COVID-19
Transportation Program Bridges Gap In Rural Vaccine Distribution
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“We’re trying to do everything we can to make sure everyone has an opportunity to get a vaccination that is eligible, whether they have transportation or not.”
App NEWS
Mass Vaccination Site Opens In Johnson City, But Supplies Are Limited
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“It’s like fighting a battle and knowing that your weapon can help destroy the enemy, but you’re short on the weapons.”
App NEWS
Checking In With Caregivers Can Make The Difference Between Pandemic Distancing And Isolation
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It doesn’t take seeing someone in person to have a connection. Video and phone calls can be just as helpful.
Health
Rollout Of COVID-19 Vaccines In Rural PA Requires Flexibility And Trust From Communities
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A Kaiser Family Foundation report released last week found rural residents are among the most hesitant about vaccines.
App NEWS
Restaurant Owners In Orange Zones Relieved After New York State Allows Indoor Dining
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“We were waiting for this for a long time and everything. It’s like a big sigh of relief for me.”
App NEWS
Counties Face Vaccine Shortages As State Expands Eligible Groups
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“We’re all ready to go, but we can only give out the vaccine that we actually have in our hands.”
Vaccinations In Broome Near 5,000, Officials Are Still Building Capacity
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“The challenge is being able to pivot when we need to pivot.”
App NEWS
COVID-19 Impacts Steuben County Jail
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During the week of Christmas, four staff members and 21 inmates at the Steuben County Jail tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
ambulance
Pandemic is straining ambulance providers
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SYRACUSE, NY (WRVO) – The federal government is directing more than $1 billion worth of COVID relief funding passed earlier this year to offset losses incurred by ambulance providers. It’s welcome news in New York. “Emergency medical service providers across the U.S. have been struggling to stay afloat as the COVID-19 health crisis has raged on. Nowhere is that more true than here in New York, one of the hardest-hit states during the pandemic,” said Jeff Endler, a spokesperson for the United New York Ambulance Network. Lon Fricano, director of operations at TLC Emergency Medical Services that covers Auburn and Onondaga and Cortland counties, said every year in this business is tough, but COVID has doubled down on difficulties they face.
alzheimer's
Grief Comes Before Death When Caring For A Loved One With Dementia
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“Grief isn’t just related to death or the loss of a loved one. It can be loss of independence, loss of a connection, loss of a relationship.”
Featured in Category
Southern Tier Officials Expect Flooding Over Christmas
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A flood watch is in effect across the region Thursday afternoon through Friday morning.
App NEWS
Schumer: New York Will Get $54 Billion In New COVID Bill
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“It’s not a stimulus bill. It’s an emergency survival bill and we’re going to fight for more dollars later,.”
App NEWS
Food Pantries Worry About Getting Food To Clients After Winter Storm
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“Over 85 families are depending on this food for their Christmas dinners, so we are very concerned about being able to get the plowing done.”
App NEWS
Broome County Adds 200 Beds To Hospitals, Sets Up A Temporary Morgue
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Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 154 COVID-19 deaths in the county.
App NEWS
Coping With COVID Overflow, EMTs Transfer Patients Out of Northern Tier Hospital
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“Similar to across the rest of the nation and the state, we are certainly experiencing the highest numbers and more crunch for capacity than we’ve been in anytime during this entire pandemic,” Lopatofsky said.
App NEWS
Broome County COVID-19 Hospitalizations Are Highest Since Pandemic’s Start
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Garnar said that 30 percent of the ICU beds in the county were available and open as of Wednesday.
Case Settled For Horseheads Church At Center Of Fatal COVID Cluster
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“Lighthouse said all along that we would comply with New York State guidelines, but the county insisted that we go well above and beyond those guidelines as a condition of reopening.”
App NEWS
Broome County Jail Limits Movement Amid New COVID-19 Cases
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“Most of the inmates are isolated from each other,” Harder added. “They’re not allowed out of their cells. They’re basically quarantined to keep the spread down.”
Andrew Cuomo
Broome County Sheriff: 10-Person Limit Is Unconstitutional
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There are 580 active cases of the virus in Broome County and 29 hospitalized residents.
COVID-19
Business Owner Worries About Impact Of Another Shutdown
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“So yeah, we hope by the time this ends we’ll still have some money in the bank and we‘ll still be viable.”
