Category: Local News

March 29, 2025

A lot of big names in the world of sports will be in Hornell tonight. The annual Hornell sports night wil be held this evening at the Main Place, on Main Street in Hornell.

This year’s celebrity athlete guests will be:
Former Buffalo Bills Quarterback/Jets Quarterback Tyrod Taylor
Former Braves/NY Yankee Centerfield Andruw Jones
Former NY Knicks Power Forward Larry Johnson
Professional Wrestler Triple V

Local athletes/Coaches To Be Honored Tonight:
Sportsman Of The Year – Hornell Soccer Coach Jim Tobin
Female Athelete Of The Year – Payton Odell (Arkport Central)
Male Athlete Of The Year – Colton Havens (Canisteo-Greenwood)
Special Olympian Of The Year – Rebekka Galloway (Hornell)
Mike Fucci Impact Award – Phil Stewart (Canisteo)

March 29, 2025

The Steuben County Traffic Safety Committee met on Friday morning at 10am, to discuss changing the speed limit on County Route 3: from 55 miles an hour, to 35 miles an hour. That will be for Rathbone, Addison and Thurston.

The committee also discussed changing two dozen roads in the Town of Corning, from 55 miles an hour to 25 miles an hour.

March 29, 2025

Steuben County Sheriff Jim Allard says, Canisteo Greenwood Central students recently had a visit from Deputy Chris Kennedy. Deputy Kennedy gave Canisteo Greenwood students training how to use the “Stop The Bleed” medical kits,which are now on the walls of some schools in Steuben County.

The Sheriff says the Canisteo Greenwood students learned to use things like tourniquets and chest seals.

(PHOTO FROM THE CG FB PAGE)

March 29. 2025

The Lions Club will present the 50th Andover Maple Festival this coming weekend, April 5 and April 6, at Andover Central School. A pancake breakfast with locally produced maple syrup is the centerpiece of an event that gives many local businesses and organizations a showcase. Vendors and exhibits entertain and supply festival goers with sweet and sticky maple products, arts and crafts, history, health testing and more.
The Andover Lions Club began the Maple Festival in 1973. The vison of the founders was to serve the community with an event that would give local organizations and businesses a venue to reach a wider audience. The many maple trees lining the streets in the Village of Andover made a convenient sugar bush that the Lions Club tapped to supply sap for their sugar shack, which produced syrup as well as an informative display to demonstrate the process.
Andover Lions have been serving the community since 1971. The Maple Festival, being the signature event, skipped a few years because of covid, but has reclaimed its place as the beginning of spring for the local community. The Maple Festival serves as a showcase not just for the Lions Club, but also for many of the other organizations and businesses of the region. The pancake breakfast, served in the school cafeteria by Andover Haunted House, begins at 7 AM both days.
In addition to the food and other vendors entertainment is offered in the auditorium. On Saturday from 10 to 11 AM Ellie the therapy dog and her handler will demonstrate nearly a hundred tricks that this talented and charming canine performs. At 11 AM till noon there will be a Kiddie Tractor Pull where children can compete with pedal tractors for prizes. At 1 PM there will be a performance of Pastor Phil’s Puppet Show. A second demonstration by Ellie the Therapy Dog will be at 2 PM.
Sunday there is a community worship service at 8:30 AM, Kiddie Tractor Pull at 11 AM and Ellie, once again, from 1 to 2 PM.
The Andover Lions Club is chartered by Lions Clubs International, one of the largest and most respected charitable service organizations in the world. The Andover Lions Club has monthly dinner meetings to foster good fellowship in service to the community. In addition to providing financial grants to multiple organizations such as the Library, 4th of July Celebration, Youth Sports and many others. Andover Lions Club assists community members with the loan of medical supplies such as hospital beds, wheel chairs, walkers and similar supplies. Grants are available for vision related services such as eye exams and eyeglasses.

March 27, 2025

Congressman Nick Langworthy (NY-23) introduced the bipartisan Safer Skies Act, aimed at closing critical security loopholes in airport security. The bill, co-led by Congressman Jack Bergman (R-MI) and Marc Veasey (D-TX), seeks to enhance safety standards for certain air operators that currently operate without the rigorous screening requirements of commercial airlines.

“Due to the reforms following the September 11th attacks, Americans have come to expect a high level of safety and security when they board a plane on American soil,” said Congressman Langworthy. “As the chair of the Aviation Safety Caucus, I’ve worked closely with partners and experts in the federal government and aviation industry to identify existing security gaps and maintain our high safety standards. The Safer Skies Act will close a loophole that has allowed certain operators, like ticketed charter flights, to bypass the rigorous screening requirements that ensure the safety of all passengers. It is vital for protecting our skies and the lives of passengers and crew alike.”

