Monthly Archives: August 2021

Is Christianity under attack in the United States? It depends on whom you ask. Some church leaders and politicians claim recent LGBTQ progress such as the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling guaranteeing same-sex couples the right to marry is an attack on Christianity.

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis sought to understand whether that sentiment is widely shared by other Christians. Their findings from five separate studies conducted over 3 years shed light on the root causes and consequences of such zero-sum beliefs a belief that social gains for one group necessarily involves losses for the other about Christianity and the LGBTQ community, and offer possible interventions to reduce such all-or-nothing beliefs.

The findings are published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, a leading empiricalsocial psychology journal. They show that zero-sum beliefs (ZSBs) are most common among conservative Christians, and are shaped by their understandings of Christian values, the Bible and in response to religious institutions.

Many Christians have come to see themselves as being on the losing side of the culture wars, said Clara L. Wilkins, principal investigator and associate professor of psychological and brain sciences in Arts & Sciences. Christians may perceive that an America where same sex marriage is legal is one in which they have lost their sway and are now victimized.

This is especially common among conservative Christians, who also are more likely to believe that Christianity is a defining feature of being American. As a result, they see themselves as being at odds with LGBTQ individuals, who are perceived as having increasing social influence.

Wilkins and Lerone A. Martin, co-principal investigator and director of American culture studies at Washington University, conducted five studies between July 2016 and December 2019 to explore the extent to which Christians endorse ZSBs about their relationships with LGBTQ individuals. For four of the five studies, they surveyed approximately 2,000 self-identified, heterosexual, cisgender and predominately white Christian Americans.

The February 2019 United Methodist Church (UMC) vote on language regarding human sexuality provided an opportunity for Wilkins and Martin to examine the role of church authorities in shaping attitudes. For this naturalistic experiment, they collected data in a sample of 321 United Methodists recruited at churches in St. Louis County and at the UMC General Conference.

The research was funded by the Templeton Religion Trust and as part of the Self, Virtue, and Public Life Project, a three-year research initiative based at the Institute for the Study of Human Flourishing at the University of Oklahoma.

Key findings from the studies include:

The church is a strong moral authority with the potential to shape norms and attitudes toward sexual minorities like court rulings have shifted attitudes on same sex marriage, the authors wrote.

We found this take-away very interesting in light of how religion, evangelicalism in particular, is often associated with strict definitions of civic belonging. Our research found that biblical faith can also lead to broad civic acceptance, said Martin, who also is an associate professor in the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics.

Our research found that biblical faith can also lead to broad civic acceptance.

Since taking office, President Joe Biden has reversed bans on transgender peoples participation in the military and has reaffirmed protection for LGBTQ federal employees. He also made historic appointments, including Pete Buttigieg as the first openly gay secretary in the presidential Cabinet and Rachel Levine, the first openly transgender federal official. In Delaware, Sarah McBride also made history as the first openly transgender state senator in U.S. history.

Applauded by LGBTQ people and advocates, these momentous changes have sparked outrage by opponents. They argue that the growing acceptance of LGBTQ individuals impedes the ability of Christians to practice their faith as if gains for one group necessarily involved losses for the other. For example, then-Sen. Jeff Sessions described the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling as an effort to secularize the country by force and intimidation.

That outrage has political implications. While the number of white evangelical Christians has decreased significantly in recent years from 23% in 2006 to 14% in 2020, according to a Public Religion Research Institute survey their political influence continues to grow.

The politicalinfluence of white evangelicals goes beyond their numerical representation, in part because of their historic willingness to Americanize Christianity through mass media, laissez-faire capitalism and pragmatic political partnerships. This blending of Christianity and Americanism has helped white evangelicals create abroad community that extends beyond their stated theological and institutional commitments, Martin said.

Whether with the phonograph, radio, television or the internet, whiteevangelicals have traditionally used mass media as a bullhorn. Theseelectric pulpits have enabled white evangelicals to disseminate their messages of Christian nationalism, culture wars and cultural grievances and political conservatism to afar-reachingconstituency.

