By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 October 2014 at 12:00 am
File photo by Tom Rivers – Holley Central School celebrated a $32 million renovation, including a new addition, in September 2013. The district is now eyeing $8.9 million in other improvements.
HOLLEY – The dust has settled on about $32 million of school improvements at Holley Central School. But more work needs to be done and the district is ready to pursue “nuts and bolts” on improvements that weren’t part of a recent capital project, said Robert D’Angelo, the district superintendent.
The Board of Education last week voted to put an $8.9 million capitol project to the community for a vote on Dec. 9. The project includes roof top HVAC units, windows, radiators, flooring and exterior doors. The district also wants to improve the student drop-off area and the playground at the elementary school and move the tennis courts.
The district already has $2.5 million set aside in a capital reserve account to cover the local share of the project, which will be mostly paid for from the state. Waiting on this project also allowed Holley to access additional state funds for capital projects, school officials said.
“In essence, when all is said and done, the community will receive almost $40 million of capital project work at zero local tax impact,” D’Angelo said.
D’Angelo expects the projects in the capital plan will make the district more efficient and reduce energy costs. The work would likely be completed in 2016 and 2017.
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand visited the Lake Ontario community of Oswego on Monday and urged Congress to pass new legislation to ban plastic microbeads in personal care products.
Plastic microbeads are found in personal care products like facial scrubs, body washes, hand cleansers and toothpaste. These products are designed to be rinsed down the drain, but the microbeads are too small to be captured by wastewater treatment plants. They are subsequently found in large bodies of water, such as the Great Lakes, where they concentrate toxins and can be ingested by birds and fish, posing serious environmental and health risks.
Recent reports identified thousands of plastic particles per square kilometer in Lake Erie and up to 1.1 million particles per square kilometer in Lake Ontario. This could have a devastating effect on the Great Lakes fish populations, hurting the $7 billion recreational fishing industry, tourism industry, and the general economic well-being of the entire region.
“We have to make sure that Congress passes this ban on microbeads, because microbeads have already caused significant ecological damage to the Great Lakes region, and they will continue to do so until they are removed from the marketplace,” Gillibrand said.
The state of Illinois has already banned plastic microbeads in consumer products, with legislation being considered in New York, Ohio, and California. Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman has spearheaded efforts in New York to ban the beads, and released a report finding that up to 19 tons of plastic microbeads wash down drains each year and into New York’s waterways.
They can last for decades, and when found in oceans and lakes, pose environmental and health risks because of the pollutants they can attract and carry. Wildlife and aquatic animals ingest the beads, which causes internal issues and exposure to concentrated levels of toxins.
“These plastic particles fill the water, attract pollutants, and harm not only fish and birds, but the people in this region who rely on them for food and wellbeing,” Gillibrand said. “Banning harmful plastic microbeads is the best solution to this damaging environmental problem.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 October 2014 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The crowd of 1,000 participants at The Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk raised $50,000 on Sunday for breast cancer research and for programs for people battling the disease.
The top photo shows a group of students from the Iroquois Job Corps Center in Medina at the beginning of the 5-kilometer walk.
The $50,000 raised on Sunday brings the total to $325,000 over 10 years since Watt Farms started hosting the event.
The American Cancer Society organizes other walks in the region and they typically are in urban areas. There was another Making Strides walk on Sunday at Jamestown Community College.
The walk in Albion differs from the others for its farm setting, said Monica Dailey, a specialist for community events for the American Cancer Society.
She praised the participants and Karen Watt, co-owner of the farm and a breast cancer survivor, for working so hard on the Making Strides walk at Watt Farms.
“The community rallies together,” she said. “You see a sea of pink.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 October 2014 at 12:00 am
Tuesday will hit 75, according to Weather Service
Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – Some leaves remain on the trees along Fruit Avenue in Medina. It’s going to be warm to start the week, with temperatures dropping later in the week.
Today is forecast for a high of 60 degrees, followed by 75 on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service in Buffalo. Wednesday is forecast for a high of 57, followed by 49 on Thursday and a high of 46 on Friday.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 October 2014 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Medina Mayor Andrew Meier listens during a discussion at tonight’s Village Board meeting. He is joined by Village Trustee Mike Sidari.
MEDINA – Village residents will get their say on whether or not there will be a village government during a public referendum set for Jan. 20.
