Provided photo – Assemblyman Steve Hawley, center in front row, is pictured with other lawmakers, highway superintendents and highway workers in the State Capitol advocating for local roads. They are pictured at the Million-Dollar Staircase.
Press release, State Assemblyman Steve Hawley
ALBANY – State Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R-Batavia) joined county and town highway superintendents from throughout the state in seeking an additional $50 million in state funding to improve local roads and bridges.
This funding is necessary to improve New York’s deteriorating local infrastructure, and will also create jobs related to infrastructure improvements, Hawley said. These roads cost each New Yorker an average of $1,600 in damage to vehicles because of roads in disrepair, he said.
“After a particularly harsh winter, the importance of having well-maintained roads has become clear,” Hawley said. “We need to make sure that our roads and bridges are safe for the people who rely on them to go about their day to day lives. I stand with highway superintendents across the state in saying that our local roads do matter, and proper funding is critical to keeping them safe.”
Press release, Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force
MEDINA – A Medina man was charged today with criminal sale and possession of a controlled substance after a month-long investigation into the sale and distribution of LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) in the village of Medina, the Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force reported.
The Task Force and the Medina Police Department arrested Jesse S. Bolt, 38, of 723 South Main St., Apartment 1. He was charged with two counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the fifth degree, and two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree.
Bolt was arraigned in the Town of Shelby Justice Court by Judge Dawn Keppler. He was sent to Orleans County Jail on $25,000 cash bail or bond. Bolt is to return to Shelby court 6 p.m. on Thursday.
This investigation is still ongoing and further charges and arrests are pending, the Task Force reported.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 4 March 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – Monroe Ambulance is seeking state permission to have an ambulance stationed in eastern Orleans County. The proposal would decrease ambulance response times, company officials said.
ALBION – Leaders of the eastern battalion, the fire companies and departments in eastern Orleans County, gave strong support to a proposal by Monroe Ambulance to have an ambulance stationed in Orleans County.
“We 100 percent support Monroe Ambulance,” Bob Freida, chief of the Clarendon Fire Company, said during a public hearing Monday about the Monroe Ambulance plan.
Monroe Ambulance said it would keep at least one ambulance in eastern Orleans at the Fancher-Hulberton-Murray fire hall. Right now the company tends to keeps two ambulances about 3 miles from the county line in the Brockport area.
Monroe Ambulance, because it wants to be stationed in Orleans and it isn’t based in the county, needs the state Department of Health to sign off on the request. Monroe Ambulance submitted more than 1,500 pages as part of a certificate of need. That application was the focus of a public hearing Monday with the Big Lakes Regional EMS Council.
“It’s our belief that service at this time has been exceptional,” Pete Hendrickson, chief of the Holley Fire Department, said about Monroe Ambulance.
The Holley Emergency Squad split off from the Holley Fire Department in 2003. The Emergency Squad has about 300 calls a year, but can only handle 20 percent of them with their own EMTs and drivers, said Ron Meiers, president of the Holley Emergency Squad.
He expects the Emergency Squad will discontinue in the next year due to a shortage of a volunteers and the need to upgrade an 11-year-old ambulance. The group doesn’t have the money for a new ambulance, he said. Right now the squad has three active drivers and five active EMTs, but many of them work outside the community.
Meiers praised Monroe Ambulance for being on scene quickly for emergency medical calls in Holley. Meiers said Monroe Ambulance could be faster to calls in eastern Orleans if it was permitted to keep an ambulance in Orleans County.
Monroe Ambulance responds to 600 calls in eastern Orleans on a mutual aid system, and those calls have been increasing in recent years as the local departments struggle with volunteer manpower, said Michael Bove, Monroe Ambulance assistant chief and project manager for the eastern Orleans proposal.
Bob Freida, chief of the Clarendon Fire Company, speaks in support of Monroe Ambulance’s application to park an ambulance in eastern Orleans County.
