Editor:

Frank Buckles. Died February 27^th, 2011.

He was the last American veteran of The Great War. World War One. The War to end all wars.

We know that was wishful thinking – Just a short 20 years later, the world would be mired in a conflict that would make the Great War seem like a sandbox scuffle at school.

Best estimates put the total number of deaths – civilian and military – between 30 to 40 million! As a child, my dad told me of a neighbor, at the start of the US involvement in World War II, five Blue Stars hung in the window. By war’s end, five Gold Stars had replaced the Blue.  In all over 16 million Americans volunteered or were drafted (for the duration of the

war + 5 years).

This weekend and holiday, as you sit down to your cookouts, or cramming stores for the best sales of the start of summer, I ask you to consider: By best estimates, there are now only 500,000 veterans of World War II left in the US.

The youngest of those are in their 90s. They are dying at a rate of 1,000/day – not counting the toll the pandemic is taking on them. Which at this rate, by Veterans’ Day 2022 the “Greatest Generation” who “Saved the World” will no longer be with us.

I ask each person who reads this to take a moment and walk through the Gardens of Stones, read the names, look up their battles, and truly be grateful for all that we have today. Is our world perfect? No. Not by a long shot. But it is much better than it could have been. And we owe that to those resting in Honored Peace.

I realize that Memorial Day is for the Fallen. (For veterans, every day IS Memorial Day). Veterans’ Day is for the living.

If you happen to be lucky enough to still have members of the Greatest Generation still with you, please spend time with them! Talk to them, learn from them! Too soon they will just be another reason why it is called Memorial Day and you will have missed out on learning from those who were there.

Respectfully,

Steve Goodrich

Commander of Houseman-Tanner Post 1603

Lyndonville

Editor:

Republicans oppose a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection and attempted overthrow of our government. Even after granting everything Republicans asked for in the negotiations for the committee, they voted against it. (This is the same tactic used during the Obama era; negotiate over long time and when they get their demands met, they still oppose it.)

Republicans are again demonstrating their unwillingness learn facts to legislate and govern effectively. Instead of finding facts Republicans want to cling to myths and scapegoating, blaming others for problems.

Obviously this now includes national security matters. This is not the first time Republicans have rejected national security concerns for perceived political gains. When Senators Ron Johnson and Chuck Grassley were informed that their committees were spreading Russian propaganda that Hunter Biden was involved in some kind of shady Ukraine deal, they did not care.

Even after investigating with full subpoena power for seven months, there was no subpoena looking into underlying financial records or to substantiate their allegations. Instead of finding facts, all they wanted to do was spread aspersions of their political opponents, even if those aspersions are Russian propaganda, which they were.

Despite the threats against legislators, including Republicans on Jan. 6th, finding facts about the insurrection is too much for Republicans. However, for our government to work we need to have facts and accountability of those responsible for misdeeds.

We need a commission to study the causes and find solutions for the problems that put our democracy in peril. Thank you.

William Fine

Brockport

Editor:

After reading the many comments posted on the State’s DMM site regarding the proposed wind project in the Town of Barre, it occurs to me that what we have here is an experiment: We have a new approval process (Section 94-c); we have a project using larger machines than have ever been used in a densely populated rural part of the United States (680 ft. tall); and the wind resource is far from ideal.

All the experts, on both sides, are of necessity basing their opinions on extrapolations of past experience with different conditions. So we don’t really know whether people’s health or property values will suffer, or whether the project will actually produce the amount of electricity promised.

If the state is going to use the people of Barre as subjects in this experiment, it should also provide some measure of protection for them in case the promises and assurances made to them by the state and the developer turn out to be false.

A fund should be established to pay claims from those injured by the project during its construction and after it is operational. The corporations benefiting from the project should finance this fund.

Baseline property appraisals and health assessments should be conducted at project approval, and changes monitored throughout the process. The amount of electrical energy both generated and consumed by the project should be monitored and made public regularly, to see if the project lives up to the claims that justified its public support.

This is really the only way to be fair to the people whose lives will be disrupted by this project. Complaint resolution procedures have often proved to be inadequate, leaving people to spend their life savings on lawsuits where they are often outmatched by corporations with far greater financial resources.

At the same time, knowing that there may be real repercussions for building a project that is causing demonstrated harm, all wind developers working in New York State will be encouraged to be on their best behavior.  Why do we care about this?  Well, if the state is to meet the ambitious goals it has set for renewable energy production, it will eventually have to construct similar wind developments throughout the state, even around Cooperstown, or in the Hudson Valley, or out on Long Island.

If the Barre experiment fails, public pressure against future projects may spell the death of on-land wind development in the State of New York.

