MEDINA – Medina High School English teacher Karen Jones recently had an honored guest in her classroom. Medina High School alumni and author, Julie Berry, paid a visit to Mrs. Jones’ 7th and 9th period seniors to discuss her book, “All The Truth That’s in Me.” The students had just finished reading it for an assignment.
The book is about a young woman named Judith and what happens to her after her best friend and she disappear from their small town. She returns permanently mutilated, reviled and ignored by those around her and eventually finds her voice again.
The book has won critical acclaim and has an Edgar Award nomination, A YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Top Ten Title, A Junior Library Guild Selection, A School Library Journal Best Book of 2013, A Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Book for 2013, A Horn Book Fanfare 2013 title, a 2014 TAYSHAS Top Ten Pick and was on the short list for the Carnegie Medal.
“It was such a pleasure to have Julie in my class. We went to school together,” says Mrs. Jones. “It was a great opportunity for my students to be able to discuss the book with her. She also shared with them her new book that has recently been released. I am very appreciative she came in and spent time with all of us.”
Marissa Pecorella is pictured with her gold medal.
Press Release, Medina Central School
MEDINA – Medina junior Marissa Pecorella took first place in the Esthetics category at the New York State SkillsUSA competition.
Marissa competed against eight other BOCES cosmetology students from across the state for creating a makeup look that incorporated a bird theme. It was the first time that the New York SkillsUSA competition has held this particular contest.
SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry that work together to ensure America has a skilled workforce while encouraging students to become world-class workers, leaders and responsible American citizens.
Marissa Pecorella created this winning design in a bird theme.
Marissa, who attends the Cosmetology program at the Orleans Career and Technical Education Center, designed the makeup look on her model around the New York State bird, the bluebird.
Marissa is already working freelance as a makeup artist and says she will continue to do so to put herself through law school after graduation. She will represent New York State in Louisville, Kentucky at the National SkillsUSA competition at the end of June.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 4 May 2016 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Ben Yazman, Heritage Wind project developer, is pictured by the Barre water tower on Route 98 behind the firehall.
BARRE – Apex Clean Energy last week announced its plan for Heritage Wind, a 200 Megawatt project, the same power proposed for Lighthouse Wind in Yates and Somerset.
Apex put out a map that showed the project focused in Barre but also spreading out into surrounding towns, as far northeast as Fancher and south into Elba.
Apex said today the project will be focused entirely in Barre. Ben Yasman, Heritage Wind project developer, said Barre’s elevation is about 200 feet higher than most of the county. It has access to transmission lines and state roads.
It also is the least populous town in the county with lots of open farmland.
Apex is just beginning the public outreach process. The company expects to have many meetings with town officials and residents in a siting process that could take several years. Yazman said feedback from residents, landowners, town officials and other stakeholders will determine the location and size of the turbines.
“The locations will be dependent on the landowners who want to participate,” he said.
Apex has been meeting with Yates landowners for about two years. The company has fielded questions about the Lighthouse Wind project at its booth at the 4-H Fair. Apex officials were told by several Barre landowners said they would a support a project in Barre, said Taylor Quarles, Apex’s development manager.
The company sees the potential in Barre, which was eyed for a project by Iberdrola before the company withdrew its effort about a decade ago after concerns by the Pine Hill Airport.
Yazman said he wants to alleviate worries from community members, including the airport. It will be part of the company’s public outreach plan and later environmental studies and scoping documents.
“We want to involve the town in this potential project,” said Cat Mosely, Public Affairs manager for Apex. “We see it as a community owned project.”
Apex has already done its public outreach plan for Yates and Somerset, and also submitted a Preliminary Scoping Document. It is working to address environmental concerns and other issues raised for the Yates-Somerset project.
Mosely and Yazman said today the company remains committed to Lighthouse Wind.
The intent to develop the Heritage Wind project shows the company’s commitment to Orleans County and the region, Mosely said. (Apex is also working on a project on Galloo Island near Watertown.)
Yazman said the projects will take years of work. He welcomed residents and government officials to reach out to him. He can be contacted through the Heritage Wind website. Click here for more information.
By Kristina Gabalski, Correspondent Posted 4 May 2016 at 12:00 am
Photos by Kristina Gabalski – Holley School Board of Education candidates, Christine Klafehn, Brenda Swanger and John Heise (left to right) take questions from the audience during a Meet the Candidates forum prior to the district’s annual meeting Tuesday evening at the Holley Elementary School.
HOLLEY – The proposed Holley Central School budget for 2016-17 includes a 1.99 percent increase in the tax levy, which school officials say falls below the tax levy cap of 2.219 percent.
Members of the Holley School Board of Education held their annual meeting Tuesday evening, which included a presentation on the proposed budget by Assistant Superintendent for Business Sharon Zacher.
