A state of emergency and travel ban have been issued in Orleans County due to the blizzard conditions with punishing winds, icy roads and whiteout conditions.

Lynne Johnson, chairwoman of the Orleans County Legislature, made the declaration for the state of emergency at noon.

No motorists should be on the roads except for plows, utility crews, fire department vehicles, EMS, law enforcement and hospital staff.

Johnson made the decision on the travel band and state of emergency after consulting with Sheriff Chris Bourke, Emergency Management Director Justin Niederhofer, County DPW Commissioner John Papponetti and County Chief Administrative Officer Jack Welch.

The traffic lights also are out on Maple Ridge Road between Route 63 and Salt Works Road, and a portion of Route 31 is currently closed between Mathes Road and East Barre Road while a multi-car accident is being cleared.

A blizzard warning started at 7 a.m. and remains in effect until 7 a.m. on Sunday for Orleans, Niagara, Erie and Genesee counties.

The National Weaher Service in Buffalo said winds could gust as high as 65 to 75 miles per hour today and tonight.

The blizzard conditions will last into Saturday night, with the wind chills as cold as 10 to 20 below 0.

Genesee, Niagara and Erie counties also have issued travel bans due to severe weather conditions.

This vehicle turns from Main Street to State Street in Albion this afternoon. At least one busy intersection in Medina doesn’t have working traffic lights due to a power outage.

Press Release, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Office   

Governor Hochul today signed a legislative package that will help New Yorkers prevent and treat substance use disorder.

“My administration is committed to working every day to fight substance use disorder and providing New Yorkers with further access to lifesaving resources, services and care,” Hochul said. “I am proud to sign this legislative package into law which will support countless New Yorkers struggling with addiction and save lives.”

• Legislation S.5690/A.372 prohibits copay from being added to opioid treatment programs. Opioid treatment programs require treatment up to 6 times a week for up for 90 days, with frequent visits afterwards. Often times, a co-pay is required by many offices for these almost-daily visits, and this becomes a prohibitively expensive treatment as those costs add up. Prohibiting these costs will make the lifesaving service more accessible to New Yorkers who need it.
• Legislation S.7378/A.8339 requires the Department of Health to publish reports on the department’s website detailing sales of opioids sold in the state. This increased transparency will be used by support programs operated by the Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS). Programs operated by OASAS include opioid treatment, recovery, prevention, education, and the I-STOP program. This legislation will provide information to the public regarding the budget’s “Opioid Stewardship Fund” in combating the opioid overdose crisis, by requiring the data collected to be publicly available on the Department of Health’s website.
• Legislation S.345/A.8419 will require the Office of Addiction Services and Supports to develop training materials for screening for alcoholism and chemical dependency. This will require the agency to utilize the evidence-based practice model known as Screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment (SBIRT) to identify behavioral patterns with at-risk substance users and in identifying those who are in need of more extensive, specialized treatment. The SBIRT model is used in many primary health care settings such as hospitals, outpatient clinics and private physician offices. This legislation will allow SBIRT to be used beyond the emergency room. By developing training materials, qualified health professionals can help to prepare health professionals to better respond to the challenges faced by substance users.
• Legislation S.4640/A.273 requires doctors to consider non-opioid alternative treatments for patients experiencing pain before prescribing an opioid for pain relief. This will require both parties to discuss the alternatives before choosing an opioid prescription. Because opioids have become a common solution to pain treatment, one in four primary care patients experience some form of an opioid use disorder. By exploring all the options such as physical therapy, chiropractic care, acupuncture, massage therapy, or occupational therapy, the risks of opioid prescription, dependence and overdose can be avoided.
• Legislation S.8633-A/A.9697-A will create a program that allows nightlife establishments to carry opioid antagonists and receive training. This will include bars, clubs, and restaurants and require specific guidelines for nightlife establishments to make narcan, naloxone, and other FDA-recognized opioid overdose treatments available for use free of charge and provide training for the use of these antagonists and how to address those situations.

Photos by Tom Rivers: The flags outside the U.S. Post Office in Albion are flapping furiously in the wind this morning.

There are 940 National Grid customers without electricity in Orleans County, the power company reported at 10:48 a.m.

Powerful winds have knocked down many trees around the county, leading to outages.

National Grid reports the following customers are without power in nearby counties: 831 in Genesee, 12,899 in Erie and 718 in Niagara.

A blizzard warning started at 7 a.m. and remains in effect until 7 a.m. on Sunday for Orleans, Niagara, Erie and Genesee counties.

The National Weather Service in Buffalo said winds could gust as high as 65 to 75 miles per hour today and tonight.

