State Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R-Batavia) said he is committed to ethics reform and preventing future abuses of power in Albany. While the Republicans in the Assembly have pushed for ethics reforms for years, Assembly Majority members are now hypocritically trying to use this opportunity to protect their own reputations and mislead constituents, Hawley said in a news release today.
“I have continuously sponsored and worked to draw public attention to legislation that would have prevented the abuses of power and public trust that we have seen the last couple years,” Hawley said. “It is extremely hypocritical for members of the Assembly Majority to be calling for these reforms when they blocked this legislation from coming to the floor for a vote mere months ago.”
Hawley’s comments come after media has been pressing members of the Legislature to pass sweeping ethics reforms in the wake of Speaker Silver’s arrest on corruption charges.
Hawley sponsored legislation first introduced in 2013 that would have stripped pension and retirement benefits from public officials convicted of certain felonies. He also sponsors the Public Officer’s Accountability Act which would impose term limits on legislative leaders and create new crimes against the public trust and failing to report corruption, among other things.
“Recent events have proven that narcissism and blind loyalty take precedent over doing what is ethical for many members of the Assembly. We were told that Speaker Silver would not cause a distraction from normal daily operations, but that has clearly not been the case. We are now approaching four weeks since session opened and we have not passed a single piece of legislation. It speaks very little of the representatives comprising the Assembly Majority that they are just now catching on to these common sense ethics reforms.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 February 2015 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – The traffic light at the intersection of Main and State streets stands out in a snowstorm on Monday.
The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm advisory from 10 p.m. today through 4 a.m. on Thursday when another 4 to 8 inches is forecast to fall on Orleans and several other counties, including Niagara, Erie, Genesee, Wyoming, Chautauqua and Cattaraugus.
The Weather Services says 1 to 2 inches will fall tonight, 1 to 3 inches on Wednesday and another 2 to 3 inches Wednesday night.
“A prolonged period of accumulating snow will result in snow-covered and slippery roads,” the Weather Service said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 February 2015 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – The renderings for the proposed Family Dollar in Medina were on display at the Village Planning Board meeting tonight in City Hall.
MEDINA – The Village Planning Board gave final approval tonight for a new 8,320-square-foot Family Dollar on Maple Ridge Road.
Construction is expected to start in the spring and the new store could open in the fall, said Andy Hart, project manager in civil engineering with Bergmann Associates. Hart met with the Village Planning Board tonight to go over the site plan, which was approved unanimously following several months of review.
Family Dollar will need to work with the state Department of Transportation and utility companies for site work and infrastructure at the site before the building construction can start.
Planning Board Chairman Chris Busch said he was pleased with the final design of the store, which will have a brick appearance and black trim to give the building a more classic look.
Busch has seen other dollar stores in other communities that resemble block and steel pole barns. Medina has design standards for new construction in the commercial and business districts.
“That will be a very nice looking Family Dollar,” Busch said after the board approved the project.
The Planning Board also issued a negative declaration on the project, saying it won’t have an adverse environmental impact.
The site will have 28 parking spaces, and include trees and other landscaping improvements, Busch said,
Family Dollar will move out of the Tops Plaza and go about ½ mile east to a site across from Tim Hortons.
The Durban Group, which is based in North Carolina, is managing the building project at 11300 Maple Ridge Rd. The project includes a 25-foot-high pylon sign and connection into the village’s sewer system.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 February 2015 at 12:00 am
Orleans welcomed Frederick Douglass, Underground Railroad and freed slaves
Photos by Tom Rivers – Dee Robinson, a historian, shares a lecture today at the Hoag Library on early black history in Orleans County. The program was part of a Black History Month celebration.
ALBION – Orleans County was a stronghold for the abolition movement, as churches broke free from more conservative congregations to press freedom for slaves.
Schools urged students to favor the cause, and even welcomed a black student at the Albion Academy, decades before the Civil War.
Residents served as conductors on the Underground Railroad and they refused to follow the Fugitive Slave Act, defying the law that said runaway slaves needed to be returned to their owners.
Dee Robinson, the Gaines town historian, discussed the county’s anti-slavery leanings during a history talk today at Hoag Library.
“Albion schools have always been integrated,” Robinson said.
The Albion Academy used to stand on the East and West Academy Street block. The building was knocked down for a bigger Grammar School, which is now used as senior citizen apartments and the Meals on Wheels program.
When it was the Albion Academy, the school was part of the Underground Railroad, Robinson said. The school superintendent would keep blacks in a back room and would deliver them food during the day through a back staircase. At night, they would move to another stop on the Underground Railroad, perhaps up to Ridge Road at a cobblestone house owned by a local judge. That house still stands on the south side of Route 104, west of Route 98.
