Photo by Darren McGee/Office of the Governor – Gov. Kathy Hochul signs legislation today quadrupling New York State Tax Credit for Volunteer Firefighters and Ambulance workers. She also presented a check for $1 million to Hempstead Fire Department for new radios.
Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation to quadruple New York State’s personal income tax credit for eligible volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers, providing financial relief to first responders who dedicate their time to protecting communities across the state.
“Keeping New York safe and affordable is my highest priority. Today, I’m proud to sign into law a bill that recognizes the sacrifices that all volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers make,” Governor Hochul said. “These brave New Yorkers put their lives on the line to protect their neighbors, often sacrificing time with their families and loved ones. This tax credit puts more money back in their pockets and shows our appreciation for the lifesaving services they provide every day.”
A.6790-A/S.6233-A increases the annual personal income tax credit from $200 to $800 for individuals and from $400 to $1,600 for married couples. The increased credit will apply beginning in tax year 2027, allowing eligible New Yorkers to claim the benefit when filing their taxes in 2028. Under the new law, eligible volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers may claim either the increased state income tax credit or a qualifying local property tax exemption.
This legislation furthers the Governor’s ongoing commitment to New York’s volunteer first responders as they strengthen their recruitment and retention efforts. The Governor has previously signed legislation allowing local governments to offer volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers a property tax exemption of up to 10 percent, established a first-in-the-state training stipend program that has supported more than 5,500 firefighters completing foundational training, authorized volunteer departments to bill insurance providers for emergency medical services, and invested in the Volunteer Fire Infrastructure & Response Equipment (V-FIRE) grant program to help departments upgrade facilities and purchase critical firefighting equipment.
Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Commissioner Terry O’Leary said, “In addition to protecting their neighbors, New York’s volunteer fire departments are often a part of the fabric of their communities. Whether through the creation of the V-FIRE grant or the Volunteer Firefighter Training Stipend, Governor Hochul has continuously been a strong supporter of New York’s volunteer fire service and the expansion of this tax credit further demonstrates that commitment.”
Firefighters Association of the State of New York President Donald Farrell said, “Volunteer firefighters across New York show up at 3 a.m. without asking why. They leave their families, their jobs and their beds to answer the call, and they do it for free. Governor Hochul showed up for them. She listened to volunteers from every corner of this state, she understood what they were up against, and she made this tax credit a priority.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 October 2026 at 8:43 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Betty Garcia Mathewson of Albion speaks during a protest today on Main Street in Albion focused on many local people being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The protest also was timed by nationwide “No Kings” rallies speaking out against executive overreach by President Donald Trump and an erosion of democratic principles and rights in the country.
Mathewson has long been an advocate for farmworkers. She said many of those workers in Orleans County recently have been detained by ICE.
“This is not the America I grew up in,” Mathewson told a crowd of about 30 people carrying signs. “All people deserve due process.”
Mathewson said the ICE arrests are disrupting families and dividing the country, falsely blaming immigrants for economic hardships.
“The people they are taking have been our neighbors for years,” she said.
Some of the protestors had signs against “No Kings” to highlight opposition to Trump’s authoritarian tendencies and expansion of executive powers.
Gary Kent holds a sign, “Democracy Dies In Silence.”
Many of the “No Kings” rallies urged people to use early voting in the upcoming midterm elections and try to empower a new Congress to rein in the president’s powers.
Trump has expanded ICE in his second term, with ICE officers more than doubling from about 10,000 when Trump’s second term started in January 2025 to over 22,000 now. The daily ICE detention population is up from about 40,000 at the start of Trump’s second term to about 70,000 people now.
The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” signed in July 2025 infused tens of billions of dollars into immigration enforcement, authorizing an additional $45 billion specifically for detention through 2029.
Librada Paz of Brockport has been outspoken for many years about labor rights for farmworkers. In 2012, she received the Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Award for her work to improve the lives and working conditions of farmworkers.
Paz said ICE has stepped up raids in Albion and the surrounding communities in the past two months. She said people are being picked up by ICE at the laundromat, while waiting at farm fields, and at their housing in the community.
She said they are often held at the federal detention facility in Batavia before being transfer much farther away, where it becomes more difficult to fight their cases legally because they are away from a support system.
“The citizens of Albion may not realize that a lot of people are being taken,” Paz said.
Betty Garcia Mathewson and her daughter Sienna stand near the intersection of Main Street and East Park Street to show their support for immigrants.
Garcia Mathewson said the country has long failed to update its immigration policies putting many people in vulnerable position even if they have no criminal record and years of contributing to the community.
She said many families are mixed with one spouse having legal standing to be in the country while others were kept out of the legal system.
