Photos by Tom Rivers – Scott Wilson, superintendent of the Orleans County Jail, said the county is working on initiatives for inmates struggling with drug addictions and also mental health issues. He addressed the Orleans United Drug Free Communities Coalition this morning.

ALBION – The Orleans County Sheriff’s Office is teaming with other agencies in the county to soon start several initiatives for inmates wrestling with drug addictions and mental health issues.

When inmates are released from the jail, they will be injected with a shot of Vivitrol, which helps fight opiate addictions. The Sheriff’s Office secured free shots from a manufacturer. The shot lasts for about 14 days.

The Sheriff’s Office also has been helping inmates secure health insurance coverage. Scott Wilson, the jail superintendent, said many inmates do not have health insurance. After a recent push, he said about 98 percent are now on Medicaid.

That program will start covering Vivitrol in July, which should ensure people who leave the jail can receive continued shots of Vivitrol to help fight their opiate addictions, and reduce the rates of committing new crimes, Wilson told the Orleans United Drug Free Communities Coalition this morning.

He shared other initiatives at the jail and community. Wilson is part of a team from the county going to Albany next week for crisis intervention training with mental health. The training will give guidance for law enforcement, mental health staff, probation and other agencies who work with people having mental health issues.

Roland Nenni, the police chief in Albion and Holley, is helping to organize the National Night Out on Aug. 2 at Bullard Park.

Police officers will be trained in using discretion in making an arrest and using force with someone having a mental health crisis, Wilson said.

The team from Orleans will work with other professionals next week in Albany to map out how services can best be provided in Orleans County, said Mark O’Brien, director of the Orleans County Mental Health Department.

Wilson said a re-entry coordinator will be added at the jail from an existing staff member. Wilson said addressing the addiction and mental health issues should reduce the inmate population, saving taxpayers and helping more people to be productive citizens.

The Drug Free Communities Coalition shared other efforts today, including a Narcan training program on March 10 at Hoag Library in Albion. Agency leaders and community members at 3 p.m. can learn how to administer Narcan to someone having a heroin overdose.

The Drug Free Communities Coalition is offering the Narcan training in response to opioid epidemic. For more information contact Sarah May at smay@gcasa.org.

The second annual National Night Out will be at Bullard Park on Aug. 2 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and will include demonstrations from K9 teams and law enforcement professionals, as well as games and activities for children.

Roland Nenni, the police chief in Albion and Holley, urged agency leaders to come to the three-hour event and offer games and prizes to make it more fun for families.

File photo – U.S. Rep. Chris Collins, R-Clarence, marches in the Fourth of July parade in Lyndonville last summer.

CLARENCE – Chris Collins has the support of the New York State Independence Party in his re-election bid for a third term in Congress.

Collins represents the 27th Congressional District which includes eight counties, including Orleans County.

“I am honored to once again receive the endorsement of the New York State Independence Party,” Collins said in a statement. “Independent thinking and a commitment to finding solutions for Western New Yorkers has allowed me to successfully represent New York’s 27th district. Whether it’s reducing government spending, limiting the expansion of Obamacare, or working to expand middle class job opportunities, I will continue fighting for the interests of Western New Yorkers and their families.”

The Independence Party endorsed Collins today for another two-year term. He was first elected in 2012, and re-elected in 2014.

“We are proud to support Congressman Chris Collins for re-election,” said Frank MacKay, NYS chairman of the Independence Party. “Washington needs representatives who will work across party lines to find ways to move our country forward. Congressman Collins has done that in Washington, and we are proud to once again offer him our support.”

Provided photos – Orleans County Corrections Officer Chris Shabazz watches while an Erie County K9 team searches the Orleans County Jail on Saturday.

Press Release, Orleans County Sheriff Randy Bower

ALBION – The Erie County Sheriff’s Office Corrections Division K9 Unit on Saturday partnered with the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office to search the Orleans County Jail for contraband.

The purpose for this partnership will be to promote officer safety and to serve as a deterrent for those individuals that may attempt to smuggle dangerous contraband into the jail.

The partnership will allow the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office to utilize passive K9 services on a continued basis to fight the introduction of contraband.

K9 contraband searches will now be conducted at periodic intervals to promote safety and security for the employees as well as the inmates who are confined within the Orleans County Jail.

The Orleans County Sheriff’s Office is dedicated to creating a contraband-free jail and will use all available options to ensure that this goal is achieved.

