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Democratic Party Committee urges supports for candidates in state, local races
The Orleans County Democratic Committee is proud to announce their endorsements of the following candidates:
- Kathy Hochul – New York State Governor
- Adrienne Adams – Governor
- Tom DiNapoli – State Comptroller
- Letitia James – State Attorney General
- Tom Arida – State Senate
- Sarah Wolcott – State Assembly
- Alissa Ellman – New York 24 Congresswoman
- Anne Joynt – State Supreme Court
- Craig Bucki – State Supreme Court
- Marlene Seielstad – At Large Legislator for Orleans County
- Fred Miller – County Legislator
These candidates have the experience, integrity and practical vision needed to address the key issues affecting our county, state and country. We believe that they are the best people to move us forward.
We encourage everyone to learn more about these candidates and their views.
Please join us in supporting them on November 3rd with your vote.
Sandra Walter
Democratic Committee member
Albion Healthcare Center hosting Children’s Wellness Fair on Sunday
ALBION – Orleans Community Health will host a free Children’s Wellness Fair on Sunday at the Albion Healthcare Center, 14789 Route 31 at Butts Road in Albion. The family-friendly event is open to everyone, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., with no registration required.
Families will have an opportunity to learn more about children’s health, meet local team members and receive practical tips for supporting healthy children. Local organizations will also be on hand to connect families with community programs, services and other helpful resources.
The fair isn’t just about education, according to Scott Robinson, director of Marketing, Communications and Outreach at Orleans Community Health. Children will be able to take part in fun activities, including a Teddy Bear Clinic, activities, drawstring backpacks, free goodies and other resources.
“Supporting healthy children starts with making sure families have the resources they need to achieve the goal,” Robinson said. “This event gives families an opportunity to have fun together while also connecting with healthcare information and local resources that can make a difference throughout the year.”
The Children’s Wellness Fair is part of Orleans Community Health’s continued effort to make health education, preventative care information and community resources more accessible to local families.
For more information, call (585) 589-2273.
Federal policies are hurting rural areas in many ways, driving out people, raising costs for ag
Editor:
Rural communities must fight for themselves.
Since the quality of life has deteriorated since the early ’80s, new and bolder capitalist answers are needed. Not everything is socialist just because some robber baron pays for advertising, or Hub contributor, says it is. Structure, math and competition are quantifiable.
Our farmers are being hurt by the huge costs of diesel and fertilizer. Ending tariffs quickly with Canada – before it signs contracts with its new trade partners – is part of the answer.
Tax breaks to entice companies to relocate to New York are unfair to rural areas. Rural areas can only match the dollar amount rebated by urban areas if they give up a larger proportion of the property tax dollars they collects. Dollar for dollar it costs more.
The cuts to Medicare/Medicaid and forcing rural hospitals, ERs and Well Care Centers to treat more people without insurance. This means spending is in the red. (Some entire states, like New York, are hurt because good health care is a good way to keep people with small kids employed.)
Farm workers need a better way to stay here and work the fields or do the other low paying jobs typically filled by first generation immigrants. Talents we need, we need to attract and keep. (Canada and others have active relocation programs for researchers and university professors.)
In the early ’60s the County and Albion plan for expansion between the tracks and canal. Some communities with foresight have done this. Just because local governments can be clueless those communities should not suffer. New thinking is needed.
Recently a Hub op ed claimed “progressivism” was sneaking into “common man” Democratic politics. As with many polemic political nostrums it was fully backwards.
In fact, there have been 9 “progressive” parties since Teddy Roosevelt; 4 were Republican based and 1 was Democratic based. Historically the term “Progressivism” involved a concern over the socio-economic challenges produced by “Robber Baron” capitalism as defined by selfish elites, political corruption, and the concentration of corporate power. Several of the 9 had their roots in farm, rural, labor, and “common man” issues.
Rural problems are unique. The current Federal Administration is actively hurting rural areas. Bold action is needed to address deceitful “Robber Baron” self interest which is indifferent to what it destroys.
Conrad F. Cropsey
Albion
Vote and oppose the rampant corruption perpetrated by Trump and permissive Republicans
Editor:
In the nearly two years of governance, Republicans have broken trade agreements, threatened our allies, forced through tariffs, gave the wealthy deep tax cuts and created extraordinary corruption, while cutting funds for healthcare, food assistance, education and other benefits for the rest of us.
