Regional Briefs – October 17, 2017

Home for Museum of Natural History’s Gem Collection to Open in 2019

NEW YORK – Exotic gemstones will be on display in 2019 at the American Museum of Natural History, including a recently announced 12-foot-tall amethyst geode from Uruguay, The New York Times reported. The Halls of Gems and Minerals will also display the Star of India blue sapphire and the 632-carat Patricia Emerald.

NY Sets New Rules for Solitary Confinement in Local Jails

ALBANY – New York adopted new standards Tuesday for prisoners held in solitary confinement. All prisoners must get at least four hours outside their cell daily, and authorities are required to inform the state when minors are placed in isolation or when an inmate is held for more than a month.

Group Donates a Mountain to New York

MIDDLEBURGH, N.Y. – New York state is getting a present from a nonprofit preservation group — a mountain in the Schoharie Valley, The Times Union reported. Vroman’s Nose has a popular hiking trail to its 600-foot cliffs, and the mountaintop features a broad, flat area known as the “dance floor.”

Old Buffalo Train Station Makes Group’s ‘Watch List’

BUFFALO – A long-defunct train station being considered for redevelopment was placed Monday on an international group’s list of cultural treasures that need to be preserved, WBEN reported. The World Monuments Fund’s 2018 watch list has 25 sites.

Kindergartner Mistakenly Put on Bus Walks Home Alone

ROCKAWAY, N.J. – A kindergartener mistakenly put on a school bus and then left alone at a bus stop walked home by herself, The Record reported. The 5-year-old has never ridden a bus because her parents drive her. The principal blamed a “breakdown in communication.”

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