These gospel seeds often find fertilegrounds amongst politicalpartners beyond the narrow theological confines ofwhiteevangelicalism.Politicians, many of which are not evenevangelicals or committed toevangelical theology, pick up the cause andtrumpet evangelicalcultural andsocialconcerns during theircampaigns in an attempt to cater to whiteevangelical voters.These voters in turn crown such political actors as their leaders in a political bargain where the ends justify the means. In this way, the numbers of self-proclaimed evangelicals may be small, but their political influence issizable. The election of President Donald Trump, the January insurrection and the increase in anti-LGBTQ legislation are just a few examples.

Indeed, recent social advancements have spurred an increase in anti-LGBTQ legislation fueled in part by conservative Christian groups. According to Wilkins and Martin, the Human Rights Campaign predicted that this will be a record-setting year for anti-LGBTQ legislation with as many as 250 bills introduced in state legislatures in 2021 alone.

While the research may seem disheartening at first glance, Wilkins and Martin insist it contains a hopeful message.

In particular, our data suggests that perceived conflict between groups is not inevitable, they said. In fact, we were able to successfully lower the extent to which mainline Christians perceive that LGBTQ gains come at a cost for Christians by having them reflect on biblical acceptance. According to recent analyses, mainline Christians now outnumber more conservative groups.

In other words, we identified an intervention to successfully lower ZSBs formostChristians.

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Cultural backlash: Is LGBTQ progress an attack on Christianity? - Washington University in St. Louis Newsroom

FOREWORD

One of the key premises of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is leaving no one behind. To achieve this, the interlinkages between all the 17 Sustainable Development Goals must be articulated well and appropriate actions undertaken for the benefit of all.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is supporting the 2030 Agenda through the transformation to MORE efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life - leaving no one behind. The transformation of agri-food systems is at the heart of FAOs mandate and at the core of FAOs Strategic Framework 2022-2031.

Water is the essence of life and central to agri-food systems. This report addresses the importance of reducing water stress, which is a measure of the pressure that human activities exert on natural freshwater resources, and provides an indication of the environmental sustainability of the use of water resources. The path to reduce water stress passes through sustainable agri-food systems.An important novelty of this report is the presentation of the disaggregation of the indicator by major basins, providing better insights on the sustainability of agricultural systems that may be at risk due to human pressure on land and water.

Alternative water sources such as wastewater, storm run-off and desalination, as well as measures such as water harvesting, can help relieve water stress. Safe wastewater reuse and recycling is a significantly untapped resource for industry and agriculture, but its use must overcome political and cultural barriers.FAO joined the Integrated Monitoring Initiative for SDG6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) in 2015, coordinated by UN-Water, which has gathered experiences and resources aimed at ensuring a coherent monitoring framework for water and sanitation by 2030. Such a framework will help countries achieve progress through well-informed decision-making on water, based on harmonized, comprehensive, timely and accurate information. FAO, predominantly through its AQUASTAT database, remains committed to improving the quality and quantity of data produced and analysed, in close partnership with the relevant national authorities of our Members.

In coordination and collaboration with other stakeholders, FAO will continue supporting Members to achieve this target by providing scientific and technical assistance.

Qu DongyuFAO Director-General

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Progress on level of water stress - Global status and acceleration needs for SDG indicator 6.4.2 - World - ReliefWeb

Bayern Munich campus director Jochen Sauer has seen the progress that the sometimes-flawed soccer system has made in the United States.

The present results blow away, the past...by a long shot per Sauer.

The (soccer) education that young players get in the States is completely different now. The quality of the coaches is better. Combine this technical and tactical improvement with athletic ability, and these are the reasons some players are performing on the highest level, Jochem Sauer, director of Bayern Munichs youth academy told Fox Sports. The level of MLS clubs has grown extremely since, say 2010. When MLS players came to train in Germany 10 years ago, the speed of play how fast the ball goes from player to player, how quickly you have to anticipate what to do next was too much for them. Now well get FC Dallas players here on trial, and they need only two or three training sessions to adapt.

The timing of Sauers comments come at a very interesting period in U.S. Soccer. The United States Soccer Development Academy (USSDA) was shuttered just over a year ago, but also managed to produce the majority of the younger players within the USMNTs player pool.

MLS Next, which is powered by the MLS clubs (obviously), has captured the progress from the USSDA and built upon it for the boys. For females, the Girls Academy League and ECNL have absorbed the top-tier clubs.

