MEDINA – A Medina man was sentenced to 6 years in state prison after he faced numerous drug charges for criminal sale and criminal possession for a controlled substance.

Ronald O. Riley Jr.

Ronald O. Riley Jr., 44, was charged in June for allegedly selling crack cocaine. He was sentenced as a second-felony offender this morning in Orleans County Court by Judge Sanford Church. Riley also will be on post-release supervision for three years when he is out of prison.

In other cases in County Court today:

• Xavier Hand, 26, of Medina pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. He faces up to six years in state prison when he is sentenced on Jan. 10.

Hand admitted in court today he had fentanyl last January with the intent to sell it. He also admitted to having a loaded firearm.

He was charged in February and accused of selling and distributing fentanyl pills disguised as prescription oxycodone pills. He also allegedly disguised Xanax bars and high-grade marijuana.

Law enforcement seized 114 fentanyl pills disguised as Oxycodone pills, over 2,000 disguised Xanax bars, over a half of pound of Psilocybin mushrooms, over 14 pounds of high-grade marijuana, over $156,000 in cash, a loaded .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol, scales, numerous packaging material and other drug paraphernalia.

• Corey Weathers of Rochester pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree and faces up to two years in state prison when he is sentenced on Jan. 10.

Weathers was stopped in a vehicle on Route 31A (West Lee Road) in Barre on Nov. 22 and law enforcement found two bags with a white powder that was confirmed to be cocaine, District Attorney Joe Cardone said in court.

Weathers is a second-felony offender. He also faces 1 to 2 years of post-release supervision as part of the plea agreement today.

• Austin Buzzard, 24, of Carlton was sentenced to six months in the county jail for violating his probation. Judge Church revoked the probation after Buzzard admitted to being in contact with someone who has an order of protection against him, for making a false statement, for getting arrested, and for not notifying probation of an address change.

• Cal Share of Kendall admitted to violating his probation and could face up to 364 days in the county jail when he is sentenced on Nov. 29.

Share is on probation for driving while intoxicated. He admitted to drinking alcohol on several occasions including twice when his ignition interlock device indicated he had been drinking, for failing to report to probation on six occasions, for having an adulterated urine sample and for not doing any of his community service.

• Joe Cortez, 40, of Batavia was found to be incompetent by mental health professionals. His case has been delayed so he could have a psychological evaluation.

Cortez faces up to nine months in the county jail for second-degree criminal contempt for violating an order of protection.

He will now receive mental health treatment to see if he can be competent to help in his own defense.

Photo by Tom Rivers

HOLLEY – Sandra Shaw, director of the Community Free Library in Holley, shows a sketch of a mural proposal for the back of the building. The library is seeking a grant from GO Art! for the mural by Arthur Barnes. (The mural on the left was recently finished by Tony Barry. The scene from Barnes is at the center and right.)

Shaw attended the Murray Town Board meeting on Monday and asked for a letter of support from the Town Board for the project. Town Supervisor Joe Sidonio said he would write a letter stating the town’s backing for the project.

The library recently celebrated the completion of the first mural on the back of the building at the Public Square. That mural by Barry has an Erie Canal theme and includes a portrait of Myron Holley, an early canal commissioner who the village was named after.

The mural by Barnes would highlight the community’s agricultural heritage, showing apple and wheat farms and older barns. The artist will try to show how the farming community looked not long after the canal opened in 1825.

Shaw said the library continues to look for ways to connect with the community. She noted there will be a pajama storybook hour in the library at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 25 that will also be available through Facebook live.

The Community Free Library will be doing a Halloween party on Oct. 28 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. with pumpkin painting and crafts as part of Holley’s Fall “Hallow” Fest that day.

Shaw also invited community members to be at the library from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Veterans’ Day, Nov. 11, when about 250 Christmas cards will be signed with messages for veterans at the New York State Veterans Home in Batavia.

MURRAY – The town has a new deputy supervisor and he isn’t a member of the Town Board.

Town Supervisor Joe Sidonio on Monday announced Eric Collyer would be the new deputy town supervisor, replacing Mike Mele who resigned from the Town Board after being named an Orleans County elections commissioner on June 27.

