By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 24 October 2014 at 12:00 am
Provided photo
MEDINA – Five people were able to get out of a house on fire this morning at 413 Prospect Ave.
The Medina Fire Department was dispatched to the scene at 3:29 a.m. Two adults and three children were trapped inside. Medina police were also at the scene and put a ladder on the back of the house. That allowed firefighters to safely carry down the three children and assist the two adults.
Firefighters then gained entry to the house and found fire on the staircase to the second floor, said Steve Cooley, a Medina firefighter.
The fire was extinguished in less than ten minutes from the time of dispatch. Crews remained on scene checking for fire extension and clearing the structure of smoke, Cooley said. Village of Medina crews were assisted by Shelby and Lyndonville firefighters.
Two families at the house do not have to be displaced, Cooley said. The damage was limited to the stairs and an area leading to the upper apartment.
The cause of the fire is under investigation by Medina Fire Department, Medina Police Department, and Orleans County fire investigators.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 October 2014 at 12:00 am
MEDINA – “One Medina” has enough signatures to force a vote on dissolution in the Village of Medina.
Village Clerk Debbie Padoleski certified the petitions this morning. Padoleski deemed 371 of 432 signatures turned in last week were valid. She matched the signatures with an eligibility list from the Orleans County Board of Elections. Some signatures were invalid because the addresses of the names didn’t match the list from the Board of Elections.
The 371 is more than enough. To force a referendum, a petition needs 10 percent of the eligible village voters. A petition would need at least 314 valid signatures out of the 3,137 eligible voters.
The Village Board now has up to 30 days to set a vote. That vote must then occur within 60 to 90 days of the board setting the referendum. The board next meets on Monday at 7 p.m. at the Shelby Town Hall.
Village residents David Barhite, Jim Lustumbo and Ed Weider helped gather the signatures and turned the in the petition on Oct. 16.
They want to see less layers of government and reduced taxes for village residents.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 October 2014 at 12:00 am
HOLLEY – Rob Astorino, the Republican Party candidate for governor, will be in Orleans County on Friday for the Fall Republican Rally at Hickory Ridge Country Club.
Astorino, the Westchester County executive, trails Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the polls, but Ed Morgan, the Orleans County GOP leader, believes Astorino could still pull off the upset victory. George Pataki was a little known state legislator when he defeated Cuomo’s father, Mario, in 1994.
“He’s ahead in the polls compared to where George Pataki was,” Morgan said this morning.
Morgan sees Republicans making a strong push for Astorino, and also sees Cuomo losing votes to Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins and Michael McDermott of the Libertarian Party.
“The secondary line candidates will pull votes from Cuomo and that will help Rob,” Morgan said.
The GOP candidate for comptroller, Robert E. Antonacci, will also be at the Republican Rally, which begins with a reception at 6 p.m. followed by dinner at 7 p.m. Antonacci is the Onondaga County comptroller. He faces incumbent Tom DiNapoli.
Candidates for State Legislature also are expected to speak at the rally, including Rob Ortt for State Senate and Steve Hawley for State Assembly.
The Republican Party also plans to recognize State Sen. George Maziarz, who is retiring after 19 years in the State Legislature.
For information about tickets to the rally, call Morgan at 732-7270.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 October 2014 at 12:00 am
SPENCERPORT – The BOCES that serves the Holley and Kendall school districts, as well as seven districts in western Monroe County, is proposing a $29.2 million capitol project.
Residents in the nine-member Monroe 2-Orleans BOCES can vote on the proposal on Dec. 16 at the WEMOCO Educational Services Center. Voting will be from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at 3599 Big Ridge Rd.
This would be the first capitol project in 40 years and would include an addition and renovations so the center mirror’s a modern workplace for students in the career and technology program, BOCES leaders said.
The project calls for a 15,200-square-foot addition to the campus. That addition would cost an estimated $9.8 million. The addition will include space for classrooms, a career skills center, and early childhood and preschool programs.
