Source: Sheriff’s deputy was asked about financial discrepancy at work days before murder-suicide – syracuse.com

Source: Mask mandate to end Thursday for New York businesses, but not for schools – syracuse.com

Source: Eric Adams calls for bail reform rollbacks at virtual state budget hearing – City & State New York

Source: Hochul’s ‘transparency’ vow called into question over campaign finance practices – City & State New York

Assemblyman Billy Jones, “With Governor Kathy Hochul’s announcement today lifting the mask mandates for businesses, I want to thank local business owners and patrons for their patience over the past couple of months.  I agree with both New York State United Teachers and New York State Council of School Superintendents who have called on the Governor to provide reasonable and achievable metrics for when the mandate will be lifted. All institutions that still have mask mandates also need clear guidance for when the requirements can be lifted. It’s also important to note that the best defense against COVID-19 is getting vaccinated and boosted.”

State Senator Dan Stec, “The decision by Gov. Hochul to lift the mask mandate on small businesses was long overdue,” Stec said. “Much of the country has been easing COVID-related restrictions for weeks and the mask mandate seemed more about political science than trusting the actual science.

“I encourage the governor to take the next step and end the mask mandates for schools,” he added. “Numerous studies have shown the detrimental effects masks have had on students’ social, emotional and intellectual development. Rather than postpone a decision on this for another month, we must move forward and repeal this mandate on our students and teachers.”

Hochul said she remained reluctant to lift New York’s school mask mandate in part due to the low COVID-19 vaccination rate among children ages 5 to 11, with just 38% of kids in the group receiving at least the first of Pfizer-BioNtech’s two-dose vaccine series as of Tuesday.

“This is all about looking out for the health of our children,” Hochul said Wednesday, asserting the mask mandate in schools in part helped New York limit outbreaks and sustain in-person learning this fall and winter.

Source: Gov. Hochul lifts mask mandate for NY businesses, but schools have to wait. Here’s why

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            Senator Dan Stec (R,C-Queensbury) joined several of his Senate Republican colleagues in calling for the Department of Health to conduct an audit into the March 2020 directive to place COVID-positive seniors back into nursing homes. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo and the-DOH Commissioner Howard Zucker authorized this directive and in its aftermath, thousands of death were revealed to have occurred. These deaths were covered up by state officials, leading to widespread outrage and calls for an investigation.

During her confirmation hearings last month, newly appointed DOH Commissioner Mary Bassett stated she had no plans of investigating the nursing home policy. Stec noted that failure to conduct one is a disservice to the thousands of families who lost loved ones due to this directive and urged the commissioner to take action.

“Thousands of families impacted by the former governor’s nursing home decision are still searching for answers,” Stec said. “The DOH owes these men and women those answers and must provide accountability. I urge Commissioner Bassett to do the right thing and conduct an audit into the mistakes made by her predecessor. It’s the only way we can move forward from this scandal and ensure similar mistakes don’t happen again.”

Video of Senator Stec discussing the need for the DOH to conduct an audit can be found at: https://youtu.be/VQGC-0DABRM

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Elise Stefanik joined her colleagues in sending a letter to the Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) requesting the total number of records on file in all ATF databases following concern that the Biden Administration is circumventing federal law to keep records on gun owners. Stefanik joined her colleagues in writing a letter in November expressing concern that a proposed rule to require federal firearm licensees (FFLs) to preserve firearms transaction records would allow ATF to have records on almost every American gun owner, creating a national gun registry, which is prohibited by law. In the ATF’s response, the lawmakers learned that the ATF has 865 million firearms transaction records on file within the Out-of-Business Records Imaging System (OBRIS), only one of sixteen ATF-managed databases. “Current regulations authorizing FFLs to discard records after 20 years were first published in 1985 and have not been changed in the nearly four decades since then. This regulation was enacted to ensure that the federal government complied with existing law restricting the creation of a federal gun registry. It is therefore concerning that the Administration would seek to repeal a decades-old rule without citing any research or data justifying the need for retaining firearm transaction records in perpetuity. Indeed, the only basis for the proposed rulemaking is that firearms are durable and can be operational and in circulation for more than 20 years. Durability, though, always has been a characteristic of firearms,” the lawmakers wrote. “We would urge that you consider rescinding the proposed regulation that would require FFLs to preserve firearm records older than 20 years. Indeed, the evidence provided by ATF thus far demonstrates that such records likely have little utility in prosecuting crime, yet raise serious concerns about whether ATF is creating a prohibited national gun registry,” the lawmakers concluded.

