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3 Salamaca brothers plead guilty to grand larceny

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 4 April 2016 at 12:00 am

Murray Superette operators to pay $164K-plus in restitution

File photo by Tom Rivers – Members of the Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force and outside agencies raided the Murray Superette on Route 104 on Oct. 27, 2015.

MURRAY Three brothers who operate the Murray Superette pleaded guilty in Orleans County to grand larceny in the fourth degree and could face a maximum of six months in Orleans County Jail.

Alexander, Myron and Olec Salamaca also agreed to pay restitution, which includes a $15,000 judgment to the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance and $149,102 to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for abuses in the food stamp program.

The brothers were arrested on Oct. 27 following a 15-month investigation where the Salamacas and some employees allowed customers to illegally exchange food stamps in the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) at 70 percent of their value, the Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force said then.

The Salamacas would swipe electronic DBT cards and give customers cash back or allow them to buy alcohol, untaxed cigarettes, gas and other items unauthorized by the program, District Attorney Joe Cardone said in court today.

“Did you do it with the intent to steal from the U.S. government?” Judge James Punch asked Olec Salamaca.

“Yes,” Olec Salamaca responded.

Each of the brothers admitted to the grand larceny crimes today in Orleans County Court. None of them have prior criminal records. Cardone agreed to the plea deal after the brothers agreed to restitution. He also considered their community record in running a business on Route 104.

The charge of fourth-degree grand larceny normally carries a maximum of 4 years in state prison. If Judge James Punch sentences the Salamacas to more than 6 months in jail on June 20, the brothers can withdraw their pleas and go to trial.

Punch said the Salamacas may have to surrender licenses for some of their enterprises. The judge kept bail at $20,000, which each Salamaca posted in a lower court.

A fourth Salamaca brother also has been charged in the food stamp trafficking scheme. Taras R. Salamaca worked as an employee at the store. His case is in Murray Town Court.

4-H Clothing Revue showcases clothes created by kids

By Kristina Gabalski, Correspondent Posted 3 April 2016 at 12:00 am

Photos by Kristina Gabalski – Four participants in this year’s 4-H Clothing Revue qualified for District Clothing Revue. They are, from left: Lauren Becht, Peggy-Jo Gabalski, Emma Mathes and Naomi Haberger. Each is wearing her entry for the Revue.

KNOWLESVILLE – Two dozen Orleans County 4-Hers gathered at the Trolley Building on the 4-H Fairgrounds for the 2016 4-H Clothing Revue. This year’s theme was “It Draws You In,” which is also the 2016 Orleans County 4-H Fair theme.

The event “gives youth an opportunity to model their textile projects while gaining confidence and poise while sharing their projects with an audience,” said 4-H educator Robert Batt.

Morning activities on Saturday included judging – which is based on construction quality as well as fit – and workshops. 4-H’ers were able to practice runway modeling, grooming and make-up, and also prepared entries for a “Paper Doll” clothing revue.

The Clothing Revue portion of the event took place Saturday evening. Participants modeled their creations on the runway for family and friends.

Four participants were selected for District Clothing Review which will be held later this year. Those participants are Lauren Becht, Emma Mathes, Naomi Haberger and Peggy-Jo Gabalski.

The mesmerizing 2016 “It Draws You In” theme for the Orleans County 4-H Clothing Revue.

Emma Mathes of the Adventurers 4-H Club on the runway in her royal blue brocade party dress. She challenged herself to complete the dress in five hours and was able to do so.

Lillian Mathes of the Adventurers 4-H Club made a sundress in a retro-bicycle print fabric. Lillian noted that the heart-shaped cut-out on the back of her dress was one of the hardest sewing jobs she has had to complete.

Earlier in the day, Makenzie McGrath got tips on runway modeling from fellow 4-Her Lauren Becht during the runway modeling workshop. Makenzie is wearing a skirt she made with a butterfly pattern fabric. She made the skirt for her first 4-H Public Presentation which was on the life cycle of the butterfly.

