Month: January 2022
January 14, 2022
WHEELER, NY – State Police say, that a drunk driver in the town of Wheeler, accidentally rammed into a front porch at a house there in Wheeler. There were no injuries, the drunk driver was issued four tickets.
State Troopers say that SP Bath was dispatched to a motor vehicle accident that struck a house on Bull Hill Road in the town of Wheeler. When Troopers arrived on scene they observed a red Honda Fit on the porch of the Bull Hill Road residence. While interviewing the owner of the house he reported no injuries. Troopers also interviewed the operator of the vehicle, and detected an odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his breath. The suspect failed all administered field sobriety tests and was subsequently placed under arrest for Driving While Intoxicated. He was processed at SP Bath and provided a breath sample of .17% BAC and was issued all applicable traffic tickets returnable to the Wheeler Town Court for a later date in January.
January 14, 2022
In the City of Rochester, three people were shot on Thursday afternoon. That’s according to WHEC. One of the shooting victims was a three year old child. That child and the two adults who were shot, are expected to survive.
January 13, 2022
HORNELL, NY – Mayor John Buckley announced this morning that Hornell has received a grant from the state, for almost half a million dollars. This money will go towards rennovations at Veterans Memorial Park at James Street. Buckley says that the $427,500 grant will be used to:
Improve the tennis courts, demolish the handball wall, possily a new basketball court, improvements to the pool, and replacing the baby pool with a splash and play area.
January 13, 2022
Former Alfred-Almond Central School bus driver Aaron Kautz, attended the Wednesday night board of education meeting. At one point, Kautz asked for the resignation of Superintendent Tracie Bliven.
Alfred-Almond School Board President Earl Pierce eventually shut the school board meeting down.
January 12, 2022
From Senator Tom O’Mara:
State Senator Tom O’Mara (R,C,I-Big Flats) continues to join legislative colleagues, regional and statewide farmers, and farm industry advocates from throughout New York to voice strong opposition to any move by the state’s “Farm Laborers Wage Board” to roll back the current 60-hour-per-week overtime threshold for farm workers.
The Farm Wage Board is in the process of holding three additional virtual public hearings this month to hear testimony from farmers and other agricultural employers, farm workers, legislators, academic experts, and others. The first hearing was held on January 4. The final two hearings will be held next week on Tuesday, January 18 and Thursday, January 20.
O’Mara is scheduled to testify before the Wage Board on January 20. Anyone interested in testifying can register at: https://dol.ny.gov/farm-laborers-wage-board-hearings. According to the Board, speakers are being scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis, and will be allotted three minutes of testimony. Written testimony may also be submitted by email to: wageboard@labor.ny.gov.
O’Mara, who strongly opposed the legislation creating the Wage Board in 2019, said, “I was opposed to this action from the start, especially the creation of this Wage Board. In fact, when this legislation was being debated I voiced my fear on the floor of the Senate about giving such far-reaching authority to an unelected, unaccountable body. It is critical for upstate legislators, for whom the farm economy is a foundation of communities we represent, to keep close watch on a Wage Board now holding the future of so many farmers and rural economies in its hands. This is the worst possible time to risk mandating and regulating more farms out of business, and that is exactly what’s at stake here.”
Farm leaders from throughout the state remain strongly opposed to lowering the farm worker overtime threshold to 40 hours. According to the New York Farm Bureau, Northeast Dairy Producers Association, Grow NY Farms, and others, such a move would put some farmers out of business, reduce employment opportunities in New York for farm workers, and significantly weaken the state’s leading agricultural industry.
O’Mara has joined other members of the Senate Republican Conference urging Governor Kathy Hochul to delay any further action by the Wage Board until at least December 31, 2024.
In a December 27, 2021 letter to the board, O’Mara and his Republican colleagues wrote, in part, “The long lasting effects of the FLFPA are not just seen and heard through anecdotal stories we hear when we visit farms in our districts, but are supported by a recent state-funded report issued by researchers at Cornell University. The study found that if the overtime threshold was lowered to 40 hours, two-thirds of dairy farmers would make significant changes to their operation, including leaving the industry or investing out of state, and half of fruit and vegetable farmers indicated they would decrease their operations or exit the industry.”
The threshold was put in place as part of a comprehensive “Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act” enacted by former Governor Andrew Cuomo and the Legislature in 2019. O’Mara voted against the act and at that time singled out the Wage Board provision for particular opposition. The three-member board was granted the power to change the law without the Legislature’s approval.
O’Mara currently co-sponsors legislation (S2690) that would extend the date for the Board to submit its final report to December 31, 2024. The legislation would give the Board more time to collect and assess data that would provide a more definitive picture of the impact of the 60-hour threshold on the finances and operations of New York farms, as well as consider additional factors including the COVID-19 impact on the agricultural industry.
O’Mara and the Senate GOP conference, together with farm industry advocates, stress that the board must take adequate time and have the appropriate data to assess the law’s full impact – as well as the impact of COVID-19 — before recommending changes.
It has been reported that farm labor costs in New York State increased 40 percent over the past decade and that the 2019 law could result in another crippling 44-percent increase in wage expenses.
Total farm labor costs are at least 63 percent of net cash farm income in New York, compared to 36 percent nationally.
