Press Release, Orleans County Sheriff Chris Bourke

Provided photo: K-9 Odin will have a protective vest while it serves with the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office.

ALBION – K9 Odin will receive a bullet and stab protective vest thanks to a charitable donation from non-profit organization Vested Interest in K9s, Inc.

Odin, a Belgian Malinois, recently joined the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office. Deputy Jeff Cole is the dog’s handler.

K9 Odin’s vest was sponsored by Karla Kimmey of Charlotte, FL and will be embroidered with the sentiment “In memory of Zayla.” Delivery is expected within ten weeks.

Vested Interest in K9s, Inc., established in 2009, is a 501(c)(3) charity whose mission is to provide bullet and stab protective vests and other assistance to dogs of law enforcement and related agencies throughout the United States.

This potentially lifesaving body armor for four-legged K9 officers is U.S. made, custom fitted, and National Institute of Justice certified. Since its inception, Vested Interest in K9s has provided over 5,882 vests valued at $6.9 million to K9s in all 50 states made possible by both private and corporate donations.

The program is open to U.S. dogs at least 20 months old and actively employed and certified with law enforcement or related agencies. K9s with expired vests are also eligible to participate. There are an estimated 30,000 law enforcement K9s throughout the United States.

Vested Interest in K9s accepts tax-deductible contributions in any amount, while a single donation of $1,050 will sponsor one vest. Each vest has a value of $1,800, weighs an average of 4 to 5 pounds, and comes with a five-year warranty.

For more information, or to learn about volunteer opportunities, please call (508) 824-6978. Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. provides information, lists events, and accepts donations at www.vik9s.org, or you may mail your contribution to P.O. Box 9, East Taunton, MA 02718.

Photo by Tom Rivers: Renee Hungerford, executive director of Community Action of Orleans and Genesee, stands outside the Head Start school on East State Street in Albion. After two weeks of worry, Hungerford was relieved when the agency’s federal funds came through on Wednesday.

ALBION – Renee Hungerford felt a deep relief on Wednesday morning when she checked to see if federal funding came through for Community Action of Orleans and Genesee. The money, thankfully, was in the account.

Hungerford leads the agency that has 110 employees and serves 5,000 people in the two counties. She received notice last week that federal funds would be frozen to Community Action, only to see that directive rescinded.

But she still worried because some of her colleagues who run Head Start programs had closed programs when the money didn’t come through.

“What we don’t know is if it will happen again,” Hungerford said at her Albion office on East State Street. “I have not slept now for two weeks. It’s the fear of the unknown.”

Community Action of Orleans and Genesee receives its federal funds every two weeks and they are a reimbursement for services. The agency does not have a deep well of reserves to weather a financial impasse from the federal government.

“We have a contingency plan,” she said. “We have a little money to float. Other (Community Action organizations and head Start programs) are opening lines of credit.”

Hungerford said most of Community Action’s funds come from the federal government – about $5 million of the agency’s $8 million annual budget.

Community Action serves about 200 children in Head Start and Early Head Start programs in the two counties. It provides many other services – food, child care, housing and transportation – to lower-income people trying to become self sufficient.

Hungerford said many local residents are in very vulnerable situations, trying to maintain their households. It is a constant struggle.

“People experiencing poverty and kids should be last on the list” she said about a push to cut back federal spending and programs.

Leaders of the federal government are announcing changes that feel abrupt and are catching agencies off guard.

“I don’t think they’re doing an in-depth analysis,” Hungerford said. “They’re cutting and seeing what happens.”

Community Action began about 60 years ago, and has continued to grow and add programs and services to help needy families, while focusing on helping them become independent and self-sufficient.

The local programs include ACT (helping youth ACT responsibly), Stone Soup Success/Food Rx (educating to prepare healthy meals), Child Care Resource and Referral, Early Head Start and Head Start, Weatherization and Energy Services, Main Street Thrifts, Gifts and More store, a credit recovery program for Albion seniors, emergency services, holiday meals and gifts, and the Eastern Orleans Community Center in Holley, which provides daily meals, a clothing depot and food giveaway.

Hungerford said Community Action often helps steer people in crisis in the right direction, connecting them to services in the two counties.

She fears if there are cutbacks at the agency, local residents will lose a critical resource during a challenging period of their lives.

“They come here for help,” Hungerford said.

ALBION – The Orleans County Legislature recently approved the following voting members to the Emergency Medical Services Council, effective Jan. 1, with all terms expiring Dec. 31, 2025.

