Update: Ollies has opened. You can get a look at their recent flyer here.

We'd like to extend a warm welcome to our newest contributor to the Local Writer's section, Mr Jim Pfiffer and his column, "Pfiff's Life"

Many of you will remember Jim not only from his amazing work as director and co-founder of the Chemung River Friends, but also his time as a writer for the Star Gazette. Namely, his Humor column in the 90's and early 2000's. 

Jim is now retired and will be sharing his writing with us here. We're thrilled to have him on board. 

Remember, if you or someone you know enjoys writing, we always have room for more writers! The "Local Writers" section is an all volunteer group of folks throughout the community who contribute and make what is arguable the best part of this website! Simply send an email to Chris with your ideas ( twintiersliving@gmail.com ) and we'll do our best to make it happen

On Sunday October 24, 2021, at approximately 2:45 AM, members of the Elmira Police Department responded to the area of Walnut St at Logan St for the report of shots fired.  When officers arrived on scene, they did not locate any evidence of a shooting. 

Officers responded back to the area of Walnut St at Logan St at approximately 3:58 AM for the report of more shots fired.  When officers arrived back on scene, they did locate a shell casing in the roadway as well as several more shell casings next to a residence.  Officers further located a residence that had been struck by gunfire.  The residence was unoccupied and there were no reported injuries.    

The Elmira Police Department was assisted at the scene by the Chemung County Sheriff’s Office.  The investigations into this shooting is ongoing.  If anyone was present in the area and witnessed this shooting, or has any information related to this shooting, they are encouraged to contact the Elmira Police Department at (607)737-5626, or the tip line at (607)271-HALT.  

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English colonists established their first permanent settlement in the New World at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607, sounding very much like their countrymen back home. By the time we had recordings of both Americans and Brits some three centuries later (the first audio recording of a human voice was made in 1860), the sounds of English as spoken in the Old World and New World were very different. We're looking at a silent gap of some 300 years, so we can't say exactly when Americans first started to sound noticeably different from the British.

As for the "why," though, one big factor in the divergence of the accents is rhotacism. The General American accent is rhotic and speakers pronounce the r in words such as hard. The BBC-type British accent is non-rhotic, and speakers don't pronounce the r, leaving hard sounding more like hahd. Before and during the American Revolution, the English, both in England and in the colonies, mostly spoke with a rhotic accent. We don't know much more about said accent, though. Various claims about the accents of the Appalachian Mountains, the Outer Banks, the Tidewater region and Virginia's Tangier Island sounding like an uncorrupted Elizabethan-era English accent have been busted as myths by linguists. 

 

Read the rest here.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — A top Netflix executive said Dave Chappelle’s special “The Closer” doesn’t cross “the line on hate” and will remain on the streaming service despite fallout over the comedian’s remarks about the transgender community.

In an internal memo, co-CEO Ted Sarandos told managers that “some talent” may join third parties in calling for the show’s removal, adding, “which we are not going to do.”

Netflix declined comment on the memo, which was reported Monday by Variety.

But the company responded to news reports it had suspended three employees, including one, Terra Field, who’d criticized Chappelle’s special in tweets. Field identifies herself on Twitter as a senior software engineer at Netflix and as trans.

“It is absolutely untrue to say that we have suspended any employees for tweeting about this show. Our employees are encouraged to disagree openly and we support their right to do so,” Netflix said in a statement.

 

See the rest here.

Have you seen "The Closer"? Do you think Chapelle crossed a line with his views and remarks about the transgender community?

A recent trend across New York and other states is the call for counties to be declared "constitutional counties". 

A constitutional county is one that ensures the county government will not enact nor enforce any laws that encroach upon the rights of citizens under the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. This has been more calls for this in response to government mandates during the Covid pandemic as well as pertaining to gun rights. 

In August 2021 the Cattaraugus County legislature unanimously passed a resolution declaring Cattaraugus County a Constitutional County.

Do you support the movement to have Chemung County declared a "constitutional county"? If so, how do you think it will change the way the county is currently governed?

Or do you think it is "feel good legislation", which even proponents have admitted it to be?

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VAN HORN, Texas (AP) — Hollywood’s Captain Kirk, 90-year-old William Shatner, blasted into space Wednesday in a convergence of science fiction and science reality, reaching the final frontier aboard a ship built by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin company.

The “Star Trek” hero and three fellow passengers soared to an estimated 66 miles (106 kilometers) over the West Texas desert in the fully automated capsule and then safely parachuted to the desert floor in a flight that lasted just over 10 minutes.

Shatner became the oldest person in space, eclipsing the previous record — set by a passenger on a similar jaunt on a Bezos spaceship in July — by eight years.

“That was unlike anything they described,” Shatner said at the capsule descended toward Earth.

