Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Eileen Banker takes the oath of office today while her grandson, Connor Wlliams, holds the Bible. Linda Babcock, the village clerk/treasurer, administers the oath to Banker, who was elected on March 20.

Banker was previously on the board for eight years as a trustee. She succeeds Dean London, who didn’t seek re-election.

Eileen Banker smiles while her grandson, Connor Williams, holds the Bible and she says the oath of office.

Banker works as the chief of staff for Assemblyman Steve Hawley. She said the board will be especially busy the next month putting together the village’s budget for 2018-19.

Banker and the two other victors from last month’s village election – Stan Farone and Gary Katsanis for village trustees – were all sworn into office at 6 p.m. today. Then the Village Board held its organizational meeting and approved a list of appointments, including.

• Banker named Gary Katsanis as deputy mayor. She had served in that role the previous four years.

• Appointed Linda Babcock as village clerk/treasurer, registrar of vital records and the fair housing officer, all for two-year terms;

• Named Mary O’Sullivan as the deputy clerk/treasurer and deputy registrar of vital records;

• Reappointed John Gavenda as village attorney for two years;

• Named Christine Buongiorne to another five-year term on the Village Planning Board;

• Appointed Chris Kinter to a five-year term on the Zoning Board of Appeals;

• Named the following to the Recreation Committee: Carly Ward, Michael Beach, Terry Wilbert, Saul Harrison, Annette Finch and Bernie Baldwin;

• Appointed Kim Pritt to the Historic Preservation Commission;

• Elissa Nesbitt was appointed as the mayor’s representative to the Hoag Library board of directors;

• Named the following to the Grievance Committee: Carol Tibbits, Pam Davies and Lisa Hicken;

• Appointed Ron Vendetti to serve as the village’s disaster coordinator;

• Named The Daily News of Batavia as the official newspaper to carry legal notices;

• Set the mileage reimbursement rate at 50 cents.

(Editor’s Note: An earlier story had Kim Pritt as the mayor’s representative on the Hoag Library board. Elissa Nesbitt will serve in that role for the mayor.)

Stan Farone, a village trustee the past four years, signs the oath of office for a new four-year term.

Gary Katsanis says the oath. He was previously on the board and is returning after a two-year break. He and Farone were both elected as trustees on March 20.

ALBION – The Orleans County Legislature has adopted a new county policy allowing employees up to four hours of paid leave annually for a cancer screening.

The county acted after Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a new law requiring counties to provide four hours of leave each year for all public employees to have a cancer screening.

The leave time is not accumulative and cannot be carried over to the next year if it is not used.

The Cancer Screening Leave includes travel time to and from the appointment an any subsequent follow-up consultation visits. (Any times in excess of the four hours is chargeable to other leave credits.)

In other action at last week’s County Legislature meeting:

• Approved spending $49,510 to buy a new Chevrolet Tahoe four-wheel drive from Joe Basil Chevrolet in Depew.

• Approved spending $183,487 from the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services in 2017. The money will purchase: $110,531 for Harris P25 LMR System for four Symphony Console upgrades and the purchase of two Symphony Consoles with professional services and training; $72,956 to Caster Communications for 15 Pyramid P25 Vehicle repeaters with programming and complete installation and accessories.

• Authorized the Emergency Management Office to apply for a $420,587 grant from the state Department of Homeland Security for emergency radio system upgrades.

• Approved spending $27,609 for Custom Carpet Centers in Orchard to put new flooring in the Probation Office, and also approved $10,825 for Pete Madafferi of Brockport to paint the inside of the Probation Department in the Public Safety Building.

• Reappointed Jack Welch as director of Personnel and Self Insurance for a six-year term.

• Renewed an agreement with Ron Bierstine of Kent to provide dock worker and custodial services at the Orleans County Marine Park from April 15 to Oct. 31 at a cost not to exceed $16,187.

• Approved paying Vick’s Plowing, Landscaping and Removal of Albion $250 for each time it does mowing and trimming at all of the following: Orleans County Marine Park, Point Breeze site, boat dock rental site and Route 98/18 site.

• Approved spending $9,399 for 40,000 Travel Guides to be printed by Van Guard Printing of Ithaca, to be paid with I Love NY matching funds.

