A severe thunderstorm watch is in effect until 6 p.m.
A wind advisory is in effect from 2 until 11 p.m.
Winds of 20 to 30 mph expected with gusts of 50 mph.
UPDATE 2:40 p.m.: Tristine Vanice submitted the photo above taken from her backyard off Lewiston Road, Oakfield, of the storm rolling in. Thunder and rain started in Batavia few minutes ago.
A fuel gas leak from a vehicle parked in a garage at 5561 Clinton Street Road, Stafford, sparked a fire at about 7:50 p.m. yesterday.
Stafford Fire Chief Matt Hendershott said that a vehicle owner was working on a vehicle when the fire started. The vehicle owner and the owner of the garage managed to pull the vehicle from the building before fire crews arrived.
As a result, the vehicle owner was transported to an area hospital for evaluation of possible smoke inhalation.
Hendershott said because the vehicle was removed from the structure, the structure did not catch fire.
Stafford fire responded with additional manpower from South Byron and Town of Batavia fire responded for traffic control.
Reader-submitted photos.
A gas leak has reportedly caused a barn fire at 5561 Clinton Street Road, Stafford.
Stafford fire dispatched.
South Byron, Byron, Town of Batavia, Le Roy, and the City's FAST Team asked to standby in quarters.
The location is between Prole Road Extension and the Thruway.
Press release:
“One more resident in Genesee County tested positive for COVID-19 since yesterday afternoon,” said Paul Pettit, Public Health director of Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments. “This now brings the official total to eight positive cases in Genesee County. Orleans County remains the same with four.
The individual is under the age of 65 and resides in the central part of Genesee County. The person is at home in mandatory isolation. Contact tracing has begun.
Genesee and Orleans County health officials emphasize that the public should take precautions against the spread of the coronavirus. Practice social distancing and wash your hands often.
If you are sick with any illness, the best way to keep it from spreading is to stay home!
If you have a fever, cough and/or trouble breathing, please call your health care provider for an assessment of your symptoms.
For general questions in regard to COVID-19, please contact the NYS COVID-19 Hotline at: 1-888-364-3065, or click here to ask a question electronically.
From Coach Jim Fazio: "Players and coaches from the Batavia varsity softball team participated in the Section V Softball Challenge.
"Previously high schools from Waterloo and Rush Henrietta came up with the idea of practicing social distancing by still being involved with their teams in a unique way with softball related skills and players' imaginations.
"Since Alexander High School and others did a fantastic job with their videos, this challenge took off and we thought it would be a great idea to join in and have some fun while practicing social distancing and playing safe."
Statement from Republican candidate Chris Jacobs on NY-27 District special election:
“My foremost concern is the health and safety of all New Yorkers in this difficult time," said NY-27 District Republican candidate Chris Jacobs about the upcoming special election.
"As we continue to deal with this national challenge, I urge everyone to stay safe and follow all the recommended guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19. We will meet this challenge as we always have. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone.”
Video of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's daily briefing for March 28, 2020.
Press release:
Governor Cuomo: "People come up with all of these interesting ideas, you know. Who's painting their house because they never had time to paint their house before. Who's working on a project that they never got to. Who's reading a book that they never got to do. Who's writing a book. A few people say I'm writing my journals, I'm writing my life story. You know, find a way. You have the advantage of time here.
"I'm not trying to say it's not a terrible circumstance, but even in a terrible circumstance, if you look hard enough, you can find the little rays, a few rays of light, and people are doing it and I think we all should."
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
"My gratuitous 2 cents, see if you can't find a silver lining in all of this. People say extraordinary things to me that I just pick up anecdotally. I was going for a walk with one of my daughters and Captain, Captain's my dog. People come up with all of these interesting ideas, you know.
"Who's painting their house because they never had time to paint their house before. Who's working on a project that they never got to. Who's reading a book that they never got to do. Who's writing a book. A few people say I'm writing my journals, I'm writing my life story. You know, find a way. You have the advantage of time here.
"And you have the advantage of time for communication. I've had conversations with my daughters, hours-long conversations, where it's just us, just us talking. No place to go. She doesn't have to go to work. She doesn't have to run out. And they're priceless, they are priceless. I'll never get the opportunity in life to do that again.
