Beth Adams

As the Delta variant leads to increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases and some governments are starting to require their employees to get vaccinated, private employers are taking a closer look at such policies.

But something is standing in their way.

"What's holding them back is if they implement a vaccine mandate, people will quit or people won't apply," said Beth Cordello, a labor and employment attorney with Pullano and Farrow.

A former Olympian says Simone Biles' decision to step out of Olympic competition is a teaching moment for leaders and people everywhere.

Citing the enormous expectations placed on her, the 24-year-old American gymnastics superstar withdrew from Thursday's all-around competition to focus on her mental well-being.

The first thing you notice when you walk into Avis Reese's house is her grand piano.

The Steinway dominates the dining room.  She's playing a song she wrote a few years ago for a friend who was going through a tough time.  It's called "Loss of Meaning."

2020 brought loss to Reese's own life; several members of her family died during the pandemic.

It's shifted her perspective and she wants to break out of some old habits.  She's looking for adventure now.

For most of the last 15 months, Ingrid Bock rarely left her Penfield home.

"I was even having my food delivered," said Bock, who is a Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra cellist. "I was taking COVID very seriously, so for months on end, I didn't leave the house more than to check the mail."

But after she was fully vaccinated against the virus that triggered a global pandemic, Bock began to venture out more often.

That's when Bock, who is also a dog trainer, noticed some new behaviors in one of her dogs, Diesel, a 12-year old Yorkshire terrier mix.

When the enslaved people of Texas learned they were free, more than four months after the House of Representatives passed the 13th Amendment, it was a Sodus native, Union Army Gen. Gordon Granger, who delivered the news.

The Civil War hero was given command of the Department of Texas on June 10, 1865. Nine days later, as one of his first official acts in that role, Granger published General Order No. 3. 

Theresa Bowick is not one to cower in the face of a challenge.

The founder of Conkey Cruisers has kept the neighborhood cycling program going through difficulties with drug trafficking and homelessness along the El Camino Trail where young and old learn to ride.  When the organization's entire fleet of bikes was stolen in 2015, Bowick rallied the community to replace them with an even bigger collection.

The registered nurse has even persevered despite her own chronic illness -- a rare disorder that causes painful, golf ball-sized tumors to form on the soles of her feet.

But this next challenge may be insurmountable, even for Bowick.

Many people from across the political spectrum have called for Gov. Andrew Cuomo's resignation in light of a series of scandals, including numerous allegations of sexual harassment.

But various groups of Cuomo supporters are organizing and getting more vocal on social media. An East Rochester woman moderates two online groups supporting the embattled governor.