Monroe Ambulance currently keeps ambulances in western Monroe that respond to calls in Clarendon, Holley, Murray and Kendall, Bove said during a public hearing at the Orleans County Emergency Management Center on Countyhouse Road.
Another ambulance provider wants to be the primary provider for eastern Orleans. Central Orleans Volunteer Ambulance based in Albion said it would commit to putting an ambulance in Holley. COVA leaders said the organization should be given preference for the ambulance services because it is based within the county.
“If we have to put a rig or a substation in Holley that is what we’ll do,” said Kevin Sheehan, vice president of the COVA board of directors. “There is no call we can’t handle.”
COVA has three fully equipped ambulances and a trained crew that responds to calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week, said Wade Schwab, president of the COVA board of directors. COVA will add a fourth ambulance if it is approved to provide primary ambulance service for eastern Orleans.
Monroe Ambulance has already submitted its certificate of need to serve that section of the county. COVA is preparing its application.
The eastern Orleans fire department leaders said 90 percent of their patients go to hospitals in Monroe County. With Monroe Ambulance the local departments also can meet Monroe partway going east towards Rochester. With COVA, the fire officials said that group is coming from the opposite direction, and the local fire departments might have to wait for a COVA crew to show up and transport the patients.
Schwab said COVA is willing to have an ambulance on the eastern end of the county, which will speed up the responses. He said some of the eastern Orleans fire officials work for Monroe Ambulance and may feel an obligation to back that company, not only for the certificate of need but in requesting ambulance services. He worries Monroe Ambulance crews could be dispatched from Rochester rather than from COVA.
“I don’t think we’re getting the full consideration for providing service in our own county,” Schwab said.
Albion is about 10 miles from Holley. Monroe Ambulance’s crews in Brockport are closer than that. Gary Sicurella, a Fancher-Hulberton-Murray firefighter, said state officials shouldn’t look at which county the ambulance provider is based when determining which company is picked to provide primary services in eastern Orleans.
The focus should be on which ambulance company can provide the best service with the quickest response time. He said Monroe Ambulance has proven itself, working well with the eastern Orleans firefighters.
“If I have a patient I want the best and fastest care,” Sicurella said during the hearing. “I don’t care where it’s coming from.”
The Big Lakes Regional EMS Council will make a recommendation about the Monroe Ambulance CON to state officials, which will then make a final decision.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 4 March 2014 at 12:00 am
File photo by Tom Rivers – The Kwik Fill on Pearl Street will have a new canopy with lights and fire extinguishers. The site will also go from four gas dispensers to two which will improve traffic flow on the lot.
MEDINA – Motorists getting gas at the Kwik Fill on Pearl Street will soon have a canopy to shield them from rain and more lights from on high to improve the safety of the site.
The Village of Medina Planning Board tonight approved the site plan to add a canopy that will be 15 feet above the ground. The canopy will have lights and a fire extinguishing system.
The gas station at 118 Pearl St. also will upgrade the gas pumps, with new concrete pads and gas piping. The gas station’s owner, Petroleum Services Inc. of Hilton, also will reduce the number of gas dispensers from four to two which will improve the traffic flow on the lot, said Marty Busch, the village’s code enforcement officer.
The Planning Board also said the project would not have any negative environmental impacts.
File photo by Tom Rivers – Ellen J. Goods recently put up a sign on Main Street that includes a chair. The Village Planning Board approved the sign during its meeting tonight.
In other action, the Planning Board:
Issued a certificate of appropriateness for a sign at the Ellen J. Goods store at 433 Main St. The sign includes a chair that is attached to the façade.
The sign was installed more than a month ago. The store’s owner, Lynne Brundage, was working to have the store open and the sign up for the Wine About Winter event on Feb. 1, Busch said.
Planning Board members have looked at the sign in person and they unanimously agreed it’s a nice match with the historic district.
“It fits just fine,” said board member Marguerite Sherman. “It’s cute.”