• Appointed Neil Valentine as a landowner representative to the Fish and Wildlife Management Act Board, term ending Dec. 31, 2019.

• Appointed Jan Albanese, program director of ACT in Albion, and Carol D’Agostino, Kendall High School principal, to four-year terms on the Community Services Board.

• Approved a five-year intermunicipal services agreement with Genesee County where Genesee will provide signage and graphic arts services to Orleans. Genesee will be reimbursed the cost of labor and material.

• Approved an agreement with Wyoming County where Orleans will pay Wyoming $90 a day for housing any inmates from Orleans County. The agreement is good for three years.

Photo by Tom Rivers: The control tower for the Ingersoll Street lift bridge in Albion is pictured on Saturday. Orleans County is home to seven lift bridges, more than any other county on the canal system.

A high wind watch has been issued for Orleans and several other Western New York counties on Wednesday from 2 to 8 a.m.

The National Weather Service in Buffalo said there will be westerly winds from 30 to 40 miles per hour with gusts up to 60 mph. Strong to damaging winds are possible and could bring down trees and power lines, resulting in scattered power outages.

The watch includes Orleans, Genesee, Wyoming, Niagara, Erie, Monroe and Chautauqua counties.

Jason Zayac, a Roy-Hart grad, was in the local program a decade ago

Press Release and photo from Orleans/Niagara BOCES

MEDINA – Allied Health teacher Lisa MacEvoy loves hearing about the successes of former students.

“I really like when they come and talk to my current students so they can hear how my class has helped them get to their career goal,” she said.

Recently 2008 Royalton-Hartland graduate, Jason Zayac, stopped in to present at the Medina Hospital classroom. He is pictured in the photo with Allied Health teacher Lisa MacEvoy.

He told the students that after graduation he attended the University of Rochester for his undergraduate classes and worked in a research lab at Strong Memorial Hospital for two years before being accepted into University at Buffalo’s medical school, where he is finishing the MD/MBA program. He will finish his MD/MBA in May of 2019.

“I am so proud of him,” said Mrs. MacEvoy. “He really enjoyed meeting the current Allied Health students and telling them about his experiences. I also had his older brother Adam in my class and he just finished his residency in Internal Medicine and is starting a fellowship in Hematology and Oncology in July.”

Photo by Tom Rivers: It looked like a white planet when firefighters, including Dan Strong of Carlton, responded to a chimney fire on Ridge Road in Gaines during a blizzard on March 12, 2014. Orleans Hub has been at the scene of numerous fires and serious car accidents the past five years, as well as ice storms, wind storms and significant flooding events.

ALBION – The Orleans Hub is 5 years old today. Since we went live on April 2, 2013, we have posted 9,908 news articles, 5,319 sports stories and 1,135 letters to the editors. We have posted about 20,000 photos since our first day.

We’ve never taken a day off. We post stories everyday, even on major holidays.

We’ve steadily grown each year, increasing the daily average for unique visitors and pageviews. In 2017, we averaged 7,884 daily unique visitors and 23,435 pageviews each day.

The Hub has one full-time employee, Tom Rivers, while Mike Wertman covers sports and his wife Cheryl Wertman takes many of the photos at local high school games.

The Hub is part of Lake Country Media, which also owns the Lake Country Pennysaver. The Hub shares the same advertising and office staff as the Pennysaver. Karen Sawicz is the publisher of both the Orleans Hub and the Pennysaver.

We appreciate our readers and the roughly 100 advertisers who make the site possible.

The Hub is open to all of its readers without annoying pop-up ads or surveys. We don’t have a subscription-based model that limits the content to some users.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman: Aaron Metz makes a diving catch in right field for Roy-Hart in a game against Medina on May 11, 2015. Cheryl Wertman has captured many great moments on the local athletic fields for the Orleans Hub.

We’re local people and we’re grateful to be a part of the community. Each year we have honored “Outstanding Citizens” and frequently recognize people who make the county a better place to live.

We are happy to celebrate in successes locally. We also offer suggestions for improvements.

We recently added a new php-driven format, powered by WordPress. One could call this a “modernization of our code” that became necessary as we outgrew our older, simpler format.

