By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 August 2015 at 4:55 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Four people have been taken to the hospital following a two-car accident at one of Albion’s most dangerous intersections.
The accident happened about 3:40 p.m. at the Gaines Basin Road and Albion-Eagle Harbor Road intersection, the scene of fatal collisions in the past.
The passenger in one of the vehicles was trapped, and Albion firefighters needed to remove the windshield and top of the car to free the person, who was then taken by Mercy Flight helicopter.
Central Orleans Volunteer Ambulance transported two people and Medina Fire Department ambulance took another. No other information is available.
After this accident, first responders were also dispatched to a two-car accident on Route 31A in Albion between Lewis and Culver roads, and an accident on Ridge Road in the Town of Murray near Ridge Mobile Estates.
MEDINA – Medina Memorial Hospital, which was recently highlighted in a report by The Buffalo News for a high rate of hospital-acquired infections, has significantly reduced those health care-associated infections, hospital officials said today.
“I am proud of our staff efforts and the very significant 71.4 percent decrease in infections,” said Wendy Jacobson, President/CEO of Orleans Community Health, parent organization of Medina Memorial. “We work diligently every day to provide the best possible patient experience in all aspects of their stay with us.”
A national ranking by Consumer Reports of acquired infections at hospitals put Medina Memorial Hospital far below average in preventing five infections, based on data from October 2013 through September 2014.
The Buffalo News reported on that data, and said Medina’s infection rate was the highest of 13 hospitals in Western New York.
The data generated an intensive performance improvement review to identify the source of the high numbers, Medina Memorial officials said.
One key finding was that patients entering the hospital with an existing infection did not have blood tests ordered on the day of admission but on the second or third day. This resulted in the infections being reported as a hospital acquired infections, even though they were not, Medina Memorial said in a news release today.
The hospital’s infection control protocol was reviewed. This includes the use of standardized protocols, performing blood cultures on admission to identify and begin treatment of exiting infections, following correct hand-washing procedures, cleaning of equipment such as blood pressure cuffs etc. between patients, the types of disinfectant being used, staff and patient education, and ongoing monitoring.
“We have taken an aggressive approach to infection control,” says Karrie Mikits, registered nurse and infection control manager. “It has resulted in a very significant 71.4 percent decrease in hospital acquired infections. We changed our approach to doing blood cultures on admission, changed to a more effective type of disinfectant being used to clean equipment, improved communication with staff and physicians, and increased staff education and accountability. I also communicate with the wonderful staff at the Orleans County Health Department as needed.”
File photo by Tom Rivers – Congressman Chris Collins, right, visits with Captain Jonathan Higgins at the Medina Fire Department on May 8. Collins announced today the department will receive $77,837 for equipment.
MEDINA – The Medina Fire Department has been approved for a $77,837 grant for new fire hoses, nozzles and a thermal imaging camera.
Congressman Chris Collins (R-Clarence) announced the funding for Medina, as well as a $160,000 grant for the Naples Fire Department. The grants were allocated through the Department of Homeland Security Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, which is designed to help first responders improve their capability to respond to fires and emergencies of all types.
“Providing the necessary funding for our first responders is an excellent and prudent use of federal money,” Collins said. “Our local heroes need the proper resources to do their jobs and protect our communities. Many small fire companies and emergency medical service providers are unable to purchase necessary equipment upgrades due to financial limitations.”
Collins said the funds will help “create more efficient and effective first responders.”
Medina will replace hoses and nozzles that are 25 years old, said Jonathan Higgins, a captain with the department.
“The fire department will add a thermal imaging camera on our first due fire engine that could be used to locate trapped victims or firefighters in structure fire and has a multitude of uses in the fire service,” Higgins said. “This equipment will enhance our ability to provide better protection to the residents in our community as well as the surrounding towns and villages. The Village of Medina Fire Department would like to thank Congressman Chris Collins for his assistance in securing this grant for our community and our fire department.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 21 August 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – The east side of Bullard Park has tents, picnic tables and the home stretch ready for Saturday’s Metro 10 race that starts at 10 a.m. A party with bands, food and wine-tastings will follow at Bullard Park.
ALBION – The inaugural Metro 10 race to determine whether Rochester or Buffalo has the best running community includes a formula with four categories to determine the winner.
Race directors Brian Krieger and Thom Jennings brainstormed the 10-mile race, pitting runners in the two metro areas. The winning city will get a trophy cup and bragging rights for a year.
