Interview with Bonnie Birkmeyer, Western Region executive director, Hillside Family of Agencies.
Press release:
New York’s entire 28 member bipartisan delegation today sent a letter to President Donald Trump, urging he expeditiously grant New York State a waiver to provide 100-percent federal funding for all Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) emergency work in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.
The representatives asked that any eligible work paid for through the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) be paid for by the federal government rather the New York taxpayers, as was done by Presidents Bush and Obama after 9/11 and Superstorm Sandy.
The complete 28 member New York delegation that joined the letter were Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Representatives Lee Zeldin (NY-1), Pete King (NY-2), Thomas Suozzi (NY-3), Kathleen Rice (NY-4), Gregory Meeks (NY-5), Grace Meng (NY-6), Nydia Velazquez (NY-7), Hakeem Jeffries (NY-8), Yvette Clarke (NY-9), Jerry Nadler (NY-10), Max Rose (NY-11), Carolyn Maloney (NY-12), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Jose Serrano (NY-15), Eliot Engel (NY-16), Nita Lowey (NY-17), Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18), Antonio Delgado (NY-19), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Elise Stefanik (NY-21), Anthony Brindisi (NY-22), Tom Reed (NY-23), John Katko (NY-24), Joe Morelle (NY-25), and Brian Higgins (NY-26).
Here's the letter sent to President Trump
Dear President Trump:
We write today to urge you to expeditiously grant New York a waiver that provides 100 percent federal funding for all FEMA emergency work in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. Any eligible work paid for through the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) should be paid for by the federal government, not New Yorkers.
On March 13, you issued an Emergency Declaration for New York, as well as for 55 other states, territories, and the District of Columbia. On March 17, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York requested a Major Disaster Declaration (MDD), the first in the country, to aid the state’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak. On March 20, you granted the first-in-the-nation COVID-19 MDD for New York after a strong push from the New York Congressional Delegation.
Both of these declarations allow New York State to receive reimbursement for eligible work from the DRF. On March 25, the Senate passed H.R.748, the CARES Act, which more than doubled the DRF by adding $45 billion. The March 20 MDD now grants New York State access to Public Assistance, Category B – Emergency Protective Measures and the Crisis Counselling program for individuals. While this is an incredibly important step in combating the COVID-19 outbreak, this assistance comes at a 75 percent federal and 25 percent state cost share.
As of April 13, the New York State Department of Health reported over 195,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New York State, with over 104,000 in New York City alone. Tragically, our home state has already experienced at least 10,000 deaths from this outbreak and experts anticipate this number will continue to rise.
With New York State at the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States, it is imperative that New York receive all the federal resources available to save lives and protect public health and safety. The costs associated with responding to this public health crisis are astronomical. New York State expects to request billions of additional funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) through the DRF in the coming months. If New York State must shoulder the cost of even 25 percent of this massive bill, it could deal a devastating blow to New York’s vibrant economy.
As New York continues to address the escalating outbreak of COVID-19, we urge you to expeditiously grant a waiver that adjusts the current DRF cost-share to provide 100 percent federal funding for New York State’s response to this outbreak. We thank you for your time and attention to this matter, please do not hesitate to contact our staff members with any questions.
Press release:
Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced he will issue an Executive Order directing all public and private labs in New York to coordinate with the State Department of Health to prioritize coronavirus diagnostic testing. This action is part of the State's efforts to ramp up testing, a key component of the Governor's blueprint to un-Pause New York. The Executive Order will help ensure the 301 laboratories and hospitals in the state that are licensed to perform virology operate in a coordinated fashion to overcome the testing challenges that every state in the nation is now facing.
The Governor also reiterated his call for the federal government to provide unrestricted funding to the states to help stabilize the economy and allow the states to perform reopening functions. The federal government has passed three bills to address this crisis, including the federal CARES Act, all of which contained zero funding to offset drastic state revenue shortfalls.
The Governor also launched an awareness campaign encouraging low-income New Yorkers to claim their Economic Impact Payments under the CARES Act. The Act provides $1,200 payments to individuals making below $75,000 and $2,400 payments to married couples making below $150,000. However, taxpayers will only receive their payments automatically if they filed 2018 or 2019 federal tax returns. Because the federal filing threshold is roughly $12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for married couples, hundreds of thousands of the lowest income New Yorkers who are not required to file returns will not receive their payments unless they provide their information to the IRS.
To support the Governor's awareness campaign, the Department of Taxation and Finance launched an Economic Impact Payment information: what you need to know web page and will do direct outreach to taxpayers who may not automatically receive the payments they're owed. The Tax Department will also partner with the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, NYS Division of Veterans' Services, the Department of Labor and local community organizations to raise awareness and ensure action is taken by those who need this benefit most.