Sci-fi fans reveled in the opportunity to see the man best known as the stalwart Capt. James T. Kirk of the starship Enterprise boldly go where no star of American TV has gone before.

Shatner said ahead of the countdown that he planned to spend his approximately three minutes of weightlessness gazing down at Earth, his nose pressed against the capsule’s windows.

“The only thing I don’t want to see is a little gremlin looking back at me,” he joked, referring to the plot of his 1963 “Twilight Zone” episode titled “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.”

 

See the rest here. 

New Today:

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UTICA, N.Y. (AP) — A federal judge ruled Tuesday that New York must continue to allow health care workers to seek exemptions from a statewide vaccine mandate on religious grounds as a lawsuit challenging the requirement proceeds.

Judge David Hurd in Utica had issued a temporary restraining order a month ago after 17 doctors, nurses and other health professionals claimed in a lawsuit that their rights would be violated with a vaccine mandate that disallowed the exemptions.

 

Source

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G.I. Joe toys were introduced to the public in 1964 as 12-inch-tall, army-themed dolls. But since young boys wouldn't touch dolls with a 10-foot stick, Hasbro, in a stroke of genius, called them "action figures," coining the term.

Over the next six decades, G.I. Joes transformed from foot-tall dolls in lidded boxes to 3.75-inch figures on blister cards. A children's cartoon introduced the evil Cobra organization and the heroic G.I. Joe team, and the corresponding toy line produced hundreds of figures along with toy jets, cars, motorcycles, unique vehicles and huge playsets.

G.I. Joe toys became a staple in children's toy bins, where most of them were bashed together until their paint chipped and their arms fell off. Today, certain G.I. Joe toys in good condition can command enormous amounts of money. These are the most valuable G.I. Joe toys and action figures.

There are no real, updated G.I. Joe price guides that catalog the hundreds of G.I. Joe figures, so we're looking at the most expensive G.I. Joes ever sold at auction. 

Some notes before we dive into these valuable vintage G.I. Joes:

• "[X] back" refers to how many figures are advertised on the card back. 20 back means 20 action figures are advertised. Sometimes this can impact price. 
• "Explosion back" means empty figure spaces on the back, labeled with a "coming soon" explosion. These are rarer. 
• If you have a G.I. Joe figure and are wondering what it's worth, it's best to check the sold section on eBay for a few months. 

 

• See the complete list here, and groan at the money you could have had if you kept them in mint condition. 

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During a performance last week, Judas Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner nearly died onstage after experiencing an aortic aneurysm — an often fatal heart condition that occurs when the artery dissects or ruptures. 

The 41-year-old musician miraculously lived and has now opened up about the near-death experience he publicly had while performing the band’s 1990 song “Painkiller” at Kentucky’s Louder Than Life Festival. 

“As I watch footage from the Louder Than Life Festival in Kentucky, I can see in my face the confusion and anguish I was feeling whilst playing ‘Painkiller’ as my aorta ruptured and started to spill blood into my chest cavity … Whatever the circumstances, when watching that footage, the truth is, knowing what I know now, I see a dying man,” he told Rolling Stone in a written statement just days after the incident on Sept. 26. “I was having what my doctor called an aortic aneurysm and complete aortic dissection. From what I’ve been told by my surgeon, people with this don’t usually make it to the hospital alive.”

 

See the rest here. 

Is there something driving you nuts here in the Southern Tier? 

Perhaps there's someone you want to give a well deserved kudos to?

This is the place to do it. 

UPDATE: The Ollies in Grand Central Plaza is scheduled to open October 27 at 9am

From "Chemung County Matters" Facebook Page:

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Due to what the Chairperson of the Chemung County Legislature calls an “alarming spike” in local covid cases, legislative meetings will be closed to the public until infection rates fall.

While this is an unfortunate yet necessary step, it is completely at odds with what occurred at last night’s meeting - something that is quite baffling. (See earlier post for details.)

In any case, it’s clear we all need to pitch in to do what we can until this wave passes.

 

Due to the rising number of cases in Chemung County, we’ll start a single thread for updates and discussion as it happens.

In a letter released this afternoon, Chemung County Executive Chris Moss released a memo making the wearing of masks mandatory for all county owned buildings.

See the letter below:

In preparation for Monday's vaccination deadline, Governor Kathy Hochul today released a comprehensive plan to address preventable staffing shortages in hospitals and other health care facilities statewide.

"We are still in a battle against COVID to protect our loved ones, and we need to fight with every tool at our disposal," Governor Hochul said. "I am monitoring the staffing situation closely, and we have a plan to increase our health care workforce and help alleviate the burdens on our hospitals and other health care facilities. I commend all of the health care workers who have stepped up to get themselves vaccinated, and I urge all remaining health care workers who are unvaccinated to do so now so they can continue providing care."

