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Medina school approves Gay-Straight Alliance

Posted 16 September 2014 at 12:00 am

Photo by Sue Cook – The Medina Board of Education approves the new club during the BOE meeting tonight.

By Sue Cook
Staff reporter

MEDINA – For two years, the students of Medina have been meeting informally in a Gay-Straight Alliance under the supervision of English teacher Karen Jones.

Tonight, the Medina school board formally approved the club, making it official and appointing Jones as the club advisor, while also offering compensation for the position like other teachers receive for advisory positions of after-school clubs.

Up to tonight, Jones was volunteering in the position, but wanted to see the district add the club to the list of officially recognized student activities. Though the school has supported the club, Jones is pleased to see the district validate it as an official school activity.

“It’s a safe place for kids to go after school to talk about common issues,” said Superintendent Jeff Evoy. “One of the main things I’m always concerned with is student safety. I want to make sure all students feel like they belong. I want to make sure all students feel safe in school. I want to make sure all students feel secure in school.”

“It was something a group of students had asked the principal about and the principal said ‘It’s something that we’d like to get started,’ and that’s how it came about,” said Evoy.

The vote by the Board of Education to approve the club was not contested by any members of the board or any members of the community present at the meeting.

“The group is to promote camaraderie,” Jones said. “It helps students not to feel isolated. I know too many people personally that needed this in high school and didn’t have it. I was very happy to step in and provide space for the kids and supervise them.”

The goal of the club has always been to ensure a safe place for students to meet without fear of bullying to openly discuss any problems they are having and to encourage students to support each other as peers. The club encourages discussion of problems that students feel they are facing or would like feedback on, such as relationships and friendships in and out of school.

The group is open for anyone to join and is a mix of gay and straight students. The straight students are referred to as allies. Many of the allies joined the club because they have friends or family members outside of the school that are marginalized and would like to extend their support to their peers in school as well. About 15 to 20 students regularly came to the club last year and Jones expects the number to increase this year.

The students who originally wanted to form the club had approached Jones and asked if she would be willing to lead it.

“I’ve always tried to create a safe space,” she said. “I make sure students in my classroom know that they can’t use any sort of derogatory language against other kids. These students felt safe enough with me to ask about having these meetings.”

The club has already participated in a GSA conference in Hamburg with over 200 other students. They also celebrate Wear It Purple Day, which is an event against bullying in any form against anyone. Teachers and students outside the club also participate by wearing purple to show that they want Medina to be a safe, supportive environment. The students have also done the Day of Silence where they do not speak during an entire day, symbolically supporting students who feel silenced by bullying.

Evoy is pleased to see Jones acting as the club advisor and commented, “She does a wonderful job. She’s dedicated to all children and she’s outstanding. I’m glad that this club will formally be in existence.”

Medina is the second school in Orleans County to currently have an active GSA club. Holley school also has an active club.

Green Thumb works on garden at Cobblestone Museum

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 September 2014 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers
GAINES – Eileen Sorochty is out today weeding a garden in front of Farmers’ Hall at the Cobblestone Museum.

Sorochty is training to become a master gardener, a role that requires at least 50 hours of community service each year. She is pulling Bishop’s Weed from the garden. The weed was crowding out some Daylilies.

Sorochty of Albion is retired from Brockport State College. She worked as an administrative assistant in the college advancement department.

She also is helping the Cobblestone Museum with another garden near the bathrooms behind the Cobblestone Universalist Church.

Jury deliberates murder or manslaughter in case against Carlton man

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 September 2014 at 12:00 am

Frederick Miller

ALBION – Jurors are deliberating whether Frederick Miller will be convicted of second-degree murder or a reduced charge of first-degree manslaughter in the death of his girlfriend Rachel Miller.

Jurors began deliberations at about 10:50 a.m. following closing summations from District Attorney Joseph Cardone and Miller’s defense attorney, Robert King.

Miller admitted in court on Tuesday that he killed his live-in girlfriend. However, his attorney contends it wasn’t murder because Miller was suffering from an “extreme emotional disturbance” due to the loss of work, the serious illness of his mother and “a relationship that was falling apart.”

