Photo courtesy of Mike Zaidel: Russ Peters made it back to Rochester on Wednesday after spending about a month at a hospital in Guatemala. Peters is shown leaving Centro Medico Hospital in Guatemala City.

SHELBY – Russ Peters made it back to Rochester on Wednesday, a month after being stricken with serious health issues while on a humanitarian mission trip to Guatemala.

Peters, the pastor of Alabama Full Gospel Church on Route 63 in Shelby, is at a Rochester hospital and being treated for abdominal abscesses. His wife Jodi said he may need surgery for those abscesses. They are treating him for sepsis and C. diff while awaiting additional testing results to confirm if he has those conditions.

Peters flew out of Guatemala City at about midnight Wednesday with friends from Guatemala and Mike Zaidel, Alabama Full Gospel church coordinator and head elder.

When he arrived in Rochester around 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, he was taken by ambulance to a Rochester hospital where a team of infectious disease doctors and surgeons who specialize in pancreatic diseases were waiting, Mrs. Peters wrote on a GoFundMe page for her husband.

“Russell is completely off the oxygen!” she wrote. “His stomach is 2-3X the size and he’s very uncomfortable. There are multiple abdominal abscesses noted and much edema with it.”

She thanked doctors in Guatemala for saving his life, and Zaidel for traveling to Guatemala and ensuring his safe return close to home.

Zaidel said Peters traveled well and is in good spirits, but has a long road ahead of him in his recovery.

Mrs. Peters thanked people for their prayers and those who contributed to the GoFundMe. Nearly $65,000 has been raised towards a $90,000 goal.

Peters went to Guatemala on Nov. 11 to visit churches Alabama Full Gospel has partnered with for about 40 years, starting when Russ’s dad Terry was the pastor of the local church in Shelby.

One of the long-time church leaders in Guatemala recently passed away and Russ went to see that church and others in a mountainous region. It was his first trip there since the Covid pandemic. He used to go every 3-4 years, Zaidel said.

Peters became gravely ill when he couldn’t hold down food or his diabetic medicines and his blood sugar rose to 500. He has gall stones which caused vomiting and severe pain, leading to pancreatitis, his wife said.

Her husband was so stricken he couldn’t walk or move on his own. He was in San Cristobal, about four hours from proper medical care. Once moved to a hospital in Guatemala City, he received IV fluids, antibiotics, pain medicines and insulin.

Two bald eagles are busy rebuilding a nest in the Cayuga marsh. These images are from a nest cam.

Courtesy of Dick Moss and Friends of Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge

BASOM – After a brief but concerning setback, the Cayuga marsh bald eagle pair and the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge nest camera project are back on track.

Two weeks after the nest camera, funded by Friends of Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge (FINWR), began streaming on Oct. 19, disaster struck when high winds knocked down the cottonwood tree that the eagle nest had been perched in.

Since that time, the eagle pair has been busy building a new nest – fortunately within range of the new eagle nest camera. Click here to see the view from the nest cam.

The new nest cam project has been more than a year in the making.

In November of 2023, FINWR started planning to install a live camera at an active bald eagle nest on the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge in Basom.

“We determined almost from the start that history and location were very important factors,” said outgoing FINWR President Garner Light of Gasport, who was instrumental in developing and implementing the project. “Based on those factors, the Cayuga marsh nest was our first choice. That location has been used for most of the last 25 years by bald eagles. It was also more accessible than the next best nest site. No other site on the refuge met both requirements.”

FINWR consulted with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service from the start to ensure that its plan was abiding by environmental regulations.

FINWR also found Bill Powers of the Pittsburgh area, who runs the Pixcams website, which hosts numerous wildlife cameras around the country. Powers offered advice and technical expertise that proved invaluable, and Pixcams offered a ready home for the nest cam streaming.

The FINWR board approved the nest camera plans during the summer months, and the proper equipment was ordered.

The group’s target for installation was early to mid October, and it eventually settled on Oct. 18, which turned out to be an ideal fall day. Plan A was to climb the nest tree, uninstall a camera that had been inactive for over 20 years and install the new camera in its place. The plan had to be altered when it was determined that the tree with the nest was not safe to climb. This prompted plan B, which was to install the camera in a tree near the nest.

Treeman Tom LLC and his crew donated their time and expertise to safely install the camera and secure the cables. The new camera went live on Oct. 19. The bald eagle action was amazing right from the beginning, and the camera gave a front row seat.