Courtesy of smartDESIGN architecture PLLC – A new 4,300-square-foot building will be used by United Memorial Medical at the former Pizza Hut location on Maple Ridge Road.
A month after approving a Batavia hospital’s plan for a new health care center on Maple Ridge Road, planners saw a revision to the site plan that eliminates two of the parking spaces and a bump-out, which improves a turning radius in the parking lot.
Planning Board members said they are happy United Memorial Medical Center made the change.
Real estate developer Chad La Civita of Buffalo will demolish the former Pizza Hut and build a new 4,300 square-foot site for UMMC .
The Batavia hospital has been providing women’s health services at 100 Ohio St., space owned by Medina Memorial Hospital. Medina closed its birthing wing in July 2011. UMMC now delivers more than 100 babies a year to Orleans County women.
The new site will have more space for doctors, patients and staff. UMMC provides obstetrics, gynecological care and other health services. The project now includes 26 parking spaces.
CLARENDON – Our picture shows the Clarendon Cheese Factory in the 1930s. It was built by Herb Keople in 1914 and started operating in 1915.
Thousands of pounds of cheese were produced a day during the peak season of May and June. Demand for the Clarendon Brand Cheese was so great that Keople even sub-contracted work.
Local farmers supplied the milk. When they could get more money for their milk than Keople was willing to pay, he closed the cheese factory in 1943.
The site was located on Hulberton Road and was later converted into a house.
By Nola Goodrich-Kresse, Public Health Educator for the Orleans County Health Department
This Friday, March 7, is National Dress in Blue Day to increase awareness of colorectal cancer. The Orleans County Health Department is encouraging everyone to wear blue on the 7th, to promote Colorectal Cancer Awareness Week.
So, what exactly is colorectal cancer? It is sometimes called a silent disease because the warning signs may not be noticeable and many feel uncomfortable talking about it. The problem is the longer you go without checking into it, the bigger the problem becomes, literally. So swallow your uneasiness and learn more about this cancer.
The good news however, is colon cancer is 90 percent curable when detected early so colorectal screening can save your life.
Colorectal cancer refers to cancer in two different parts of the digestive tract, the colon and the rectum. The following are certain factors that increase a person’s risk for getting the disease:
A family history of colon cancer.
A personal history of colon cancer.
A personal history of intestinal polyps. A polyp is a mass of tissue that develops on the inside wall of a hollow organ such as the colon. Polyps are benign (non-cancerous), but may become cancerous over time. Most, perhaps all, colorectal cancers develop in polyps.
A personal history of inflammatory bowel disease also known as ulcerative colitis.
Aging. Colorectal cancers occur most often in people over the age of 50 and the risk gets higher as the person gets older.
A high-fat or low-fiber diet. A healthy diet also reduces major sources of fat such as meat, dairy products, and oils used in cooking and salad dressings. A healthy diet also contains fiber from vegetables, fruits, whole grain breads and cereal.
Physical inactivity. It is recommended that everyone engage in physical exercise at least 30 minutes per day most days of the week.
So, how do you find out more about colorectal cancer? If you are 50 and older or any of the above items describe you, talk with your doctor about screening. If you are uninsured or have a high deductible, you may qualify for free cancer screening.
To see if you are eligible call Community Partners / The Cancer Services Program of Genesee and Orleans County at 798-6641 or 344-5497 and for the Wyoming County Cancer Services Program call 786-8890.
The important key to fighting colorectal cancer is knowing your body and being aware of potential symptoms no matter how old you are. Some warning signs to look for include:
A change in bowel habits
Frequent gas pains
Weight loss with no known reason
Stools that are narrower than usual
A feeling that the bowel does not empty completely
Blood in or on the stool
Constant tiredness
Diarrhea or constipation
General stomach discomfort (bloating, fullness, and/or cramps)
One of the tests used to aid in diagnosis is called the FIT (fecal immunochemical test) kit -it is easy, there are no dietary or medication restrictions – just swish the brush (not scoop the poop)! This test is done in the privacy of your home. It is only a test for blood and not a test that directly detects cancer. This test is used because colorectal cancer may cause bleeding that cannot be seen. Other conditions (ulcerative colitis, intestinal polyps) may also cause bleeding, so having blood in the stool does not always mean a person has cancer.