The race directors have a formula so every finisher scores points for their team – either Rochester or Buffalo. That way it’s not just the elite runners that count for points.
This sign will post updates on the average finishing time for each city until the race concludes at 1 p.m.
The formula includes the average overall team time for each city. Slower runners needn’t worry that they will hurt their team by running. Because participation points count more than average time. The team with the most runners scores the most participation points in the second category.
There are 10,000 total points up for grabs, and the fastest man and fastest woman will score 100 points for their city.
There will also be age group points for 19 and under, and then age groups in five-year increments up to age 80. The top 20 finishers in each age group will score points for their city with the age group category.
The data will all be tabulated to determine the winning city, and keeper of the Metro 10 Cup until next year’s race.
By Kristina Gabalski, Correspondent Posted 20 August 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Kristina Gabalski
KENDALL – Kendall Board of Education members and school administrators toured the Jr./Sr. High School on Wednesday evening. The school is receiving major renovations, including a new cafeteria with a wall a windows.
Kendall school officials look at exterior work on the Jr./Sr. High School. New PVC roofing is being installed as well as metal panels which will update the look of the facade.
Work in the school includes new placement of the main corridor and refurbishing of other corridors which now feature bright white and blue tile and flooring.
The bright blue and white color scheme continues in classrooms. This is a middle school classroom featuring a bright blue wall to contrast with the white walls in the rest of the room.
A water fountain in the Jr./Sr. High school features a spot to fill water bottles.
New public restrooms just off the cafeteria feature intricate tile work in Kendall School colors.
The district is planning an open house for parents, students and other community members at the Jr./Sr. High School on Sept. 3 from 4 to 7:30 pm.
The event includes a Sports Boosters’ Chicken BBQ. Kendall band and chorus students will provide entertainment and tours/locker setup/meet and greet teachers and administrators will be from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 August 2015 at 12:00 am
Brian Kent begins gasoline-free trip on Monday
Provided photo – Brian Kent is pictured with his 2013 Nissan LEAF. He is planning a 100-day cross-country trip in the vehicle, planting a tree in 48 states along the way.
ALBION – Brian Kent will embark on a cross-country trip on Monday, the beginning of a 26,000-mile trip over 100 days. He plans to plant a tree in 48 states as part of a negative carbon road trip.
Kent, 44, wants to shatter myths about electric cars, that they are unreliable for a long journey. He will charge up along the way, using those stops to talk with people and share his mission for more earth-friendly transportation.
Kent lives in Batavia. He grew up in Albion and will start his trip from the home of his parents, Gary and Grace Kent, on Allens Bridge Road.
Kent bought his 2013 Nissan LEAF in December 2013. He has logged about 28,000 miles on it. The vehicle has a range of 84 miles before it needs a charge.
“People have such misconceptions about these cars,” Kent said today. “The vast majority of households could use them. You could be driving a very economical, efficient and reliable vehicle.”
He has sponsors for the trip, including Kampgrounds of America. He will plant a tree at a KOA site in 46 states. With no KOA in Rhode Island or Delaware, Kent is working with local governments in those two states to plant a tree.
The freelance writer believes his trip will more than double the world record for the longest trip in an electric car without solar power.
“These vehicles can accomplish long road trips,” he said.
A photo from the dashboard of Kent’s car.
Kent wants to educate and show the public what is possible with an electric vehicle, including the accessibility of plug-in vehicle charging. He plans to charge his Nissan LEAF in city centers and campgrounds.
He will blog along the way, highlighting successes and some inevitable challenges. (Click here to see his blog.)
Kent said his tree-planting will remove 10 times as much carbon dioxide as he put into the atmosphere as part of the 26,000-mile trip. He said one tree sequesters about one ton of CO2 in its first 40 years. Planting 48 trees will remove about 48 tons of C02 over 40 years.
The electricity needed to drive a Nissan LEAF 26,000 miles would account for about 4.8 tons of C02 emitted.
Besides Kampgrounds of America, Kent is partnering with Michelin, Plug in America, National Drive Electric Week, EV Charge Hub, Clean Technica, Inside EVs, and The Green Optimistic for the educational trip.
Kent is planning to touch all capital cities in the lower 48 states. He will average 262 miles each day until the trip concludes on Dec. 2.
“I believe it’s incumbent upon those of us familiar with plug-in vehicles to spread the word as best we can,” he said. “Not everyone can or needs to drive across the country, but most Americans drive less than 40 miles per day, and an electric vehicle costs the equivalent of less than a dollar-per-gallon of gasoline to drive, so these cars are ideal for most Americans and we need them for our environment and our children’s future.”
