National Grid is urging its Upstate New York customers to be cautious of unknown callers identifying themselves as National Grid representatives and asking for personal banking or credit card information.
In recent weeks there have been reports of calls to National Grid customers asking for personal financial information, or telling customers to obtain money orders, pre-paid cards or other forms of payment to avoid service shut-offs.
National Grid may call and request payment information for customers with previous balances, but the company urges anyone who is uncertain as to the identity of a caller to verify it by hanging up and contacting National Grid at 1-800-642-4272.
Customers who believe they have fallen victim to the scam should immediately contact local law enforcement officials.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 February 2014 at 12:00 am
Harriger
ALBION – A pastor accused of sex crimes against children in his family faces a new charge of criminal possession of a firearm.
The Rev. Roy Harriger, 70, faces the new charge because Harriger allegedly possessed an unregistered revolver at his residence on Nov. 27. State police reported Harriger did not have a valid permit for the revolver.
Harriger was issued an appearance ticket in Town of Hartland Court for 7:30 p.m. on March 10.
Harriger, pastor of the Community Fellowship Church in Middleport, was arraigned in the Orleans County Court on Monday before Judge James Punch. The arraignment was based on a six count indictment handed up by the Orleans County grand jury charging Harriger with three counts of course of sexual conduct against a child, two counts of incest and one count of incest in the first degree. All are felonies.
Judge Punch issued an order of protection barring Harriger from having any contact with the alleged victims. Judge Punch further ordered that Harriger is not to have any contact with any person under the age 18, without any exceptions, pending the outcome of the case.
Haley Maier, 11, raises money for Alzheimer’s Association
Provided photo – Haley Maier, 11, demonstrates how she makes crocheted necklaces, which she sells to benefit the Western New York Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.
Press release, Prudential Financial
An Orleans County 4-H member has been picked as one of two top youth volunteers in the state. She has been recognized through the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism.
Haley Maier, a sixth-grader at Barker Middle School, has raised money for the Western New York Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association by making and selling crocheted necklaces in memory of her grandmother, who died from Alzheimer’s disease before Haley was born.
Although she never knew her grandmother, Haley often listened to her older sisters talk about what a great grandma she was.
“She had done so much for everyone that I wanted to do something on her behalf,” she said.
Since her grandmother loved to crochet, and had been assisted in many ways by the Alzheimer’s Association after she became ill, Haley decided to crochet necklaces to support the Association’s work.
After her mother taught her to crochet, Haley, 11, began spending evenings and weekends making necklaces and then sold them to friends, classmates, family members, teachers and others in her community.
She also set up necklace displays at her pediatrician’s office and hair dresser’s salon, and demonstrated her crocheting technique at a county 4-H event.
“It makes me happy to know that people like my grandma could benefit from what I do,” said Haley. “I wish I had known my grandma, but somehow I know she is watching over me.”
Haley and Sean Egan, 17, of Staten Island will each receive $1,000, an engraved silver medallion and an all-expense-paid trip in early May to Washington, D.C. for four days of national recognition events. During the trip, 10 of 102 youth volunteers from around the country will be named America’s top youth volunteers of 2014.
The Orleans County 4-H nominated two local youths for the award. Besides Haley for the junior division, the 4-H program picked Jonathan Trembley for the senior division.
Jonathan, 17, is a resident of Albion and has been involved with 4-H for the past decade. Jonathan is very talented musically and sings, plays piano, drums, guitar, and bass guitar for church events and local holiday concerts.
You might also recognize him as the Village Blacksmith from the historical re-enactments that take place in the West Jackson Corners in Shelby.
He has performed at local nursing homes, and has also worked with the Care-A-Van Band ministry in Batavia as a percussionist.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 February 2014 at 12:00 am
Provided photo – Local law enforcement seized cash, drugs and a semi-automatic rifle after a drug bust in Medina on Wednesday.
MEDINA – Three Medina residents face numerous charges following a year-long investigation into the sale and distribution of crack cocaine and marijuana in the villages of Medina and Albion, the Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force reported today.
