Governor Kathy Hochul today signed two pieces of legislation to expand access to opportunities in civil service.
Legislation (S. 5486/A. 6855) requires the Department of Civil Service and municipal civil service commissions to make civil service examination announcements to the local Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), school districts, public colleges, public universities, local social services districts, and, to the extent practicable, job training programs.
Legislation (A. 7155/S. 5494) requires that any time spent as a provisional employee be counted towards an employees’ probationary term upon receiving for a permanent appointment in the same title.
The Governor signed the legislation in Albany at a stop on the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees’ and the Civil Service Employee Association’s “Staff the Front Lines” Bus Tour, joined by AFSCME President Lee Saunders and CSEA President Mary Sullivan.
“This legislation will help to strengthen the pipeline to civil service, allowing even more New Yorkers to heed the call to join our public workforce,” Governor Hochul said. “New York’s civil servants are the engines that keep our state moving, and from our historic plan to increase the minimum wage and index it to inflation to our initiative offering 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave to more than 150,000 state workers, my administration is committed to honoring their contributions and building a modern workforce ready to meet the needs of our state. I thank the bill sponsors for their partnership in helping attract the best and brightest workers to New York, and I will continue working with groups like AFSCME and CSEA to ensure that our hardworking civil servants have the access, benefits, and protections they deserve.”
ALBION/BATAVIA – GO Art! is running programs for brick building, poetry, teen animation and pillow-making sewing.
• The free four-week Brick Builders Club will take place starting Saturday, Sept. 9 and will run through Sept. 30. This club meets from 11 a.m. to noon at GO Art!, 201 East Main St., Batavia. Building bricks are provided by GO Art!
Brick Builders is open to ages 5 to 100-plus. Each week there will be a planned activity but it is fine if club members would like to free build. Because club members will have to leave their creations at GO Art! each week’s creations will be photographed and put up on our website (with parental permission).
• GO Art! also is offering a Pillow Making Sewing Class with local quilter and sewing extraordinaire Peg Berhorn. Participants will learn some of the basics of sewing if they do not already know how to sew and also complete a pillow to bring home.
The class will be held on Friday, September 15, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at GO Art! in Batavia. Open to participants age 12 and older, those who sign up should expect to attend both classes to complete the project. Cost is $20/person for non-GO Art! members and $18/person for members, total, and all materials and tools will be provided.
Contact GO ART! at 585-343-9313, email jfisher@goart.org, or sign up online at goart.org. Registration is requested by Sept. 14.
• GO Art! also is offering a Poetry and Prose Club starting Thursday, Sept. 28, from 6 to 7 p.m. at GO Art! in Batavia. Come and learn some of the basics of creative writing and participate in some fun creative writing activities (blackout poetry, object poetry, short stories and more) to get your creativity flowing or you can just come and network with other creative writers.
There is no cost to participate in this program. Please bring a notebook with you (or a computer) to keep your work on.
• GO Art! will offer a four-week Teen Animation Workshop for children ages 12 to 16 at the Hoag Library (134 S Main St, Albion, NY). This workshop will run Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 30, Oct. 7, 21 and 28.
This workshop will be instructed by Jess Moffet, a recent graduate of RIT. The program is free but registration is required. To register your teen please contact GO Art! at 585-343-9313 or email jfisher@goart.org. Registration is requested by Sept. 27.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 7 September 2023 at 11:00 am
BROCKPORT – A Holley man has been indicted by a Monroe County grand jury for allegedly breaking into a Brockport childcare center and leaving notes expressing his desire to be a baby girl.
Daniel Seeler, 65, has been indicted on burglary in the 3rd degree as a sexually motivated felony. He unlawfully entered a daycare in the Town of Clarkson on Feb. 18, Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Dooley said.
Seeler has been a real estate developer in Holley area, including making major renovations to the former Tagg’s Tavern, turning that site into the Holley Falls Bar & Grill. He is no longer involved in managing that site.
