Editor:

I have handed in to the town and to the Orleans Hub some good reasons why a STR (short-term rental) or airbnb  should not be on an easement, shared lane, or private shared lane.

On a private one-way lane, when approximately 10 people reside on the lane, it’s a private lane. People who purchased that type of property have spent their hard-earned money on their properties for peace and quiet and not to see strangers come in and out.

That was not their intentions in buying that type of property. They are not on a public road way. It’s a private one-way  lane where the people should not have to beg  the town not to allow it  when there are other places in the town of Yates/Lyndonville where STRs or airbnbs can reside.

It’s  not like people are asking the town or the people not to have any of them at all. People who have saved all their life just to have something like this, a beautiful home on the lake,  not  a motel in their quiet and peaceful area and for it to be ripped away from them.

The chairman of the board has been asked several times to exclude two of the Yates Town Board and they weren’t, even when one owns an STR in a  different town and the other owns a business here hoping it will generate more business for him which is very acceptable but not on a lane that consists of approximately 10  people. On the private lanes, STRs should be  prohibited, period.

It also seems to me by going to these meetings when we are allowed to talk about it to the Town Board, some of the board members seem to have already made their decision.

I realize it’s stressful to the town supervisor and board members because they are being  pulled in different directions and trying to make everyone happy but like I said these properties were purchased before STRs and airbnbs where ever as popular as they are today.

I am pretty sure most people would of thought twice before purchasing if they knew they would be next to an STR. We personally own two properties on the private one-way lane  and I would be very disappointed if Town Board allows STRs on these private one-way lanes.

Please think this through to the fullest extent due to the people who paid  a large amount of money to own this type of property, and not be next to a motel and have to not to worry  about who is who and what is what when their children or grandchildren are at play.

A  private one-way  lane is not a public roadway. It’s a private one-way  lane for the people who own and pay taxes and lane  maintenance, period.

Bonnie Mack

Yates

Editor:

Head Start is far more than preschool. It gives children a strong start through education, health and developmental screenings, nutrition, and family support services that are especially important in rural communities like ours. A proposed federal rule could weaken the standards and comprehensive approach that make Head Start effective.

The proposal would remove hundreds of requirements, permit larger classes and lower staffing levels, reduce wraparound services, and cut the administrative-cost cap from 15% to 5%. That may sound like reducing bureaucracy, but administration is how local programs pay for fiscal accountability, human resources, technology, compliance, facilities, and safety. For small and rural nonprofit agencies, a 5% cap could destabilize programs or force them to close.

Our community cannot afford further losses. Community Action of Orleans & Genesee is already managing a federally imposed $912,000 reduction that cost valued jobs and reduced available Head Start slots from 244 to 194. Weakening standards or cutting realistic administrative support would put even more children and families at risk.

I urge readers to review the information above and take action. You can access a helpful guide here: Help Protect Head Start – Community Action of Orleans & Genesee.

Submit a public comment by October 6, 2026, at https://www.regulations.gov by searching docket ACF-2026-0595, or email Deregulation@acf.hhs.gov and include the docket number in the subject line. You may also contact your members of Congress, but only comments submitted directly to the Administration for Children and Families become part of the official rulemaking record.

Please speak from your own experience and tell federal officials what Head Start means to our children, families, and communities. This is our opportunity to protect a program that has changed lives for generations. Head Start should be strengthened, not diminished.

Renee Hungerford

Executive Director/CEO

Community Action of Orleans & Genesee

Editor:

Promoting public safety is the goal of all public servants, regardless of Democratic, Republican, or Independent. Since crime is a complex phenomenon, promoting public safety requires serious, thoughtful analysis grounded in data and fairness for the communities and the victims.

That is why after years of studies, Bail Reform, Raise the Age, and other criminal justice reforms were passed by New York State Legislature and signed into law by the Governor.  But that is not the end. These programs are constantly evaluated and tweaked to make them better.

Crime statistics are one important way to evaluate these programs. In Western New York, including in the GLOW region, violent crimes (including murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault) have dropped. In 2021 and 2022, there were approximately 6,000 incidents of violent crime while in 2024 and 2025 there were only about 4,000 incidents, according to New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) data.

