thruway

Safety program runs from today through Sept. 3

“Operation Summer Brake,” a safety program designed to ensure motorists slow down in construction zones, will run today through Sept. 3 along the Thruway and other state highways.
The program will emphasize that motorists stay alert on the road, obey posted speed limits and “avoid all distractions to ensure a safe trip to their destination,” said Thomas J. Madison, Thruway Authority executive director. Troop T troopers will step up enforcement efforts on the Thruway, Madison said.
“Throughout this period of expanded enforcement, the dedicated members of Troop T will be watching for those who are intoxicated, speeding, or driving aggressively,” said State Police Sgt. Thomas Ferritto. “Also, Troop T will be enforcing the Move Over Law to protect maintenance workers, tow truck operators, and state troopers.”
Thruway troopers issued 838 tickets during the 2011 “Operation Summer Brake” campaign.
education

AmeriCorps program gets $1.6 million grant

Ninety-five AmeriCorps members will help students at schools and special programs during the coming academic year, thanks to a $1.6 million grant by the New York State Commission on National and Community Service to AmeriCorps Builds Lives through Education (ABLE), a program of the Service Collaborative of Western New York.
ABLE members will work with students through partnerships with Cradle Beach’s Project SOAR, Buffalo Promise Neighborhood, King Center Charter School, Tapestry Charter School, Elmwood Village Charter School and Health Sciences Charter School.
In addition to tutoring students, ABLE members will receive training and development support that could lead to a career in education. Since the program began in 2004, more than 1,800 ABLE members have assisted more than 35,700 students.
amherst

Center for Inquiry receives $40,000 grant

The Center for Inquiry, a nonprofit educational, advocacy and research organization based in Amherst, has received a $40,000 grant from the James Hervey Johnson Charitable Educational Trust of San Diego. The funding will help pay for upgrading computer equipment and software at the center’s Amherst headquarters.
The trust was funded from the estate of James Hervey Johnson, the fourth editor of the Truth Seeker, a national free-thought periodical, who died in 1988. The trust has supported the Center for Inquiry with multiple grants over the past two decades.
canisius college

Humane Society CEO will speak Sept. 7

Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive officer of the Humane Society of the United States, will speak at 7 p.m. Sept. 7 in the Montante Cultural Center at Canisius College.
The talk, “A History of Animal Cruelty and the Human-Animal Bond, and the Modern-Day Efforts to Build a New Humane Economy,” is free and open to the public.