Michael Christopher has been appointed to fill Mele’s seat on the Town Board as a councilman, but the deputy supervisor was unfilled until Monday’s Town Board meeting when Sidonio announced Collyer would be in the role.

Collyer is the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals chairman. He also is running with Sidonio to be on the board. They are both endorsed by the Conservative Party. They campaigned together for the Republican primary in June.

Sidonio lost the primary to Gerry Rightmyer, 350-237. The incumbent Town Board members, Lloyd Christ and Randy Bower, topped Collyer with Bower receiving 319 votes and Christ 314, to Collyer’s 274.

Sidonio said he is comfortable with Collyer stepping in as town supervisor if Sidonio is unavailable. Collyer will be given keys to the town hall and the supervisor’s office. He can sign checks and documents, and run town meetings if Sidonio can’t be there.

Sidonio acknowledged he is often at odds with the other board members.

“I got a hostile board,” he said. “With Eric, he shares the same values I do fiscally.”

In the other towns in Orleans County, the deputy supervisor is a member of the Town Board. Sidonio reached out to the Association of Towns of the State of New York for a legal opinion about whether a person can be appointed deputy town supervisor without actually being on the Town Board. Lori Mithen-Demasi, general counsel for the Association of Towns, said in an email to Sidonio the deputy doesn’t have to be a Town Board member.

A Zoning Board of Appeals member or Planning Board member also can be the deputy town supervisor, but a Town Board member cannot be a member of the ZBA or Planning Board, according to the legal opinion. In Collyer’s case, he is on Zoning Board, and can serve as the deputy town supervisor because he isn’t on the Town Board.

Collyer’s appointment as deputy town supervisor is good until Dec. 31.

In Murray, the upcoming election includes all five positions on the Town Board. (Early voting is from Oct. 28 to Nov. 5 with the general election on Nov. 7.)

For town supervisor, Sidonio has the Conservative line while Rightmyer has the Republican and “Community” lines for a 2-year term.

The other four Town Board seats also are up for election. Lloyd Christ and Randy Bower are unopposed as Republicans for four-year terms.

There are two other two-year terms with Michael Christopher and Elaine Berg running as Republicans and Eric Collier backed by the Conservative Party.

Photo by Tom Rivers: Holley’s lift bridge on East Avenue is shown on June 2, 2018 during a fireworks show to cap the village’s June Fest.

HOLLEY – The lift bridge in Holley will close to traffic on Thursday and is expected to reopen two weeks later on Nov. 2, the state Department of Transportation advised today.

The bridge will be closed for maintenance. The lift bridge was originally constructed in 1911. Motorists should utilize the bridge carrying State Route 237 over the Erie Canal or other nearby canal bridges during the closure, the DOT said.

“Motorists are urged to slow down and drive responsibly in work zones,” according to the DOT advisory. “Fines are doubled for speeding in a work zone. Convictions of two or more speeding violations in a work zone could result in the suspension of an individual’s driver license.”

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The Albion Fire Department has been testing the fire whistle on top of the Village Office this afternoon. It is expected to go off again at about 3:30 this afternoon after being activated earlier in the day, said Fire Chief Jeremy Graham.

The fire whistle has been inactive for more than a decade after some of the downtown business owners complained the siren was too loud.

The Fire Department would like to make operational again to use only for big emergencies, such as structure fires and other community emergencies, Graham said.

ALBION – Mercy Flight EMS has proposed to provide ambulance services for six towns in Orleans County at a lower cost than Monroe Ambulance, which has the contract for central Orleans and Murray and Clarendon in eastern Orleans this year.

Mercy Flight has submitted a proposal to the towns to provide two dedicated advanced life support ambulances in a six-town block of Orleans at a cost of $180,000 for 2024.

Mercy Flight would commit to responding to emergencies within 20 minutes “at least 90 percent of the time,” Scott Wooton, executive vice president of Mercy Flight, wrote to Bridget O’Toole, attorney for the Town of Barre and one of the negotiators in the new ambulance contract.

