Author: wlea

June 9, 2023

Yesterday, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that her administration has reached contract agreements with the New York State Public Employees Federation and with the United University Professions. The agreement with PEF is for a three-year term running until April 1, 2026 for more than 51,000 New York State employees in a in a wide variety of professional, scientific and technical titles. The agreement with UUP is for a four-year term running until July 1, 2026 for more than 37,000 SUNY system faculty and professional employees. Both agreements are subject to ratification by union membership.

June 9, 2023

Governor Kathy Hochul has announced that a team of Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers is deploying to assist with efforts to contain wildfires raging in eastern Canada.

The governor says that the New York team will join firefighters from New Hampshire and Maine in Quebec. Hundreds of fires in Quebec have triggered several days of air quality health advisories across New York State.

Sneator Kirsten Gillibrand has put the National Forest Service on standby, and they might be sent up too.

June 9, 2023

Following the Senate’s passage of S.1856, “The Birds and Bees Protection Act,” Senator George Borrello issued the following statement:

“I am deeply disappointed at the Senate’s passage of this bill which will ban neonicotinoids (“neonics”), which are seed treatments that contain extremely small amounts of pesticides. Use of this innovative technology has helped farmers optimize crop yield and quality and allowed them to greatly reduce the large-scale spraying of older, more toxic and environmentally harmful pesticides. Pesticide application rates will increase by an estimated 375 percent per acre if this bill is enacted into law.
Neonic safety for bees and other pollinators has been confirmed by studies and the product has been registered for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). This attempt by legislators to override the DEC’s regulatory authority and expertise in this area is reckless and sets a dangerous precedent.
Ultimately, if this misguided bill is signed into law, it will be another blow to New York State farmers whose livelihoods have been under attack by this Legislature over the past three years. Multi-generational family farmers are finding it increasingly difficult to compete with other states because of the continuing and unreasonable mandates, costs and regulations that are being heaped on them. I strongly urge my colleagues in the Assembly to reject this harmful and unjustified measure.”

June 8, 2023

HORNELL, NY – Back in February, WLEA reported that Alstom was the highest bidder for a deal with SEPTA in Philadelphia, and now Alstom is proceeding with this deal. OFficials with Alstom say that the Hornell facility will, “deliver 130 full low floor electric streetcars valued at over €667 million (approximately USD$ 718.2 million), with options to build an additional 30 streetcars,” the official from Alstom stated. “The agreement calls for the delivery of fully customised, sustainable, next-generation Citadis light rail vehicles (LRVs) specifically designed for North America and made to navigate the historic streets of Philadelphia. The new Citadis streetcars will provide an energy-efficient mobility solution that utilises state-of-the-art, service-proven traction technology and offers a 20% reduction in energy consumption compared to a standard light rail solution. Additionally, energy efficiency is achieved by integrating LED lights and sensor-based air-conditioning, and each vehicle is 99% recyclable at the end of its 30-year lifespan.”

June 8, 2023

The Hornell Steamers continued their opening road trip on Wednesday with a pair of games versus the two-time defending champion Cortland Crush. The Crush used a nine-run 3rd inning in the first game en route to a 12-2 victory and then earned a 6-5 win in walk-off fashion in the nightcap.

Jason Story (Utica) and Tim Burns (Maine Presque Isle) each were 2 for 3 for Hornell in the opener. Story collected a RBI single in the 1st and a RBI double in the 5th.

Matt Wessels (Iona) was the most effective pitcher. He didn’t allow a run in 2.2 innings of relief. He gave up two hits and walked one while striking out three.

Story scored on a wild pitch in the 1st inning of game two to give the Steamers an early lead. After Cortland scored twice in the bottom of the inning, Danny Melendez (Finger Lakes CC) hit a RBI double and Story followed with a two-run homer.

Cortland cut the lead to 3-2 in the 2nd and took their first lead of the game in the 5th on a single over the drawn in infield.

Luca Ciaramitaro (Siena) tied it up in the top of the 6th with a two-out RBI single up the middle. The Steamers stranded two runners in the 6th but couldn’t grab the lead. In the 7th, Hornell got a one-out single from Ryan Hill (Mercyhurst) but could not muster anything else.

Cortland used a walk, a stolen base, and Louis Percival snuck a hit down the third base line to score the winning run.

The Steamers collected 12 hits in the contest. Vince D’eusanio was 2 for 3 while DJ Stoianovich (Finger Lakes CC), Ciaramitaro, Emmanuel McClain (Hilbert), and Hill each were 2 for 4.

Logan Hoyt (Alfred State) threw the first four innings and allowed two earned runs, walked three, and struck out four.

Hornell travels to Houghton University on Thursday for their first contest vs. the Genesee Rapids. First pitch is at 7 p.m

June 7, 2023

AS WILDFIRE SMOKE HITS NEW YORK, GILLIBRAND CALLS ON U.S. FOREST SERVICE TO STAND READY TO AID CANADIAN FIRE FIGHTING EFFORTS

Much Of New York State Is Under An Air Quality Alert; NYC Air Quality Ranked Worst In The World On Tuesday

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry Committee, sent a letter to U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore calling on the U.S. Forest Service to stand ready to support any request from Canada for American support in suppressing the spread of wildfires in Quebec. The wildfires are causing smoke that is blanketing New York State—much of New York State is under an air quality alert and on Tuesday, June 6, New York City briefly ranked as having the worst air quality of any city in the world.