Cloverbud Jackson McGrath models a hat he made with a Star Wars theme fabric. He needed his hat for the Saturday evening 2016 4-H Clothing Review as the spring weather turned snowy and cold.

4-Her Baylee Strapp of the Hindsburg Hilltop and Towpath Club practices modeling her apron Saturday morning during workshops before the evening Clothing Revue. Baylee said she enjoyed making her apron and couldn’t wait to get her license to drive – the sewing machine. Workshop leader Pauline Lanning reads Baylee’s commentary from the lectern in the background.

Cindy Eibl leads a workshop in make-up and grooming for 4-H Clothing Revue participants Saturday morning in the Trolley Building at the 4-H Fairgrounds.

Participants in this year’s Orleans County 4-H Clothing Revue pose for photos following the Saturday evening show held in the Trolley Building.

Heavy snow tonight, Monday

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 April 2016 at 12:00 am

Weather Service issues storm warning, says 4 to 8 inches could fall in Orleans, Niagara

This daffodil in Albion was weighed down with snow on Saturday. More snow is headed to Orleans County.

The National Weather Service in Buffalo has issued a winter storm winter, in effect from late this afternoon until 2 p.m. Monday for Orleans and Niagara counties.

The Weather Service is warning of heavy snow, perhaps 4 to 8 inches, including 4 to 7 inches tonight.

With northeast winds at 20 to 30 miles per hour, visibility could be as low as a quarter mile at times.

Music fest featured local and international acts

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 April 2016 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – Tamara Huzair, 14, of Waterport sings during Friday night’s debut International Music Festival at Medina Theatre. The event was organized by the World Life Institute Center for the Performing Arts.

Tamara’s father Bilal is president of WLI. She joined her siblings – Ayman, 22; Salma, 17; and Qasim, 12 – in performing with the group Dounya, which means “world.”

Anand Ramanujam plays the Tabla, a drum from India, during Friday’s concert. Anand Ramanujam is a Tabla artist who grew up, trained and taught in India. For more about him, visit www.aanandham.com.

This photo was taken from back stage and shows performers with The Jade Monkeys, a band from Toronto. The local band, The Who Dats, also performed on Friday.

Ayman Huzair sings during the concert.

This photo was taken from the sound booth. The Huzair family sings a song dedicated to the late Vincent Cardone, who worked to develop the Medina Theatre.

The World Life Institute also recognized three local journalists for their efforts in covering community news. WLI gave awards to Virginia Kropf of The Daily News in Batavia, Tom Rivers of the Orleans Hub, and Bob Confer who writes for the Greater Niagara Newspapers, the New American magazine, as well as the East Niagara Post.

WLI today at 1:30 p.m. will celebrate the opening of The Colonade, the former Masonic Temple in Medina. WLI will use the site at 229 West Center St. for arts and cultural programming, and other events.

Orleans Hub turns 3 today

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 April 2016 at 12:00 am

Grains bins are pictured on Friday night during a blazing sunset. The grain bins are by Beals Road. This photo was taken in the corn field behind Faith Covenant Fellowship along Route 31.

ALBION – Orleans Hub went live three years ago as an online news site focused on Orleans County news.

We’re pleased the site has gained a devoted following in the county, and beyond. We average about 7,000 unique visitors each day. We’re fortunate local businesses backed us from day 1 as advertisers. Many more have joined us – about 100 advertisers now.

The Hub is run through the Lake Country Pennysaver. Karen Sawicz serves as publisher of the Pennysaver and also the Orleans Hub.

We have dedicated people working on the site, including many of the staff at the Pennysaver. Mike Wertman covers local high school and youth sports and his wife Cheryl takes great action shots at many of the games. Kristina Gabalski also has been dedicated as a correspondent covering eastern Orleans County.

