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Good riddance, winter

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 March 2014 at 12:00 am

After months of miserable weather, spring arrives

Photos by Tom Rivers

An ice storm hit on Dec. 22, knocking power out in about half the county. National Grid crews worked hard to have power restored in time for Christmas.

A frequent sight this winter: a plow truck. This photo from Feb. 5 shows a Village of Albion plow truck on on East Park Street. It snowed about 9 inches that day. The county issued a travel advisory and the governor declared a state of emergency for New York due to the big storm.

An ice storm. A blizzard. And many days in the deep cold, with temperatures in the single digits or below. The winter of 2013-14 was the most miserable that I can recall, mainly because we had so many days in the single digits or below. The low temperatures combined with stiff winds made it feel like Antarctica.

The National Weather Service frequently put out warnings and advisories about dangerous wind chills, flood watches and hazardous weather. The Sheriff’s Department issued travel advisories. The governor declared a state of emergency. Local schools closed.

Today, let us celebrate as we bid good bye to winter. We took its best punches and we’re still standing.

Here are a few photos, looking back on the frozen season.

With some of our recent light winters, we’ haven’t had enough snow to go sledding. That wasn’t a problem this year if you could handle the cold temperatures. In this photo on Dec. 15, Melissa Fromm of Albion heads down the hill at Bullard Park in Albion with her niece Mariah Plain on her back and friend Leah Pawlak on the very top.

The snow and ice is dangerous. On Dec. 17, a Brockport man – Daniel L. Hollaert Jr., 23 – was killed after he collided with a full-size school bus owned and operated by the Kendall Central School District. The accident occurred at about 7 a.m. on Ridge Road.

When the temperatures did warm up, the area was often shrouded in fog. The heavy fog seemed to make prominent landmarks nearly disappear. In this photo on Dec. 20, the Glenwood Avenue canal bridge in Medina has almost vanished from the landscape.

The ice storm on Dec. 22 coated branches in ice, and those branches came crashing down, knocking out power. In some cases, entire trees gave out from the weight of the ice. This tree fell at about 2:35 a.m. on Dec. 22 and crashed into the home of Gary Moore and his family on South Main Street in Albion. The tree crashed on the family car and also torn off some siding and damaged the roof of the Moore home.

The winter landscape included a historic high sighting of Snowy Owls. They typically stay in Canada for the winter, but there were many in Orleans County. Vince Flow of Kendall captured this closeup of a Snowy Owl in Kendall on Christmas.

For three days a cat was stranded atop a telephone pole in Waterport. Jeremy Arnold, owner of JG Tree Service, rescued Nora on Dec. 28. “Everybody says it’s just a cat or an animal, but people get attached to their pets,” Arnold said after getting Nora down and handing her to her owner, Venita Nauden.

Brandon Bias and his friend Jacob Rausch, both 15, made a rink on the frozen Erie Canal just east of the Ingersoll Street bridge on Jan. 4. The two, who both play for the Brockport Eagles hockey team, played together for more than two hours on the canal in Albion.

Peggy Barringer of Albion stopped by Point Breeze in Carlton and Lomond Shores in Kendall in early January and captured images of the ice formations by the lake.

Sandy Andrews, a member of the First United Methodist Church in Albion, shovels the steps and sidewalk on Jan. 22, when the temperature peaked at 7 degrees. The church provides a ministry for people taking their driver’s license tests. The drivers and their families are served coffee and provided a warm spot from the cold.

You don’t see this every day: a sun dog. The phenomenon showed up on Jan. 22, appearing like a rainbow. The low-lying sun creates ice halos. Dawn Gardner took this photo in East Shelby on Fletcher Chapel Road at South Woods Road.

There were so many cold days that schools were forced to stay open despite the harsh weather. I took the above photo through the frosted front window of my house on Jan. 23. The Albion school bus stopped to pick up elementary school children.

On Feb. 5 a storm barreled through the county in late morning and all five school districts cancelled after-school activities. Some districts sent students home early. I was out driving that day and it ranks high as the most precarious trip I’ve had in years due to the whiteout conditions. The photo shows Gaines Basin Road looking south from near Ridge Road. Gov. Cuomo has declared a state-wide emergency due the storm.

