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.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 14 July 2015 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – This photo shows a tugboat reflected in the Erie Canal in Albion last week on a tranquil evening.
A flash flood watch has been issued today from noon to midnight for Orleans County and most of Western and Central New York.
The National Weather Service says scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms will develop across the region this afternoon through evening.
“The storm will be heavy rain producers and will track slowly or even become nearly stationary by later this afternoon,” the Weather Service said. “Excessive rainfall produced by localized heavy rainfall will result in rapid rises on small streams and creeks in addition to poor drainage areas.”
The Weather Service advises residents to be prepared to act quickly and get to higher ground if the storms produce prolonged heavy rainfall.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 July 2015 at 12:00 am
Jordan Gailey
A Medina High School graduate was killed in a hit-and-run accident on early Sunday morning in South Carolina.
Jordan Gailey, 29, was walking along U.S. 17-A in Summerville when he was struck around 3 a.m. on Sunday. The driver fled the scene.
The South Carolina Highway Patrol is asking for the public’s help in investigating the fatal hit-and-run accident. Police do not information on the type or color of vehicle that was involved.
Gailey grew up in Orleans County and was working in construction. He recently moved to Summerville.
He was known as a free spirit and his fun-loving ways, a family member said this morning. Gailey’s Facebook page includes many tributes from his friends, saying he was unforgettable as the life of a party.
After being struck by the vehicle on Sunday, Gailey died about seven hours later at the Medical University of South Carolina Hospital in Charleston.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 July 2015 at 12:00 am
ALBION – An Albion teen who was part of a burglary at a village home last summer was sentenced to 1 to 3 years in state prison today.
Orleans County Court Judge James Punch granted youthful offender for the 18-year-old, meaning his record is sealed and his name shouldn’t be disclosed publicly.
The teen admitted in court in May he entered a house on West Park Street without permission, caused damage in the house and stole from the owner on Aug. 18.
As part of sentencing today, the teen was ordered to pay $3,262 in restitution to the homeowner and insurance company.
The teen faced a charge of second-degree burglary, which carries a maximum of 15 years in state prison. But in a plea agreement in May, he pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree burglary which carries a maximum of 1 1/3 to 4 years in state prison with youthful offender status.
The teen’s attorney, Michael O’Keefe, asked for a sentence of Probation. He said the teen “has every intention of paying back” the restitution.
The teen apologized to the victims and for his “bad choices.”
Another defendant in the case was already sentenced to six months in jail.
The family that was victimized by the crime wrote compelling letters about how the crime traumatized the household, which includes young children, District Attorney Joe Cardone said.
Judge Punch said the crime warranted state prison.
“You violated the sanctity of the victims’ home,” the judge said, calling the damage “wanton destruction.”
In other cases in court today:
A Medina woman was sentenced to weekends in jail over the next 60 days.
Amanda L. Major, 24, admitted in a previous court appearance she had cocaine with the intent to sell it at her residence on Starr Street in Medina on Jan. 14. She pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree, a charge that carries a maximum of 2 ½ years in state prison.
Major is a first-time offender. She has a full-time job and is in treatment at the Genesee-Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse.
“She has made significant changes in her life,” O’Keefe, her attorney, said at sentencing.
Major will also be on Probation for five years.
“I don’t want to see you wind up in prison,” Punch told her. “You’re pretty close to being there right now.”
An Albion man pleaded guilty to felony driving while intoxicated and faces a maximum of 1 to 3 years in state prison as part of a plea deal.
Jeremy Smith, 30, of Lydun Drive admitted in court to DWI and driving without a license on Jan. 19, 2015, when he was in an accident while driving. He said he had been drinking beer before the accident.
Without the plea, he could have faced a maximum of 4 years in prison for the DWI.
Smith has a prior felony DWI in 2006 and a prior misdemeanor DWI in 2002.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 July 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Volunteers with the Albion Merchants Association handed out free bottles of water and also had some local merchandise for sale this morning when 600 cyclists passed through Albion on the 17th annual “Cycling the Erie Canal” bike tour.