The landscape in the United States is challenging, though. With some clubs operating as a pure business and others pretending to operate as non-profit entities, finding the proper pathway for kids is no easy task due to all of the logistical obstacles.

The ideal scenario would require professional clubs to make the financial investment to adopt the European model, where true club oversight could aptly manage all the complexities of developing youth players.

To capture all of the reactions from top youth football aficionados, check out the full post on FoxSports.com.

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An American influx ahead? Bayern Munich campus director Jochen Sauer touts progress in the United States - Bavarian Football Works

Foreword

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development stresses the importance of leaving no one behind.This can only be achieved if the interlinkages between its 17 SDGs are adequately articulated and appropriate actions are undertaken to bring them together for the benefit of all.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is supporting the 2030 Agenda through the transformation to MORE efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life - leaving no one behind.The transformation of agri-food systems is at the heart of FAOs mandate and at the core of FAOs Strategic Framework 2022-2031.

Water is the essence of life and at the core of the agri-food systems. The path to water efficiency passes through sustainable agri-food systems. This report shows the progress in the monitoring of indicator 6.4.1 Change in water-use efficiency over time for which FAO is custodian, in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) global report. It reveals that there is opportunity to further increase water-use efficiency in all sectors, including agriculture, the world largest water user. It also identifies recommendations for acceleration towards the achievement of the SDG target of sustainable water use.

Water productivity gains, good governance and a coordinated holistic policy framework are major entry points for actions needed to address water challenges in agri-food systems. Better knowledge of water resources and their use and management, innovation and capacity building are fundamental in order to develop instruments for defining and implementing appropriate policies.

FAO joined the Integrated Monitoring Initiative for SDG6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) in 2015, coordinated by UN-Water, which has gathered experiences and resources aimed at ensuring a coherent monitoring framework for water and sanitation by 2030. Such a framework will help countries achieve progress through well-informed decision-making on water, based on harmonized, comprehensive, timely and accurate information.

FAO, predominantly through its AQUASTAT database, remains committed to improving the quality and quantity of data produced and analysed, in close partnership with the relevant national authorities of our Members. In coordination and collaboration with other stakeholders, FAO will continue supporting Members to achieve this target by providing scientific and technical assistance.

Qu DongyuFAO Director-General

Read more from the original source:

Progress on change in water-use efficiency - Global status and acceleration needs for SDG indicator 6.4.1 - World - ReliefWeb

Robert Saleh felt good about what his team got accomplished in his first training camp as an NFL head coach. But he could have done without some injuries.

Rookie quarterback Zach Wilson showed progress throughout camp, which officially concluded with Wednesdays joint practice with the Eagles. The Jets also had two joint practices with the Packers last week.

The Jets closed out their three-game preseason on Friday. Going forward its all about getting the Jets prepared for Week 1 at Carolina on Sept. 12.

"I feel really excited about what we got done," Saleh said. "With all the different defenses that the quarterback saw, with all the different offenses that the defense saw, the different types of players, the different receivers and the releases that our DBs saw, which is a very young group. I just feel like all of its priceless and they need to see as much of it as possible.

"I feel that you cant draw it up any better, except for we wish we still had some of those injuries in check."

The Jets have to overcome the loss of starting edge rusher Carl Lawson, who suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in Green Bay. Theyre also expected to be without starting linebacker Jarrad Davis after he suffered a sprained ankle against the Packers.

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The Jets starting defensive ends in Week 1 are expected to be Bryce Huff and John Franklin-Myers. Ronnie Blair, rookie Hamilcar Rashed Jr., Jabari Zuniga and Jeremiah Valoaga currently are the backups. General manager Joe Douglas is expected to try and acquire another edge rusher after losing Lawson and Vinny Curry for the season, the latter with a rare blood disorder.

"Its always easy to play the fictional game of lets go get somebody," Saleh said. "But the reality is theres very far and few in between in terms of just whats available. Now, obviously Joe [Douglas] and his staff are working relentlessly, always trying to look at the roster and always communicating. Weve got great confidence in the guys that are here."

The Jets sat a number of starters Friday, including Wilson, Greg Van Roten, Connor McGovern, Corey Davis, Quinnen Williams, Marcus Maye, C.J. Mosley, and Franklin-Myers.

