HOLLEY – The Holley Central School District Board of Education has adopted a $23.3 million budget for the 2015-2016 school year.

Holley residents will vote on the budget, Board of Education candidates and other propositions on May 19 from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Holley Middle School/High School Foyer.

The budget includes a 0 percent increase in the tax levy and overall spending is down 7.06 percent or $1.77 million from the 2014-15 budget while maintaining current services.

According to district budget information, $1.4 million was used from the Appropriated Fund Balance to balance the budget.

Sharon Zacher, district assistant superintendent for business, says the reduction in the budget was possible without cuts because the district, “… chose to pay down additional debt,” in 2014-15. She says putting the budget together is, “challenging every year,” but the district is pleased with this year’s results.

In a letter to residents from the Board of Education, members state, “At this time, we are in the best shape we have ever been in. Soon we will begin Phase III of our Capital Project. Our district is financially sound and our physical plant and grounds are in very good condition.”

The Board of Education annual meeting, including a public hearing on the budget, will be 6 p.m. on May 5 in the Board Room located in the District Office.

HOLLEY – Village Trustees have approved a $1.18 million General Fund tentative budget for 2015-16. That includes a tax rate of $15.38 per $1,000 of assessed property.

No one spoke during a public hearing held before the vote on Tuesday evening.

The tentative plan includes $816,203 to be raised by taxes and a Police Department budget of $262,992. The Water Fund appropriation is $409,271, and the Sewer Fund appropriation is $173,587.

“It’s still a budget we’re working on,” Mayor John Kenney explained, noting the tentative plan is not the final budget, and that from this point forward, the tax levy cannot go up but only be decreased.

He said village leaders and department supervisors have been using “creative thoughts” to get the budget to where it is now.

Village Clerk/Treasurer Sarah Trowbridge says trustees must adopt a new budget by May 1 and will continue to meet to work on the plan. They have scheduled their next meeting for 9 a.m. on Saturday to work on the budget.

Trowbridge says trustees plan to make cuts to the tentative budget that would reduce the final tax rate. The tax rate in the 2014-15 budget was $13.93 per $1,000 of assessed property.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Diane Kilburn of Hamlin is pictured with Myrtle Patterson of Holley at Patterson’s apartment last week. The two have become friends through a home visitation program run by Catholic Charities.

HOLLEY – It started with a phone call and now Diana Kilburn and Myrtle Patterson have become close friends.

The two were paired up in a “Friendly Phones” program through Catholic Charities. Kilburn would call Patterson, a 95-year-old Holley resident, once or twice a week. The two clicked, and now Kilburn calls and visits with Patterson.

“It’s been perfect,” said Kilburn. “The moment I heard her voice I thought, ‘This is going to be great.'”

She likes Patterson’s sense of humor, her stories from years ago, and her determination. The two play cards and Patterson dominates.

Kilburn had lost her mother about two years ago and saw the ad for the “Friendly Phones” program. Catholic Charities started that for senior citizens who may live alone without immediate family nearby.

There are about 25 people in the program, making phone calls once or twice a week to seniors. Catholic Charities wants to include home visitations for some seniors. The volunteers are all screened with background checks.

Jim Morasco coordinates the program for Catholic Charities. He said it provides needed socialization and companionship for seniors.

“We’ve become good friends,” Patterson said about Kilburn. “She’s a keeper.”

Patterson has helped fill a void for Kilburn after the death of her mother. Kilburn encourages other residents to volunteer in the program and reach out to local senior citizens, either through phone calls or home visits.

Catholic Charities also has a caregiver support class for family members and friends helping to care for senior citizens.

For more information about the programs, call Morasco’s Albion office at (585) 589-7477.

Photos by Tom Rivers
HULBERTON – Firefighters responded to call about a house filled with smoke at about 7:30 p.m. at 3380 Hulberton Rd.

The house is north of the canal. Firefighters did not find a fire, nor an obvious cause of the smoke. The smoke came through the chimney and fireplace, but the chimney had recently been cleaned. Fran Gaylord, Orleans County deputy fire coordinator, said firefighters believe a big gust of wind may have blown the smoke down the chimney and into the house.