Zacher said the $24.4 million proposed 2016/2017 budget is 4.73 percent higher than the current year budget. The nearly 5 percent budget-to-budget increase is due to the district’s share of the Monroe 2-Orleans BOCES Capital Project, she said.
“We pay our portion as an expense item,” Zacher said, and explained this is the first of a three-year contribution. A portion of the expense will be aided on the revenue side of the budget, she noted. Without the BOCES Capital Project, the budget-to-budget increase is 2.32 percent.
The 1.99 percent increase in the tax levy brings the average tax rate to approximately $22.81 per $1,000 of assessed value.
The proposed budget maintains current staffing and programs, District Superintendent Robert D’Angelo said.
The garden in the open courtyard area has flowers in bloom at the Holley Elementary School.
Zacher said on the appropriations side, health insurance costs have increased 6 to 7 percent over the current year.
On the revenue side, the district will receive $15.87 million in state aid. The district will collect $6.86 million with the tax levy.
Zacher noted the ending of the Gap Elimination Adjustment in the state budget will mean a restoration of $284,309 for the district. Foundation Aid increased 1.48 percent to $141,880.
The proposed budget uses $1.3 million of appropriated fund balance, Zacher said.
Voters will see three propositions on the ballot May 17.
Proposition 1 is the $24.4 million annual district budget; Proposition 2 regards authorizing the purchase of schools buses – two full-sized and two 30-passenger school buses not to exceed $339,000; Proposition 3 is the budget for the Community Free Library in Holley of $116,061.
Additionally, three candidates are running for two 3-year term seats on the School Board. John Heise and Brenda Swanger are running for re-election, and Christine Klafehn is also running for an open seat.
Before the annual meeting Tuesday evening, a meet the candidates forum was held. All three candidates discussed their desire to run for the School Board and also answered questions.
Both Heise and Swanger, who currently serves as School Board President, said they would like to continue serving the district. They have both been board members for 12 years.
“I’m proud of our district,” Swanger said.
Heise noted the district is seeing positive results of its programs with higher test scores. He currently serves as the Holley representative on the BOCES 2 Board of Education.
Christine Klafehn is a retired special education teacher and a former member of the Kendall Central School Board of Education, serving part of that time as president. She is also a former Kendall Recreation and Hamlin Recreation soccer coach. She noted her experience in Kendall would be helpful as the two districts plan to look into ways to work together.
“I know the district (Kendall) quite well,” she said.
Klafehn said she has been very happy with the education her children have received in the Holley Central School District. “I’m excited to put my name in the hat,” she said of her candidacy.
Voting will take place May 17 from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the foyer of the Holley Middle School/High School.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 May 2016 at 10:00 am
ALBION – Orleans County officials have approved bids to replace deteriorated bridges on Carton Road in Kendall and over Fish Creek on East Scott Road in Ridgeway.
The County Legislature last week approved the low bid from Union Concrete and Construction Corporation in West Seneca to replace the East Scott Road Bridge for $724,346. The new bridge will replace one from 1936.
The Legislature also accepted the low bid from Crane-Hogan Structural Systems in Spencerport to replace the Carton Road Bridge for $793,729. It will replace a bridge from 1959.
The work will be paid for as part of an $8 million bond the county took out in 2014 for a series of infrastructure projects over three years.
Construction on the two bridges is scheduled to start at the end of this month.
File photo by Tom Rivers – The Civil War section at Mount Albion Cemetery is pictured last October when the leaves were changing color. A Heritage Festival planned for Sept. 9-11 will highlight some of the county’s historic assets, including cemeteries.
Press Release, GCC
ALBION – People who live in Orleans County know that it is a special place and they work hard to preserve their precious heritage. They enjoy a wealth of extraordinary assets from historic buildings with magnificent architecture to the Erie Canal that did so much to create the town and villages along its banks.
Even the stone in the ground – Medina sandstone, and the soil sustaining the farms – the muck lands, are appreciated. Beginning in September 2016, a county-wide festival will celebrate these many cherished treasures.
Organizers are proud to announce the first Orleans County Heritage Festival, Sept. 9-11: a weekend dedicated to spotlighting the many historic assets of Orleans County. For this year’s festival, four themes will be highlighted – Agriculture, Transportation, Historic Cemeteries and Historic Gems.
Now in development, a high quality brochure will highlight all the participating museums, places and organizations. A passport system will encourage participants to visit six historic sites over the course of the weekend and prizes will be awarded for those who complete the task.
In addition to the many historic sites in Orleans County, Genesee Community College will participate in the festival as headquarters for the passport system and with special events. The Medina Campus Center will host a timeline festival featuring re-enactors from various American wars – from the French and Indian War down to 20th century wars. Artisans demonstrating period crafts and special music will contribute to the sensation as visitors walk through time.
The Albion Campus Center will host a program on “Death Ways” through the years featuring talks on Victorian mourning art and the famous murders that occurred in Orleans County.