One could also say that the new format made it easier for our contributors to post stories from any computer, anywhere.

We added “trust certificates,” to take advantage of the newest in internet security features, to keep our visitors as safe as possible from malware attacks.

More groups are urged to register to pick up trash

Photo by Tom Rivers: Gary Kent and volunteers from the Albion Betterment Committee pick up trash along the canal last April 22.

The 13^th annual Canal Clean Sweep is scheduled for April 21, and volunteers are planning to pick up trash at canal spots in Orleans County and beyond.

The NYS Canal Corporation and Parks & Trails New York welcomes more volunteers for the effort. Organizations have already signed up to clean sections of the Canalway Trail, canalside parks, and in other public areas throughout the Canal corridor.

The Clean Sweep website already lists numerous groups for the April 21 cleanup, including two from Orleans.

The Kendall Masonic Lodge will meet in Holley, starting at 9 a.m. at gazebo by canal. The Sons of the American Legion in Medina will also gather at 9 a.m. at Legion Post to pick up trash by the canal from the American Legion to the Bates Road Launch Ramp.

More groups are welcome to sign up for the event in other parts of the canal. Click here to register.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – There are 720 orange flags outside the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church in Albion, a display that sends a message about the prevalence of sexual assault.

RESTORE Sexual Assault Services, a program of Planned Parenthood of Central and Western New York, has put the flags out during Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April. Each of the five counties that RESTORE serves (Monroe, Genesee, Orleans, Wyoming and Livingston) is hosting a display in April emphasizing the role communities play in standing against sexual violence, RESTORE officials said.

This year, the displays features 720 small orange flags, representing a stark statistic: every two minutes, someone in the United States is sexually assaulted. That’s 720 every day.

The display supports survivors, challenges “locker room talk” and helps raise awareness of resources available to become educated, help survivors and prevent sexual assault.

The flags will be on display throughout April. Additional flag displays will travel across the region over the month, hosted by the colleges with whom RESTORE partners for advocacy, education and support.

For information on the flag displays, Sexual Assault Awareness Month or for volunteer opportunities with RESTORE, email RESTORE@ppcwny.org.

For more information on RESTORE, click here.

RESTORE 24-hour hotlines: 1-800-527-1757 (Livingston, Wyoming, Orleans and Genesee Counties) and 585-546-2777 (Monroe County).

Press Release, Gov. Andrew Cuomo

Registration is now open for the seventh annual I Love My Park Day, to be held on May 5, 2018 at state parks, historic sites and public lands across New York.

The event, sponsored by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and Parks & Trails New York, is a statewide event to enhance parks, historic sites and public lands and raise awareness and visibility to the state outdoor recreation assets and their needs.

“Our state parks are natural treasures that offer extraordinary outdoor recreational opportunities, attract tourists who support local economies and draw people together,” Governor Cuomo said. “I encourage New Yorkers to participate in I Love My Park Day to enjoy all our parks have to offer and help us to protect and preserve our system for generations to come.”

Volunteers will have the opportunity to participate in clean up events at more than 120 state parks, historic sites and public lands from Jones Beach State Park to Niagara Falls State Park and covering all regions in between, including sites operated by the Department of Environmental Conservation, the National Park Service and municipal parks. Registration for I Love My Park Day can be completed by clicking here.

Volunteers will celebrate New York’s public lands by cleaning up debris, planting trees and gardens, restoring trails and wildlife habitats, removing invasive species, and working on various site improvement projects. The New York State Commission on Volunteer and Community Service is joining the effort again this year to help recruit volunteers, promote the initiative and provide support to projects across the state. Members of the New York State Excelsior Conservation Corps, a New York State AmeriCorps program run by the Student Conservation Association, will help State Parks organize and implement I Love My Park Day projects.

State Parks Commissioner Rose Harvey said, “Volunteers are vital partners in making our park system the very best it can be. I look forward to joining with Parks & Trails New York to welcome thousands of volunteers for our seventh I Love My Park Day, so we can all work together in a positive way to improve our communities and our state.”

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Marsha Rivers shared the Easter message this afternoon with about 20 residents of The Villages of Orleans Health and Rehabilitation Facility, the former Orleans County Nursing Home.