“For two weeks we watched, learned and engaged in wonderful conversation on the live camera chat,” Light said.

But on Nov. 1, after several days of high winds, the old nest tree blew over.

“We were heartbroken,” Light said. “The bald eagles largely disappeared for the next two days.”

But within four days, the eagles were attempting to place branches in the tree right next to the old nest tree. Since then they have worked diligently to build a new nest. It is almost the same size now as the old nest was.

The original camera that hasn’t worked in 20-plus years was so popular that visitors to the refuge had been still asking to watch it.

“This is a dream come true for FINWR. We are looking forward to increasing awareness of this beautiful place that we call Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge,” said new FINWR President Richard Moss of Medina. “We are currently working on designing a nest cam display with a large screen TV for the visitor center.”

He added that the FINWR website also is undergoing a redesign that will prominently feature the nest cam.

“Special thanks to refuge manager Tom Roster, Bill Powers, Treeman Tom and his crew, DEC’s Region 8 wildlife biologist, FINWR’s Emma DeLeon and the rest of the FINWR board,” said Light.

Friends of Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge, Inc., has about 150 members and is a nonprofit corporation organized by volunteers dedicated to supporting the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge (INWR) via fundraising, education, enhancement and preservation of the refuge and its wildlife.

Photo from findagrave.com: The gravesite for Benjamin Darling on Saturday will add marker signifying he served in the Revolutionary War.

SHELBY – There will be a ceremony at 1 p.m. on Saturday when a marker is dedicated for a Revolutionary War soldier buried at the Maple Ridge Cemetery.

Benjamin Darling served with the 7^th Connecticut Regiment and wintered at Valley Forge. He was born July 6, 1758 at Lunenburg in Worcester County, Massachusetts. He died at age 82 on Feb. 7, 1841. Maple Ridge Cemetery is at 12055 Maple Ridge Rd., just west of Sourced Market & Eatery and Culvert Road.

Brent Downing, president of the Rochester chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, said a contingent from the chapter will be at the dedication service on Saturday, wearing Revolutionary War uniforms, offering a musket salute and playing Taps.

A descendant of Darling’s, who now lives in Pontiac, Mich., also will attend the service, Downing said.

SHELBY – The state comptroller’s office has issued a report of the town’s fiscal affairs since 2021 and found many accounting discrepancies. The comptroller’s office said there is no evidence of missing funds, but the town is not properly reconciling accounts.

The comptroller found $29,993 in unreconciled differences in 2021 out of a $3,233,773 budget, $31,881 in differences in 2022 out of $3,593,795 budget, and $102,712 in unreconciled difference in 2023 out of a $3,665,533 budget. The comptroller’s office said in a report posted on Friday that it couldn’t do reconciliations in 2024 because of incomplete accounting records.

The comptroller’s office said it has tried to get the town supervisor and bookkeeper to make changes since an audit in December 2021, but six of the seven recommendations have not been implemented, and the other recommendation was only partially followed.

Town Supervisor Scott Wengewicz was faulted for not providing monthly financial reports from the town supervisor, and not providing proper oversight of the bookkeeper’s work, to make sure the bank accounts and accounting records matched. Wengewicz was appointed town supervisor on Dec. 13, 2022. He applied for the position after Jeff Smith stepped down as town supervisor about two months earlier.

Town bookkeeper Miranda Bennett stood before the Town Board at last Tuesday’s meeting and resigned, effective Aug. 28.

She told the Town Board the past five years working for the town have not been easy, and have taken toll on her health and family.

“I’ve chosen to live a happier life away from the constant drama and finger-pointing,” she told the board on Tuesday, three days before the report from the comptroller was made public. “I’ve learned a long time ago that life is too short to deal with constant harassment and name-calling.”

“I step down knowing I’ve made some lifetime connections that I hope to never break and some that I hope to walk away with my head held high.”

Bennett also served as secretary to town supervisor, human resources manager, and IT program manager. Wengewicz would like her to continue in a part-time role as confidential secretary until a replacement can be found. Wengewicz said at the board meeting he foresees it as 20 hours a week at $22 an hour.

The board last week also hired an accounting firm for the remainder of the year, to make sure the town bills are being paid. The board expects to seek proposals from firms to do the work in 2025.

The comptroller’s report posted on Friday urges the town to “take appropriate actions to fullt implement our recommendations.”

Those recommendations from 2021 include:

• Recommendation 1 (not implemented) – Resolve discrepancies in the town’s accounting records. The town supervisor and bookkeeper could not provide a “reasonable explanation for not correcting the discrepancies in the town’s accounting records,” according to the report from Robin L. Lois, the state’s deputy comptroller.

