Medina teacher killed in Newfane accident this morning

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 September 2014 at 12:00 am

MEDINA – The Medina school community is mourning the loss of teacher Barbara Barnes, who taught at the middle school and died in a car accident this morning.

She was killed an accident at 7:16 a.m. on the way to work. The accident occurred on Lake Road in the Town of Newfane.

School district officials met with her students at 1 p.m. to tell them about the fatal accident. The district also sent a note home with students to inform parents of the news, one of the parents told Orleans Hub.

The Niagara County Sheriff’s Office hasn’t officially released the names of two people who died in the morning accident. The Sheriff’s Office reports that two vehicles collided in a head-on crash. The westbound vehicle, for unknown reasons, crossed the center lane and struck the eastbound vehicle head on.

Both drivers were pronounced dead. The driver in the westbound vehicle had a dog in her vehicle and that dog perished in the crash, the Sheriff’s Office reported.

The Niagara County Accident Investigation Unit is investigating the accident.