Editor:

We, the school district superintendents of Orleans County, would like to express our deep thanks and gratitude to Paul Pettit, Orleans County Public Health Director and his wonderful staff since this pandemic began in March 2020.

Our relationship with Paul began on Saturday, March 14, 2020, on a series of Saturday afternoon phone calls, wrestling with the decision of closing our schools on a long-term basis. It was far from an easy decision, but Paul’s counsel and insight provided us with the valuable information we needed to make this important decision.

Paul has been literally available around the clock to answer our calls, take our individual questions, and meet with us each and every week to offer support and guidance. Paul has been a strong advocate for opening up school safely, with a full understanding and appreciation of the value of in-person instruction for our students.

In addition to his availability, Paul and his staff have been instrumental in providing Covid-19 test kits for each school, assisting our districts in securing a license for testing, and most important, providing access to our staff for vaccines for the past 6 weeks, thereby making our schools even safer for all.

As new regulations and guidance continually appear from the state, Paul is always ready, willing, and able to provide his interpretation and support as we seek to implement these for the benefit of our school communities. These include items such as graduation guidelines, athletics, extra-curricular, social distancing, quarantines, travel information, etc!

We look forward to the day when this pandemic is behind us, but in the meantime, we continue to be eternally grateful to Paul and his staff.

Thank you.

Brian Bartalo, Holley Superintendent

Julie Christensen, Kendall Superintendent

Mickey Edwards, Albion Superintendent

Mark Kruzynski, Medina Superintendent

Jason Smith, Lyndonville Superintendent

Editor:

This evening is the final Medina Village Board meeting for Todd Bensley, who served Medina honorably in his role of trustee.

Following a powerful endorsement from my neighbor, I thoroughly enjoyed the book (available locally) that he wrote about Boxwood Cemetery. Alongside his valuable contributions to the village website in the form of detailed walking and driving tours, it is clear how fortunate we are to have Mr. Bensley as our Village Historian.

It is the hope of many of us that his decision not to seek re-election offers him time to work on another excellent book. Thank you, Todd, for your work in Medina.

Jess Marciano

Medina

Photo courtesy of John Beckingham: Garbage and out-of-place objects stick out in the empty Erie Canal.

Editor:

Every time I walk the Erie Canal path this time of year I look into the Canal and say to myself, “It sure would be nice if someone would clean the garbage out of the Canal.”

These tires, garbage cans and traffic cones will eventually turn into micro plastics, travel to the lake and then end up in our food and drinking water!

There’s really no excuse for it.

John Beckingham

Holley

Editor:

Tuesday, Christopher Krebs, President Trump’s head of US Cyber Security, broke out the champagne! He had been fired for publicly agreeing with Trump’s Attorney General William Barr’s assessment that the 2020 election results were accurate. (Old news but Wednesday the first fines on the Republican Party were imposed for frivolous litigation.)

Tuesday’s final release of that federal National Intelligence Council’s multi-year investigation “Foreign Threats to the US 2020 Federal Elections” (click here) confirmed that and more! It was finished under Trump but declassified by Biden.

“Foreign Threats…” is a breath of fresh air in a stale room. Some smart people will need to change their ways and reconsider the false information they have been fed.

The report detailed Russian, Iranian, and Chinese attempts to interfere with our country going back to 2014. The Chinese, contrary to what Republican politicians were saying, decided it was not worth the risk and focused on cyber espionage. Russia which they ignored actually has been engaged in a sophisticated operation feeding disinformation to our politicians and ultra conservative commentators the whole time.

However talking points were the tip of the iceberg according to the Feds. Spies, moles and assets with direct contact are named.

Troubling as it is only willing Russian assets will continue to feed us 1. unchecked facts, 2. arguments based on supposition and fear, and 3. Russia misinformation!

Basically we are all on notice that our airwaves are full of misinformation promulgated by venial politicians, uneducated or opportunistic commentators, and second-rate experts. For some I am sure its money and power above country. For others treason. Keep that in mind if you do not change the channel.

We should have known better than to think things had sunk this low in our beloved country.   The fundamentals have never changed. The US is still a “melting pot” and a land of good will and freedom, and a land which has a traditional press reporting both sides position in context and accurately, and a land that rejects white supremacy and race based discrimination, and a land that believes in access to the polls and the freedom to vote, and a land where with good intentioned government workers, and a land welcoming people, and a land that prospers because of science and technology, and a capitalist country where the objective is to create opportunity for all, and a land with carefully considered sophisticated and fair laws, and a land that is always trying to do all the above better.