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 Assemblyman Billy Jones (D-Chateaugay Lake) announced he introduced a bill that would create a Strategic Site Readiness Fund. The fund would provide grants to counties and municipalities for costs related to creating “shovel-ready” sites for new development projects (A.9114). The legislation would increase the number of geographic sites available to attract and expand businesses in New York State and would appropriate $500 million for the fund in the 2023 fiscal year.

“After a prolonged economic downturn due to the pandemic, New York’s economy is finally beginning to rebuild and regrow,” Assemblyman Jones said. “However, a lack of development-ready ground will hinder localities’ ability to attract new businesses and promote the expansion of existing ones. Providing grants to localities that increase the number of ‘shovel-ready’ sites in their area will incentivize the creation of more sites and attract new and expanding businesses to the state, leading to local job growth and further economic development.” Read more »

Source: Burlington man behind ‘Unnecessary Inventions’ gets Super Bowl spot

Source: COVID numbers on the decline | News, Sports, Jobs – Adirondack Daily Enterprise

Members of the Kiwanis Club of Plattsburgh visited CVPH to see the new bassinet the club helped purchase with a donation to The Foundation of CVPH. In all, six new bassinets are in use at the hospital thanks to the generosity of the community. Pictured from left to right are Nancy Church, Cass Clark, Disa Seymour (Director, Alice T. Miner Women and Children’s Center), Doug Guerin and Floyd LaValley.

Kiwanis Club of Plattsburgh among community donors supporting CVPH’s youngest patients 

PLATTSBURGH, NY (2/9/2022) – Babies entering the world at The University of Vermont Health Network-Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital’s (CVPH) Alice T. Miner Women and Children’s Center (WCC) are getting an even more comfortable start to life thanks to The Foundation of CVPH and its generous contributors.

Six new bassinets costing a total of $21,000 are in use at the WCC, all of them purchased by The Foundation through donations from the community. WCC Director Disa Seymour pointed out the bassinets provide benefits to baby, mother and staff. Among the benefits she noted:

• Each bassinet is height adjustable and can tilt, making it easier for new moms to reach their bundles of joy from bed while enhancing mother-to-infant closeness.
• Drawers that open on both sides, providing easy access to supplies no matter how the bassinet is positioned in the room.
• A handle to push the bassinet around.
• Brakes.

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Source: Weddings in Upstate NY: Here are 10 romantic places to elope – syracuse.com

Source: 5 women ski jumpers disqualified after officials said their suits didn’t comply : NPR

Source: Food Product Labels – What Do They Mean?  – – The Adirondack Almanack

Source: Multi-car accident on I-87 claims two lives | Sun Community News MALTA | An early morning multi-car accident on Interstate 87 claimed two lives and left two others injured Feb. 6.

Source: Clinton Co. residents asked to complete health survey | Sun Community News PLATTSBURGH | The Clinton County Health Department and UVM Health Network-CVPH are conducting the 2022 Community Health Survey. 

BURLINGTON, VT (02/07/2022)– Kolby Friend of Peru, NY, has been named to the Champlain College Dean’s List for the Fall 2021 semester.

Students on the Dean’s List have achieved a grade point average of 3.5 or higher during the semester. Friend is currently enrolled in the Business Administration major.

Making the Dean’s List is a tremendous achievement in any year. Many of the high achievers balance their classes with serious jobs, internships, clubs, and volunteering, as well as a global pandemic. We congratulate you on this great accomplishment and honor.

Founded in 1878, Champlain College is a small, not-for-profit, private college in Burlington, Vermont, with additional campuses in Montreal, Canada, and Dublin, Ireland. From its beautiful campus overlooking Lake Champlain, the College offers an innovative academic experience and more than 100 residential and online programs, including undergraduate and graduate degrees and certificates. Champlain’s distinctive career-driven approach to higher education embodies the notion that true learning occurs when information and experience come together to create knowledge. For the sixth year in a row, Champlain was named a “Most Innovative School” in the North by U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” rankings, and was listed among The Princeton Review’s “The Best 387 Colleges” in 2022. Champlain is also featured in the 2021 Fiske Guide to Colleges as one of the “best and most interesting schools” in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain and was recognized as a 2020 College of Distinction for its “Engagement, Teaching, Community, and Outcomes.” For more information, visit champlain.edu.