A day after a federal court upheld most of provisions of the controversial gun control law known as the SAFE Act, State Assemblyman Steve Hawley, R-Batavia, has issued a statement saying the court infringes on the rights of gun owners.
The SAFE Act was passed in January 2013, after the December 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., when 20 first-graders and six educators were killed when 154 rounds were fired in less than 5 minutes.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said the main parts of the SAFE Act did not violate the Second Amendment because of the relationship between bans on assault weapons with large-capacity magazines and controlling crime.
Hawley issued this statement:
“I am deeply disappointed in the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals’ Second Circuit to uphold the core provisions of the NY SAFE Act. This legislation infringes on the constitutional rights of gun owners across New York State and is clearly unconstitutional. My district alone is filled with thousands of law-abiding citizens with firearm ownership as part of their family’s traditions. This law disrespects their way of life and hinders their ability to defend themselves in the unfortunate event of a burglary or break-in.
“Aside from the facts that this law is arbitrary to a fault and lacks the enforcement mechanisms to make it effective, the process by which it was passed through the Legislature is deeply troubling. The SAFE Act was passed under cover of darkness on one of the first days of the legislative session, and I can attest to the fact that few members of the Legislature had even read the bill before it was voted upon.
“As lawmakers, we are supposed to hold transparency and accountability in the highest magnitude. The SAFE Act was forced through the legislative process with complete and utter disregard for these objectives and should be repealed immediately. I will continue to sponsor legislation that repeals this unconstitutional measure and places integrity above political ambition.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 October 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – Orleans County Legislature Chairman David Callard speaks to 250 people during the Republican fall rally on Saturday at the Ridgeway firehall.
RIDGEWAY – Taxes are down, businesses are moving in, and the county is tackling other needed projects, from replacing bridges and culverts to laying the groundwork for high-speed Internet.
That was the message from six incumbent Orleans County legislators who spoke on Saturday during the Orleans County Republican fall rally at the Ridgeway firehall.
“If you like to be involved and do good things for the people of Orleans County, then the Orleans County Legislature is the place to be,” said David Callard, the Legislature chairman.
He spoke to 250 people on Saturday during the rally at the Ridgeway firehall. Callard of Ridgeway is the longest-serving legislator with 22 years on the county board.
He said the county’s fiscal position is strong after selling the county nursing home. The sale from the nursing home and the annual relief from having to subsidize the facility with tax dollars has allowed the county to reduce taxes by 1.5 percent in 2015, Callard and Legislator Lynne Johnson of Lyndonville noted. (Callard serves as a county-wide legislator from the west end of the county.)
The Legislature also approved taking out an $8 million bond to replace bridges, culverts and roofs (on Public Safety Building and County Administration Building), while also adding two new pole barns for the highway department to cover expensive equipment, including a paver.
Callard said the county and the Orleans Economic Development Agency are positioning Orleans to agricultural economic development projects. Pride Pak is the latest to announce a big investment in the county – $15 million for a new vegetable processing and packaging plant in Medina. That facility is expected to be ready in June 2016 with 85 to 100 employees. Additional expansions could bring the workforce up to 200 employees.
Other agriculture-related businesses – Western New York Energy in Medina, Intergrow Greenhouses in Gaines, Lake Ontario Fruit in Gaines, and H.H. Dobbins in Lyndonville – have also recently made big investments.
Callard said the county has more land with infrastructure in place that can attract more businesses.
The Legislature has seven members with six Republicans. The GOP isn’t running a candidate against Fred Miller, a Democrat from Albion. Ed Morgan, the Republican Party chairman, said Miller has done a good job in his first term on the Legislature.
Johnson
Two of the Republicans, Johnson and Don Allport of Gaines, have opposition on Nov. 3. Johnson is challenged by Paul Lauricella of the Conservative Party while Allport faces James White, a Democrat.
Each of the six Republican legislators were given a few minutes to speak at the rally on Saturday.
Allport highlighted the partnerships through Orleans and Genesee counties in sharing a public health director and board of directors. The shared staff has saved Orleans $400,000 annually, said Allport, a county-wide legislator from central Orleans.