Still, far too many, but the trend is improving. Studies by the Brennan Center, the University at Albany, John Jay College, and Loyola University have all confirmed that bail reform and other criminal justice reforms have had little or no effect on crime. The benefit to society is reduced incarceration and cost, while providing a more equitable system of justice for all. Other researchers have shown that long prison sentences do not reduce crime or improve public safety.

Both experience and research shows that the “lock-them-up-and-throw-away-the-key” approach to crime isn’t working. However, it won’t stop politicians like Assemblyman Steve Hawley and Senator Rob Ortt from telling their constituents that criminal justice reforms, like bail reform, contribute to increase in crime despite the factual evidence.

I suspect that is because crime is a complex issue that is not easy to address in a campaign slogan; to claim that you are tough on crime. It is much easier to claim your opponent is to blame, or immigrants are to blame for crime.

Regardless of what I think, the “tough-on-crime” approach shows a lack of understanding and an indifference to reducing crime. As I stated above, promoting public safety requires serious, thoughtful analysis.

Politicians like Mr. Hawley and Mr. Ortt are not serious about addressing the issues of crime. I urge voters to support candidates that support criminal justice reforms backed by the evidence that these reforms benefit all of society.

William Fine

Brockport

Editor:

In the early stages of dementia, people get nasty and irrational. On any given day there is a different excuse or justification.

Ronald Reagan said the United States and Canada should not have tariffs. He knew our economies are braided together as tightly as well kept pig tails on one head – the North American continent. Closer economically than any other two counties on earth.

For example, now we are going to have a 50% tariff on products like aluminum. Last year the claim was we would buy aluminum  from Bahrain instead. But, dah, we can not buy Bahrain’s aluminum this year as it has cancelled all aluminum contracts due to inability to ship through the Strait of Hormuz.

Canada will be hurt but we need many of its products simply to keep prices down. Wood, aluminum, crude oil and gas, electric and wheat to name a few.

I was just there and although they will lose a lot of jobs, grocery bills there are generally far better than ours. We will be hurt badly even before they hit back.

These folks are our good friends and insisting that we get pre-approval over their trade with other countries would indenture them to our whims. Insisting they buy our jets – which require long runways – is bad strategy when they also need more short take-off fighters which can use roads for take-off and landing in the Arctic they patrol along the northern Russian border.

There will be tariffs on products covered by our trade agreement. So we are also breaking our word. Perhaps that is one reason Canada has world-leading investment. Not here; there! That is the price for being unreliable.

And one of the saddest things is that the wealthier a family is, the less they are hurt by tariffs. They spend more of their income on investments and, unlike you and me, less on products they need to live. How the US is using tariffs is another way to shift wealth upstream.

Conrad F. Cropsey

Albion

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

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

Editor:

Take out the AI boom and the US economy is already in recession. That is a hidden fact.

The Fed resisted raising interest rates but since our bonds sold for less this in effect raised the cost to pay them off just as much as a rate raise would have. 12% of our bonds are held by buyers in the Cayman Islands haven of secret  tax-free accounts.

Rich tax cheats have increasing power to manipulate our finances. (Truthfully though the only way to afford to cut taxes is to have the Treasury print money which foreigners buy as debt instruments. Our debt is a monstrous amount and we depend on them to keep buying. We very much need want friends as creditors at this point.)

FinCEN just announced it will end reporting beneficial ownership interests in organizations involved with fentanyl sales. Talk is cheap when at the same time you make it easier to hide and profit.

Current Commerce regs require in return for R&D funds the government in return takes equity interests in the corporations doing the research. (Definitionally that is socialism). MAGA, not progressive capitalists, are socialist culprits.

Our ships near Iran are unharmed they can not be repaired or restocked as our ports in the Mideast were targeted instead. Iran is playing for the long haul while my grocery bills and fuel bills are still going up. And Iran refuses to negotiate with real estate moguls we sent instead of diplomats.

Muslim lists are not being proposed again, like they were 2017, but a high school football star (with a MD and PhD) is being called the central figure in a “jihadist” plot to take the Senate. (Loose words like that must be reserved for our true enemies!)