Addiction
Binghamton Addiction Treatment Center Announces $13M Expansion
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“We need to be ready, and this project is going to be an important tool that we have to address this crisis.”
App NEWS
Vaccines Tested In Binghamton Near Ready For FDA Approval
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“When you’re looking at vaccine trials, you’re looking for them to be better than 50 percent effective, so when we’re talking about in the nineties, that’s a highly effective vaccine,” Eder said.
budget
Tompkins Co. Legislature Passes $52 Million 2021 Budget
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The budget is about a 6 percent decrease from 2020.
Featured in Category
Binghamton University Classes To Go Remote For Rest Of Semester
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The suspension of in-person classes and extracurricular activities begins Wednesday, Nov. 17 and will last through the end of the semester.
App NEWS
In Tompkins County, Small Gatherings Fuel Rise In COVID-19 Clusters
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Thirty people tested positive for COVID-19 in a single day in Tompkins County. That is a significant increase.
App NEWS
Broome Executive Doubts State’s New Gathering Rules Are Enforceable
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“I think that’s something that we should all work to follow because that just makes good public health sense, but I think that’s one that would be very, very hard to enforce.”
COVID-19
Steuben Microcluster Eliminated, Tioga Microcluster Added To State List
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According to the governor, yellow zones in rural areas must see a daily positivity rate below 4 percent before they can lift restrictions.
covid
“It’s The Right Thing To Do”: GOP Congressman Recognizes Biden As President-Elect
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“Joe Biden has rightfully earned the title of being the projected president-elect and that should be recognized,” Rep. Reed said.
App NEWS
Oneonta Passes Revised Mask Ordinance For Business District
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“We are entering a critical time with a recent uptick in cases of COVID-19.”
App NEWS
Cortland County Reports First COVID-19 Death
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According to health officials, the person was a male in his 60s with underlying health conditions.
App NEWS
Amid Another Wave Of COVID-19 Cases, Southern Tier Hospitals Cope With Staff Shortages
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According to Boland, many more staff members have fallen ill in recent weeks than in the spring, when the first wave of COVID-19 hit.
App NEWS
Elmira Prison Under Lockdown After 590 People Test Positive For COVID-19
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“They feel like they’re sort of cut off from the outside world right now which is scary when you’re in a situation like that.”
App NEWS
Steuben Health Officials Say Corning Center Failed To Report Six More Deaths
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The deaths occurred between Sept. 30 and Oct. 17.
2020 election
Counties Exclude COVID In Absentee Ballot Communications To Voters
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“It leaves all of these holes in the implementation of the law where you might have disenfranchisement strictly based off of the ability for the county to interpret a law really loosely.”
App NEWS
New Yorkers Protest As Elmira Prison Sees 565 COVID-19 Cases
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“This is a public health crisis and you have cut them off from the outside world.”
covid
Keuka College To Remain Remote For The Rest Of The Semester
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The school originally moved online this month.
2020 election
NY-22: Candidates Debate Health Care, Policing
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Democratic incumbent Anthony Brindisi, former Republican representative Claudia Tenney and Libertarian candidate Keith Price covered an array of issues, including policing and climate change.
Andrew Cuomo
Steuben and Chemung Co. Declared COVID-19 Cluster Zones
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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo deemed part of Chemung County an orange “warning” zone and part of Steuben County a yellow “buffer” zone.
cortland county
SUNY Cortland Extends Pause Of In-Person Classes
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So far, 55 students have been suspended or banned from campus because of COVID violations.
App NEWS
Oneonta Mayor Vetoes Mask Ordinance
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Oneonta’s mayor supports mask-wearing in public, but adds the vetoed ordinance wouldn’t make people any safer.
App NEWS
Broome County Schools Prepare For Yellow Zone COVID-19 Testing
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The district will need to test around 20 percent of those coming into the schools—including teachers, students and staff—each week.
Anthony Brindisi
Broome Leaders Ask Congressman To Free Up CARES Act Funds In Next Relief Package
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“I don’t want to wait until after the election to do this, I think we need help now.”
App NEWS
Tompkins County Reports First COVID-19 Death
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The death occurred almost seven months to the day the county announced it was closing all schools to slow the spread of the virus.
amy storey
Keuka College Moves Classes Online For Two Weeks
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Officials made the decision after a rise in cases of COVID-19 included 11 new cases in a 24-hour period.