Robinson, the Gaines town historian, has written a book, Historical Amnesia, about the contributions of local women in Orleans County back in the 1800s. She has discovered facts about pioneer black residents and the community’s embrace of the abolition movement.
“There is still a lot of research to do on this subject in Orleans County,” Robinson told a group at her monthly “Tea with Dee” historical lecture at Hoag Library. “You have to separate the folklore from the fact.”
She combed through old newspapers, old Census records and copies of Frederick Douglass’s North Star newspaper based in Rochester for some of her findings on early black history in Orleans County.
One black freed slave left an enduring mark on Orleans County and later in Lansing, Mich., where he was that community’s first black resident.
James Little was born in approximately 1792. He was bought and sold several times, including one sale for $65. Little was given to Joseph Hart of Albion as part of his wife’s dowry. Hart would free Little. When he was about 20, Little took classes at the Albion Academy at Hart’s urging.
When Hart died in 1839, he left 80 acres to Little in Lansing, Mich. Little moved there in 1847 and farmed with his wife. The couple had no children.
Little was active in church and in many social causes, including the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the Industrial Aid Society. “Father Little,” as he was known in Lansing, was well regarded in black and white circles, and among the poor and more well to do.
“He was a welcome guest in the homes of many of the wealthiest, most cultured people,” according to a historical account of Little published on Jan. 8, 1961 by The State Journal in Lansing. “He was greeted lovingly in the humble homes of poverty, and no one, no matter how low or godless or profane, ever gave him taunt or insult or ill-treatment.”
Little died on March 10, 1884 at about age 90. The pallbearers at his funeral included six people, three black and three white.
Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass are depicted in “Let’s Have Tea,” statues in the Susan B. Anthony Square Park on Madison Street in Rochester.
One of the leading orators and writers for the abolition cause often visited Orleans County. Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery and became a famed orator and writer, arguing the abolitionist cause in the 1840s and 1850s. He travelled to the country’s biggest cities, trying to inspire the masses to talk up the cause.
Douglass also spent a lot of time in Orleans County. Twice he made extended visits in Orleans County, going from church to church and meeting hall to meeting hall. He wrote about those experiences in The North Star, the newspaper he owned in Rochester that pressed an anti-slavery message.
In 1849, he was in the Orleans County area for about three weeks. He first spoke at the Universalist Church in Clarendon on March 19 “to a small but attentive audience,” according to his account in the April 20, 1849 issue of The North Star.
He then spoke at South Barre at a schoolhouse on March 20, and then at Pine Hill in Barre the following day and then in Oakfield. Douglass expresses frustration in “protracted” church meetings that often didn’t take up social issues of the day.
“They are so busy in trying to save that invisible and undefined part of man called the soul, that they see his body, the image of God, trampled in the dust unheeded,” Douglass wrote.
Robinson shared Douglass’s accounts of his Orleans County visits. He was back in South Barre on March 22 and March 23. He spoke in Albion on March 24 and then at Eagle Harbor on March 25. “The streets were so muddy that the people could only get to the meeting house in wagons,” Douglass said.
He went to West Gaines the following day but there had been no arrangements made for a meeting. On the March 27-28, he gave lectures in Johnson’s Creek, first at the school house and then at a church.
He spoke to small crowds in Lockport on March 29-30, and then spoke in Ridgeway on March 31 at the Universalist Church. He then went to Lyndonville the next two days on April 1-2. Douglass wrote he was feeling feverish the second day in Lyndonville, but felt his strength renewed by children singing anti-slavery songs, such as “I am an abolitionist , I glory in the name.”
Douglas then spoke in Medina at the United Methodist Church on April 3, in Gaines, West Gaines and Albion on April 5, and at Eagle Harbor on April 7.
“The audience was quite disorderly, being in part made up of some boatmen, whose highest idea of manliness seemed to be disturbance,” Douglass wrote.
He ended that speaking tour of Orleans County on April 8, speaking to a large crowd at the Baptist church in Holley.
Douglass was back in Orleans County in 1855, speaking at several locations, including West Kendall, Carlton, The Two Bridges, Yates Center, Countyline Corners, Shelby Center, Eagle Harbor, Gaines, Clarendon and other spots.
“He had a heavy schedule in Orleans County,” Robinson said.
The county showed its support for abolition before Douglass visited. In 1833 the American Anti-Slavery Society was founded in Philadelphia. Three years later a branch opened in Orleans County, with chapters started in Murray and Knowlesville in 1837.
Dee Robinson speaks at Hoag Library today in her monthly historical talk.