“We are here telling the immigrants that there are people who care and are pissed off they are doing this to you,” she said about the ICE enforcement actions.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 October 2026 at 9:09 am
Photo by Tom Rivers: The Holley Police station is located at 8 Thomas St. The department has been in Holley since 1930.
HOLLEY – The Village Board won’t be voting anytime soon to dissolve the police department or put the issue to a public vote.
Instead, the Village Board will look to reduce spending in the department in the village budget, with dissolution a possible focus the following year, said Holley Mayor Mark Bower.
The mayor said he values the police department but also is aware of a high tax burden for village residents. He praised the Holley Police Department for its quick response on Tuesday when a man who was allegedly highly intoxicated fired multiple gun shots from a Geddes Street address. That man was taken into custody without anyone being harmed.
The Village Board said the police budget accounts for over $500,000 to village taxpayers each year. That is precisely $523,973 of the village’s $2,165,925 budget in 2026-27.
Mayor Bower said the board is determined to try to bring down the tax burden in the village. Residents and some of the larger businesses in Holley tell him the taxes are too high in the village.
The Holley PD has a chief, two full-time officers and six part-timers. There are officers on duty nearly 24-7. There are currently two night shifts not filled each week.
Bower said the village will look to make some reductions to bring down costs but won’t be looking at dissolving the department this budget cycle or in the 2027-28 fiscal year.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 October 2026 at 8:38 am
Photos by Tom Rivers: Mount Albion Cemetery feels like a kaleidoscope of colors. The leaves were green, orange, yellow and red on Friday with many leaves coming down. The cemetery is officially accredited as an arboretum by ArbNet and The Morton Arboretum.
Much of New York State will be in peak fall foliage colors this week, according to I Love NY, while it’s closer to midpoint peak in Orleans County.
“Bright, beautiful foliage continues to spread across New York State with peak colors anticipated throughout the Catskills this weekend, as well as in many parts of the Adirondacks and Central New York regions,” I Love NY stated on Wednesday during its weekly fall foliage update.
This weekly map from I Love NY expects peak fall foliage around most of the New York State.
It will be near peak in parts of the Greater Niagara region but most of the local area still has a lot of green leaves, the tourism promotion organization said.
There is a local volunteer observer who reported: “65% change at the Cobblestone Museum in Albion with bright and radiant amber, auburn and ruby leaves.”
Mount Albion has over 1,100 trees representing roughly 65 different species including sugar maples, oaks, beech, basswood, hemlock, dogwood, pine, cedar and chestnut.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 October 2026 at 4:48 pm
Photos courtesy of Tim Archer, Albion Interact Club advisor
ROCHESTER – Albion students in the Interact Club spent part of Thursday volunteering at Foodlink in Rochester, sorting and packing 11,500 pounds of food, which will eventually serve over 9,500 needy families in the western New York region.
The students include Kinzie Healy, Annabella Dusharm, Allisyn McQuay, Sutton Sanders, Luci Borello, Izabella Kingdollar, William Fisher and Skye Austin.
Upon returning to Albion, they visited Faith Smith and the Orleans Koinonia Kitchen in Albion, which receives food items from Foodlink for the OK Kitchen’s weekly dinner for local families. The kitchen is located at Harvest Christian Fellowship at 560 East Ave.
The Orleans Koinonia Kitchen is one of hundreds of community partners Foodlink works alongside to address food insecurity.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 October 2026 at 4:25 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – A boater enjoys the view on top of a boat on Sept. 28 in Albion near the guard gate just east of the Gaines Basin Road canal bridge.
The boating season came to an end on Wednesday on the 201st anniversary on the canal’s opening in 1825. This was the 202nd season the canal was open to boaters. The Canal Corp. anticipates the 203rd season will open in May.
Albion physical education teacher Bridgette Varin led a group of students in using kayaks on the canal on Sept. 28. The students also took the kayaks to Lake Alice.
These Albion students go kayaking in the canal in Albion on Sept. 28. About a dozen students were able to go kayaking that day.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 October 2026 at 11:32 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
LYNDONVILLE – The Yates Community Library on Thursday celebrated a new book house next to the library at 15 North Main St.
Tom Wenhold, president of the library’s board of trustees, cuts a ribbon made from pages of discarded books. The ribbon is held by Lynne Johnson, left, the chairwoman of the Orleans County Legislature and a Yates resident; and Heather Rutherford, the library’s director.
“This library is the rock of our community,” Johnson said. “It’s been for many years.”
The new building is 14 by 40 feet. It replaces one that was 12 by 18 feet.
Part of the building is used to sell used books while the back part will have outdoor supplies. Yates Community Library partnered with NYS Department of Environmental Conservation to provide free fishing rod loans through “I Fish NY” and backpacks with binoculars and birding reference materials through “I Bird NY” initiatives.
