Local Rite Aids may be changing their names soon after Walgreens announced today they are buying Rite Aid in a $17.2 billion deal.
If the deal gets approval from the antitrust review, the second and third largest pharmacy companies will combine and surpass the current number one, CVS.
Rite Aid stores will keep their names for right now, but they eventually will change. The consolidation of the two stores is just another change that the health care industry is changing due to Obama Care.
If approved that would mean Walgreens will have more than 13,000 stores in the U.S alone. In recent years, Walgreens has been buying up other chains, such as Duane Reade in 2010 and the European pharmacy chain Boots Alliance, last year. Walgreens currently is in 11 different countries.
Written By: Kirby Socker
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Underage Drinking
by Daniel Manou
Oswego, NY- As underage drinking and drug use grows around the country, Oswego County is trying to find ways to not only control this epidemic but turn it into a positive trend.
On a daily basis alcohol is in the public’s eyes whether from advertisements, stores or people using it around them regardless of the viewers age. According to a multi-year study by Farnham Family Services alcohol is the most used drug among minors in Oswego County. However, compared to the last survey, this year’s results are showing progress. Prevention Services Director Penny Morley believes the results of this year’s survey is heading in the right direction.
“We did a youth development survey in 2013 and another one in 2016, and our numbers are going down, youth that are reporting underage drinking,” she said.
Although Morley acknowledges the comparison of surveys shows only a small drop in underage drinking, she is still pleased with the numbers.
“Just a few percentage points, but even just a few percentage points is better than having an increase”, said Morley.
According to the survey nearly 70 percent of high school seniors have used alcohol. Most minors reported the easiest access is from their own home.
In an effort lead by Oswego County Undersheriff Gene Sullivan, police have attempted to stop underage parties. Sullivan has been working to shut down these parties and educate minors about the dangers of underage drinking since 2011. However, he has directly seen what consequences arise.
“By the end of the night we would have fights, vandalism would occur and in the worst case scenario people driving away from that party, getting into crashes some of them were fatalities,” Undersheriff Sullivan said.
In 2014, Farnham instituted the Oswego County Prevention Coalition in response to the 2013 survey and has worked alongside schools to educate the youth. According to the 2016 results, ninth grade, the same age period when alcohol is most dangerous to children, was where the usage jumped the highest.
“Anyone that uses before the age of 15 has a much higher likelihood of addiction as an adult, their brains are not fully formed at that point”, said Morley.
With the tactics that have been put in place and continue to be worked on, there have been signs that they have made an impact.
“I think there’s been tremendous progress, but it’s been painfully slow. It’s a difficult message to deliver”, said Undersheriff Sullivan.
Even with the long awaited results showing optimism, both Morley and Sullivan know their job isn’t done.
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SUNY Oneonta students will be sent home for the rest of the Fall semester
SUNY Oneonta campus; provided by CNN Newsource ONEONTA, NY- SUNY Oneonta will move to remote learning for the remainder of the Fall semester following an outbreak of 389 COVID-19 cases and counting.
The outbreak began last weekend when just over 100 students tested positive for the virus. This came shortly after Governor Cuomo announced that SUNY schools would close for two weeks if there’s a COVID outbreak of over 100 students or five percent of a given campus population. The number of positive cases has jumped significantly since last weekend.
According to SUNY Oneonta’s COVID-19 dashboard, 389 students and staff members have tested positive since the beginning of the Fall semester.
The same weekend, five students and three campus organizations at Oneonta were suspended for hosting parties, according to SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras.
After the initial two week temporary shutdown, the state deployed a COVID-19 SWAT team to SUNY Oneonta in an attempt to ramp up testing. Students were not required to be tested upon arrival.
Off-campus resident Grace Kinne says she had not been tested prior to her arrival in Oneonta. She left Oneonta last Saturday as a precaution for medical reasons.
“I have asthma that gets really bad when I am sick, so my Mom wanted me home right away,” said Kinne.
Full refunds will be issued for on-campus housing as well as additional allowable refunds for dining plans. Students who test positive will quarantine on campus until they are re-tested negative.
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New SUNY Oswego Assistant Professor Performs
A new SUNY Oswego Assistant Professor introduced herself to campus in a special way: by enlightening students with her violin.
Ahreum Kim, the campus’s new assistant professor in high strings and musicology, performed with Professor Robert Auler in front of an audience in Sheldon Ballroom. The sonatas consisted mostly of classical and romantic times in music.
Professor Kim not only had to perform the music, but also make sure that her movements accurately portrayed the specific emotions of the songs.
Reporter David Hermanovitch talked with Kim, who told him that to portray the emotion, she had to change her expressions at the same time, which is very tiring during the performance.
Overall, the performance was a creative way for Kim to begin her tenure with SUNY Oswego.