• Albion Fire Department: Fred Piano (primary) and Emma Klaver (alternate)

• Barre Fire Company: Kara Smith (primary) and Terry Bentley (alternate)

• Carlton Fire Company: David Bertsch (primary) and Brandi Fisher (alternate)

• Clarendon Fire Company: Don Mosier (primary) and Karl Beidlingmaier (alternate)

• East Shelby Fire Company: Mike Fuller (primary) and Sue Behrend (alternate)

• Kendall Fire Company: Sue Maslyn (primary) and Stephen Balka (alternate)

• Lyndonville Fire Company: Anna Schuner (primary)

• Medina Fire Department: Jacob Crooks (primary) and Steve Cooley (alternate)

• Murray Joint Fire District: Mark Porter (primary)

• Ridgeway Fire Company: Kristin McAdoo (primary) and Austin Mosher (alternate)

• Shelby Fire Company: Jenna Simmons (primary) and Donnell Bennett (alternate)

• Orleans County EMO EMS Coordinator: Scott Buffin (primary) and Justin Niederhofer (alternate)

• Orleans County Public Health: David Bell (primary) and Cora Young (alternate)

• Orleans County Sheriff’s Office: Christopher Bourke (primary) and Don Draper (alternate)

• Orleans County Sheriff Dispatch: Allen Turner (primary)

• Orleans Community Health/ Medina Memorial Hospital: Dr. Richard Elman (primary) and Kerry Miller (alternate)

The following were approved as non-voting members of the Council:

• County Legislature: Lynne Johnson and William Eick

• Public Safety Chairmen: Merle Draper and John Fitzak

• Mercy EMS: Adam Wengrzycki and Michael Gugliuzza

• University of Buffalo Medical Doctors: Rob McCartin and Mike Shaw

State senator concerned over rising costs, including electricity from Power Authority

Photo by Tom Rivers: State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt speaks during Friday’s Orleans County Chamber of Commerce Legislative Luncheon at Bent’s Opera House in Medina. Ortt said state policies and spending are driving more businesses and residents to flee to other states.

MEDINA – State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt listened to presentation Friday on how Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed budget would help with an “affordability crisis” in the state.

The governor wants refunds to help with the rising cost of inflation, increased child tax credits, universal school meals with free breakfast and lunch, increased access to child care, and a middle-class tax cut. State Canal Commissioner Brian Stratton went through a power point about the governor’s proposed budget during the Legislative Luncheon organized by the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce.

Ortt said he favors proposals to help residents keep more of their money. But Ortt said the governor’s proposed budget doesn’t rein in the state spending. The budget goes from $233 billion in 2024-25 to $242 billion in Hochul’s plan.

Ortt said he expects the spending will go even higher after the State Legislature, led by strong Democratic Party majorities, gets through with it.

“We cannot spend our way to a more affordable state,” Ortt said during Friday’s Legislative Luncheon with the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce. “We need to reduce costs to stop residents and businesses from leaving.”

New York, population 19.6 million, spends more than states with bigger populations, Ortt said. Texas (population 30.5 million) spends $321.7 billion in a two-year budget, while Florida (population 22.6 million) has a proposed $115.6 billion budget for 2025-26.

“Why is New York so much more money?” Ortt said. “”You can’t spend your way to prosperity.”

The state senator cited two other price hikes that have him concerned about the affordability of the state.

Many businesses in Western New York, including some in Orleans County, have access to low-cost hydropower through the New York Power Authority. But NYPA is proposing to nearly triple the rates charged to customers for renewable hydropower from the Niagara Power Project. The proposed rate increase would go from $12.88 per megawatt-hour to $33.05 per megawatt-hour over four years.

Congestion pricing in New York City is imposing up to $9 fees on cars, $4.50 on motorcycles and $14.40 to $21.60 on trucks and buses. The pricing started on Jan. 5 to try to reduce some of the traffic in the city.

Ortt said he and Republicans in the Legislature are pushing for “immediate bold relief with taxes.”

Hochul, Ortt said, needs “to be more forceful” with Democrats in the Assembly and Senate about reducing costs in the state, addressing the negative impacts of bail reform, and targeting crime.

The state is entering a budget cycle with no more federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, adding to the challenges and pressure on New Yorkers to foot the full bill, Ortt said. ARPA was passed as part of a $1.9 billion federal stimulus package in 2021.

“We have got to do something about the rising costs in this state or we’ll continue to lose our most valuable asset, our people,” Ortt said.