I left The Daily News in Batavia on March 1, 2013, after 16 years to help start the Orleans Hub. I thought the county would benefit from a locally focused site that was also locally owned and operated. I also wanted to live and work in Orleans County.

We’re trying to make Orleans Hub better. We’re working on a mobile platform for people who get their news through Smart Phones. That should roll out this year.

In thinking about the long-term sustainability of the site, we may reach out to Orleans Hub readers for contributions to bolster staff. Although we cover many stories in the county, we don’t get nearly to everything and more staff would help us expand the news coverage. We have no plans to go to paid subscriptions to access the site, but we may make a push for contributions.

We have been able to shine a light on many of the positive attributes in the community, especially the local residents. We started the Hub partly because we felt the out-of-town media too often focused on crime stories in Orleans County, without featuring much else.

We have tried to highlight some of our challenges, from paltry state aid for villages to crumbling infrastructure.

We’re grateful so many people have been supportive of the Orleans Hub, especially in an era when many newspapers are going out of business or significantly downsizing. We seem to have found a winning formula for the Orleans Hub by sharing resources with the Pennysaver. Thanks again for helping make us a part of the Orleans County community.

Many people say they like the photos on the Orleans Hub, including the local landscape images. Here are three trees by Faith Covenant Fellowship during last night’s spectacular sunset.

Albert Swett pushed to provide power for Orleans County in early 1900s

By Matthew Ballard, Orleans County Historian Posted 2 April 2016 at 12:00 am

Volume 2, Issue 14
MEDINA – On May 23, 1898, the A. L. Swett Electric Light & Power Company was incorporated by Albert Swett with a capital stock of $50,000.

Swett, a prominent and respected entrepreneur in Medina, was quick to notice the local need for electricity. That need would be satisfied through a power plant constructed along the Oak Orchard Creek in the vicinity of the falls. Purchasing a parcel of land where an old mill had previously burned, Swett cleared the debris and constructed a plant to take advantage of the water power.

That plant was quickly overtaxed by the high demand for electricity and a steam plant was constructed to supplement the output of the first plant. Swett was an intelligent businessman with the foresight to purchase as much land along the creek as possible. Over the course of twenty years, he amassed a large holding of property to the north of Medina that would be used to expand his electric company.

Swett increased his capital stock to $300,000 and in 1903 started construction on a storage dam to increase the company’s electricity output. The 60-foot high dam spanned the width of the Oak Orchard Creek, and along with a 1,600 foot dike built of earth and concrete, provided for the development of a reservoir. Now known as Glenwood Lake, the nearly 50-foot deep and over one-mile long inland lake provided over 150 acres of surface water.

The construction of a second powerhouse, Station No. 2, allowed for increased electricity output from the same water source providing energy through the original power station at the falls. Swett estimated the cost of the second power station at just over $297,000 and it was believed that much of the electricity that was to be generated from that station was sold to area businessmen and residents prior to its completion. Such an extensive endeavor would cost nearly $8 million today.

The A. L. Swett Electric Light & Power Company adopted the motto, “to serve the public promptly, efficiently and at reasonable rates,” a slogan that drove the business to expand once again in 1917. At that time, Swett would begin construction on a dam at Waterport that would create another inland waterway he named Lake Alice.

A far more complex project, nearly 50 parcels of land were purchased, houses and structures moved, and roads rerouted to accommodate the higher water level. A new bridge was constructed at a cost of $70,000 and the bridge at Kenyonville was raised seven feet to adjust to the creek depth.

This image from 1903 shows the construction of the dike at Glenwood Lake; the photograph is simply marked “the Swett Power Project, Medina.” At the top of the hill a machine feeds crushed stone down a chute constructed on the embankment.

Albert Swett was actively engaged in supervising the project and suffered a broken thigh after falling from scaffolding at the worksite. He was bedridden for over a month due to the injuries.

Ambitious in his endeavors, Swett controlled the majority of water power in the vicinity of Medina. He constructed the dams at Medina and Waterport to reduce the strains forced upon the Oak Orchard Creek and area streams caused by the power plants.