My point is that there is stuff going on which is being hidden by headline grabbing daily rants. When the Iranian press irritatingly proves to be more accurate than the Secretary of Defense we have a self-defeating  problem with credibility.  When the President demands neither he nor his family can ever be prosecuted for “tax fraud,” it’s clear thoughts about inflation and how we are doing are things he “really doesn’t care about.”

This is not the US I grew up in and love. Regular people need to turn out to vote and take it back from elite scoundrels. Short of seizing ballot boxes, turn out will make it harder to steal the election.

Conrad F. Cropsey

Albion

Editor:

Matthew Ballard’s recent letter (“Use real data, rather than emotions, in spending tax dollars to address crime,” Aug. 3) attempts to dismiss community concerns over criminal justice reform as mere “appeals to emotion.”

However, in his eagerness to champion academic models over local realities, Mr. Ballard overlooks the concrete operational costs, fiscal burdens, and logical fallacies embedded in today’s reform environment. My final reply. We are of completely different mindsets.

First, Mr. Ballard relies heavily on the concept of “victimless” or “quality-of-life” offenses, arguing they should not be met with punitive measures. But no crime occurs in a vacuum. When low-level offenses and repeat shoplifting are left unaddressed, the harm does not disappear—it is simply transferred to local small businesses and taxpayers.

Furthermore, Mr. Ballard completely ignores the massive hidden costs imposed on rural municipalities by New York’s Criminal Procedure Law (CPL 245) discovery mandates. Gathering, redacting, and cataloging digital files, body-cam video, and paperwork under strict statutory deadlines requires dedicated compliance staff, software licenses, and extensive officer overtime. When local law enforcement and district attorneys are forced to expend limited county tax dollars just processing paperwork for repeat offenders, taxpayers pay a very real price. That is not an emotional anecdote; it is an administrative and fiscal reality for rural counties like Orleans.

Second, Mr. Ballard presents a flawed comparison when he attempts to benchmark Second Amendment rights against violent crimes such as rape, incest, or child molestation. This analogy breaks down on basic legal and moral principles. Crimes of violence are committed by willful actors who actively choose to disregard the law and violate another person’s fundamental rights. In contrast, exercising a constitutionally protected Second Amendment right is the lawful act of a responsible citizen.

Conflating the actions of bad actors who break the law with the rights of law-abiding citizens shifts focus away from individual personal accountability. Society must punish the criminal who chooses to commit a heinous act, rather than restricting the rights of peaceful citizens or minimizing the harm caused by those who defy the law.

Data and academic research certainly have a seat at the table. However, when “data on paper” is used to downplay local municipal budget strains, small business losses, and basic standards of personal responsibility, it isn’t superior policy—it’s simply ignoring the total cost of the equation.

Paul Lauricella

Yates

Editor:

It was my pleasure to witness the 110 senior citizens at the Village of Albion Senior Citizens Picnic held at beautiful Bullard Park on Thursday, August 13 at 4 p.m.

The senior citizens were treated with a chicken barbecue, hot dogs, hamburgers and several sides with a drink and dessert. Music was provided by The Hastings Duo where you saw the senior citizens clapping and enjoying the music. There was a fun trivia contest which brought laughs to the group. Following trivia were a few questions where they received prizes. It was great to see Mayor Tim McMurray, Trustee Jami Allport and Trustee Greg Bennett attend the picnic and speak to the senior citizens.

Special thanks go out to Jeff Holler and the Albion Masons for preparing the delicious food. Thank you to Mike Neidert from the Town of Albion and two members from the Town of Murray for setting up.

Thank you to the Albion DPW and Jay Pahura for assisting and cleaning up following the event. Thank you to Becky Karls for her assistance along with Jonette Jackson. Thank you to Ezera Bloom, Noah Harrison, ChrisJen Winters and Semaj Miller for assisting in serving and helping the senior citizens.

A huge thank you to Bernie Baldwin and Diana Kindig Grillo for always being there to help in any way possible.

Finally, thank you to the senior citizens for all the years in our community.  This event was sponsored by the Village of Albion Recreation Department.

Sincerely,

John J. Grillo

Village of Albion Recreation Director