‘Human trafficking can happen to anyone, but certain populations are disproportionately at risk, including people affected by prior abuse or sexual violence, poverty, and unstable living situations or homelessness’

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Orleans County Legislator Fred Miller, right, presents a proclamation from the County Legislature last week to Teresa Elam-Zwifka, Director of Child & Family Services for the Department of Social Services (left), and Heather Jackson, a senior caseworker at DSS.

The Legislature issued a proclamation declaring January as National Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

Legislators highlighted human trafficking which is a commercial sex act induced by force, fraud, or coercion or when a person induced to perform such an act is not yet 18 years old.

Legislators also said trafficking is the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.

“Human trafficking is a public health issue and crime affecting individuals, families, and communities across generations, in every state and territory across the United States, exploiting the most vulnerable among us and weakening our collective well-being,” the proclamation states.

People can be trafficked in person and online, and in industries such as restaurants, cleaning services, construction and factories, legislators said. People can be trafficked by strangers or someone they know, including partners, parents and other family members.

“Human trafficking can happen to anyone, but certain populations are disproportionately at risk, including people affected by prior abuse or sexual violence, poverty, and unstable living situations or homelessness, as well as those systemically marginalized and underserved,” legislators stated in the proclamation.

12 percent gain led Greater Niagara Region; Residents urged to be ambassadors for Orleans County

Photos by Tom Rivers: These fishermen try to catch trout and salmon on Oct. 21 at Johnson Creek in Lyndonville near the dam. Fishing is Orleans County’s top draw for visitors.

MEDINA – Orleans County experienced 12 percent growth in visitor spending in 2023 compared to the previous year, the biggest gain among the five counties in the Greater Niagara Region, according to a report from Tourism Economics.

Orleans has been stepping up its promotion efforts and the work is paying off, Tourism Director Dawn Borchert told about 125 people during the Legislative Luncheon on Friday at Bent’s Opera House. The event is coordinated by the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce. Niagara County was right behind Orleans with an 11.7 percent gain.

Dawn Borchert, the county’s tourism director, talks about the county’s bicentennial and shows the cover of the new tourism guide. The cover includes a photo of 1906  “Old Home Days” in Medina, the Seneca Chief canal boat in Medina, a harvest luncheon at Hurd Orchards in Holley, and two fishing buddies. Brian Stratton, the canal commissioner for the state, is at left.

In Orleans County, the visitor spending totaled $42 million in 2023. That breakdown includes $3 million for lodging, $8 million for recreation, $15 million for food and beverage, $6 million at retail and service stations, $1 million in transportation, and $10 million for second homes used for income, according to the report.

The totals for the five counties in visitor spending in Greater Niagara Region include:

• Erie, $2.423 billion
• Niagara, $1.082 billion
• Genesee, $140 million
• Wyoming, $71 million
• Orleans, $42 million

Orleans County’s biggest draw is fishing, and anglers trying to catch trout, salmon and other fish accounted for an economic impact of $28 million in 2017, according to a survey by the DEC. With inflation factored in that impact is now about $34 million a year, Borchert said.

The county is promoting more than fishing. This year’s tourism guide is hot off the presses and arrived Friday. It was distributed to many people at the legislative luncheon. The guide celebrates the county’s bicentennial in 2025.

There are 35,000 copies that will be distributed at Thruway rest stops in New York and Pennsylvania, and airports in Buffalo, Rochester and Niagara Falls, as well as trade shows. The guides also will be available in the county at local businesses, libraries and the tourism office at the County Office Building.

The guide was bumped up by 12 pages to 60 to celebrate more facets of the county on its 200^th anniversary. It highlights all 10 towns and four villages, as well as agri-tourism, art galleries, campgrounds, the Erie Canal, history and heritage, marinas and yacht clubs, prominent local memorials and monuments, local trails, parks and the wildlife refuge.

Borchert said revenue from the county’s bed tax has helped increase promotion efforts. That bed tax money is used to match state funding from I Love NY.

The county imposes a 4 percent “bed tax” on lodging. That revenue has been increasing.

• $51,002 in 2018
• $58,424 in 2019
• $58,438 in 2020
• $79,102 in 2021
• $111,013 in 2022
• $119,003 in 2023

County Legislature Chairwoman Lynne Johnson said tourism promotion is a factor the county and local residents have some control over, unlike any of the mandated programs and policies from the state and federal governments.

Many visitors describe Orleans County as “cozy, charming and under-the-radar,” Johnson said.