"As we work over the next several months to un-pause New York, the testing and tracing is going to be our guidepost," Governor Cuomo said. "No state is currently capable of doing the large-scale COVID testing that is needed. We have 300 laboratories and hospitals across the state that do virology testing and we must coordinate them to become one system -- like we did with the hospitals -- to get our testing capacity where it needs to be. I am going to issue an Executive Order that says the Department of Health will coordinate all of these labs so we can ramp up testing and get more people back to work."
Interview with Todd Rapp, local coordinator of Emergency Disaster Services for The Salvation Army.
*UPDATE 11:15 a.m., Saturday, April 18: Todd Rapp, local coordinator of Emergency Disaster Services for The Salvation Army, clarified this press release today by saying there should only be one PERSON per household in a vehicle when picking up donated food. You must provide ID. If the driver is picking up food for another household, too, the driver must present an ID for that head of houehold as well.
Submitted photo and press release:
The Salvation Army of Batavia usually helps two to three families obtain meals, three times a week. Currently they are caring for 25-40 families. Their supplies are exhausted.
Northgate Free Methodist Church will be hosting a food drive to support The Salvation Army each Monday during "New York on PAUSE." Please drop off food donations at Northgate North Campus (8160 Bank Street Road), Mondays during the hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Salvation Army is also continuing to accept donations at their headquarters at 529 E. Main St. in Batavia on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
The Salvation Army NEEDS:
There will be volunteers available to unload items from your vehicle, and safety precautions will be made to maintain social distancing.
Wednesday, April 22, beginning at 9 a.m., The Salvation Army, along with FoodLink, will oversee a “Pop-up” Mobile pantry at Northgate (8160 Bank Street Road, Batavia).
This will be done as a “drive thru” distribution to insure social distancing and proper hygiene.
Residents are asked to pull into the church lot and go around the back of the building via the north side. You will be required to show a valid form of ID to show residency and FoodLink is requesting ONE family person per vehicle.*
Volunteers kindly ask that your vehicle's trunk, cargo area or truck bed is empty, as they will not be permitted to rearrange items for you.
Pull up to the pallets and volunteers will load the items for you. This will continue until all the food is gone.
Please arrive no earlier than 9 a.m.
For more information, please visit northgatefmc.com or call (585) 343-4011.
In a time where we are being asked to remain apart, let’s do what we can to help those who are in need right now.
Press release:
During these unprecedented times all Tops Friendly Markets locations are raising a cup of kindness as a way to say thank you to essential workers at all of its 162 locations in New York, Vermont and Pennsylvania.
From now until June 13, Tops is offering all essential workers a 50-percent discount on any single-serve coffee or handcrafted beverage at any of its locations.
“We can’t thank these dedicated men and women enough for their tireless efforts,” said Karri Zwirlein, director of bakery, deli, & prepared foods for Tops Friendly Markets. “Raising a cup of kindness is just our small token of appreciation for all they are doing each and every day to keep our communities safe.”
The discount is being given in good faith (no I.D. required) and is applicable to all first responders, healthcare workers, frontline personnel, and essential workers.
Wendy Williams reads "Fern Hill" by Dylan Thomas. Williams is a member of Batavia Players.
Below, a video analysis of the poem.
A crowd is reportedly gathered at Jackson and Watson streets in the city and they are allegedly drinking alcohol. City police are responding.
A female caller to dispatch reports being chased and bitten by a dog in the vicinity of 19 Forest Ave. in Oakfield. Law enforcement is responding.
Press release:
Yesterday, President Trump named political strategist and Republican campaign veteran Michael Caputo as the spokesperson of Health and Human Services. Caputo is a Western New York native, where he has engaged in years of misinformation, lies and political deceit in public relations positions locally and in Russia.
Up until very recently, Caputo was a registered agent of a foreign power. He will now represent the agency protecting the health of Americans during a national crisis -- despite no personal public health or executive experience.
Nate McMurray, the Democratic candidate for the NY-27 congressional district, said: “We know Caputo here. He’s the guy lying on local talk radio making up stories and attending Steve Bannon rallies. He’s the guy putting up billboards honoring disgraced Congressman Chris Collins, and begging people to vote for Collins.
"He is a prankster not a statesman and it’s important to make that clear, because appointing him to a position like this during a crisis is beyond reckless; it represents malice toward America.”
McMurray calls upon all candidates for the Special Election for NY-27 to denounce the appointment of Caputo at this critical time. He especially denotes the budding relationship between Jacobs and Caputo.