The project also includes $12.3 million in work to the center’s north building, renovating classrooms, replacing rooftop units and exhaust systems, improving plumbing and electrical systems. The south building at the center would also get $6.2 million in upgrades.
There also is $968,500 slated for parking lot reconstruction, with improved bus and traffic flow, upgraded lighting and utilities, drainage and a relocated playground.
The BOCES served an average of 1,067 students each of the past five years with 44 from Kendall and 58 from Holley.
State aid would cover 63.2 percent of the project with member districts covering the remaining 36.8 percent. That share for Holley would be $400,451, while Kendall would pay $320,078.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 October 2014 at 12:00 am
Orleans County’s unemployment dropped from 7.5 percent in September 2013 to 6.0 percent last month, according to the State Labor Department.
The 6.0 percent was down from 6.9 percent in August. The county’s rate is still slightly higher than the state average of 5.6 percent. (The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.2 percent in September, the lowest level since October 2008, according to the Department of Labor.)
In Orleans County, there were 1,100 unemployed people looking for work in September, compared to 17,000 in the workforce. A year earlier, there were 400 more people working in Orleans County – 17,400. There were also 1,400 unemployed looking for jobs, according to the DOL.
Fifteen of the 62 counties in the state have unemployment rates at 6.0 or higher. Bronx has the highest unemployment rate in the state at 8.5 percent.
Orleans, even with its improvement from a year ago, still has the highest rate in Western New York. Genesee County, at 4.8 percent, has the lowest rate in WNY. Hamilton County, at 3.8 percent, has the lowest rate in the state.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 October 2014 at 12:00 am
File photo by Tom Rivers – Linda Smith and her son Ryan serve up treats and cider from Krantz Furniture in Albion during last year’s Beggar’s Night.
Main Street in Albion and Medina will have several hundred children dressed as super heroes, goblins and other characters on Friday evening.
The business organizations in both communities are putting on their annual Beggar’s Night event, when businesses hand out candy to children dressed in costumes.
In Albion, children 12 and under are invited to meet at the fire hall on Platt Street at 6 p.m. and then tour downtown for treats.
In Medina, Beggar’s Night starts at 5:30 p.m. Children are urged to line up in the East Center Street parking lot between the Medicine Shoppe and The Print Shop. Most of the business owners will participate and many will be wearing costumes, said Cindy Robinson, Medina Business Association president.
“It’s a ‘thank you’ to the people for shopping local,” she said about Beggar’s Night.
Last year, more than 700 children participated and received candy in Medina.
“It’s fun to watch all of the kids in their costumes,” Robinson said. “They’re adorable.”
In this picture from around 50 years ago we see Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, left, shaking hands with our assemblyman, Alonzo Waters of Medina.
“Lon” served in the State Assembly under governors Dewey, Harriman and Rockefeller from 1949 to 1965.
Because of his friendship with Rockefeller, Waters was able to get the governor to come to Orleans County several times.
When Nelson Rockefeller was running for governor in 1962, he made a stop in Albion and spoke from the front steps of the courthouse. In this picture we see a large crowd of people gathered here for the rally.
A bus which his party came in may be seen in the background. A sign posted on the bus simply states: “Go Rockefeller.”
The First Presbyterian Church also shows in the background. A number of local residents may be recognized in the crowd assembled here.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 October 2014 at 12:00 am
Photo by Richard Margolis – The former Holley High School, which sits in a high-profile spot on Route 31, has fallen into disrepair and has been mostly vacant for two decades. This photo was taken for the landmark Society of Western New York, which in 2013 named the school to the inaugural “Five to Revive.”
HOLLEY – Preservation organizations from outside Holley continue to take an interest in seeing the old Holley High School be saved and returned as a contributing asset in the community.
The Preservation League of New York State will give the Village of Holley $5,000 towards the state and federal applications for historic status for the Public Square and the old school.
If the school and Square are listed on the state and national registers of historic places, a redevelopment project would be eligible for 40 percent of the capital costs in tax credits.