March 27, 2025

The Steuben County Veterans Service Agency is proud to announce the launch of a brand-new seasonal newsletter designed exclusively for the veterans of Steuben County. This initiative is part of our ongoing commitment to ensuring that our veterans receive timely, essential information about the benefits, resources, and opportunities available to them.
Each issue of the newsletter will include:
• Important reminders about veterans’ benefits and services
• Upcoming events and community gatherings
• Veteran property tax exemption updates
• Job opportunities and workforce resources
• Recent news and legislative updates affecting veterans
“Our veterans have given so much in service to our country, and we want to ensure they have every tool and resource available to them,” said Gary Smith, Director of the Steuben County Veterans Service Agency. “This newsletter is another way we are working to keep our veterans informed, connected, and supported.”

Click here for more info.

March 27, 2025

From Congressman Nick Langworthy: “There has been a lot of misinformation regarding the Horseheads, NY Social Security field office. I confirmed with the Social Security Administration that this office will NOT be closed, nor will there be any layoffs. They are simply terminating a lease on a space that was once used for hearings.”

March 27, 2025

Governor Kathy Hochul has asked Steuben County Sheriff Jim Allard to take the Emilee’s Challenge trailer to Oswego in October. The Trailer has inside it, parts from a fatal accident and videos running about the dangers of distracted and impaired driving. It’s usedd to discourage student aged youth, from engaging in bad driving habits.

Btw, Sheriff Allard notes that he will be on WETM at 8:00 tonight, on a roundtable tv discussion with other sheriff’s from the region.

March 27, 2025

FROM SENATE MINORITY LEADER CHUCK SCHUMER:

• Monday, it was reported that classified war plans were leaked by the Secretary of Defense over unsecured text messages.
• Today, I wrote a letter, with top Senate Democrats, to President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, demanding they release the full, unredacted transcript of all texts in their signal chats.
• For the Defense Secretary to coordinate war plans in such a haphazard and dangerous way puts our national security, our troops, and every single American at risk. They intentionally put highly classified information on an unclassified device.
• I am calling for a bipartisan investigation in the Senate of this mishandling. I am also calling for the Defense I.G. to fully investigate. This is too serious not to know exactly what happened, why it happened, and how to prevent it from ever happening again.
• It is alarming – alarming – that Director Gabbard refused to answer repeated questioning on whether or not she was using her personal phone.
• When Pete Hegseth came before the Senate as a nominee, Democrats warned that something like this could happen.
• These people, Secretary Hegseth, and so many others, are clearly not up for the job. We warned that confirming them was dangerous, that they would behave recklessly.
• Pete Hegseth should be fired.

March 27, 2025

Democrat Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is asking President Trump to rethink the policy of having all federal workers go into the office or be fired. The senator says, federal employees who work as psychiatrists and therapists for the VA, often do telehealth video visits, and Gillibrand says those federal employees should not be subject to this rule.

From Sen. Gillibrand’s Office: “On his first day in office, President Trump issued a memo demanding that federal employees return to in-person work. The order included VA mental health professionals, who often worked remotely as a way to reach patients in isolated rural areas. As a result, many VA psychiatrists and therapists are now forced to conduct sensitive telehealth appointments from crowded offices, compromising patient privacy and potentially violating ethics regulations and professional mental health care standards. Trump has additionally paused hiring for critical positions that support veteran mental health, including suicide crisis hotline responders, and plans to fire 80,000 VA staff by the end of the year. Gillibrand is calling on President Trump to reevaluate return to office policies and ensure that veterans’ needs are being met”.

March 27, 2025

FROM SENATOR TOM O’MARA: State Senator Tom O’Mara (R-C, Big Flats) joined his Senate Republican colleagues, and other stakeholders and business organizations, to call on Governor Kathy Hochul and the Legislature’s Democrat majorities to remove discussions over the “New York HEAT Act” from this year’s negotiations over a new state budget.
O’Mara, a member on the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee, said, “The New York Heat Act is a disaster in the making for the great majority of middle-class ratepayers throughout this state. New York is already one of the least affordable and highest taxed states in America. Our state leads the nation in population loss. The Heat Act will only make it all worse. The Albany Democrats continue to impose unaffordable and unrealistic energy mandates with no concern for their feasibility or reliability. They keep reaching deeper and deeper into the pockets of middle-class taxpayers, destroying family budgets, killing local jobs, and weakening local economies with the promise of very minimal or realistic benefits for most New Yorkers.”
Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt said, “The HEAT Act is a direct attack on affordable energy and consumer choice. Albany Democrats believe they have the right to tell New Yorkers how to heat your home. The Senate Republican conference knows that one- size-fits-all mandates just don’t work, and we will continue to advocate for a diverse energy portfolio that ensures clean and affordable energy options are available for consumers. I want to thank the stakeholders and businesses who are joining us to speak out against this dangerous proposal, and we urge the Governor and Legislature to remove the HEAT Act from consideration in the final budget.”
Senate GOP members, business leaders, and other opponents of the HEAT Act over the past few years have repeatedly called for a cost-benefit analysis of New York’s ongoing imposition of far-reaching energy mandates since the approval in 2019 of the “Community Leadership and Climate Protection Act” (CLCPA). They charge that the HEAT Act (S.2016) is a radical energy policy that would effectively ban the use of natural gas as an energy source for homes and businesses. If enacted, the HEAT Act would have disastrous implications, opponents said, including:
> further driving up already high utility costs;
> forcing homeowners to spend thousands of dollars to retrofit their homes to eliminate natural gas;
> removing consumer choice on how to heat their homes; and
> further driving up the costs of building homes and homeownership.
Since the approval of the CLCPA, Senate and Assembly Republicans have consistently demanded answers about what the far-reaching agenda will cost ratepayers and local economies, expressed concerns about the broad mandates being enacted and the unrealistic timelines to implement them set by Governor Kathy Hochul and the Democrat-controlled state Legislature, and questioned if its goals are achievable.
Further, the Senate Republican Conference has unanimously opposed new energy costs and mandates such as the HEAT Act. These policies will raise rates for at least 75 percent of New Yorkers, eliminate thousands of good-paying local jobs, and slap up to $50,000 in costs on homeowners who may be forced to transition from natural gas to electric heat.
New Yorkers are already struggling to pay high utility bills, according to Senate Republicans, largely driven by policies enacted by Albany Democrats. Even before the CLCPA’s approval, 25 percent of the delivery charges on utility bills were made up of New York State taxes and fees. Since then, things have only gotten worse. According to an analysis by the Empire Center for Public Policy of the first CLCPA report published by the Department of Public Service, rates had already risen by as much as 9.8 percent.