World Life Institute celebrates opening of new headquarters in Medina

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 April 2016 at 12:00 am

MEDINA – Members of the World Life Institute raise the American flag this afternoon outside The Colonnade, the former Medina Masonic Temple at 229 West Center St.

The Colonnade is the world-wide headquarters for World Life Institute, which runs humanitarian and educational programs in several countries.

World Life has been active in Orleans County for more than two decades. It built a school on Stillwater Road in Carlton about 20 years ago. That site is used for ESL classes, a pottery program for farmworkers, and other educational efforts, including Project Life, where children from war-torn countries spend summers with local host families and learn English, and take art and other classes.

Sisters Tamara, left, and Salma Huzair of Waterport sing the national anthem during a dedication program this afternoon. Their father, Bilal Huzair, is the current World Life president. Idris Salih, back right, was among about 50 people to attend the opening celebration.

World Life members stand at attention after raising the American flag. Chad Scott, left, and Ameen Ghani, right, both served in the military with Scott enlisted from 1999 to 2003 while Ghani served from 1964 to 1967.

Chris Wilson, center, is World Life’s communication director and international director of the Project Life program. The program is in its 20th year and has hosted about 135 children from war-torn Bosnia, Afghanistan and Chechnya. Some children also came one summer from Sri Lanka following a devastating tsunami. All of the children have lost at least one parent to war or tragedy.

World Life wants to push its humanitarian mission, Wilson said, and the new center in Medina will give it a headquarters for educational, humanitarian and cultural work.

The building was used by the Mormon church before the Masons acquired the site about a dozen years ago. Declining membership in the Masonic Lodge convinced the organization’s leaders to sell the building.

World Life added the new sign on Friday, just in time for today’s celebration.

“This is a very special building with a very special history,” Chris Wilson said. “We will continue the tradition of working to improve the human condition.”

Wilson addresses the group gathered for today’s dedication program. World Life wants to use the site for academic programs, and lectures open to the community.

The organization is developing the World Life College with classes in languages, religious studies, emergency preparedness and other subjects. World Life also wants to help high school students with college preparation and entrance exams.

Dr. Asaf Durakovic, director of World Life Institute, helped start the organization about 20 years ago. World Life has grown to an international scope. Durakovic shared a blessing for the headquarters today. He is next to Al Kropf, a member of the Medina Masonic Lodge.

Virginia Kropf, a long-time reporter for The Daily News in Batavia, shares remarks today during the opening ceremonies for The Colonnade. Kropf said Medina has a rich history, and World Life Institute is part of a new chapter. She also shared about becoming an airplane pilot at age 56.

“This building is being put to good use,” Kropf told the group. “We look forward to seeing what you’re going to do with it in Medina.”

Chris Wilson is in back at right, next to Amir Hassan Joosub, who is opening a new World Life site in Geneva, Switzerland.

Dr. Julianne Hazen discusses plans for the World Life College. She is an educator who focuses on contemporary Sufism in America, Britain, and the Balkans. She said World Life will work to bring more educational opportunities to the Medina community, including civic and ESL classes and other programs.

Ortt sees positives in new state budget

Posted 1 April 2016 at 12:00 am

Press Release, State Sen. Robert Ortt

State Senator Rob Ortt (R-North Tonawanda) today issued the following statement regarding the New York State 2016-2017 Budget agreement.

“While there were certain elements of this budget that I did not support, I ultimately voted for a budget that I believe will help Western New York. We were able to reject the Governor’s proposed $15 an hour minimum wage increase, because it would have been devastating to our small businesses, family farms, and non-profits.

“We delivered a record $25 billion in education funding and eliminated the anti-Upstate Gap Elimination Adjustment – two major victories that will help our children, schools, and local taxpayers. We also delivered an unprecedented $4.2 billion middle class tax cut to help families keep more of their hard earned money than ever before.