Rivers has been a volunteer chaplain at the nursing home for about 10 years. She leads Sunday afternoon services twice a month, while other local pastors and church leaders organize the other services on Sundays.

Rivers of Albion is a pastor of congregational care at Northgate Free Methodist Church in Batavia. She led a sunrise service at the Batavia church at 6:45 this morning.

At The Villages, she sings many traditional hymns with the residents, reads Scriptures and offers a message. Today the service included singing, “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today,” “He Lives,” “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” and the “Doxology.”

“Someday if I’m ever in the nursing home I hope someone will come and read Scriptures and sing hymns for me on Sundays,” she said. “I always come away uplifted by the people.”

There were several “Easter Rocks” in the nursing home. The Albion Rocks group also left painted rocks with messages for residents during Christmas and Valentine’s Day.

Provided photo from Corning Museum of Glass: A barge with mobile glassmaking equipment will be in Holley on July 24 and then in Medina on Aug. 11-12.

HOLLEY – A barge with glassmaking equipment will stop in Holley on July 24 as part of a summer-long tour along the Erie Canal.

The Corning Museum of Glass announced last month that the 2018 GlassBarge tour will visit Medina, docking at Medina Canal Basin on August 11-12. But after some negotiations with Holley village officials, a second Orleans County stop was added.

Mayor Brian Sorochty said the barge will be in Holley at the Canal Park on July 24.

The tour is the 2018 signature event for the statewide celebration of the Erie Canal Bicentennial. The GlassBarge will offer free public glassmaking demonstrations at each scheduled stop during its four-month tour.

GlassBarge commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Brooklyn Flint Glass Company – now known as Corning Incorporated – relocating to Corning via the New York Waterways by canal barge.

In celebration of this pivotal journey, the Corning Museum is recreating the voyage with GlassBarge – a 30′ x 80′ canal barge equipped with Corning’s patented all-electric glassmaking equipment. In addition to sharing the story of glassmaking in Corning, the GlassBarge tour emphasizes the continued role of New York’s waterways in shaping the state’s industry, culture, and community.

GlassBarge begins it tour in Brooklyn on May 17 and will travel north on the Hudson River, then westward along the Erie Canal from Albany to Buffalo before making its way to the Finger Lakes. A ceremonial last leg of the trip will take place by land, concluding in Corning with a community-wide celebration on Sept. 22. (Besides stopping in Holley and Medina, GlassBarge will also be in Brockport from Aug. 17-19.)

A flotilla of historic ships will accompany GlassBarge, including the Lois McClure, a replica of an 1862 canal barge, and the C.L. Churchill, a 1964 tugboat, both part of the permanent collection of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. The museum will share the story of 19th-century canal life and how materials were shipped on New York’s waterways. On the Erie Canal, GlassBarge will be moved by an historic tug from the fleet of the South Street Seaport Museum, connecting upstate and downstate by water.

GlassBarge will provide daily demonstrations. All demos are approximately 30 minutes long, and reservations are strongly encouraged through free timed tickets that will be available at www.cmog.org/GlassBarge. Reservations will open 4-6 weeks prior to each stop. Demos can also be viewed from shore without a reservation.

MEDINA – Cindy Davis, owner of the Pet Nanny in Medina, sees many benefits for dogs getting exercise. They are better behaved, they sleep more soundly, and they enjoy the socialization when they are outside.

Davis is busy with a business where she takes dogs for walks. She is excited to see Medina working towards building a new dog park. The Village Board on Monday approved having a dog park next to the former Compost Plant on North Gravel Road.

Alaina Wilson and Cindy Davis stopped by the former Compost Plant on Friday to look over the grounds. Two enclosures will be built on the side of the building, one for large dogs and the other for agility exercises.

“Dogs aren’t just dogs anymore,” Davis said. “They are family.”

The village looked at having a designated spot for dogs at one of the village parks, but those parks tend to have many neighbors nearby.

“We looked at all of the parks and we wanted to disturb as few people as possible,” said Alaina Wilson, the lead organizer for the dog park.

The Compost plant has few neighbors and it has a buffer of trees on the sides of the property. It’s also on a high-traffic road that should be easy to find, said Mayor Mike Sidari.