Seeler allegedly left money on Jan. 30 and a note requesting adult-size diapers at the Inspire! Learning and Child Care Center in Clarkson. The daycare center’s director contacted police and a security camera was installed, according to WHAM Channel 13.
Seeler then allegedly left a similar note and $200 a few days later. The new security system alerted the director on Feb. 11 to the break-in.
The director received another security alert and saw surveillance video of a man playing with diapers, WHAM reported.
Seeler was charged on Feb. 18 by Monroe County sheriff’s deputies.
By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 7 September 2023 at 8:58 am
MEDINA – Two groups of tourists from across the country spent part of their day in Medina on Wednesday, touring the Medina Railroad Museum.
The first to arrive were Seabees with the MCB53 Alumni Association who are having their semi-annual reunion in Lockport. Organizers of the reunion, Art “Day” McCollum and his wife Irene both have relatives in Medina and wanted to show off the canal town to the visiting Seabees and their guests.
Shortly before lunch a dozen cyclists with Wilderness Voyagers, based in Ohiopyla, Pa., stopped at the museum on their four-day ride from Lockport to Newark. Their own caterer who travels with them set up an elegant lunch in the museum.
The cyclists, who came from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Massachusetts, California and New Jersey, will ride to Newark and then load their cycles on a van for the trip back to Lockport.
Art McCollum of Lockport and Dennis Kiebach of Sinking Springs, Pa. look at the scale model of Royalton Airport named A.J. Kropf International Airport on the layout in honor of Allan Kropf of Medina.
Jim and Wendy Donahue of Lancaster, Pa., a member of the Seabees, were amazed at the train layout in the museum.
“It’s so fascinating with the modern things they have included on the layout,” Wendy said, pointing to a wind turbine.
“I can’t believe the stuff they’ve got in here,” said Linda Scheer, with her husband John from Leavenworth, Kan.
Most couldn’t believe the detail of the scenes on the layout.
The Railroad Museum was one of many sites the McCollums had arranged for the Seabees to do, including a visit to the Seabees Memorial in Veterans’ Park on River Road in North Tonawanda. Art and his brother George were both instrumental in raising funds for the memorial when it was built.
The group of Seabees visiting the area are members of a Mobile Construction Battalion, who served in Vietnam. The government sought out enlistees who were construction workers, including the McCollums, although Art went to work at Harrison Radiator, retiring after 37 years and then driving bus for Ridge Road Express/Grand Tours. Many of his trips were with seniors from the Medina Senior Center.
(Left) Art and Irene McCollum of Lockport stand by a picture of the former Union Station in Lockport before it burned several years ago. A developer is currently trying to raise money to restore it. The picture hangs in the Medina Railroad Museum. (Right) John and Linda Scheer of Leavenworth, Kan. gaze at the train layout during their visit to Medina Railroad Museum on Wednesday.
Several in the Seabees group expressed a desire to walk down Medina’s Main Street and visit the shops.
Several of the excursions Art and Irene planned this week involve the Erie Canal. While in Medina, they visited the canal basin and drove through the culvert on Culvert Road, the only spot where a road goes under a canal. Back in Lockport they are visiting the Erie Canal Discovery Museum and taking a cruise through the locks on the canal.
A catered dinner Friday night at the McCollum’s will feature a presentation by Bill Dickman, a combat photographer in Vietnam.
While the Seabees have a meeting on Saturday, Irene will take the wives to Lockport’s Farmer’s Market and Olcott.
Their week will wrap up on Saturday with dinner at Cammarata’s and featured speaker, Glenn Foley of Lockport, a combat infantryman in the Seabees, who also served in Antarctica.
The Seabees alumni members came from Pennsylvania, Michigan, Colorado, the Carolinas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Kansas.
By Ginny Kropf, correspondent Posted 7 September 2023 at 7:58 am
Photos by Ginny Kropf: Cars are on display at Medina’s Canal Basin. A volunteer is needed to lead the weekly summer cruise nights.
MEDINA – A tradition of nearly 30 years in Medina may come to an end, with Dave Green’s announcement he is retiring as organizer of Medina’s Friday night cruise-ins in the canal basin.