This midterm election is a referendum on those policies. Representatives Claudia Tenney, Nick Langworthy and Republican candidates running for office are strong supporters of these policies. The direct result of these policies is rising unemployment, a slowing economy, and wages not keeping up with inflation. You feel the effects of their policies every time you fill up at the gas station or buy groceries.
Your health premiums are more costly because Republicans are giving a tax break to the wealthy. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that more people are going hungry in the United States now than during the height of COVID-19. Republicans support these policies and they will vote in this election; just look at all the yard signs supporting them.
Staying home, not voting, in this election will be seen as acquiescing to Republican policies. Policies that are driving up cost for farmers and small businesses, making life more difficult for Western New Yorkers.
Democrats running for office support policies to strengthen our economy, help farmers and small business and support families. Please vote early; if that is not possible make plans to get to the polls to vote. Please vote to end the rampant corruption and support Western New York.
William Fine
Brockport
State announces $1.6 million to help prevent suicide in rural areas, including Orleans
Press Release, New York State Office of Mental Health
The New York State Office of Mental Health today announced a four-year $1.6 million initiative aimed at strengthening community-led prevention and resiliency efforts to address the higher suicide rates experienced in rural areas of Broome, Genesee, Orleans, Wayne, and Yates counties.
The announcement followed a two-day conference on rural suicide prevention that was hosted in Ithaca last week by the Suicide Prevention Center of New York, which is located within OMH.
“Each of the 1,700 New Yorkers who die by suicide annually represents an incalculable loss,” OMH Commissioner Dr. Ann Sullivan said. “They were our family members, colleagues, our friends, and our family members – our loved ones. At OMH, we have an unwavering commitment to reducing the tragedy of suicide by reducing isolation and removing barriers to care, especially in our high-risk rural communities.”
The Rural Outreach, Organizing, Training and Suicide Prevention initiative – also known as “ROOTS-NY” – will build sustainable suicide prevention capacity by strengthening community infrastructure, expanding workforce skills, and fostering coordinated partnerships between healthcare systems, community organizations, and local leaders. The program will rely on existing community resources to create a sustainable, localized prevention system to support counties that are predominantly rural.
Rural communities are often exposed to a host of risk factors for suicide, including economic hardship, unemployment, unstable housing, social isolation, higher prevalence of firearm access, less access to mental healthcare, and more. Between 2022 and 2024, the counties participating in ROOTS-NY had a combined suicide rate of 12.23 per 100,000 population – significantly higher than the statewide rate of 8.77.
Among those over age 20, the rate was 15.35 per 100,000, which is also sharply higher than the statewide rate of 10.85 per 100,000 for that age group. About half of suicide deaths in these counties were by firearm, compared to 29 percent statewide, highlighting the opportunity available to promote lethal means safety as part of the initiative.
“Rural communities have unique strengths, but they also face unique challenges when it comes to suicide prevention. Geographic isolation, limited access to behavioral health services, and other barriers can make it harder for people to get the support they need,” Suicide Prevention Center Director Dr. Jay Carruthers said. “ROOTS-NY is about meeting communities where they are, building on the people, organizations, and resources already working to support their neighbors. By strengthening existing local partnerships and forming new ones, expanding prevention skills, and increasing access to lifesaving support, we can help rural communities build enduring pathways to hope, connection and help.”
The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is also available to connect New Yorkers to trained crisis counselors 24/7, who can help anyone thinking about suicide, struggling with substance use, experiencing a mental health crisis, or any other kind of emotional distress. New Yorkers can call, text or chat 988 if they are worried about someone who may need crisis support.
Medina ladder truck sold for $2.1 million to community in Illinois
Photo from shopgarage.com: Medina’s ladder truck is shown on an online site that sells fire trucks, emergency vehicles and equipment. The site lists the truck as being sold. It was listed on the site on May 19.
MEDINA – The Village of Medina has sold its ladder truck for $2.1 million to the Village of Wilmette, an Illinois community of about 28,000 people near Chicago. Wilmette has a median household income of $190,662.
Medina has a population of 5,855, according to the 2025 population estimates from the Census Bureau. Medina’s median household income is $59,231, just a fraction’s of Wilmette’s.
“They are a wealthy community,” said Medina Mayor Debbie Padoleski. “It’s a beautiful truck. I would have loved to keep it, but it’s more truck than we need and it’s more truck than we can afford.”
