Morning News Brief
Written by Michael Baldwin on March 5, 2021
Flames destroyed a barn in Elba. The 10 p.m. three-alarm blaze was reported at Star Growers on Starowitz Road. Crews heard explosions inside the shop-type building upon their arrival. Elba firefighters made the initial attack and were assisted by Town of Batavia, Byron, South Byron, along with City Fire’s Fast Team. Ten departments in total responded. No injuries were reported. The cause remains under investigation.
State Police continue to investigate a fatal vehicle crash on State Route 237 and East Morganville Road in the town of Stafford. Troopers said a vehicle was struck on the driver side by a garbage truck traveling south on State Route 237. The operator and only occupant of the passenger vehicle was 73-year-old Ann K. Wood of LeRoy. She died at the scene. The Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Collision Reconstruction Unit assisted. This is still an ongoing investigation.
Genesee County reports 16 new cases of COVID-19. Twelve of the previous positive individuals have recovered and have been removed from the isolation list. Four of the current positive individuals are hospitalized. In Orleans County, officials report five new positive cases with two people hospitalized. Wyoming County also reports five new COVID cases.
A Wyoming County man is headed to prison stemming from a deadly car crash. 21-year-old Michael Conrad of Eagle was sentenced Thursday to serve 1 1/3-4 years in state prison. He was convicted of manslaughter and felony assault. Conrad was driving 100 mph when he crashed in Wethersfield. The crash killed 20-year-old Cori Lynn Shearing, a 2018 graduate of Letchworth Central.
A temporary COVID vaccination clinic begins today at Genesee Community College’s main campus Athletic Center. The clinic runs today from noon- 4p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. and Monday and Tuesday from 9a.m.-1p.m. Appointments must be made through the New York State ‘Am-I-Eligible’ webpage. The state-run clinic, expecting to vaccinate 3,500, is targeted to Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming County residents who are in the state eligible groupings. The state has confirmed the vaccine will be the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) one dose vaccine.
With New York Governor Andrew Cuomo proposing to commit no funding in the 2021-2022 state budget dedicated to combating the spread of Lyme and tick-borne diseases throughout the state, Southern Tier State Senator Tom O’Mara this week joined other members of the Senate Republican Conference and a coalition of researchers and advocates to put a spotlight on the need to invest in research, education and prevention initiatives. The group is calling on Cuomo and other state leaders to commit at least $1.5 million in the final 2021-22 budget to badly needed Lyme-related initiatives. O’Mara said, “Now is no time to ignore funding for critical public health responses.
New York State United Teachers is calling for school districts to ramp up COVID testing efforts for students and staff as many explore ways to bring more students back for in-person instruction for the remainder of the school year. Joined at a virtual press conference by the American Federation of Teachers and local education unions, the National Football League Players Association and the Rockefeller Foundation, the Union called on districts to look to effective testing strategies for New York City schools, SUNY and the NFL as models they can adopt best practices from in creating or expanding their own testing programs. The union also is calling for federal and state funding to implement testing.
