Category: PostNews

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — On Tuesday night, Buffalo police say two people were shot on Auburn Avenue.

The incident happened on the street’s 200 block, just before 11:30 p.m. It’s not clear how badly the man and woman were injured, but they were taken to ECMC for treatment.

Anyone with information that could help police solve this crime is asked to call their confidential tip line at (716) 847-2255.

Dear Editor:

Fair Question For the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine:  What  substantiated the drastic reductions from the sub-zero storage requirement — minus 70 degrees Celsius which equals minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit?  Initially temperature maintenance was emphasized as so important, shipping containers had temperature sensors.

Since COVID vaccination sites have significantly increased — including at Rite Aid stores, Walgreens and essentially some “pop-up” spots (such as community centers) — I was curious how they were equipped to satisfy the Antarctica-range temperature. 

In researching online, I found “. . . FDA allows more flexible storage, transportation conditions  for Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine.” (fda.gov February 25, 2021)

“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is allowing undiluted frozen vials of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 to be transported and stored at conventional temperatures commonly found in pharmaceutical freezers for a period of up to two weeks.”

“This reflects an alternative to the preferred storage of the undiluted vials in an ultra-low temperature freezer [-70°C] . . . .”

Another temperature storage reduction for the vaccine was reported in “Pfizer Vaccine Can Stay Longer at Warmer Temperatures Before Being Discarded.” (npr.com May 19, 2021) 

The story included: “Food and Drug Administration [FDA] says it’s now OK to store the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at NORMAL REFRIGERATOR TEMPERATURES for up to a month. This is much longer than was previously allowed under the FDA’s emergency authorization and will make storage and distribution of the vaccine easier.”

I found nothing reporting the vaccine had been altered in any way. Inquiring minds might question — How can thawed vaccine remain unspoiled, for up to 30 days — with only very minimal refrigeration — but frozen storage was at a mega-minus temperature? ( Also, previously, the maximum refrigerator storage was up to 5 days.)

Pfizer submitted data to the FDA to demonstrate justification for the preceding change. I couldn’t find any details. Seems they accepted the information as the Gospel. 

-Kat Massey

Download Challenging the Great Resignation: What Your People Really Want & How to Make Them Stay 

About this Webisode:

Industries across the board have been impacted by what’s become known as the Great Resignation. As the pandemic continues to contribute to high levels of workplace turnover, what can employers and managers do to increase job satisfaction and retain top talent?

Join the BNP and the UB School of Management in a timely webinar covering:

Pandemic Impacts and The Great Resignation
What is Organizational Commitment?
3 Reasons Why People Stay With Employers
How Job Satisfactions Plays a Role, and what does that mean, anyway?
What do Employees actually want?
As a leader, what can you do about it?

Presented by

Jim Lemoine, Associate Professor of Organization and Human Resources at the University at Buffalo and Faculty Director of UB’s Center for Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness (CLOE)
Erin O’Brien, Assistant Dean, Chief Enrollment, and Marketing Officer at the University at Buffalo School of Management

If your company is a member of the BNP, please complete the form below to receive the link(s) to the content.

The post Members-Only Webisode: Speaker Series – Challenging the Great Resignation appeared first on Buffalo Niagara Partnership.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — City lawmakers acknowledge Buffalo was buried under a record snowfall — nearly 17 inches — which was double the old record.

But council members also got some unkind words from residents, and they want to see if the city’s snow removal plan can be improved. A quick look at city streets and you can see the pavement, but more than 72 hours after last week’s record snowfall, Buffalo residents complained of streets unplowed — and they lit up City Hall phone lines, especially at the Common Council.

North District Councilman Joe Golombek is asking for a meeting with the Department of Public Works to see what happened.

“In certain parts of the North District it was 72 hours later that we were getting snowplows down the streets, and I want to see what exactly the problems were,” he said.

Because the Common Council votes on city snow removal plans, Council President Darius Pridgen is calling for a review.

“Really ‘dig in’ to figure out what went wrong and what went right,” Pridgen said. “Because some things did go right and some things could have done a lot better.”

