After several years of talk about the death of Erie County Holding Center inmate India Cummings, local officials are hoping for definitive answers from a new investigation begun by New York State Attorney General Barbara Underwood.
With the India Cummings death shifting toward a criminal investigation, a crowd turned out Thursday night in the Delavan Grider Community Center to discuss the case.
The death of 27-year-old India Cummings after more than two weeks at the Erie County Holding Center in 2016 was in the spotlight at County Hall on Wednesday, with criticism of the care and treatment of inmates there taking center stage.
Erie County Legislature Majority Leader April Baskin will hold a special session of the Public Safety Committee on Wednesday to review, line by line, the State Commission of Correction's Medical Review Board report on the death of India Cummings.
Area unions are pushing back against the U.S. Supreme Court's Janus v. AFSCME decision, which allows public employees to gain pay and benefits under union contracts without paying union dues. Union leaders made clear during a news conference Monday they expect a future push to do the same to private sector unions.
The Erie County Legislature locked itself up Thursday in a round of recesses, legislative clarifications and proposed amendments of proposed amendments. It was over a U.S. Supreme Court decision limiting public employee union rights to collect dues from non-members.
Erie County Government is observing All Women's Equal Pay Day, a day marked to raise awareness of ongoing gaps in pay between women and men. Elected leaders are marking the day by urging support for a statewide ban on wage-history discrimination.
It was a mix of generational change and backroom politics Thursday, as the Erie County Legislature reorganized after an election that put Democrats in charge.