The blizzard conditions will last into Saturday night, with the wind chills as cold as 10 to 20 below 0.

One of the Christmas banners in Albion was partially blown off its hanger on Bank Street.

Five Star Bank in Albion is closing early due to the storm conditions.

Brandon Gurnsey shared this photo of a tree down on Old 98 and Angevine Road in Barre.

ALBION – The Orleans County Planning Board on Thursday evening voted in support of a new 184-foot-high telecommunications tower in Yates on the Yates-Carlton Town Line Road.

Tarpon Towers would own the tower, about 1,000 feet north of Route 18. Tarpon plans to lease out space to other companies.

The project is designed to increase capacity and improve phone coverage throughout the eastern portion of Yates, western part of Carlton, northeastern portion of Ridgeway, and northwestern portion of Gaines.

The tower also will allow Verizon to offload current overloaded sites/cells. Jared Lusk, a real estate attorney with Nixon Peabody, told county planners there is room for at least two companies to co-locate on the tower with the possibility for more.

The tower will go on land owned by Bradley Bentley. It will be built on a concrete pad that is 4 by 11.6 feet. There will also be a structure that is 6.3 feet by 6.3 feet to house supporting equipment.

MEDINA – Orleans Community Health has issued a notice for dialysis patients at their Medina and Batavia locations.

“We are preparing for potential weather disruptions, as is everyone,” said Scott Robinson, director of Marketing at Community Partners.

All patients in Medina should call (585) 798-3757 and in Batavia, (585) 344-7097 after 5 a.m. Friday for instructions for treatment. Both locations will be open on Friday, but as of Thursday night, it was highly likely that both will close on Saturday.

Press Release, Congressman Chris Jacobs

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Chris Jacobs (NY-27) introduced the American Property Act designed to combat the Canadian government’s discriminatory property tax set to potentially impact countless Americans with generational properties in Canada.

“For many Western New Yorkers, owning property in Canada has been a part of their family for generations. These homes are handed down, and visiting them, especially during the summer months, is a way of life,” Jacobs said. “Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Canadian government has made it clear how they view Americans who either have binational families or enjoying frequenting Canada – they have been ostracized and had countless ridiculous restrictions placed upon their travel.”

“Most recently we witnessed this with Canada’s decision to levy a tax against ‘underused’ housing owned by foreign nationals. For many Americans with property, these places are vacation homes and thus remain uninhabited for months out of the year, putting families in jeopardy of having to pay additional money on top of the taxes they pay the Canadian government each year.”

Rep. Jacobs’ American Property Act would levy a tax equal to 1% of an underused property’s value that is owned by a foreign national. To be considered used, the property must be occupied for at least 180 days in one calendar year. This tax rate matches the one levied by the Canadian government on foreign-owned property which was enacted in June of this year.

“Canada’s tax is a slap in the face for many – we made clear should Canada pursue this action there would be retaliatory action, today that action is being taken through this legislation,” Jacobs said. “Underused, foreign-owned, properties in the United States will now be subject to the same tax levied by the Canadian government.”

ALBION – Orleans County will be closing most government operations on Friday with a blizzard warning in effect from 7 a.m. Friday through 7 a.m. Sunday.

The forecast includes sustained winds of 35 miles per hour with gusts topping 60 mph. Power outages are expected from the fierce winds.

Lynne Johnson, County Legislature chairwoman is moving to close non-essential county operations on Friday, with employees in essential operations to report to work per their Department Head’s operational plan.

Press Release, Orleans/Niagara BOCES

MEDINA – Students in Jay Kaplewicz’s Horticulture, Landscaping and Small Engines program, at the Orleans Career and Technical Education Center, have been having fun building their new acquisition, a green house!

“The students are loving having an opportunity to have a hand in building something that they will use and will become a lasting part of the program,” he said. “We have used this project as a great opportunity to learn about building and land survey tools, construction and building methods, different types of greenhouse designs and materials, team work and cooperation.”

Once built the greenhouse will be an excellent place for students to learn about operation and maintenance of automated greenhouse control systems. Students will also have a place to learn about plant care, maintenance, hydroponic systems, growing food, plant propagation and many other topics that will prepare them to successfully enter the world of work in the greenhouse and nursery industry.

“We plan to grow food that can be used by our Culinary Arts and Animal Science classes and to highlight a farm to table experience,” said Mr. Kaplewicz. “The greenhouse will feature a variety of hydroponic systems, a hydroponic propagation station, a tree and shrub propagation area, and a rain water catchment system. This spring will be our plant sale class fundraiser which will be supported by this greenhouse.”

Press Release, Orleans County government

Orleans County works closely with Modern Disposal Services to provide a countywide solid waste program for all of our residents who participate in our program.