“It’s time somebody else does it,” Green said. “I hurt my leg and it’s hard to walk anymore.”
Green has been involved in the summer cruise nights since they began nearly 30 years ago, when he, Donna Mruczek and Donna Bushover headed the Friday night events.
Dave Green is shown here with Donna Bushover during a Super Cruise in one of the early years of cruise nights in Medina. Former Medina resident Donna Mruczek also was a dedicated volunteer in the weekly events.
Also retiring is DJ Hank Nevins, who has provided music for most of those years.
United Way has been the sponsor of the cruise-ins for many years, and interim director Nyla Gaylord said she hopes someone will step up to take them over.
The cruise-ins have been a popular event all the years, for car owners and the community. Green said drivers brought their vehicles from all over Western New York, including Amherst, Batavia, Niagara Falls, Clarence, Akron, Rochester and the Southern Tier. Regular Friday nights drew 80 to 100 vehicles, while the final Super Cruise on Main Street often brought 300.
The cruise-ins always featured 50-50 drawings, which netted a donation to United Way, as well as the winner.
This year’s profits were lower, as the event was canceled four times because of rain.
It had become a tradition for the cruise-in to move to the 4-H Fairgrounds on the Friday of fair week, and on Main Street for the final cruise on the third Wednesday of August, featuring Elvis impersonator Terry Buchwald.
Green said he couldn’t have done what he did all those years without the help of several dedicated volunteer helpers. Rick and Rita Soule, Nick and Karen Adams, Gerard and Carrie Wittmyer, Brad Shelp, Vera Wetherbee and Terry and Liz Gallo were on hand every week to help with checking in cars and selling 50/50 tickets.
A big thanks also is due to the Medina Police Department, DPW and downtown businesses for their support.
Green said he feared the event would eventually die a “natural death,” as many of the car owners are getting elderly.
The job as organizer involves soliciting donations from Medina businesses, many of whom have been regular supporters of cruise nights. Donations pay for prizes for vehicle owners and the DJ.
It is hoped an individual (individuals) or an organization will step up to take charge of keeping the cruise night tradition alive. Green has said he will work with anyone who takes it over.
United Way extends its heartfelt thanks to Green for all the years he has given up his Friday nights, and many more hours, to lead the car shows.
Besides a new organizer, the events could also use a local DJ to play music for a couple of hours.
Photo by Tom Rivers: Terry Buchwald, an Elvis Presley impersonator for more than 30 years, arrives in downtown Medina on a motorcycle (with a license plate, “ELVIS”) during the Super Cruise on Aug. 28, 2019. Buchwald performed for two hours on a stage. About 250 to 300 cars are featured in the Super Cruise, with part of Main Street blocked off to traffic for the event.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 September 2023 at 7:19 pm
Memorial observances are planned on Sept. 11 in Albion and Brockport for the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
The service in Albion will be at 6 p.m. on the courthouse lawn near the Sept. 11 memorial.
Scott Schmidt will again serve as the keynote speaker at the observance. Schmidt spent three weeks with a federal team – U.S. Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMORT) – and assisted in collecting and identifying remains, and interviewing family members searching for loved ones. He left for New York City on Sept. 11, 2001. He was there for 20 days, including a week at Ground Zero.
Lynne Johnson, the Orleans County Legislature chairwoman, is scheduled to give the welcome address for the event and lead the Pledge of Allegiance.
Don Snyder, a chaplain with the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office, will offer an invocation and benediction. Orleans County EMO Director Justin Niederhofer will read the timeline of events from Sept. 11, 2001, when nearly 3,000 people were killed when four airplanes were hijacked and crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and a rural field in Shanksville, Pa.
Doug Egling will play a rendition of America the Beautiful on his EWI (Electronic Wind Instrument) and members of all Orleans County American Legion and VFW Posts will fire a rifle volley and play Taps.
Many local, county and state law enforcement personnel as well as firefighters and EMS personnel also are expected to attend the service.