Some days the winds howled. On Feb. 7, the wind chill was 15 below. This photo was taken on Countyhouse Road near the Ridgeway-Albion town line.

Carl Sargent woke up to another snow storm on Feb. 10. He was out shoveling that morning on Caroline Street in Albion.

The freeze-and-thaw cycle left long icicles hanging from buildings. This picture was taken on Feb. 16 and shows the Center for Workforce Development building on Route 31 in Albion, right next to the GCC campus.

It may have only been in the teens on March 2, but it was still a glorious sunset in Orleans County. This photo was taken on Gaines Basin Road in Albion, looking west along the railroad tracks. The temperatures were forecast to fall to 4 degrees that night.

On March 12 a blizzard hit, dropping about a foot of snow on the county. This photo shows traffic creeping along Main Street in Albion by the Presbyterian Church and the county courthouse.

It looked like a white planet when firefighters, including Dan Strong of Carlton, responded to a chimney fire on Ridge Road in Gaines during the blizzard.

Lone Lyndonville trustee candidate elected

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 March 2014 at 12:00 am

LYNDONVILLE – It was a quiet election in Lyndonville with only one candidate on the ballot. Charles Covell was elected with all 19 of the votes cast on Tuesday.

Covell was elected to serve the remaining year of a trustee term originally won by James Whipple. He resigned after moving outside the village last year. Covell was appointed by Mayor Stephen McAvoy.

Covell, the owner of Creekside Laundromat in Lyndonville, was appointed to the Village Board on Oct. 14.

Pretty plant in Holley is a pest

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 March 2014 at 12:00 am

Photo by Tom Rivers – This plant, Phragmites australis, grows by the Holley Elementary School. It is an invasive plant that can take over where cattails once grew.

HOLLEY – The photo of a plant by the Holley Elementary School sure looked pretty. We had it on the Orleans Hub on Tuesday.

I wasn’t positive what the plant was. I guessed it was cattails, but I wasn’t certain. Well, it’s not cattails.

Dennis Kirby, manager of the Orleans County Soil and Water Conservation District, did some research and identified the plant as Phragmites australis. This is an invasive plant that is causing a lot of trouble in coastal wetlands.

Locally, it pops up in ditches and wet areas.

“You see it around in a lot of places,” he said.

The plant crowds out cattails and takes over a spot. Cattails provide a good home for muskrats and some waterfowl. But Phragmites australis grows close together and isn’t a good habitat for wildlife, Kirby said.

“This is a very pretty plant, but actually a very invasive one that tends to take over and crowd out where the cattails previously grew,” Kirby said.

Dye Hose firemen from Albion pose for a picture in 1884

Posted 19 March 2014 at 12:00 am

By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian

ALBION – The Dye Hose firemen sat for this group photo June of 1884. In the background off Platt Street is the Albion Village Hall and Fire Department.

First row, from left: Wm Taylor, C. Dunning, P.W. Collins, secretary Warner Thompson, assistant foreman W. Stockton, E. Warner, E. Woods, F. Gould and M. Davis.

Second row: steward B. Butler, M. McLean, treasurer G. Shourds, J. Lewis, J. Bunn, John Bordwell, F. Taylor, J.C. Wilcox, J. Bradley, C.B. Lattin, B. Thurston and C. Higley.

Note the uniforms all have “DH” monograms embossed on them.

Defenders speak out for ousted Albion library director

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 March 2014 at 12:00 am

Photo by Tom Rivers – Library user Donna Wolcott said the board of trustees treated former director Susan Rudnicky poorly when she was dismissed last week during regular business hours. “We wouldn’t have this library without Susan,” Wolcott said about Rudnicky.

ALBION – Supporters of Susan Rudnicky, the library director in Albion for 15 years, spoke out in her defense at tonight’s meeting of the Swan Library Association board of directors. That board on March 11 voted to dismiss Rudnicky.

One of the trustees, Mary Anne Braunbach, resigned tonight over the way Rudnicky was let go. “It could have been less public, less humiliating, and could have avoided the discomfort for all who observed,” Braunbach said while submitting her resignation.