She would like to raise Orleans County’s profile, and she welcomed residents and businesses to be part of that and serve as Orleans ambassadors in their conversations and social media posts.

“Through your friends, your social media accounts, your business networks and elsewhere, let’s be sure we all invite people to visit Orleans County and enjoy all we have to offer,” Johnson told the crowd at the luncheon.

Fire chiefs urge county to work on new EMO site

File photo by Tom Rivers: The emergency management office was built as early 1960s bomb shelter. It has a leaking roof and a shortage of space. The building is 8,000 square feet – 80 by 100 feet. Most of the structure is underground. It isn’t handicapped accessible and doesn’t have enough space for the emergency management office, said Justin Niederhofer, the EMO director.

ALBION – Orleans County officials have downsized the plans for a new emergency management office, seeking to reduce the expense from an estimated $10 million to an estimated $2.3 million.

The lower price would be covered entirely by state and federal grants and would give the emergency management office and first responders a modern facility for offices and training.

The County Legislature on Tuesday approved a $6,000 contract with Vanguard Interiors and Design of Buffalo for structural design and interior layout of the Emergency Management Office at 14064 West County House Rd. in Albion.

Justin Niederhofer, the county’s EMO director, said the new facility will be “bare bones” but will still be a much-needed improvement.

The county was awarded a $2 million grant from U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Aug. 18, 2023 towards the project, the maximum in federal funding towards the facility. Orleans also has been awarded $600,000 towards upgrades of the EMO site.

The county is looking to spend $2.3 million towards the new building. Some of the grant funds would also go towards demolition of the existing site. That 8,000-square-foot building – 80 by 100 feet – was built as an underground bunker in the 1960s.

The new facility would have offices for the EMO staff, space for training, a classroom and a backup 911 dispatch – “the bare essentials,” Niederhofer said.

‘The current building dating from the early 1960s is cramped, dilapidated and unsuitable for the operations of the EMO staff and for fire service training classes.’ – Orleans County Fire Advisory Board/Orleans County Fire Chiefs Association

The County Legislature received letters of support for a new EMO this month from the Orleans County Fire Advisory Board/Orleans County Fire Chiefs Association, Clarendon Volunteer Fire Company and Carlton Volunteer Fire Company.

“The current building dating from the early 1960s is cramped, dilapidated and unsuitable for the operations of the EMO staff and for fire service training classes,” wrote Robert Freida, chair of Orleans County Fire Advisory Board/Orleans County Fire Chiefs Association. “For too many years the plan to modernize this facility has been ignored or cancelled as it has been the previous two years. The fire service in Orleans County has a rich history and being mostly volunteer, saves the taxpayers an enormous amount of money.”

Freida sent his letter on Jan. 21. He urged the county to set aside some of its own funds to make the project a reality.

“We understand that county finances are limited for a project such as this, but we implore you to earmark funds in addition to the $2 million provided through Senator Gillibrand’s office, to construct a modern facility that is long overdue,” Freida said. “We are not asking for anything extravagant, just a good quality construction that can be utilized for training and emergency operations for the next several decades.”

Freida, the fire chief at Clarendon, also sent a letter from the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Company in support of a new EMO site. In that letter, Freida cited the following benefits:

1. Improved Training Opportunities: “An advanced training facility with modern technology would provide hands-on, realistic scenarios for responders to practice and refine their skills.
2. 2. Enhanced Collaboration: “A larger, modernized space would accommodate multi-agency exercises, fostering improved coordination among fire, police, EMS, and other critical partners.”
3. Community Preparedness: “The facility could also serve as a resource for public education, offering community members training in CPR, first aid, and disaster preparedness.
4. Recruitment and Retention: “Volunteer membership is at an all-time low not only county and statewide but nationally. A state-of-the-art training facility demonstrates the county’s commitment to emergency services, which can attract and retain highly qualified personnel.”

In the Jan. 13 letter from the Carlton Fire Company, Fire Chief Seth Dumrese and President David Bertsch said the 1960s’ building is inadequate for the emergency management office and for training for first responders.

“The building needs improvements and has for years and it would not be feasible to spend more money on the current building,” Dumrese and Bertsch wrote in their letter. “There is not enough room for many of the training classes/programs needed by our personnel or enough room for an emergency operations center if the need arose. We would respectfully request that constructing a new Emergency Management Office be a priority in 2025 for the Legislature.”

Soldier from Albion was killed by roadside bomb in Afghanistan in 2009

Jason Johnston

ALBION – The Orleans County Legislature is seeking to have a section of Route 31A named in honor of Jason Johnson, a soldier from Albion who was killed in combat in Afghanistan by a roadside bomb on Dec. 26, 2009.

