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Long-time hair salon owner stays in the business with shop at her home

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 July 2015 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers – Norma Chambers opened a hair salon in her Shelby home last week at 4503 Mill St. She has been in the hair-cutting business for a half century.

SHELBY – Norma Chambers started cutting hair more than 50 years ago. She started at her small shop – “The Shelby Center House of Beauty.”

With a growing clientele, she moved the business to downtown Medina, changing the name of the business to “Clip Joint.” She started hiring people.

She was successful, and would own and operate five Clip Joint hair salons, with businesses in Medina, Albion, Holley, Middleport and Lockport.

Chambers, now 77, employed many people out of beauty school. That gave them the basics of the business, but Chambers said she worked with them to do more and really hone their skills.

“I trained people how to cut hair successfully,” she said today.

Norma Chambers isn’t ready to retire. She is pictured outside her home and the location for her hair salon.

She is semi-retired now, but still wants to cut hair. Chambers last week opened the Norma Chambers Buzz ‘en Cut. Her great-granddaughter, 9-year-old Nevaeh Mae Roberts, thought of the name for the business.

Chambers works out of her home at 4503 Mill St. She takes customers by appointment only.

“I can’t retire,” she said. “I’d rather work. It’s too much fun.”

Her daughter, Rita Scupien, worked at Clip Joints for about 30 years. She recently moved back to Shelby after living in Florida. She said her mother was a mentor to many women in the hair-cutting business.

Chambers enjoys the history of the Shelby community. She has collected some key artifacts, including this millstone from a former mill. She had a friend, the late Tony Kozody, move it to her house with a loader.

“She is a trusting ole’ soul who believes in people and wants to give them a chance,” Scupien said. “Because she went through some hard times herself, she was always willing to help the young girls. She is a very giving person.”

Chambers said she has made numerous friends through the years with so many customers.

“I love the people,” she said. “I like to make people look good.”

Chambers is available by appointment only. Call (585) 318-4561 for more information.

$2,500 in Strawberry Fest Race proceeds shared with community groups

Contributed Story Posted 15 July 2015 at 12:00 am

Provided photos from Albion Running Club

ALBION – The Albion Running Club organized the 25th anniversary run of the Strawberry Festival 5k/8k on June 13. There was a record-high turnout of 310 participants.

The Running Club shared $2,500 in proceeds with four local organizations. The club presented checks to those recipients recently.

Members of the race committee allowed non-for-profit organizations in Orleans County to apply for funds from the race proceeds. Seven organizations applied and four were selected by the race committee.

The top photo shows the Holley Youth Center, which received $500 for youth activities and trips. Pictured include, from left, Tina Meade of the Holley Youth Center, Brian Krieger from the Running Club, Cheryl Shaw from the Youth Center, John Steier of the race committee, and Deborah Rothmund from the Youth Center.

Care Net Pregnancy & Family Center received $750 towards marketing and promotion, a laptop, projector and screen. Care Net staff members Jocelyn Wilson and Sharon Sugar are pictured with Brian Krieger, member of the race committee and executive director of the Running Club.

Genesee-Orleans Ministry of Concern received $800 for items to support the Children/Youth E3 Team events. John Steier, a member of the race committee, is pictured with GOMOC staff members Jacki Mowers-Sciarabba and Jeff Post.

Orleans County Cornell Cooperative Extension received $450 for signage for an onsite walking and fitness trail. Pictured include Mark Moore from the race committee, Jennifer Wagester from the Cooperative Extension, and race committee members John Steier and Brian Krieger.

The race committee included Karen Krieger, Brian Krieger, Mark Moore, John Steier and Thom Jennings.

N-O legislators go to DC to fight Lake Ontario plan

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 July 2015 at 12:00 am

File photo by Tom Rivers – Lake Ontario splashes against the south shore in this photo from last August, taken at the shores of the Golden Hill State Park in Barker.

Two county legislators travelled to Washington, D.C. last week to meet with federal officials and argue against a new plan for regulating the water levels in Lake Ontario.

It’s unusual for county legislators from Orleans and Niagara counties to travel to the nation’s capital on official county business. But for Lynne Johnson of Orleans County and David Godfrey of Niagara, the issue demands every effort from the southshore counties that stand to lose valuable real estate and have fishing and tourism industries effected.

“We wanted to drive our point home that this will be devastating to the lakeshore,” Johnson said.

She and Godfrey represented the Niagara-Orleans Regional Alliance. They met with Department of State officials, as well as staff for U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. The two county legislators also met directly with U.S. Rep. Chris Collins, who arranged for a meeting with the Department of State.