Allport
“We are leading the state,” he said about the shared service initiatives with Genesee.
Allport is a past chairman of the board for The Arc of Orleans. That agency has also approved a merger with the Genesee County ARC. The merger should reduce costs for the two counties while maintaining services for people with developmental disabilities, Allport said.
He also highlighted efforts by the Mental Health Department to improve services, including same-day service for walk-ins.
DeFilipps
John DeFilipps of Clarendon serves on the EDA board and he said the agency has the county well positioned for new businesses and expansions with shovel-ready sites. DeFilipps is an at-large legislator from the east side of the county.
He noted Pride Pak’s $15 million commitment to the new site in Medina, the prospect of a new hotel in Medina and a “virtual spec” building at the Medina Business Park.
The county also stepped up with three e-waste sites to collect TVs and other hosuehold electronics after they were being thrown in ditches because of a state law that banned them from being accepted with curbside trash pickups.
DeFilipps and Johnson both highlighted the effort to bring high-speed Internet to the community. Johnson is the county’s representative on the Niagara-Orleans Regional Alliance.
That two-county partnership has the two counties prepped and in good position to benefit from $500 million available from the state to expand high-speed Internet service, especially in rural underserved areas.
“The students, farmers and businesses all need it,” Johnson said about the fast Internet. Johnson represents a district that includes Yates, Ridgeway and a portion of Shelby.
Legislator Bill Eick talks about the county’s efforts to improve infrastructure.
Legislator Bill Eick serves a district that includes Barre, Clarendon and most of Shelby. He also is on the county’s Highway Committee.
He said Orleans will use about $5 million of the $8 million bond to replace six bridges and some culverts. Those projects started last year.
The state and federal government used to pay up to 95 percent of the bridge replacement costs, but that money has been hard to come by recently. The county took out the bond last year after several bridges were in danger of being closed.
Eick said harsh winters and heavy equipment are taking a toll on the bridges, culverts and roads.
“It’s going to be an ongoing issue,” he said about the infrastructure. “They’re not lasting.”
The county will continue to press the state and federal governments to help pay for the bridge and culvert work, Eick said.
DeRoller
Ken DeRoller of Kendall represents a district that includes Kendall, Murray and Carlton. He said the canal bridges, with several at weight reductions or closures, pose a challenge for businesses, farms, school buses and emergency equipment. The county continues to push the state to better maintain the bridges at higher weight limits.
DeRoller highlighted successes in public safety, including the work of the Major Felony Crime Task Force, which includes officers from the Sheriff’s Office, and Albion, Medina and Holley police departments.
The Task Force has made 905 drug arrests since 2007, and has a nearly 100 percent conviction rate, DeRoller said, and also has seized $840,000.
The county also started a Traffic Diversion program in 2010 which keeps that ticket revenue, up to $150,000, with local courts, while giving motorists the chance to have their tickets reduced, DeRoller said.
He also noted a drug take-back program, led by jail superintendent Scott Wilson, has collected nearly 3,000 pounds in unused prescriptions, keeping that medicine from being abused and also being flushed into local waterways.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 October 2015 at 12:00 am
ALBION – An Albion grandmother who violated her probation and also faced felony charges for lying on her pistol permit and welfare application was sentenced to 1 1/3 to 4 years in state prison today.
Elsie Biaselli, 71, of East State Street on Aug. 24 admitted to violating probation, and two counts of offering a false instrument.
She has a prior conviction of promoting prison contraband for allegedly smuggling illegal drugs in to inside Attica Correctional Facility, where her grandson was an inmate. Biaselli was sentenced to five years on probation in 2013.
She violated her probation by not disclosing she was a convicted felon on an application for a pistol permit. She filled out the pistol permit application in February.
Biaselli also admitted to filing a false instrument by making a false statement on a welfare application, claiming a grandchild was a dependent who doesn’t live with her.
Biaselli faced a maximum to 2 to 4 years in state prison. Judge James Punch gave her 1 1 /3 to 4 years.