Those that reject those basics are no better than the insurrectionists and murderers who  seized the capital Jan. 6th.

These standards were undermined by Russian propaganda. The declassified report shows the extent of the lies.

Conrad F. Cropsey

Albion

Editor:

Joe Sidonio has been raising concerns about the Town of Murray water loss long before he became the Town Supervisor. He said 40 to 60 percent of water in town hasn’t been billed since January 2018. That cost Murray water customers tens of thousands of dollars a year in water we paid for but didn’t use.

If Joe hadn’t been elected this would never have been addressed. After reading “Murray votes to refinance water district debt,” I’m grateful for Joe’s efforts saving us $631,000 in interest payments.

After watching the YouTube video of a town meeting, I wish that some of the town employees would develop a better working relationship with Joe and realize they work for the town’s people. The goal should be to work together to reduce our tax burden, not create a toxic work environment.

Also, as stated on the Murray website’s February 2021 Supervisor’s Corner, the town board voted against health care reforms they agreed to during the budgeting process. “By far the most significant development in February was the repeal by the town board of the 2021 health care reforms which had been worked on so hard last year. The projected savings and health care policy agreed to during the budgeting process were in exchange for the across the board, expected pay raises. This reversal results in a 23.7% increase in health care costs from 2020. (Motion by Bower, Second by Hendel, Town Board Yes, Supervisor. No.”)

Joe goes on to state, “In Murray our healthcare priorities are 2-fold: – Our top priority is to provide the best health care for our employees and officials. – Our next priority is to balance the best health care coverage with our ability to pay for it now and into the future.”

Here’s another example of Joe working to save the taxpayers money while being fair to everyone.

As a veteran on fixed income, I appreciate your hard work, Joe.

Jim Johnson

Murray

This rendering of a new pedestrian bridge over the Erie Canal in Brockport, a span that will connect the Brockport State College campus to the Empire State Trail.

Editor:

The Village of Brockport is a focal point of the State’s $300 million Reimagine the Canals initiative, as the site of a new multi-functional pedestrian bridge connecting the village and SUNY Brockport across the Erie Canal.

This is the first large-scale infrastructure project to begin under the Reimagine program. Constructed next to the early 20th century guard gate that controls water flow in the Canal, the bridge will link the south side of the Canal at SUNY Brockport to the Empire State Trail on the north (village) side.

That connection is important, and not just to the college and village. The Empire State Trail is a tremendous resource for outdoor recreation — hiking, running, biking, kayaking, fishing — for locals and visitors alike.

The bridge provides the stimulus for the completion of the “Brockport Loop,” a joint college/village endeavor to create a walking trail on the south side of the Canal from the new pedestrian bridge east to the village’s high bridge at Smith Street over the Canal.

That bridge will undergo renovations to make it more accessible for cyclists and pedestrians. The Smith Street bridge, like the new pedestrian bridge, directly connects to the Empire State Trail, thus completing the loop.

The Canal holds immeasurable potential as a driver for economic growth and activity in our village. In 2005, we completed our Welcome Center on the Canal; visiting boaters tie up and take advantage of Welcome Center greeters, shower, and laundry facilities, and Wi-Fi.

We will be building a pavilion there for hosting our popular summer serenades program on the Canal, and an adaptive kayak dock is scheduled to be installed at the Welcome Center this spring. The recently formed Brockport Community Rowing Club, working to bring rowing to Brockport, has built a dock at the college near the site of the new pedestrian bridge. The bridge will help the club achieve that goal as, among its other functions, it has been designed for viewing regattas that can be hosted on our stretch of the Canal.

Brockport began almost 200 years ago as a transport and shipping hub on the Erie Canal. Though commercial shipping is long gone from the Canal, we and other Canal communities have celebrated its reincarnation as a recreational waterway and driver of tourism.

The Reimagine the Canals initiative, and the new pedestrian bridge it has fostered, is a capstone to this reincarnation. For Brockport, this is an investment in our economic future and a chance to ensure the Canal and its accompanying trail remain a central and functional part of our community.

Margaret Blackman

Mayor of the Village of Brockport

Editor:

I thought it necessary to respond to a recently published article entitled “Pandemic Perspective: Covid has been a demon, disrupting and ending lives.” The headline caught my attention, which on the surface felt relatable.

Then I caught a glimpse of the subheading; “Generous government relief for so many puzzles long-time reporter.” I thought perhaps I had stumbled upon the Letters to the Editor page, but alas, there it was front and center.