“Finally, we ensured Upstate infrastructure received the same treatment – and funding – as downstate. We secured $27 billion for roads and bridges, because these investments are long overdue, create jobs, improve safety, and enhance the quality of life.

“Keeping within the 2 percent spending cap, I believe we passed a fiscally-responsible budget that will help our local schools, families, businesses, and seniors.”

Hawley says state budget, abhorrent policies will hurt small businesses, farmers

Staff Reports Posted 1 April 2016 at 12:00 am

Cuomo says budget helps ‘create an economy and a society where we all can succeed’

While Gov. Andrew Cuomo sees the new state budget as fiscally responsible and social progressive with a higher minimum wage and paid family leave, a local assemblyman is calling the budget “abhorrent.”

State Assemblyman Steve Hawley, R-Batavia, released this statement about the $147 billion budget:

“Barring the extreme disregard for transparency, integrity and inclusiveness in this year’s budget process, the legislation we passed over the last two days in Albany will wreak havoc on our small businesses and agriculture industry.

“The budget includes virtually no tax and regulatory reform for small-businesses, and a minimum wage increase to $12.50 per hour upstate with an escalation to $15 in the future, which will destroy New York’s already-ailing business community. Upstate cannot afford such a drastic increase, and the burden will fall on the middle-class in the form of higher prices and vanishing job opportunities.

“Further damaging to our small business community will be the 12 week paid-family leave program, entirely funded by already over-burdened taxpayers. This is another example of New York City liberals expanding government and reaching into the pockets of our business owners and residents. While paid-family leave has good intentions, it will be ripe with abuse and cause labor costs to skyrocket. We cannot afford another expensive Albany mandate.

“As the former owner and operator of our family-owned farm, I know what it takes to grow New York’s agriculture industry. Unfortunately, this budget cuts agriculture local assistance by over $160,000 and offers little relief for farms transitioning to a higher minimum wage. Agriculture is one of New York’s premiere industries, and I will do what I can to rectify these abhorrent policies.”

Gov. Cuomo issued this statement this evening:

“Passage of this groundbreaking state budget is proof positive of government’s ability to improve the lives of millions of people by being both socially and economically progressive and fiscally responsible.

“For the past six years we have defied the odds – cutting taxes and limiting the growth of government after decades of financial mismanagement, and investing wisely in schools, infrastructure, and Upstate communities at levels never seen before. We led the way for the nation on marriage equality, gun control, and environmental protection while others simply debated. This year, we are tackling another one of the greatest issues of our time by reclaiming economic justice for hard-working people and their families.

“We have created a new promise of opportunity for the working men and women of New York by passing a $15 minimum wage statewide and the strongest paid family leave program in the nation. Now in New York, if you work hard you will have the opportunity to succeed.

“This budget shows what we can achieve when we rise above partisan politics, fear and division. In New York, we have our political differences, but we are not divided on the importance of doing what’s best for our state. Instead we work together to create an economy and a society where we all can succeed.”

3 to 6 inches of snow forecast for weekend

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 April 2016 at 12:00 am

Photo by Tom Rivers – These crocus flowers are pictured on Thursday while it was raining outside Tillman’s Village Inn in Gaines.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory from 5 p.m. Saturday to 5 a.m. Sunday when 3 to 6 inches of snow could fall in the Southern Tier and Niagara Frontier, including Orleans County.

The temperatures will plunge after a high of 54 today. Saturday is forecast for a high of 43, while Sunday will only reach 32, according to the National Weather Service.

Monday is forecast for a high of 33, followed by 29 on Tuesday and 43 on Wednesday.

Photo by Kristina Gabalski – Trees grow in a vernal pond on Munger Road in the Town of Clarendon in this photo from Wednesday.

Photo by Kristina Gabalski – Farmers were out in the muck on Wednesday on New Guinea Road in the Town of Clarendon.