In other sentencings today:
A Gaines resident was sentenced to 2 years in state prison. Shane M. Maynard, 37, was arrested in July on multiple drug charges. He pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree, which carries a maximum sentence of 2 ½ years in state prison.
Maynard is a first-time felony offender. Punch sentenced him to less than the maximum.
Maynard told the court in August that a confidential informant purchased methamphetamine from his residence at 12801 Ridge Rd., Apt. B.
An Albion man who admitted to selling cocaine was sentenced to six months in the county jail.
Martin Eusebio, 20, admitted in a previous court appearance he sold cocaine in Albion last Oct. 28. He pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree and could have been sentenced to a maximum of 1 to 2 ½ years in state prison.
Eusebio isn’t a U.S. citizen. He could be deported after serving his sentence.
Federal judges have mostly upheld a controversial gun control law known as the SAFE Act. The law was passed by the State Legislature and Gov. Andrew Cuomo in January 2013.
The law was passed after the December 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., when 20 first-graders and six educators were killed when 154 rounds were fired in less than 5 minutes.
Orleans County’s elected officials at the village, town and county level all passed formal resolutions opposing the SAFE Act and calling for it to be repealed because it violated Second Amendment rights and was approved in a hasty manner without public comment.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said the main parts of the SAFE Act did not violate the Second Amendment because of the relationship between bans on assault weapons with large-capacity magazines and controlling crime.
“When used, these weapons tend to result in more numerous wounds, more serious wounds, and more victims,” according to the ruling written by Circuit Judge Jose A. Cabranes. “These weapons are disproportionately used in crime, and particularly in criminal mass shootings. They are also disproportionately used to kill law enforcement officers.”
While the court upheld most of the SAFE Act, it found Connecticut’s ban on a non-semi-automatic Remington 7615 to be unconstitutional. The court also said a seven-round load limit in New York could not be imposed, according to Associated Press reports.
Gov. Cuomo issued this statement today about the court’s decision:
“Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld what we have long known to be true – that the core provisions of the NY SAFE Act do not violate the Second Amendment. Today, common sense prevailed.
“When we passed the SAFE Act, just days after the tragedies in Newtown and Webster, New York proved to the nation that it is possible to enact sensible gun control that coexists with the Second Amendment. We showed that it can be done with bi-partisan support from both urban and rural communities. And we took a fundamental step forward to help end the stream of senseless killings by keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and the dangerously mentally ill.
“This case validates a simple, fundamental truth about gun control: that it is possible to have strong laws that keep our communities safe, while at the same time respecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners. New York has set the example – and it’s far past time for Washington to follow suit and pass a sensible national gun control policy.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 October 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – Orleans County sheriff candidate Tom Drennan, left, and Brett Sobieraski meet with reporters this afternoon. If Drennan is elected sheriff on Nov. 3, he said his choice for undersheriff would Sobieraski, who has a 27-year career in law enforcement.
KENDALL – When Brett Sobieraski’s house was broken into, and guns and jewelry were stolen seven years ago, the Rochester Police Department sergeant knew what it was like to be a victim of a crime.
He didn’t like feeling so vulnerable.
Sobieraski lives in Kent. About two days after the crime, Tom Drennan and the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office had it solved. Drennan, the chief deputy for the Sheriff’s Office, worked with investigators to make the arrests. Sobieraski’s possessions were returned to him.
“Tom Drennan was most responsible for solving that crime,” Sobieraski said today when he stood by Drennan, a candidate for sheriff. “I was astounded by the professionalism shown by the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department.”
Drennan announced today if he is elected on Nov. 3, he would make Sobieraski his undersheriff. The two have known each other for about two decades. Their children attended Kendall Central School together.
Drennan and Sobieraski made the undersheriff announcement today at the Kendall community park gazebo across from the elementary school. Drennan wanted to highlight his small-town roots and commitment to protecting residents.