The Village Board voted tonight to set the date for the referendum. That followed an Oct. 23 decision by Village Clerk Debbie Padoleski to certify a petition circulated by members of “One Medina,” which wants to see the village government dissolved and the towns of Ridgeway and Shelby merged into one entity.
The dissolution move has been about three years in process since the village and two towns first formed a committee to look at the how to best streamline government services and reduce the cost of government in the community. A committee then suggested village dissolution and a town merger.
The issue on Jan. 20 will focus on the village dissolution and only village residents will be eligible to vote from noon to 9 p.m. at the Senior Center. (Absentee ballots will also be available.)
After Padoleski certified the petitions, the Village Board had 30 days to set a public referendum. That public vote had to fall within a minimum of 60 days and a maximum of 90 days from when the board sets the vote.
Village Trustee Mark Irwin made the motion to set the referendum date. He said the vote 20 days after New Year’s Day “gives both sides a chance to make their case.”
Mayor Andrew Meier has been pushing dissolution, even though it will cost him his job as mayor. He sees it as a best course for the community’s future, by narrowing the tax burden between current village residents and those outside the village in the two towns.
Residents with a house assessed at $70,000 can save about $1,000 a year in taxes if they move outside the village and live in the two towns. Meier wants to reduce the tax incentive for residents and businesses to locate outside the village.
Ridgeway Town Councilwoman Mary Woodruff said dissolution would just be a tax shift to the two towns. She urged the Village Board to educate the public about possible scenarios and tax impacts with the dissolution.
Village Trustee Mark Kruzynski said the public referendum will simply be on whether or not the village government should be dissolved. The vote won’t get into the specifics of a dissolution plan. A planin April was presented by a committee that worked with a consultant, the Center for Governmental Research in Rochester.
That plan would preserve the police and fire departments and other village services. However, officials from the two towns have said Shelby and Ridgeway aren’t obligated to follow that plan.
A potential loss of services worries some residents, including Trustee Marguerite Sherman.
“Residents need to know once it’s gone, it’s gone,” she said about dissolution.
The village would continue for about two more years, even if residents vote to dissolve it. That will give time for an orderly transition to the two towns, and perhaps to form a local development corporation or public authority for some services.
“Medina will still be Medina even if it ceases to be a village,” Irwin said. “The village won’t just vaporize.”
He cited examples of Charlotte in Rochester and La Salle in Niagara Falls, communities that kept their identities even when their village governments faded away.
Woodruff is a village resident and she said she likes having local representatives to share her concerns.
“I want my voice in the government,” she told the board.
She also said the two towns don’t plan on working towards a consolidation.
Ed Weider helped circulate the petitions to get dissolution on the ballot. He addressed the Village Board tonight and said the community should look at the issue as a “reorganization plan.”
“The village won’t just go away with a flip of the switch,” he said. “It will take two years to reorganize and that will require a great deal of cooperation.”
MEDINA – U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand will be in Orleans County this morning to tour the Iroquois Job Corps Center on Tibbitts Road in the Town of Shelby.
Gillibrand will meet with students and staff. Job Corps is a no-cost education and career technical training program for disconnected young people ages 16 through 24. Gillibrand wants to hear firsthand from students how the program is preparing them for 21st century jobs.
The Iroquois Job Corps Center is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor and uses its training programs to help its students improve the quality of their lives through career technical and academic training. The center is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 October 2014 at 12:00 am
ALBION – A Medina man admitted in court today he sold marijuana on May 20 and also had a .22-caliber revolver at his residence.
Rodrick S. Griffin, 31, of 238 Eagle St. pleaded guilty to criminal sale of marijuana in the third degree, which carries a maximum of 1 ½ to 2 years in state prison. He also pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, which carries a maximum of a year in jail.
Griffin was charged after allegedly selling 27 ounces of marijuana on West Avenue in Medina. The gun was discovered at his residence.
He will be sentenced on Feb. 2.
In another case in County Court, a Holley man was arraigned and remanded to jail on $100,000 bail. David Diaz Jr., 31, faces charges of criminal sale and criminal possession of a controlled substance, as well as criminal sale and criminal possession of cocaine in the third degree, in addition to a charge of escape.
Diaz was arrested on July 14 after a six-hour manhunt in Holley after he was taken to the police station and allegedly fled from officers. He was finally arrested after he was discovered hiding in a hollowed out couch in an abandoned house at 27 Mechanic St.