Kent set a $2,500 fund-raising goal for the trip, and already has exceeded that. Click here for more information.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 August 2015 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – A truck hauling apples travels on Main Street in Medina on Tuesday evening.
A flash flood watch is in effect for Orleans County and Western New York today, beginning at 8 a.m. through this evening.
The National Weather Service says a strong storm system over the upper Great Lakes will bring warm and moist gulf moisture northwards into the lower Great Lakes region in advance of a slow-moving cold front. This will result in showers and thunderstorms with torrential downpours, which may result in localized flooding, the Weather Service says.
The weather will be sunny for the weekend with highs of 74 on Friday, 75 on Saturday and 78 on Sunday, according to the Weather Service.
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today directed New York State Police to ramp up enforcement efforts as part of a national crackdown on impaired driving.
The 20-day campaign, Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over, runs from Aug. 21 to Sept. 7 (Labor Day) and is aimed at significantly reducing deaths and injuries caused by motorists driving drunk or impaired by drugs. The New York State Police, together with the important work of local law enforcement, will be vigilant in screening for impaired drivers.
“Driving drunk is both reckless and selfish, and we have seen too far too many avoidable tragedies that occurred after someone got behind the wheel when they shouldn’t have,” Cuomo said. “I urge all New Yorkers to drive responsibly, and want everyone to know that impaired driving will not be tolerated in this state.”
The Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee 2014 annual report found that while the number of alcohol-related crash injuries were down in New York State by nearly 800 over a five-year period starting in 2009, 364 people were killed in such crashes in 2013 and about 30 percent of New York’s crash fatalities are alcohol-related.
Additionally, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 10,076 people were killed nationwide in crashes involving a driver with a blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 percent or higher 2013.
In New York State, .08 percent BAC is the legal threshold for driving while intoxicated, but many offenders are arrested at nearly twice that level: statewide, the average BAC of those arrested for alcohol-impaired driving is more than .14.
Alcohol, however, is just one substance contributing to traffic fatalities. Drugs other than alcohol, such as marijuana and cocaine, are a factor in about 18 percent of motor vehicle driver deaths, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says.
By Kristina Gabalski, Correspondent Posted 20 August 2015 at 12:00 am
Contractors have been busy at Elementary School
Photos by Kristina Gabalski
KENDALL – Kendall Jr./Sr. High School Principal Carol D’Agostino, left, and Board of Education President Nadine Hanlon see some of the improvements to the Kendall Elementary School Cafeteria, including new flooring.
Students at Kendall Central School will return to school next month to buildings that have received extensive makeovers as part of a $25 million capital project.
The project includes new roofs for both school buildings, as well as energy efficient improvements, heating and ventilation work, and updated security measures. Both sites will also see improvements to parking lots and sidewalks.
Members of the Kendall Central School District Board of Education and administrators toured both school buildings Wednesday evening following the regular school board meeting to see how the capital project is progressing just weeks before school opens. Here, Project Manager Vince Donowski shows them work being done in the District Office located in the elementary school.
An eagle on the second-story facade of Kendall Elementary School overlooks construction materials in the front yard. Part of the Capital Improvement Project includes work on the front entry steps and stone. This photo was taken from the second-story library.
Shiny new tile brightens up a hallway in the Kendall Elementary School. Work this month at the school has included ceilings, casework, painting, flooring, HVAC equipment connections, equipment placement and assembly in the basement and boiler rooms, grading and paving of the parking lot, skylights and front entry foundations.
In addition to duct cleaning, asbestos abatement, ceiling and floor replacement and painting, work in the Elementary School also included some restoration. District officials decided to keep the original wood entry doors which have been refinished.
Orleans Hub will post photos from the Junior-Senior High School later today.
That school was built in 1971 in an “open classroom” model that didn’t include contained classrooms. The school included partitions to try to reduce noise and hallway distractions. The capital project gives all the classrooms four walls and their own door.
The district will have an open house for the community on Sept. 3 to tour the renovated Junior/Senior High School.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 August 2015 at 12:00 am
Bower and his supporters believe they are poised to pull off upset
Photos by Tom Rivers – Randy Bower meets with about 100 of his backers and campaign team members on Wednesday night at St. Mary’s Athletic Club in Albion.
ALBION – Randy Bower’s campaign to be the next Orleans County sheriff may have appeared over on May 7.