He praised Alaina Wilson for pushing the park, and having the determination to find a suitable location. Wilson also is taking the lead with raising $20,000 for the park. That will pay for three fenced-in enclosures, with one spot for smaller dogs, another area for larger dogs, and an agility area.

“The sooner we can raise the money, the sooner we can build it,” she said. “I’m hoping it will be ready during the summer.”

Donations can be sent by check to the Village Office and be designated for the Dog Park. Wilson also is setting up a GoFundMe for the park and will have other fundraisers. She also welcomes donations of benches and other furniture for the park.

There will be a list of sponsors at the park, for donors who give at least $100. Davis, owner of the Pet Nanny, was the first to commit to $100.

“I can only walk so many dogs a day,” she said. “Pets are a big thing for a lot of people.”

Alaina Wilson is pictured near the front of former Compost Plant where a fenced-in area for small dogs will be built. The Compost Plant is now used for storage by the village.

Wilson, 28, is a doctoral student at Medaille College in Buffalo, studying clinical psychology. She used to live in North Carolina and saw the benefits of a dog park where the dogs get needed exercise and socialization. Dog owners also make friends with the other dog owners.

“It’s something that’s missing in Medina right now and I want to see Medina grow,” she said.

Mayor Sidari backed the project. He sees it as an asset to Medina residents, and he expects the park will draw visitors to Medina for people looking for a spot for their dogs to run. He has heard from many people who drive nearly an hour to go to a dog park.

He also thinks the site can make Medina stand out for site selectors and prospective businesses. Medina has the infrastructure for new businesses. But often it’s quality of life issues that sway a business owner to build in a certain community.

“Businesses look at what is available,” he said. “After they look at water, sewer and infrastructure, they look at what’s available with the schools and activities.”

Wilson will share updates on the dog park on the group’s Facebook page. Click here for more information.

Photos by Tom Rivers: Christian Hahn is pictured with one of the 16 bookshelves he made that will be placed at businesses and organizations around the community for the Orleans County Adult Learning Services. Hahn received his Eagle Scout rank today.

MEDINA – Christian Hahn completed a 12-year journey in the Boy Scouts of America today, earning his Eagle Scout rank.

Christian, 18, started Cub Scouts when he was 6 in the first grade, and went on numerous camping and hiking trips, including the National Jamboree in Virginia and the Philmont Scout Ranch in the rugged New Mexico wilderness. At Philmont, Christian and other Scouts needed to hike 50-60 miles over hills.

“It’s a family tradition and it’s taught me valuable things in life,” Christian said today at the Medina United Methodist Church, which hosted his Eagle Scout Court of Honor ceremony.

His grandfather, Don Miller, was a Scoutmaster of Troop 28 in Medina, and Christian’s uncle, Tim Miller, now leads the troop as Scoutmaster.

Christian counts numerous friends through Scouting, as well as learning tons of skills, from building fires, cleaning water to cooking with a Dutch oven.

For his Eagle project, he made 16 bookshelves that are painted light blue for the Orleans County Adult Learning Services. OCALS is using the shelves as part of the “Little Blue Bookshelf Project,” which promotes literacy by placing the shelves in local businesses and organizations, and stocking the shelves with books for families and young children.

Christian made the shelves and gave them three coats of paint. He worked on the project from August until November. He thanked the following businesses for donating to the project: Medina Lumber and Lockport Lumber gave wood; Evans Ace Hardware gave eight cans of paint and paintbrushes; Valu donated nails; Tractor Supply contributed paint rollers and drywalls screws.

Christian Hahn is pictured when he competed in the Pinewood Derby in January 2011, back when he was 11. He never won the event, “but I had a lot of fun.”

Christian will head to Wells College in the Finger Lakes this fall to major in computer science, and then he plans to go to Med School. He wants to works as a doctor in an emergency room.

In school he competed in track, volleyball, lacrosse, soccer and swimming. He also was in the musicals with Medina and Lyndonville students, including having the lead role of Gomez Addams in last weekend’s show of The Addams Family.

Although he has completed Scouts, Christian isn’t ending his Scouting career. He wants to stay active with the troop as a volunteer.