Local law enforcement agencies arrested three people from Medina and seized more than 3 ounces of cocaine, 2 pounds of marijuana, a quantity of heroin, ecstasy pills, a variety of prescription narcotic pills, a variety of “bath salts,” a designer drug, more than $3,000 in cash, a semi-automatic rifle, scales, packaging and other drug paraphernalia.
Police searched the “Biz Nest” at 525 Main St. in Medina and seized more than 1,000 pirated DVD movies that were being sold from the store as well as numerous items of counterfeit clothing and merchandise, the Task Force reported.
The following were arrested:
Brenton Poole
Erika Poole
Norman Bloom
Brenton O. Poole, 28, of 746 Church St., Medina, who was charged with four counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree and one count of criminal possession of marijuana in the second degree.
Erika H. Poole, 34, of 746 Church St., who was charged with four counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree and one count of criminal possession of marijuana in the second degree.
Both Brenton and Erika Poole were arraigned in Town of Albion Court by Town Justice Gary Moore. They were jailed on $75,000 cash bail or bond. They are to appear in Shelby Town Court at 3 p.m. on Feb. 19.
Norman M. Bloom Jr., 26 of 704 Church St. who was charged with one count of reckless endangerment in the second degree, one count of obstruction of governmental administration in the second degree, and one count of resisting arrest.
Bloom was arraigned in Albion by Town Justice Gary Moore. Bloom was committed to the county jail on $5,000 cash bail. Bloom is currently on parole with the state Department of Corrections and is being held on a parole detainer as well.
The Task Force worked with the Medina Police Department, Albion Police Department, Orleans County Sheriff’s Department and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to execute search warrants in Medina at 746 Church St., 751 Church St., 525 Main St., and also on a vehicle on West Avenue in the village of Albion.
This investigation is still ongoing and further charges and arrests are pending, the Task Force reported.
MEDINA – In this post card by W.C. Eaton we see the Clark Allis & Son Cold Storage east of Medina. This card is post marked March 24, 1913.
This storage was located at the railroad crossing on the Allis Road, which is a dead-end road off Route 31. In our photo looking northeast, we see a box car on a siding.
Provided photo – Alaina Boyce is pictured with some of the baskets that will be raffled on Thursday night.
Press release, Medina FFA
MEDINA – The Medina FFA is getting ready for its annual Pancake Dinner on Thursday, Feb. 13 in the high school cafeteria. Proceeds from the event will help the FFA put on the state FFA convention from May 8-10.
The dinner will be from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and all-you-can-eat tickets are $7. A special Valentine’s Day treat will be served as well. Students have collected baskets for a basket raffle during the dinner.
Tickets for baskets will be available all day Thursday with a drawing at 7 p.m. Winners do not have to be present to claim the prize.
For more information about the dinner, or to volunteer to help with the convention, contact the FFA advisor, Todd Eick, at 585.798.2700 x5116 or at teick@medinacsd.org.
ALBION – While looking out her back window on Tuesday, Lisa Sietmann spotted a deer standing upright for about 10 minutes. Sietmann said it was an amusing sight. The deer was nibbling on fallen limbs in her backyard on Route 31A.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 February 2014 at 12:00 am
DiNapoli says all NY villages should be on alert
A new report by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli doesn’t list any village from Orleans County or Western New York as in a level of fiscal stress.
However, DiNapoli said many upstate villages are suffering from shrinking tax bases, above average child poverty rates and shrinking employment bases.
He urged villages to use “sensible budgeting and careful long-term planning” to avoid fiscal stress.
His office issued a report of 535 villages and identified 15 with a level of fiscal stress. The report covered the fiscal year that ended May 31, 2013. Albion, Holley and Lyndonville all were well below the fiscal stress threshold. (Medina was one of 48 villages that didn’t file the paperwork for the report.)
