By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 November 2013 at 12:00 am
Kendall man will be sentenced to no more than 15 years
ALBION – A Kendall resident could be sentenced to up to 15 years in state prison for shooting his wife and then setting his house on fire.
Dennis Buehler, 64, pleaded guilty in Orleans County Court today to second-degree attempted murder and third-degree arson.
He could have faced 25 years in prison for attempted murder, plus additional time for third-degree arson. His plea today sets the maximum sentence for both crimes at 15 years. He will be sentenced Jan. 27.
Buehler said in court today that he shot his wife Linda with a shotgun on March 4.
“Your intent was to kill her?” Orleans County Court Judge James Punch asked Buehler in court.
“Absolutely,” he replied.
After she was shot in the shoulder, Mrs. Buehler then fled the house, which Buehler then set on fire with propane. The house at 923 Peter Smith Rd. was destroyed by the blaze.
Buehler said he wasn’t intoxicated when he committed the crimes.
He will remain in the county jail without bail until the sentencing.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 November 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – A cyclist passes by the Erie Canal in Medina’s canal basin. Main Street is a block away. A row of historic Medina sandstone buildings back up near the canal.
This photo was taken from the north side of the canal. The historic waterway officially closed for the season on Friday and will soon be drained for the winter.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 November 2013 at 12:00 am
Provided photos – Natalie Mrzywka, 15, of Holley is raising turkeys for the auction on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. She helped build a new coop for the turkeys.
KNOWLESVILLE – Several 4-H youths have been raising turkeys the past four months that will be auctioned off at a sale Saturday at the 4-H Fairgrounds.
The turkey auction is new for the 4-H program, which has a meat auction during the fair in July.
The auction on Saturday with 22 turkeys gives the public a chance to buy turkeys before Thanksgiving while also supporting local 4-H youths.
There will be a preview of the turkeys beginning at 6 p.m. at the Trolley building on Route 31 with the auction starting at 6:30.
In addition the 4-H Market Auction Committee will be hosting a spaghetti dinner starting at 6 p.m. Tickets for the dinner cost $8 and children’s size (half portions) can be purchased for $4.
Nicole Mrzywka, 12, also joined in raising turkeys for the auction.
“The work that the 4-H members have put into these projects is apparent and they would greatly appreciate your support,” said Kerri Richardson, a community education coordinator for the Cornell Cooperative Extension.
The auction is a “win-win-win” program for Orleans County 4-H, its youth, and community members, she said.
“The 4-H’ers win from the learning experience: taking on the responsibility of raising high quality livestock and developing a marketing technique for its sale, and obtaining funds for college or for future projects,” she said.
The turkey buyers are purchasing fresh, locally grown turkeys for their Thanksgiving dinner, while the 4-H community benefits from the sales of the spaghetti dinner tickets. Ticket funds are used for future 4-H market auction educational programs.
For more information, call the Extension at (585) 798-4265.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 November 2013 at 12:00 am
The National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for tonight until 1 a.m. Nov. 18.
The warning applies to Orleans County and the following other counties: Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Wayne and Wyoming.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 November 2013 at 12:00 am
Palmer Road runs off Marshall Road in Ridgeway
RIDGEWAY – We’ve run a few features on unpaved roads in Orleans County in the past month.
But this little obsession actually started months ago. The first time I stopped to take a picture of one of these roads was late in the summer. I was on Marshall Road in Yates and entered Ridgeway when I noticed the dirt road to the east.
I took a couple pictures of Palmer Road and wondered then if there were many more of these roads in the county.
I would have posted these photos earlier but I just found the pictures today after going through my memory cards. (I’m accumulating quite a collection of these.)
I’ve received a lot of tips about these roads and will try to hunt them down in the coming months.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 November 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Scouts in Albion were out this morning collecting canned and nonperishable food for the pantry at Community Action on East State Street.
After the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts in Troop and Pack 164 collected food from houses in the village, they delivered it to the food pantry and then were given a tour of the site by Annie Skowneski (pictured below), a case manager and food pantry coordinator.
Skowneski said the pantry provides food for 100 families a month.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 November 2013 at 12:00 am
A high wind warning has been issued for Orleans County from 7 p.m. Sunday to 1 p.m. on Monday.
Wind gusts could hit 60 miles per hour and could bring down trees and power lines. The National Weather Service in Buffalo issued the warning for Orleans, Genesee, Monroe, Niagara and northern Erie counties.