Merchants President Carolyn Ricker, left, is pictured with Amanda Wolford and Lisa Stratton at the welcome table. The Merchants and Pawlak’s Save-A-Lot paid for the free water for the cyclists.
Cyclists have name tags on their bikes as well as where they are from. There are participants from 36 states on the 400-mile ride that started Sunday in Buffalo and ends this Sunday in Albany.
The Village of Holley also had water and baked goods available for free for the cyclists at the Holley rest station along the canal. Mayor John Kenney secured donations for the items.
He has been part of Holley’s welcoming committee for the cyclists since 2003. He said he welcomes the chance to give the cyclists a favorable impression of Holley.
“We always stop to say ‘Hello’ to the people,” Kenney said. “We receive many, many compliments.”
Volunteers also gave cyclists rides on golf carts to the Holley Waterfalls and the Holley-Murray Historical Society Museum.
These cyclists stopped in Albion and were happy to see the lift bridge in action with a boat passing along the Erie Canal.
Sherri Swift takes a photo of the lift bridge in Albion. She is joined by her daughter, Cadence, who is only 2 and the youngest person on the tour. (She sits in a cart on one of the bikes.) The Swifts, along with Sherri’s husband Sean, came up from Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the bike journey.
“This is what we enjoy doing, getting out and experiencing cool stuff,” Mrs. Swift said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 July 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – James White, a candidate for Orleans County Legislature, speaks at a Democratic Party picnic on Sunday at Bullard Park in Albion.
ALBION – Democrats in Orleans County may be outnumbered by Republicans by 2-to-1, and Republicans may fill nearly all elected positions at the town and county level. But the Democrats say they are determined to give residents a choice on Election Day.
With a new election looming, the Democratic Party has three candidates running for county positions and welcomes more for town elections.
Three candidates for county positions – Donald Organisciak for sheriff, and Fred Miller and James White for county legislator – both thanked the Democratic Party for their support. They spoke during the Democrats summer picnic on Sunday at Bullard Park.
James White is only 21, a college student at D’Youville in Buffalo, majoring in business management with a minor in pre-law. White graduated from Lyndonville in 2012. He expects to be done at D’Youville next year and then plans to attend grad school.
He said the county desperately needs Democrats in the local government. He said one-party rule is leading to privatization of critical services, from home health care nurses to the county nursing home.
Fred Miller said the county would benefit from more political diversity on local municipal boards.
“I see a local government that is failing the taxpayers,” White said at Sunday’s Democratic Party picnic. “The privatization of public services can be very dangerous.”
White, a Gaines resident, is challenging incumbent Don Allport for an at-large seat on the Legislature.
White said he would push for ways to keep younger adults and also cater to senior citizens in the community. Those age groups often have discretionary income to help support local businesses and preserve neighborhoods.
“My generation is fleeing the county at a high rate,” White said. “We need to do something to retain this generation.”
White was working in a summer program that directed federal funds for local businesses and agencies to hire disadvantaged youths ages 16 to 21. He was at Cobblestone Country Federal Credit Union until he said he was terminated from the program by county officials, claiming his participation in the program violated the Hatch Act, which aims to keep federal employees from certain political activities.
White has since been hired by Tim Hortons in Albion. He said he is challenging the county’s Hatch Act determination, believing he was unjustly removed from the program. He said his termination came after he wrote a letter to the editor critical of the county’s selling of the nursing home.
Don Organisciak is running for sheriff of Orleans County.
“I’m not a quitter,” he said about fighting the Hatch Act determination.
White said he hopes he can inspire a new generation of young adults to be active in the community at the political level.
“My generation needs to step up,” he said.
Fred Miller, owner of an Albion hardware store, is the only Democrat on the seven-member County Legislature. He was elected in November 2013. He urged the party to work to get Democratic candidates elected.
“I hope you support newcomers,” Miller said. “We really need new people.”
Miller said he is fiscally conservative and not afraid to speak up.
