Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Four of the Pinewood Derby cars zoom down the track on Saturday as 25 Scouts in Pack 164 competed in their annual Pinewood Derby at St. Joseph’s Lyceum.

The cars near the finish line and several Scouts are into the action, including James Michael Beach (left in back), Jacob Foote (back center in blue Scout uniform), Declan McCue and Jonathan Judd (right). Judd was the overall winner. Parents include Brian McCue (left), Jason Foote (in red) and Jeff Baron.

Eric Brown, right, and his son Harrison were starters at the derby. Harrison’s brother Jeffrey was one of the competitors and made it to the finals.

Several parents were stationed near the finish line to help determine the winners.

Scouts who took home trophies and awards include, front row, from left: Aaron Flanagan, best in den for Tigers; Xavier Penafiel, best in den for Wolves; Austin Narbugh, best in den for Bears. Back row: Donavan Braley, second overall winner; Jacob Foote, third place overall; Jonathan Judd, first place overall, Cubmatser Mike Beach (in back); Jeffrey Brown, most original car; and Sawyer Braley, best in den for Webelos.

Photos by Tom Rivers

A long warehouse that stretched along the railroad tracks from Main to Platt street in Albion has been reduced to piles of debris. The top photos were taken at about 3 this afternoon.

The Environmental Construction Group of Albion worked on the project this week with a lot of physical changes at the site in the past two days.

JFJ Holdings of North Andover, Mass., plans to build a new 2,000-square-foot Dunkin’ Donuts at the site, right next to Tim Hortons. The new store would have 30 seats inside, 46 parking spaces, a 230-square-foot freezer next to the building, and a drive-through lane that could accommodate 10 vehicles.

The property will have exits on both Main and Platt streets.

The photo directly above shows how the property looked last year before the demolition crews arrived.

The two photos directly above show the site this morning at about 9:30 when big sections of the warehouse were still standing. The photos are from Platt Street looking west toward Main.

Lynnette Schumacher charged with grand larceny

Lynnette Schumacher

Press release
Albion Police Chief Roland D. Nenni III

ALBION – Lynnette A. Schumacher, who was listed Friday morning as a missing person from the village of Albion, was located in the city of Rochester today shortly before 1 p.m.

Schumacher was located when she called the Monroe County 911 center to inquire as to if she was a wanted person. The Rochester Police Department responded and located Schumacher in the 500 block of Broad Street.

The investigation by the Albion Police Department revealed that Schumacher had taken a car from an acquaintance in the village of Albion and then disposed of the car in Rochester because of narcotics activity she was involved in.

Schumacher was taken into custody by the Rochester Police Department and then turned over to the Albion Police Department. Schumacher was charged with Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle 2nd and Grand Larceny 4th. She was arraigned in the Town of Albion Court where bail was set at $1,000. Schumacher in currently being held in the Orleans County Jail and is to return to Town Court on Tuesday.

The vehicle stolen by Schumacher has not been recovered and is believed to still be in Rochester. The stolen vehicle is as follows: 2006 Suzuki Frenza 4 door color Black with NYS Registration FCE-2528.

The investigation was aided by several reports from civilians providing information based on the media reports they had seen. The Albion Police would like to thank the media and the public for their assistance.

If anyone has additional information as to Schumacher’s activity over the past several days or the whereabouts of the stolen vehicle, please contact your local 911 center or the Albion Police at 585-589-5627.

Photos by Tom Rivers

During the Empty Bowls event on Thursday, these Albion seventh graders – Evan Allen (left), Connor McQuillan (center) and Alex Rustay – dressed up to send a message about local hunger.

Albion seventh-graders have been doing the “Empty Bowls” project for six years. Students research local hunger and visit Food Link in Rochester. They learned that one of of four people have an insecure food supply locally.

They also each create a bowl in art class, learning pottery from teacher Kamie Feder.