Given a past history of five misdemeanors, three failures to appear in court, two Probation revocations and the escape from the Holley Police Department, Orleans County Court Judge decided to set bail at $100,000 for Diaz.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 October 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – Dr. Doodle, a toy manufactured by Fisher-Price in 1957-61, was among the toys on display during a program about Fisher-Price at Lee-Whedon Memorial Library today.
Larry Lackner shared toys from his collection as well as highlights of his research about the company including its time in Medina from 1970 to the late 1990s. Lackner worked for the company in Medina from 1972 to 1997, starting as a material handler and ending as a quality control inspector.
Fisher-Price turned the former Heinz plant into a manufacturing center for toys. At its peak, Fisher-Price had 950 workers in Medina.
The Little People were a very popular toy and are currently a finalist for the Toy Hall of Fame at the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester.
Tuggy Turtle was made by Fisher-Price from 1959-1961.
Elsie’s Dairy Truck was made by the company from 1948-1950. Lackner said he regretted that the packaging for the toys always said made in East Aurora even though Medina was “Toy Town,” producing many of the toys.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 October 2014 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand chats with carpentry students at the Iroquois Job Corps Center in Medina today.
MEDINA – U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand hailed the Iroquois Job Corps Center as a model for success, a program very deserving of the government’s support.
Gillibrand stopped by the center today and met some of the students and staff. The center has 225 students who stay in dorms. There are seven Job Corps in the state. This was the first residential program Gillibrand visited.
The students learn hands-on vocational training. She met with students in the carpentry program where they were building a small lighthouse today that will have solar panels on it.
“This is the kind of program we need to support,” she said after meeting students. “It’s good for the economy.”
Sen. Gillibrand tours the carpentry shop with Michael Wisor, a carpentry instructor.
Many of the students learn skills and can enter the workforce. Others pursue college or the military. Job Corps staff will stay in touch for students for two years following their graduation, providing guidance and support, Gillibrand said.
“This program is vital,” she said. “It is a great environment that is 24-7.”
The Iroquois Job Corps is on the wildlife refuge. It opened in 1966. The federal government created the Job Corps program 50 years ago.
Iroquois staff invited Gillibrand as part of the program’s 50th anniversary. She also plans to visit a center in Oneonta on Wednesday.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer has visited the Iroquois Center before. The site is down about 25 students from its capacity of 250. The Department of Labor froze enrollments last year due to a budget shortfall. Gillibrand, Schumer and Congressman Chris Collins have written letters to the DOL to allow the centers to again operate at capacity, said Melinda Maedl, business and community liaison for the Iroquois Job Corps.
“They’ve all been great supporters of the program,” Maedl said.
Gillibrand is pictured with Melissa Volpe, director of the Iroquois Job Corps.
Provided photos – Members of the Medina Mustang Field Band poses with their awards after Sunday’s championship show in Syracuse.
MEDINA – The Medina Mustang Field Band took second place in its division on Sunday during the state championship at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, where 52 bands competed in six different classifications.
Medina competes in the SS1 class against six other schools. New Hartford took first place with a score of 92.10 followed by Medina at 89.90. Other rankings include Northwestern in seventh at 83.65, Oswego in sixth at 84.10, Mohonasen in 5th at 84.85, East Irondequoit in fourth with 85.45 and ESM in 3rd with 89.70.
There were more than 5,000 students in the New York State Field Band Conference annual championships. Medina won the state title last year.
Medina started the day at 8 a.m. with the Dome Breakfast put on by the Boosters and the help of many parents as a kind of “pep rally” to bring everyone together. For the seniors it was exciting to be returning to the Dome, but at the same time they knew it would be the last time they would perform their show together. Seniors draw a tear on their cheek for the last show.
Medina this season performed a 7-minute Miss Saigon repertoire including “The Heat is On,” “Please,” “March of the Dragon,” and “Fall of Saigon.”
Band Director Jim Steele said the kids did everything they were asked to do and their performance was outstanding. There are many life lessons to be learned when participating in an activity such as marching band.
As long as you put your best performance out there, whether you come in first or not, that’s good enough, Steele told the students. Before going on the field to perform and after the awards, Steele had the band members form a circle and hold hands with the people around them. No matter what position you win or what trophy you come home with, the people in that circle and the friendships made will still be there, he said.
While the Field Band season is coming to a close the students are preparing for their winter concerts. Winterguard will begin practicing for their show.