The author nobly calls attention to the lack of shared responsibility across our country over the last year, a constant reminder that individual “freedom” will always trump community in today’s society. Citizens across the United States have sacrificed, some willingly, and others without choice. We have lost loved ones and missed out on important milestones while so many persisted, yet others insisted that social distancing and mask-wearing were too inconvenient or infringed on personal rights.

In all honesty, I appreciate the general concern expressed by older generations about “who” will pay for the massive debt that the government has undertaken. “Will somebody please think of the children!” they scream. My condolences to Generation X, who has the privilege of shepherding us Millennials and Gen Z’ers through that challenge.

An issue created by a generation that no longer has any skin in the game. They decry survival checks to those who have suffered the greatest hardship during one of the largest global pandemics in recent history but will not bat an eye when billions or trillions are pumped into Wall Street and corporations.

Martin Luther King, Jr. perhaps said it best, “We all too often have socialism for the rich and rugged free market capitalism for the poor” (from a 23 Feb 1968 speech entitled “The Minister to the Valley”). This idea is so deeply engrained in our mind that the first inclination is to question the authenticity of need. That stimulus checks must be going to those who do not need it and therefore the money should go to the top in the form of tax breaks, subsidies, and other incentives. This way, money can trickle down upon the downtrodden by the benevolence of the billionaire who wants for nothing.

It was the “great” Ronald Regan who mainstreamed the “welfare queen” trope in his 1976 presidential campaign. Those proponents of individualism and free market capitalism use anecdotal evidence (at best) to cling to this idea of rampant and widespread fraud involving public assistance. For that reason, no one should receive financial support because suffering is the cornerstone of the American Dream. It builds character and everyone knows the world needs fewer snowflakes, people who can accept the racist caricatures of Dr. Seuss as essential to childhood and those willing to fight against “woke” cancel culture.

With that line of reasoning comes concern about the government doling out free cash to those who do not need it. That an unemployment check that totals more than a person’s normal wages is an indictment on government support programs and not on the employer who pays starvation wages. That there is no way that someone making $75,000 on paper two years ago could have lost their job during that same time span. That someone earning that much could not possibly be burdened by student loan debt and out-of-control healthcare costs fueled by inadequate employer-sponsored health insurance plans. And of course, when the government puts stops in place to prevent employers from forcing employees into unsafe working conditions, the employee must be lying about their health conditions.

Topping the whole article off with a misattributed Thomas Jefferson quote and an Archie Bunker-esque anti-immigrant rant is the perfect close for a misinformed perspective littered with microaggressions.

I would expect better from the Orleans Hub.

Snarkily yours,

Matt Ballard

Statesville, NC (formerly of Clarendon, NY)

Editor:

There is an overwhelming response since the first payment was disbursed from our government, of who is going to pay all of this back, which is our money to begin with. How about instead of putting that burden on us, we hold the government to a standard of being more responsible with the money that is given to them by 200 million taxpayers?

Our defense budget just keeps growing. All the while they prey on the young to sign their life away through advertisements made to look like they’re signing up for a video game. Or flood schools in small towns where teenagers feel they have no other direction or way out. All to fight the battles the rich and power hungry have started, and continue to perpetuate by taking our money to fund the very same people they promote as our enemy.

We complain about immigrants, who come here to better their lives (the same thing we all are, but that falls on deaf ears) or for safety due to destruction a lot of times caused by us, but who are we to let go of our ego and take some responsibility for that?

We have the largest prison population in the world, compared to the country’s population, but lack of programs or processes to re-integrate people back into society. Then again why would you? It’s easier for a business to get repeat customers than it is to obtain new ones.

The banking system operates by receiving billion dollar bailouts, but shells out multi-million dollar bonuses and stock options, continuously increasing the interest rates, but pay only pennies on the dollar for our money saved or invested with them.

We bash welfare recipients, whom the majority do need that help whether they abuse it or not. Yet we don’t mind receiving praise for helping the needy, all while making sure we collect our tax write off of any charitable contributions made. Yet there is no criticism of Walmart, one of the largest bribers (politically correct term being lobbyist) for welfare programs since it makes billions of dollars from said programs. And we don’t even bat an eye at the hundreds of billions of welfare dollars (profitable) corporations receive through subsidies, tax breaks and credits.

Meanwhile programs and sectors that benefit society on a whole – infrastructure, education, healthcare, all of our social services are grossly lacking in a multitude of resources.

What I am trying to boil this down to is I find myself having a bit more compassion for the people who work hard for their $75,000 and receive a $2,000 payment in the Covid stimulus that would make a difference in their bottom line. A hardship experienced today may not be felt until tomorrow.