While Rachel Miller, then 53, was getting ready for work on March 4, 2013 at their Oak Orchard River Road home, Miller went into the bathroom and stabbed her in the neck with scissors. He then stabbed her in the torso and in the back.

She fled the house. Mr. Miller, then 61, stayed inside, but then went outside and found Rachel lying down in the snow. He snapped off a metal “Posted” sign and beat her with it.

Miller’s actions – the multiple stab wounds – are consistent with “snapping,” his attorney said.

“What happened to her is horrible,” King told jurors this morning. “It was a great tragedy. It wasn’t a murder. He was acting under extreme emotional disturbance.”

King cited the testimony of the medical examiner who said he had never seen a murder with a sign post. Very few deaths are caused from stab wounds from scissors, King said today.

He held up the scissors and the sign post for the jury to see.

“These are not murder weapons,” he said. “Any reasonable person knows this is not how you kill someone. These are what was in front of Fred Miller when his world came crashing down.”

Cardone urged the jury to return a conviction of second-degree murder, which carries a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

Miller wasn’t emotionally disturbed, Cardone said.

“This case is entirely about control,” the DA said. “It is entirely about maniplulation.”

Miller was angry when Rachel wanted to spend Easter in Georgia with family, with Miller left behind. She angered him when she brought home baby chicks on March 3, the day before she was killed. And Miller testified he was mad when she took a long shower that morning.

“It wasn’t about extreme emotional disturbance,” Cardone said. “It was about his extreme arrogance, it was about his extreme selfishness, it was about his extreme narcissism and his extreme need to have control of his life and Rachel Miller.”

Miller twice made the choice to murder Rachel, first by stabbing her with scissors and then by beating her with the sign, Cardone said.

“He killed her twice,” Cardone said.

Miller then left Rachel lying in the snow, without a shirt, for the world to discover. She was found by a school bus driver.

“He stayed in the house and left her out there as a trophy,” Cardone said.

Miller refused to be examined by a psychiatrist. His attorney said Miller didn’t want to tell the worst day of his life to a stranger. Miller was honest with the jury on Tuesday, in reliving that day and sharing his financial woes and other disappointments, King said.

“He told you what went through his mind and how terribly sick he was,” King told the jury.

Cardone said Miller killed Rachel to have “the last word.” But now the jury gets a chance to speak, the DA said.

“Ladies and gentleman you have the last word,” he said. “You have the responsibility to find him guilty of murder.”

Residents speak against landfill in Albion

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 September 2014 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers – About 125 people attended a public hearing about a landfill, and whether a permit should be transferred to Richard Penfold, at Hickory Ridge Golf Course in Holley this evening. Many held signs showing their opposition to landfills in Albion.

MURRAY – Albion and Orleans County have had their fill as a garbage dump, Ted Scharping, a former town supervisor, said during a public hearing this evening.

Scharping was elected to the Town Board in November 1995 to fight Waste Management’s effort to build a new 200-foot-high landfill, dwarfing two existing landfills in the community. The town passed anti-landfilling laws that were upheld in court and prevented Waste Management’s project.

But Scharping said the community still suffers from a landfill legacy.

“The wounds are extensive – still,” Scharping said during a hearing attended by about 125 people at Hickory Ridge Golf Course. “We saw what the dump, an illegally run dump, did to our village. We suffered for years – environmentally, visually, quiet enjoyment and most importantly with property values.”

The issue won’t go away, even though Waste Management was denied a permit from the Town Board and laws were passed to prevent another landfill.

Waste Management, although denied by the town, secured a permit from the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Richard Penfold of Orchard Park claims he has ownership of that state permit. The DEC isn’t convinced and denied his request to renew that permit, saying he didn’t have legal standing.

Penfold has appealed that decision, and that was the focus of the public hearing this evening and a DEC issues conference on Wednesday, beginning at 10 a.m. at Hickory Ridge. Lawyers for Penfold, the DEC and Stop Polluting Orleans County will all address a DEC administrative law judge.

Kim Remley, chairwoman of Stop Polluting Orleans County, says Richard Penfold doesn’t have the right to take a state Department of Environmental Conservation permit for a landfill in Albion.

