ALBION – A barn on East County House Road in Albion is pictured on Sunday.
The National Weather Service in Buffalo is forecasting gusty winds up to 45 miles per hour tonight and through Wednesday for Orleans, and parts of central and western New York. Today is forecast for a high of 41, followed by a high of 57 on Wednesday.
LYNDONVILLE – The Lyndonville School District and the We R 3C character education program will be featured on WXXI television at 8 p.m. on Thursday.
The “Need to Know” program, hosted by Helene Biandudi Hofer, will present We R 3C’s approach to character education. Teachers and students from the Lyndonville were interviewed in November. The piece will include segments of a We R 3C lesson.
We R 3C, Inc. presents a holistic approach to character education and development as it relates to “pro-social behavior” and bullying. The foundation of organization’s work mirrors Jean Piaget’s stages of Cognitive Development and Lawrence Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development.
Specifically, the focus is on the movement from the Egocentric Stage, whereby individuals place a higher value on their own wants and needs then they do on the wants and needs of others, to the Concrete Operational Development Stage, which includes the elimination of egocentrism and allows an individual to understand another person’s perspective whether they are in agreement or not.
The core of the We R 3C curriculum promotes values, respect, kindness and compassion and recognizes the definitive responsibility of the individual to the well-being of the community and reciprocally, the community’s responsibility to the well-being of the individual.
“We R 3C is a groundbreaking way to help our students develop good habits and reinforce the strong character traits that the Lyndonville community is known for,” said Lyndonville Superintendent Jason Smith.
For more information about We R 3C, click here. For more on WXXI, click here.
By Nola Goodrich-Kresse and Kristine Voos, Genesee-Orleans Public Health Education Team
This Sunday is one of the biggest sports events of the year – it is also one of the most anticipated commercial events. It is Super Bowl Sunday!
Whether you are rooting for your favorite team or your favorite commercial, there is bound to be food at your Super Bowl party.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, more than 1.3 billion chicken wings and 4 million pizzas are expected to be eaten during the big game.
With any event longer than 2 hours that has food as a focus, it is important to be aware of food safety to avoid any penalties. Food poisoning can put a damper on your game so consider the following safety plays for a touchdown:
Make sure hot foods stay hot and cold foods stay cold. The “Danger Zone” is the temperature between 45°F and 140°F where bacteria multiply rapidly. Use a food thermometer to make sure your meets are cooked properly.
Make sure you watch the clock and don’t bring out foods too early or leave them out too long. Perishable foods should not be kept at room temperature for more than two hours. Put out smaller portions at a time to prevent waste and switch them out often.
Make sure you wash your hands properly and often. Always wash before starting to prepare foods and after handling raw meat, poultry or seafood. Remember to wash your hands after handling the trash. Handwashing is never a Hail Mary play – take your time using hot water, soap and washing your hands and wrists for at least 20 seconds.
Remember also to limit the high fat, sugar snacks. It is easy to overeat when you have a wide variety of foods in front of you. Use a smaller plate, don’t load it up and avoid multiple grazing sessions.
Choose fresh veggies to get a crunchy snack or make your own chips by baking tortilla chips to limit the oil and salt. Salsa is a good alternative to heavy dips and is also very flavorful. Tackle physical activity too by tossing a football during commercial breaks and dancing along with music during half-time.
Call a time-out on alcohol by taking steps to make sure you, your friends and family members avoid driving under the influence. Avoid the risk of hurting yourself and others by arranging a designated driver or cab to bring you to and from the celebration(s). It is also important to have alcohol-free beverages available for designated drivers and those under the age of 21.
Stay safe and healthy this Super Bowl Sunday.
ALBION – The Orleans County Fire Training Tower will get a $70,000 repair and upgrade. The tower/burn building on East County House Road was inspected by LaBella Associates and that inspection showed defective burn room panels per National Fire Protection Association 1403 standards, county legislators said last week.
