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Editor:

As I woke this morning and checked my phone, I was greeted with the sad news that a resident of our village lost his life in a horrific house fire overnight. As I kept reading, I further learned that two more heroes of our state made the ultimate sacrifice in Syracuse.

First and foremost, on behalf of the Village of Albion Police Department, we offer our condolences to the family, friends and neighbors of the gentleman that tragically lost his life this morning. I know our officers, our Fire Department personnel, our dispatchers and all first responders in our county were ready and willing to put their lives on the line to save his life.

To the family, I know that no amount of sympathy will fill the void, but we are sorry for your loss. We are sorry we couldn’t save him. Know that we all stand here ready to help, ready to talk and ready to listen if you ever need anything. Do not hesitate to ask.

What I would like to say next, I say to all those willing to listen.

Who will you call when there is nobody left to answer?

One month ago we said goodbye to a hero, Sgt. Sanfratello of the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office. Now a month later, we must lay to rest two more heroes of the Syracuse Police Department and Onondaga Sheriff’s Office. That is three families forever changed, forever broken.

For those out there that say, “You knew the risks” or “That’s your job,” we know. And for those of us that are left, we will continue to fight. We will continue to roll out of bed, kiss our families goodbye, and do our best to serve and protect, knowing that it may be the last time we ever get to. We will continue to sacrifice our weekends; we will continue to lose our holidays; we will continue to miss our children grow. We will do all of this, day in and day out, until we no longer can.

But I say this, not as a threat nor a dire warning, but rather as a harsh reality of the world we live in. Police recruitment is at an all-time low. Police retention is at an all-time low. Departments all over our area, our state and our great nation are understaffed and struggling to keep up with crime. And those of us that are left, we are tired. We are so tired. We are ridiculed by the media, we are claimed to be “overpaid” by those in charge. We are vilified because of the actions of one bad cop. We are condemned, cussed at, spit on, attacked and murdered.

But we continue to fight. We continue to serve and protect, whether we are supported or not. Because “we know the risk,” and we do not care. But eventually we will be gone. And I don’t know if there will be anyone left to take our place and pick up that shield. So again I ask, Who will you call when there is nobody left to answer?

“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” – Matthew 5:9

Daniel J. Baase

Police Officer

Albion Police Department

Editor:

In this little town of Albion, there’s a champion. My mother raised me while fighting rheumatoid arthritis. It crippled her hands and her feet. There were many days growing up I would wake up to her screaming in agony from being in pain from it. She would take Tylenol and Ibuprofen to barely take the pain away before going off to work.

Later on she discovered a small lump that would ended up being early stages of breast cancer. She fought and went through radiation and was cancer-free in the early 2000s. That same cancer returned with a vengeance when she was diagnosed stage 3 in 2019.

She fought that battle undergoing a partial mastectomy in early 2020 before the pandemic, while also undergoing chemotherapy, radiation and chemo pills. She finished radiation the summer of 2020 and was declared cancer-free again in 2021. She had told me by the time of her partial mastectomy the cancer was slowing progressing into stage 4.

I tell her almost every day to be proud of the warrior she is and the fact for not just being a two-time cancer survivor is that she gets out on her three-wheeled bike and rides all over town. She goes from her home here on Butts Road at her age of 72 after dealing with cancer and fighting crippling arthritis that has severely affected both her hands and her feet. If anyone has seen her around town riding she is the little lady that rides the red and white three-wheeled bike with the basket on the back with the dark-colored helmet.

The end of this little story is that same warrior that is my mother is currently in the hospital at her age fighting a battle with sepsis and some other serious issues. She has been in United Memorial Medical Center in Batavia to being transferred to Rochester General. She needs all the thoughts and prayers she can get it so she can come home to a family that misses her including a 5-year-old little boy that misses his grandma.

She’s got a heart of an eagle, that always finds a way to survive.

Aaron Vosburgh

Albion

Editor:

Orleans County residents, your complacency has and will affect your wallets and mine.

I have been to County Legislature meetings and, God as my witness, said I am over-taxed. I put on record that I don’t agree with the purposed District Court, which I believe will raise taxes eventually.

I have been to my Town Board meetings and my town workshop meetings and expressed my desire for law & order and Conservative spending. I at least read my Village of Lyndonville meeting minutes and Orleans County minutes. Where are my neighbors?

Where are those that tell me they feel the same as me? In November 2023 was a chance to make a change in the Legislature and none was made, no change of the Town of Yates Board neither. Voter turnout  was low.

March 19, 2024 there were village elections and voter turn-out was again low and no change. You must judge your employees better. If they do things that you disagree with, vote them out of office.

It bothers me that I read and hear, “Well that does it. I moving out here.” I was raised that to the coward there is no glory or remembrance. Let us band together and demand lower taxes.

Let us make term limits if not by law then by the ballot box.

I am working on something that I will hold secret for now. Know this, fraud spoils everything. The truth always comes out. You can always tell a man or a woman’s character by their actions. Words are meaningless.

Join me at county meetings. Join me at town meetings. Join me at the polling station. Check every box for a candidate, if you don’t like one of them write in someone who shares your thoughts. Let your voice be heard.

June 25 is Primary voting. Don’t like the candidates, talk to other voters and pick someone who shares your values. Don’t keep voting for the same people, that is insanity. Obviously, they don’t care.

November 5 is the day for federal elections. Setting a time and date for grievances then not giving you a chance for grievances is unconstitutional. Public servants work for you.

First Amendment is the right to petition and state your grievances and demand redress of those grievances. We can also demand a grand jury to investigate suspected misconduct by public servants.

Join me, let us work together to fix our local governments and make Orleans County, NY great for families and businesses.

Steve Colòn

Lyndonville