Kim Remley, chairwoman of SPOC, stuck to the issue at hand, whether Penfold has the right to the Waste Management permit. She said he hasn’t satisfied the DEC, and there isn’t a paper trail showing he secured the permit from Waste Management, former site owner Irene Smith, or the bankrupt estate of the Orleans Sanitary Landfill, which operated in Albion until running afoul of the law and going bankrupt in the early 1990s.

Scharping said the community suffered when John and Irene Smith ran OSL, and were fined for taking in too much garbage. The local property values haven’t recovered, with a downward trend especially in the village, said Scharping, long-time real estate broker.

“Any bribes – that’s what I call tipping fees and offers of free garbage – will not compensate for the loss of real property values,” he said. “People in the whole county could be harmed by 5, 10 or 20 percent.”

Another former town supervisor, Judith Koehler, also spoke during the public hearing and told the DEC that the town created a Canal Overlay District in 2002 which forbade landfill development along the canal.

The town and village also worked together on updating a comprehensive plan for land use and development priorities for the community. That plan, adopted in 2012, included a community survey where 75 percent of residents said they “very strongly” or “strongly” opposed more landfills in Albion.

Michael Bonafede said Richard Penfold has acted contrary to his words from a public meeting about two years ago, when he said then he wouldn’t pursue a landfill in the community if residents opposed the project. Bonafede said the community has worked hard to promote heritage tourism and other business in the town.

Michael Bonafede, a former Albion Board of Education president, has been a vocal critic of landfill expansion in Albion. He recalled an Oct. 23, 2012 meeting when Penfold presented his plan for assuming Waste Management’s permit and seeking local approval for the project.

Penfold said then he wouldn’t pursue the project without support from town officials and the community. Bonafede said there hasn’t been support for the project.

“Mr. Penfold said then he just wanted to make a presentation and if we weren’t interested he would go home,” Bonafede said. “Go home.”

The community has worked hard since Waste Management’s proposal in the mid-1990s to chart a new path, promoting heritage tourism, a world-class fishery and other projects that build a “vital wholesome community,” Bonafede said.

He highlighted the renovations of the former Citizens National Bank on Main Street and the former Albion Grammar School, both fully occupied. The community is trying to promote attractions along the Route 98 corridor, from Albion to Lake Ontario.

Albion has been recognized for its efforts by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Point Breeze last year won the Ultimate Fishing Town.

“We don’t want the stink, the noise and the heavy trucks going down Main Street and shaking our historic buildings,” Bonafede said.

Other residents – Marilyn Miller, Terry Wilbert, Andrew Remley, John Andrews and Susan Smith – spoke against allowing the landfill in Albion.

“I would encourage him (Penfold) to expend his effort to change the zoning in Orchard Park so he can build a landfill in his own backyard,” Andrews said.

Amy Hope Witryol, a former State Senate candidate who lives in Niagara County, has watched landfill operators come into Niagara County, only to become much bigger operations later on.

Penfold, during the Oct. 23, 2012 meeting, said he would run an Albion landfill that would take in 400,000 to 500,000 tons of garbage annually, which is down from the 690,000 tons approved by the DEC for Waste Management.

Witryol warned Penfold’s landfill could later become a much bigger operation, perhaps selling out to a larger company.

She said rural Orleans is “spectacularly beautiful” and residents should continue their effort to keep out a landfill.

“It would shatter this county in my view,” she said about a new landfill. “You can’t put Humpty’s Dump back together again.”

Business of the Year keeps growing in Medina

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 September 2014 at 12:00 am

Brunner International is putting on addition, adding employees

Photo by Tom Rivers – Brunner International is putting on a 48,000-square-foot addition to its complex at the corner of Route 31 and Bates Road in Medina.

Brad MacDonald, Brunner vice president, has been with the company since it opened in Medina in 1992.

MEDINA – In 1992, Brunner International moved six employees into a cavernous manufacturing plant at the corner of Bates Road and Route 31. Abex Corporation had shut down and the site was vacant for seven years before Brunner moved in.

Brad MacDonald, then a salesman for Brunner, and other company leaders viewed Medina as an ideal location to grow the company in the United States. Brunner makes brakes and components for heavy-duty trucks and trailers.

Brunner made this brake assembly, which is displayed inside the company on Bates Road.