The Legislature approved two bids for the training tower. Fire Facilities and Sun Prairie of Wisconsin will supply parts and materials not to exceed $26,759 and Call’s Metal Building Erectors, Inc. of Somers, Wisc. will provide the labor at a cost not to exceed $22,785, for a combined total of $49,544.
The Legislature also authorized about $21,000 in other work, including new paint on the staircase, new window latches and locks, a new concrete pad in front of building and other repairs to the training facility which was built about 15 years ago.
The Legislature also appointed the following voting members to Fire Advisory Board for 2016: Will Francis, Albion FD; Jerry Bentley, Barre FD; Andrew Niederhofer, Carlton FD; Robert Freida, Clarendon FD; Allen Turner, East Shelby FD; Chris Chilson, Fancher-Hulberton-Murray FD; Kevin Dann, Holley FD; Michael Schultz, Kendall FD; Scott Buffin, Lyndonville FD; Josh Wolck, Medina FD; Randy Davis, Morton (H-W-M Fire District); Francis Woodard, Ridgeway FD; and Andrew Benz, Shelby FD.
The following were appointed as voting members of the Emergency Medical Services Council: Chuck Prentice, Albion; Patrick Lamka, Barre; Lynn Miller, Carlton; Donald Mosier, Clarendon; Michael Fuller, East Shelby; Debbie Fiorito, FHM; Susan Dann, Holley; Sue Maslyn, Kendall; Tina Woolley, Lyndonville; Steve Cooley, Medina; Kristin McAdoo, Ridgeway; John L. Miller II, Shelby; Jason Spencer, COVA Ambulance; Al Cheverie, Orleans County Health Department; Dale Banker, EMS coordinator; Randy Bower, Orleans County sheriff; and Allen Turner, Orleans County dispatch.
Danielle Conrad
ALBION – An Irondequoit woman pleaded guilty today to second-degree vehicular assault for hitting a Medina man with her car on Sept. 7, and causing life-threatening injuries including a leg amputation.
Danielle E. Conrad, 38, also pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated. She could face up to four years in state prison when she is sentenced on April 11.
Conrad registered a 0.17 percent Blood Alcohol Content on Sept. 7, more than twice the legal limit.
In court today, Conrad said the victim jumped in front of her car. He had been walking by the side of Harrison Road, which she said didn’t have sidewalks.
“It was dark and I didn’t see him,” Conrad told Orleans County Court Judge James Punch this afternoon.
Christopher M. Caldwell, 37, had been a passenger in a sedan operated by Conrad. At some point on Sept. 7 the two got into a dispute and Caldwell was dropped off on Harrison Road. Conrad drove off, but returned to pick up Caldwell a short time later, the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department reported.
She drove past him at one point, then drove down the road and turned around. During all this time they were conversing with each other by cell phone, according to the police report.
Conrad drove down Harrison Road a second time and that time she struck Caldwell, the Sheriff’s Department reported. He was flown by Mercy Flight helicopter to Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo.
District Attorney Joe Cardone said Caldwell has brain damage, but the degree isn’t yet known.
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Mount Albion Cemetery now includes the image, signature and words from one of the most famous Americans.
“The Lincoln Stone” was added to the cemetery on Dec. 27. Brigden Memorials in Albion created the memorial, which was paid for by Rajean Furmanski and Douglas Rich.
The large granite grave stone is near the front of Mount Albion, just east of the Civil War section near the western entrance of the cemetery. Furmanski has long admired Lincoln for his leadership during the Civil War, for seeing the country through such a tumultuous time.
“Without him there would be no Union,” Furmanski said about Lincoln, the 16th U.S. president. “He did so much for the country.”
The Lincoln Stone is 5 feet, 8 inches in height. It includes a quote from his inauguration on March 4, 1861. Furmanski said those words, urging no hatred, goodness for all and direction from God would serve the country now, more than 150 years after Lincoln’s death.