So do not make any excuses about not being checked for colorectal cancer. If you are at risk or are experiencing any of the warning signs talk to your doctor now. It may be nothing which is great, but if it is something, get it taken care of so it doesn’t get worse. Remember, there is no excuse worth your life!
Pull out your best blues on Friday and join us as we encourage others to be aware of colorectal cancer.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 4 March 2014 at 12:00 am
State Sen. George Maziarz has the endorsement of the Niagara County Conservative Party for re-election in the 62nd Senate District, which includes all of Orleans and Niagara counties, and the towns of Sweden and Ogden in Monroe County.
“Standing strong for conservative principles has never been more important in Albany,” Maziarz said in a news release. “I am extremely grateful that the Niagara County Conservative Party knows where I stand on the issues, and I appreciate their support and partnership. I look forward to working with them on everything from improving our economy to protecting gun owners’ rights. ”
Maziarz was first elected to the State Senate in 1995. He may face a challenge for another two-year term from Gia Arnold of Holley, who is a leader in New York Revolution, a group opposed to the SAFE Act.
Daniel Weiss, chairman of the Niagara County Conservative Party, said Maziarz consistently receives high marks from the state Conservative Party in the organization’s annual ratings system.
“Sen. Maziarz has been a great advocate for the conservative values we hold dear,” Weiss said. “These include controlling spending, reducing the tax burden, and respecting the morals of all New Yorkers. We want to thank him especially for his ardent support of Second Amendment rights and his vocal opposition to the SAFE Act. On this issue and others he has been our steady voice.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 4 March 2014 at 12:00 am
District plans new playground for elementary school
ALBION – The school district has a relatively small budget gap that it is working to close before the spending plan is approved by the Board of Education next month.
The district has a $139,000 gap to close if it doesn’t want to raise taxes and still maintain the same level of staff and programming. The district could reduce the gap if the State Legislature directs more state aid to Albion, compared to what Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed in his budget.
The governor’s budget in January gave Albion about $330,000 more in state aid, just shy of a 2 percent increase. The state Legislature has historically tended to provide more than the governor’s proposal, but those increases have been relatively small increases in recent years.
“That’s not a large gap compared to the past,” Shawn Liddle, the district’s assistant superintendent of business, said about $139,000.
If Albion’s state aid is unchanged from the governor’s budget and it makes no other reductions, property owners would be looking at a 1.6 percent tax increase, which is already under the state-imposed 2 percent tax cap.
School administrators and Board of Education will continue to look for ways to pare expenses, Liddle said. He expects the Board of Education to approve a budget on April 7. That will then go before voters in May.
The district’s budget gap is relatively small partly because five veterans teachers and staff are retiring. They will either be replaced with less experienced employees at lower salaries or those positions may not be filled at all, Liddle said.
“We’re continuing to look at our staffing levels,” he said this morning.
The 2013-14 budget totaled $33.3 million. That budget included a 1.5 percent tax increase, the first time Albion raised taxes since the 2006-07 school year. The tax levy, at $8,446,946, is down compared to the $9,094,194 levy in 2006-07.
Liddle discussed the budget during Monday’s Board of Education meeting. The BOE also recognized Freeze-Dry Foods in Albion. George Lawson, the company’s general manager, was picked as a “Friend of Education.”
Freeze-Dry is storing new playground equipment for the elementary school at the company’s East Avenue site, the former Lipton’s in Albion. The district was able to buy the equipment at a discount but didn’t have its own space to store it during the winter.