A contingent of DMORT personnel from around the state that responded to NYC will be in attendance as well.
In Brockport, the 22nd annual September 11th vigil will be held at the Brockport Fire Department Station #4 at 237 S. Main St., where there is a Sept. 11 memorial. There will be an opening ceremony at 8:30 a.m., followed by a ringing of the bell at 8:47 a.m., a “Ring of Gold” observance at 6 p.m. and closing ceremony at 6:30 p.m.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 September 2023 at 1:13 pm
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Taco Bell employees celebrate the opening of a new Taco Bell in Albion this morning. Ashlie Buzard, with scissors, is general manager for the new restaurant at 122 West Ave.
Autumn Zona, at left, is the assistant manager and Junior Morales, right, is a shift supervisor. They are among the 32 employees at the site, which is looking to add about 20 more workers.
The Taco Bell opened at 7 a.m. today. It starts at 7 every morning and is open until midnight from Sunday through Thursday, and 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.
The group cuts the ribbon on the new Taco Bell on Route 31 next to McDonalds.
Co-owners include Matt Prouty, fourth from left, and Wahid Akl, third from right. They are part of Hospitality Syracuse which now owns 106 Taco Bell restaurants.
Akl said many Albion and Orleans County residents asked for a Taco Bell in Albion when they visited nearby Taco Bells in Brockport and Batavia.
“A lot of people have been requesting we come to Albion,” Akl said just before a ribbon-cutting at about 10 a.m. “The community has been very welcoming.”
Many of the Albion employees received training at the taco Bells in Brockport and Batavia. They also worked Tuesday evening in a VIP celebration for employees and their families.
The Albion restaurant is led by Ashlie Buzard, the general manager. She also was the GM for the Kentucky Fried Chicken in Albion. When that site closed in May she reached out to Hospitality Syracuse.
She hired the team for the Taco Bell, which includes seven former employees of the KFC.
“I’m really excited to be here,” Buzard said after the ribbon-cutting. “We’re open early and we’re open late.”
Eileen Banker, chief of staff for Assemblyman Steve Hawley, presents a citation of congratulations to some of the Taco Bell team, including from left Janet Lalone, training manager; Marc Stout, area coach (district manager); and Ashlie Buzard, the general manager.
Matt Prouty, one of the co-owners, said he is grateful for a talented team of employees to open the new Taco Bell.
“We’ve had a ton of applications,” he said.
He encourages more people to apply for a job at the Taco Bell.
Hospitality Syracuse has three more Taco Bells under construction: on Mount Hope Avenue in Rochester, in Watertown and in Queensbury near Glens Falls.
The Albion site accepts mobile orders, and will soon offer DoorDash delivery.
Most of the customers are expected to use the drive through. There are also 46 seats to dine inside.
Taco Bell currently receives about 10 percent of orders through the mobile app as a company, and about 15 percent of its orders are delivered, a company representative said today.
The Albion location has four kiosks inside for people to place their orders and make their decisions without the pressure of standing in a line with other people, Prouty said.
Lalone, the training manager, said the tacos, burritos and other items on the menu are all made to order.
“There isn’t a microwave in the building,” she said. “Everything is made fresh. Nothing is pre-made.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 September 2023 at 11:05 am
14 bronze statues honor canal workers from late 1800s
Photos by Tom Rivers
LOCKPORT – The top photo from July 1, 2021 shows the first two phases of a bronze statue tribute to canal lock tenders from the late 1800s. The full tribute is now complete with 14 statues.
Susan Geissler, an artist from Youngstown, created the statues of the tenders. The final grouping includes five more of the lock workers as well as a statue of the girl who is the daughter of one of the tenders.
Lockport will celebrate the completion of the monument with a 10 a.m. ceremony on Saturday, Sept. 16 in the Lockport Locks.
By summer 2021 there were seven statues of the tenders and the photographer, Frank B. Clench.
The 14-piece monument is based off a photograph from 1897. That image depicts a dozen lock tenders, a young girl and a photographer.
