Pawlak is named Head Women’s Basketball Coach at Villa Maria College

Contributed Story Posted 22 August 2026 at 9:33 am

Contributed Photo – Joe Pawlak

Villa Maria College Press Release
Former Roy-Hart Coach Joseph Pawlak has been named the new Villa Maria College Head Women’s Basketball Coach, announced Villa Maria Athletic Director Chris Heximer.

“Coach Pawlak brings extensive experience coaching high school and college basketball with both women’s and men’s teams,” Heximer said.

“Further, he has been active in coaching travel basketball and has helped host numerous basketball camps in the WNY area over the years. Coach Pawlak is eager to share his core values, develop student-athletes, and promote their academic success. Please join me in welcoming him to Villa Maria College.”

Pawlak has nearly two decades of basketball coaching experience with both men’s and women’s teams. He spent six seasons at Medaille University in various roles, including Head JV Coach, Assistant Varsity Coach, Director of Operations, and Team Manager. In that role, he received the Men’s Basketball Team’s First Award for managerial excellence. During his final season at Medaille, Pawlak served as both Men’s Varsity Basketball Assistant Coach and Men’s JV Basketball Head Coach while completing his Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership.

“I want to thank Villa Maria College for this incredible opportunity. My family and I are very blessed to join the Villa Maria community. This is a dream come true; God has a plan. We look forward to connecting with the college community and getting to work. Go Vikings! Quiet, unassuming, talented, and tough,” said Pawlak.

Pawlak comes to Villa after spending last season at Oakfield-Alabama High School as the Women’s Varsity Basketball Team’s Assistant, helping the Hornets win the 2026 Genesee Region League Championship.

Prior to Oakfield-Alabama, Pawlak served as the Men’s Varsity Basketball Head Coach at the Royalton-Hartland Central School District, earning numerous accolades, including the Niagara-Orleans League Championship, Section Champion Runner-Up, and the Niagara-Orleans Basketball Coaches Association of New York (BCANY) Coach of the Year.

Pawlak has served as a basketball instructor at numerous camps and clinics at collegiate venues, including Niagara University, Daemen University, Canisius University, Medaille University, and Buffalo State University.

In addition to BCANY, Pawlak is affiliated with the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the National High School Basketball Coaches Association (NHSBCA), and is licensed by USA Basketball (USAB) as a Gold-level Coach.

Pawlak and his wife, Gabriella, live in Medina with their three children, Michael, Julian, and Noah.

4 artists showcased at new Marti’s show in Albion

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 August 2026 at 9:05 am

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The Marti’s on Main art gallery in Albion held a reception on Friday for a new art show featuring Jan Kisiel, Jenna Papponetti, Paul Facklam and Sharon Stewart. The top photo shows Harriet Symons, 10, taking a photo of paintings by her grandmother, Sharon Stewart of Albion.

Sharon Stewart is shown with some of her acrylic landscape paintings. Some of them are from trips she went on to Italy and Greece.

Stewart is a retired math professor from a community college in Kentucky. She and her husband Brian moved to Albion to be close to their daughters and their families, including six grandchildren.

Stewart, 79, was an art minor at Houghton College. She has 21 paintings featured in the new show at Marti’s, which is located at 20 South Main St.

Jenna Papponetti, 26, of Albion has seven charcoal landscape drawings on display featuring the Erie Canal. Papponetti also has written and illustrated three books. For more information on her books and artwork, click here.

Paul Facklam is recently retired as an art teacher at Roy-Hart, working in the elementary, middle and high schools. Before his 27-year teaching career, Facklam worked 20 years as an illustrator.

He has paintings with marshmallows, which he said represent “that soft, sensitive part out us.”

The paintings by Facklam shows marshmallows with fishing lures, billiard balls, and a hammer and nails.

“The hammer and nails represent the difficult or painful things that happen to us,” he said. “The fishing lures symbolize the things that we can be drawn to that are not particularly healthy for us.”

Jan Kisiel, a retired event planner who lives in Holley, has 12 pieces in the art show. She uses egg tempera painting, mixing dry pigment, egg yolk and some water.

The top painting shows a lamb sticking out its tongue. It was inspired from the ‘Good Shepherd” stained-glass window at the Canalside Community Church in Albion, a former United Methodist church. That window shows Jesus as a shepherd with lambs. In the window, one of the lambs is sticking out its tongue.