McMurray added, “Jacobs joined in with Trump’s local posse because he wants power. He will go along with anything for that power. That is why he voted against COVID-19 sick pay. That is why he followed Caputo’s lead and shared false stories about the Governor stealing ventilators from our hospitals.
"Jacobs should change course now because he may find out real quick what I am afraid the American people will find out soon enough; Caputo will betray you in a heartbeat if it helps him.”
It's been exactly one month since we last posted a Deal of the Day. After consulting with many of the businesses that have been participating in Deal of the Day, we are able to once again offer this program to our readers.
We hope to add more businesses in the next week or so but today's Deal of the Day post represents all the businesses currently offering their gift certificates through The Batavian.
All the same rules as before apply. They are listed below. Obviously, the gift certificates can be used for delivery (where available) or pick up.
Reminders of how the Deal of the Day program works:
Health Department Daily Briefing:
New Cases
Click here to view the Genesee and Orleans County online map of confirmed cases.
Public Notice
EMERGENCY ORDER #3-2020
I issue the following emergency order(s) for the period of April 17, 2020 through April 21, 2020. This order continues the following issued under Emergency Order #2, which was effective April 11, 2020.
1. All public parks within the city limits of the City of Batavia, New York remain open to public use from 7 a.m. to dusk. During the times that public parks are open, State of New York declared restrictions on congregating will be observed. In addition, all playground areas, tennis courts, pickle ball courts; basketball courts, picnic pavilions, splash pads, and other park facilities that are used for activities that constitute congregating are closed to public use.
Martin Moore
City Manager
City of Batavia
(585) 345-6333
Email: mmoore@batavianewyork.com
Above, Byron-Bergen STEAM Lab teacher Craig Schroth with printed mask in his home print shop.
Submitted photo and images and press release:
If a healthcare worker puts on a face shield inscribed with the words “Heroes wear scrubs, not capes,” it might have been designed by a Byron-Bergen fifth- or sixth-grader.
STEAM -- Science, Technology, Engineering And Math -- Lab Teacher Craig Schroth recently dropped off 100 face shields designed and donated by students to Face Shields ROC, an organization collecting face shields to distribute to medical facilities and first responders in the Rochester area.
Before Byron-Bergen Elementary School closed its doors in March, Schroth was granted permission to move the District’s three 3-D printers to his home with the idea of avoiding a backlog of printing student work when school recommenced. Three weeks later, he proposed a new project to his students.
“Many healthcare workers are short on personal protective equipment at hospitals and healthcare facilities,” Schroth said. “One thing that people are doing to help is using 3-D printers to print face shields. I wanted to give our students an opportunity to get involved with this project.”
Schroth invited students to add a positive message to the basic face shield design. Using the skills they gained while designing keychains and jack-o-lanterns in class, and guidance from Schroth via email, students worked on their designs from their homes.
They submitted their finished files electronically and Schroth printed them on the 3-D printers now in his basement.
Fifth-grade student Rena Wilson has submitted 55 designs with a goal of designing 100.
"I was glad to have the chance to thank these health workers by giving them a nice message that would brighten their day," Rena said.
“I’m very proud of our students for their enthusiasm in this project,” said Byron-Bergen Elementary Principal Brian Meister. “Mr. Schroth has shown amazing initiative in not only stepping up to produce needed resources for the medical community but creating a meaningful experience for his students.
"They will not forget this. Neither will the recipients of these unique face shields.”
As more designs are submitted, Schroth will continue to print and deliver the face shields on behalf of his students.
Submitted photos and press release:
It may be a bit early to tiptoe through the tulips but visitors to the Batavia Peace Garden will be delighted to find rows of hyacinth and daffodils in full bloom there.
As Genesee County residents are sequestered indoors for days on end due to the coronvirus pandemic, it is refreshing to know that passersby can enjoy a burst of color at the Batavia Peace Garden.
With the help of dozens of volunteers, the bulbs were planted last fall. The majority of plants were provided complements of Delre's Greenhouse & Garden Center in Batavia, according to Batavia Peace Garden Director Barb Toal.
"It's nice to know that so many people can enjoy the serenity and beauty of this garden during a time when the whole world is on edge," Toal said. "That’s precisely what the Peace Garden was created for.
"Whether you pass by in your car or take a stroll through the garden with your family, you can’t help but feel good about the colorful blooms and the sweet scent of the hyacinths. But if you do decide to take a walk be sure to practice distance guidelines. At the Peace Garden, all are welcome.”
The Peace Garden enjoys a variety of blooms annually spring through fall. The season for tulips approaches in mid-May. That is followed by Black-eyed Susan’s, yellow roses, daises, hydrangea and much more.