Orleans County Sheriff’s Office personnel are pictured with two K9 teams from Erie County on Saturday. The Orleans County personnel include back row, from left: Chief Deputy Michael Mele, Jail Superintendent Scott Wilson, Sheriff Randy Bower, Deputy Jeff Cole, and Undersheriff Chris Bourke.

Hands 4 Hope is an outreach with volunteers from many churches

Photos by Tom Rivers – Hands 4 Hope set up on Liberty Street by the First Baptist Church in Albion on Saturday, giving bags of food and taking prayer requests. The group includes, front row, from left: Dante Burgio, Amanda Basamania, Greg Stanton, Ron LaGamba and Cory Holz. Back row: Darrell Burgio, Jack Burris and Kevin Lemcke.

ALBION – The “hands” were out on Saturday, knocking on doors, flagging down cars and standing near a former red delivery van. The group, Hands 4 Hope, was offering prayers and free bags of food.

It was the fourth Saturday Hands 4 Hope has been out. They started on Jan. 30 on Lydun Drive in Albion. They have been in Medina at the corner Orient and Star streets, in Holley near Thomas Street and Public Square, and Liberty Street in Albion on Saturday near Beaver and West Park streets.

Hands 4 Hope is modeled after the Care-A-Van Ministries in Batavia, which has been operating for 16 years.

Jack Burris, owner of Burris Cleaning Service in Albion, pushed for Hands 4 Hope in Orleans County after seeing the success of Care-A-Van. Burris has shadowed Care-A-Van for nearly a year, going on outreach with Care-A-Van founder Paul Ohlson.

Care-A-Van also has red vans where it takes bags of food and welcomes people to step up in the truck and share their prayer concerns. Ohlson and volunteers are happy to pray with them.

Jack Burris stands by “Clifford,” a van now used for an outreach ministry. The hand on the left side of the van includes the sign for “love.”

Burris said he felt a prompting from God to try a similar ministry in Orleans. He found a van on eBay and connected with Greg Stanton from Stanton Signs in Medina to paint the logo. Burris calls the red van “Clifford.”

The past four Saturdays have been eye-opening, and confirmation to Burris and the ministry volunteers that there is a need for the food and prayers.

Many of the people who stop by Hands 4 Hope are in dire straits, feeling the stress of too many bills and not enough money. Many also are not connected from church and feel distant from God.

Burris and the volunteers hand off bags of food, hoping that will ease some of the stress of the physical needs. After that he says Hands 4 Hope will gladly appeal to a higher power. Burris will pray in the truck, writing down the prayer requests in a notebook, offering to keep the people and their concerns in his prayers in the future.

The first four Saturdays, Hands 4 Hope gave away 133 “shares” of food. No one declined a prayer.

“It’s not about the food,” Burris said. “It’s about the hope.”

These signs direct people to Hands 4 Hope van.

Burris said he expects Hands for Hope will be in Albion two Saturdays a month, and Holley and Medina once each. The months with five Saturdays he will wait to see where the group is led to minister.

So far the food has been paid for with an anonymous donor. Burris buys it from Pawlak’s Save-A-Lot. The volunteers separate the food into 40 shares on Friday evening. On Saturday morning, the group gathers a half hour before the 10:30 a.m. start time. They spend those 30 minutes praying for the people they will see that day.

Cory Holz stood outside the van on Saturday by the First Baptist Church. Holz welcomed people, chatting with them while they waited their turn. He also helped some up a step into the back of the vehicle.

Holz and his father Rick have volunteered with Care-A-Van in Batavia. They also attend the Albion Free Methodist Church with Burris.

Holz said some people have “preconceived ideas” about church. He welcomes the chance to bring a ministry out into the community, and not wait for people to come inside a church building.

“You’re getting out on a much more personal level,” Holz said about Hands 4 Hope.

People share about their challenges, which may include physical ailments, paying their bills, finding a reliable car and job.

“There is a ginormous need,” said Greg Stanton of Medina, one of the volunteers Saturday and the sign painter.

He went in the Albion neighborhood near First Baptist, knocking on doors and telling people about the ministry on Saturday morning. Stanton said he is one of the “fisherman” for the ministry. Burris says the volunteers are all the “hands.”

Burris feels like the effort has been blessed. The first Saturday they had 40 shares ready and went to the Lydun Drive neighborhood. They didn’t have any advertising except for the red truck. They knocked on doors and people came out. Everyone wanted a prayer. They welcomed the food.