“How wonderful to use those words today,” Furmanski said.
Furmanski said there are numerous cemeteries and public places with memorials for Lincoln, including many bronze statues in his likeness.
She wanted a Lincoln display in Albion. She reached out to Jason Zicari, the cemetery superintendent, and he suggested the spot on a hill near the front of the cemetery. He is near many people that were buried in the cemetery in the mid-1800s.
The stone can be seen by passing motorists and walkers.
“He is there for the people to see and enjoy,” Furmanski said. “It’s a historic cemetery up there and this adds a touch of history.”
The stone also includes Lincoln’s signature. Furmanski is pleased with how “The Lincoln Stone” turned out.
“We were so shocked when we saw it,” she said. “He just seems to come alive.”
She is hopeful someday an Albion student will portray Lincoln during the Ghost Walk, where students portray famous “residents” of the cemetery each fall.
Albion has a connection to Lincoln. Grace Bedell, the girl who wrote a letter to Lincoln encouraging him to grow a beard, grew up in Albion.
Furmanski also expresses her love on the stone to her son Roger “Rogee” and grandchildren, Thomas and Elizabeth.
ALBION – A Rochester man admitted today in court to selling heroin to an undercover informant through the Orleans County Major Felony Crimes Task Force.
Junior Mateo, 36, pleaded guilty in Orleans County Court to attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree. He could face up to 5 ½ years in state prison when he is sentenced on May 9.
Mateo already has been sentenced to 10 years in state prison in a Monroe County Court. His sentence from Orleans County will run concurrently with the Monroe County sentence.
He admitted to the drug sale on March 20 in court today. He will be sentenced on May 9.
In other cases today:
Stuart J. Rodden, 25, of Medina pleaded guilty to driving while ability impaired, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and violating probabtion.
Rodden was charged on Aug. 7 following the investigation of a motor vehicle accident with an unregistered dirt bike on South Lyndonville Road (Route 63) in the Town of Ridgeway. The DWIA and AUO represent a violation of his probation.
The charges carry a maximum of four years in state prison, but as part of a plea deal he will not be sentenced to more than a year in the county jail. If he is sentenced to more than a year, he can withdraw his plea and go to trial. Sentencing is scheduled for April 18.
A Holley man pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted rape and faces up to 6 months in jail and 10 years probation when he is sentenced on March 14.
Anthony Rowe was 20 when he had sex with a 14-year-old girl in July. He admitted to the crime today in court.
A Carlton woman who was offered a plea deal, reducing a grand larceny charge to pettit larceny, will instead go to trial after insisting on her innocence. Stacy Hamilton, 31, is accused of taking about $15,000 from her elderly grandmother.
Hamilton was managing the finances for the elderly woman with dementia. District Attorney Joe Cardone said Hamilton had her grandmother sign checks and give her the money while not paying the grandmother’s taxes and other bills.
Hamilton said she never took money from her grandmother, who instead gave her money on occasion.
Hamilton is next scheduled for court on Feb. 22 when County Court Judge James Punch said a trail date will be set.
File photos by Tom Rivers – A field of sunflowers is pictured in August 2014 along Route 237, north of the Village of Holley.
ALBION – Orleans County has consolidated its agricultural districts into one county-wide district, a change that should make it easier for farmers for the reviews every eight years.
Many of the farms work land that crosses town boundaries. Some of the ag districts had different review cycles and farmers could inadvertently be left out of an ag district if they didn’t send in paperwork.
The county used to have 10 ag districts and shrunk it to three, with a northern district in the towns of Yates, Carlton and Kendall; a middle district with Ridgeway, Gaines, Albion and Murray; and a southern district with the towns of Shelby, Barre and Clarendon.
Now all of the towns are in one consolidated district. The County Legislature approved the change last week, saying it will be simpler and more convenient for farmers, and also be more efficient for the County Planning Department, which administers the ag district.