Brunner, which has another site in Niagara Falls, Ontario, wanted to expand into the United States about two decades ago. The company has been on a steady rise the past 22 years, now employing 390 people in Medina. The company is putting on a 48,000-square-foot addition and expects to grow to 450 employees when the expansion is complete, said MacDonald, now vice president of the company.

The current expansion, which should be ready in March, follows a similar expansion five years ago.

The company’s presence has helped fill the gap left by Fisher-Price, which laid off 700 workers in Medina in 1995. MacDonald said the community, with its agricultural roots, has a strong work ethic, and that is a prime ingredient in the company’s success in Medina.

Brunner workers use a forge to heat up parts to 2,200 degrees.

“The Brunner name is known internationally for quality,” MacDonald said while giving a tour of the plant on Monday.

The company was being wooed by other states for its latest expansion, but Brunner decided it wanted to keep growing in Medina. The company has access to lower-cost hydropower, which made Medina competitive with the sites in other states.

“We decided we wanted to be here and support the community,” MacDonald said.

Some axle shafts are on shelves inside the Brunner complex.

The Orleans County Chamber of Commerce will present Brunner with the “Business of the year” award on Saturday during an awards celebration at Tillman’s Village Inn. The company is being recognized for its expansion in Orleans County.

The plant is a busy factory, with steel being heated and shaped into 1,500 different parts for brakes that will be used by tractor-trailers. Steel is the company’s biggest raw material.

The company employs welders, engineers, assembly workers, maintenance staff and other skilled staff.

A large stamping machine shapes parts to be used in truck brakes.

“We have a robust training program,” MacDonald said. “We don’t need people to come in with the skills. We can teach people the skills they will need. They just need a good attitude and a willingness to work.”

Brunner also has robots at work, lifting heavy steel pieces and doing other automated tasks. Bruner’s engineering team programs the robots, which debut about a decade ago at Brunner, for various jobs.

The company has embraced automated technology for some of the tasks inside the plant.

Most of the work is performed by people, and MacDonald said the company welcomes more hard-working residents to apply for positions at Brunner.

MacDonald walks through the complex and there are sparks from welders, heat from the forges and loud noises from the stamping machine. Workers are moving product with fork lifts.

It’s a busy place.

“It’s very exciting, especially when everything is humming,” he said.

Kendall will open bids for $25M school project on Wednesday

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 September 2014 at 12:00 am

File photos by Tom Rivers – The Kendall Junior-Senior High School is eyed for most of the estimated $25 million in a capital project that should start next month.

KENDALL – The school district will open construction bids on Wednesday for a project that will bring the school campus into the 21st Century.

Kendall residents approved the $25 million capitol project in May 2013. The district has been working with the State Education Department since then on the final designs for the work.

The district will open the bids at 2 p.m. on Wednesday with the Board of Education expected to approve seven different contracts at its 7 p.m. meeting on Sept. 24.

The work could start in October in the back cafeteria of the junior-senior high school, as well as some of the underground infrastructure work at the elementary school.

Crews will continue to work in wings of the junior-senior high school during the winter and spring, with contractors busy next summer so the buildings are ready for the new 2015-16 school year next September.

The $25 million capitol project will be 90 percent funded with state aid. Kendall’s local share already is saved in a capital reserve account.

The project includes new roofs for both school buildings, as well as energy efficient improvements, heating and ventilation work, and updated security measures. Both sites will also see improvements to parking lots and sidewalks.

The junior-senior high school was built in 1971 in an “open classroom” model that didn’t include contained classrooms. The school includes partitions to try to reduce noise and hallway distractions. A capital project would give all the classrooms four walls and their own doors.

The project makes improvements at the two school buildings, including a reconfiguration of the classroom wings so each room has four walls and a door. That will go a long way to improving the learning atmosphere and security for teachers and students, said Julie Christensen, the district superintendent.

Another classroom disrupter, the cafeteria, will be relocated to a wing of the building occupied by the current weight room and another classroom. Right now, the cafeteria is in the middle of the building.

United Way announces new director

Posted 16 September 2014 at 12:00 am

Marsha Rivers

Press release, United Way of Orleans County

MEDINA – The United Way of Orleans County has named Marsha Rivers as its new executive director. Rivers will replace Lisa Ireland, who in recent years led the merger of the Eastern and Western Orleans United Way chapters and successfully ran multiple fundraising campaigns.