The new playground includes painted steel posts and plastic decking and slides. It will replace a playground with a lot of wooden pieces. The new playground should be installed in the spring or summer, Liddle said.
HOLLEY – Holley High School senior Shelby Kunker received Special Mention on this year’s Business First list of the 100 most outstanding high school seniors in the eight-county region.
Students were selected for this honor based on their records of academic excellence, school leadership and community involvement. The top 25 were named to the First Team, 25 runners-up to the Second Team, and another 50 to the Special Mention list.
“This is a highly competitive award,” said Jack Connors, president and publisher of Business First. “Think of it this way: We have about 20,000 high school seniors in Western New York this year, and we’ve picked only 100 for the Academic Team. That puts them in the upper one-half of one percent. They’re the best and brightest students anywhere in this region.”
Schools throughout the eight-county area were asked to nominate their most accomplished students for consideration by an eight-member committee, which included six admissions directors at area colleges and two Business First editors. A total of 122 schools responded with 419 nominees. (Each school was limited to four candidates.)
The complete list of 100 honorees – along with their photos and profiles – will be published in the Business First 2014-2015 Guide to Western New York Schools, which will hit newsstands on June 13.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 March 2014 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
With temperatures again falling, the National Weather Service in Buffalo has issued a wind chill advisory until 8 a.m. Tuesday for Orleans County and all of Western New York.
The temperature is forecast to plunge all the way to 1 below zero tonight. The low temps, plus winds at 10 to 15 miles per hour, result in a wind chill of 15 degrees below zero.
On Tuesday, there will be a high of 17 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
The photo above shows a barn on Tuthull Road in Albion near Route 31. It was taken on Saturday when the temperature topped 30.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 March 2014 at 12:00 am
Hearing today at 1 p.m. at Emergency Management Office
ALBION – A Rochester-based ambulance company will pitch its plan this afternoon to provide ambulance services for eastern Orleans County.
Monroe Ambulance will share its plan at 1 p.m. today at the Orleans County Emergency Management Office, 14064 West Countyhouse Rd. The meeting is a public hearing and is required as part of the company’s certificate of need application with the state.
Monroe Ambulance currently provides advanced life support services in eastern Orleans. It wants to transport patients by ambulance in addition to ALS.
The Kendall, Holley and Clarendon fire departments all have ambulance squads in eastern Orleans. Central Orleans Volunteer Ambulance, based in Albion, also is pursuing a certificate of need to transport patients in eastern Orleans.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 March 2014 at 12:00 am
Rothmund in his July mugshot
ALBION – A Rochester man was sentenced to 15 years in state prison for robbing a bank in Albion on July 2.
Jeremy Rothmund, 30, pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery on Dec. 9. He faced a maximum of 15 years in state prison as part of the plea. Orleans County Court Judge James Punch gave Rothmund the maximum during sentencing this afternoon.
In an Oct. 21 court appearance, Rothmund confessed in court that he robbed the Bank of America in Albion on July 2, showing up at the bank wearing a mask and threatening a clerk with a bomb that later was discovered to be fake.
In court today he apologized for his crimes. He has admitted to robbing two banks in Greece as well as the site in Albion. He said in court today he will use his time in prison to become a better father and citizen.
Rothmund faced a maximum of 20 years in state prison. The plea reduced the max to 15 years. He still faces charges for two other bank robberies in the town of Greece. Those cases are being handled by the District Attorney’s Office in Monroe County. Rothmund could see his prison sentenced extended with those cases.
Rothmund on Oct. 16 injured a corrections officer in the county jail. The bank robbery sentence doesn’t include that incident.
Rothmund’s girlfriend, Elyse A. Hoffer, also pleaded guilty in December to first-degree robbery. She faces up to five years in prison when she is sentenced. She admitted to driving the getaway car when Rothmund robbed the banks.
In Albion on July 2, Rothmund said he told her to park behind the Freeze-Dry building on Route 31 near the railroad tracks. Rothmund went to the Bank of America and returned with a bag full of $18,000. He said he told Hoffer to drive fast out of town.
