursing homes during the pandemic. The governor said he doesn’t regret his executive order requiring nursing homes to accept patients infected with the virus. He also said he doesn’t believe that mandate contributed to the high death toll in long-term care facilities.
The most notorious example of nursing home deaths in our region is at the Villages of Orleans in Albion where 22 people have died from COVID-19.