Ireland is headed to the Rochester Institute of Technology to serve as the director of donor relations and stewardship within the Division of Development and Alumni Relations.

Rivers, a graduate of Roberts Wesleyan College and Northeastern Seminary in Rochester, brings 18 years of communication and fundraising experience to the United Way.

After serving her alma mater for 12 years in admissions, alumni relations, marketing and public relations roles, Rivers returned to work in Orleans County, serving as executive director of the Care Net Center of Greater Orleans and, through the end of September, development director for Hospice of Orleans.

“In Marsha, we have found a well-qualified professional and also a person who is passionate about Orleans County,” said Bill Hungerford, United Way Board chairman. “She’s the perfect fit for the job.”

Hungerford continued by thanking Lisa for her terrific service. “Lisa was a great leader for us the last three years. She brought her passion, energy, enthusiasm and empathy to the underserved in Orleans County. We thank Lisa for her support, leadership, and guidance over the past years and wish her the best as she continues her professional career at RIT.”

Rivers has also served as president of the Human Services Council of Orleans County and is an active volunteer at the Villages of Orleans.

She starts her United Way tenure at a busy time, as the annual campaign begins Oct. 9. Last year, UW set out to raise $325,000 in support of more than 20 local agencies, including the Arc of Orleans, Genesee-Orleans Ministry of Concern, Christ Church Community Kitchen, and YMCA and many others. This year’s goal will be announced at the kickoff event next month.

Chamber Award for Lifetime Achievement: Marcia Tuohey

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 September 2014 at 12:00 am

First woman to serve as Medina mayor and Legislature chairwoman, Tuohey also ran several businesses

Provided photos – In this photo from 1985, Marcia Tuohey is out inspecting flood damage in the village of Medina.

MEDINA – When Fisher-Price left Medina about two decades ago, eliminating 700 jobs, Marcia Tuohey led the push for the community’s rebound.

She worked to establish a business park that would welcome new companies, including Trek, BMP America and American Sigma. She would later push to welcome Western New York Energy and its ethanol plant.

“When Fisher-Price closed she knew people had to step up for other industries,” said her son Craig Tuohey, a former director of the industrial development agency in Orleans County. “She was tireless.”

Tuohey was a trailblazing local leader. She was the first woman elected to serve as mayor of Medina, the first woman elected county legislator and the Legislature’s longest-serving chairwoman with 10 years as the county’s highest-ranking elected official.

She was 84 when she died at home on Aug. 7. The Orleans County Chamber of Commerce is recognizing her with a “Lifetime Achievement Award” on Saturday during the Chamber’s annual awards dinner.

State Sen. George Maziarz is pictured with Marcia Tuohey when she was celebrated as a “Woman of Distinction” last year in the state capitol.

Before she ran for public office, Tuohey ran many several business ventures, including a construction company and a mobile home park. She teamed with her twin sister Barbara Waters in some of the enterprises, including buying run-down homes, fixing them up and then reselling them.

They were active entrepreneurs beginning about 50 years ago, when it was very much a man’s world.

“She was fearless,” Craig said about his mother.

She doled out duties for her young sons, including mowing lawns and pulling weeds. When she operated the Colonial Inn, insisting on no baseball caps for staff and customers, Craig was assigned the manager.

“If you look sloppy, you act sloppy, and if you act sloppy, you think sloppy,” was one of her adages. Tuohey loved to sprinkle in sayings for the staff and her family.

“Don’t ever ask anyone to do something you wouldn’t do yourself,” Craig said, quoting his mother.

Tuohey often brought up her days working summer jobs on the muck farms with her sister.

Marcia Tuohey is pictured in July 1989 at a wedding. She was known for her stylish appearance.

“No matter what you do, even if it’s pulling a weed, do the best job you can do,” was another saying.

Tuohey was the daughter of Frank J. Balcerzak, a respected building contractor who built hundreds of public buildings in WNY. Marcia, her sister and brother Bob would form a spinoff of the family construction business, Balcerzak Incorporated. They would use their company for several business ventures, including Orchard Manor Nursing Home.

Tuohey married a mechanical engineer, Carl “Gus” Tuohey.