Wilmette officials on Monday were in Medina and hand-delivered a check for $2.1 million. They also gave the truck a final inspection. The ladder truck is expected to leave Medina next week and be transported to Wilmette. The ladder truck is currently being kept in the former compost facility on North Gravel Road near Boxwood Cemetery.
With new ladder trucks having a 3- to 5-year wait due to a backlog of orders, Wilmette wanted Medina’s because it was available right away, Padoleski said.
The price for the ladder trucks also has soared since Medina locked in its contract in March 2023. The Albion Joint Fire District on Aug. 14, 2025 voted to buy a new ladder truck at a cost of $2,480,698 from Pierce Manufacturing.
Padoleski is happy the Medina ladder truck is sold and at a nice profit for the village.
“It’s been tough to move forward,” she said about the ladder truck, an issue that the village officials have been wrestling with for several years now.
The village budget for 2026-27 included a $300,000 profit with the sale of the ladder truck.
The sale is about $400,000 more than Medina’s contract with Pierce Manufacturing back in March 2023 when the Medina Village Board voted to pay $1,698,995 for the ladder truck. But with the first interest payment, Medina’s cost is closer to $1.8 million.
The sale at $2.1 million also includes a $100,000 fee to the broker. Padoleski said the village won’t have to make the year one principal payment at $130,000.
The new truck was too big for the existing fire hall and the board at that time expected an addition would be built on the existing fire hall. The truck is about 13 feet high where the fire station bays only have a clearance of 10 feet, 6 inches. But the initial construction estimates put an addition and overhaul of the current station at about $6 million. Just doing a one-bay addition would be about $1.3 million.
A new majority on the Village Board deemed those costs too much for the village taxpayers. They declared the ladder truck as surplus on Feb. 9, about two months after Pierce delivered it. The truck was never put into service.
The fire truck was listed for sale at $2.4 million on May 19 on an online site that sells fire trucks and other emergency vehicles and equipment. The website, shopgarage.com, touted the 2025 quint fire truck with a 100-foot ladder. The truck was promoted as “brand new, never used” with only 1,095 miles.
Padoleski said there was a strong interest in the ladder truck from a community in Texas, from a private business and from nearby Brockport.
Wilmette made the best offer, and followed up with a check.
Padoleski commended Deputy Mayor Scott Bieliski for working with the broker and potential buyers to get a good price for Medina.
The mayor said the Village Board will shift to looking at the future of the fire department and its ambulance service. Bieliski is on the hunt for a smaller used ladder truck that would fit in the existing fire hall.
She said the village needs more buy-in from neighboring towns that receive the ambulance service. Medina is seeking an increase from $35,000 to $135,000 from the towns of Shelby, Ridgeway and Yates. But even at that level, the village taxpayers are paying more than $1 million a year towards its paid fire department.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous to expect the Village of Medina to pay for a service that goes outside the Village of Medina,” she said.
An Orleans County Shared Services Committee is looking at how to best fund and provide EMS and the fire service throughout the county. Padoleski wants to see a plan from that committee that shares the burden around the county.
“With EMS, it needs to be everybody’s problem,” she said. “It can’t just be Medina’s problem.”
Lyndonville downs W-C in G-R volleyball
Lyndonville scored a straight set 25-13, 25-20, 25-8 victory over Wheatland-Chili in a Genesee Region League volleyball match this evening.
For the Lady Tigers, Leah Kenyon had 5 kills and 2 blocks, Hannah Fox 6 kills and 5 aces, Isabella Bresett 2 kills and 1 ace, Destinee Holmes 6 aces and 1 kill, Grace Fox 2 aces, Hannah Pajek 2 aces, Sarah Corser 1 ace and 1 kill and Grace Kenyon 1 kill.
Holley booters edge Lyndonville/Barker
Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Holley’s Chase Kempa works to get the ball past Lyndonville/Barker’s Amir Zimmerman during the Hawks narrow 1-0 win this afternoon at Lyndonville.
Making a lone first half goal stand up, Holley nipped Lyndonville/Barker 1-0 in a Genesee Region League boys soccer game this afternoon at Lyndonville.
Chase Kempa scored the lone goal for the Hawks with 9 minutes remaining in the first half off an assist from Tarek Garrett.
This is the second time this season that the Hawks have edged past Lyndonville/Barker by a narrow 1-0 margin.
Holley is now 8-1-1 in the league and 10-1-1 overall while Lyndonville/Barker is 4-6, 6-7.