Original post:

Saleh happy with Jets' progress, despite injuries - Newsday

Evacuation levels lowered as containment increases

information released by Chelan County Emergency Management

Chelan County Emergency Management reports that all current evacuation levels will be lowered to Level 1 (Get Ready) starting at 8 a.m. Friday. This includes all of South Lakeshore Road, Granite Falls Road and First Creek Road.

South Lakeshore Road at the area just above Fields Point Landing remains only open to property owners due to safety concerns, including guardrail damage and possible falling trees. Field Point Landing is open for drop-offs and pick-ups.

The fire has burned over 11,000 acres and is estimated to be 21 percent contained.

Fire Information Line: 206-659-6472 (Daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.)

Fire Perimeter Map

Fire Area Closure Order

Fire Area Closure Map

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Inciweb Site

Yesterday, crews made significant progress on securing containment lines on the north edge of the fire. Heavy equipment and crews continued to prepare lines to the south near Slide Ridge and were able to initiate a small firing operation in the vicinity of Forest Service Road 8410. Fire behavior was moderate, and the firing operation was successful. Crews maintained an overnight shift reinforcing structure protection operations in and around properties and homes.

Today, fire behavior is expected to increase to moderate or active levels when the cloud cover breaks. Heavy equipment and crews will continue to construct line in areas with heavy fuel loads. Along the southern and western edges of the fire, crews will continue to construct line from 125 to the finger. On the northern perimeter of the fire, crews are continuing to improve the line working south towards Angle Peak while also monitoring and mopping up hot spots around homes and properties.Rotor and fixed-wing air resources will continue working on the fire throughout the day and improved weather conditions make the use of aviation assets more likely today. Aircraft may use local bodies of water, including Lake Chelan. Recreational boaters should be aware of aircraft takeoff and landings and keep a safe distance.The Twentyfive Mile Fire was first reported at 3:45 p.m. on August 15, 2021. The fire was initially burning on the south shore of Lake Chelan near Twentyfive Mile Creek and has expanded south and west of the area. The fire is under joint jurisdiction of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, Washington Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Land Management and Chelan County Fire District 7.

Weather:Cloud cover is expected to increase tonight into tomorrow ahead of an approaching cool front. A chance of rain showers will exist over the fire, primarily from Thursday evening through early Friday morning.

Evacuations: The most up-to-date evacuation information is available through Chelan County Emergency Management at the following links. The Chelan County Sheriff will update evacuation levels as conditions warrant.

Evacuation Information https://www.facebook.com/CCSOEM/Evacuation Area Maps https://arcg.is/1iHHmC

Level 3 (Go Now) evacuations for Granite Falls Road and First Creek Road.Level 2 (Get Set) Slide Ridge to the end of the road (up lake).Level 1 (Get Ready) South Lakeshore Road south of Slide Ridge.

Closures:A forest area closure has been issued in the Twentyfive Mile Creek area. Maps of the closure area are available here. All roads in the Level 3 area are closed to the public including Lakeshore Road. Residents are asked to avoid travel on open areas of Lakeshore Road to make way for firefighting personnel and equipment.Smoke Information: Lower temperatures are creating clearer skies; however, smoke and haze may develop later in the afternoon. Visithttps://wasmoke.blogspot.com/for local air quality information.

Fire Restrictions:Campfire restrictions are in effect. Campfires are prohibited throughout the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, including developed campgrounds and congressionally designated Wilderness. Please contact local ranger district offices for more information.https://tinyurl.com/yby4oysq

Continued here:

Crews Making Progress on Twenty-Five Mile Fire - Lake Chelan Now

Floridas stellar 2020 offense broke practically every single-season passing record in school history, so it shouldnt be a major surprise that quarterback Kyle Trasks two favorite targets found themselves as first-round NFL draft picks. Kyle Pitts and Kadarius Toney went fourth and 20th overall, respectively, and both are expected to revitalize the passing games for their teams.

Neither has played so far in the preseason, so all we have to go off for both are camp observations. Still, we have at least some idea how each is coming along so far at the professional level.

Heres what ESPNs team of NFL writers had to say about them.

1

Pitts has yet to play a preseason game a rarity for rookies but part of the reason is that first-year head coach Arthur Smith has said Pitts is right on schedule with the progress the team is seeking from him. In practices, Pitts has been consistently good minus the occasional dropped pass.

