Nick Langworthy

Congressman Nick Langworthy has introduced legislation to prevent New York State from clawing back federal funds meant for counties.

The “Protect Local Taxpayers Act” is in response to Governor Kathy Hochul’s Budget Proposal that would claw back $625 million in Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) funds that have been designated to counties since 2011. Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-24) and Congressman Brandon Williams (NY-22) are co-sponsors of this bill.

The act will prevent state governments from further shifting state Medicaid expenses onto local county governments.

New York’s per capita spending on Medicaid is the highest in the U.S. and more than double the national average. The county share of Medicaid is currently $7.6 billion per year and, if Hochul’s plan moves forward, Langworthy said counties in the 23rd congressional district will face a budget shortfall in the tens of millions. The impact to Chautauqua County would be $4 million.

Langworthy said in a statement, “These federal funds are dedicated specifically to help cover local government’s costs, not to be used for Kathy Hochul’s slush fund.” He added, “We need to stand up in Congress and tell the Governor she can’t raid these federal funds.”

Brandon Williamson, founder of Pure Ink Poetry Slam of Buffalo.

JAMESTOWN – Prendergast Library will kick off the 2014 Big Read focusing on the poetry of Emily Dickinson at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 19, with a poetry slam.

Brandon Williamson, founder of Pure Ink Poetry Slam of Buffalo and an admissions counselor for SUNY Fredonia, will be in charge of the event.

Williamson was voted Best Poet of the Month last October at a Poetry Slam in downtown Toronto, and invited to be a guest on a Toronto radio show called “Nik Beat.”

His Pure Ink Poetry Slam team earned first place honors in Rochester at a statewide Empire State Team Poetry Slam  and became the first American team ever to win the Q.E.W. International Poetry Slam at the Burlington, Ontario, Performing Arts Center in January.

“We hope the public will join us in Jamestown to have fun and get ready to enjoy another reading adventure together,” Acting Director Tina Scott said.

POETRY SLAM OPEN TO PUBLIC

Brandon Williamson, founder of Pure Ink Poetry Slam of Buffalo. Williamson will appear in Jamestown at the Prendergast Library on March 19 at 6:30 p.m. as part of an open-to-the-public Poetry Slam.

Each poet will present two poems, one by Emily Dickinson and one original work. Poems will be judged on a 10-point scale by five judges using score cards. First and second place T-shirt prizes will be awarded for the highest combined scores.

The SUNY Fredonia Faculty Student Association will provide refreshments.

Other Big Read events scheduled at Prendergast Library are Download Classics, storytimes, family activities, and an all day book spine poetry activity. Details, dates and times are available at www.prendergastlibrary.org or on the library’s March programming calendar at all public service desks.

“The purpose of the Big Read is to bring communities together through books, and these Jamestown events are a perfect example of that happening,” according to Randy Gadikian,  director of the Daniel A. Reed Library at the State University at Fredonia.

Other members of the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System are also offering Big Read activities that are free and open to the public.

The Big Read, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts managed by Arts Midwest, is designed to revitalize the role of literature in American culture and to encourage citizens to read for pleasure and enlightenment.

The Big Read comes to the region through a unique partnership between SUNY Fredonia and the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System, Fredonia faculty, staff and students, and the SUNY Fredonia Academic Community Engagement Center, along with the Erie I Board of Cooperative Education Services, local schools, the Fredonia Faculty Student Association, the Fredonia College Foundation and the Reg Lenna Center For The Arts.

Prendergast Library is located at 509 Cherry St., Jamestown. For information about its events, call 484-7135.
Information is also available at www.fredonia.edu/bigread or neabigread.org.

Tanya Eggleston, right, learns about the Big Read from, left to right, Tina Scott, director of Prendergast Library; Librarian Liz Gruber; and Eli Guinnee, managing director of the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System.