The statues, except for the photographer, are installed on the stairs in the Lockport Locks where the tenders were photographed nearly 125 years ago.
The Lockport Locks Heritage District Corp. commissioned Geissler to create the bronze figures.
The group met its goal ahead of schedule. It wanted the 14-piece monument by 2025, which will be the bicentennial of the Erie Canal’s opening.
The tenders were part of a 20-person workforce at the locks in 1897. The lock tenders were picked in the 1890s from the eight wards in the City of Lockport. The ones in the photo are local residents who worked in the same spot on the steps where the bronze figures are located.
“It was difficult backbreaking work, with very few making it a career,” according to an interpretive panel at the site. “Those that did were tough as nails indeed.”
The lock tenders worked 12-hour days and were responsible for opening and closing the locks so boats could pass through safely. They also worked on maintenance at the site.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 September 2023 at 7:59 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The new Taco Bell is shown at about 6:50 a.m., 10 minutes before opening its doors to the community for the first time this morning.
The new 2,600-foot restaurant opened following about four months of construction.
Hospitality Syracuse is the developer for the project next to McDonalds and across from Freeze-Dry Foods.
Hospitality Syracuse will have a ribbon-cutting at 10 a.m. today.
These three Albion freshmen were among the first customers at the Taco Bell, stopping in before the start of the school year. They include from left: Ayden Coston, DeAvion Bloom and ChrisJen Winters.
Winters said he was ordering a Cravings Box and a Cinnabon coffee.
“We wanted to get the school year off to a good start,” Winters said.
Bloom said he often goes to the Taco Bell in Brockport and is glad to have the new place close to home.
Coston wanted to be among the first customers “just to show support.”
The three students are joined inside by Chris Quackenbush of Albion, who placed the first order: a Breakfast Box and Cinnabon coffee.
“I’m just glad there is something here that is good,” Quackenbush said.
Some other high school students also came in just before school, while the drive-through was also busy.
Isaac Sugar, 15, of Albion wanted to get a burrito before started his sophomore year at the Cornerstone Christian Academy.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 September 2023 at 6:36 am
A heat advisory has been issued for Orleans County for the third straight day today. The heat index values are expected to reach the upper 90s.
The advisory from noon to 7 p.m. includes the following counties: Niagara, Orleans, Monroe, Genesee, Livingston, Ontario, Wayne, northern Cayuga, Oswego, Jefferson and Lewis.
People are encouraged to drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors.
If going outside, people should reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening, the National Weather Service advised.
Thursday should offer some relief from the heat with the high temperature at 83, followed by highs of 78 on Friday, 75 on Saturday and 72 on Sunday.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 5 September 2023 at 10:02 pm
Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C-Batavia) has joined 47 other Assembly Republicans in calling on Gov. Hochul to convene an extraordinary legislative session to address the influx of migrants across the state.
Over 100,000 migrants have arrived in New York and communities and localities are struggling to face the issue, Hawley said.
He believes a special session would help to implement much-needed reforms such as instituting background checks for incoming immigrants and giving municipalities the ability to choose whether they want to take in migrants.
“Right now, our state is experiencing one of the largest migrant crises in the country, with little support from the federal government,” Hawley said. “Migrants are being shipped upstate from the city and our communities are helpless to do anything. A special session is needed to provide relief for our state and hold our leaders accountable.”
The letter from the Assembly members to Hochul includes their proposals, such as:
Require the state Comptroller to examine and audit all state and federal funds received and appropriated for humanitarian aid in New York City or any municipality (A.7508, Ra);
Require New York state to register all migrants in order to assist with background checks and monitoring refugees seeking asylum in the state (A.7319-A, Slater);
Protect counties and municipalities from “Right to Shelter” confusion by requiring local governing bodies in New York state to opt-in to accept migrants from other jurisdictions;
Ensure funding is not used to shelter migrants in schools, daycare centers, or community- based organizations;
Reverse the Executive Order of 2017 that prohibits law enforcement from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for the purpose of enforcing federal immigration law. This would end New York’s status as an illegal immigration sanctuary;
Adopt a resolution calling on the federal government to provide financial assistance to the state and properly address the border crisis it created.