Atlanta will use Pitts all over formations to try to find exploitable matchups. Tight ends often struggle as rookies, but he has the makeup of being an impact player from Week 1.

We dont really need to see Pitts in the preseason to know hes going to be a stud. Enough highlights from Falcons camp have surfaced to see just how much of a mismatch Pitts remains to be, even at the professional level. He may not be quite as dominant right away as he was at Florida, but he should be a major part of Atlantas offense this season.

2

The problem with Toney is that nobody has seen him do much in live drills (for avariety of reasons) since the day he was drafted. Toney wasplaced on the reserve/COVID-19 listprior to training camp, and he has spent the past couple of weeks working with the rehabbing players withwhat appears to be a minor injury. It has undoubtedly slowed his acclimation.

Coach Joe Judge said that Toney is progressing, but until he gets on the field regularly, its impossible to predict what (or if) he will contribute early this season.

Toney has certainly struggled to stay on the practice field this offseason, and its made the rookie a bit of an enigma at Giants camp. A speedster with a tremendous arsenal of moves who improved as a route-runner significantly at Florida in 2020, Toney could be the cure for what has plagued quarterback Daniel Jones during his first two years in the league. But well need to see a lot more from Toney before we can comfortably say that will be the case.

Follow us@GatorsWireon Twitter and like our page onFacebookto follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

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NFL rookie report: Updating the progress of Kyle Pitts, Kadarius Toney - Gators Wire

FLORHAM PARK The Zach Wilson experience has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for New York Jets fans in the first month of training camp.

There was some concern early when Wilson struggled through his first week-plus of practice sending some fans into a panic. Two weeks later, Wilson was getting nationwide praise for his nearly flawless performance against the Packers in the second preseason game.

Of course, the heavy criticism and glowing praise he's already received are both massive overreactions. It's still way too early in this journey to know what it will lead to for Wilson.

But he has shown some important improvements in training camp that should translate well into the games that actually count.

Here are the three biggest ways Wilson has shown progress this preseason.

One of the things that gave Wilson a lot of trouble early in training camp was the constant pressure being applied by the defensive line. This was back when Carl Lawson was beating Mekhi Becton at least once a series, and the defensive line was regularly getting into the backfield. And it seemed to impact Wilson, who at times was holding the ball too long or even bolting from the pocket before it was necessary.

Wilson is still facing a lot of pressure: He was sacked more than 10 times in the two joint practices with the Packers last week and was constantly scrambling against the Eagles' defensive front this week.

But he has looked far more comfortable because he's doing a better job of sensing, starting before the play, when he might need to get rid of it quickly, or when he needs to get out of the pocket. And his big play to Corey Davis on Saturday in Green Bay was a perfect example of that progress.

The play was botched from the beginning because Wilson and running back Ty Johnson had a miscommunication before the play that resulted in Wilson being lined up on the wrong side for the play-action fake. But Wilson stayed with it, tried to step back into the pocket before sensing the pressure in the middle, bolting to his right and unleashing a ridiculous throw.

It impressed everyone who saw it, including Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers who believes Wilson will have to do a lot of that this year.

"He can throw the heck out of it," Rodgers said on the broadcast of the game "He had a really nice throw where he broke the pocket, broke contain, moving to his right, threw it down the right sideline. That's the kind of stuff he's going to need to do. As we saw [last] week in practice, they've got a lot of young guys. Their front still needs to gel together. I said, 'man, you've got to be on your footwork, make sure you're dealing that ball, because there are growing pains for a rookie, for sure. Especially on a team that struggled last year."

In 20 passing plays this preseason he has yet to take anything close to a big hit. That's a good sign. But it will be harder to do against first-team defenses in the regular season.

From his early practices with the Jets, Wilson has made a point to get through his reads. And he's generally done a good job of it. But early in camp, especially in red-zone situations, he had a tendency to lock on to one guy. Well, he's definitely made some progress there, as his first touchdown as a professional showed.

It happened early in the second quarter against the Packers. Wilson scanned the field, starting from the right, and when he didn't see what he wanted he quickly snapped his head to the left, saw the positioning of the safety and Tyler Croft running a seam route near the end zone, and immediately recognized what he needed to do.