"You know, we're going to get through this, and they're going to go off and find a boyfriend and do whatever they do. I've had conversations with my mother, who can't leave the house, and she's in the house, and so we sort of take turns talking to Mom. And I talked to my mother for hours. And it's special. It's special.
"So, yes, it's terrible. And I'm not trying to say it's not a terrible circumstance, but even in a terrible circumstance, if you look hard enough, you can find the little rays, a few rays of light, and people are doing it and I think we all should."
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced this morning that all elections in the state scheduled for April 28 -- village elections, the presidential primary, and the special elections -- will be held on the same day as congressional and legislative primaries in June.
This means the NY-27 special election will be held on the same day as party primaries for the NY-27.
This means the GOP's candidate for the NY-27, Chris Jacobs, will also be facing primary challenges from two or three other Republican candidates.
The Democratic special election candidate is Nate McMurray. He has not specifically announced a candidacy in the primary nor have any other Democrats announced a primary campaign.
This is a developing story and we'll provide more information when available.
We're talking with Sarah Hinze, owner of Note Your Worth Music Therapy. We've offered free live stream interviews to local business owners and this is part of that series.
Press release:
From the three passed Congressional bills in response to the coronavirus emergency, and the FEMA Major Disaster Declaration, which was aggressively advocated for by Sen. Charles E. Schumer, New York State and state-funded agencies have already received, or will soon receive, at least $15.9 billion in direct federal aid.
New York can and should put these funds to work to fight the coronavirus public health emergency and to address its budget challenges.
CARES ACT/Coronavirus 3: $10.2 Billion
Education funding going directly to NYS:
Coronavirus 2 Families First Legislation:
FEMA Disaster Declaration: $426 million
TOTAL IN MARCH: $15.9B
$5.1 billion in state and local aid via State Relief Fund
Despite strong opposition from Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who pushed for no state & local aid, Sen. Schumer secured substantial support for New York and its largest municipalities. The CARES Act provides $7.5 billion in aid to New York governments, including $5.2 billion to the state, $1.5 billion to New York City, and proportional amounts to the largest counties. Secretary Mnuchin, on a 3/26 call with the nation’s governors, pledged to give maximum flexibility on the implementation of this legislation, and to allow for a broad range of expenses and rapid deployment of funds to states in need.
$3.8 billion to the MTA
The MTA is primarily funded via New York’s budget. Schumer fought massive GOP opposition to secure $25 billion in Federal Transit Administration formula funds and maximized New York’s share.
$5.2 billion in Emergency FMAP aid
On March 14, Congress passed the second coronavirus response legislation, which provided $6.7 billion in Emergency FMAP aid to New York State ($5.2 billion) and the counties and NYC ($1.5 billion), which share the Medicaid payment burden. The federal share of Medicaid payment was increased to 56.2 percent. There is no legal or procedural barrier to New York accepting these funds.
$1.16 billion in the Education Stabilization Fund and $162.4 million in Child Care Grants
These two streams of funding address critical needs at the state and local level. The Education Stabilization Fund includes primary, secondary and university levels.
MORE ON FMAP
As part of the Coronavirus 2/Families First legislation, House Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi included a “Maintenance of Effort” (MOE) provision to guard against (mainly Republican) states that are hostile to Medicaid from receiving billions in aid and then cutting the Medicaid program.
The Cuomo administration has indicated it wishes to cut costs in its Medicaid program next year and has made a number of cost-cutting proposals via its Medicaid Redesign Team (MRT), which must be approved, rejected or altered by the legislature in the budget.
Some of the MRT proposals, like provider cuts, do not run afoul of the MOE, others, like program cuts, may run afoul of it. It is important to note that New York has indicated it is voluntarily delaying the potential provider cuts.
To guarantee receiving the $5.2 billion in FMAP funds now, it could also choose to delay the proposed program cuts, until the eFMAP funds are dispersed, as part of the pending budget.
ADDITIONAL WAYS THE CARES ACT WILL HELP NEW YORK MEET FINANCIAL CHALLENGES
States Access to Treasury Lending: As part of the $450 billion that we have authorized for use by the Treasury to inject capital into our system and provide needed liquidity to many different industries, we insisted that one such vehicle specifically provide liquidity to state and local governments. The Secretary committed to including an explicit reference to the importance of such a facility in the text of the bill.