Robinson noted some churches were so adamant in pushing for abolition they broke from more conservative congregations. The Free Methodist Church in Albion was the first Free Methodist church in the world, founded partly on a pro-abolition platform. The Free Congregational Church in Gaines also splintered from the Congregational Church.
Robinson found reports of a meeting in 1850 at the Orleans County Courthouse in Albion. Congress had just passed the Fugitive Slave Act, but the local residents at the meeting issued an opinion on how the law should be enforced locally.
“They agreed to disregard the law,” Robinson said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 February 2015 at 12:00 am
ALBION – Two men who were convicted of sex crimes involving children will soon be released from state prison and will be considered sex offenders.
Orleans County Court Judge James Punch on Monday assigned the risk levels to Rodney Newman and Mark Sands.
Newman was assigned a level 1 offender, which is considered a low risk for a repeat offense.
Newman, 39, is an inmate at the Wyoming Correctional Facility in Attica. He has been serving a minimum sentence from a minimum of 2 years, 4 months to a maximum of 7 years in state prison. He is scheduled to be released on March 5.
Newman was found guilty by a jury in Orleans County on July 12 for promoting a sexual performance by a child, unlawful surveillance in the second degree (two counts), forcible touching and endangering the welfare of a child (two counts).
Another Orleans County man is scheduled to be released on March 2 from Wyoming Correctional Facility. Mark Sands, 51, was found guilty by a jury on Jan. 7, 2008 on several charges, including use of a child in a sexual performance, promoting an obscene sexual performance by a child, sexual abuse in the third degree, endangering the welfare of a child, unlawfully dealing with a child in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree.
He was sentenced to 4 to 12 years in state prison. He will be registered as a level 2 sex offender, which means there is a moderate risk of a repeat offense, according to the state Division of Criminal Justice Services.
President Barack Obama unveiled a $3.99 trillion budget proposal today that would lift the automatic spending caps imposed in 2013. The spending plan is drawing mixed reaction in Congress.
“Old habits die hard,” said Congressman Chris Collins, R-Clarence. “Just three years ago, President Obama agreed to budget levels that address our nation’s spending addiction and ballooning deficit. Now, he’s abandoned that promise and proposed a 7 percent spending increase.
“Rather than promote pro-growth policies that create a favorable environment for job creation, the president’s budget looks to spend our way to economic growth. This flawed approach will only increase the deficit and worsen the financial burden on our children and grandchildren. Families across the country are being forced to make hard decisions to live within their means. It’s time President Obama learned to do the same.”
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, issued this statement through his Twitter account.
“President’s budget invests in smart programs that grow the middle class while making smart cuts. It should be a blueprint for both parties,” Schumer said. “If GOP takes this budget & sticks it in a drawer, they’ll prove they’re more interested in helping special interests than the middle class.”
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, issued the following statement on the President’s budget:
“The President’s budget is not just a starting point for discussions with Congress, it is fundamentally a statement of values,” Gillibrand said. “With his proposal, the President rightly makes the growth of the middle class a priority and focuses on addressing the challenges working families across the country face. On issues like paid family leave, affordable child care and early childhood education, the President’s budget provides an important first step toward fair economic policies that will strengthen our workforce and economy. I believe we can and must go farther, and will reintroduce the FAMILY Act to ensure that working Americans, no matter where they live, have access to paid leave.”
Gillibrand also praised Obama for including $31 million more for addressing sexual assaults on college campuses.
In November, Gillibrand led a coalition of senators in urging the President to request additional funding for Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to hire and train staff focused on sexual assault cases. The investment will help provide for adequate investigations and enforcement of Title IX related to campus sexual violence on colleges and universities across the country, Gillibrand said.
“I also want to applaud the President’s addition of $31 million for the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, which is responsible for addressing campus sexual assault complaints,” Gillibrand said. “The ability to hire and train new staff focused on sexual violence is part of the comprehensive reform that survivors and advocates have urged us to adopt.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 February 2015 at 12:00 am
ALBION – An Albion teen was prepared to plead guilty today to attempted burglary in the second degree, a charge that carries a maximum of seven years in state prison.
However, Corey Baerman, 18, changed his mind and will now go to trial on May 6 for second-degree burglary, which carries a maximum of 15 years in state prison.
Baerman admitted he entered a neighbor’s house with three of his friends on Aug. 18. But Baerman said he didn’t take anything and didn’t cause any of the damage.
If that is true, Orleans County Court Judge James Punch told Baerman his crime should be criminal trespass in the second degree, a misdemeanor which carries a maximum of up to a year in the county jail.