His letter was dated Aug. 15. He said that response time is barring inclement weather “or other unforeseeable or unavoidable obstacles.” Mercy Flight would commit to responding within 25 minutes for non-emergencies at least 90 percent of the time for the six towns of Albion, Barre, Carlton, Clarendon, Gaines and Murray.

Wooton said Mercy Flight would keep ambulances at existing bases at 239 South Main St., Albion; 8050 Call Parkway in Batavia; and 1483 Lake Road North, Hamlin.

Murray town officials on Monday during their board meeting characterized Mercy Flight as not being interested in the contract to serve the Orleans towns in 2024. Wooton said Mercy Flight would very much like to have the contract.

“Mercy Flight EMS has remained committed to Orleans County and has great interest in contracting with the towns,” he said today.

Monroe Ambulance is seeking $300,000 to serve the six towns as well as Kendall. The company would commit to one ALS ambulance in Albion and a basic life support from either Holley or Brockport.

Mercy Flight took over the COVA ambulance base in Albion after the organization shut down late last year. Mercy Flight has kept the COVA employees throughout this year.

“Our Albion-based employees are all still active and are anxious to be able to serve their community once again,” Wooton said in an e-mail message. “They have been very flexible and we have been utilizing them in our other service areas temporarily, but they are all ready and waiting (and excited!) to return home on a full-time basis again. We would be pleased to have an opportunity to meet in person with the Town Supervisors and other stakeholders to answer any questions or concerns that they may have regarding what we can bring to the table.”

Photo by Tom Rivers: A Monroe Ambulance was at the scene on a fire last month in Albion on Phipps Road.

MURRAY – Monroe Ambulance is seeking a 50 percent increase in a contract to serve seven towns as the primary ambulance provider.

The company based in Rochester is in its first year of a contract with six towns in Orleans County. The first year was supposed to be for $200,000 but was reduced to $181,200 after Kendall bowed out of the agreement.

Monroe is now seeking $300,000 for 2024 to be the primary ambulance provider for the central Orleans towns of Barre, Albion, Gaines and Carlton, and the eastern towns of Clarendon, Murray and Kendall.

Randy Bower, a Murray town councilman, is on the negotiating committee for the seven towns working on a new contract with Monroe. He said during Murray’s Town Board meeting on Monday that Monroe initially was seeking “just shy” of $500,000 for 2024, but has since settled on $300,000.

At that amount, Murray’s share would increase from $30,600 in 2023 to $52,000 next year, said Town Supervisor Joe Sidonio.

Murray used part of its federal funding through the American Rescue Plan Act to pay for the ambulance service in 2023. But Sidonio said the expense is budgeted to be covered by town taxpayers next year, and is driving a 20-cent increase in the town tax rate, from $4.61 to $4.81 for the outside-village rate and $3.03 to $3.23 for town residents in the Village of Holley.

The town will have a public hearing at 7 p.m. on Nov. 1 on the proposed budget for 2024.

“This is the one item that is putting significant pressure on the budget,” Sidonio said during Monday’s board meeting.

Monroe is seeking the increase to better compensate staff at a time when the minimum wage has been steadily rising, Bower said.

Bower and Sidonio said Murray officials are satisfied with the service from Monroe Ambulance in the past year. Monroe would keep an advanced life support ambulance in Albion and a basic life support ambulance in Holley and Brockport as part of the contract. The BLS would be based in Holley for 12 hours at the firehall and then 12 hours from Brockport at Strong West, Bower said.

“They are doing a good job here,” Sidonio said.

He praised local firefighters in Murray Joint Fire District for often being the first on the scene for EMS calls before handing off a call to a crew from Monroe Ambulance. He said local firefighters have been fast on calls to help many residents, including his late father-in-law, Jeff Machamer, who passed away on Sept. 24. One firefighter was quick to respond at 3 a.m. on a call and stayed with the family for several hours, Sidonio said.

“I can’t say enough about the local gang,” he said.

Sidonio and Bower said Mercy Flight hasn’t shown much interest in the ambulance contract this time. A year ago, Mercy Flight and Monroe Ambulance both pursued the ambulance contract with six of the towns voting for Monroe, while Kendall insisted its fire districts already had an agreement with Monroe at no charge.

