News roundup: Picking cherries, a grant for the hospital and good news for the nursing home

From the Daily News (Tuesday):

• O glorious day! Today's Daily News features the third installment of Tom Rivers' adventures in agriculture series — cherry picking. Rivers begins the article with a confession of his rampant fear of heights, ladders in particular, which makes for a tense and funny start to what proves another gem in a great series. Go read it.
• United Memorial Medical Center received a $2.2 million state grant that will help finance the renovation of the Jerome Center on Bank Street. Reporter Paul Mrozek writes: "The project will provide 37 condominium-style apartments for low-income senior citizens, ages 55 or older. Rent will be from $475 per month to $575 per month, depending on the person's income." The total cost of the project is about $8.2 million. No date has yet been set for the start of the project, but UMMC spokeswoman Colleen Flynn said that they hope to start soon.
• The Genesee County Nursing Home was told it will get $800,000 in "retroactive Medicaid reimbursements," money that was supposed to be granted by the state as reimbursement for Medicaid patient care provided by the nursing home. Also, the state will start to pay more for Medicaid services and the county should see an added $600,000 "in unanticipated revenue," writes Paul Mrozek, which means more good news for an institution that hasn't heard much of it in recent months.
• And the money just keeps flowing... The city of Batavia received a check for nearly $630,000 from the state thanks to Batavia Downs video gaming facility. An article in the Daily News Friday made mention of the state funds — some went to the county and some to the town, as well. After reading today's article, I still don't quite understand why the state gives money to community's for hosting video gaming centers, which I believe are no more than video slot machines. Reporters Tom Rivers and Joanne Beck explain how it came about: "The state last year approved legislation allowing host communities to receive payments for having video gaming centers within their municipal borders. They share 3.5 percent of the total net revenue generated by the video gaming centers." I assume that "they" here refers to the "host communities." But then the next sentence says that the "money comes from the state and not the tracks that operate the gambling centers." I'm confused. Whose money is this? Is it the state's or does it belong to the Downs? Why do municipalities get a share? Anyone know how this works?
• A fire at a home in Corfu Monday morning resulted in the death of two cats and caused about $50,000 in damage. No one was home at the time, and the Corfu fire chief said the house is not habitable.
• The owner of BrightLine, a television marketing company, was honored as the Batavia High School Graduate of Disctinction Sunday. Jacqueline Corbelli Modzelewski graduated from the school in 1982.
• Brian Hillabush reports on the NFL-sponsored football camp at Batavia High School. More than 400 kids are enrolled in the camp, and they come from schools all over the area. It's an interesting article, worth reading.

For the complete stories, the Daily News is available on local newsstands, or you can subscribe on BataviaNews.com.