Firefighters helped ventilate the house before leaving the scene. Albion, Holley and Fancher-Hulberton-Murray departments all responded to the call.

Fire police had a section of the road closed near the canal.

Photos by Tom Rivers – Firefighters work to put out a fire in a garage on Fancher Road in Clarendon at about 1 p.m. today.

CLARENDON – Joe Blair leaned on a pickup truck and watched a life’s collection of tools and a restored 1938 Chevy owned by his father go up in flames.

“At least it’s not a life,” Blair said at about 1 p.m. today while firefighters brought a garage fire under control.

Holley firefighter Rick Cary sprays water on the fire.

Blair was welding in his garage, behind his mother Rose Blair’s home at 4244 Fancher Rd. The car he was working on quickly was engulfed in flames. Blair was surprised how fast the fire spread.

“I’m lucky I got out,” he said. “It went up so quick.”

The dispatch call went out at 12:31 p.m. Dark smoke spewed from the scene.

Several fire companies responded to the blaze and kept it from spreading to the house next door.

A Fancher-Hulberton-Murray firefighter enters the garage after the flames were put out.

This provided photo shows flames shooting out of the garage.

Photos by Tom Rivers – Julie Wantuck, president of the Holley Teachers Association, has attended rallies and forums against Gov. Cuomo’s plans and actions about education. She is pictured last week in a hallway at Holley Middle/High School.

HOLLEY – At this time of the year, school officials are usually close to ironing out the final details for school budgets that will go before residents in a public vote in May.

State legislators and the governor are also in the final week before a deadline to pass the state budget. Normally, an unclear fiscal picture comes into focus for school officials by the end of March.

But this year, school officials still feel very much in the dark about their budgets and that’s because their biggest source of revenue, state aid, is an unknown from Albany.

“The main thing right now is the governor is holding our school districts hostage,” said Julie Wantuck, president of the Holley Teachers Association.

Gov. Cuomo refused to provide aid projections for about 700 school districts in January as part of the governor’s budget, an unprecedented move. He is trying to pressure state legislators to approve educational reforms, including a new system for evaluating teachers.

The governor wants 50 percent of a teacher’s evaluation to be based on student scores on standardized tests. Right now 20 percent of the score is based on those assessments.

Wantuck, a high school English teacher, said it’s wrong to put so much emphasis on one test.

“If the governor’s job performance was evaluated on one day, whether all the state legislators were in for a vote, what would his evaluation look like?” Wantuck said.

The current system for evaluating teachers puts much of the weight on local control and subjective factors, such as evaluations from principals, Cuomo said.

Julie Wantuck wears this button.

He calls the current evaluations “baloney” because 99 percent of teachers state-wide are rated effective even though he said only 38 percent of high school graduates are considered ready for college or careers.

Wantuck said other factors play a role in student performance, in particular poverty. She said the governor should focus on those issues if he wants to elevate student scores.

“Why is he going after the teachers and vilifying them?” Wantuck said. “I think he’s hitting on sound bites to sway public opinion.”

A poll last week from Quinnipiac University showed the public disapproved of the way the governor is handling public education by a 63-28 margin. In a nearly 3-to-1 margin, New Yorkers oppose using state test scores for making high-stakes decisions about teachers.

Wantuck said the governor is trying to build support for charter schools, at the expense of public school districts. She worries districts like Holley will see an exodus of state funding and students as the governor tries to direct more resources to charter schools.

“They’re creating a two-tiered system,” she said.

She attended a rally in Spencerport about education issues last week. Teachers have been holding rallies and forums around the state, trying to push back against Cuomo.

She is critical of Cuomo’s withholding of aid numbers, using that tactic to sway the State Legislature to fall in line with his proposals.

“There are rules for preparing budgets and the School Boards have to follow them,” Wantuck said. “But the governor isn’t following his own rules. Where is the integrity in that?”