Many other exciting details of the 2016 Orleans County Heritage Festival will be shared in the coming weeks, but planners are asking everyone to mark their calendars now – September 9-11, 2016. Make plans to join the fun and explore the many historic assets Orleans County has to offer!
For more information or to be involved as a volunteer, please contact:
Derek Maxfield, associate professor of History at GCC ddmaxfield@genesee.edu, 585-343-0055 ext. 6288.
Jim Simon, associate dean at the Medina and Albion Campus Centers, jsimon@genesee.edu,call 585-589-4936.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 May 2016 at 12:00 am
ALBION – A mother and son admitted in Orleans County Court to attempting to bring painkillers into the Orleans Correctional Facility.
Scott Briggs, 31, of Broome County is an inmate at the Orleans Correctional Facility serving a 6- to 7-year sentence for burglary and possession of stolen property. Lori Briggs, 54, of Endicott allegedly mailed her son a painkiller on three occasions and also had it during a prison visitation.
She admitted in Orleans County Court on Monday to mailing Suboxone to her son, who admitted that he requested his mother mail it to him.
Correctional Facility staff intercepted the Suboxone, District Attorney Joe Cardone said.
The mother and son pleaded guilty to attempted promoting of prison contraband in the first degree, a charge that normally carries a maximum of 2 to 4 years in state prison. As part of a plea deal, Mr. Briggs would face no more than 1 ½ to 3 years when he is sentenced July 11 as a second felony offender.
His mother has a past criminal history with misdemeanors, Cardone said. She will face a maximum sentence of 1 to 3 years in prison as part of a plea deal when she is sentenced on July 25.
In another case involving prison contraband, Judge Punch set July 27 for the start of a trial against Ashley J. Sizemore, 31, an inmate in the Albion Correctional Facility.
Sizemore has refused to leave the prison and attend her court appearances. Punch set June 29 at 2 p.m. for a mandatory conference with Sizemore to determine why she is refusing to go to court.
She has been charged with first degree promoting prison contraband which, as a second felony offender, carries a maximum of 3 ½ to 7 years in prison.
She was charged in August, along with Thomas Torpey, a Rochester man who was convicted of a mob-related murder in 1981.
Torpey, 68, was arrested on Aug. 23 by State Police. He is accused of bringing drugs to the prison for Sizemore, who is serving a 42-month sentence for an arson in February 2014 at the Spencerport residence of a former Irondequoit police officer.
The case against Torpey is pending in County Court.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 May 2016 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Residents in the Hoag Library service area on Monday elected Holly Canham and Kevin Doherty to four-year terms as library trustees.
ALBION – Residents elected Kevin Doherty, the Hoag Library president, to another four-year term on the library board of trustees on Monday.
Doherty has served on the board for seven years and has been president for six years, leading the library through a capital campaign and construction of a new facility that opened in 2012.
Voters also elected Holly Canham to a four-year term on the board. Canham is a frequent library user, utilizing the local history resources. She is founding president of the Orleans County Genealogical Society, and remains the group’s president after 16 years.
Canham is retired from working at Chase in Albion. She leads “Family Tree Fridays,” classes on genealogy on the first and third Fridays of the month at Hoag.
“I felt it was my turn to help out,” she said about running for the library board.
She wants to promote the local history resources and help people use those materials in researching their family histories.
Doherty has been an active community member for many years with the Strawberry Festival, 4-H Fair and Albion school district. He owns Doherty Communications.
The new library and a push for programs at Hoag that best serve the community are important as a quality of life issue for the Albion area, Doherty said.
A vibrant library with technology and other resources is part of making the community viable long-term for many young families and other residents when they consider moving or staying in the Albion area, Doherty said.
He is thankful the library has completed the new site, which opened in 2012. Now the focus is on providing the best services to the community, he said.
“The job isn’t done yet,” he said about why he sought another four years on the board.
The nine member board has three vacancies. Two will be filled by the board and Mayor Dean London also can appoint a representative.
Residents in the Albion school district will vote on May 17 whether the district can collect $687,211 for Hoag Library. That is up 1 percent from the $680,411 for 2015-16.
Voting for the library funds is part of the May 17 school vote from noon to 8 p.m. at elementary school.
KENDALL – Damian Morfin Howes was awarded his Eagle Scout rank during a celebration on Sunday.
Damian is from Troop 94.
For his Eagle project, he built four large flower boxes.
Two boxes were placed in the front of Kendall United Methodist Church. The second two were placed on the side of the church barn under the barn quilt.
The flower boxes allow the congregation of the church to plant flowers on both sides of the church’s front entrance, thus enhancing the front of the church.
The boxes on the side of the barn allow for the planting of flowers and easier upkeep for the church property.
This was Damian’s way to give back to the church community that has supported him.
