RIDGEWAY – The canal bridge on Marshall Road will be posted next month with a maximum weight restriction dropped from the current 16 tons to 11 tons.

The state Department of Transportation sent out an advisory today. It expects to have the bridge posted for the reduced weight limit on or about Dec. 6.

The DOT recently inspected the bridge and determined it was no longer capable of the 16-ton weight load. The bridge can handle 11-ton loads and under, the DOT said.

A detour will not be posted. The nearest unrestricted canal crossing is Route 63 in the village of Medina.

Palmer Road runs off Marshall Road in Ridgeway

RIDGEWAY – We’ve run a few features on unpaved roads in Orleans County in the past month.

But this little obsession actually started months ago. The first time I stopped to take a picture of one of these roads was late in the summer. I was on Marshall Road in Yates and entered Ridgeway when I noticed the dirt road to the east.

I took a couple pictures of Palmer Road and wondered then if there were many more of these roads in the county.

I would have posted these photos earlier but I just found the pictures today after going through my memory cards. (I’m accumulating quite a collection of these.)

I’ve received a lot of tips about these roads and will try to hunt them down in the coming months.

Absentee ballots make the difference

RIDGEWAY – After the election last week, incumbent Mark Goheen was trailing opponent Raymond Wendling by only 8 votes in the race for highway superintendent in Ridgeway. There were still 33 absentee ballots to be counted.

Those ballots were opened today and Goheen received the votes he needed to pull off the 591-581 victory over Wendling.

This general-election race was a rematch of the GOP primary, also resulting in a win for Goheen. Incumbent Mark Goheen was endorsed by the Republican and Independence parties. Raymond Wendling, after the primary, ran under the Conservative Party and the independent Ridgeway Peoples Party.

RIDGEWAY – Mark Goheen didn’t go to the Board of Elections today when elections officials spent three hours opening and counting absentee ballots in four close races in Orleans County.

Goheen, the Ridgeway highway superintendent, preferred to spend the morning working on projects as highway superintendent. Goheen started the day eights votes behind Ray Wendling, 570 to 562.

But when 40 absentees were tabulated late in the morning, Goheen ended up the victor, 591-581. He received 29 of the absentees to 11 for Wendling.

“It’s been awful the past week,” Goheen said about the very tight race and the prospect of being out a job. “It’s nerve-wracking, and it’s been hard on my family and the people I work with.”

Goheen topped Wendling, an employee in the Medina Department of Public Works, in the Republican Primary. But Wendling kept up a vigorous campaign, running on the Conservative line and the independent Ridgeway Peoples Party.

“I’m extremely disappointed, but I’m extremely proud that I ran a positive campaign and ran with integrity,” Wendling said after the results were announced at about noon. “I just want to thank the Ridgeway and Medina voters for their support.”

Goheen is finishing his first term as highway chief. When he was contacted by phone this afternoon, he was on Rutherford Road, helping a resident with a water issue.

Goheen said he is thankful he can keep a job that allows him to work with the public.

“You get to do something different every day,” he said. “You’re helping people out with their roads, ditches and water. I want to thank my family and friends for getting behind me.”

Photos by Tom Rivers

KNOWLESVILLE – The lift bridge in Knowlesville was closed beginning on Wednesday this week so workers could make some repairs. It looked like a crew was working on the deck of the bridge this afternoon.

The bridge was on a 6-ton weight restriction and was limited to one lane. Those restrictions will remain when the bridge reopens in about 10 days, according to the state Department of Transportation.

KNOWLESVILLE – The lift bridge in Knowlesville will be closed beginning today so the state Department of Transportation can perform necessary maintenance repairs.

The bridge is expected to be closed for up to two weeks, state Sen. George Maziarz’s office advised.

The bridge, which was built in 1910, has had a weight restriction and is limited to one lane. It will remain at its current width upon reopening.

Press release, Orleans County Undersheriff Steve Smith

RIDGEWAY – Three people were hospitalized this morning following a two-vehicle crash in the town of Ridgeway.

The accident occurred at about 7:50 a.m., in the 11400 block of Ridge Road, just east of Horan Road. Kelly P. Bailey, 51, of Medina was operating a 1998 Jeep SUV travelling east on Route 104. Bailey’s vehicle crossed the center line and collided with a westbound 1998 GMC pick-up truck operated by Debra J. Albone-Gundrum, 62, of Lyndonville.

After the initial collision, Bailey’s vehicle ran off the north side of the roadway and over-turned, coming to rest on its roof. Bailey was trapped in the wreckage for approximately 25 minutes before being extricated by Ridgeway and Shelby firefighters. He was then air-lifted to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester by Mercy Flight helicopter.

Albone-Gundrum (sole occupant) was transported to Medina Memorial Hospital by Medina FD ambulance, as was a front-seat passenger in Bailey’s vehicle, identified as James A. Groves, 43, of Medina.

The cause of the incident remains under investigation by the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office. Witnesses report Bailey’s vehicle operated erratically prior to the crash. The on-scene investigation was conducted by Deputy M.C. Mele, assisted by Sergeant D.W. Covis and Chief Deputy T.L. Drennan.

Press release, Sheriff Scott D. Hess

A Medina man is hospitalized following an early morning rollover vehicle crash in the town of Ridgeway. The incident occurred shortly after 5 a.m., in the 10500 block of Mill Rd.

Tyler J. Heminway, 24, was operating a 2000 Chevrolet Blazer west on Mill Rd., west of Murdock Rd., when he apparently lost control of the SUV. It ran off the north side of the roadway, then came back onto and across the roadway and ran off the south side. The vehicle then overturned several times, ejecting Heminway, before coming to rest on it’s left side in a soybean field.