Clearly, there are many of these points that I and many others are not experts in, but a lot of times I do not think you need to be an expert to see past the veil that has been draped in front of us.

Nicole Zelazny

Buffalo (formerly of Medina)

Editor:

The Orleans Hub reported that unemployment was increasing in Orleans County, (2/8/21), up to 6.4 percent from 5.4 percent a year ago.

State Department of Labor reported: “Private sector jobs in the Western New York region declined by 50,800 or 9.2 percent, to 499,300 in the year ending December 2020.”

Also, the Hub reported that the need for food assistance is increasing. Albion Community Kitchen serving about 380 meals per week up from about 150 per week before the pandemic (3/14/21). Nationwide, the Census Bureau reported that: “Nearly 26 million adults — 12 percent — said their household didn’t get enough to eat sometimes or often in the last seven days.”

The American Rescue Plan will help alleviate the economic distress and hunger in our area. It is important to remember that Congressman Chris Jacobs voted against helping Orleans County. In the Rescue Plan that Mr. Jacobs voted against, Orleans County will get over $12 million dollars and most individuals will receive a check of $1,400.

Not only will this money help individuals but all the small businesses in our local towns as the people will be able to spend this money in local restaurants, bars, coffee shops, hairdressers and barber shops. This will help save small business and our small towns recover from the pandemic.

Mr. Jacobs would rather play political games than help the citizens and towns of Orleans County.

William Fine

Brockport

Editor:

I believe Mr. Fine needs to research what is spent in New York educating students before criticizing Congressman Jacobs. The cost to educate  is well over $23,000 per student in most New York  districts.

One area I see New York State needs to invest more dollars is economic education. The children enrolled in school now will be faced with paying back this federal debt which now exceeds 125% of GDP. It will not be possible to fund this debt just by increased taxes on those making over $400,000.

The increased tax burden will be more far reaching then the wealthy and corporations.

Edward Urbanik

Lyndonville

Editor:

Congressman Chris Jacobs’s mendacity is on full display. In a press release Mr. Jacobs stated that: “Democrats refused to help us advance policies that would fund an expedited return to school for our students. Republicans introduced over half a dozen amendments to the COVID relief package to open schools. Democrats rejected them unanimously.”

Mr. Jacobs does not tell us what amendments to the American Rescue Plan, offered by Democrats, that Republicans made to improve the bill and expedite a return to class rooms. However Steve Scalise, the Republican Minority Whip, while on ABC’s “This Week” stated: “They’re saying they want to pass over $100 billion of new money that’s not even tied to schools reopening.”

The American Rescue Plan has $130 billion for schools which Mr. Jacobs voted against. These funds go towards things like safer use of classroom, improving ventilation systems buying personal protective equipment, according to the House Education and Labor committee. Additionally, schools are required to save at least 20% of the money they are granted specifically to address learning loss. I am reminded of Mr. Trump’s promise of having a “terrific, fantastic, phenomenal” health care plan, always better and always sometime in the future (which never came) and in fact no committee to create a better health care plan ever developed. There is no big beautiful better health care plan and there is no better Republican plan to safely open schools .

Mr. Jacobs refused to work with Democrats in opening up schools and safely returning students to the classrooms. Mr. Jacobs press release is deceitful and manipulative. The citizens of this district deserve better.

William Fine

Brockport

Editor:

The Town of Barre is celebrating our Founders Day on March 6th.  We won’t be able to have an in-person celebration this year.

The Barre Betterment Committee has created a puzzle for you to celebrate with us. It’s a little challenging, but we are confident you can figure it out!

A photo of the puzzle is here as well as a link to a downloadable pdf (click here).  Good Luck!

Betsy Miller

Barre

Editor:

The American Rescue Plan is a relief bill for the pandemic-induced crisis. While not a panacea or cure-all, it will offer some relief.

This legislation is supported by every sector in America. Former President Trump’s hand-picked Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, and his economic advisor, Kevin Hassett, have expressed support for the Rescue Plan.

A group of bipartisan mayors from across the country sent a letter to Congress in which they wrote: “President Biden’s American Rescue Plan contains such assistance as part of an aggressive strategy to contain the virus, increase access to life-saving vaccines, and create a foundation for sustainable and inclusive recovery… Your quick action on President Biden’s plan is a crucial step to making meaningful progress in one of the most challenging moments in our country’s history. We encourage you to take up the President’s rescue plan as soon as possible in the 117th Congress.”