The bowls were sold for $5 each on Thursday with the proceeds going to Community Action of Orleans and Genesee. The fund-raiser usually raises about $1,000 for Community Action.

Students made about 170 bowls. Each student wrote a note about hunger that was placed on each bowl.

Provided photo

ALBION – Two village leaders were treated to a cake and fanfare on Wednesday when both Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheehan, left, and Mayor Dean Theodorakos attended their last board meeting as current elected village officials.

Sheehan served as a village trustee for eight years. He was unable to run for re-election because of the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from running in partisan elections. Sheehan was recently hired as a maintenance mechanic for the VA in Batavia.

Theodorakos was the village mayor the past five years. He chose to not seek re-election citing the demands of a full-time job in Rochester as a senior accountant for Kodak. He also wants more time with his grandchildren.

The mayor and deputy mayor both said the village has made progress updating old infrastructure. The village has upgraded its sewer plant, sanitary and storm sewers, and overhauled some roads, most notably at Meadowbrook Drive, McKinistry Street, East State Street and Crimson Drive.

Theodorakos said the village has experienced a lot of recent investment, including in the downtown, and along routes 31 and 98. Some local merchants have invested in the village, and some national chains – Kentucky Fried Chicken, Advance Auto Parts and soon Dunkin’ Donuts – have picked Albion for businesses.

Dean London, Albion’s former police chief, will become mayor effective Tuesday. Two other new trustees – Stan Farone and Gary Katsanis – also will join the board. Farone will take Sheehan’s spot while Katsanis fills the vacancy created when Fred Miller became a county legislator on Jan. 1.

Says she battled with board over budget

Susan Rudnicky

ALBION – Susan Rudnicky was back in Hoag Library on Thursday, first using the site as a patron. Later in the day, she attended a session about Depression glass. That was a fund-raiser for Friends of the Library, where Rudnicky volunteers as a member.

“You don’t put your heart and soul into an institution for 16 years and then let go just like that,” Rudnicky said about her connection to the library.

On March 11 she was dismissed as director of the library by the board of trustees. She served as director for 16 years, and helped get the new library built, writing grants that secured $800,000 toward the project. The new site more than doubled the space from a historic structure on Main Street.

The new library has seen circulation jump about 50 percent from the old site. Total circulation topped 100,000 for the first time in 2013, reaching about 120,000. At Swan, circulation typically was about 80,000 annually.

“I’m proud of this building,” Rudnicky said. “They had been talking about it since I don’t know when.”

Board President Kevin Doherty said last week during a board meeting that Rudnicky didn’t follow board directives. That was why she was dismissed. She didn’t do anything illegal, Doherty said.

He didn’t specify the directives that were not followed, but said Rudnicky and the board often were at odds, going back for years.

Rudnicky said there was tension between her and the board over the library budget. She didn’t think the board approved a budget that fully covered the library’s operational needs.

The new library is open eight more hours a week than the former Swan Library, and it’s open nine more Saturdays and four more holidays – Martin Luther King Day, President’s Day, Good Friday and Columbus Day. Swan had 9.5 full-time equivalents for staff and that has dropped to 8 FTEs at the new site.

“It was hard to bring the staffing under budget,” Rudnicky said. “The pressure was trying to man that desk. It takes a certain number of people.”

Rudnicky would have liked more time on the job rather than her hasty exit on March 11 when she was escorted out of the building during business hours.

“It was the least graceful way, but I’m not going to let it get me down,” she said.

At 64, she is back on the job market, sending out resumes. She said it will be difficult to find a comparable job locally. She would like to keep working until she’s 70.

For now she remains committed to serving as president of the Cobblestone Society Museum. If she can find a job in the area she would like to stay involved with Friends of the Library.

She urged the community to continue to support the library, and honor their fund-raising pledges.

“The new building was the realization of a dream for me, along with a bunch of other people,” she said. “I just hope that people of good will take that dream forward.”