App NEWS
Tracing Potential COVID-19 Cases In Ithaca Schools
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The Ithaca City School District began in-person classes this week.
App NEWS
Binghamton Mayor Tests Positive For COVID-19
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As of Wednesday, there were 540 active cases across the county, including 191 in Binghamton.
App NEWS
Broome County ‘Yellow Zone’ Measures To Start Friday
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“In coordination with this new cluster initiative, I am going to continue to ask people to stay home for these 14 days as well,” Garnar said.
App NEWS
Binghamton University Goes On Temporary Pause Amid Area COVID-19 Spikes
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“You want to make sure cases still aren’t growing, even if they’re underneath the 100 threshold over a two week period.”
SUNY Cortland Goes Remote Due To Rise In COVID-19 Cases
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“There’s no clear issue arising from off-campus activity,” SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras said. “It’s not as if there’s one big gathering or two big gatherings. But clearly the activity is coming from off-campus.”
App NEWS
Broome County Opens Mobile Rapid Testing Site In Binghamton
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According to Garnar, the rapid test machines employed at the site can produce results in 15 minutes.
App NEWS
Garnar Asks Broome Residents To Stay Home For Next Week
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54 new active cases were added to the county’s COVID-19 dashboard between Wednesday and Thursday, with 8 people currently hospitalized.
App NEWS
To Contain Binghamton Cluster, Broome County Prepares to Deploy State Rapid Testing
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The majority of cases are not driven by college students, either. Garnar said just 21 of the 193 active cases are Binghamton University students.
App NEWS
Corning Center COVID-19 Deaths Not Reported To County
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“Certainly no fault that we’re placing on the facility at all,” Wheeler said. “It’s just more of a clearing up of those communication lines.”
App NEWS
Corning Nursing Home Announces Four Deaths
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County Manager Jack Wheeler and Steuben Public Health Director Darlene Smith announced an uptick in cases at the nursing home Tuesday afternoon.
Crime and Justice
Activists Call For More Transparency During State Hearing On COVID-19 In Jails
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“A disturbing number were locked up due to slowdowns and failures in the assigned counsel and the public defender system.”
Environment
Lupardo Calls on DEC For Further Review of Endicott LIB Recycling Plant
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“After doing months of homework, and consulting with industry experts, I am convinced that a more detailed environmental review is needed by the DEC, especially now that the project permit is on hold,” Lupardo said.
App NEWS
SUNY-Wide Pooled COVID-19 Testing May Be More Effective, Expert Says
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“When you provide a sample for a test, it is a snapshot in time. It’s a false situation to assume it protects you going forward.”
App NEWS
One Death Linked To Church COVID Cluster In Chemung County
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“Certainly, we are working very hard behind the scenes to make sure we can get people in contact with doctors if they need it and things like that, if they need it.”
DEC
Whatever It’s Called, Some Endicott Residents Still Don’t Want It
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Critics of the facility have called it an incinerator. Under regulatory definitions set by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), it’s not.
SUNY Oneonta Online For Rest Of Semester, Sends Students Home
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“We committed to do everything we could to mitigate this situation, and today, that means ending residential housing for this semester.”
COVID Cases Among Cornell Athletes Prompts Increased Restrictions
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Student gatherings are now restricted to no more than 10 people.
Andrew Cuomo
Hartwick College Goes Remote Amid Oneonta COVID-19 Outbreak
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Hartwick College has reported only two positive student COVID-19 cases so far.
App NEWS
Endicott Residents, Akshar Call For Halt To Battery Recycling Facility
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“We want the village trustees of Endicott to respect their residents, to listen to their concerns and to represent their best interest.”
App NEWS
Tompkins County Covering Some COVID-19 Testing Costs For Residents
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Pressure on the health system multiplied when federal changes were made to the rules governing which tests insurance providers must cover.
COVID-19
After COVID-19 Spread, SUNY Oneonta Moves Online For At Least Two Weeks
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“Any student that is ticketed will be…suspended immediately because this is serious. So we are moving very aggressively with those cases, with those parties on or off campus.”
Economy
Lawmakers Demand Release of State-Secured Child Care Funds
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“We’re saying here are some examples of where those resources are needed, and they’re needed now.”
Ithaca Teaching Aides Call For Option To Work Virtually
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Teachers have been given the choice of returning to in-person teaching or teaching virtually. Teaching aides have not been given the same option.