Kisiel said being an artist and an event planner are similar in that both need a strong attention to details.

For information on Marti’s, click here or call 585-590-9211.

Candidate for county legislator welcomes chance to meet with residents

Posted 22 August 2026 at 8:07 am

Editor:

Let me introduce myself. My name is Marlene Seielstad and I am running for Orleans County Legislator at Large. I am asking for your vote this election day, November 3rd.

That in itself doesn’t tell you much about me. The reality is I would really like us to get to know each other. I would like you to follow me at facebook.com/Marleneforcountylegislator. I would like for you to check out my website Marlene4Orleans.com but most of all I want to meet you!!

I have two Meet N Greets scheduled for this week. One is today the 22nd from 3 to 5 p.m. at Medina Lanes and the second is Thursday the 27th from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Hoag Library. Stop in for 2 minutes or 2 hours, the choice is yours. 2026 is filled with choices come learn about one of them!

Regards,

Marlene Seielstad

Carlton

Republicans further their cruelty by raising costs, cutting access to SNAP

Posted 22 August 2026 at 7:56 am

Editor:

On Oct. 1st, 2026, every county in New York will face a steep increase in the administration of SNAP benefits, according to New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC).

The increase is the direct result of the One Big Beautiful Bill passed by Congresswoman Claudia Tenney, Congressman Nick Langworthy, and the Republicans in Congress. This legislation reduces federal subsidies for SNAP benefits. Monroe County, for example, will need to increase its program costs by more than $3 million; Niagara County by more than $1.5 million; Livingston and Orleans by more than $300,000 and $200,000, respectively.

In addition to the cost of the program, counties will be required to increase monitoring and documentation of SNAP recipients. As NYSAC explains: “Counties are being asked to monitor more people, explain more rules, process more documentation, and preserve program integrity with less federal support.”

Republicans justify this increase in county cost and the suffering of their constituents by claiming they are stopping waste, fraud, and abuse of the system. However, the data they are using does not measure waste, fraud, or abuse. They are using Payment Error Rate Measurement (PERM), which measures improper payments, and most of these are shown to be paperwork mistakes.

Having two jobs or variable hours or shifts with different pay schedules greatly increases filing errors. As NYSAC reports: “Many errors stem from wages, salaries, and missing reports. Those issues often reflect changing jobs, changing hours, delayed paperwork, inconsistent schedules, and difficulty documenting income in a timely way.”

However, Congresswoman Claudia Tenney cited PERM data in a letter to Governor Kathy Hochul “urging her administration to cooperate with the federal government to reduce Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payment errors, combat waste, fraud and abuse and protect New York taxpayers from unnecessary costs.”

Even the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recognizes that PERM does not identify fraud. Ms. Tenney and Mr. Langworthy are intentionally and knowingly misusing data to further Republican cruelty. And the cruelty is obvious.

The need for food assistance has not changed, especially with the rising cost of food and fuel. The bureaucratic changes will only restrict access, making food insecurity more of a problem, not less. Because of Ms. Tenney and Mr. Langworthy, counties will be forced to increase taxes, cut services, or both. The cruelty is in the Republican plan.

William Fine

Brockport

Holley man killed after colliding with farm tractor on Route 19 in Clarkson

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 August 2026 at 7:39 am

CLARKSON – A Holley man died on Thursday morning after an accident with a farm tractor on Route 19 in Clarkson.

Daniel Kernan, 60, of Holley collided with a tractor just before 6 a.m. on Lake Road in Clarkson. Kernan was driving a SUV.

Kernan was headed northbound near Lawton Road when he collided with a tractor towing a set of 17-foot discs, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office reported.

Karnan was pronounced dead at the scene. The tractor driver wasn’t injured or impaired, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Green makes the cut at the Canadian Open

By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 21 August 2026 at 8:53 pm

Contributed Photo – Melanie Green

Surviving a roller-coaster second round today, Medina’s Melanie Green has made the cut at the LPGA’s Canadian Open being held at Edmonton, Alberta.

The wild ride, which included five birdies and four bogies, earned Green her second straight 1 under par round of 69.

That two day total of 2 under 138 was enough for her to advance to the weekend as the cutline was even par.

