The answer may be a little bit of both.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been quick to say the broadband access gap has been closed by his Broadband for All program, though many including state Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay disagree with Cuomo’s assessment. The governor is looking to boost broadband access by requiring private companies to provide a $15 rate so that low-income residents can have access to broadband internet.
There are pockets of Chautauqua County lagging behind in internet access according to a fall 2020 survey compiled by the state Education Department. The New York Civil Liberties Union recently filed a Freedom of Information Law request for the survey, which showed that more than 165,000 students in New York state (6%) lacked internet access. In Chautauqua County, 1,058 of the county’s 18,353 students (5.76%) had no access to internet. The same percentage of students had no access to a device to access the internet.
Bemus Point Elementary School Teacher Named in Child Victims Lawsuit
A Bemus Point Elementary School teacher has been named in a pending child victims lawsuit for allegations of sexual abuse.
According to a petition filed in
Chautauqua County Supreme Court on Friday, the victim claims they were a student at Maple Grove High School when the abuse occurred. The teacher named in the case is Lori Conti.
Both the
Bemus Point Central School District, the Bemus Point School Board, as well as Conti, are being sued by the alleged victim. The victim is being represented by attorney Jerry Kristal of Buffalo.
Bethany Burlingame, a teacher at Bemus Point Central School District, receives a first vaccine dose.
Team members at Brooks-TLC Hospital System are working swiftly when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccinations. As soon as a supply arrives to the hospital’s loading dock, officials said the wheels are in motion to prepare for the next round of public vaccination clinics.
“There is no way of predicting when supplies will arrive,” said Christopher Kotowski, Brooks-TLC director of pharmacy, “but we’re able to vaccinate eligible community members oftentimes within a matter of hours of a new shipment.”
Immediately after in-house logistics are ironed out, hospital clinics are scheduled through the state Department of Health.
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While much of the nation has been focused on the armed protesters that broke into the U.S. Capitol Wednesday, the coronavirus continued its deadly ways.
Another fatality from COVID-19 was reported by the Chautauqua County Health Department and seven more were reported in Cattaraugus County.
In Chautauqua County, this makes 12 deaths in the last nine days, bringing the total to 40. The newest death, according to local data, appears to be an individual in their 80s.
Of the seven deaths reported by the Cattaraugus County Health Department, three were females and four were males. The ages of the females were 82, 87 and 93. The ages of the males were 65, 77, 81 and 86. The health department said all seven developed respiratory failure and were unable to overcome their illness despite aggressive medical treatment.
P-J file photo by Cameron Hurst
A member of the transportation department in the Bemus Point Central School District tested positive for COVID-19, prompting the district to place all transportation staff in quarantine and forcing learning to go full-remote beginning Friday.
Joseph Reyda, Bemus Point superintendent, said remote instruction will last through Monday, Jan. 18. In a statement, he said, “I have recently been informed that a member of our transportation department has tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, all of our transportation staff have been identified as close contacts and have been placed in quarantine.
“Since we are now unable to provide any transportation for students, we are going to have to pivot to a full remote instructional schedule starting tomorrow, Friday, January 8th, and lasting until Monday, January 18th, for students in the district. We will return to our previous instructional models in both buildings on Tuesday, January 19th. Please be