Johnson was a specialist and paratrooper with the U.S. Army. He was 24 when he was killed. He is the only soldier from Orleans County killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan during the War on Terror.

The Legislature last June sought to have Route 98 in Orleans County named for Johnston. The State Legislature and Go. Hochul need to give their approval.

The County Legislature on Tuesday rescinded that resolution from last year because 98 already has been named the “Veterans Memorial Highway.”

The Legislature now is asking the state to name the Route 31A corridor between Powerline Road to Route 98 in Albion in memory of Johnston.

Legislators asked State Sen. Rob Ortt and Assemblyman Steve Hawley to take up the issue in the Legislature.

Johnston is survived by his parents, Brad and Jenny Johnston; and his sisters, Carrie, Heather and Holly; and several nieces and nephews.

Photo by Tom Rivers: County Legislator Don Allport speaks during Tuesday’s County Legislature meeting. He opposed seeking another two-year extension to an extra penny on the local sales tax.

ALBION – Orleans County Legislator Don Allport wants the sales tax to be 7 cents in Orleans County, instead of 8 cents.

Allport said cutting a penny from the sales tax would save people more than $5 million a year on expenses in the county. He thinks those savings would be injected back in the local economy, helping businesses and ultimately leading to even more sales tax revenue.

But none of the other county legislators are willing to take that chance. They worry not having that extra penny in sales tax could lead to a dramatic increase in property taxes or a reduction in local services.

The state gets 4 cents for every taxable sale while the county also receives 4 cents. The county used to get 3 cents, but it was raised to 4 cents on June 1, 1993. The county needs State Legislature’s permission every two years to keep the 4-cent tax.

That permission comes due this year. The County Legislature on Tuesday voted to start the process for the state to renew the sales tax by an extra penny. It would extend the 4-cent local share to Nov. 30, 2027.

The county takes in about $23 million in sales tax a year. That extra penny is worth nearly $6 million.

If the county lost that revenue – $5.75 million – it could translate into a 29.2 percent property tax increase, going from $19,639,000 in the tax levy for 2025 to $25,389,000.

Allport, however, thinks the county would see more sales tax with residents spending more at businesses because they would have more money in their pockets.

“This was supposed to be a temporary tax,” Allport said about the extra penny in 1993.

But those temporary taxes never seem to go away, he said.

“If that $5 million was put back in the local economy the businesses could use it,” Allport said. “The residents could use it. People would put it back in the local economy.”

Issue could ultimately go to public referendum

Photo by Tom Rivers: Debbie Berry, a retired chief clerk for the Surrogate Court in Orleans County, speaks on Tuesday against a district court in Orleans County. She said the 10 local town courts are serving the people well.

ALBION – Orleans County legislators, with two dissenting, are reviving a push for a district court in Orleans County.

The issue was going to a public referendum last November but was pulled when county officials were notified of a procedural flaw. In order to bring the issue to a public vote, the county first needs approval from the State Legislature with its support of a District Court.

County legislators, in a 4-2 vote on Tuesday, passed a resolution requesting the State Legislature to establish a countywide district court in Orleans.

“This is just the first step,” said Legislator John Fitzak, R-Carlton.

He supported the resolution along with Legislature Chairwoman Lynne Johnson, R-Lyndonville; Legislator Bill Eick, R-Shelby; and Legislator Ed Morgan, R-Murray.

Legislators Don Allport, R-Gaines, and Fred Miller, D-Albion, opposed the resolution.

Miller said there was significant opposition to the proposal during public hearings in May and June last year from local town justices and town officials, who say the current system is cost effective and responsible to the community.

The local Magistrates Association said a district court would ultimately be more costly, even if the state takes on the salaries of the judge, clerks and security.

Allport doesn’t have confidence the state would assume the costs of a district court. Even if it does initially, it could push the expense to the county and towns if the state is feeling a budget crunch in the future, Allport said.

“This is not the correct time to approach the state on this,” Allport said, citing what he said are $40 billion in budget shortfalls in Albany. “I’m not sure there is a right time.”

Fitzak said the vote to request state support is another step in a process that could be drawn out. He and Johnson said it is unknown if and when the State Legislature would vote on the issue.

“I wouldn’t hazard a guess on the timetable,” Johnson said.

She said a district court would be beneficial to the county in many ways, offering a streamlined system with full-time hours that would benefit people in the court system.