Starting on the back 9, Green had a bogey on 11 but rebounded strongly with birdies on 12, 14 and 15 to go to 2 under for the day and 3 under for the tournament.

However, the front nine proved to be a bit more troublesome.

Green had bogeys on both 3 and 4 to slip back to even for the day and 1 under for the tournament.

Again though she rebounded strongly with birdies on both 6 and 8 to go back up to 2 under for the day and 3 under for the tourney.

Unfortunately, the roller-coaster round had once more costly dip as a bogey on the final hole ended her day at 1 under and put her 2 under for the tournament.

The tourney will continue on Saturday and conclude on Sunday.

Hawley leading 3 town hall meetings Saturday in western Monroe

Posted 21 August 2026 at 2:40 pm

Press Release, Assemblyman Steve Hawley

BROCKPORT – Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C-Batavia) will host a series of town hall meetings in the Village of Brockport & Town of Sweden, Clarkson and Hamlin on Saturday, Aug. 22.

The meetings provide residents with an opportunity to hear updates on state and local issues, ask questions and share concerns directly with their state representative. All members of the community are welcome to attend.

Village of Brockport and Town of Sweden from 10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. at Sweden Town Hall, 18 State St., Brockport, NY 14420
Town of Clarkson from 11 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. at Clarkson Town Hall, 3710 Lake Rd. N., Clarkson, NY 14430
Town of Hamlin from noon to 12:45 p.m. at Hamlin Town Hall, 1658 Lake Rd. N., Hamlin, NY 14464

Holley welcomes participants for alumni soccer and flag football games

Posted 21 August 2026 at 2:28 pm

Press Release, Holley Central School

HOLLEY – The Holley school district will host Homecoming Weekend on Oct. 2-3, and registration is now open until Sept. 8 for the annual Alumni Soccer and Alumni Football games.

The games are open to all Holley alumni who graduated from the district on or before 2023. Participants do not need to have played the sport while attending Holley to take part.

The Alumni Soccer Game will be held on Friday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. at Sander Soccer Field at The Woodlands. To register to play in the game, complete the registration form: Holley Alumni Soccer Game Registration.

Alumni cheerleaders are also invited to participate during the soccer game. To register to cheer for the game, complete the registration form: Holley Alumni Soccer Game – Cheerleading Registration.

The Alumni Flag Football Game will take place on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 4:30 p.m. at Hawk Stadium. To register to play in the game, complete the registration form: Holley Alumni Football Game Registration.

The Alumni Soccer Game will benefit the Interact Club and the Eighth Grade Washington, D.C., Trip Scholarship Fund. The Alumni Football Game will benefit the Holley JV/Varsity Wrestling teams.

Man pleads guilty to larceny at self-storage building in Clarendon

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 August 2026 at 9:30 am

ALBION – A man pleaded guilty for his role as one of three co-defendants in a series of burglaries at Brockport-Clarendon Self-Storage at 4510 Hall Rd. in Clarendon.

Antonio Suarez, 38, admitted in Orleans County Court on Wednesday that he entered Unit 7 at the self-storage on Jan. 3 to steal property. He acknowledged he was committing the crime with the two other defendants, Erin Starkweather and Phillip Martinez.

Suarez pleaded guilty burglary in the third degree. As part of a plea agreement, he faces a maximum of 1 1/3 to 4 years in state prison when he is sentenced on Nov. 18. Without a plea agreement, the charge would carry a sentence of 2 1/3 to 7 years in prison.

Suarez and the codefendants need to repay restitution of $11,178 to cover the costs of damages and for items not recovered.

In other cases in court on Wednesday,

• Michael Savage, 38, of Murray was sentenced to three years of probation for endangering the welfare of a child. He also will pay $750 in court fees and fines.

Savage faced more serious charges of course of conduct against a child, two counts of sexual abuse in the first degree, and forcible touching. The crimes allegedly occurred between 2020 and March 2025, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

The victim’s father said the crimes left his daughter suicidal and traumatized.

Frederick Rarick, Savage’s attorney, said the sexual abuse allegations were never brought up when the victim was interviewed by teachers, a therapist and physician.

“Cases like this are very difficult to defend,” Rarick said.

Judge Sanford Church issued an order of protection for five years for the victim in the case.

