Flags To Be Flown at Half-Staff for Killed Soldier
On Thursday, June 2, flags on state government buildings will be flown at half-staff to remember John C. Johnson, a soldier who was killed in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, on Friday, May 27. Johnson, 28, joined the Army in February 2011 and was a soldier at 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y., according to an official press release. A native of Arizona, he was critically wounded as insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire. The soldier left behind his wife, two children, and his mother and father. “On behalf of all New Yorkers, I extend our deepest sympathies to the family, friends, and fellow soldiers of Private First Class John Johnson,” Gov. Cuomo said. “This young soldier made the ultimate sacrifice for his country, and on this Memorial Day, we mourn his passing,” said Gov. Cuomo in a statement.
Charity Organizations Collect Produce to Feed Hungry
Local farms that sell fresh product on Union Square donated 2,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables to charitable organizations. Before the farmers started taking down their stands on Memorial Day, volunteers from City Harvest and Masbia Soup Kitchen Network collected leftover produce as donations from the farmers. All ingredients were transported to the Masbia Soup Kitchen Network’s central kitchen in Brooklyn, where chefs will sort the donated produce and prepare it into dinners and take-home packages in the next few days. The organization serves over 500 nutritious dinners on weekdays and prepares several hundred take-home food packages on the weekend at four distribution locations in Brooklyn and Queens.
Sen. Schumer Pushes Ban on Renting Recalled Vehicles
Selling a recalled car is illegal but renting one is not. On May 30, Sen. Charles Schumer proposed new legislation that would prohibit car rental companies from renting vehicles that have been recalled for safety defects until they have been fixed. Currently, rental companies are not required to notify costumers if vehicles are under safety recall. An audit by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that examined rental cars in New York showed that only 34 percent of defective rental vehicles are repaired within 90 days of the recall notice. The senator feels that the lack of the current regulations puts rental car drivers’ safety as risk. “We need to make sure all recalled vehicles, no matter the type of defect at issue, are pulled off the road until they’re fixed,” said Schumer in a statement.