Photo by Tom Rivers

CLARENDON – Firefighters are on the scene of a garage fire on Fancher Road in Clarendon. The garage is owned by Joe Blair.

Blair was welding and working on a vehicle when the fire started. He was able to escape without injury.

Deputy James DeFilipps shot twice, but OK due to bullet-proof vest

James Ellis

CLARENDON – A Wyoming County man who opened fire on law enforcement officers was shot dead early this morning.

James J. Ellis, 44, of Wyoming crashed his vehicle into a telephone pole on Route 31A in Clarendon at about 3 a.m. Police discovered the wreck in a neighbor’s front yard while looking for Ellis. When Deputy James DeFilipps left his patrol car to search for Ellis, the suspect opened fire from a wooded area near the vehicle, Sheriff Scott Hess said.

Deputy DeFilipps was shot twice in the abdomen, and then managed to fatally shoot Ellis. DeFilipps was taken from the scene by ambulance to Strong Memorial Hospital. He was treated for minor injuries and released, Hess said.

“Fortunately he was hit in the vest,” Hess told reporters at a press conference at about 10:30 a.m. today. “He’s doing fine.”

Ellis was involved in a domestic disturbance prior to the shooting. He was at an ex-girlfriend’s house in Shelby. Her friends were concerned and called 911 at 2:46 a.m. to report the incident, saying that Ellis had a gun.

The Sheriff’s Department and State Police were given a vehicle and suspect description. The vehicle was observed eastbound on Route 31A in the Town of Albion. Officers were unable to maintain visual contact with the vehicle due to the suspect’s high rate of speed, Hess said.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Orleans County District Attorney Joe Cardone, Sheriff Scott Hess and Chief Deputy Tom Drennan discuss the fatal shooting on a Wyoming County man last night after he shot and wounded an Orleans County deputy.

Responding officers located the vehicle on Route 31A in the Town of Clarendon. The suspect had crashed his vehicle after leaving the roadway, striking a telephone pole. Ellis was in a wooded area with a .45 caliber handgun. He started firing at responding officers when they reached the scene, a dark stretch of Route 31A, Chief Deputy Tom Drennan said.

The officers couldn’t see Ellis, but heard his gun shots and could tell the bullets were close, Drennan said.

Deputy James DeFilipps took cover behind his patrol vehicle, then took further cover into a wooded area near the road. While proceeding to the wooded area, DeFilipps confronted Ellis a short distance away. Ellis shot the deputy twice in the abdomen. DeFilipps returned fire with his weapon, killing Ellis, Hess said.

“The whole thing lasted seconds,” Drennan said.

Ellis’s body was taken to the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy. That report, plus evidence at the scene, should provide more details about the incident, which remains under investigation, Drennan said.

DeFilipps is a 12-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department. He was patrolling the eastern section of Orleans County last night. He started his career with the Holley Police Department.

District Attorney Joe Cardone said the incident would be reviewed by the grand jury “to make sure everything was handled properly.”

The Orleans County Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the scene by the New York State Police, Albion Police, Holley Police, Orleans County Major Felony Crimes Task Force and Clarendon Fire Company.

Photos by Tom Rivers

CLARENDON – A vehicle driven by James Ellis hit a telephone pole on Route 31A at about 3 a.m. this morning and the vehicle came to a rest in front yard of Christopher and Denise Wing. Mr. Wing is pictured in back being interviewed by news reporters at about 12:30 p.m. today.

After hitting the telephone pole, Ellis then fled to a wooded area and soon was involved in a shootout with responding police officers. Ellis twice shot James DeFilipps, an Orleans County deputy, who was wearing a bullet-proof vest. That protected him from the shots to his abdomen. DeFilipps fatally shot Ellis, 44, of Wyoming County.

National Grid put up this new telephone pole after James Ellis drove into a pole early this morning at this location at a bend on Route 31A.

Ellis was fleeing police after showing up at his ex-girlfriend’s house in Shelby with a gun, Orleans County Sheriff Scott Hess said.