The Planning Department has sent 907 letters to property owners in the district, requesting they send back confirmation letters if they want to stay in the district.
The ag district will next be up for review in 8 years, but property owners can be added to the district with annual enrollments every June. However, landowners can only be removed from the district every 8 years.
“This will simplify things and be a better way to do it,” said Jim Bensley, the county’s Planning Department director. “It will be easier for the farmers who operate in multiple towns.”
Landowners must affirm in writing their intent to be included in the district. The county wants the letters returned by Feb. 26.
A field is pictured across from the Millville Cemetery on East Shelby Road in this photo from May 2014.
Agricultural Districts are established by New York State Agriculture and Markets Law to provide for the protection of agricultural lands. Farmers with land in an ag district are protected from lawsuits from neighbors who complain about normal farm practices, such as odors, dirt on roads, and working in fields early in the morning or late at night.
Agriculture is the dominant industry in Orleans County. The latest Agriculture Census from 2012 showed total revenue from Orleans County farms at $150.3 million for sales of fruit, vegetables, milk, livestock and other farm products. That was a 48.8 percent jump from the $101.0 million recorded in 2007, according to the Agricultural Census, which is done every five years.
Agricultural districts do not have to be made up completely of farmland. However, they must contain a predominance of viable farmland, according to the County Planning Department.
For more information about Agricultural Districts or the ongoing review and consolidation process, contact Sarah Gatti, planner at the Orleans County Department of Planning, at 585-589-3187.
File photo by Tom Rivers – This staircase will be replaced as part of an improvement project at the Orleans County Marine Park on Route 98 in Carlton
CARLTON – A new playground with a Jungle Gym and swing set are expected to installed this spring at the Orleans County Marine Park, with additional upgrades to follow at the park.
The County Legislature on Wednesday voted to spend $19,497 for a new playground system from Miracle Recreation Equipment Company in Syracuse.
Additional work planned for this year includes new shore power at all 36 docks for boaters, and a new stairway and walkway on the north side of the park.
All of the projects, including the playground, could total about $166,000. The state is providing a $81,500 matching grant for the upgrades. The Oak Orchard Neighborhood Association is chipping in $3,287 towards the local share of the projects.
MEDINA – For years Medina police officers or a village animal control officer have picked up stray dogs and cats in the Village of Medina and maintained a dog pound at the police station.
But the Village Board, feeling the strain of tight budgets in recent years, did away with the part-time animal control officer. Police officers would still pick up animals, and Jose Avila volunteered to maintain a dog pound, feeding the dogs and cleaning kennels and cages for the animals.
Avila retired as police chief a month ago.
Village officials have been trying to work out a deal with the county for animal control services. Village residents pay for the service in their town taxes, Deputy Mayor Mike Sidari said. Dale Stalker, a Shelby town councilman, confirmed that village residents pay in their town taxes for animal control.
Medina and Shelby officials have reached out to the county about picking up animal control services in the village, and Sidari said the county responded it doesn’t have the staff to assume those duties.
Village Trustee Marguerite Sherman said during last week’s Village Board meeting she wants the county to put in writing that it is refusing to provide animal control for the village.
In the meantime, new police chief Chad Kenward said the village should look at hiring a part-time employee to care for animals, walking and feeding dogs, and cleaning the kennel. The police officers can continue to pick up animals in the short-term.
Village Board members said the county should provide the service, picking up animals and taking them to the county animal shelter in Barre at the routes 98 and 31A intersection.
In other action at last week’s meeting:
The Village Board gave Kenward permission to move the chief’s office from the police station upstairs to the second floor of City Hall in the former judge’s chambers. Kenward said that would give him more space and allow the current chief’s office to be used for an interview/interrogation room.
“I can hardly breathe in their right now,” Kenward said about the cramped office.
The board also gave Kenward permission to go ahead with a $3,600 engine repair for one of the police cars.