The plan includes preparing to sign an executive order if necessary to declare a state of emergency that seeks to increase workforce supply and allow qualified health care professionals licensed in other states or countries, recent graduates, retired and formerly practicing health care professionals to practice in New York State.

The Department of Labor has issued guidance to clarify that workers who are terminated because of refusal to be vaccinated are not eligible for unemployment insurance absent a valid doctor-approved request for medical accommodation.

Other options include deployment of medically-trained National Guard members, and partnering with the federal government to deploy Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMATs) to assist local health and medical systems. Additionally, Governor Hochul plans to work with the federal government and other state leaders to explore ways to expedite visa requests for medical professionals.

As of September 22, 84% of all hospital employees in New York State were fully vaccinated. As of September 23, 81% of staff at all adult care facilities and 77% of all staff at nursing home facilities in New York State were fully vaccinated. 

According to the regulation issued by the State Department of Health, all health care workers in New York State, at hospitals and nursing homes, are to be vaccinated against COVID-19 with the first dose received by Monday, September 27, and staff at other covered entities including home care, hospice, and adult care facilities are to be vaccinated by October 7. The regulation also applies to all out of state and contract medical staff who practice in New York State.

Bump. This could still be an interesting topic to discuss.

On Friday, September 24th, 2021, at approximately 12:10 AM, officers from the Elmira Police Department responded to the 400 block of Franklin St. for a report of shots fired.  When officer arrived on scene they did locate several shell casings in front of a residence.

Officer did locate a residence that had been struck by several bullets.  The residence was occupied at the time of the shooting.  Officers interviewed the resident who was home and he reported that he was sleeping and was awakened by the sound of gunfire.  No injuries were reported.  Based on the investigation it appears that this residence was intentionally targeted. 

The Elmira Police Department was assisted at the scene by the New York State Police and Chemung County Sheriff’s Office.  The investigations into this shooting is ongoing.  If anyone was present in the area and witnessed this shooting, or has any information related to this shooting, they are encouraged to contact the Elmira Police Department at (607)737-5626, or the tip line at (607)271-HALT. 

On Wednesday, September 22nd, 2021, in the span of just over three hours, officers from the Elmira Police Department responded to two separate reports of shots fired in the 400 block of Mackey Pl. The first shooting took place at approximately 7:42 PM and the second shooting took place at approximately 11:03 PM.  Officers interviewed people in the area of the shootings.

In the first shooting, a vehicle was seen traveling west on Mackey Pl.  As this vehicle passed the 400 block of Mackey Pl., approaching West Av., several shots were fired at this vehicle.  The vehicle then turned north on West Av. and left the area.  Shortly after the shots were fired, three people ran west on Mackey Pl. towards West Av.  One person ran north and the other two ran south.  It is unknown if these people were involved in the shooting.  Numerous shell casings were recovered from the scene.  No injuries were reported during this shooting.

The second shooting took place at approximately 11:03 PM.  Officers again responded to the 400 block of Mackey Pl. for a report of multiple gunshots.  did locate evidence at the scene that indicated shots had been fired.  Officers were unable to determine what, if anything, was struck by gunfire.  Witnesses only reported hearing gunshots, but did not observe anyone shooting.  No injuries were reported during this shooting.

Neither of these shootings appear to be random acts of violence.  The investigations into these shootings is ongoing.  If anyone was present in the area and witnessed either of these shootings, or has any information related to these shootings, they are encouraged to contact the Elmira Police Department at (607)737-5626, or the tip line at (607)271-HALT. 

From now on all reports of shots fired in the City of Elmira will be posted here. 

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There has been speculation in the past that a Quantum Leap reboot could happen or even that it could possibly resurface as a movie, but neither a new television show nor a movie has ever come to fruition.

Also, It has been quite a while since fans have been privy to anything concrete regarding whether or not a Quantum Leap reboot is in the works. In fact, referencing IMDb, the only thing that fans have gotten was a documentary titled A Kiss With History: Remembering Quantum Leap that paid homage to the now three-decade-old show back in 2004.

Thus, a Quantum Leap reboot is certainly long overdue. However, it is encouraging to know that conversations are actually happening which indicated at least some forward momentum. 

 

Read more here.

What do you think? Is it time for reboots to pass out of style or would you be interested in this one?

Evidence shows that, yes, masks prevent COVID-19 – and surgical masks are the way to go

by Laura (Layla) H. Kwong, University of California, Berkeley

Do masks work? And if so, should you reach for an N95, a surgical mask, a cloth mask or a gaiter?

Over the past year and a half, researchers have produced a lot of laboratory, model-based and observational evidence on the effectiveness of masks. For many people it has understandably been hard to keep track of what works and what doesn’t.