Enacting the NY Heat Act into law would be another hard hit for most ratepayers, O’Mara said. While the measure caps utility costs for 25 percent of New Yorkers according to its sponsors, the funding needed to continue to operate the grid will come out of the pockets of the 75 percent of the ratepayers who don’t receive any assistance under the legislation. Republicans call it a classic political bait-and-switch plan, where a small group benefits while hard-working, middle-class families bear the burden of the cost. Further, the HEAT Act would eliminate the current requirement that utilities provide free gas hookups to new customers within 100 feet of an existing line, commonly known as the “100-foot rule,” a move that would lead to thousands of utility workers losing their jobs.

March 27, 2025

Assemblyman Phil Palmesano (R,C-Corning) joined Assemblyman Minority Leader Will Barclay (R,C-Pulaski), Assemblyman Brian Maher (R,C-Walden), Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh (R,C-Ballston), his Assembly Republican colleagues as well as law enforcement and survivors of human trafficking to unveil the report and findings from the Assembly Minority Task Force on Human Trafficking, which can be found here. The task force held 8 regional forums, special meetings and written testimony across the state where the members met with and listened to survivors, law enforcement and other stakeholders who helped create the plan. The report laid out 63 recommendations seeking to prevent human trafficking and strengthen support for survivors. These include:

• Evaluate existing funding structures to identify barriers making victims’ services reimbursement requests unsustainable for anti-trafficking and domestic violence nonprofits (bill number pending, Maher);
• Reclassify all criminal acts outlined in sex trafficking statute section 230.34 as class B violent felonies. Regardless of the non-violent or violent nature of the act, the resulting sex trafficking is itself violent (A.6946, Morinello);
• Eliminate the criminal statute of limitations for sex trafficking and sex trafficking a child, both class B violent felonies. Extend the criminal statute of limitations for sex trafficking felonies designated as non-violent (A.7003, Walsh);
• Make promoting prostitution in the fourth degree and patronizing a person for prostitution in the third degree (victim under 17) bail-eligible offenses (A.6622, Giglio);
• Prohibit the use of language in the law so as not to legitimize prostitution, which is a form of sex trafficking (A.7008, Maher);
• Allow for an exception in sex trafficking cases to authorize law enforcement officers to provide hearsay testimony to the grand jury (A.7018, Tannousis);
• Require migrants to register with the state to assist in conducting background checks and maintaining community safety (A.2046, Slater);
• Ensure the ITF’s vacancies are filled by the speaker of the Assembly and the temporary president of the Senate, ensure nonprofits are represented, subject the ITF to open meetings laws and include the Department of Education as a member agency; and
• Advance programs to educate state residents and professionals on how to identify and prevent human trafficking.

“I want to thank Assemblymembers Maher and Walsh for their leadership and important work heading up this task force. Human trafficking is a scourge on society and should never be tolerated. We, as legislators, need to use every tool at our disposal to help eradicate it from the state; that includes listening to all relevant stakeholders and including them in the policy-making process. I am proud to say this task force was able to do that. The common-sense proposals put forth today should have widespread bi-partisan support, and I hope my Democrat colleagues will join us,” said Palmesano.

Palmesano also reiterated his support for survivors of human trafficking and law enforcement. He argued that since 2019 and one-party control in Albany, the state has not done enough to help support public safety and crime victims.

“I want to thank all survivors and law enforcement, including those who shared their powerful stories to help effectuate change. Please know our entire Assembly Republican Conference stands with you and that we will continue to be a strong voice, ally and advocate in support of public safety and crime victims in Albany,” concluded Palmesano.