A cake celebrating Christian Hahn’s Scouting accomplishments was served after the ceremony today.

Press Release, Gov. Andrew Cuomo

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the passage of legislation to remove guns from domestic abusers. The legislation closes a loophole in state law in order to ensure domestic abusers are required to surrender all firearms, not just handguns. The policy is part of the Governor’s 2018 Women’s Agenda.

“The recent wave of mass shootings is horrifying, and the federal government’s failure to act on any form of meaningful gun safety laws is unconscionable,” Governor Cuomo said. “New York is once again leading the way to prevent gun violence, and with this common sense reform, break the inextricable link between gun violence and domestic violence. This legislation builds on our gun laws – already the strongest in the nation – to make New York safer and stronger.”

Previously, New York law prohibited the possession of firearms for individuals convicted of a felony or for a limited number of misdemeanor “serious” offenses. However, this excluded many misdemeanor offenses which nobody could deny are in fact serious. To ensure no domestic abuser retains the ability to possess a firearm despite being convicted of a disturbing crime, the legislation rightly bolsters the list of “serious” crimes, which, upon conviction, require the loss of a gun license and the surrender of all firearms.

This legislation will also ensure individuals wanted for a felony or other serious offense are not able to obtain or renew a firearm license. Previously, despite being subject to an arrest warrant, an individual could still legally obtain a firearm license, all while being sought by the police. This change will make certain that the general public as well as the law enforcement who are actively seeking to arrest a wanted individual are not needlessly endangered by that individual obtaining new firearms.

Under Governor Cuomo, New York has passed the strongest gun control laws in the nation. However, New York previously did not have sufficient laws in place to ensure all types of firearms are removed from individuals involved in domestic violence-an issue closely tied to gun violence and gun violence deaths. In nine of the 10 deadliest mass shootings in United States history, including Las Vegas and Sutherland Springs, the shooter had an existing record of committing violence against women, threatening violence against women, or harassing or disparaging women. In addition, when an abusive partner is permitted to access firearms, the risk that the other partner will be killed increases fivefold. In 2016, firearms were used in 35 domestic homicides in New York.

The legislation built on bills previously advanced by Assemblymember Amy Paulin, Senator Diane Savino and other members of the legislature.

Last month, Governor Cuomo spearheaded the creation of the “States for Gun Safety” coalition to combat the gun violence epidemic. Together with New Jersey, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, New York State entered into an agreement to trace and intercept illegal guns, better share information on individuals prohibited from buying or owning firearms, and create the first-in-the-nation regional gun violence research consortium. In the face of continued federal inaction, Massachusetts, Delaware, and Puerto Rico have already joined the coalition which now represents over 35 million Americans.

Sen. Ortt votes against the legislation: ‘I cannot, in good conscience, pat myself on the back and pretend we’re making our state safer.’

State Sen. Rob Ortt, R-North Tonawanda, issued this statement:

“Federal law already covers gun ownership for violent offenders. This loose language will do nothing to further protect victims of domestic violence but will unconstitutionally target law-abiding gun-owners as a weapons confiscation tool. This is a stand-alone, non-fiscal measure that was lumped in as part of the budget process, passed unnecessarily with a message of necessity, in the dead of the night of a Holy Weekend.

“And sadly, we continue to see nothing on protecting our children through security upgrades or school resource officers and children’s mental health services remain woefully underfunded. I cannot, in good conscience, pat myself on the back and pretend we’re making our state safer. Our children are sitting ducks in our schools – all because progressive Democrats cannot stomach the reality that police, law enforcement, and security actually protect us.”

File photo: This photo from July 2013 shows Extension Director Robert Batt, who was then the president of the Fair Board, and Kerri Richardson, who was then community educator for the Cornell Cooperative Extension, gearing up for 4-H Fair in Knowlesville. The Extension will soon get a new digital sign allowing the organization to list more events.

KNOWLESVILLE – The Cornell Cooperative Extension of Orleans County has been awarded a $4,535.75  to purchase and install a multicolor LED sign on the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds. The new sign will allow the Extension to better promote agriculture education and events.

State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball announced the funding on Friday. It was part of nearly $600,000 for research, promotion, and development projects to strengthen New York State’s diverse agricultural industry and spur economic growth across the state.