Deer hunters are urged to take extra precautions from falling tree limbs.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 November 2013 at 12:00 am
KNOWLESVILLE – Every night at the Orleans County 4-H Fair, teams attempt to climb a pole slathered in grease. It is a popular tradition at the fair.
Before the grease pole, the fair had a greased pig competition. Actually, the pig didn’t get greased – the competitors did.
“It’s hard enough to hold on to a pig, but when you’re all greased up you can’t hold on to anything,” said Ed Neal, who competed in the event.
I was at the fairgrounds on Friday, meeting with Jennifer Wagester, the new director of the Cornell Cooperative Extension. Wagester had a copy of an anniversary yearbook that I believe covered fair highlights from 1966 to 1991.
I flipped through it and spotted a picture of the pig-greasing team in 1969. One of the team members, Gene Smith, was my friend. Gene was on the Albion Board of Education for many years. He also served as the volunteer electrician at the fairgrounds, wiring most of the facilities and barns at the site in Knowlesville.
Gene died on April 14, 2010 at age 71. At the fair the following July, the Extension board dedicated one of the buildings in his honor. Until yesterday, I had no idea Gene was part of a greased pig team. I didn’t even know there was such a competition.
Neal, the current chairman of the board for the Extension, said the competition was short-lived, maybe for just two or three fairs.
“It was a lot of fun,” he said. “It was entertainment for the crowd. The entertainment back then was simple things.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 November 2013 at 12:00 am
Historic waterway ends 189th year
Photos by Tom Rivers
The tenders, tugboats and barges are lining up today between the Main and Ingersoll Street lift bridges in Albion, where the vessels will spend the winter before the canal reopens next May.
The canal is closing at 5 p.m. today, ending its 189th season since the waterway opened in 1825, transforming New York state into an economic powerhouse and giving birth to numerous canal towns, including Albion.
The 524-mile state canal system runs through Orleans County. I live a few blocks from the canal. I enjoy the old bridges and tugboats that are part of our landscape.
I took a lot of photos of the canal this year. I like this one of a sunset on Aug. 12 the best. It shows the Main Street lift bridge in Albion.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 November 2013 at 12:00 am
Nature trail at wildlife refuge leads to wonderland
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALABAMA – When we all woke up to a dusting of snow on Wednesday, the first snowfall in many months, I cancelled my morning plans and headed out to the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge.
I’ve been having an awakening of sorts in recent months to the natural wonders all around those of us who live in Orleans County. This place is stunning. My favorite time of the year may in the spring when the fruit trees are in their blossoming glory.
Nature reigns supreme on the 1.3 mile trail in the wildlife refuge.
This past summer was a joy with what felt like day after day of spectacular sunsets. They were orange, red, purple, and some had an array of colors. I have friends in the big cities and they hardly ever see a decent sunset.
Fast forward to Wednesday morning. I was going to Swallow Hollow, period. Everything else could wait about two hours.
I’ve been on this 1.3 mile loop through the woods a couple times before, both times with little kids so I couldn’t really take in nature’s glory. I couldn’t let my guard down. I had to stay vigilant in case a child fell in the swamp.
So Wednesday, after the first light snowfall of the season, I embarked on a nature hike all by myself. Swallow Hollow is part of a wildlife refuge that covers about 11,000 acres in Shelby in Orleans County and Alabama in Genesee County.
Swallow Hollow is on Knowlesville Road, east of Route 63. I hoped Swallow Hollow was in Orleans County so we could claim this as one of our assets. But I think it’s slightly to the south in Genesee County. Close enough. We have about half the refuge in our county so why quibble over a technicality?
Swallow Hollow has an elevated boardwalk over the swamp. It makes for a wild walk. I give the refuge and whoever made this happen a lot of credit. I’m sure there were some naysayers when the idea was put out there: Let’s put a boardwalk in the swamp.
I’m grateful the project became a reality and we have public access to such a special place. Swallow Hollow was closed to the public for five years until the boardwalk was upgraded for about $500,000 in 2006. This was met with great fanfare by the public when the trail reopened.
You’re on the boardwalk at the beginning and the end of the trail. You spend most of your time walking on a dirt trail. (It was covered in snow on Wednesday.)
The birds are happy in the refuge. They sound like an enormous joyful chorus.
It was a chilly morning Wednesday and the autofocus didn’t work on my camera. I had to use the manual focus and a lot of photos that I thought were winners were actually slightly fuzzy. But it’s hard to walk out of Swallow Hollow without some good ones.