Over 300 small business leaders from across the country wrote to Congress: “The American Rescue Plan meets the urgency of the moment and takes the steps necessary to save small businesses struggling during these difficult times.”

Leaders in education, and state treasurers from across the country sent letters to Congress urging the passage of The American Rescue Plan. This bill is not political and not controversial unless you politicize it by telling lies and intentionally mis-characterize the facts. That is what Congressman Chris Jacobs and the Republicans are doing.

PolitiFact, the New York Times and other fact checking organizations have categorized the claims by Republicans that there is still “over a trillion dollars of money unspent from previous relief bills” as misleading since the money they are talking about, while not spent, is allocated to other purposes.

Furthermore, the claim that only 9 percent of the money goes to Covid relief is also labeled as misleading at best. While only 8.4 percent is specifically allocated to fighting coronavirus, spending on things like subsidizing health insurance coverage for laid off workers, extending paid sick leave and funding for veterans is also important and needed to insure the recovery from the pandemic.

While citizens in Orleans, Genesee, Wyoming, Livingston and across the 27th congressional district are facing food insecurity, job and income insecurity and a health care crisis, Congressman Jacobs wants to play political games and refuses to help the citizens of his district.

William Fine

Brockport

Editor:

Originally, I wrote a completely different version of this for Black History Month. It is from the perspective of a Caucasian who has taught and coached Black teenagers. I have had one, or two, Black teammates on several of the teams I played on growing up.

But I have also been a minority of one on two otherwise all Black, or brown, teams.

The first was the Rochester Steelers, a semi-pro baseball team that played out of Genesee Valley Park. Among its top players were the Sutton brothers, Jesse Dowdell and Ike Walker, a teammate of Jerry Grote’s on the Auburn Mets before Grote got called up in 1969 and Walker quit professional baseball because he thought he was a better catcher than Grote. Our coach, Bosie “Slim” Thomas, Jr. and I thought Ike may have been right.

The second otherwise all non-white team I played with was Henri’s Inn, a slow pitch softball team here in Albion. Its coach, Arelee Ellis, referred to as “Boss Hog” by his players and friends, recently died down South. Among the better players on that team were Billy Witherspoon, Angel Rosado and Nate Little. Billy is still a good friend known by most as “Bogard”, while Nate went by “Tap”.

Let me attempt to give you something more to think about.

I have seen discrimination in some very ugly forms. James Neal, a Black teammate, had a relative beaten to death in the 1950’s in the South. A high school basketball teammate, Willie Torrance, was benched in his junior year, even though he was scoring over half our points, supposedly because, “He doesn’t care about defense”. The deal with Jerry Grote’s Auburn teammate may have been another.

One of my Black baseball players at Kendall was intelligent, articulate, athletic, decent, respectful, had artistic ability and looked like he could have been in the movies. I had to talk him back from despondency outside the counselling office one day—as nearly as I could tell—mainly because his Blackness made him feel unworthy. There were tears in his eyes while we spoke.

When I played for those two, otherwise all Black or brown teams, I never felt discriminated against. In fact, I might have claimed the reverse. It was my impression that I was always given the benefit of the doubt and, if anything, discriminated in favor of. The guys always had my back and stuck up for me. They tended to make excuses for my screw-ups.

Take from this brief description of my experience interacting with those of different skin color what you will. Though it is likely unnecessary to say, but I can only marvel at it.

Yours in all sincerity,

Gary F. Kent

Albion

Editor:

Every day when I go to school to teach, there are three things educators emphasize: lying is not OK, bullying in any form or context is not acceptable, and that belief and opinion are not the same as fact.

Breaches of these tenants are actionable. Yet when I see members of Congress like Marjorie Taylor Greene being allowed to harass, threaten, spout nonsense that incite violence and hate I am deeply disturbed. This is a person whose claims have nothing constructive to bring to governance.

Taking her off committees is not enough. What could possibly be the constructive governance goals of a person who believes dangerous, insidious, insane conspiracy theories, who endorses murdering people and encourages domestic terrorists to destroy and kill? What people say and believe when in a position to make crucial decisions matters.

Elected officials have no business remaining in power who unapologetically hold such beliefs. She espouses and seeks to shove through these theories to bear fruit in the governance of the United States of America. Conspiracy theories only cement tyrannical power.

Elected officials who let peers stand to this behavior either are hair-raisingly likeminded, cowed, or are arrogant and lacking in good judgment. In any case, they do not deserve the privilege of serving in Congress.

Robin Lewis

Holley