Gillibrand is calling on the U.S. Forest Service to stand ready to act under the authority of the Northeastern Forest Fire Protection Compact, a forest fire protection agreement between U.S. states and Canadian provinces that enables members to coordinate and provide mutual aid to fight fires that are beyond the resources of any single member state.

Gillibrand wrote, “I am requesting that the U.S. Forest Service stand ready to support impacted Compact members should the government of Canada request American support in suppressing the spread of these wildfires. I urge the U.S. Forest Service to proactively work with the Canadian Forest Service on fire suppression and mitigation tactics to prevent any damage to life or property to citizens of the United States.”

A full copy of the letter’s below:

The Honorable Randy Moore
Chief of the U.S. Forest Service
United States Department of Agriculture

Dear Mr. Moore,

On June 5, 2023 the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) issued an air quality alert due to smoke from the ongoing wildfires in the Canadian province of Quebec. On the same day, there were over 154 active wildfires within the province, 112 of which are classified as “out of control.” But this poor air quality is not just affecting New York, but reaches thousands of communities as far south as Georgia and as far west as Missouri. I commend the New York DEC for deploying a New York State Forest Ranger to assist with efforts to contain these current raging wildfires.

Under the authority given to the U.S. Forest Service by the Northeastern Forest Fire Protection Compact (P.L.81-129), the U.S. Forest Service may coordinate with impacted compact members on extinguishing and preventing cross-border fires. The mandate of the Northeastern Forest Fire Protection Compact is to “promote effective prevention and control of forest fires in the northeastern region of the United States and adjacent areas in Canada… [and] by providing for mutual aid in fighting forest fires among the states of the region.”

I am requesting that the U.S. Forest Service stand ready to support impacted Compact members should the government of Canada request American support in suppressing the spread of these wildfires. I urge the U.S. Forest Service to proactively work with the Canadian Forest Service on fire suppression and mitigation tactics to prevent any damage to life or property to citizens of the United States.

I commend the work of the U.S. Forest Service in their leadership of firefighting prevention throughout the United States and I encourage your agency to lend their extensive expertise to our Canadian counterparts. My office is ready to support the U.S. Forest Service in their efforts as they continue their work on this issue.

Sincerely,

Kirsten Gillibrand
United States Senator

June 7, 2023

HORNELL, NY – The Hornell Steamers lost Tuesday night to the Dansville Gliders, final score 7-2.
The Steamers won the season opener on Monday night, defeating the Horseheads Hitmen, final score 8-3.

See below:
Two big innings lift Gliders over Steamers
6/6/2023
Dansville scored four in the 4th and three more in the 8th as they defeated Hornell 7-2 in the first match-up of Rt. 36 rivals. The Gliders are now 2-0 on the year while the Steamers are 1-1.

Hornell jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 3rd inning when Justin Swanson (North Park) collected a two-out double and scored one batter later when Vince D’eusanio (Youngstown State) singled to left field.

Dansville collected five hits and plated four runs in the bottom of the 4th to take the lead.

Logan Hoyt (Alfred State) collected a RBI single in the 5th to plate Swanson who had doubled to lead off the inning.

The Gliders added three insurance runs in the 8th when they collected three hits, a hit batsmen, and took advantage of a Steamer error.

Hoyt and Swanson were each 2 for 4 on the day for Hornell.

Cameron Sheets was 2 for 4 with 3 RBI for Dansville. The 4-5-6 hitters combined for six of the Gliders nine hits on the day. Kyle Bednarski earned the win with five innings of work. He allowed seven hits, two runs, and three walks while striking out four. Tucker Fenton allowed just one hit in the final four innings. he walked two and struck out eight.

Hornell heads to Cortland on Wednesday for their first contests vs. the Eastern Division. The DH vs. the Crush starts at 3 p.m.

On Mon, Jun 5, 2023 at 11:23 PM Paul Welker wrote:
All-around effort for Hornell in season opening victory
6/5/2023
The Hornell Steamers put together an all-around effort as they defeated the Horseheads Hitmen 8-3 in the 2023 NYCBL season opener for both teams.

Emmanuel McClain (Hilbert) got the Steamers on the board with a RBI single in the 2nd. They made it 2-0 when Lca Ciaramitaro (Siena) scored on a throwing error.

Horseheads tied it at 2-2 when Riley Lomis hit a two-run homer.

Hornell took the lead for good with a run in the 5th when Eli Brown (Youngstown State) scored on a field error. Jason Story (Utica) scored on a throwing error in the 6th and Ryan Hill (Mercyhurst) followed with a sac fly to make it 5-2.

DJ Stoianovich (Finger Lakes CC) added to the lead with a RBI single in the 7th, Justin Swanson (North Park) hit a RBI double in the 8th, and Ciaramitaro added a RBI groundout to make it 8-2.

The Hitmen loaded the bases in the 9th and were held to just one run on a RBI groundout by Gabe Fellows.

Story was 2 for 4 on the day while Eli Brown was 2 for 5.

Nathan O’Brochta (Fredonia) was outstanding on the mound to earn the victory. He struck out seven and allowed just four hits in six innings of work. Both runs he allowed were unearned.

Tim McClare (Brockport) struck out four in two innings of relief while Matt Wessels (Iona) got the final three outs of the game.

Hornell continues its six game road trip with a 5 p.m. contest vs. Dansville on Tuesday. The team opens up the home portion of the season on Saturday at 7 p.m. vs. the Genesee Rapids.