Wenhold, a physical therapist, said the fishing gear and binoculars should encourage children and adults to get outside and have more physical activity while exploring the natural world, which will be good for their mind and body.
Tom Wenhold holds a ceremonial check for $27,500 that went towards the new building. That grant was awarded from the WNY Rural Library Resources Council using money from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation.
The entire project for the building, electric and the supplies is about $50,000, said Heather Rutherford, the library director. She wrote the grant application for the $27,500.
Tammy Nunciato, grants and office support specialist with the WNY Rural Library Resources Council, said the Ralph C. Wilson Foundation wants to direct more funding to rural communities in WNY. In back from left include Yates library trustees Kateri Moskoluk, Ginny Hughes, Marlie Miller and Tom Wenhold. Other trustees include Jim Watson and Kathy Sillick.
Yates was approved for a grant with its application: “From Shore to Sky: Supplying Our Communities Outdoor Explorers.” The library is right next to Johnson Creek.
The library welcomes teachers, scout leaders, and other educators to check out sets of binoculars, fishing and birding resources, and other nature exploration kits that are geared to be used for larger groups.
Assemblyman Steve Hawley congratulated Yates library officials on the new building and outdoor gear for the community. Hawley presented a certificate of merit to the library.
A representative for State Sen. Rob Ortt presented a citation commending the library for the project, and County Legislature Chairwoman Lynne Johnson presented a certificate of achievement on behalf of the Legislature.
Frank Sykes, executive director of the Nioga Library System, praised the Yates Community Library for the new building and expanding services.
People tour the back section of the new building. Heather Rutherford, the library director, said the outdoor materials will help the community appreciate nature right in the library’s backyard.
“Over time, the library will continue to purchase more active lifestyle materials to investigate bugs, test stream water quality, or create nature journals,” she said. “All of these items promote the library’s mission to provide current materials for education, enjoyment, enrichment, and lifelong learning to local residents.”
The celebration included cookies with the library logo.
Press Release, Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council
BATAVIA – Live performers, musicians, artisans and an imaginative mix of Victorian-inspired curiosities and creations will take over the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds, 12690 Route 31 in Albion on Saturday, Oct. 17 for the Shakesbeer Steampunk Festival.
Presented by GO Art! (Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council), the free, one-day festival will run from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Reimagined for 2026 by GO Art!, the festival blends the theatrical flair of the Shakespearean era with the inventive, retro-futuristic world of steampunk. Visitors are invited to dress up, join in and experience a world where gears grind, tea steams and imagination rules. From tea dueling and trivia to a costume contest, live entertainment and nearly 20 regional artisans, the interactive festival offers plenty of ways for attendees to become part of the experience.
The event pays homage to the beloved steampunk festival originally hosted by Leonard Oakes Estate Winery from 2011 to 2019, while introducing a fresh creative twist inspired by classic literature, performance and fantasy.
“Shakesbeer Steampunk is meant to bring people together to celebrate the arts in a playful, imaginative way,” said Gregory Hallock, executive director of GO Art! “Come in costume, challenge someone to a tea duel or meet the artists behind the handmade creations. There are so many ways to join in, and we hope everyone finds something that sparks their curiosity.”
Festival Activities and Entertainment
Live music and performances will take place throughout the day, alongside an artisan market featuring handmade goods and steampunk-inspired creations. Other festival highlights include:
Interactive Challenges
Tea Dueling: A beloved steampunk tradition that puts competitors’ biscuit-dunking skills to the test under the watchful eye of Queen Elizabeth I and her Ladies-in-Waiting.
The Noon-Tide Contest of Cunning: A team trivia competition featuring history, literature, movies, curious facts and unexpected challenges. Free Registration
Sword Combat and Jousting: Inflatable horse jousting and sword combat for festivalgoers ready for some friendly competition.
Costume Contest
Festival-goers are encouraged to arrive in their finest Shakespearean, steampunk or imaginative attire and enter the Shakesbeer Costume Contest. Free Registration will be open from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., followed by the costume presentation at 4 p.m. Contestants will compete for honors in three categories:
Best Shakespeare & Steampunk Representation
Most Creative & Unexpected
Crowd Favorite
Entertainment
The sights and sounds of ShakesBeer Steampunk will fill the fairgrounds throughout the day with live music, theatrical performances, roaming characters, and immersive entertainment around every corner. Blending Shakespearean inspiration with steampunk imagination, the festival will feature a lively atmosphere where performers, musicians, and storytellers bring the world of ShakesBeer Steampunk to life.
