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Friday, March 29, 2024
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News Briefs

What you need to know locally, nationally and globally

Campus

Terra cotta mailboxes, winning design in-house competition, installed in Hayes Hall

UB set up a series of architectural competitions for students in an effort to “further beautify” the space with student designs following the reopening of the newly renovated Hayes Hall last semester, according to UB Now. The most recent effort was a faculty mailbox redesign.

“This competition series provides a space to reflect upon our deep traditions in research through making,” Robert Shibley, Dean of Architecture and Planning told UB Now. “The mailbox competition, with the visionary partnership of Boston Valley Terra Cotta, is an emphatic opening statement of what’s possible when you combine teaching with practice.”

The winning mailbox design is called “Bibelot,” the French word for small trinket or object. The mailboxes are made out of multicolored terra cotta and were installed in late August.

UB receives nearly 2 million to expand WNY behavioral health workforce

The Health Resources and Services Administration has given UB a 1.92 million dollar grant to grow the behavioral health workforce in traditionally underserved areas in Western New York in an effort to combat the opioid crisis. The grant will admit up to 22 new graduate students into the HRSA Behavioral Health/Substance Use Disorder Scholars Program every year for the next four years.

Opioid overdoses, hospitalizations and deaths are at higher rates in Erie and Niagara County than any other county in the state. Yu-Ping Chang, associate dean for Research and Scholarship at the School of Nursing believes this discrepancy is due to a worker shortage in the mental health and substance abuse fields in this area, according to a statement Chang gave to UB Now.

Local

M&T Bank subsidiary to pay $60 million settlement

M&T Bank subsidiary Wilmington Trust will pay $60 million dollars to settle claims of false loan distribution. The allegations precede M&T’s purchase of Wilmington in 2011, so the charges do not affect M&T. Prosecutors alleged the bank illegally concealed hundreds of millions of dollars in bad loans to developers from investors, bank examiners and the federal TARP bailout program, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“Wilmington Trust believes resolving this matter now is in the best interest of the company,” M&T said in a statement.

Woman charged with robbing food delivery person in Niagara Falls

Three Niagara Falls women are charged with second-degree robbery. The women robbed a delivery driver from a Hyde Park Boulevard Monday at 7:15 p.m. The incident took place outside of a Jordan Gardens apartment. The delivery driver brought a burger and fries to a man in the apartment building when the three suspects emerged from the building.

They stole the victim’s wallet from her car, and one woman punched the delivery driver in the face before all three suspects fled the scene. The three women were stopped by police shortly after at Niagara Avenue and 11th Street.

National

California wildfires leave 17 dead, more missing

Wildfires in California have stretched along most of the state since blazes erupted Sunday. The fires continued into Tuesday, the two most destructive fires ravaging much of northern California’s wine country. Seventeen people are confirmed dead with hundreds more hospitalized; alongside an estimated 3,500 buildings destroyed or damaged, according to The New York Times. An estimated 20,000 people have been evacuated to escape the damages.

The toll is expected to rise; with many people still unaccounted for and out of first responders’ reach.

In Puerto Rico, Maria aftermath poses major challenge to health care system

Sick people are among the most vulnerable in Hurricane Maria’s aftermath. The hospitals with power are struggling to match demand as they take over for many of the island’s destroyed hospitals.

Dialysis patients have had their treatment hours cut by 25 percent because hospitals don’t have the access to diesel needed to run their machines, according to The New York Times. Many facilities are short on necessary supplies. The confirmed death toll is 45 and is expected to rise.

Global

Spain’s Prime Minister asks Catalan leader to clarify position

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy accused Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont of creating “deliberate confusion” over whether the region had declared its independence, according to the BBC. Rajoy sought to clarify Catalan’s position and said his government asked the Catalan leader to clarify if the regional government had declared independence or not.

This is seen as Rajoy’s first step toward imposing direct rule over Catalonia. Puigdemont spoke Tuesday night and urged the international community to recognize Catalonia’s independence. The European Union has said Catalonia will not be allowed within the EU if it splits from the region.

India rules sex with child bride is rape

India’s Supreme Court struck down a legal clause which said sexual intercourse between man and wife was allowed as long as she was over 15 years old, three years younger than India’s age of consent, 18. Prior to this verdict, marital rape was not considered an offense.

Women’s rights and humanitarian groups have celebrated the verdict, but officials said the issue will be enforcing the law. BBC correspondent Geeta Pandey said courts and police cannot monitor bedrooms. In a country where child marriage is widespread, it will be difficult to expect the girls to file a case against their husband, Pandey said.

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