Sobieraski has a 27-year career in law enforcement. He started with the Lockport Police Department, and has worked the past 23 years with the Rochester Police Department, including the past 15 as a supervising sergeant with the Greater Rochester Area Narcotics Enforcement Team.
He leads the multi-agency task force of undercover officers. He has participated in more than 2,000 search warrants, including some with the Major Felony Crime Task Force from Orleans County.
Tom Drennan and Brett Sobieraski take questions from the media this afternoon.
Sobieraski said Orleans County is not immune from drugs, especially heroin, and violent crime. He wants to take his years of experience and help train and raise the standards of professionalism in the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office.
He said he and Drennan are similar in expecting high standards and accountability for officers.
“When someone shows up for work, they work hard for their paycheck and their community,” Sobieraski said.
Drennan has shied away from picking an undersheriff, saying residents should focus on the sheriff’s name on the ballot. Randy Bower won a close primary over Drennan for the Republican line on Sept. 10, 1,671 to 1,650.
Bower, a public safety dispatcher, has been campaigning with Chris Bourke, a long-time lieutenant in the Sheriff’s Office, as the undersheriff choice.
Drennan said he has been asked repeatedly who he would name as undersheriff.
“It’s a topic that everyone’s bringing up and I don’t want it to be a distraction anymore,” he said.
Drennan said Sobieraski would bring “fresh eyes” to the department and help Drennan in his push for an accredited department through the state. To be accredited, the department will need clear policies and training for officers, as well as regular audits.
Drennan said accreditation would establish uniform standards and responses for deputies when they are working with the public.
“It would create standardization, whether it’s Deputy A or Deputy Z,” he said. “It would become a much more professional agency.”
Sobieraski has served as a police academy instructor the past nine years. He has taught SWAT, police supervisor, active shooter and enhanced in-service classes.
He also is a board member and former chairman for seven years of Huther Doyle, an outpatient addiction recovery agency.
Sobieraski said he welcomes the chance to work where he lives. He wants to help equip and train the local deputies. He also said the department is small enough, where Sobieraski can spring into action and help on calls.
Drennan said he too would be visible and working on police calls.
The Nov. 3 election also includes retired Medina police investigator Don Organisciak, who is running as a Democrat. He hasn’t said publicly who would serve as his undersheriff.
By Kristina Gabalski, Correspondent Posted 19 October 2015 at 12:00 am
HOLLEY – The Community Free Library is planning an upcoming survey to find out how people in their circulation area get information.
Library Board President Barb Kerns last week advised the Holley Village Board of the survey. Kerns explained to trustees that the library officials want to use tax money efficiently and the survey will help them to do that.
“Sometimes we have programming with more people than we can cope with, sometimes no one shows up,” she said. “We want to have programming people want and will attend.”
Kerns said those who complete and return the surveys will be entered into a drawing to receive a $50 Walmart gift card.
The survey will be conducted during the month of November with a Dec. 5 deadline to return surveys, Kerns said. She explained that the library is placing surveys and return boxes in local restaurants and community newsletters and asked the board if surveys could be placed in the next village mailing.
Village Attorney John Sansone recommended that the survey not be placed in a village mailing because the village has never included flyers from non-profits in mailings in the past, and that doing so would set a “dangerous precedent.”
Trustees offered advice and assistance regarding having the survey placed in local publications, placing e-surveys via social media and passing along surveys to the Office for the Aging.
Kerns thanked board members for their suggestions and said she would return to share information garnered from the survey. She noted the local library provides a fantastic source of information for residents.
“Local taxpayers have always provided support and we feel sad when they don’t know about something,” she said.
Kerns added that a second survey is planned in January regarding the perception of library programs and services.
In other business last week, board members unanimously passed a resolution approving the lease of space at the Police Department to the Holley Joint Fire District. Under the agreement, the Holley Joint Fire District will lease office space and two bays at the Police Department on Thomas Street.
The lease has been approved by both the Village Board and the Fire District and the resolution passed Tuesday gives the Board of Trustees’ consent to enter into a lease for the space and authorizes Mayor John Kenney, Jr. to sign the lease.