That night, the Orleans County Republican Committee endorsed Tom Drennan to be the next sheriff, succeeding Scott Hess who is retiring on Dec. 31. About 70 members of the committee gave about 60 percent of the group’s support to Drennan.
There was speculation that Bower, a county dispatcher the past 29 years, would drop out of the race. He already had the Conservative endorsement, but many wondered if he would buck the Republican Party leaders and force a primary.
Bower refused to back off. He submitted Republican petitions signed by more than 900 people, well above the 525 threshold to force the primary.
“The energy has been phenomenal,” Bower, 50, said after a meeting with about 100 campaign supporters at St. Mary’s Athletic Club in Albion.
Bower has gained a following on the campaign, impressing his supporters with his energy in going to so many community events and talking to residents regardless of their background, from political party affiliation to socioeconomic status.
“I’ve seen him a lot more than his opponent,” said Bill Francis of Albion, who attended a rally for Bower on Wednesday night at St. Mary’s. “He’s thought this through from the get-go.”
Randy Bower speaks with his campaign supporters at St. Mary’s with about three weeks to go before the Republican Primary.
Francis chatted with Bower at the Lyndonville Fourth of July Parade. Bower had a booth after the parade and gave Francis one of the red “Bower for Sheriff” T-shirts. More than 300 people have those shirts and Francis said he is proud to wear it.
“You want my vote, you have to come talk to me,” Francis said.
Bower has been paralyzed from the waist down since a car accident at age 18. Francis has a daughter Erica, 25, who is legally blind and deaf. He sees a determination in his daughter to not let her disabilities keep her from an active life.
“Just like my daughter, Randy lets nothing bother him or hold him back,” Francis said.
Bower talks about living a “blessed life” with his wife Robin and their children: Jessica, 23; and Jacob, 20.
He is running to be sheriff to build a strong team in the Sheriff’s Department that he said will focus on service to residents, from stepping up road patrols by Lyndonville and Kendall schools, to timely delivery of civil papers to pushing for state-funded drug and alcohol addiction programs for inmates in the county jail.
Bower thanked his campaign team for their help the past few months, and then gave them more instructions before the primary on Sept. 10.
Bower has been campaigning with Chris Bourke, a 31-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department, who would serve as undersheriff if Bower is elected. Bourke has been a lieutenant the past 18 years and a K-9 handler.
(Besides the primary, there is a general election on Nov. 3 and the Democratic Party has endorsed Don Organisciak, who worked 30 years in Medina, with 16 years as a patrolman, then a year as a sergeant and the final 13 years as the Medina Police Department’s first full-time criminal investigator. Both Bower and Drennan have other lines for the general election with Bower backed by the Conservative Party and Drennan picking up the Independence Party line.)
Bower has attended numerous community events, from chicken barbecues at churches to big community parades.
He has 700 campaign signs out on yards, bold red signs with the sheriff star. At least 300 people are wearing “Randy Red,” the bright red shirts that say “Bower for Sheriff.”
Randy Bower urges his supporters to keep wearing their red “Bower for Sheriff” shirts and work to get out more campaign signs.
He has the support of the Deputy Sheriffs Association, and the union for corrections officers and other civilian staff. Each of those unions has given $2,000 towards his campaign.
“They have been tireless in their efforts,” Amy Jenks, a member of the Deputy Sheriffs Association, said about Bower and Bourke. “If they are working this hard campaigning, imagine what they could do for the county if they win the election.”
Bower said the support within the department, plus the community has him optimistic he will win the Republican primary on Sept. 10.
His father, George Bower, was an Orleans County legislator for more than two decades, and won more than 10 county-wide elections.
“I’ve been very impressed,” George Bower said about his son. “He is surrounded by a lot of good people. He goes to the chicken barbecues and talks to the people. He has a great personality and he is a great kid, and he has been like that since he was 18.”
Randy Bower said voter turnout will be the key for the primary. He and his key supporters will be reaching out to Republicans to get out the vote on Sept. 10.
“This is the first time I can remember a contested sheriff’s election with this kind of energy,” Bower told his supporters.
He showed no signs of exhaustion from the pace of the campaign.
“Throughout this whole time, we’ve thoroughly enjoyed this job and being with the people of Orleans County,” he said.
Drennan has been chief deputy in the Sheriff’s Department the past nine years. He has worked in the department for 23 years. He has a campaign event on Aug. 27 at the Albion Elks Club. Orleans Hub plans to stop by and talk with Drennan and his supporters.
