2,905,611 VISITORS VISIT 8,324,077 TIMES 3 TIMES EVERY DAY IN ONE YEAR. HIGHEST ACTIVITY IN WPCNR HISTORY.White PlainsCitizeNetReporter lifted its worldwide visits from unique visitors to wpcnr.com to 8,324,077,a 1,306,419 increase in visits in one year from 7,017,658 visits to the site last year which covers White Plains and Westchester County. The 8,324,077 visits were made by 2,005,611 unique visitors who visited wpcnr an average of 3 visits a day. ON JULY 20- -2026 visitors have accessed wpcnr and made 3,072 visits an average of 1.6 visits. In the last week 33,495 individual vistors made 54,458 visits, averaging 1.6 visits. In the last month, 152,940 visitors recorded 229,338 visits (1.5 visits)
WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS.Statement From Governor Hochuls Press Office. June 9, 2028:
“Building on my ongoing conversations with President Biden, Secretary Mayorkas, Senate Majority Leader Schumer and House Democratic Leader Jeffries, today I met with White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients to discuss the need for additional resources in New York as we continue to support the arrival of tens of thousands of asylum seekers.
“I expressed our gratitude for the more than $135 million in aid secured by our federal partners for New York City and reiterated we need additional support, including federal lands to use as shelter sites and federal funding to humanely care for these individuals. Most importantly, I stressed the need for federal action to expedite asylum applications and work authorization requests for individuals to allow them to quickly integrate into our economy and our society.
“We are grateful to President Biden and his team for their efforts to assist in the midst of this humanitarian crisis, and look forward to additional support and collaboration.”
The New York State Assembly voted Friday to move COUNTY, town and village elections across the state with the exception of New York City, to November in even years on the next to last day of the current legislative section.
The existence of the legislation was not known to many Town Supervisors in the state. Paul Feiner, Town Supervisor of Greenburgh who brought this to the attention with his letter to WPCNR Friday, added this comment tonight”
“Municipal officials all over the state are outraged. No discussion, no transparency by the legislature. No debate. Snuck it in for a vote as a surprise.”
The legislation, approved by both houses, now goes to Governor Kathy Hochul for signature.
The law-to-be, if the Governor signs it will not affect School District elections, currently held in the spring of every year.
Amy Paulin of the Assembly sponsored the bill. In the State Senate James Skoufis of of the 42nd Assembly District sponsored the bill.
The description of the bill (A4282B) reads as follows:
AN ACT to amend the town law, the village law, the county law, and the
municipal home rule law, in relation to moving certain elections to
even-numbered years
PURPOSE:
Provides that certain local elections held outside of New York City
shall be held on election day in November in even-numbered years.
WPCNR THE LETTER TICKER. From Paul Feiner, Greenburgh Town Supervisor. June 9, 2023:
The New York State Assembly WAS scheduled to vote on Friday on a bill hat would move town elections to even election years (Presidential and races for Governor). Currently, town elections are held in off years -voters only vote for local races.
This proposed bill was not discussed with Westchester town officials prior to introduction
. I just found out about it late Thursday afternoon from other Town Supervisors who also heard about this bill at the last minute.
No public discussion on an issue that is of great importance to local residents. And should be debated.
This is bad for democracy.
During Presidential elections many voters who are not interested in local politics vote. They usually vote the straight ticket.
Many voters don’t pay attention to the election campaigns down on the ballot.
During the more important election years many students who are out of town in college vote absentee. They are registered in the municipalities they grew up in but really are living out of town. They will also be voting in local elections even though they are not interested in local issues.
Another reason why this law is so bad is because it will make government less responsive to the community.
Currently, if a town official is not responsive to a neighborhood request – the neighborhood can organize and be heard.
If elections for town offices are held in a Presidential year it will be much easier for local officials to ignore the will of the people.
Because – many of the people who come out to vote won’t be familiar with the local issues and controversies. It will be easier for developers and special interests to get what they want because the activists won’t have as much influence on election day.
A third reason why this legislation is bad is that fewer people will vote in county elections. In the past competitive local elections encouraged people to also vote in county wide elections. The change does not impact county races.