She cited a report from local officials looking at the costs of the local court system. Joe Cardone, the now retired district attorney, helped push the issue and prepare the report.

Cardone, during public hearings last year, said state aid should cover most of the cost of a district court. The county would provide the facility with the state is expected to cover the salaries for judges, clerks and security.

Cardone said having the cases be handled by a full-time court would move matters more expeditiously through the courts system. He said it would be a savings for the District Attorney’s Office, Public Defender and law enforcement by having a centralized court, rather than a patchwork of 10 town courts.

Legislator Ed Morgan said county residents will get a vote on the issue if the State Legislature backs the proposal.

“The Orleans County taxpayers will have the final say,” Morgan said.

Photo by Tom Rivers: Craig Lane on Tuesday was appointed as Orleans County’s new commissioner of the Department of Public Works.

ALBION – The Orleans County Department of Public Works has a new leader. Craig Lane on Tuesday was named the new commissioner of the DPW, which oversees two divisions, highways and buildings and grounds for the county.

Lane has worked for the DPW for about four years following a 20-year career in Air Force where he was a logistics readiness officer.

Lane was hired as a motor equipment operator for the DPW. He was named deputy commissioner about two years ago and has been interim commissioner after John Papponetti left the DPW.

Lane oversees about 30 employees. The Highway Division is responsible for overseeing 196 miles of county highways, 64 county bridges, the fuel farm and snowplowing for the county parking lots.

The Buildings and Grounds Division is responsible for 20 buildings with 28 departments which include preventive maintenance, new construction and refurbishing along with a crew of janitorial services.

“It’s busy,” Lane said about the DPW. “I spent most of my formative years as a civil servant so this is a natural fit.”

Lane is a Clarendon native. He now lives in Gaines. He is president of the Holley Rotary Club, and serves on the Gaines Planning Board and is a commissioner for the Albion Joint Fire District.

High winds and blowing snow have made for dangerous driving conditions

Photo by Ginny Kropf: This large limb blew off a tree on Gwinn Street, between West Oak Orchard and the entrance to Wise Middle School, about 3:30 this afternoon. Power was out on West Avenue, Gwinn Street and parts of Maple Ridge Road.

Press Release, Sheriff Chris Bourke

ALBION – The Orleans County Sheriff’s Office has issued a travel advisory for all of Orleans County until 6 a.m. Tuesday.

We are recommending essential travel only. Please use extreme caution if you must travel. High winds along with blowing and drifting snow have produced dangerous driving conditions throughout Orleans County.

The Orleans County Sheriff’s 911 Communication Center has handled 16 trees down on houses or across the road, 6 utility poles down, 12 vehicles off the road, 6 motor vehicle accidents and one house fire in a short period of time this afternoon. National Grid is reporting over 600 homes without power currently.

The National Weather Service Buffalo has issued a high wind warning until 6 a.m Tuesday morning. Winds will be 30 to 40 mph winds with gusts to 70 mph. with additional snow expected.

Please stay safe!

Meeting on Saturday at Hoag Library will go over initiative to help celebrate county’s bicentennial

Photo by Tom Rivers: This ox painted with an Orleans County Fair and agricultural theme is shown in Albion’s parade on Dec. 14.

ALBION – The Orleans County Bicentennial Committee is urging artists and organizations to be part of public art project featuring fiberglass oxen.

The oxen bodies can be painted in themes celebrating the local community as part of the county’s 200thanniversary this year.

A first ox was painted during the Orleans County 4-H Fair last July. The ox then was featured during the Medina Parade of Lights on Nov. 30 and then Albion Christmas parade on Dec. 14.

The Town of Clarendon has since bought an ox body. The Bicentennial Committee also is planning to purchase an ox and have it painted to be displayed on county property in Albion. The Friends of the Orleans County Marine Park also is pursuing an ox and artist to have a painted ox at the County Marine Park in Carlton.

The Bicentennial Committee will have an informational meeting at noon on Saturday at Hoag Library in Albion to go over the costs of acquiring an ox statue and having it delivered. The ones at the Fairgrounds and for Clarendon were bought from a manufacturer in Texas and then shipped by FedEx.

Each organization, business or municipality that acquires an ox will need to work out a contract with an artist to paint the ox body.

Albion native Stacey Kirby Steward painted the ox at the fairgrounds. That ox will be at Hoag for artists and others to get a close look at.

The committee also will be available to try to connect organizations with artists and help brainstorm themes for the oxen.

More information about the painted oxen should be available soon on the County’s Bicentennial page.