Andrea Rebeck

Barre

Editor:

Much is being reported concerning the crisis on the Southern border. We hear many different accounts of the atrocities being committed against those making the journey from the Northern Triangle of Central America.

There are some who say it isn’t a crisis, just a temporary inconvenience. According to CBP (Customs and Border Protection) and HHS (The Dept. of Health and Human Services) 172,000 migrants were encountered in March, including 19,000 unaccompanied minors. This is up from February with 101,028 migrants which included 9,431 minors. CBP and HHS are predicting that anywhere from 22,000 to 26,000 unaccompanied minors will arrive monthly from now until September.

To address this “crisis” $47.5 billion was set aside from the $1.9 trillion CARES Act. HHS has discretionary authority to use these funds where needed. To date HHS is spending roughly $60 million a week to house the unaccompanied minors. Ten emergency facilities were set up after HHS filled its 7,700-bed facility. At this writing there were eight facilities in Texas housing at least 16,000 and two sites recently opened in California to house 2,500 migrant teens and children.

Mexican officials reported that in the first three months of 2021, 660 Mexican national minor children were returned to Mexico to be reunited with family. Since the first of the year 50 migrants who drowned trying to cross the Rio Grande were recovered. Untold numbers have suffered and died making the journey through Cartel and gang controlled territories.

The videos are heart wrenching of the young boy crying because he was abandoned near the border, the two little girls, 3 and 5 years old, dropped over a 30-foot fence by smugglers and the five little girls, 1 to 6 years old, abandoned in the desert, saved by the grace of God and the rancher and his wife who live along the border, while Border Patrol Agents monitoring the wall rescued the boy and two little girls.

In California the SUV packed with 25 migrants broad sided by a semi leaving 13 dead including children. Recently the California based Coast Guard and first responders rescued migrants after the smugglers boat capsized in rough waters, several hospitalized and three drowned.

How much longer and at what cost do we continue to ignore these tragedies on our Southern borders?

Rochelle Moroz

Holley

Editor:

I am writing to encourage voters to write in Ann Bunch as a candidate for the Medina Board of Education.

Dr. Bunch has served on the Board for almost nine years. She was instrumental in preventing a proposed tax increase to the upcoming budget. She polled members of the community for their views on a tax increase and found that residents were opposed.

Considering that state and federal revenue coming in will exceed $6 million, education for students will not be impacted. She was sensitive to the financial hardships so many have suffered due to Covid, and she realized that it was not in the best interest of the community to raise taxes while alternative sources of revenue are available.

I believe Ann Bunch is a valuable asset to the village and to the Board of Education. Please consider writing in her name next Tuesday for the Board of Education.

Cynthia Servé

Medina

Editor:

I’m writing in support of write-in candidates Jennifer Buondonno and Debbie Tompkins for Medina School Board of Education.

Debbie has served all of the children in our district for several years on our PTSA. Jennifer has served our community as a member on our Audit and Finance committee.

Both of these women have a genuine interest in providing a solid education for our students, while both also have a keen awareness of the cost to provide that education. I’ve been on the board for 11 years and I would be proud to serve with either of them.

Please write in their names at the bottom of your ballot on May 18th in the Medina District Office from noon until 8 p.m.

Wendi Pencille

Medina

Editor:

Congressman Chris Jacobs is quick to blame The American Rescue Plan and pandemic stimulus payments for disincentivizing workers, without evidence. It is true that there are about 9.7 million Americans actively looking for work, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and businesses, especially in the service sector face an inability to hire workers.

The cause, however, is unclear. The evidence for blaming The American Rescue Plan is only anecdotal. In fact, there are several studies looking at the $600 of unemployment insurance paid out last year that dispute the Republicans’ claim. One study by Joseph Altonji et. al. at Yale University reported: “The findings suggest that, in the aggregate, the expanded benefits neither encouraged layoffs during the pandemic’s onset nor deterred people from returning to work once businesses began reopening.”

Another study by the Federal Reserve of San Francisco reported: “The findings in this Letter suggest that the $600 UI, (unemployment insurance), benefit supplement in the CARES Act had little or no effect on the willingness of unemployed people to search for work or accept job offers.”

Recent studies point to other reasons people are not looking for work. Aaron Sojourner, a University of Minnesota economist found a correspondent between people worrying about the virus and seeking jobs. “The first-order issue is the virus, and if that’s what caused the crisis, then it is also the path out of the crisis,” said Professor Sojourner.

No one wants to get a deadly virus slinging burgers. While government should get everyone back to work, it should not force employees to work with the general public when those in the general public feel it is their right to put the health of those employees at risk. (Refusing to wear a face mask or get a vaccination maybe your right but your deadly germs stop at my nose and thus you have no right to be in public).