The legislation bill number is A 04282.
One suggestion: If the state wants to pursue this idea provide local governments with the option of holding their elections in Presidential or Governor election years instead of in odd election years when the focus of an election would be on town issues.
Watching wildfire smoke blanket the Northeast U.S. and parts of Canada over the past few days has been surreal. Air quality is impacted for tens of millions of people, with off the charts pollutant levels in some areas.
New York City PM2.5 measurements. Red dotted line indicates unhealthy levels
I can’t help but notice striking comparisons with this public health problem to another— the pandemic.
Oh …those things called masks
Given wildfire smoke and respiratory droplets are larger than N95’s filtration efficiencies, this means masks work for both.
I’ve heard that more people are wearing masks in the past two days than I did last winter when COVID, RSV, and flu blanketed communities. I chalk this up to three things:
Visible vs. invisible threats. When something is invisible, it’s much more difficult to act. This has long been a menace to public health. Would masking during winter be different if viruses created green plumes of smoke? Tools that make viruses as visible as smoke, like perhaps a viral load indicator on weather apps, could be low-hanging fruit.
Immediate vs delayed effect. Symptoms from smoke are pretty immediate (i.e., watery eyes, coughing). Symptoms from viruses are delayed (takes a few days to replicate in your body). And, in some cases, the immune system will prevent infection or symptoms altogether. So, the causal relationship is less apparent to people.
Novel vs. familiar threat. COVID-19 is not novel anymore; the majority of people have become more comfortable placing its risk among our normal repertoire of threats. Wildfire smoke in the Northeast is novel. Would the same number of people be wearing a mask after 3.5 years of wildfire smoke?
Politicization is on full display… again
It didn’t take long for the politicization of public health and climate change to be on full display with wildfire smoke. Just like with the pandemic, this is gravely dangerous to the health of communities.
One national news station pushed the idea that there are no health harms with wildfire smoke and masks don’t work. That’s just plain wrong. As one epidemiologist said during the pandemic, “Politicizing masks makes as much sense as politicizing gravity.”
Risk communication is key
Clear, timely risk communication is important so people can make evidence-based decisions today. We did this terribly during the pandemic. It was better with smoke.
With a novel threat, like wildfire smoke, it’s best to compare to harms we do know—like cigarettes. This helps gauge risk more accurately. For example, thanks to data from Berkeley Earth, I found breathing in excessive amounts of wildfire smoke (rated “purple” on the Air Quality Index scale) is equivalent to smoking half a pack of cigarettes. Time to wear that mask?
Signs of climate change
Contrary to a few nasty emails I received after my last post, yes… climate change is a problem. Both viruses and wildfires put this on full display:
Smoke: An estimated 82 million Americans will experience a 57% increase in frequency and a 31% increase in the intensity of “smoke waves”—2 or more consecutive days with high wildfire-specific PM2.5—in years to come. Northern California, Western Oregon, and the Great Plains will suffer the most.
Viruses: Climate change is increasing the transmission of viruses. Animals and humans are moving to higher elevations, different biodiversity hotspots, and areas previously uninhabited. For example, mosquitos are migrating to new areas and, thus, introducing diseases to previously protected populations.
Importance of indoor air quality
Both events show that improving indoor air is a powerful mitigation tool that has been underutilized for decades. In addition, some of the best public health interventions are those happening in the background: institutional interventions that work passively and invisibly for the individual. Addressing indoor air in an equitable way is a massive challenge, and I hope we improve with time.
NYT visual depiction of SARS-CoV-2 and the impact from opening windows and air cleaners.
Bottom line
We needto be smarter and better adapt because the environment around us is rapidly changing. Our health depends on it, whether the threat comes from wildfires or viruses.
Love, YLE
“Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE)” is written by Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, MPH PhD—an epidemiologist, data scientist, wife. During the day she works at a nonpartisan health policy think tank and is a senior scientific consultant to a number of organizations, including the CDC. At night she writes this newsletter. Her main goal is to “translate” the ever-evolving public health science so that people will be well-equipped to make evidence-based decisions. This newsletter is free thanks to the generous support of fellow YLE community members. To support this effort, subscribe below:
