Weekend News Brief:
Written by Tom Tharp on August 1, 2020
Schools in Genesee county have released their plans for the 2020-2021 school year which are being sent to the governor’s office. Batavia, Alexander, Byron Bergen, Elba, Leroy, and Pembroke Schools have opted for a hybrid model with kids selected by last name attending school on alternating days and doing virtual learning on the days they are not physically in school. Several of the school districts have set aside one day a week where the building will be cleaned and no students will be in attendance. Oakfield-Alabama says it is able to socially distance and will have a full, regular schedule for students and will start late on September 11th in order to provide additional training for staff. Pembroke is doing an either/or plan with parents choosing to either fully distance learn their children or do in person school. Batavia has also said that there will be a group of students, those with special needs or with targeted learning, who will be in person on a regular schedule. Pavilion does not have a plan ready at this time. The schedules are not set in stone as Governor Cuomo will make final decisions about all NY State schools later this week and has said that schools will be able to reopen ad long as COVID 19 does not spike.
The Genesee Orleans county health department released Friday that there is 1 new case of COVID 19 in both Genesee and Orleans counties. 23 new people are on travel quarantine in Genesee county and 12 new people are on travel quarantine in Orleans. 1 person is hospitalized with COVID 19 in both counties. There are a total of 6 active cases in Genesee county and 3 in Orleans.
The races may have gotten underway but gambling at Batavia Downs may still be a long way off according to Governor Cuomo. Speaking on Thursday about Del Lago and 3 other Casino’s across New York Governor Cuomo said that because of the nature of the business and the likelihood of people not socially distancing or following guidelines casinos should not be allowed to reopen. Native American owned casinos in New York have been open since June with no outbreaks reported but Cuomo says “people need food, people need clothes, people need home goods, You don’t need a casino to maintain survival.”
Newly Minted Congressman Chris Jacobs has been appointed to the House Agriculture committee. In a press release Jacobs said that Agriculture is immensely important to Western NY and the first thing he is working on will be better access to broadband services in rural areas.