Volunteers are always needed to help with more planting and garden maintenance.
For information on how you can participate, visit the Batavia Peace Garden online here or contact the International Peace Garden Foundation here.
Press release:
Batavia Rotary Club has donated $1,000 to United Way of Genesee County to help provide food for its Backpack Program that assists local families in need.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Rotary International Foundation made available $20,000 to clubs in District 7090, which includes the counties of Western New York and Southern Ontario, Canada.
Through Rotary's District Grant process, Batavia Rotary Club applied for and received a $1,000 grant specifically to provide financial assistance to United Way of Genesee County’s Backpack Program. This program supplies weekend meals to students within multiple school districts in Genesee County.
With students home continuously over these past weeks, the demand for the weekend meal program has increased substantially. Each week brings more and more new families registering in the program.
From Bob Knipe, Batavia Rotary Club President:
"We are very pleased to receive this grant to be used by United Way of Genesee County. Providing food for our neighbors in Genesee County is vitally important at this time, especially for families with children. The Backpack Program operated by United Way here in our county offers food to some of our most vulnerable citizens. With the recent increased demand for food, Batavia Rotary is able to help fill some of the gap."
Batavia Rotary Club has just completed celebrating its 100th anniversary year of providing service to our community. Rotary's motto is "Service Above Self."
The United Way of Genesee County has been supplying services and funding to many agencies through this time of uncertainty. The funding received from Batavia Rotary Club will be wholly used to purchase food for the weekend Backpack Program.
From Tammy Hathaway, executive director of the United Way of Genesee County:
“We cannot thank Batavia Rotary Club enough for their continued dedication to our mission. This is proof that our community is doing what it does best, uniting to ensure the needs of households in Genesee County are met.”
For those wanting to join Rotary in supporting the efforts of the United Way of Genesee County in feeding our neighbors, please contact Tammy Hathaway at 585-343-8141 or tammy.hathaway@uwrochester.org.
Press release:
Assemblyman Steve Hawley recently joined the Assembly Republican Conference in signing a letter for Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Speaker Carl Heastie, among other political and agricultural leaders in New York, imploring them for quick and immediate action to ensure the relief for local farms, which have been feeling the negative repercussions of the state’s response to the COVID-19 virus outbreak.
“Farmers are one of our most important working groups, especially in a situation as dire as this one,” Hawley said. “If there’s any way to give them more support and more relief during this troubling time, we’re obligated to do so. It’s about keeping the supply chain running, keeping a small family farm’s doors open, and making sure everyone has food on the table. We can all agree we need to protect our farmers.”
Some of the policies that the letter calls for are extending the Milk Producers Security Fund, using the federal stimulus to invest in rural broadband infrastructure, suspending highway use taxes and tolls for transporting agricultural products, provide vouchers from food banks to purchase local dairy and agricultural products, and suspending, for one year, the 60-hour overtime threshold for farm laborers. Small steps like these are designed to support these farmers in a time when they need it more than ever.
Here's the letter
Dear Governor Cuomo, Legislative Leaders & Commissioner Ball:
As New York’s elected leaders, our responsibilities to constituents have never been moreimportant. Your efforts to provide leadership and stability during the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis are genuinely appreciated.
With more than 180,000 cases of the virus, no state has felt the social, economic, and public health effects of the virus like New York. As we identify ways to manage and minimize the devastating impacts of the virus, we must consider immediate steps to provide critical relief to New York State’s agricultural industry.
Clayton R. Baylor, 23, of Batavia (no address provided), is charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs and possession of a weapon in the fourth degree. He was arrested after a traffic stop on Route 19 in the Town of Middlebury April 11. Baylor was driving a vehicle which had fled the scene of an attempted burglary in the Village of Warsaw. Wyoming County Sheriff's Deputies stopped it and allegedly found Baylor in possession of a "blackjack" weapon. He also allegedly performed poorly on field sobriety testing. Baylor was processed at the Wyoming County Sheriff's Office, then turned over to the Warsaw Police Department.
Mark Allen Knickerbocker, 22, West Main Street, Byron, is charged with petit larceny. At 6:48 p.m. on April 15, Knickerbocker was arrested at the Crosby's gas station and convenience store on Clinton Street Road in Batavia. It is alleged that he stole a box of candy valued at $48. He was released on an appearance ticket and is due in Batavia Town Court on June 11. The case was handled by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Chad Cummings.
A few days ago, we shared a photo from Sarah Wessel, in Alexander, of three eggs in a nest. Today, she shared this photo of two hatchlings.
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