The International Joint Commission regulates the lake water levels. It includes representation from both the U.S. and Canadian governments. The IJC has endorsed a plan that could lead to bigger fluctuations in lake levels. Many southshore county leaders fear higher water will erode private property and lower levels will leave marinas too shallow for boaters, hurting the fishing and recreational industries.

Johnson and Godgrey said they were armed with facts about the potential harm of the IJC plan. The six southshore counties from Niagara to Oswego have 10,025 parcels of lakefront land with a total assessed value of $3.7 billion. If they suffer a 10 percent loss, those communities would lose $370 million in value.

That difference would be spread to other property owners in the counties, raising their taxes, Johnson said.

“Everyone will suffer if we continue to take away properties on the lakeshore,” Godfrey said. “If the assessments are dropped because of this, we have to redistribute it to the other property owners in the county.”

The southshore fishing industry also generates about $100 million in economic impact annually. If that industry suffers, resulting in fewer sales tax and other revenue, that impact will have to be made up from other sources, Godfrey said.

He worries a higher lake will also swell inland streams, leading to more damage for those property owners.

A higher lake could also stir up radioactive waste in the town of Porter, Godfrey said. Radioactive waste material is buried near the shore with three feeder streams nearby, he said.

“If the lake levels fluctuate it will increase the draw and could flush it into the lake,” Godfrey said. “That’s very concerning to us.”

Collins spoke against the IJC plan during a news conference at Oak Orchard Harbor on July 2. He is working out another meeting in Washington with IJC and Department of State officials, Johnson said.

“On the heels of what I heard from local legislators and residents at last week’s press conference, it is clear this plan is not in the best interest of homeowners and other stakeholders along the Lake Ontario shoreline,” Collins said in a statement. “I am glad we had the opportunity to voice our concerns to the State Department, which is currently undergoing an interagency review of the IJC’s proposal. I remain committed to working with my colleagues in state and local government against its implementation.”

Collins and the county legislators say the plan goes against a binational treaty for the water levels that says no side of the lake should bear a “disproportional” harm from the water levels.

Johnson and Godfrey would like the IJC to continue the existing lake level management plan which dates back to the 1958.

“Our hope is in the end this goes nowhere,” she said about the new IJC plan. “We will continue to drive a nail into the coffin.”

Collins says Congressional Committee will investigate allegations against Planned Parenthood

Staff Reports Posted 15 July 2015 at 12:00 am

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Chris Collins (R-Clarence) today released the following statement after a video purportedly revealed Planned Parenthood’s senior director of medical services discussing the sale of fetal body parts.

“Human life is sacred and must be protected,” Collins said today, a day after news broke of the Planned Parenthood video. “Planned Parenthood’s gruesome monetization of unborn children is absolutely unacceptable. I will join with Chairman Upton and my colleagues at the Energy and Commerce Committee to immediately look into this matter.”

The House Energy and Commerce Committee, which Congressman Collins is a member, announced they would be holding an investigation into the video.

Eric Ferrero, Planned Parenthood’s vice president of communications, issued this statement about the video:

“In health care, patients sometimes want to donate tissue to scientific research that can help lead to medical breakthroughs, such as treatments and cures for serious diseases,” Ferrero said. “Women at Planned Parenthood who have abortions are no different. At several of our health centers, we help patients who want to donate tissue for scientific research, and we do this just like every other high-quality health care provider does – with full, appropriate consent from patients and under the highest ethical and legal standards. There is no financial benefit for tissue donation for either the patient or for Planned Parenthood. In some instances, actual costs, such as the cost to transport tissue to leading research centers, are reimbursed, which is standard across the medical field.

“A well funded group established for the purpose of damaging Planned Parenthood’s mission and services has promoted a heavily edited, secretly recorded videotape that falsely portrays Planned Parenthood’s participation in tissue donation programs that support lifesaving scientific research. Similar false accusations have been put forth by opponents of abortion services for decades. These groups have been widely discredited and their claims fall apart on closer examination, just as they do in this case.”

Hawley gives assemblyman from NYC tour of local district today

Staff Reports Posted 15 July 2015 at 12:00 am

ALBION – State Assemblyman Steve Hawley, R-Batavia, will give a colleague in the Assembly from New York City a tour of the local Assembly District today, visiting nursing homes, farms, Batavia Downs and other sites.

Hawley and Michael DenDekker, a Democrat from Queens, will tour various veterans affairs organizations. The lawmakers are conducting the tour to raise awareness of veterans’ needs across the state as well as allow representatives from downstate experience the unique rural aspects and farm life of Western New York residents.

DenDekker is chairman of the Assembly’s Veterans’ Affairs Committee and Hawley, a veteran of the Ohio Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserves, is ranking minority member of the committee.