The funding for the Extension was approved by the Genesee Valley Regional Market Authority.

Other grants approved by the GVRMA include $300,000 to the New York State Agricultural Experimental Station in Geneva with $260,000 going to malting barley research in New York State and $40,000 dedicated to enhance the location of the Institute for Food Safety.

The Board also awarded $200,000 to the New York Wine & Grape Foundation to support its successful NY Drinks NY program, a promotional effort showcasing New York’s wine and grape industries.

In addition, the GVRMA Board awarded the following projects that will boost the promotion and marketing of New York’s agricultural industry:

• NYS Wine & Culinary Center – $15,000 for the promotion of its annual craft beer festival, a public awareness campaign to promote beer production and hops growers.

• Finger Lakes Wine Alliance – $15,000 for the promotion of NYS Rieslings in the Buffalo, Rochester, and Albany markets.

• Cornell Cooperative Extension of Monroe County – $15,000 to support Monroe County farmers in their efforts to create and promote agritourism on their farms.

• Cornell Cooperative Extension of Orleans County – $4,535.75 to purchase and install a multicolor LED sign on the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds.

• Irondequoit Farmers’ Market – $5,736.12 to develop a “Nutritional Fact Book” and promotional materials that will promote the value of fresh fruits, vegetables and plants available at the market.

• Bishop Kearney High School – $15,000 to build a vegetable garden greenhouse where students will learn the importance of sustainable agriculture and develop a deeper understanding of the food that they consume.

• City of Geneva – $11,842 to purchase an open burners range and two dry storage cages, which will be used in the City of Geneva’s KitGen, a shared culinary incubator production space for tenants.

• Homesteads for Hope – $15,000 for a construction and cost feasibility study for an Agri-Enterprise Center, which would be used as a general store, farm café, community classroom and rentable event space on Homesteads for Hope’s 55-acre farm property for young adults with autism.

“These investments in research, promotion, and business development are critical to sustaining and growing a wide range of projects that benefit the agricultural community,” Commissioner Ball said. “I thank GVRMA for their  partnership, which has allowed for resources to be targeted to assisting the industry across the Genesee Valley and New York State.”

State legislators approved a $168.4 billion state budget early last night that boosts education funding by $1 billion and also rejects some of the tax increases proposed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The budget was passed just before a March 31 deadline.

State Assemblyman Steve Hawley, R-Batavia, issued this statement.

“Although the budget process was rife with secrecy and failed to include much-needed ethics reform, we did secure funding for many programs crucial to Western New York.

“I am pleased we were able to restore Gov. Cuomo’s proposed cuts to Library Aid – providing millions in additional funding. We secured hundreds of millions in CHIPS to repair local infrastructure, programs to support up and coming farmers, a record amount of education aid and ensured protections for our valiant veterans.

“I am concerned that we once again increased spending, failed to curb our bloated Medicaid program and must absorb tax increases handed down by New York City politicians.

“Going forward with the rest of session I am confident we can work toward making New York more affordable for all and protecting upstate values from radical special interests.”

State Sen. Robert Ortt, R-North Tonawanda, voted for the spending plan.

“There is much to be proud of in this year’s budget, namely, the ability of my colleagues and I in the Senate to block over one billion dollars in new taxes and fees proposed by Gov. Cuomo and even higher taxes proposed by Assembly Democrats.

“The Senate continues to fight for our most vulnerable as evidenced by new disability funding and substantial funding to address mental illness – specifically prioritizing children’s mental health. In addition, a record $247 million in funding will help further combat the heroin and opioid epidemic through prevention, treatment, and recovery services.

“I successfully fought for the inclusion of $40 million for flood relief so we can continue to assist the residents along Lake Ontario, and ensure government makes good on the promises made when the waters first ravaged our shores. Finally, thanks to new reforms, New York’s taxpayers will no longer be forced to foot the bill for perpetrators in workplace sexual harassment cases.

“Unfortunately, I am disappointed that Assembly Democrats rejected the Senate’s proposal to provide schools with necessary funding for resource officers. Instead of choosing to help protect our children, they opted to continue their anti-gun political posturing.”