Two deputies with the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Department have been recognized state-wide for their quick and decisive actions that saved the victim of a motorcycle accident.
State Senator Cathy Young was in Mayville yesterday afternoon to present Liberty Medals to officers Jason Beichner and Christopher Howlett for saving the life of 28 year-old Derrick Desch last November on Route 83 near South Dayton.
Young says Desch lost most of one leg in the crash and Beichner and Howlett applied tourniqeuts to stop the bleeding in Desch's severed leg. She also presented both with copies of a resolution commending both for their actions and, approved by the State Senate.
Both Sheriff Joe Gerace and County Exeuctive Vince Horrigan praised the deputies for saving Desch's life. Gerace said he was "beaming with pride" and, adds that his deputies strive to help and protect others every day.
Beichner spoke for himself and Howlett and, first thanked Desch's family which began providing first aid before they arrived.
Most of the additional in state school aid put into New York's final, 2017-18 budget will do towards 'basic' or what's called "transitional aid."
That from Executive Director Tim Kreamer with the state School Boards Association. Kreamer says their group is pleased to have a budget in place, one that move towards funding public education the way it needs to be.
Kreamer says the added funding is about half of what they wanted and, he says some will "not be happy" with that. He says the school boards association was concerned on two fronts before the budget was approved.
The first was over the fact that "policy" items held up the final spending plan which put more 'hands' into the budget mix. Kreamer says the School Boards Association was also concerned when the budget extender was approved by the legislature, because that ran until May 31st.
That meant districts might have had to put out estimated spending plans for the May 16th budget votes.
Officials with the National Comedy Center in Jamestown say they're very pleased to see their 5-million dollar funding request is included in the final New York state budget.
The money is actually part of Governor Cuomo's 500-million dollar "Buffalo Billion-2" initiative backed by the Empire State Development Corporation.
Among those other things is to use the money to leverage other funding to get the money they need in place to pay for the approximately 30-million dollar effort which officials hope will be completed by early 2018.
Benson admits the whole state budget experience has been kind of surreal but, adds they're thankful to State Senator Cathy Young and Assemblyman Andy Goodell for their strong support of the funding measure.
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is throwing his support behind a bill that would boost federal resources to prevent and combat synthetic opioid addiction.
The New York Democrat announced his support for the legislation Tuesday in Rochester, where he says there have been increases in crimes, overdoses and deaths from opioids and synthetic counterparts. He also make the announcement Tuesday afternoon in Schenectady another area hit hard by the opioid epidemic.
Schumer says the bill sponsored by fellow Democrat Edward Markey of Massachusetts aims to stop the flow of synthetic opioids from Mexico and China. The measure would provide federal agents with screening devices, laboratory equipment and facilities for detection of synthetic opioids flowing across the border.
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts says the "partisan hostility" surrounding the confirmation of Justice Neil Gorsuch is of concern because it could undermine public confidence in the apolitical nature of the judicial system.
Roberts spoke Tuesday at an upstate New York college a day after Gorsuch was sworn in by President Donald Trump at the White House.
The appearance in Troy was billed as a conversation with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute President Shirley Ann Jackson.
When Jackson asked about the "extremely partisan" confirmation process, Roberts said politics don't carry over into the court's decision-making.