Monroe this time is demanding Kendall pay towards having a dedicated ambulance in eastern and central Orleans.

Bower said he expects Monroe will be approved as the ambulance provider in 2024 with the contract to be reviewed again next year.

UPDATE at 2:00 p.m. on Oct 17: Mercy Flight officials say they are very interested in providing ambulance coverage for Orleans and would have two ALS ambulances in the county as part of a $180,000 contract agreement. Those ambulances would be mostly staffed with employees from the former COVA Ambulance based in Albion.

Overdose deaths on rise in 2023 in Orleans County for first time since 2018

Press Release, Orleans County government

ALBION – The Orleans County Probation Department and the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments are working together to battle opioid overdoses.

GO Health will install overdose emergency kits, also called NaloxBoxes, in the Probation Department and Public Safety Building. These kits include naloxone and other opioid overdose response tools.

“At Probation, we have dealt with many people that are battling substance use disorder so this is an effort to be prepared in case of an emergency,” said Sarah A. Osborne, Probation Director.  “So many families across our community have been impacted by substance use disorder that any steps we can take to be better prepared are worth doing.”

According to GO Health, in Orleans County, opioid-related deaths peaked in 2018 with 11 fatal opioid overdoses (27.0 per 100,000 population). Since 2019, there have been 26 fatal overdoses in Orleans County, with some deaths still pending review and investigations. The majority of opioid-related deaths were male, white individuals and people in their 20s and 30s.

“Unfortunately, 2023 will likely be the first year with an increasing number of opioid-related deaths since 2018,” said Paul Pettit, Public Health Director for GO Health.  “The fact is we have seen a decline in use of heroin and commonly prescribed opioids, but the rise of fentanyl in concurrence with stimulant drug use, especially cocaine, is now our biggest area of concern.”

GO Health is encouraging businesses and other organizations to follow the lead of the Probation Department and consider installing overdose emergency kits.

For those interested, you can complete an application (click here). If you have questions or would like additional information, you can call the Health Department at 585-589-3278.

ALBION – Zack Burgess, one of the youngest elected officials in Orleans County, resigned from the Albion Village Board on Monday after he moved out of the village.

Zack Burgess

Burgess, 34, was elected to a three-year term on the board in March 2021. He leaves about six months left on his term.

Mayor Angel Javier Jr. said the vacancy will be filled by a mayoral appointment, but he isn’t looking to fill the post immediately. He said he expects to fill the position with someone who intends to run for the position in the upcoming March election.

Burgess, in a Facebook post today, said he remains concerned about the vacant buildings in downtown Albion. He favors a law similar to the one in Medina. That village has a vacant building registry, with annual fees assessed for vacant buildings and a plan needed for how to utilize them.

Burgess has been active in the village, serving as co-chairman of the Rock the Park Music Festival at Bullard Park. He works as a sales representative at Bentley Brothers and also performs at many local venues with his band, the Zackstreet Boys.

“I’m grateful for the support over the course of my term as well as during my election campaign,” Burgess said in a Facebook post.

He plans to remain active with Rock the Park.

Aniyah CM. Hyde, age 14, has not been in contact with her family since running away on Oct. 12.

ALBION – An Albion teen has been reported missing after not being in contact with her family the past five days, the Albion Police Department said this morning.

Aniyah CM. Hyde, 14, is Black with brown eyes and hair. She is 5 foot, 2 inches and about 140 pounds.

The Albion PD said Aniyah’s family reports she ran away at about 9 a.m. on Oct. 12 and has not been in contact with her family since then. It is unknown what Aniyah could be wearing at this time.

Anyone with any information regarding Aniyah’s whereabouts is urged to contact APD at (585) 589-5627, or through the Orleans County Sheriff’s Dispatch at (585) 589-5527 or 911.

Artist paints mementos on mirror to celebrate Betty Menz

Photos by Ginny Kropf: Betty Menz gets a hug from her nephew Dan Fuller, who found the mirror at his home and asked Darlene Witte if she would like to display it.

MEDINA – Betty Menz shared some highlights of her 55 years as a hairdresser in a surprise presentation Monday at Vision 2000 beauty salon on Salt Works Road.