Heminway, the sole occupant, was flown to Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo by MercyFlight helicopter.

While the incident investigation is continuing, both alcohol and excessive speed appear to have been contributing factors. Charge(s) against Heminway are pending his recovery.

Sgt. D.E. Draper Jr., has the lead in the investigation, assisted by Deputies D.E. Foeller Jr., A.J. Houghton, D.S. Klips, & Investigator K.M. Strickland Jr.

Photos by Tom Rivers

RIDGEWAY – The flames shot high in the air, and the teams of firefighters drew closer, spraying water and foam on a fuel tanker.

For more than an hour on Thursday evening, firefighters doused a fire. And then it was reignited and they put it out again. And again and again.

About 30 to 40 firefighters, mostly from Barre, Shelby and Ridgeway, trained tonight with a live fire training trailer owned by the state Office of Fire Prevention and Control. The state has been taking the mobile tanker to counties throughout the state, working with fire companies to prepare for an ethanol tank on fire.

There are two ethanol plants in the state – in Medina and Fulton. However trucks and trains are hauling 8,000-gallon tanks all over the state.

“Ethanol is heavily transported in New York State by truck and by rail,” said Dan Baker, a state Haz-Mat instructor.

Orleans County has already had an ethanol explosion. A fuel tanker truck hauling 8,000 gallons of ethanol veered off Route 31A near Mathes Road on June 14, 2011 and crashed into the woods, killing the driving and resulting in several explosions. A team trained in hazardous materials from Kodak helped put out that fire.

Ethanol poses additional challenges for firefighters because ethanol contains alcohol. It requires a foam mix to extinguish and get under control, Baker said.

Firefighters tonight worked in teams of five from three different directions to approach the tanker on fire during tonight’s training exercises. Two teams sprayed water and foam at the fire so another team could approach the tank to turn off the valve letting out the fuel.

“You need to shut off the source,” Baker said.

Firefighters practiced their responses to other scenarios with the tank, including one where the valve was broken. In that case, firefighters sprayed the tank and fuel with the foam mix.

The firefighters moved around different team members during the training, so firefighters from different companies would get experience with their own department members and also in a mutual aid scenario.

Baker said the training tanker is in demand around the state as firefighters want to prepare for an accident with a truck or train hauling ethanol.

“We have a big waiting list,” Baker said about the training.

LOCKPORT – A 20-year-old Medina resident, who police suspect in 15 Albion burglaries and five in Medina, has been arrested in Niagara County after a burglary on High Street in the city of Lockport.

Jonathan K. Banks of 4886 South Townline Rd., Ridgeway, has been charged with second-degree burglary after breaking into a house at 5:20 a.m. He was arrested on Thursday.

Police in Albion and Medina have yet to charge him but Albion Police Chief Roland Nenni said Banks is suspected in the rash of burglaries in the two villages.

“He is a person of interest in Orleans County as well as other locations,” Nenni said in an email. “No arrest has been made on the burglaries in Orleans County to date.”

Albion and Medina police teamed with Lockport police in the investigation. They tracked Banks to Tonawanda, where he was arrested by Buffalo police officers and the Lockport Police Department, according to the Lockport Union-Sun and Journal.

The Albion and Medina burglaries all occurred at night, when residents were sleeping. Burglars would enter through unlocked doors or cut out screens to get inside.

Banks was involved in a high-profile crime in May when he took a 12-year-old girl from Albion overnight to Buffalo. The girl was subject to a missing persons report. Banks was charged with endangering the welfare of a child.

He currently is in Niagara County Jail on $15,000 cash bail or $30,000 property bail.

Photos by Michael Karcz

RIDGEWAY – Albion Boy Scout Ben Kirby is working on his Eagle Scout project at Camp Rainbow, installing a new entrance gate, building new seesaws and removing the old ones, and replacing the doors on a tool shed.

Kirby is overseeing a team of Scouts and volunteers on the projects at the camp owned by The Arc of Orleans County. In the top picture, Kirby watches Josh Raymond work on removing an old seesaw. Kirby’s father Dennis, left, provides some instruction on the projects.

In the bottom photo, volunteer Ryan Haight, left, works to remove an old door on the tool shed with some help from Kevin Gardner.

Press release, Orleans County Sheriff’s Department

RIDGEWAY – A noon-hour Labor Day crash sent four teen-agers from Medina to the hospital.

The incident occurred shortly after 12 p.m. in the 2500 block of Angling Road in the town of Ridgeway. A 2005 Chevrolet Cavalier was travelling north in an unpaved section of Angling Road when the driver lost control of the car.  It crossed the roadway, ran off the west side and struck a utility pole.

The driver of the vehicle is identified as Austin A. Heideman, 16.  The front seat passenger is identified as Michael D. Moore, 17, whose father owns the car. The rear-seat passengers were Julie M. Luczak, 17, and Summer Wisniewski, 15.

Moore and Luczak were flown to Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo by Mercy Flight helicopter. Wisniewski was transported to ECMC by ground ambulance. Heideman was transported by ground ambulance to Medina Memorial Hospital.  None of the injuries are believed to be life-threatening.

Initially deputies were lead to believe that Moore was the driver of the car.  However, after investigation it was determined that Heideman was behind the wheel at the time of the crash. He is facing numerous traffic charges including unlicensed operation, reckless driving, and unsafe speed. He will appear in Town of Ridgeway Court at a later date.

The incident was investigated by Deputy J.W. Halstead, with assistance by Sergeant D.W. Covis.