Another possible reason why people may not be seeking employment is family care concerns. The Census Household Pulse survey showed that in late March about 14 percent of adults were not looking for work because they had to take care of a child not in school or an older person.

Further studies are needed to substantiate the cause of unemployment while businesses are looking for workers. What is clear is using anecdotal evidence is the knee jerk, lazy reaction of Republicans more interested in grabbing headlines and soundbites than solving problems.

William Fine

Brockport

Editor:

The Orleans County Legislature would like to thank the Police Reform Committee volunteer members: Trellis Pore, James White, Margarita Aldaco, Eddie English and Thaddeus Nauden.

Each community member that served gave concerns and input from our community members pursuant to requirement of Executive Order 203: New York State Police Reform and Reinvention collaborative. This committee met for two months, holding five in-person meetings and two meetings via Zoom to gather input from the public.

The members offered the knowledge, experience and professional judgement, combined with data, analysis and research to develop our Sheriff’s Office policing strategies, policies and procedures to accomplish compliance for the New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative.

Each volunteer offered knowledge through each of their various community and/or professional knowledge. Trellis Pore handled the use of force which is governed by New York State Penal Law Article 35; as he is certified use of force and training instructor with NYSDOCS. Mr. Pore also gave insight on corrections programs, discrimination, anti-bias policies, trainings, community-based outreach and conflict resolution. As a reverend he also has great insight of community issues.

As a member of the Marine Patrol Division, James White provided skills through de-escalation training with Law Enforcement Academy Trainings, curriculum content, deployments, policies & procedures.

Margarita Aldaco contributed restorative justice through her advocating for victims as a program administrator of the PathStone Domestic Violence Program. She also provides Spanish interpretation, works with community-based outreach and conflict resolution.

Thaddeus Nauden supplied awareness on how to handle discrimination through his community-based outreach and conflict resolution skills, anti-bias policies. Mr. Nauden is a Vietnam veteran and represented the senior citizens of the county.

Eddie English contributed input on discrimination as a participant of community-based outreach and conflict resolution, anti-bias policies. Mr. English is also a Pastor of the Lord’s House.

As participants each of these individuals proved to be a great asset and was very helpful in the discovery of community needs during this process keeping the committee’s goals on track and moving forward.

We want to thank the wonderful Advisory committee members for their vital insights, perspectives and leadership in creating a plan that is the beginning of reform and reinvention, not the end.

Lynne M. Johnson, Chairman of the Legislature

Chris Bourke, Orleans County Sheriff

Editor:

There are two excellent candidates running for the Medina School Board as write-in candidates: Jennifer (Palone) Buondonno and Debbie Tompkins.

Jennifer is married to John Buondonno, was born and raised in Medina and has two children in the district. She is employed at Tompkins Bank of Castile, and is involved in many local organizations, such as Medina Mustang Band Boosters and the 2020 Leadership Orleans. This past year she was a community representative on the Audit/Finance Committee for the Medina Board of Education. I am certain that she would bring a fresh approach to the current issues and goals for the district.

Debbie is married to Medina graduate Chris Tompkins and has two children in the school district. An employee of Tompkins Bank of Castile, she is actively involved in Medina Sports Boosters, Medina Band Boosters, Growing Orchard Foundation President, Home for the Holidays Co-President, and past President of the Medina PTSA. She too would bring forth fresh ideas and work with the Board of Education in setting policies benefitting both the children and the taxpayers.

Both candidates have excellent leadership skills and good business backgrounds. I wholeheartedly endorse them for election to the Medina School Board.

Please vote on May 18 between noon and 8 p.m. at the District Office of the Medina Central School District.

Nelda B. Toussaint

Medina

Editor:

As you know President Trump’s attorney Sydney Powell and Tucker Carlson took the same tact in lawsuits and claimed what they say is too outrageous to be believed.

Fox entertainment persuasion is now being used as a  defense by one of the criminals who broke into the capital. Unlike many, his defense is not that he legally obeyed a President’s orders.

This new defendant is claiming Fox brainwashed him into it. He therefore avoids having to show what President Trump’s orders actually were. The defense is called “Foxitis.”

Unlike the failed defense of “affluenza” which claimed people are too spoiled to understand the consequences of their actions, the symptoms of “Foxitis” include delusional thinking leading to the irresistible urge to follow the entertainers’ urgings to storm the Capitol.

It’s ingenious since it’s already known that Fox entertainers contributed to people taking the pandemic less seriously and that resulted in more deaths. Logically this defense could have “legs” with a similarly naive jury.

This is another interesting detour in the Trump, ultra-conservative media, propaganda axis which is using fear, lies, TV and social media to distort information.

Will a jury decide it’s enough to ignore the Rule of Law?

Conrad F. Cropsey

Albion