Your Morning Edition For Wednesday, Nov. 16th!
Major structure fire in Ontario County, Newark mayor wins re-election, snow season starts at Bristol Mountain, report on unemployment fraud, and potential gas tax holiday extension.
Our editors have been busy curating the most-important news for today’s Morning Edition newsletter. The Morning Edition is a daily digest of the biggest stories that matter to your life in the Finger Lakes. Today’s newsletter is sponsored by Canandaigua Dentistry. Learn more about them and other FingerLakes1.com partners by scrolling down.
What’s News Today? Get Caught Up Fast!
ELECTION VICTORY: Newark Mayor Jonathan Taylor has won re-election. His challenger, David Christler, was down by less than 100 votes after Election Day. While he called it a long shot for him to overcome that deficit - Taylor took nothing for granted - waiting until every absentee ballot was certified and counted. The moment came on Tuesday, though, one week after Election Day when results were finally certified. Taylor called it an honor to serve the village as mayor for another four years. [READ MORE]
SNOW SEASON ARRIVES: It's snow season at Bristol Mountain. Not only does the calendar say November, and the forecast call for heavy snow in parts of Western New York, but one of the Finger Lakes' destinations for snowing and skiing is making snow. Those efforts began on Monday, according to officials at Bristol Mountain, who said it's "nice to be back on the hill." Snow-making efforts will continue in the coming days and weeks. An opening date has not yet been announced. [READ MORE]
ONTARIO FIRE: Firefighters were called to a major structure fire in the town of Gorham after dark on Tuesday. A house on Middle Road suffered serious damage and the flames could be seen from a significant distance away. Altogether four districts responded to the two-story home shortly after 5:30 p.m. The fire apparently started in the chimney. Residents were able to escape without injury. Hopewell, Middlesex, Crystal Beach, and Gorham all responded. Check out video from the scene exclusively on FingerLakes1.com by clicking on the story on our homepage. [READ MORE]
GAS TAX UPDATE: This week AAA reported that the price of gas increased in New York State. Across the remainder of the nation the average price of a gallon of gas decreased. Those two conflicting datapoints have prompted many lawmakers across the state to call for the gas tax holiday to be extended beyond December 31st. Right now, the gas tax holiday that went into effect in June is set to expire at the end of the year. Motorists are saving approximately 16 cents per gallon through the gas tax suspension. Lawmakers like Democrat Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara say it's time to act, as economic conditions have not changed enough to warrant ending it. He wants to see it extended for at least another 6 months. Republican Senator Jim Tedisco says he wants to see a special session. He's calling for a full-exemption, which would save motorists 33 cents per gallon. Tedisco's legislation calls for a sliding scale on the gas tax. The savings would begin when gas reaches $2.25 per gallon and hit 33 cents saved per gallon when it exceeds $3. Governor Kathy Hochul provided no indication on whether she would support additional relief. Her office pointed to past measures that provided hundreds of millions of dollars in relief for consumers. [READ MORE]
UNEMPLOYMENT FRAUD: And finally, an audit report released Tuesday by the New York State Comptroller’s Office finds the state Department of Labor’s failure to replace its Unemployment Insurance system contributed to an estimated billions of dollars in improper payments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Auditors estimated the losses around 11 billion dollars, but the DOL refused to cooperate or provide data that would've allowed a precise calculation on losses. Even when they did, the embattled agency was slow to provide the requested information, which ultimately delayed completion of the audit. We’ve published the full-report on our website. [READ MORE]