Braunbach didn’t attend the March 11 board meeting because she is president of Friends of the Library. Rudnicky was escorted out of the library at 6:15 p.m. last Tuesday. She was walked past the group of Friends and other patrons.

“What bothers me is the way you did it,” said Donna Wolcott, a library patron. “It was very insensitive. I’m just appalled.”

The walking out of the building fed rumors in the community that Rudnicky must have done something very wrong, Wolcott said.

Rudnicky did not do anything illegal nor was there any malfeasance, said Kevin Doherty, the board president. But she didn’t follow directives from the board, an issue that had been ongoing for years, he said.

Mary Anne Braunbach, a trustee for the Swan Library Association board of directors, announces her resignation from the board tonight due to way the board dismissed library director Susan Rudnicky last week. Other board members in the photo include Dele Theodorakos, center, and Linda Smith.

Wolcott said Rudnicky was always professional with the public, and she was committed to community causes, serving as president of the Cobblestone Society Museum and a member of the Rotary Club. She also wrote grants that netted $800,000 for the construction of the new Hoag Library, which opened in July 2012.

“We wouldn’t have this library without Susan,” Wolcott said.

Another library user Judy Manley, a member of the Friends, also spoke in support of Rudnicky. Rudnicky’s long-time assistant Susie Gaylard said the board should have celebrated Rudnicky, and her tireless work to get the new library built. The board should have let Rudnicky retire. She turns 62 later this year, Gaylard said.

“I was at the Friends meeting and it was very unfriendly,” Gaylard said. “She wasn’t shown the respect she was due.”

Doherty said the timing of the dismissal wasn’t intended to fall during the Friends meeting. The Friends usually meet at 7 p.m. on a Wednesday but the time was moved to 6 p.m. on a Tuesday.

Ken Braunbach, a library supporter who is married to Mary Anne, challenged Doherty and the board to let the community know that Rudnicky didn’t do anything illegal.

“You have to get that stigma off her,” Braunbach said. “It’s unfair to Susan.”

New Albion mayor expects smooth transition

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 19 March 2014 at 12:00 am

London

ALBION – The village’s new elected mayor is no stranger to the Village Hall, and the village departments and employees.

For 21 years Dean London worked in the Albion Police Department, retiring as chief about two years ago. The Republican was cross-endorsed by Democrats for Tuesday’s election. He was unopposed on Tuesday and received 233 votes.

London takes office on April 1. He said there won’t be a big shake-up in the village government, including people who serve on committees. He will make those appointments in early April, and will assign the four trustees to departments and committees, trying to match their strengths with the opportunities to serve.

“We’re going to take some time to assess,” London said Tuesday night.

He wants to see the replacement of the Clarendon Street bridge move forward, as well as continued upgrades to the water and sewer plant.

The village should look at forming a local development corporation that could own some derelict properties in the village and then either sell them to the highest bidder or find a partner for redeveloping the land. London sees two deteriorated houses on Liberty Street near the new library as good candidates for the LDC, which would then work to find a buyer to have the land redeveloped.

London said the village faces many challenges, namely a shrinking tax base and many demands for services and infrastructure upgrades.

He said the trustees elected on Tuesday bring strengths to the board. Eileen Banker has been on the board for more than four years. She works as Assemblyman Steve Hawley’s chief of staff.

“She brings experience and a history,” London said.

Banker said she was disappointed by the low turnout for the election. Village elections typically draw 800 to 1,000 voters. Albion needs more community involvement, Banker said.

Banker led the trustee candidates with 170 votes. Stan Farone received 147 for the other four-year position and Gary Katsanis received 148 votes for a two-year position. The Republicans defeated a Democratic Party team that included Terry Wilbert, Patricia Cammarata and Sandra Walter.

Farone made his first run for elected office. A Kodak employee for 33 years, he is a long-time member of the Albion Fire Department, serving as a past president. He was a co-founder of the Central Orleans Volunteer Ambulance about four decades ago and remains on the group’s board of directors.

Farone wants to see improvements to Bullard Park, and a plan for reusing vacant sites and cleaning up run-down houses in the village. The Village Board also needs to work with the towns of Albion and Gaines to promote tourism and economic development in the community, Farone said.