January 12, 2022
OLEAN, NY – New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, Cattaraugus County District Attorney Lori Pettit Rieman and the New York State Police announced the arrest of Terry Gaylor Jr., for allegedly stealing over $116,000 from the City of Olean Fire Department (COFD). Gaylor, a former trustee and current firefighter with COFD was arrested after a joint investigation by the Comptroller, District Attorney and State Police.
“Gaylor betrayed his duty to his community by allegedly stealing funds meant to protect the citizens of Olean to fund his personal business and lifestyle,” DiNapoli said. “Now, thanks to my partnership with District Attorney Rieman and the New York State Police, he will face the consequences for his actions.”
Gaylor Jr., 41, of Olean was charged with Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, two counts of Forgery in the Second Degree and Official Misconduct in Cattaraugus Court. Gaylor Jr. is accused of paying his personal credit card bills directly from the fire department’s account and writing unauthorized checks to himself.
Gaylor allegedly used more than $50,000 of the funds to pay his personal credit card, most of which funded his private HVAC business, Amazon purchases and payments to Verizon Wireless. He also wrote over $65,000 in checks to himself from COFD accounts. Many of the checks also contained forged signatures.
Gaylor allegedly deposited these checks into his personal account, which he then used to withdraw cash and pay for personal expenses.
Gaylor Jr. is due back in court on Feb. 14.
January 12, 2022
GOVERNOR HOCHUL ANNOUNCES PLAN TO ADDRESS TRUCK AND BUS DRIVER SHORTAGE
Proposal Will Enable Third Parties to Conduct Commercial Driver License Road Tests
Public Hearing on January 26 to Allow Public Input on the Proposal
Builds on State’s Efforts to Eliminate Barriers and Create Pathways for New CDL Holders
Governor Kathy Hochul today announced a plan to help address a critical shortage of truck and bus drivers by significantly expanding the availability of road tests for Commercial Driver License (CDL) applicants. The initiative would allow qualified third parties to offer the road tests, which would create more testing locations statewide and expand capacity at the existing state-run sites, reducing the time it takes to get qualified CDL drivers on the road.
The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, January 26, to hear and review comments on the plan. The hearing will take place virtually via WebEx from 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. It will be open for public comments following a brief introduction by DMV representatives. Written comments may be submitted to CDLThirdPartyTesting@dmv.ny.gov from January 18 to February 4.
“As we continue to fight this pandemic, we remain committed to expanding opportunities for New Yorkers, supporting our schools, and doing all we can to address the supply-chain issues that have affected many businesses throughout our state and country,” Governor Hochul said. “By enabling third parties to give the road test for truck and bus drivers, we will create new avenues for New Yorkers to begin exciting careers, for our children to get to school, and to ensure that vital goods get where they need to be.”
During the public hearing, the DMV will provide an overview of the proposal that calls for a phased roll out of this initiative that would initially allow other state agencies and authorities that have large fleets of commercial vehicles to begin conducting CDL road tests. The second phase would include qualified private entities. The DMV will establish a rigorous monitoring system to ensure that qualified CDL trainers safely administer the road tests in compliance with state and federal regulations. The DMV will use the feedback gathered during the public hearing to evaluate and develop an implementation plan.
DMV Commissioner Mark J.F. Schroeder said, “We at DMV know how important it is to have qualified truck and bus drivers on the road, and we are committed to doing what we can to address the need. We look forward to gathering public input at this hearing and then acting to enable qualified third parties to offer CDL road tests to give New Yorkers greater opportunity to take the test and to get good jobs driving these essential vehicles.”
This new proposal is part of a series of actions taken by the State under Governor Kathy Hochul’s leadership to remove barriers and recruit more drivers. In September, Governor Hochul introduced a variety of measures by multiple state agencies to address a shortage of school-bus drivers.
As part of that effort, the DMV expedited the process for obtaining a CDL by removing the 14-day waiting period between the permit test and the road tests. The state also increased capacity to administer road tests and, through cooperation with county-operated DMV offices, to increase testing capacity for written exams.
In addition, New York opened new CDL Driver Testing sites by partnering with SUNY, the Thruway Authority, New York Racing Association, and the Office of General Services to use large lots on their various sites for the road test. For school staff who held an existing CDL, the State set up expedited testing to obtain a permit that allows them to drive vans and buses temporarily.
Those interested in obtaining a Commercial Driver License can find more information at https://dmv.ny.gov/commercial-drivers.
For more information about DMV, visit dmv.ny.gov, or follow DMV on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
January 12, 2022
From Canisteo-Greenwood School Superintendent Tom Crook:
While the district is still digesting the new covid protocols for schools, there is one thing that we want to communicate immediately. Since contact tracing has technically ended for the county, we feel that it is important that the district continues to notify parents of a potential contact at school. Until we know exactly how the NYS Department of Health is going to contact trace schools, CG will continue to do our own contact tracing. If your child has been in contact with a positive covid case at school, you will receive a message (text or email) from us stating that your child has been in close contact, please monitor symptoms over the next 5 days, and screening tests (similar to test-to-stay) will be offered. You will not receive any quarantine orders at this time but rather a courtesy heads-up that your child has been in close contact. Once we get more concrete information as to how this will all work with schools, I will pass that information on to the community.