I’m an assistant professor of environmental health sciences. I, too, have wondered about the answers to these questions, and earlier this year I led a study that examined the research about which materials are best.

Recently, I was part of the largest randomized controlled trial to date testing the effectiveness of mask-wearing. The study has yet to be peer reviewed but has been well received by the medical community. What we found provides gold-standard evidence that confirms previous research: Wearing masks, particularly surgical masks, prevents COVID-19.

Lab and observational studies

People have been using masks to protect themselves from contracting diseases since the Manchurian outbreak of plague in 1910.

During the coronavirus pandemic, the focus has been on masks as a way of preventing infected persons from contaminating the air around them – called source control. Recent laboratory evidence supports this idea. In April 2020, researchers showed that people infected with a coronavirus – but not SARS-CoV-2 – exhaled less coronavirus RNA into the air around them if they wore a mask. A number of additional laboratory studies have also supported the efficacy of masks.

Out in the real world, many epidemiologists have examined the impact of masking and mask policies to see if masks help slow the spread of COVID-19. One observational study – meaning it was not a controlled study with people wearing or not wearing masks – published in late 2020 looked at demographics, testing, lockdowns and mask-wearing in 196 countries. The researchers found that after controlling for other factors, countries with cultural norms or policies that supported mask-wearing saw weekly per capita coronavirus mortality increase 16% during outbreaks, compared with a 62% weekly increase in countries without mask-wearing norms.

Large-scale randomized mask-wearing

Laboratory, observational and modeling studies, have consistently supported the value of many types of masks. But these approaches are not as strong as large-scale randomized controlled trials among the general public, which compare groups after the intervention has been implemented in some randomly selected groups and not implemented in comparison groups. One such study done in Denmark in early 2020 was inconclusive, but it was relatively small and relied on participants to self-report mask-wearing.

From November 2020 to April 2021, my colleagues Jason Abaluck, Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak, Stephen P. Luby, Ashley Styczynski and I – in close collaboration with partners in the Bangladeshi government and the research nonprofit Innovations for Poverty Action – conducted a large-scale randomized controlled trial on masking in Bangladesh. Our goals were to learn the best ways to increase mask-wearing without a mandate, understand the effect of mask-wearing on COVID-19, and compare cloth masks and surgical masks.

The study involved 341,126 adults in 600 villages in rural Bangladesh. In 300 villages we did not promote masks, and people continued wearing masks, or not, as they had before. In 200 villages we promoted the use of surgical masks, and in 100 villages we promoted cloth masks, testing a number of different outreach strategies in each group.

Over the course of eight weeks, our team distributed free masks to each adult in the mask groups at their homes, provided information about the risks of COVID-19 and the value of mask-wearing. We also worked with community and religious leaders to model and promote mask-wearing and hired staff to walk around the village and politely ask people who were not wearing a mask to put one on. Plainclothes staff recorded whether people wore masks properly over their mouth and nose, improperly or not at all.

Both five weeks and nine weeks after starting the study, we collected data from all adults on symptoms of COVID-19 during the study period. If a person reported any symptoms of COVID-19, we took and tested a blood sample for evidence of infection.

Mask-wearing reduced COVID-19

The first question my colleagues and I needed to answer was whether our efforts led to increased mask-wearing. Mask usage more than tripled, from 13% in the group that wasn’t given masks to 42% in the group that was. Interestingly, physical distancing also increased by 5% in the villages where we promoted masks.

In the 300 villages where we distributed any type of mask, we saw a 9% reduction in COVID-19 compared with villages where we did not promote masks. Because of the small number of villages where we promoted cloth masks, we were not able to tell whether cloth or surgical masks were better at reducing COVID-19.

We did have a large enough sample size to determine that in villages where we distributed surgical masks, COVID-19 fell by 12%. In those villages COVID-19 fell by 35% for people 60 years and older and 23% for people 50-60 years old. When looking at COVID-19-like symptoms we found that both surgical and cloth masks resulted in a 12% reduction.

The body of evidence supports masks

Before this study there was a lack of gold-standard evidence on the effectiveness of masks to reduce COVID-19 in daily life. Our study provides strong real-world evidence that surgical masks reduce COVID-19, particularly for older adults who face higher rates of death and disability if they get infected.

Policymakers and public health officials now have evidence from laboratories, models, observations and real-world trials that support mask-wearing to reduce respiratory diseases, including COVID-19. Given that COVID-19 can so easily spread from person to person, if more people wear masks the benefits increase.

So next time you are wondering if you should wear a mask, the answer is yes. Cloth masks are likely better than nothing, but high-quality surgical masks or masks with even higher filtration efficiency and better fit – such as KF94s, KN95s and N95s – are the most effective at preventing COVID-19.

Laura (Layla) H. Kwong, Assistant Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, University of California, Berkeley

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.