"They were in their cover three," Wilson said. "They had a backer sitting in the middle on my first read to the right. Tyler did a good job staying up the seam; the safety was a little bit deep. So I just tried to put the ball on his back shoulder a little bit, keep it away from that safety. Hes a big body. Hell take a shot. And he got into the end zone. It was a good route. Good execution.

The speed at which Wilson processed the information and then turned it into a perfect throw was remarkable. And it's part of the reason the Jets are so excited about their young quarterback.

The bad turnovers were the most concerning aspect of Wilson's early training camp struggles. They took the luster off of his good days and made good practices feel bad. A perfect example: late in his third practice, Wilson rolled to the left in a seven-on-seven end zone drill and scanned the end zone for a receiver to throw to. No one was open, but Wilson threw the ball up for grabs and it got picked.

Wilson was in a similar situation during Wednesday's final joint practice with the Eagles. This time, he launched it over the end zone.

If Wilson is going to be a good quarterback, he's going to have to continue taking risks. No good quarterback plays risk-free football.

"Turning the ball over is never a good thing," Wilson said. "But if you have zero turnovers and you also have zero explosive plays youre not winning games either."

This will be a work in progress throughout his rookie year and for the rest of his career. But Wilson already seems to have started figuring out what he can and can't get away with at this level. He will still throw some bad picks, that's inevitable. But if he can continue to improve managing his risks, he'll have a whole lot to show for the good gambles.

"You got to have that balance as a quarterback of when its OK to push the ball down the field and understanding this is third and long and theyre not giving us anything, just throw the check-down and live to play the next down and lets play the field position. Thats what were learning out here, thats what practice is for, to pick up on all those things."

Andy Vasquezis the Jetsbeat writer for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to all Jets analysis, news, trades and more, pleasesubscribe todayanddownload our app.

Email:vasqueza@northjersey.com

Twitter:@andy_vasquez

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NY Jets: The 3 biggest ways QB Zach Wilson showed progress in his first training camp - NorthJersey.com

After a Johnson City board found the property unfit for human occupation in January citing safety concerns, the Haven of Mercy homeless shelter has made good progress over the past 30 days on repairs, according to a city official.

Weve made more progress in the last 30 days than we probably have at any point in the process, Chief Building Official Jeff Canon told the Johnson City Press on Thursday. ... I hope that we can continue to where we can get this out from the board and have a safe place for those people to live.

Members of the Johnson City Board of Dwelling Standards and Review received an update on the property at 123 W. Millard St. on Thursday and voted to continue the matter to their meeting on Sept. 23. They have limited the capacity of the shelter to 35 residents while the owner completes repairs.

Member Jennifer Hyder does business with the Haven of Mercy and recused herself.

Canon, who has provided goals for the shelter to meet between meetings, said seven fire doors have been installed in the shelters main residence, and more fire doors have been ordered for the propertys annex, where the shelter conducts food prep and feeds residents. The annex also has living and storage space.

A mechanical permit has been issued for repairs, Canon said.

The shelter has ordered a furnace for the basement and a new kitchen hood. Ceilings in the main building are being framed and sheetrocked, and most of the Romex wiring, which city code prohibits in commercial buildings, has been removed. The shelter is also evaluating, Canon said, whether to put sprinklers throughout the main building.

Canon said a hazardous electrical panel at the buildings annex has also been replaced. On July 16, Johnson City attempted to shut off power to the Haven of Mercy after hearing that a contractor found burn marks on the panel.

Fearing the potential of an electrical fire, the city asked BrightRidge to disconnect power to the property. However, the city said BrightRidge employees were denied access to the shelter, and they ultimately left without shutting off electricity.

After he had the chance to inspect the panel, Canon and Haven of Mercy owner Grant Rockley ultimately agreed on a set of milestones the homeless shelter would need to meet to prevent the city from reissuing an order to disconnect.

That included severing all electrical connections to the panel so that it was disconnected from the main residence. The shelter accomplished those goals, and Canon said Thursday power has now been restored to the annex.

Everything is operational as far as the electricity goes, so its a vast improvement from where it was, he said.

Canon said the fire department did order the Haven of Mercy to conduct a 24/7 fire watch at the propertys annex, which a log sheet shows Axis Security conducted from Aug. 9-16.