• Madison Desso of Lockport pleaded guilty to felony DWI on March 30 while in Murray. He faces a split sentence of six months in jail and five years on probation when he is sentenced on Nov. 18. He has a prior charge of driving while under the influence of alcohol in Syracuse in 2016.

• James Kaiser, 51, an inmate at the Orleans Correctional Facility, was arraigned on three counts of promoting prison contraband in the first degree and two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree.

Kaiser on Nov. 22 is accused of knowingly introducing dangerous contraband into the men’s prison in Albion. He allegedly had the precursors to make methamphetamine and also allegedly possessed 5.25 grams of meth.

Kaiser is currently at Orleans Correctional Facility, serving a sentence of 3 years, 6 months for attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree.

Lyndonville youth football opener Saturday

By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 21 August 2026 at 9:05 am

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Lyndonville’s youth football teams will open the Tri County Football League season on Saturday by hosting Pembroke with games at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. The other opener in the new four team league will have Attica at Akron. Here Lyndonville players run through a play at a recent practice.

Albion Rotary golf tournament raises $5K for Office for the Aging

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 August 2026 at 8:47 am

Photos courtesy of Marlene Seielstad

ALBION – The Albion Rotary Club on Thursday presented a ceremonial check for $5,000 to the Office for the Aging in Orleans County. Rotary held its annual golf tournament last month at Shelridge Country Club in Medina and most of the proceeds will go towards the OFA’s volunteer transportation program, which provides rides for local senior citizens to medical appointments and essential errands.

Pictured from left include tournament committee leader Cindy Perry-Follman, OFA director Melissa Blanar, OFA employee and golf tournament committee member Becky Karls, and OFA employees Jackie Taylor and Kathleen Bates.

For information about senior rides and volunteer driving, contact the Office for the Aging at (585) 589-3191

Kathleen Bates also was honored and welcomed as a “Friend of Rotary.” Bates has volunteered at many Rotary community events, including the golf tournament, dinners and by selling light-up toys at Albion’s July 3^rd celebration at Bullard Park.

She was presented with the honor by Becky Karls and Rotary President Mike Bonnewell, left.

The Rotary Club meets the first and third Thursdays at Tavern on the Ridge with the first meeting at noon and the second meeting at dinner time.

Joanne Suhr first woman in nearly 70 years to lead Lyndonville BOE

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 August 2026 at 7:54 am

Photos by Tom Rivers: Joanne Suhr leads the Lyndonville Board of Education meeting on Tuesday.

LYNDONVILLE – When Joanne Suhr was elected to serve as president of the Lyndonville Board of Education last month, school officials thought she might be making history as the first woman to serve in the role.

After digging deep in district history, it turns out Suhr is the second woman to serve as board president. Elaine Wilson was the first back in 1958-’59.

Suhr was elected by the other board members on July 14 to serve as board president this school year. She joined the board about a year ago. She was elected as a board member on May 20, 2025.

Suhr retired in June 2022 after working 30 years as an elementary school teacher. Her final year she was honored as the district’s “Educator of the Year” when she was a third grade teacher who specialized in teaching math.

She also has served on the Town of Yates Planning Board and the Town of Yates Bicentennial Committee.

During this past Tuesday’s meeting, she said the district is getting ready for the new school year, with contractors working long hours on a capital project. Some of that construction work will extend into the school year with crews working after the school day is over, Suhr said.

Some of the work includes new ADA-compliant bathrooms, new HVAC and air conditioning, and new windows for the upstairs of the schools.

Suhr succeeds Patrick Whipple as the board president.

Joanne Suhr leads the meeting on Tuesday in the school cafeteria. Next to her are Dr. Heather Lyon, the district superintendent at left, and Tanya Marek, administrative assistant to the superintendent at right.

Solid start for Green at Canadian Open

By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 20 August 2026 at 7:44 pm

Photo via The Golf Channel – Getting off to a solid start, Medina’s Melanie Green fired a 1 under par 69 at today’s opening round of the LPGA’s Canadian Open being played in Edmonton, Alberta. She is shown here on TV after making a birdie putt on 15. Green had a birdie on 5 to go 1 under, a bogey on 10 to go back to even and then a birdie on 15 to finish the day at 1 under. The tournament will continue on Friday after which the field will be cut for the championship deciding rounds on Saturday and Sunday.