The rapidly changing weather forecast has pushed the arrival of the challenging weather even earlier in the day on Friday, which has Modern Disposal Services suspending solid waste collection for tomorrow.

Therefore, Modern Disposal Services will perform double collection next Friday, Dec. 30, for those scheduled routes.

“We apologize for any inconvenience this creates for our residents along the affected routes,” said Chief Administrative Officer Jack Welch. “Tomorrow we all need to use an abundance of caution as this storm has already dropped snow and freezing conditions as far as southern Texas today. This storm is moving east and all of our utilities are preparing for working additional crews this holiday weekend.”

A blizzard warning has been issued from 7 a.m. Friday until 7 a.m. Sunday for Orleans, Niagara, Genesee and Erie counties.

The National Weather Service said 1 to 3 feet of snow is expected with winds gusting as high as 70 miles per hour Friday and Friday night.

“A rapid switch from rain to snow with sharply falling temperatures into the teens and single digits will result in a flash freeze on Friday,” the Weather Service said. “Blizzard conditions will develop Friday afternoon lasting into Saturday night.”

The Weather Service said travel will be difficult to impossible at times.

“Very strong winds could cause extensive tree damage and numerous power outages,” the Weather Service said. “The cold wind chills as low as 10 to 20 below zero could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes.”

MEDINA – Holley, Kendall, Lyndonville and Medina have cancelled school on Friday after a blizzard warning has been issued for Orleans County.

The Medina High School concert scheduled for this evening will be held as scheduled.

“We wish everyone a wonderful holiday season,” the district said in a message to the community. “Please stay safe during this extreme weather event.”

At Holley, all afterschool activities and athletics are still on for today in the afternoon and evening.

Albion, the other public school in Orleans County, already scheduled Friday to be off to start the holiday vacation.

BARRE – The Barre Town Hall won’t open to the public on Friday due to the weather, which includes a blizzard warning beginning at 7 a.m. through 7 a.m. on Sunday.

The National Weather Service in Buffalo said travel will be extremely difficult at times with whiteout conditions.

Town Supervisor Sean Pogue said the town will reopen next Tuesday.

(Left) A stylish seasonal design adorned the cover of the Christmas 1926 issue of Albion High School’s Chevron. (Right) Snowstorm, Christmas, 1919.

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

Illuminating Orleans, Vol. 2, No. 41

ALBION – A century ago, Albion High School students produced several annual Christmas editions of their literary magazine, The Chevron. The covers feature student submitted artwork evocative of the 1920s.

The Chevron was first published in 1912. The editorial in that first issue acknowledged that the name “Chevron” was new and unfamiliar and explained that it had been selected because it symbolized an ideal.

(Left) A wintry scene, Christmas, 1920. (Right) The third Wise Man was enroute, no doubt.

In medieval times apparently, a knight’s shield would be adorned with a representation of the rafters of a house to signify an accomplishment. Later, this inverted V-shaped design was used on badges or insignia to denote rank, hence the selection:

“As the chevron of old meant honor to a knight, so we hope to make this paper an honor to the school.”

Santa Claus reads his mail, 1925 issue

Students contributed the material included in these publications. Their youthful optimism and humor shine through.

The Literary Section contains whimsical, imaginative fiction and poetry. There are club notes, alumni roundups, poetry, sports summaries and even several pages of jokes which tend to rely heavily on puns:

Teacher: Name the Tudors

Student: Front door and back door (1925)

Chester Sledzinski contributed The Faculty Banquet, a brave parody of Longfellow’s Song of Hiawatha to the 1925 issue:

By the shores of Lake Ontario, by the shining big lake water,

Stood the Superintendent Bergerson, big chief of the Albion High School.

Dark behind him rose the forest, rose the black and gloomy pine trees….

The poem describes a fictional banquet organized by Chief Bergerson and his wife to make the teachers “better natured”, and “appease their savage tempers”. Name references to the teachers throughout the poem would no doubt have amused the readers and, one hopes, the teachers.

The 1925 issue also includes a stirring account of a football game between the “fighting Albion” team and Medina, it’s “ancient foe”, held in Medina on Thanksgiving Day, under perfect weather conditions and before a record crowd of 2,000. The Albion team met “a not inglorious defeat” but vowed with grim determination to seek future triumph.

Among the many treasurers we discovered in these early Chevrons was a poem in the 1916 issue which conveys the worries and darkness of that time. It was composed by a then 18-year-old Cary Lattin, who was later Orleans County Historian, from 1958-1974.

Poem by Cary Lattin, published in the 1916 edition of The Chevron, Albion High School’s literary magazine.