The bill states that the Secretary shall “seek the implementation of a program or facility… that provides liquidity to the financial system that supports lending to States and municipalities.” Therefore, we believe that the Fed is likely to establish a facility in which market participants that will provide lending to states and municipalities at low-rates and generous terms. The establishment of this facility will provide states with access to much needed capital and serve as another resource for them to help stabilize their budgets and unforeseen needs.
FEMA: New York State has obligated $426 million from the Disaster Relief Fund for COVID-19. C-3 just appropriated $45 billion in new dollars for the DRF which will ensure that New York State gets billions in reimbursement for COVID-19.
FEMA eligible expenses (partial):
Press release:
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, current recommendations from the Centers of Disease Control, NYS social restrictions and the wellness and health of our community we regret to inform you that we have cancelled the Spring 2020 Gun Raffle at the rec hall.
We will not be issuing refunds for the main ticket sales and will still be holding a live drawing for those items listed on the main ticket.
The main ticket raffle will be done during a live feed on the Corfu Volunteer Fire Department Facebook page on March 28 at 2 p.m.
Items will be raffled by random draw subject to availability from Sugarbush Amory on that date.
**ALL WINNERS WILL HAVE TO CONTACT SUGARBUSH ARMORY TO ARRANGE AN APPOINTMENT FOR BACKGROUND CHECK AND TO PICK UP FIREARM.
We wish the circumstances were different and hope they will improve soon for everyone.
The members of the Corfu Rescue Hook & Ladder Co. #1 would like to THANK YOU for all your continued support. Please stay safe, healthy and we will see you at next year’s event.
If you have any questions please call the fire hall at 585-599-3618.
Press release:
The Alexander Fire Department has been monitoring the potential impact of the COVID-19 and is following the current recommendations from the Centers of Disease Control and the New York State Health Department.
After thorough discussion and concern for our community members and our volunteers, the following decisions have been made regarding events that have been scheduled at our Recreation Hall:
Supplies are dwindling for basic food items stocked at the Corfu Presbyterian Church food pantry, located at 63 Alleghany Road, which is operated in partnership with St. Maximilian Kolbe Roman Catholic Church.
"We have a lot of elderly people, who used to go out to restaurants, relying on us," said pantry coodinator Paula Trapani.
If you can help, they are especially in need of:
Trapani said meal items that can be prepared quickly are needed, adding that cake mix and canned frosting, or brownie and muffin mix would be nice treats, too.
The pantry is also running low on basic hygiene supplies and toiletries like soap and shampoo.
To help families pass the time during the COVID-19 pandemic, the pantry is also making room to stockpile puzzles, board games, hidden word search booklets and the like.
There will be someone at the church from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays. Please leave items on the bench outside and someone will retrieve them.
If anyone has questions or needs to drop off items at another time, please contact Paula Trapani at (716) 423-1907.
One thing they do not need is frozen French fries.
"Our freezer is stuffed with bags of frozen French fries from a truck that caught fire last week, I believe on Route 5, and they were able to salvage quite a lot of French fries -- I'm not kidding," Trapani said, adding that the freezer at the St. Kolbe's also chock full of them.
So don't forget the ketchup, folks...
UPDATED at 1:46 a.m. Sunday, March 29: Forgot to include crackers; all kinds of crackers.
There are seven residents of Genesee County who are currently trying to recover from coronavirus -- three of them are hospitalized -- and none of them, according to the County Health Department, had contact with each other.
During a briefing, today, Paul Pettit, director of public health, acknowledged that that fact pattern indicates widespread community transmission in Western New York.
Of the seven cases, we don't know where any of the individuals contracted COVID-19, be it in Genesee County, a neighboring county, or elsewhere in New York State but what we do know is they didn't give it to each other.
That makes social distancing critically important in controlling the spread of the potentially fatal disease.
"We're all in this together and one of the things we are hearing is folks are not complying with social distancing," Pettit said. "We're hearing that folks are just out and about and not hearing the recommendations, the guidelines, and so, unfortunately, these extreme mitigation techniques may linger longer. The more adherent we are and the better we do at following these guidelines the sooner we can get out of this out of the way and get back to normal life."
Coronavirus is all around us.
Erie County: 219 total cases, 85 new in the past 24 hours.
In Genesee County, 17 people are under precautionary quarantine and 34 people are under mandatory quarantine.
Not all of the people under quarantine were placed there because they had local contact with a positive case. Some of them had contact with a person in another county.