In another stormy weather shortened G-R contest Byron-Bergen edged Kendall 1-0.
Michael Alexander looks to pass the ball up field for Lyndonville/Barker as Aiden Kelley defends for Holley.
Roy-Hart repeats as N-O golf champions
Contributed Photos – Roy-Hart locked up a second straight Niagara-Orleans League golf championship with a victory at the All-League tournament today at Willowbrook. Coached by Jake Haight and Judd Heck the Rams lineup includes (not in order) Samantha Fox, Blake Stahl, Jared Hy, Kyle Corser, Judson Heck, Jackson Braun and Easton Kern.
Roy-Hart took top honors at the annual All-League Tournament held today at Willowbrook as the Rams locked up a second straight Niagara-Orleans golf championship.
Roy-Hart posted a title clinching score of 475 as Akron (478), Albion (485), Barker (512) and Medina (520) rounded out the top five teams.
Wilson’s Ben Meyers was the individual champion as he edged out Medina’s Tyler Draper in a three hole playoff after the two had finished tied for first place with identical rounds of 82. Roy-Hart’s Kyle Corser finished third with an 88.
Wilson’s Grace Boyd was the girls division individual champion with a 87.
Boys indivual champion Ben Meyers from Wilson is flanked here by Roy-Hart’s Kyle Corser , left, and Medina’s Tyler Draper.
Girls Individual champion Grace Boyd from Wilson, third from left, is joined by, from left, Akron’s Kendall Murray and Roy-Hart’s Samantha Fox, who tied for third, and Wilson’s Grace Wills who finished second.
Members of the N-O All-League first team are, from left, Drew Pritchard (Albion), Owen Spencer (Albion), Jackson Schlabach (Akron), Blake Stahl (Roy-Hart), Tyler Draper (Medina), Hudson Prynn (Barker) and Ben Meyers (Wilson).
County historian settling into new office
County DPW transformed space adjacent to Subway, giving historian more accessible space for local artifacts
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Catherine Cooper, the Orleans County historian, has a new office at 162 South Main St., a spot adjacent to Subway and next to the County Treasurer’s Office.
The county Department of Public Works transformed 2,000 square feet of space, putting in new drywall, a ceiling, electric and a floor.
“They did a huge amount of work,” Cooper said, commending the DPW staff for its work in the office and also relocating local artifacts and files from the top floor of Central Hall.
The County Legislature on Dec. 3 agreed to a lease with Nomax Albion, LLC, which is owned by Noah Michaels. He reached out to the county about using the 2,000 square feet for free if the county agreed to plow the lot for the plaza.
The county already was plowing part of it for the treasurer’s office. The county had to renovate the space and will be responsible for utilities.
Central Hall at 34 East Park St., which used to house the historian’s office and treasurer’s office, now is up for sale and listed for $229,000.
Catherine Cooper said her new space is more ground level and all on one floor. It is more accessible to the public. The previous site had stairs to climb and people often parked in a lot behind the building.
Cooper said the new space is more open, and isn’t in several smaller rooms. The 16 shelving units were purchased from Lee-Whedon Memorial Library, which sold the shelves as part of a renovation and addition project. Cooper worked at Lee-Whedon in Medina for 33 years, including 10 years as director before becoming county historian six years ago.
Cooper has office hours on Monday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. People are welcome to stop by and see her or by making an appointment. The office number is 585-589-4174.
Catherine Cooper is shown after the entrance to her new setup. The World War II uniform is from Dr. John Roche, who was an Army medic. The uniform is on loan from the Medina Historical Society. The poster celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty in 1986.
It has been an extra busy two years for Cooper with the bicentennial celebration of Orleans County in 2025, and the 250thanniversary of the United States this year. She has helped plan many of the events the past two years, in addition to her regular duties as historian.
Those big milestone years are part of a very eventful tenure so far as historian. Her office already has moved twice in that time with the first move from the basement of Central Hall to the top floor.
Cooper looks forward to things being a little less hectic for the historian and Department of History.
“It’s been a lot of extra excitement that has brought a lot of focus to the department,” Cooper said about the big anniversary celebrations the past two years. “It has made it more challenging and interesting. But what I find the most interesting is going through the collection and sorting, trying to organize it in a fashion that is coherent and can be used by people going forward.”
She is eager to go through and organize more of the files and artifacts.
“I’m looking forward to having time to work on the collection more,” Cooper said. “The filing cabinets I’d like to get revamped. That takes time.”