“He was proud of mom and didn’t stand in her way,” said their son Carl.

His mother enjoyed business, but she reveled in politics, mainly because of the relationships and the satisfaction of completing projects.

She didn’t like “phony” people. She preferred people who could get the job done and stayed true to their word.

When women interested in running for elected office would ask her for advice, Tuohey often told them to never offer to make the coffee at a meeting. The women shouldn’t go about deferential roles, catering to the men, her son Carl said.

Tuohey shattered local stereotypes about what women can and should do for much of her adult life, whether running a construction company, serving as Medina mayor and then County Legislature chairwoman.

Even after she retired as Legislature leader eight years ago, Tuohey stayed a force in local affairs. She served on Medina’s Planning Board, and attended many village meetings, urging the Village Board to trim expenses. She also was the county’s representative on the board of directors for Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp.

“It wasn’t about being in charge,” Craig said. “It was about doing things right.”

Gillibrand backs effort for historic status for Barge Canal

Posted 15 September 2014 at 12:00 am

Photo by Tom Rivers – The Glenwood Avenue canal bridge in Medina was constructed during the canal expansion a century ago. It’s one of many canal bridges and structures that remain from when the canal was widened to become the Barge Canal.

Press release
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is urging the National Park Service to place the Barge Canal on the National Register of Historic Places.

Including the Erie Canal, Oswego Canal, Champlain Canal and Cayuga-Seneca Canal, this designation would expand opportunities for federal historic tax credits and other resources, to support economic development initiatives near the Barge Canal.

“The Barge Canal is a historic treasure in New York State and includes some of America’s most recognized waterways,” Gillibrand said. “Spanning across the state, the New York State Barge Canal is home to many recreational activities and commercial developments. I will continue to work hard to ensure the National Park Service recognizes how important the Barge Canal is to New Yorkers and to ensure this much-deserved designation is granted.”

The Barge Canal spans more than 500 miles and includes the Erie Canal, the Oswego Canal, the Cayuga-Seneca Canal, and the Champlain Canal. The Erie Canal was established in 1825 and development of other canals soon followed.

The New York State Board of Historic Preservation nominated the canal as “The Barge Canal Historic District” for the state and national registers. The nomination notes many of the historical artifacts from the widening and deepening of the canal from 1905 to 1918. Orleans County has many of those features: lift bridges, single-truss bridges, guard gates, terminals and waste weirs.

According to a report by the New York State Canal Corporation, the Erie Canal’s non-tourism economic impact is more than $6.2 billion annually, supporting over 8,800 direct and 26,400 indirect jobs. The canal systems have shaped history in upstate New York, and created opportunities for economic developments throughout the state.

In her letter to National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis, Senator Gillibrand wrote, “Listing the NYS Barge Canal in the National Register of Historic Places would be an exciting and appropriate action, further establishing the waterways’ stature and creating additional economic development opportunities for NYS residents and business owners. The NYS Barge Canal has had a great impact on the northeastern region since its construction. To this day, the canal remains widely visited by tourists and school groups who go to learn of the rich history associated with the waterway. National recognition of the Canal on the Register of Historic Places is important to the preservation and celebration of this national treasure.”

Hawley, veterans will leave for DC on 7th Patriot Trip

Staff Reports Posted 15 September 2014 at 12:00 am

BATAVIA – State Assemblyman Steve Hawley and about 100 veterans and their family members will leave Thursday morning for a trip to the nation’s capital.

Hawley is leading the seventh annual Patriot Trip, where veterans visit monuments, museums and memorials.

“As a man that comes from a military family and a former member of the National Guard and Army Reserves, I will always be looking out for veterans,” Hawley said. “Their example of public service is one I do my best to emulate as a public official. The Patriot Trip is a token of my appreciation for the men and women who have served our country with courage and honor. I look forward to this year’s trip.”

Hawley has led about 750 people on the Patriot Trips. The trip departs from Batavia Downs parking lot at 6:30 a.m. on Thursday. The Patriot Trip is an annual event sponsored by Hawley for veterans to visit Washington D.C. and the war memorials in the city. It is one way that Hawley, the ranking member of the Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee, said he shows his appreciation for Western New York’s veterans.