The two were later stopped and arrested in Holley after a resident identified them in Albion and called the police.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 March 2014 at 12:00 am
ALBION – Orleans County officials are pushing to expand high-speed Internet to areas in the county without the service.
First, the county and local municipal officials need to know precisely which houses have access to the service and which don’t.
The county is working with town governments in the 10 towns to create a database of vertical assets that could be used to mount equipment for wireless Internet. The towns will also try to document which sections of roads have access to cable and high-speed Internet.
BP Greene, a Holley company, will work with the towns and county to help determine where the service currently is provided. BP Greene also has been hired to prepare a Request For Proposals for Internet service providers to expand service in Orleans. The County Legislature last week approved paying BP Greene $27,980 for its work on the project.
Town supervisors and county officials have been working on the issue for about three years. Pockets of the county have very limited service and that hurts residents’ ability to use the Internet for school homework, to apply for jobs on-line and run businesses, Legislature Chairman David Callard has said.
The county has heard anecdotally that service is spotty in Orleans. But Callard said the service providers claim 95 percent of the county is covered with high-speed Internet, a figure that the towns and county say is an overexaggeration.
The work from the towns and BP Greene should provide accurate data on access to the service. Callard expects the study will show gaps in coverage in the county.
“If we can demonstrate the need, we may be able to get a grant to expand the service,” he said.
The state has been providing resources to expand the service in rural, underserved areas. In December, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced $14.5 million in state funds for nine broadband projects that will expand access to broadband services for nearly 30,000 residents and more than 2,000 businesses in Upstate New York.
Callard said he expects the study will produce needed data for the towns and county to determine the next step in expanding high-speed Internet.
“We want to make a determination this year,” he said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 March 2014 at 12:00 am
Frederick Miller
ALBION – The trial against accused murderer Frederick Miller of Carlton will start next week.
Jurors will be picked beginning at 10 a.m. March 10 at the Orleans County Courthouse. The District Attorney’s Office expects the trial will last a week to 10 days.
Miller, 61, is accused of killing his live-in girlfriend on March 4. Miller allegedly bludgeoned and stabbed Rachel Miller several times. He has been charged with second-degree murder.
The couple allegedly had a fight on March 4 at a home they shared on Oak Orchard River Road. Rachel Miller, who was formerly married to Miller’s cousin, was 53 when she died as a result of blunt force trauma combined with multiple stab wounds, according to an autopsy. Her body was discovered early in the morning on March 4 by an Albion school bus driver.
Frederick Miller hired defense lawyer Robert King of Rochester on Dec. 7. For nearly nine months Miller was represented by the public defender.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 March 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
HULBERTON – Pack 62 in Holley gathered at the Fancher-Hulberton-Murray Firehall on Saturday for the annual Pinewood Derby. The event this year was opened up to the community, with non-Scouts and siblings of Scouts welcomed to participate.
There were 42 participants in all, and the event concluded with a pasta dinner in the firehall.
“We think the Pinewood Derby is awesome and we want everyone to experience it,” said Debbie Patt, the Cubmaster and event chairwoman.
The track was set up inside the firehall. The Pinewood Derby is a long-time Scouting tradition. Scouts typically work with their fathers or a grownup to create the cars.
Jason Clark served as the starter for some of the races. He is part of the Kendall Scouting program and volunteered to help with Holley’s Pinewood Derby.
Hunter Smith of Holley won the “Best in Show” during the Pinewood Derby. The Scouts made the trophies out of recycled matierals.
Other winners include: Chuck MacPhee, Peoples’ Choice; Ethan Race, Tiger; Ethan Gonzalez, Wolf; Kyle Surowy, Webelo; Dawson Moy, Sibling; Mike Clark, Vintage or Open; Wayne Thorn, Adult.
Some of the participants gather for a photo after a day at the races inside the firehall.