It was July when Vision 2000 owner Darlene Witte got a call from Dan Fuller of Ridgeway, Menz’ nephew.

Betty Menz of Medina, a hairdresser for 55 years, stares at the mirror which hung in the studio at her home and which was painted with mementoes from her past. It now hangs in Darlene Witte’s Vision 2000 studio on Salt Works Road.

“He told me he was cleaning out a building to get rid of stuff and found this mirror that used to hang in his aunt’s studio at her home on Furness Parkway,” Witte said. “He wondered if I’d like it. I didn’t know what I’d do with it, but I told him if he brought it to me, I promised not to throw it away. I would find something to do with it.”

A few days later Fuller delivered the mirror and Witte hung it in a waiting area of her studio at 3930 Salt Works Rd.

“As the day went on, a strange thing happened,” Witte said. “I began to feel a connection to this mirror and a person I’d never met before. I realized some of my customers used to be Betty’s or relatives of her customers. An idea started coming to me and I called my husband Bruce, who refinishes antique furniture.”

Her first thought was to hang it on the wall and make it look like a window.

“Then it hit me,” Witte said. “We need to make it about Betty, and I reached out to artist Brandi Zavitz.”

Lo and behold, Witte’s first customer of the day was Menz’ neighbor, Barb Fox.

“I told her about my idea to make the mirror about Betty, but I knew nothing about Betty,” Witte said. “Then Barb started telling stories about her. There was the tree that was taken down in their yard and she kept it and made it into a sanctuary for birds and flowers, her late husband Bill’s dedication to veterans, her love of cats, the lilacs in her yard, the time her son brought home a baby pig from Dunham’s farm and she raised it, her bird houses, and love of the Bills.”

Then Witte shared these things with Zavitz, who began to paint those memories on the mirror. The project took her about three weeks. The finished product has them all – the pig named Arnold; a flag signifying Bill’s connection to veterans; Betty’s cats and parakeet; and up in the corner with her scissors, her writing with a black marker.

Menz was speechless at first when daughter Lynne Menz brought her through the door. There to share in her surprise was daughter Tammy and twin brother Tim, along with Zavitz, Fuller and Fox.

Those involved in Betty Menz, second from left, being reunited with the mirror which hung in the beauty parlor at her home are, from left, neighbor Barb Fox, who provided bits of information to be painted on the mirror; artist Brandi Zavitz who painted the mirror; and Vision 2000 owner Darlene Witte, who agreed to hang the mirror in her studio on Salt Works Road.

Betty couldn’t take her eyes off the mirror. She started talking about how she started working in a beauty parlor in Lockport shampooing hair while she was still in school. After graduation, she attended the Doyle Beauty School in Buffalo. She worked for several beauticians, but when family and friends knew she did hair, they started coming to her house and asking her to cut or curl their hair.

“I had no intention of opening a beauty parlor in my home,” Menz said. “But I couldn’t turn them away, and I was afraid I would get into trouble, so I got the necessary license and Bill built me a little studio in the laundry room. “

“I remember Mom would be giving a perm and she’d stop and go put supper in the oven,” Tammy said.

Menz had four children to care for, in addition to serving her customers.

“I was lucky to have the customers I did,” Menz said. “They were good people and they were good to me. A hairdresser is more than a beautician. She is a therapist and a friend. When you do someone’s hair week after week, they are not customers. They become family.”

Menz, who will be 91 next month, retired at the age of 70.

“My customers didn’t want me to,” she said. “They made me feel like I couldn’t be replaced. If someone couldn’t afford a haircut, I couldn’t turn them away, I’d do it anyway.”

“It was a good ride,” Tammy said.

Family and friends who gathered to share in Betty Menz’ surprise at seeing a long forgotten mirror which hung in her beauty parlor are, from left, nephew Dan Fuller, who had the mirror stored at his house; daughter Tammy; Menz; daughter Lynne Menz; son, Tim Menz; and sister Dottie Hellwig.

MEDINA – The committee planning this year’s Parade of Lights on Nov. 25 is offering a special incentive of $50 to the first 10 entries by Oct. 31.