“I look forward to this opportunity to highlight various veterans organizations as well as make New York State more inclusive and bridge the gap between upstate and downstate needs,” Hawley said. “My hope is that Assemblyman DenDekker leaves my district with a new perspective on Western New York life. Places like Batavia Downs and fruit and dairy farms offer unique experiences not found in New York City.”

Hawley and DenDekker are scheduled to visit the Batavia VA Medical Center, State Nursing Home/ Genesee County Veterans Administration in Batavia, Batavia Downs, Lamb Farms in Oakfield, The Villages of Orleans Health and Rehabilitative Center in Albion, Toussaint Farms in Medina and Western NY Energy in Medina.

Cuomo’s favorability drops below 50 percent for first time in new poll

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 July 2015 at 12:00 am

For the first time since he became governor in January 2011, Andrew Cuomo’s favorability among the public has dropped below 50 percent, according to a new Siena College poll.

The governor’s favorability numbers have fallen to 49 percent in favor and 44 percent not in favor in the latest poll. Cuomo’s favorability is 63-31 among Democrats and 36-62 among Republicans. Upstate residents give him a 40-58 favorability rating.

“For the first time as Governor – and the first time since June 2007 – Cuomo’s favorability rating dips below 50 percent,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said in a statement. “Similarly, it’s the first time 60 percent say he’s doing a fair or poor job as Governor, compared to less than 40 percent of voters rating his job as excellent or good. While voters give the Governor a positive – though not overwhelmingly strong – grade on his handling of the recent prison break and a mixed grade on making the state more business friendly, they give him negative grades on six other issues.”

Those six issues include improving the state’s economy, protecting New York City tenants’ rights, handling the 2015 legislative session, balancing upstate and downstate needs, improving the quality of public education, and reducing corruption in state government.

Cuomo does the worst with reducing corruption, according to the poll, with just 20 percent of voters giving him a positive rating, while 74 percent give him a negative rating.

This Siena Poll was conducted July 6-9 with phone calls to 802 New York State registered voters.

For more on the poll, click here.

Restorative effort underway at historic Print Shop

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 July 2015 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers

GAINES – A print shop from about a century ago is getting cleaned up with some new parts to be added to the old presses.

David Damico, a volunteer for the Cobblestone Museum, has been reorganizing the shop, which was built in 1875. It used to be in Medina, but was moved to the museum grounds on Route 98 in Gaines in the late 1977.

Damico lives in Le Roy. He also volunteers at the print shop at the Genesee Country Village in Mumford. Damico teaches graphic design and topography at Brockport State College.

The shop at the Cobblestone Museum has several cases of type.

Damico believes the shop dates to about 1910-1920, based on the type for printing and lettering, as well as the electricity for the shop and a phone on the wall.

The printing shop is like walking into a time capsule from a century ago. The site includes two printing presses from the late 1800s.

Damico is getting rollers, aprons and cleaning materials for the site that are appropriate for the time period of the shop.

A poster advertising a baseball game between Albion and Medina is on the wall in the shop. The game was to be played on Sept. 1, 1915 in Albion.

The building was constructed in the Second Empire style. It was built by William Hedley of Medina in the 1870s. Hedley purchased land on East Center Street in Medina, and also purchased land near the canal aqueduct. During that time period, Hedley owned and operated a saw mill, stone planing mill, a flour mill, and a machine shop, according to the Cobblestone Museum.

The print shop building was donated to the Cobblestone Museum in 1977 by Erling Maine.

For more on the historic buildings at the Cobblestone Museum, click here.

Damico wants to train volunteers on how to use the printing presses and equipment in the shop. He has a print shop in his basement with equipment from the 1920s.

County says no politics with Hatch Act on legislator candidate

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 14 July 2015 at 12:00 am

James White was in program fully paid with federal funds

James White speaks at Sunday’s Democratic Party picnic in Albion.

ALBION – James White, a candidate for Orleans County Legislature, believes the county pushed him out of a summer work program for youth based on his candidacy and some criticism of county officials.

White, 21, is running as a Democrat in a strongly Republican county. He says he was terminated from the summer youth program after officials told him he was in violation of the Hatch Act, which bars candidates who receive federal funds in their salaries from pursuing political office. The Act was revised in December 2012, to allow more candidates to run for office if they only receive a portion of their pay through federal funds.

County officials say White wasn’t targeted with the Hatch Act.

“This is not a political issue,” said Chuck Nesbitt, the county’s chief administrative officer. “This is a legal issue.”

White was receiving 100 percent of his pay through the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. That program allows youths from lower-income backgrounds to work at job sites with the federal government paying the salaries. Orleans County has youths working at 30 sites in the program. White was working at the Cobblestone Country Federal Credit Union in Albion.