Notes on the sheet mention that residents were living upstairs, which BDSR Vice Chair Gwen Hunter pointed out during the meeting Thursday. Nobody was supposed to be living in the building while it didnt have electricity, but Canon told the board thats now a moot point because power has been restored.

Its more just an example (that) we need to be careful and watch very carefully, he said.

He added that the Haven of Mercy has installed an excellent fire alarm system.

They have really done a lot of work in the last 30 days, and I told them so that I was impressed by the amount of work theyve done, Canon said. The only thing Id ask them is to continue until we get finished at the same rate.

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City: Haven of Mercy homeless shelter making 'good progress' on repairs - Johnson City Press (subscription)

State Sen. George Borrello talks with constituents during a stop at this months Ellington Town Picnic.

SUNSET BAY Shortly into his first year as county executive in 2018, current state Sen. George Borrello made a game-changing decision. Instead of parroting a familiar political refrain calling for more jobs to come to this region, he did some leg work.

During his first three months in office, he visited more than 100 businesses in 100 days. What he found was quite surprising: there were good positions available at many of these companies located right here.

This was a strange revelation. For decades, this region and county were under an assumption residents had to move elsewhere to find work.

Fast-forward to today and the job crisis is in your face here and across the nation. It is in our classified pages, on billboards and yard signs in front of establishments. Nearly every business is hiring.

This is not a living wage issue, he said. Im hearing this from businesses that are paying well above average salaries that are union operations with salaries and benefits that cannot hire people.

At first glance, that appears to be good news for the economy until you consider the high jobless rate here, which is close to 6%.

With positions going unfilled, local establishments suffer.

During a recent visit to American Rock Salt in Livingston County near Geneseo, the most eastern part of Borrellos 57th district, he heard stories also shared by local employers. Applicants showing up for interviews, being hired then not showing for work. Others who are newly hired leave only hours or days after joining the operation.

During this pandemic, out of a need for public safety, we pay people more money to stay home than work, he said. It has created, in my opinion, a culture now where its acceptable to just survive on government assistance. That has exacerbated the workforce issue.

Borrellos comments came in what otherwise was one of the most significant weeks in New York state history. On Tuesday, Western New Yorks Kathy Hochul took the reins as governor after Andrew Cuomo announced his resignation that has been tied to sexual harassment allegations.

Albanys politics can create an atmosphere that resembles a pressure cooker. During the Cuomo years, as with so many strong-willed leaders, you were either with him or against him.

There was never any doubt where Borrello stood. If his news releases were not tied to the areas issues, they were likely targeting and criticizing the former governor.

With Hochuls roots upstate, however, there is a renewed hope for more unity and balance. Our senator shares those hopes. Shes a common-sense individual, he said. I hope she chooses collaboration over coercion. I hope that she decides that a good leader is someone who empowers people.

Borrello said Cuomo hired some excellent department heads, including Richard Ball, commissioner of state Agriculture and Markets and Basil Seggos who oversees the Department of Environmental Conservation. (Cuomo) never empowered any of those people. He made the big decisions so if she can empower those people Im hopeful for her being able to heal the state in the coming year.

Some other topics Borrello touched on earlier this week impacting the state and region included:

A disturbing rise in COVID cases. People are certainly very concerned about the resurgence and how thats going to affect our economic recovery.

Rising crime rates. This is a quality of life issue. New York state has become more dangerous and more expensive. People are very concerned about the future. Borrello, however, was upbeat about the Democratic primary win by Eric Adams for New York City mayor. Adams was a former member of the New York Police Department and became one of its most outspoken officers, calling out racism and bias in the department and pushing for major reforms. That says the people of New York City are concerned about public safety so that makes me hopeful we can turn this around, Borrello said.

Declining census numbers. Im still very optimistic. If you speak to any real estate agent, they will tell you we are (currently) going through a real-estate boom. Chautauqua County has five lakes, beautiful scenery and people who care for one another. This is a great place to live. Its a great place to raise a family.

John DAgostino is editor of the OBSERVER, The Post-Journal and Times Observer in Warren. Send comments to jdagostino@observertoday.com or call 366-3000, ext. 253.

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New Albany remains a work in progress | News, Sports, Jobs - Evening Observer