It was 15 years ago when organizer Jim Hancock heard about the small community of Ada, Mich. hosting a successful Parade of Lights for almost 20 years (a community half the size of Medina), he thought, “If they can do it, so can Medina.”

In 2009, Medina hosted its first Parade of Lights with 18 entries and two marching bands. Last year, the parade had 38 creative and whimsical floats and four marching bands, including Medina’s very own Mustang Marching Band.

Keeping with tradition, this year’s celebration is Nov. 25, the first Saturday after Thanksgiving.

Thousands of people cozy up along Park Avenue and Main Street to partake in what has become a holiday tradition – an event reminiscent of a Hallmark movie scene, according to Lynne Menz, a member of the planning committee.

In 2020, the year of the Covid pandemic when many local parades and festivals were cancelled, the parade still went on in Medina. But instead of processing down the street, the floats were stationary throughout the Medina school campus, while visitors from far and wide drove past in their vehicles.

Medina Lions had this float in last year’s Parade of Lights. This year’s event is scheduled Nov. 25. To encourage early entries, the parade committee is offering $50 this year to the first 10 entries received before Oct. 31.

The parade caps off Medina’s annual Olde Tyme Christmas celebration, which has grown over the past 15 years to include a full day of activities leading up to the renowned Parade of Lights. This includes family friendly activities, a 5K run, food vendors, holiday shopping specials, performers and music throughout the historic downtown corridor.

The noon mini-parade featuring Pets on Parade ushers in Santa and Mrs. Claus, accompanied by members of the Mustang Marching Band. This parade has also grown with a record 25 entries in last year’s parade, featuring a variety of pets exhibiting the holiday spirit.

At 5:45 p.m., just before the big Parade of Lights sets out from the Olde Pickle Factory of Park Avenue, Young Explosives will once again set off a spectacular fireworks demonstration at the north end of downtown.

To be eligible for the $50 early incentive, an entry must be received by Oct. 31 and be in the Parade of Lights on Nov. 25.

The parade committee encourages individuals, businesses, organizations, fire companies and non-profits to enter a float or vehicle in this year’s parade for a chance to win a share of $4,000 in prize money. There is no fee to enter and no theme.

Anyone wishing to become a sponsor or participant should visit the website www.christmasinmedina.com. As the schedule develops, it will also be posted on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ChristmasInMedina.

Photo by Tom Rivers: Menzo Case, president and CEO of Generations Bank, speaks during a celebration on Oct. 1, 2018 at the former Medina Savings & Loan which was marking its first day of a merger with Generations Bank.

SENECA FALLS – The leader of Generations Bank, which merged with the former Medina Savings & Loan in 2018, has passed away on Friday evening, the bank announced this afternoon.

Menzo Case was president and CEO of generations Bank, which is based in Seneca Falls and includes 10 locations, including the site in Medina.

Case started at generations in 1999 and was president and CEO since 2008.  Under his leadership, the bank grew from a single location in Seneca Falls with $85 million in assets, to 10 locations spanning four counties, with approximately $400 million in assets.

“Menzo was truly a man of action,” said Brad Jones, chairman of the Board of Directors of Generations Bank. “From his coworkers, friends, and most importantly, family, he was known as a brilliant leader, a willing community servant, and a devoted family man. His faith, alongside his tireless work ethic, allowed him to accomplish so very much in such a short period of time. His devotion to this company, his church, his community and his family are admirable. He truly cared and will be sorely missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing him.”

Case active in the community in Seneca Falls. He served as a board member and volunteer with Habitat for Humanity of Seneca County – an organization that has now built over 30 homes for families in Seneca County; The REV Theater; Women’s Right to Run 19K; Finger Lakes Christian Fellowship; the National Women’s Hall of Fame; Northeast College of Health Sciences; the Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank New York; and served as Chairman of the Board for Finger Lakes Health.

In recognition of his commitment to the community, Case was the recipient of The George Bailey Award, the Seneca County Chamber of Commerce Person of the Year, the Good Samaritan designation and the Community Service Award alongside his wife, Susan Case.

Angela Krezmer, Generations Bank’s Senior Vice President & CFO, will serve as Generations Bank’s interim principal executive officer in addition to her current responsibilities.