“I’m a little on the frugal side,” Miller said. “I try to spend your money like it’s my own money.”
The Republican Party didn’t run a candidate against Miller. He started in local politics about 10 years ago, serving on the Albion Village Board. Fran Nayman, a long-time Democratic Party leader, urged Miller to run.
Nayman died in a fire in December at his small engine repair shop. Jeanne Crane, the current party chairwoman, said Nayman was a mentor to many Democrats and a generous donor to many of their campaigns.
Organisciak is retired from the Medina Police Department after a 30-year career. He noted he has the most experience in law enforcement of any candidate in the race. Randy Bower and Tom Drennan, both long-time employees in the Sheriff’s Department, are both running.
Bower, a county dispatcher, has the Conservative line and is forcing a Republican primary against Tom Drennan, the chief deputy who also has the Independence Party line.
Jeanne Crane, leader of the Orleans County Democratic Party, said candidates are welcome for town offices in the county.
Organisciak 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. Organisciak retired in June 2008 and would work two more years as the school resource officer for Lyndonville Central School.
He is currently a part-time school bus driver.
“If I’m elected I will be a working sheriff,” he said. “I’m not going to limit myself to being in the office all day.”
Organisciak said when he has been out campaigning some people were surprised the Democratic Party still existed in the county.
“We’re here and we’re alive,” he said at Sunday’s picnic.
The Board of Elections reports today that there are 9,991 registered Republicans in the county, 5,246 Democrats, 1,048 members of the Independence Party, and 530 Conservatives, as well as other members of minor parties. In addition, there are 4,686 unaffiliated voters or “blanks.”
Jeanne Crane, the party chairwoman, wants to provide an alternative and choices for voters with Democratic candidates.
The Democratic Party committees at the town levels are soliciting candidates for those races. The town committees will soon have their caucuses with candidates to be picked by mid-September. For more information, contact Crane at 737-6903.
Group heads east on Monday, through Albion and Holley
File photos – Some of the cyclists are pcitured in Albion last year, when they stopped at a welcome station.
The 17th annual “Cycling the Erie Canal” bike tour starts today with more than 600 cyclists leaving Buffalo and heading east on a 400-mile bicycling tour to Albany.
The cyclists will arrive in Medina today and will stay overnight in a “tent city” outside the middle school. On Monday morning, many of the riders will reach Albion before they head to Holley and head to Fairport.
The bike trek concludes next Sunday, July 19.
“The Erie Canal is truly an engineering marvel and along it are some of the most scenic examples of natural beauty in the entire state,” Governor Cuomo said in promoting the event. “I welcome the cyclists who are coming from far and wide to participate in this world-renown tour and encourage them to enjoy all that New York has to offer.”
The eight-day recreational bicycling tour will help highlight the beauty, history, culture and recreational appeal of the canal system and the Canalway Trail, popular tourism destinations in New York State. This year’s tour has attracted more than 600 cyclists from 36 states, as well as international participants from as far away as Australia.
Helen Zamboni of Avon, Livingston County, is pictured at “tent city” in Medina last year. The cyclists will again stay in tents outside the middle school tonight.
Roughly two-thirds of the 400-mile bicycle tour takes place on the completed portion of the Canalway Trail. When complete, the New York State Canalway Trail will span more than 500 miles and connect numerous cities, towns and villages along the Erie, Cayuga-Seneca, Oswego and Champlain Canals, making it one of the longest multi-use recreational trails in the country.
Participants will have the opportunity to partake in guided tours of the Canal, historic sites, museums, and attractions such as the Women’s Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls, the Montezuma National Wildlife refuge in Seneca Falls, Fort Stanwix National Monument in Rome, and the Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse.
“The New York State Canal Corporation is pleased to sponsor Cycling the Erie Canal,” said Canal Corporation Director Brian U. Stratton. “The Erie Canal is a beautiful and historical treasure not only to New York, but the entire country, as demonstrated by more than 600 participants from 36 states.”