Baerman of South Liberty Street said he entered a neighbor’s house without permission, following the lead of his friends, who allegedly caused damage and stole items.
One of those items, a stereo, was found in the bushes at Baerman’s home. His grandfather put the stereo on the porch after finding it in the bushes, Baerman said. Baerman said he didn’t know the stereo was left on his property by his friends.
Baerman, represented by attorney Michael O’Keefe, was going to plead guilty to the attempted burglary charge as part of an Alford plea, where he pleads guilty but maintains his innocence to avoid the more serious charge.
Punch said he didn’t think it was a prudent plea given Baerman’s plausible explanation. Baerman said there are witnesses who can testify about his innocence of the more serious burglary charge.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 February 2015 at 12:00 am
660,825 pageviews topped previous record by 22.1%
Photo by Tom Rivers – A referendum to dissolve the Village of Medina drew lots of traffic to OrleansHub.com in January.
Five people were injured in a two-vehicle accident on Jan. 24 at the intersection of Gaines Basin Road and West Countyhouse Road.
Orleans Hub had a big surge in traffic in January with 660,825 pageviews, which obliterates the December 2014 record of 541,216. That is a 22.1 percent increase or 119,609 more from the previous record.
The online news site also averaged 6,650 unique daily visitors for the month, which broke the December record of 5,650 by 17.7 percent or 1,000 “uniques.”
There were with several stories and community issues proving popular with readers, including the dissolution vote on Jan. 20 for Village of Medina residents.
The dissolution topic drew a lot of traffic to Orleans Hub, especially to our letters to the editor section. One of those letters was in our Top 10 for most viewed articles. Medina Fire Chief Todd Zinkievich wrote a letter, giving his reasons for why he opposed the village dissolution. (Residents rejected dissolution by a 949-527 vote.)
Here are the Top 10 stories for the month in terms of pageviews or “clicks.”
Mike and Cheryl Wertman also continue to do a great job covering local high school sports. This photo from Jan. 14 by Cheryl Wertman shows Lyndonville’s AJ Buckland looking to shoot against Holley defenders Zach Vaccarelli (15) and Corey Winter (25). Lyndonville lost to the Hawks, 46-41.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 February 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
Jeremy Graham uses a snowblower to clear out his driveway this morning on East State Street after a snowstorm hit the area, shutting down local schools for the day.
Orleans County is digging out from a snowstorm that raged overnight and will continue this evening. The National Weather Service has issued a storm warning until 7 p.m. for Orleans, Niagara, Monroe and Wayne counties.
Up to 7 inches is forecast to fall in the four counties today, with another inch overnight, according to the Weather Service. (It seems like a foot had already fallen by 10 a.m.)
Craig Wilston fills up a tractor with gas at Crosby’s in Albion this morning. Wilston was plowing out driveways for his son Anthony, who was at a hospital for the birth of his child.
Tom Patterson shovels out the sidewalk along East State Street near the McKinistry Street intersection. His dog Molly keeps him company.
The snow and wind make for poor visibility on the roadways. This car is heading east on East State Street in Albion.
The tower of the house originally built for Judge William White in 1879 stands out in the snowstorm. This house at 134 East State St. is included on the National Register of Historic Places. The outline of the Orleans County Courthouse faintly appears on the right side of this picture.
UPDATED: All five schools are closed in Orleans County today. An overnight snow storm, a wind chill down to -10 degrees, and blustery conditions prompted school officials to close Albion, Holley, Kendall, Lyndonville and Medina today.
Besides the schools being closed today, GCASA’s Batavia and Albion locations are closed, but will open at 4 p.m. for evening groups.
CARLTON – The Town of Carlton has cancelled the 6 p.m. court session for this evening due to the bad weather. For more information, call the Town Court at (585) 682-4517.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 February 2015 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – A concert on Friday night, with nearly 20 different musical acts, raised more than $7,000 towards a memorial scholarship in honor of Wayne Burlison, an elementary music teacher who died on March 26 after fighting colon cancer.
The top photo shows David Martin, a member of The Hit Men based in Rochester. Burlison was a member of the group and wrote music for the popular parade band.
Burlison’s colleagues, friends and family are trying to raise $10,000 for a scholarship is his memory. The Albion Alumni Foundation will administer the fund with a plan to offer a $500 scholarship each year. Burlison’s wife Lisa, an elementary school teacher, will help select the scholarship winner.
Burlison was an active musician in the community, and several of the groups he played in performed during Friday’s concert. He also was a leader in the Albion Running Club.
The Running Club is organizing a 3.17-mile walk and run on March 28 that will start at 12:01 p.m. at the school. Proceeds from the “Run for Wayne” will go towards the scholarship.