When it became clear he was campaigning for Legislature, county officials told him last month he needed to either cease the campaign or give up the job in the federal program. The Hatch Act prevents “running for office in a partisan election” when the candidate is in a position 100 percent federally funded.

White spoke at Sunday’s Orleans County Democratic Party picnic at Bullard park in Albion. During an interview with Orleans Hub, he said he was terminated from the summer program because of the Hatch Act. White said he is seeking a legal opinion because he believes he was targeted by the county due to a letter to the editor critical of the sale of nursing home.

Nesbitt said White hasn’t been targeted. Nesbitt said the county would be exposed legally if White stayed in the program when he was in clear violation of the Hatch Act.

The county wants all candidates to be in compliance with the law and Hatch Act, Nesbitt said. To see guidelines for candidates about the Hatch Act, visit the Office of Special Counsel at https://osc.gov.

One county department head, Paul Fulcomer, is making a run for elected office. Fulcomer, director of Veterans Service Agency, is running for a spot on the Albion Town Board as a Republican.

Fulcomer’s office receives less than 10 percent of its funding from the federal government. County Attorney David Schubel and Nesbitt didn’t see Fulcomer’s candidacy in violation of the Hatch Act. Fulcomer also is planning to retire later this year.

Before the Hatch Act changes in December 2012, some county employees faced tough choices: whether to run for elected office or give up their jobs.

Chuck Kinsey is the former county computer services director. He wanted to run for Clarendon town justice, but his office received a small portion of its budget from the federal government. The county sought an opinion from the U.S. Office of Special Counsel about the Hatch Act, and that office said Kinsey would be violation of the act if he ran for judge and kept his county position, Nesbitt recalled this morning.

Kinsey ultimately opted against running for justice and kept his job. Kevin Sheehan faced a similar dilemma. He wanted to run for the Albion Village Board but he worked as a maintenance mechanic for the VA healthcare system in Batavia. He opted to keep his full-time job rather than run for the Village Board last year. His salary is 100 percent from the federal government.

White wasn’t terminated from the summer youth work program, Nesbitt said. White was given the option to either suspend the campaign or pull out of the program.

White chose to step put of the program. He has since been hired by Tim Hortons. He is entering his senior year at D’Youville College in Buffalo.

Medina celebrates panel by Canal Culvert, an architectural marvel

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 14 July 2015 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers

RIDGEWAY – The Medina Tourism Committee, State Canal Corp. and some passing cyclists celebrated a new interpretive panel on Monday morning explaining the Canal Culvert and other culverts along the Erie Canal system.

The panel is along the towpath on the north side of the Culvert.

Jim Hancock, chairman of the Medina Tourism Committee, said many cyclists, walkers and other canal users pass by the spot without realizing the remarkable culvert below.

The new panel draws attention to spot, the only place on the 363-mile-long canal where a road goes under the canal.

“This will let people know there is a significant architectural structure there,” Hancock said. “It’s one of a kind.”

Hancock helped organize the panel dedication on Monday. He wanted the event to express appreciation to the Canal Corp. for putting up the panel, and for also being a good caretaker of the nearly 200-year-old manmade waterway.

“We just wanted to say , “Thank you,'” Hancock said.

Here are some highlights of the panel, which also includes information on other culverts on the canal:

The panel notes the original culvert in Medina was dismantled in 1854 and rebuilt the following year. It was further upgraded in 1895.

Medina doesn’t have the only significant culvert on the canal system.

Towns of Albion and Gaines will share code enforcement officer

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 14 July 2015 at 12:00 am

ALBION – The towns of Albion and Gaines have struck a deal to share the same code enforcement officer. Dan Strong, the current Albion codes officer, will remain a full-time Albion employee, working 30 hours a week for Albion.

In addition to that, he will work 10 hours for Gaines, with Gaines contributing to his pay in Albion. Both Town Boards have approved the arrangement in a six-month pilot, effective July 1. The Albion Town Board gave the final OK on Monday.

Gaines will contribute $9,400 to Strong’s salary and benefits for last six months of 2015.

Carol Culhane, the Gaines town supervisor, said the arrangement works well for both towns. Gaines has been looking to fill the position since last year. Strong has been working for Gaines on a temporary basis while the town sought a longer-term solution.

“The code enforcement officer takes a great deal of training,” Culhane said. “We had trouble finding someone who was qualified that you don’t have to put mega dollars into training.”

Strong is already trained and knows the community well.

Albion benefits with some added revenue to help pay for the code enforcement officer’s salary and benefits.

Matt Passarell, the Albion town supervisor, said he is looking to cooperate with local governments to maintain services and reduce costs for taxpayers.

“The old ways of doing things you don’t just keeping doing,” he said.