Food and Craft Beverages
Food trucks and specialty beverages will be available throughout the festival, along with Shakespeare-inspired GO Art! craft beers sponsored by Eli Fish Brewing Co., including Get Thee to a Brewery, Much A-Brew About Nothing and As You Lite It.
Admission is free. For additional festival information, visit goart.org/programming/festivals. Must be 21-plus with a valid ID for craft beer tastings and purchases. No outside alcohol permitted on the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 October 2026 at 9:28 am
Photo by Marsha Rivers: This photo of the Orleans County Courthouse and the First Presbyterian Church of Albion was taken at 5:55 p.m. on Thursday and shows what appears to be altocumulus clouds. Those clouds can signify changing weather is approaching.
A severe thunderstorm warning is in effect for southeastern Orleans County until 10 a.m. The storm could bring 60 mile-per-hour wind gusts that could damage roofs, siding and trees, said the National Weather Service in Buffalo.
The warning also includes eastern Genesee County, Monroe County, northeastern Livingston County and northwestern Ontario County.
Today is forecast for periods of rain in Orleans County, mainly before 5 p.m. The temperature will drop from about 70 this morning to 56 by 5 p.m., the Weather Service said. Tonight the low will fall to around 37 degrees.
The highs in the coming days include 47 on Saturday, 61 on Sunday, 65 on Monday, 64 on Tuesday and 63 on Wednesday.
Photo by Tom Rivers: Jack Burris, the Hands 4 Hope founder, is shown in November 2024 when winter clothing was made available outside the Holy Family Parish in Albion. There were tables with kid-size boots and other winter clothing. This photo was taken after about 100 people went through, picking out coats and other winter apparel. Burris founded Hands 4 Hope 11 years ago. He appreciates the community’s continued donations towards the ministry.
Press Release, Hands 4 Hope
The Hands 4 Hope street ministry is preparing for its fifth annual Red Jacket Rally, continuing a community tradition that has helped provide thousands of warm winter jackets and other cold-weather necessities to neighbors throughout Orleans County.
Since the Red Jacket Rally began five years ago, Hands 4 Hope has consistently distributed more than 600 winter jackets each year, putting the ministry’s total at well over 3,000 jackets given away to local individuals and families. Every jacket, hat, pair of gloves and other item is offered completely free of charge to those who need them.
This year’s Red Jacket Rallies will be held from 10 a.m. to noon on three Thursdays: October 22 at Hoag Library in Albion, November 5 at Evans Ace Hardware in Medina, and November 19 at Holley Square.
Community members are encouraged to donate new or gently used warm winter apparel, including jackets, hats, gloves and winter boots. Those in need are invited to come to the rallies and take what they need — freely given.
The Red Jacket Rally, however, represents only part of Hands 4 Hope’s year-round outreach. During the ministry’s regular Hands 4 Hope Shares, held on the first four Saturdays of each month, volunteers also distribute winter jackets and seasonal clothing, hats and other necessities whenever needed.
At the heart of the effort is a simple mission: neighbors helping neighbors while sharing the hope and love of Jesus Christ.
For additional information about the Red Jacket Rally, donating winter apparel, or Hands 4 Hope Street Ministry, contact Hands 4 Hope or follow the ministry’s community outreach announcements.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 October 2026 at 3:10 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – A crane from Trimble Services LLC in Fulton lifts a 33,000-pound steel bridge over the Oak Orchard Creek today at about 11:25 a.m.
The pedestrian bridge was manufactured by Bridge Brothers Inc. from Pickens, South Carolina.
The bridge is 100 feet long and 8 feet wide. It was delivered in Medina on a truck in two 50-foot sections.
Kevin Foster and his son Jack, owners of RJT Construction Services, are the first to walk across the bridge.
RJT is the general contractor on the project after submitting the low bid of $837,448. Barton & Loguidice also provided engineering services for $166,300.
The project also includes about 2,000 feet of sidewalks along Maple Ridge Road.
The bridge is on Maple Ridge Road over the creek awaiting to be lifted and set in place on its new concrete abutments.
The new bridge and sidewalks have been several years in the waiting. The village in 2021 was awarded a $1,094,196 grant to construct the bridge and sidewalks as part of a multi-use path for pedestrians and bicycles. The funding was awarded by the state through a federal Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant.
That is covering 80 percent of the project. The remaining 20 percent will be paid locally from the village ($55,000), Town of Shelby ($130,000) and Orleans County ($97,500) using their share of funds from a now closed revolving loan fund through the Orleans Economic Development Agency.
Workers put bolts in place where two 50-foot sections were put together.
The thick straps are put in place to hoist the bridge.
Kevin Foster, co-owner of RJT Construction Services in white hard hat, checks the work before the bridge was lifted.