Katsanis worked in medical data analysis for Strong and then Blue Cross. He managed a staff that stretched from Buffalo to Utica. He praised the outgoing board led by Mayor Dean Theodorakos for working hard on the budget.

That spending plan needs to be approved by April 30. The current board didn’t leave all of the work on the budget for the new team that starts April 1.

London said the board will have the benefit of experienced trustees – Banker and Pete Sidari – plus some new members.

“Gary Katsanis and Stan Farone bring a new perspective,” London said.

Soda and ‘energy drinks’ are part of country’s obesity problem

Posted 19 March 2014 at 12:00 am

By Nola Goodrich-Kresse, Public Health Educator for the Orleans County Health Department

When was the last time you thought about what you were drinking? Did you know that the rising trend in obesity rates in the nation have followed the rising trend of sugar-sweetened beverages?

Sugar-sweetened beverages are considered any beverage with more than 25 calories per 8-ounce serving. According to the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, research shows that caloric intake from soft drinks has increased by 228 percent between 1977 and 2001, and that the portion sizes have increased from 6.5 fluid ounces in the 1950s to more than 20 fluid ounces today. The average American consumes 50 gallons of soda or other sweetened beverages each year.

Sugar-sweetened beverages are not limited to soda (or pop, depending on where you are from), but also include non-100 percent fruit drinks, sports drinks, flavored water, energy drinks, and pre-sweetened tea and coffee.

These drinks are high in calories, have no nutritional value and include any of the following sweeteners: sucrose, fructose, glucose, high fructose corn syrup, brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, fruit juice concentrates, honey, invert sugar, lactose, maltose, malt syrup, molasses, raw sugar, sugar and syrup. Each day the average American consumes 22 teaspoons of sugar, much more than the recommended 5 to 9 teaspoons per day.

Another concern is the so-called “energy” drinks. These are mostly made up of water, sugar and caffeine along with other additives. Not only do these drinks provide empty calories, but the higher levels of caffeine are known to increase jitteriness, irritability and effect normal sleep patterns, which can have an effect on concentration and alertness, when having too many energy drinks.

Studies have shown caffeine can increase blood pressure and increase heart rates. According to a recent MedicineNet article, the average American takes in about 280 mg/day of caffeine. An 8-ounce serving of regular black brewed coffee is about 135 mg and an 8 ounce cup of black tea is 40-70 mg. Some of the energy drinks have two or three times the amount of caffeine and generally are a serving size of 12 to 20 ounces.

Here are some tips to help you enjoy your favorite beverages in moderation and try some new low/no calorie drinks:

Choose water as your beverage of choice throughout the day, every day.

Add some fruit to your water to give it a little flavor. Lemons, limes, strawberries, even cucumber can give your water a boost of flavor. Be creative.

Drink unsweetened tea or coffee. Add some lemon, lime, or cinnamon stick to your hot or cold plain tea. Add a drop of vanilla, almond or other flavoring to your hot or cold plain coffee.

Drink from a cup instead of a bottle. Most bottled beverages are more than 8-ounces. If you have a favorite glass or cup, find out how much liquid it holds before using it.

If you want to have a sugar-sweetened beverage, only have a limited amount, such as 8 ounces and only 1 or 2 days a week. Check the serving size on the bottle to find out how many calories are in 1 serving and multiply it according to how much you plan on drinking.

If you notice you are having trouble sleeping, seem more irritable or jittery and have trouble concentrating and staying alert, limit caffeinated beverages.

Measure out 17 teaspoons of sugar and put it in a dry 20-ounce beverage bottle to give yourself a picture of how much sugar you are drinking. Keep it near your fridge to remind you of what your sugar-sweetened drinks contain.

Remember any sugar-sweetened beverage should be considered a treat, not a daily choice. Helping limit the amount of these calories can help limit the effects of becoming obese.

Republicans sweep in Albion

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 March 2014 at 9:45 pm

ALBION – Dean London has been elected mayor in the Village of Albion with 233 votes. He had both the Republican and Democratic Party endorsements.

London’s fellow Republicans also secured three trustee positions. Eileen Banker received 170 votes and Stan Farone had 147. Both will serve four-year terms as trustee. They were up against Democratic candidates Terry Wilbert and Patricia Cammarata. Wilbert received 93 votes; Cammarata had 87.