“Although the number of villages designated as fiscally stressed is small, village officials across the state must be on alert,” DiNapoli said. “Moving forward, the drivers of fiscal stress will continue to hamper villages in many of the same ways it does our larger municipalities.”
Using financial indicators that include year-end fund balance, cash position and patterns of operating deficits, the comptroller’s system creates an overall fiscal stress score which classifies whether a municipality is in significant fiscal stress, in moderate fiscal stress, susceptible to fiscal stress, or no designation.
The three villages from Orleans that were evaluated all received no designation.
The comptroller’s report establishes 29 overall points. If a village had at least 13 points, or 45 percent of the total, they were listed as susceptible to financial stress. Moderate fiscal stress started with 16 points and significant fiscal stress started at 19.
Holley had 7 points or 29.2 percent, while Lyndonville had 5 points or 20.8 percent. Albion had the best score: 4 points or 16.3 percent. All three were well under the comptroller’s threshold for fiscal stress.
“We are in very good shape,” said Jane Murray, Holley’s village clerk. “I’m very pleased.”
The average village score was 40 percent while Finger Lakes villages were about 42 percent, according to the comptroller’s report. (Click here to see the report.)
Other highlights of the report include:
Downstate villages overall are slightly gaining population, while upstate villages continue to experience declining population.
Median property values in downstate villages is nearly $170,000, while the median value in upstate villages barely tops $40,000.
Unemployment rates vary between upstate (8.6 percent) and downstate (7.1 percent) villages.
Starting in October 2014, CVS will no longer sell tobacco and tobacco-related products. Most drug stores are evolving into being health and wellness providers, offering health advice, giving flu shots and having clinics for customers who visit their pharmacies.
This huge step and monumental change will continue to reduce the social acceptability of smoking and tobacco usage. The power walls of tobacco marketing and products located behind the counter in many drug stores and convenience stores are influential. They attract the attention of current smokers, ex-smokers and impressionable youth by normalizing the product, making it visually accessible and appear interesting.
Eliminating this “power wall” will aid in limiting the exposure of youth to tobacco and lower tobacco usage rates and ultimately lives lost to tobacco related illness. Smoke Free NOW applauds CVS and encourages other pharmacies to adopt similar policies. For more information, contact Kevin Keenan, program director of Smoke Free NOW, at (585) 815-1875.
MEDINA – Orchard Manor employees, who voted to join the CSEA (Civil Service Employees Association) union last September, have seen several positive developments in recent weeks.
First, the local office of the National Labor Relations Board dismissed all objections to the election filed by management at the nursing home. Management had alleged an array of improper activities, which the Board determined to be unfounded.
Second, the local office of the NLRB rejected additional claims by management that CSEA and workers supporting the union had committed unfair labor practices. As a delaying tactic, Orchard Manor management has appealed both decisions.
The NLRB did, however, issue official complaints against Orchard Manor management for illegally harassing, terminating and suspending union supporters during the campaign. CSEA had filed charges with the Labor Board alleging gross violations of worker rights by Orchard Manor management. The NLRB issued formal complaints after investigating the charges and finding management misconduct.
Now, in the latest development, management at the nursing home has decided to pay thousands in back pay to workers illegally terminated or suspended during the union organizing campaign.
Workers reacted with optimism and a commitment to move forward and try to improve conditions.
“We started our union to have a voice on the job and to be partners in improving care for the residents,” said Pam Frasier, CNA.“Despite management’s decision to spend valuable resources to fight our union we have won every time.It is time for management to come to the table rather than waste more resources on intimidation and litigation.”
“Management could have avoided this expensive settlement by simply following the law and respecting our rights,” said Gloria Graham, CNA.
CSEA Western Region President Flo Tripi commented, “I congratulate the workers at Orchard Manor for sticking together, holding management accountable, and proving their case. Clearly, Orchard Manor management knew they were going to lose the trial. Now, we urge them to join these fine employees in forming a partnership to improve care by recognizing the union and bargaining a fair contract.”