The distance is a little longer than the 3.1-mile 5Ks. The 3.17 represents 3 months and 17 days, the amount of time Burlison lived from his cancer diagnosis until he died.
Rachel Curtin, the elementary school principal, sings and plays the piano during the concert on Friday that was attended by about 600 people at the middle school auditorium.
“I am very grateful for the students who performed, assisted, and/or attended,” High School Band Director Mike Thaine posted on the band’s Facebook page. “It was a wonderful tribute to Mr. Burlison, and raised more than $7,000 toward his memorial scholarship.”
Provided photo – The Iroquois Trail Council of the Boy Scouts of America on Saturday recognized three adult volunteers with Silver Beaver awards, the top recognition given by the BSA. The following were recognized, from left: John G. Maier of Lockport, Linda J. Wohlers of Clarendon, Donald H. Morris of Lockport.
BATAVIA – The local council of the Boy Scouts of America honored a Clarendon woman and two other adult volunteers for their efforts on behalf of the Scouting program.
Linda Wohlers of Clarendon, Donald Morris of Batavia and John Maier of Lockport all were presented with Silver Beaver awards on Saturday during a volunteer awards dinner by the Iroquois Trail Council.
The Silver Beaver is a National BSA award that recognizes distinguished service to local youth. Each recipient is a long-tenured volunteer who has also made significant contributions by way of service to his or her local community.
Linda Wohlers has volunteered for 20 years to the Scouting program, serving as a Tiger Leader, Den Leader, Webelos Leader, Cubmaster, Commissioner and Committee Member.
John Maier’s Scouting history includes current roles as a Cubmaster, Troop Committee Member and Merit Badge counselor. A former Webelos leader, he is also an active member of the camp promotions team, district training team, and commissioner staff.
Donald Morris has served the whole family of scouting with exemplary dedication. Over the past 40-plus years, he has been involved in Scouting with 3 different local councils; Finger Lakes, New York; Blue Grass Council, Kentucky; and most recently Iroquois Trail.
The council was itself recognized by the Boy Scouts of America with the 2014 Journey to Excellence Gold Award for program excellence.
Local Cub Scout and Boy Scout leaders were recognized for program excellence in the areas of advancement, camping, membership recruitment and retention, and helping Scouts to meet their funding needs.
Several youth members were also recognized. Cub Scout Tyler Mutka of Corfu topped the list with Popcorn Sales of more than $4,200. The sale raises money for Scout programs, and also qualifies Tyler for a national college scholarship program. This is Tyler’s fourth year as top seller among Scouts in a five-county area. Other Scouts who will be inducted into the scholarship program are Cameron Kreger of Lockport and Ethan Nelson of Avon.
The Iroquois Trail Council provides development, leadership, and life skills to more than 3,000 youths in Orleans, Niagara, Genesee, Wyoming, and Livingston counties.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 February 2015 at 12:00 am
ALBION – Three people will spend time in either the local county jail or state prison after being sentenced today by Orleans County Court Judge James Punch.
Joseph B. James, 33, received the longest sentence, 1 ½ years in state prison with another year of post-release supervision.
James pleaded guilty in court on Nov. 3 to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree. James was living in Albion when he was arrested on April 1. He admitted in court he had cocaine with the intent to sell on March 3, 2014.
A Brockport woman was sentenced to three months in the county jail for selling cocaine for $100 to an undercover officer on May 29, 2013.
Cynthia Winkelman, 46, of Skyline Circle pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree. She has no prior criminal record. Winkelman faced up to a year in the county jail. Punch gave her three months.
“You sold a very small amount of this substance and you have no prior criminal history,” Punch said during sentencing. “However, it is very serious to sell an illegal drug.”
An 18-year-old girl from Medina was sentenced to six months in jail for her part in a burglary in Albion on May 19. The defendant was granted youthful offender status so her name won’t be published and her record will be sealed for the crime.
The judge issued orders of protection for the victims and also said the defendant will be on Probation for five years when she is out of jail.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 February 2015 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The front steps of the Orleans County Courthouse may have been shoveled today, but they show signs of a wintry blast that hit the county.
After more than a foot of snow fell in Orleans County, the area will see temperatures drop to -2 below tonight, the National Weather Service advised. A wind chill advisory remains in effect for Orleans and several other Western New York counties until 10 a.m. on Tuesday.
The temperatures are forecast to reach a high of 19 on Tuesday, with a high of 29 on Wednesday and a low of 9 degrees. Thursday will be cold with a high of 13 and temperatures falling to -6, the Weather Service said.
Snow showers are in the forecast for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