Gary Katsanis was elected for a two-year term as trustee with 148 votes. He beat out the Democrat Sandra Walter, who received 94 votes.

Petition again seeks to reduce Holley Board of Education

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 March 2014 at 12:00 am

Photo by Tom Rivers – The Holley Board of Education met on Monday evening. A petition seeks to reduce the size of the board from seven to five members. Pictured, from clockwise at lower left: school attorney Jeff Martin, BOE member Jack Welch, district clerk Connie Nenni, BOE President Brenda Swanger and BOE member Sal DeLuca.

HOLLEY – For the third straight school election, Holley voters will be asked to vote on a referendum about the size of the Board of Education.

Two years ago, voters approved shrinking the board size from nine to five members, a process that would have been phased in over three years. The measure barely passed in May 2012 in 395-to-392 vote.

Last year a new petition sought to stop the reduction at seven members, not going all the way down to five. Residents approved that referendum with a 350-to-257 vote last May.

Board member Jack Welch pushed the petition two years ago to reduce the board to five members. He again circulated a petition to shrink the board to five members. The petition had enough signatures and was filed by the deadline for the May 20 election, said Jeff Martin, the school district attorney.

“I just hope when this one is done we’re done for a while,” Brenda Swanger, the Board of Education president, said during Monday’s board meeting when the petition was accepted for the May 20 ballot. “We’re looking foolish in the community.”

Welch has noted many other similar-size schools, such as Kendall, function with five BOE members.

The BOE members are volunteers, and supporters of a bigger school board say more members bring more viewpoints and representation from the community.

Kellie Spychalski, a BOE member, said she didn’t like how Welch sought support for the petition by using what appeared to be district letterhead, which may have given residents the impression the district was behind the push for a board reduction.

“I’m very disappointed in the way this was brought to the board,” she said.

Spychalski also said last year’s vote showed strong support for keeping the board at seven members. But Welch said the vote two years ago actually had more yes votes, at 395, than the 350 who supported capping the board at seven members last May.

“This is just a continuation from two years ago,” Welch responded to Spychalski.

Medina man, 22, arraigned for sex abuse against child

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 March 2014 at 12:00 am

Albion woman faces charge of second-degree arson

ALBION – A Medina man was arraigned in Orleans County Court on Monday for first-degree sexual abuse. Patrick E. Sewar, 22, of Knowlesville Road was arrested Dec. 13 for sexually abusing a child under the age of 11 in the town of Shelby.

He also is accused of molesting another child at Darien Lake on June 24. He has pending sexual misconduct charges stemming from a third incident in Ridgeway.

Sewar was arraigned by County Court Judge James Punch and sent to jail on $5,000 bail. The judge assigned the public defender to represent Sewar, who is due back in court on May 31.

In other cases in county court:

An Albion woman was arraigned on charges of second-degree arson and fourth-degree criminal mischief after allegedly setting a fire at a Beaver Street house in the village on Aug. 16.

Crystal McGuire, 21, lives on West Lee Road. She was placed in jail on $10,000 bail.

Cody Gillette, 24, of East State Street pleaded guilty to driving while ability impaired by drugs, attempted forgery in the second degree and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. He faces a maximum of 1 to 3 years in state prison when he is sentenced on June 9.

Gillette, who has a prior DWI, said in court he was driving on June 16 after consuming opiates and using marijuana. He also admitted to forging a check on June 26.

Lidio Ramirez-Figueroa, 35, of 14691 Zig Zag Rd. in Albion was sentenced to a year in state prison. He pleaded guilty to fifth degree criminal sale of a controlled substance. He admitted to selling cocaine on Nov. 9, 2012 at a house on Densmore Road.

Jose Guitierrez-Ramirez, 53, of Batavia was sentenced to a year in county jail. He pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. He was charged on Sept. 14 after being stopped in Albion.

Beau Bettilyon, 28, of Hamlin was sentenced to three months in county jail, five years of probation and also had his driver’s license revoked for a year. Bettilyon pleaded guilty to DWI on June 2, when he was stopped on Oak Orchard Road in the town of Gaines. He has a prior DWI.