There were exactly 40 people who came to the van for a share of food. That was how many shares of food had been prepared.

Burris isn’t sure what God has in store for Hands 4 Hope.

“We’re taking a leap of faith,” he said.

Hands 4 Hope has a Facebook page (Click here). Donations and mail can be addressed to Hands 4 Hope at P.O. Box 495, Albion NY 14411.

Community reading project continues for 14th year

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Many residents in Orleans, Genesee and Wyoming counties are reading the same book, Black River, as part of the 14th annual “A Tale for Three Counties.”

Hoag Library in Albion held a book discussion on Thursday evening. Some of the participants in the discussion are pictured with a poster of the book cover, including, from left: Bindings Bookstore owner Carolyn Ricker, Kim Pritt, Library Director Betty Sue Miller and Linda Weller.

The author of the book, S. M. Hulse of Spokane, Wa., will visit the three counties for book talks from March 10-12, including a 7 p.m. visit at Hoag Library on March 11.

Many libraries in the three counties are holding book discussions. Yates Community Library held its discussion on Feb. 8. Lee-Whedon Memorial Library will discuss the book at 1 p.m. on March 7, with Community Free Library in Holley discussing Black River at 7 p.m. on March 7.

The story centers on Wes Carver, a retired corrections officer who is coping with the loss of his wife to cancer. Carver also returns to the Black River community for the parole hearing of an inmate who tortured Carver during a prison riot two decades earlier. That inmate badly broke Carver’s fingers, preventing him from playing the fiddle, one of his passions.

The novel explores faith, forgiveness, fatherhood and revenge.

For more on A Tale for Three Counties, visit http://taleforthreecounties.org.

Photo by Tom Rivers

GAINES – Icicles hang from Tillman’s Village Inn at around noon today.

The National Weather Service has issued a freezing rain advisory for Friday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. The advisory includes Orleans County and much of Western New York.

The Weather Service warns that roadways will likely be slick especially on elevated surfaces, including bridges and overpasses.

Photos courtesy of Peggy Barringer – Peggy Barringer went out looking for a Snowy Owl on Sunday. She has taken photos before of a Snowy Owl at the Genesee County Airport in Batavia. The Albion resident headed to airport Sunday afternoon and was pleased when she saw an owl perched on a fence.

More snow is on the way. The National Weather Service is warning that 8 to 15 inches of heavy snow could accumulate in Orleans County, the Niagara Frontier and Western Southern Tier from 7 p.m. today until 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

The Weather Service says 4 to 8 inches are expected this evening and tonight, with another 4 to 7 inches on Tuesday.

The visibility could be less than a quarter of a mile at times. The worst travel conditions will occur around the time of the Tuesday morning commute, the Weather Service said.

Barringer also took this photo of snow-covered berries in front of the entrance of Orchard Manor in Medina.

Provided photo, Community Action – Community Action of Orleans and Genesee was awarded a $3,200 grant from the Kelly for Kids Foundation for 2016. Bonnie Malakie, director of Children and Youth Services at Community Action, receives the check last month from Jim Kelly, the Hall of Fame quarterback for the Buffalo Bills.

The Kelly For Kids Foundation awarded 34 grants to Western New York not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) organizations to help fund their initiatives. Kelly for Kids was founded in 1987 by Jim Kelly to assist children in need in the Western New York area.

Community Action was nominated for this grant by Danielle Rotundo, of Terry Hill’s Golf Course, Restaurant and Banquet Facility.

This grant, specifically for the Batavia Head Start Program, will allow for partnering with parents to support them in being their child’s first and most important teacher. With this grant, Community Action will offer classes/workshops and materials for parents of Head Start children to assist them in working with children at home. The classes will focus on increasing children’s literacy and math skills.

The Kelly for Kids grant will also be used to conduct two Head Start family events (children, parents, and siblings) that focuses on making literacy and math fun through interactive games, stories, refreshments, and materials/resources that can be taken home for future use.

Helping parents understand that learning about literacy and mathematics can be “fun for the family” will also engage them in a meaningful way. A similar program is being funded through the Albion Rotary Club in the 2015-16 year for Head Start and Albion Central School District.

The Batavia Head Start program serves children and families age birth-5 throughout Genesee County, who meet the eligibility requirements. This is a highly regulated program with an emphasis on preparing children for school and future life experiences. Parent engagement in the education of their child is vital.