Some members of the Council even praised the work of DPW officials, such as Deputy Commissioner Henry Jackson.

“He did an incredible job,” said University District Councilman Rasheed Wyatt. “I know everyone did not see all that he did, but the residents who contacted me — and I coordinated with block clubs — he went out and assisted them.”

But council members added, all the comments were not negative.. and many of the callers offered constructive ideas for dealing with the snow, such as allowing residents to park their cars in nearby lots.

“If we are able to work with institutions that have large parking lots like Kleinhans, D’Youville College, churches, to remove cars off the streets so the plows can get through,” said Niagara District Councilman David Rivera.

Public Works Commissioner Mike Finn told News 4 just a short time ago, he is committed to a “constructive conversation” with the Common Council concerning snow removal in the city. He and his staff plan to huddle with Council next week to work on a “gameplan.”

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — New York State’s indoor mask mandate is back in effect, as Governor Kathy Hochul and the State Department of Health have filed a notice of appeal and a stay has been granted.

Monday night, a judge said the state’s mask mandate is unconstitutional and violates state law. The judge said that Governor Kathy Hochul appeared to have good intentions with the mandate, but also said it was ordered unlawfully by the executive branch of state government.

Buffalo attorney Barry Covert joined News 4 Tuesday to discuss the ruling.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Buffalo police are looking for a missing 15-year-old named Erik Arroyo, who has been missing since Jan. 4.

Arroyo was last seen wearing a black hoodie with yellow and orange lettering reading “Attack on Titan,” as well as dark jeans and black Nike sneakers. He is Hispanic with brown eyes and brown hair, about 5’6 tall and is believed to be in the area.

Anyone with information is asked to please call 1-800-346-3543.

(WIVB) — More than a third of all cities and municipalities in New York State have decided against having pot shops, which means about 118,000 New Yorkers will not be able to buy marijuana from a store in their area.

The deadline to opt-out of these sales was Dec. 31.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — More than a million dollars is being dedicated to combatting human trafficking in Western New York.

Tuesday, local leaders announced a $1.5 million federal grant to combat human trafficking over the course of three years. Law enforcement agencies say the funds will increase victim screening and support, while investigating and prosecuting their traffickers.

Homeland Security agents say a way people can help stop human trafficking is by reporting any suspicious activity to their hotline. That number is 1-866-347-2423. Additional numbers and resources can be found here.

WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. (WIVB) — Williamsville Mayor Deb Rogers joined News 4 Tuesday to discuss how the board came to their decision to pay the $300 fine for mask violations at meetings, after they had initially planned to hire attorneys and fight the fine.

Village of Williamsville will pay $300 county fine for mask violations

The full interview can be seen above.

BATAVIA, N.Y. (WIVB) — When Sandra Lloyd heard about the staffing shortages in the healthcare field she saw it as an opportunity to help out.

Near the end of last year, the Corfu native lost her job in banking after more than 20 years in the field.

Losing her job was a shock, and during her job search she considered an entirely new career.

“I seen all the problems with healthcare with them having the shortage because of the shot and everything so I figured since I was vaccinated that I would do my part and help out,” Lloyd said.

She interviewed for a clinical nursing assistant position at United Memorial Medical Center in Batavia.

“I don’t have any experience in this, but I told them I wanted to help patients and connect with patients.”

She got the job, and started working in December.

“I was very nervous. I was like, ‘oh my God I don’t know if I can do this,’ knowing everything that an aid does I wasn’t sure I could handle it. The first day was quite hard but I jumped right in and started doing everything I could to help out.”

Her day-to-day includes handing out food trays, changing patients, drawing baths, and a lot more.

She said the sometimes-16-hour-days are worth it.

“Especially now, there’s a lot of people that don’t have family and stuff so I want to be that person that kind of helps them makes them smile during the day makes them laugh.”

Even though it took a pandemic to lead her down this path, LLoyd said it’s exactly where she’s meant to be.

“I don’t know if I would be here if it wasn’t for that, to tell you the truth, because I never would’ve seen the need for it, where there is a big need for aids. I mean, even nurses, anything in healthcare it’s rewarding, at the end of the day you feel good about yourself.”