Medina and Albion today are both hosting the “Traveling Troubadors,” a concert from a boat featuring The Old Hippies, a band from Batavia. Medina hosts the concert at 2 p.m. and then the band plays in Albion at 6 p.m.
Medina at 7 p.m. will also host a talk on canal history by Tom Grasso, president of the New York State Canal Society, at the middle school auditorium. The band, Pocket Change, will play at tent city from 7 to 9 p.m.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 July 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – These cyclists head down the Canal Towpath just before the lift bridge in Medina, where they turned to head towards the middle school.
There are about 600 cyclists staying in tents in Medina tonight before they head about 60 miles east on Monday to reach Fairport.
Today was Day 1 of an eight-day, 400-mile trek from Buffalo to Albany. This is the 17th annual “Cycling the Erie Canal” bike tour.
The cyclists were treated to a concert in Medina, a historical talk about the canal, and a chance to use the pool and showers at the middle school.
This year’s tour has attracted more than 600 cyclists from 36 states, as well as international participants from as far away as Australia.
Michael Della Rocco of Schenectady is on the bike trip for the first time. He has traveled the eastern end near Albany before, but today was his first time seeing the western end from Buffalo to Medina.
He enjoyed discovering some of the small cities and towns along the way.
The Medina community proved very welcoming, he said. Someone had a banner up near Marshall Road, welcoming the cyclists.
“The good part is you ride at your own pace,” said Della Rocco, a retiree. “It’s not a race. It’s very comfortable.”
Dick and Becka Swartzlander of Oil City, Pa., work together to set up their tent outside the middle school in Medina.
The couple was in Medina about three years ago for the Thomas the Tank Engine ride with their grandson and other family. That’s where they learned about the canal cycling trip.
They said they have been training for the long trip. They’ve enjoyed seeing some of the towns along the way and seeing a working canal with lift bridges and boats.
“It’s been real nice,” Mrs. Swartzlander said.
The cyclists should reach Albion early Monday morning before heading to Holley and eventually reaching Fairport.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 July 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – Members of the “Old Hippies” play a concert this afternoon in Medina’s Canal Basin. The group includes, from left: Vinny Pastore, Jim Catino, Kay McMahon and Bill McDonald.
McDonald set up a series of cocnerts along the canal that started Saturday and continue with a concert at 6 p.m. in Albion and another one in Holley at 6 p.m. on Monday.
The band plays from the top of a boat tied up by the Canal Basin by downtown Medina.
Vinny Pastore plays the violin during one of the songs. The band played Erie Canal-themed music as well as other songs.
The crowd watches the concert from the lawn at the Canal Basin.
About 100 people turned out for the concert, including some of the cyclists traveling the canal from Buffalo to Albany. Those cyclists are staying outside the Middle School in Medina in tents tonight before heading east through Albion and Holley to Fairport on Monday.
Kay McMahon and her husband Bill McDonald play from the top of a boat. The band is calling itself “The Traveling Towpath Troubadours” for the canal concert series.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 July 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – Panek Farms in Albion was selling these raspberries and other fruit and jams today at the new Canal Village Farmers’ Market.
The market opened today for the first time. It will be open every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Dawn Keppler of SK herefords in Shelby cuts some beef for a sample of the farm’s meat. This is the first time the farm is trying a farmers’ market.
“I’ve been pleasantly surprised,” Keppler said about the turnout. “We’ve got good feedback from people about our locally grown beef.”
The market is located in the parking lot at the corner of West Avenue and West Center Street, formerly used by a bank. The spot is located across from the U.S. Post Office.
This photo shows Bryan DeGraw of 810 Meadworks, left, and Cindy Robinson of the English Rose Tea Shoppe.
DeGraw said the market introduced many people to Meadworks.
“I love this village and I want to see it do well,” DeGraw said.
Jennifer Ohar Scott, an art instructor at Wide Angle Art Gallery, paints on site at the market today. The gallery sold art and also promoted upcoming classes.
Stymus Farms from Barre had fruits and vegetables for sale.