In New York, there are now 44,635 positive cases and 6,481. That's more confirmed cases in New York than any country in the world.
The countries that have had the most success in battling coronavirus -- such as Germany and South Korea -- have used aggressive contract tracing, social isolation, and testing.
Health workers in our county are working hard, Pettit said, to identify contacts positive cases had with other people. If any of those people were in a large group of people -- such as in a story or at an event -- that information would be released. If that information isn't released -- and it hasn't been -- Pettit said, that indicates the people who tested positive had more one-on-one contacts than any large-group contact.
At least for the period of symptoms that is included in the contract tracing protocol.
Pettit said local staff is working long hours on contact tracing and individuals who have come within six feet of a known positive case are being placed under mandatory quarantine.
However, the department is following state guidelines and only looking for contacts with positive patients going back to the first day of symptoms. A person who contracts COVID-19 can be infectious for days, if not two weeks, before becoming symptomatic.
Pettit's advice in this situation: act as if you've been infected or people around you are infected. People on social media worry too much about where a person who has tested positive might live or where they might have been. That's ignoring the fact that you can be exposed to COVID-19 anywhere at any time.
"We do have community spread in both Orleans and Genesee counties, which means you can literally get it from anywhere," Pettit said. "It's not important to know exactly where a person (who tests positive) is from. We all move around. It's just important to maintain the six-foot separation and the other recommendations that are out there."
If there is a major increase in hospitalized cases, United Memorial Medical Center is ready, said Dan Ireland, the hospital's CEO.
The hospital has canceled elective surgeries, freed up bed space, implemented telehealth calls where possible, established a drive-thru area for triage, identified areas to create bed space, and has plans phases one, two, and three of increases in capacity if needed.
The hospital can currently handle about 80 patients for COVID-19 treatment.
Most hospitalized patients, Ireland indicated, won't need a "negative pressure" rooms, which is a room to a person who is coughing and sneezing a lot, which means they are spraying an aerosol of COVID-19 into the room, and the building, they're in. And only a minority of hospitalized patients will have such difficulty breathing that they will need a ventilator.
If needed for a phase two surge expansion, the hospital could add 45 beds for patients.
Right now, the hospital could expand to about 12 negative pressure rooms.
"That could go as high as fifteen with our current supply of equipment," Ireland said. "So it is a moving target because if we can get more negative pressure fans with the filters on than we can convert rooms as we need to."
As for ventilators -- the most important piece of equipment needed to save the lives of the most seriously ill patients -- there are currently seven ventilators for more serious cases available and ten for less serious cases plus the hospital has access to two more if needed, plus there are five or six anesthesiology units that can be converted to ventilators if needed.
Multiple readers of The Batavian have asked about sewing homemade masks to distribute.
For protective measures for health care personal, those masks will be inadequate, both Pettit and Ireland indicated. Even N95 masks, which some local people and companies might have in reserve, might not meet medical needs because of the need for custom fitting.
However, that doesn't mean donations aren't appreciated. Standards may change and supplies run low; and, as for the rest of us wearing masks, Pettit didn't rule that out but said the best course of action remains to follow the protocols for staying at home as much as possible and social distancing.
"We've got to be careful with masks," Pettit said. "Having a mask on or any barrier is better than none ... (but) the recommendation is still not to be walking around and wearing masks. The recommendation is to stay home, help mitigate, keep six feet away from people, and the mask and wearing them is not going to be as vital."
In December, Andy and Laura Pedro purchased Blondies Sip-N-Dip on East Main Street Road in Batavia. Today, they officially opened for the spring, summer, and fall seasons.
Because of social distancing restrictions, right now, they can't serve walk-in customers but they have opened a walk-up window and they can use that window to service drive-thru customers.
"Not ideal," said Andy, "but we'll make it work."
Scheduled for 4 p.m.: Genesee County's COVID-19 Briefing for March 27, 2020
UPDATE: Paul Pettit, health director, just announced there are now seven positive cases in Genesee County, which means in the past 24 hours, there are three additional people who have tested positive for COVID-19. Three people are hospitalized. Yesterday, there were two.
UPDATE: Here's the written briefing from the Department of Health.
New Cases
Cumulative Data
OPERATIONAL UPDATES
FRAUD ALERT
NEW YORK STATE CASES / RESTRICTIONS / GUIDANCE
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