• Recommendation 2 (not implemented) – Complete bank reconciliations. Neither the town supervisor or bookkeeper performed monthly reconciliations between bank accounts and accounting records, the report states.

The comptroller’s office noted that the town supervisor and bookkeeper attributed accounting discrepancies and unreconciled differences to a change in the accounting system. But the comptroller’s office said the issues existed before the change in an accounting system.

“As the Town’s chief financial officer, the Supervisor is responsible for maintaining complete and accurate accounting records,” the comptroller’s report states. “Without complete and accurate records, the Board and Town officials do not have sufficient information to properly manage and monitor Town financial operations.”

The report notes that two accounts that weren’t reconciled resulted in 28 bank overdraft charges at $38 each, collectively totaling $1,064 from Jan. 1, 2023 to May 31, 2024. In a three-day period, from May 24-26, 2023, an account was overdrawn 16 times because the bookkeeper issued 15 of those checks 12 days before the money needed to cover those checks was transferred and available in the bank account. Another check was issued five days prior to money being transferred into the account.

“Had transfers been made prior to or at the time checks were issued, these overdraft fees would not have been incurred,” the report states. “incurring overdraft fees is an unnecessary cost and form of wasteful spending that could be easily avoided by requiring the bookkeeper to monitor cash flow and to make transfers prior to issuing checks.”

• Recommendation 3 (not implemented) – Review records and reports, and monthly bank reconciliations. The town supervisor did not provide a proper review of the bookkeeper’s reports. In 2023, Town Supervisor Scott Wengewicz did not sign off on the monthly reports from the bookkeeper in 11 of 12 months to indicate he reviewed them.

Wengewicz told comptroller staff he relied on the bookkeeper and reviewed the reports with her. In six of the reports, the beginning balance did not agree with the ending balance from the previous month, according to the comptroller’s report.

“However, had the Supervisor completed a proper review, he likely would have identified those discrepancies,” the report said.

The town supervisor also didn’t generate or review any financial reports for fiscal year 2024 and did not ensure that bank reconciliations were completed, the report said.

• Recommendation 4 (not implemented) – Monthly financial reports to the board. The town supervisor hasn’t been providing monthly financial reports to the other Town Board members, detailing all money received and disbursed.

Two Town Board members, Linda Limina and Ed Zelazny, have been opposing paying town bills due to the lack of accurate financial records and reconciliations of all accounts.

• Recommendation 5 (not implemented) – Annual financial reports to the Office of the State Comptroller. The reports for 2021 and 20022 were filled 60 days late, while 2023 was submitted on time but the amounts for all three years were not supported by accounting records, the comptroller’s office stated.

• Recommendation 6 (partially implemented) – Attend trainings. The town supervisor and bookkeeper both attended trainings but they are not properly performing all of their accounting responsibilities, the report stated.

“We encourage the Supervisor and bookkeeper to apply what they learned from training courses into their daily work, and seek out additional training as needed,” the report stated.

• Recommendation 7 (not implemented) – Implement CPA recommendations. A CPA management letter in 2021 recommended a standard policy that ensures that bank reconciliations be performed and be reviewed on a timely basis. Cash accounts should be reconciled on a routine basis to ensure that all transactions are accounted for, according to the CPA letter, which also urged the town to have a preparer and reviewer sign off on the bank reconciliation.

The comptroller’s office said that neither the town supervisor or bookkeeper prepared proper bank reconciliations, and the Town Board did not adopt a policy requiring bank reconciliations be performed and reviewed on a timely basis by designated town employees.

To see the report from the comptroller’s office, click here.

SHELBY – A section of Route 63 reopened to traffic this afternoon following a culvert replacement project.

The road had been closed to motorists since July 1. It was slated to reopen Sept. 1, but the project completion was pushed back to Sept. 13.

The Orleans County Emergency Management Office reported this afternoon the road was fully reopened.

ALABAMA – A section of Route 63 near the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge will remain closed to traffic until Sept. 13, the state Department of Transportation said.

The road was closed to motorists on July 1 and was anticipated to reopen on Sept. 1. But that has been pushed back about two weeks for a federal culvert replacement project.

Motorists are encouraged to follow the posted detour that utilizes State Route 77, Gasport Road and Route 31. Local traffic will be able to access Route 63 up to the immediate work zone. The refuge remains open.