Mr. Wing said he and his wife were awakened at about 3 a.m. by the car crash. When they heard the initial gun shot, they thought someone had hit a deer and was shooting the animal to put it out of its misery. But after multiple shots were fired, Mr. Wing said he knew something more was going on.

“It’s a little scary,” Mr. Wing told reporters outside his home, which is about a ½ mile west of the Bennetts Corners Road intersection. “You live out in the country and you don’t expect that to happen. This is usually a pretty quiet road.”

He estimated the shots were fired 5 to 10 minutes after the initial crash.

Christopher Wing points to his front yard on Route 31A, where a deputy was in a shootout with a man from Wyoming County early this morning.

State Police and other investigators had the section of 31A blocked off near Wing’s home until about 10:30 a.m. today while they collected evidence.

Wing said he is most thankful that Deputy DeFilipps only suffered minor injuries and returned home to his family.

Wing’s grown son, Mark Wing, grew up on the peaceful stretch of 31A. He said cars would occasionally veer off the winding road.

He said he is grateful his parents were unharmed in the incident, and that Deputy DeFilipps and other law enforcement agencies were quickly on scene.

“It’s a little scary because it’s so close to home,” Mark Wing said. “Thankfully the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department was quick to respond.”

Photos by Tom Rivers
HOLLEY – Dan Courtney, assistant principal at the Holley Middle/High School, spent more than two hours taped to a wall by the cafeteria in the school today, in an effort to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House.

Students and staff bought 412 strips of tape at $1 each to keep Courtney secure on the wall. Other donations from the Holley Teachers Association, Principal Susan Cory, Holley cheerleaders, and the student councils in the high school and middle school brought the total fund-raising effort to about $800.

Courtney said he was happy to help raise money for a good cause.

The Holley cheerleading program, led by coaches Penny Cole and her daughter Heather Kelley, spearheaded the fund-raiser.

The Holley squad was second overall in the G-R League, finishing two points behind Byron-Bergen.

“I try to teach the kids about giving back,” Cole said. “We are blessed with great kids.”

Two Holley cheerleaders, Nicole Boyle (left) and Adrianna Shepherd (second from left), were picked to cheer at the upcoming Ronald McDonald All-Star games. The two Holley cheerleaders will be representing the GR League at the game. They are shown collecting donations as part of the fund-raiser today.

Their coach, Penny Cole, is second from right with a strip of duct tape.

Both Boyle and Shepherd did an individual routine before judges and also a crowd in January during a cheerleading competition to earn the right to represent the GR League.

“They do an amazing job,” Cole said. “And outside of cheerleading they are both outstanding.”

Photos by Tom Rivers
CLARENDON – Firefighters from several departments are trying to bring a fire under control at 16323 Church St., a house owned by Stephen Beck and his family.

In the top photo, Chuck Prentice of Albion, left, and Joe Brooks of Clarendon run a hose closer to the house for interior firefighters.

Mr. Beck was home at the time of the fire at about 1 p.m., alerted by a smoke detector, Orleans County Deputy Amy Jenks said.

His dog was safely rescued by firefighters. The American Red Cross is on its way to assist the family.

Ron Meiers of the Holley Fire Department is operating the ladder truck.

Twice firefighters were inside and given an emergency evacuation notice due to the deteriorating conditions.

Firefighters from Clarendon, Holley, Albion, Kendall, Barre, Shelby, Brockport and Hamlin were on scene, and perhaps more.

Smoke from the fire filled the neighborhood near the Town Hall, just off Route 31A.

Chuck Prentice and several other firefighters are outside the house, getting ready to spray water on the fire.

Clarendon Fire Company President Bob Freida listens on his radio. He gave an order to evacuate the house as conditions deteriorated.

There is no cause given for the fire, which will be under investigation once the fire is brought under control.

Photos by Tom Rivers
CLARENDON – Crews are on the scene of a house fire at 16323 Church St., Clarendon. The home is owned by Stephen Beck and appears to be a total loss.

There were no injuries during the fire and one dog was rescued from the blaze.