App NEWS
NIH Vaccine Testing Underway In Binghamton
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The study is scheduled to last two years, but a vaccine might be ready for the public sooner.
App NEWS
Schumer: Schools Can’t Reopen Without Federal Aid
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“Teachers are always paying for things out of the goodness of their hearts, and they’re not paid that much, but this one is so expensive we’ve got to get federal help.”
Binghamton School District
Teacher Weighs The Risk Of Going Back Into The Classroom
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“Before this whole thing, I thought I would’ve thrown my life in front of kids to save them. Now it’s like asking us to go in and risk our lives.”
broome county
County Executives Call For Immediate Pandemic Disaster Relief
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“It is really, really going to hurt this community if we don’t get some type of assistance.”
COVID-19
NY Lt. Governor On School Reopening, Flu Season Complications
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“If parents are going to have to go to work and the kids are at home, that’s just an absolute nightmare.”
COVID-19
Oneonta Schools To Reopen Remotely
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“We have no idea what impact such a large influx of students during this time will have on the collective health of our community.”
binghamton university
Instead Of Tossing Them, Researchers Suspect N-95 Masks Could Be Sanitized And Reused
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One of the grant-funded projects at Binghamton University looks at how to best disinfect and reuse N-95 masks.
App NEWS
Ithaca School Superintendent Discusses School Reopening Plans
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“And across the country we prioritize bars and restaurants over young people. How dare we do that.”
department of environmental protection
Endicott Residents Protest Proposed Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Facility
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Protest organizers NoBurnBroome said they will continue to build support and fight the opening of the lithium-ion battery recycling facility.
Education
Reopening Schools Brace for Mid-Year Aid Cuts
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“Now more than ever, school districts need more funding in order to make this work in this environment.”
Food and Farms
New York Wineries Adjust to Cuomo’s New Alcohol Rules
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“This isn’t a small or large winery thing. It’s adding an expense, and expenses are high.”
App NEWS
NY High School Fall Sports Delayed, Championships Canceled
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“As the state considers reopening, it is unrealistic to believe athletic seasons can start on August 24th as originally scheduled.”
Andrew Cuomo
After Confusion By Local Leaders, NY Releases School Reopening Guidelines
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Windsor Superintendent Jason Andrews said part of the challenge school districts have faced in crafting their plans is due to the sometimes conflicting guidelines they have received from national health and education officials.
Online Art Therapy Helps Cornell Students Cope With Isolation
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During their most recent online session, participants made art while talking about racism and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Rural Health Desk
Museums Reopen With Massive Financial Strains Under COVID-19
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“Those expenses still continue whether or not there are people here.”
New York Camps Cope With COVID-19 Changes
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“Scheduling bathroom breaks for little kids seems kind of crazy, but it’s just something we have to do to keep them safe.”
County Officials Balance Privacy, Transparency With COVID-19 Information
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“What we want to avoid is providing data in a manner that would cause people to jump to potentially false conclusions about the disease or about any individual in our community.”
Rural Health Desk
Corning Closes Part Of Downtown District To Aid Business Reopenings
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“We were all facing the fact that when we reopen, we have to figure out how to social distance in one of the most intimate settings there is: taking care of a customer.”
Cornell Students Return To Campus In September
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Students will be required to undergo regular screening and testing for COVID-19.
Andrew Cuomo
New York Bar Owners Brace For State Oversight During Reopening
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“Everyone’s got that opinion, but it’s only me that’s got that liquor license.”
App NEWS
Broome County Absentee Ballots Soar, While Available Voting Sites Are Reduced
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Earlier this year, Governor Andrew Cuomo expanded absentee voting to include all New Yorkers.
At Protests, Street Medics Take COVID-19 Precautions
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“Our primary goal is keeping people safe, whether that be making sure they’re wearing masks, or if someone falls and gets hurt, or any number of different kinds of ailments.”
Health
Pennsylvania Releases Data On COVID-19 Deaths Among Latinos
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Counties vary in approach to tracking the virus’s impact on ethnic groups
Government
Reed Pushes Back On Proposed Ithaca Rent Cancellation
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“In the sense that you can waive rent and you can not have consequences that are going to impact those same people that you are trying to help.”
App NEWS
Advocates For Binghamton Northside Grocery Store Hope New Funds Ensure Long-Term Viability
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“Not being a chain gives us the opportunity to really listen to the community, put in the grocery store what they want in the grocery store.”