“We believe that effective solutions to New York’s migrant crisis must involve these and other legislative proposals,” according to the letter. “During this unprecedented crisis, we must act and correct the mistakes that have brought us to this point. Twenty million New Yorkers we represent deserve nothing less.”
Photos and information courtesy of Albion Central School
ALBION – The Albion school district invites the community to join in celebrating the opening of Spierdowis Field with a ribbon-cutting ceremony before the Purple Eagles’ home opener on Friday, Sept. 15. The district has replaced the grass surface with a new turf field.
The ceremony will take place before the game at 6:45 p.m., at the football stadium behind the District Office at 324 East Ave. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. and parking will be available next to District Office.
“Celebrations like these reaffirm our dedication to investing in the success of our students and our community as a whole,” District Superintendent Mickey Edwards said. “We are excited to share the re-opening of Spierdowis Field with the Albion Community this fall.”
ALBION – Providing a safe and secure place to live for women battling substance use disorder, including those with children, is yet another vital phase of the mission of Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse to offer a wide spectrum of care.
“This project is only one of maybe three similar facilities west of Syracuse,” said GCASA Chief Executive Officer John Bennett, speaking of the agency’s 25-bed women and children’s residence that will be located on Butts Road in Albion. “We will serve Genesee and Orleans counties, primarily, and also the Western and Finger Lakes regions.”
Part of the wooded 9-acre lot just outside of the Albion village limits is being cleared to make way for the construction of the building frame and roof this fall, Bennett said. The home – which will take on a woodsy look of green siding and black window trim – is expected to open around October of next year.
“Once open, it will include an early childhood learning center, walking paths in the woods, a large playground, a small workout area for residents, an area for arts and crafts, and more,” he offered. “We continue to find ways to break down barriers for individuals to enter and remain in treatment services. We currently offer extra services such as our drop-in daycare, transportation, case management, recovery services, and a 24/7 peer hotline, as well as our core services.”
GCASA has expanded its programs exponentially under Bennett’s guidance, with its workforce tripling in size over the past 15 years. The women’s and children’s residential facility in Albion fills a great need in substance use treatment, he noted.
“Since 2015, we have seen a significant increase in our female (client) population,” Bennett said. “It used to be 75 percent men and 25 percent women. Now, with opioids – pills – becoming more popular among women, the need in the community to serve women has multiplied.
“One of the barriers for women entering a residential program is, ‘Who will care for their children?’ In our program, women will be able to have their children (under school age) with them while in care.”
Bennett said the Albion location will provide services to women 18 and older during their recovery, with five of the 25 units set up to accommodate women with children younger than kindergarten age. Up to two children can live in those units.
GCASA will operate the facility, with staffing at all hours, seven days a week, Bennett said. A grant from the New York State Department of Health has covered $4.6 million of the $5.2-million cost of construction.
“We looked at buying the Clover Hill Adult Home building in the village but it really wasn’t set up appropriately for the project. It would have taken much to convert and to rehab it,” he said. “When we did purchase the property on Butts Road, the Town of Albion was incredibly welcoming. It’s near to the village but provides privacy for the residents.”
Responding to questions from citizens in the area, Bennett said that only a small part of the land is designated as wetlands and that area will be left untouched, and that GCASA will put in plantings along the driveway upon completion to provide privacy for those living along Butts Road.
“GCASA always strives to be a good neighbor,” he said. “All of our buildings are well-kept.”
The agency is working with the firm of Fontanese Folts Aubrecht Ernst Architects, P.C., of Orchard Park, the same company that has contributed design expertise for seven other GCASA projects. Whitney East, Inc., based in Le Roy and Rochester, is the general contractor.
Bennett said that once operational, the women and children’s residence will enable GCASA to make the Atwater Community Residence in Batavia a “male-only” facility.
“When this is done, we’ll have significantly expanded our bed capacity for all – providing stabilization, rehabilitation and re-entry into the community,” he said.