The Preservation League will give Holley a $5,000 “Preserve New York” grant to complete the state and federal nomination for an historic district. The district would include about 40 properties in the downtown Public Square, as well as the old school.
The project, to be completed by Bero Architecture in Rochester, will enhance this Erie Canal community’s revitalization efforts, especially opportunities to rehabilitate the vacant 1931 Holley High School designed by Rochester architect Carl Ade, Preservation League officials said in a press advisory today.
“Located in the heart of the downtown, this handsome Classical Revival building could benefit from access to state and federal tax credits that would come with the listing of the proposed historic district,” the group said in a statement.
Preservation League officials will announce the funding at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday outside the old school. They will meet with Holley Mayor John Kenney and the Landmark Society of Western New York.
The Landmark Society last year named the school to its debut list of “Five to Revive.” The group has been working with the village to draw interest in the school, and line up historic credentials so the property has access to tax incentives.
Built in 1931, the former Holley High School is a strategically located and well-recognized landmark, which occupies a prominent site in the village at the central intersection of Wright and Main streets (NYS Routes 31 & 237), the Landmark Society said in naming the school to the “Five to Revive.”
The school has been vacant for about 20 years. Kenney said developers have shown interest in the site for senior apartments.
The Public Square is in the core of the village and includes a collection of late-nineteenth and early twentieth-century commercial, religious, residential, and educational architecture.
Building Trades: Brett Jepson (Medina), Alex Gomez (Medina), Nick Burke(Lockport), Sean Ogden (Lockport), Josh Taylor (Newfane), Josh Bedford (Roy Hart), Jon Eggert (Roy Hart), Brandon Fuller (Lockport), Jason Criswell (Lockport), Collin Wissinger (Roy Hart). Mr. Matt Anastasi, teacher. Electricity: Anthony Annalora (Lockport), Matt Chutko (Roy Hart), Jordan Deuel (Roy Hart), Josh Ellsworth (Lockport), Daniel Gardner (Barker), Andy Gelyon (Newfane), Kyle Graham (Albion), Mike Hinkley (Medina), Jacob Nizialek (Newfane), Zach Pisarski (Barker), Charles Ricci (Medina), Josh Scroger (Medina) and Aaron Wysochanski (Lockport). Mr. Bill Leggett, teacher.
Press Release, Orleans/Niagara BOCES
Students in Matt Anastasi’s Building Trades program and Bill Leggett’s Electricity and Electronics recently spent a day at the Western New York Construction Days. The event is hosted by the Buffalo Building and Construction Trades Council and its union affiliates.
“It is a great experience for our students,” says Mr. Anastasi. “It is a perfect opportunity for them to talk to union representatives in the various trades and get a look at the apprenticeship programs they offer.”
Although many of the students get hands-on experience in class, there is a wide variety of booths set up by the unions that allow the students to do everything from drive a small Bobcat bulldozer, try their hand at welding or repel down scaffold.
“There is a greater need than ever for workers in these fields,” says Mr. Leggett. “There are a lot of baby boomers retiring and the unions are looking for qualified workers to take their place. It gives our students a chance to make connections for possible careers when they graduate. They all received hard hats and safety glasses for attending which was great.”
Each of the teachers said their students had a great time and helped to reinforce to many that they have chosen the best career path for themselves.
Two days after leading the Buffalo Bills to a dramatic last-second victory over the Minnesota Vikings, Bills quarterback Kyle Orton faced a different crowd: a class of preschoolers.
Orton visited the Doodle Bugs class in Orchard Park on Tuesday and read the book, “Bunny Cakes” by Rosemary Wells. Albion native Kathleen Barleben teaches at Doodle Bugs, where Orton’s daughter is a student. She said Orton’s visit was “very cool!”
He appeared at the school as part of Read for the Record, a nationwide literacy event. Barleben is the former Kathleen Adducci. She married Justin Barleben this past summer.