Contributed Story Posted 18 October 2015 at 12:00 am
Provided photo, Medina Mustang Band
MEDINA – While it was a chilly night in Victor on Saturday, the Medina Mustang Band was hot! Medina took first place in the SS1 class with a score of 84.75, followed by East Irondequoit, second with 80.35.
Medina Band Director Jim Steele commented that “the kids once again did a fantastic job on Saturday regardless of less than stellar weather conditions. They worked hard all week and the reward was a great performance again this weekend. We are looking forward to continuing our journey together to represent the community and our school at the State Championships on Nov. 1. Regardless of outcome this has been one of my most rewarding years of teaching marching band in Medina. Great kids, great instructors and great band parents and supporters, who could ask for more!”
Next Saturday the band competes in Orchard Park before heading for the Dome in Syracuse on Sunday, Nov. 1.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 October 2015 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Randy Bower speaks during the Republican fall rally on Saturday night at the Ridgeway fire hall. Bower won the Republican Primary on Sept. 10.
RIDGEWAY – Randy Bower, the Republican candidate for Orleans County sheriff, addresses 250 people on Saturday night during the Republican fall rally at Ridgeway fire hall.
Bower discussed some of the goals he has for the Sheriff’s Office, including a drug treatment program in the county jail, and stepped up sheriff’s patrols for Kendall and Lyndonville schools and rural businesses.
“It’s the people of Orleans County that we work for,” Bower told the Republican crowd.
He also wants a deputy assigned to help with animal control calls, and Orleans County dispatchers to have access to video links inside the schools. (School superintendents would be notified if the Sheriff’s Office was using those video links, Bower said.) The access to see what’s happening in the schools could speed up a law enforcement response in an emergency or crisis.
The jail is the largest division of the Sheriff’s Office with 30 corrections officers, two cooks and a jail superintendent. The jail can peak with 80 inmates inside the facility on Platt Street in Albion. Many of the inmates have drug problems, which often fuels their other crimes, Bower said.
Providing the inmates with treatment will make them less likely to commit more crimes when they get out of jail, and also will help them to regain control of their lives, Bower said.
Bower, a dispatcher for the county for nearly 30 years, said he would push the state for funding of the drug treatment program. He believes state officials could be convinced to make Orleans County a pilot program for such an effort.
He said he would push for local, state and federal dollars to ensure the Sheriff’s Office has the personnel and equipment to do serve the public in Orleans County.
Bower pushed for the Republican endorsement last spring, but committee members in a close vote picked Tom Drennan, the chief deputy, as the Republican candidate for sheriff.
Bower forced a primary, and has campaigned with Chris Bourke, a lieutenant in the Sheriff’s Office, as Bower’s undersheriff choice if Bower is elected. Many of the deputies also are backing Bower, and have been visible wearing red shirts for Bower during community parades and other events. (Many Bower supporters also cheered and applauded loudly while he went through some of his goals for the Sheriff’s Office on Saturday night.)
Drennan lost the primary by 21 votes, 1,671 to 1,650. He is staying in the race under the Independence and Reform lines.
Bower, in addition to the Republican line, has been endorsed by the Conservative Party.
The Nov. 3 election includes a third candidate: retired Medina police investigator Don Organisciak, who is running as a Democrat.
Bower urged Republicans to unite behind his candidacy and keep the Sheriff’s Office under the leadership of a Republican.
Bower addressed the group from a stage in the firehall. Two high school students lifted him to the stage in his wheelchair. Bower has been paralyzed from the waist down since a car accident when he was 18.
“This wheelchair is just a perception,” he told the Republican crowd. “I can do anything I want.”
Bower, in a previous interview, said he lives a blessed life with his wife Robin and their two grown children: Jessica and Jacob. In addition to working as a dispatcher, he has been a member of the Sheriff’s Department’s Off-Road Patrol from 1992-1998, riding all-terrain vehicles to help locate missing persons, stolen property and respond to other situations.
Bower wants to be sheriff because he said he has the leadership skills, vision and communication skills to run the department and serve the public.
