Press Release, Medina Police Department

MEDINA – Today during the early morning hours, an individual broke into Hartway Motors at 320 North Main St. and stole keys to multiple vehicles.

The suspect then took one of these vehicles and left the scene. The Medina Police Department attempted to stop the suspect vehicle and a pursuit began. The pursuit concluded on Route 63, south of the Village of Medina where the suspect was taken into custody.

He has been charged with several felonies including Burglary 3rd, Grand Larceny 4th, Criminal Mischief 3rd as well as misdemeanor and traffic offenses.

The suspect is 18 years of age and his name is not being released at this time. He has been transported to the Orleans County Jail to await arraignment.

The Medina Police Department would like to commend Sgt. Michael Borrell who initiated this investigation and whose actions led to the quick resolution to this crime. Assisting in the investigation was Sgt. Christian Navas. Members of the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department and Sheriff’s Dispatch assisted as well.

Photo by Tom Rivers: Orleans County District Attorney Joe Cardone speaks during last week’s County Legislature meeting.

ALBION – Orleans County District Attorney has seen the ravages of the opioid epidemic up close in his role as district attorney.

Many defendants with no previous criminal history have turned lawless with burglaries and robberies in an attempt for cash to buy drugs.

Some of those defendants would die of overdoses.

“Each day there are 600 more addicts at a tremendous cost to our society,” Cardone said last week when he addressed the County Legislature on Opioid Overdose Awareness Day. “It is costing us the lives of our children.”

The most recent statistics from 2020 count six fatal opioid overdoses in Orleans County, 15 in Genesee and seven in Wyoming County.

The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics reported an estimated 100,306 drug overdose deaths in the United States during 12-month period ending in April 2021, an increase of 28.5% from the 78,056 deaths during the same period the year before.

The opioid overdoses increased from 56,064 to 75,673 in the 12-month period ending in April 2021.

“This is the greatest crisis our country faces, without a doubt,” Cardone said.

Cardone said the country needs to do more to slow all the fentanyl and synthetic opioids coming in from Mexico and China.

“If we had another army or nation killing 100,000 of our people we’d declare war on them,” Cardone said. “We need to wipe out drugs coming into our country.”

The DA said the federal government needs a stronger response. He said he appreciates the efforts of local law enforcement, including the Major Felony Crimes Task Force, in trying to fight the problem.

But Cardone said too many of the drugs flow unabated into the country and find their way to Orleans County.

“These drugs are foisted upon our community,” he said.

To raise public awareness of opioid overdoses, the County Courthouse is being illumined in purple through the end of August.

ALBION – The Orleans County Legislature has renewed agreements with the Lyndonville and Kendall school districts to have an Orleans County Sheriff’s deputy assigned to each school district.

The agreements are both for two school years and run from Sept. 1, 2022 to June 30, 2024. The agreements call for Lyndonville and Kendall to pay the county at $501.10 per day in the 2022-23 school year and $510.26 in the 2023-24 school year.

Any additional time for after-school events will be billed at $61.05 per hour in 2022-23 and $62.53 the second school year.

The agreement also matches the terms between the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office and the Albion School District. When that agreement was approved by the Albion Board of Education on Aug. 1, district superintendent Mickey Edwards said the annual cost to the school district in the first year would be about $91,000.

Photos and information from Medina Central School

MEDINA – The Medina Central School District and the Medina Police Department last week hosted Retired FBI Agent David Budz on the school campus for a presentation to school and community personnel on prevention and response to violent situations.

Agent Budz was a part of the debriefing team after the tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., when 17 were killed by a teen gunman on Feb. 14, 2018.

He shared information to help other schools and agencies learn from mistakes that were made and capture effective efforts that were in place.

School administrators, Board of Education members and personnel were in attendance from Medina school district, as well as Lyndonville and Albion schools. Representatives were also in attendance from Orleans/Niagara BOCES, Orleans Community Health, Medina Police Department and the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department.

Section VI and the WNY Sports Officials Association have reached a new contract agreement allowing the fall high school sports season to start on time this week.

Last week the Officials Association had informed Section VI that they would not make officials to work games to start the season unless the contract impasse was settled.

On Friday New York State Public High School Athletic Association Executive Director Robert Zayas called both sides to the negotiating table today in Buffalo for a meeting that has resulted in a new contract agreement.

A just released Section VI press release states “at approximately 5:30 p.m. today Section VI agreed to an agreement with the WNY Sports Officials. All involved are pleased to be moving forward with Fall Sports on behalf of our member schools and most importantly our student athletes. We appreciate the assistance of Dr. Robert Zayas and Todd Nelson from NYSPHSAA.”

The release continued, “Section VI continues to value the work of our Sports Officials on behalf of our student-athletes.. We look forard to a momentous year of Sports in Western New York.”

“Bermuda Persian Cat” by Rebecca Graham

Press Release, GO ART!

BATAVIA – The Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council will soon be hosting two new art exhibitions at the GO ART! galleries at 201 E. Main St.

Both shows run from Sept. 7 to Oct. 29, and share a reception on Sept. 15 from 5 to 8 p.m.

In the ground floor’s Tompkins Bank of Castile Main Gallery, witness Rebecca Graham’s “Traditional Mixed Media in a Digital World,” a series of subject-driven works that evoke warm nostalgia for analog experience.

“Mt. Fiji Water” by Austin Miles Retzlaff

The second floor’s Rotary Room gallery will feature “GLOW Creatives – Selected Works, 1.0.1” from a group of artists that are collaborating (with each other, with GO ART!, and two other area arts councils) on a two-year grant-funded series of art projects intended to engage four rural Western NY counties.

Sculpture by Susan Ferrari Rowley, photography by Keith Walters, painting by Dan Butler, and digital artwork by GO ART! marketing coordinator Austin Retzlaff will be displayed. To learn more about the collaboration, please visit goart.org/glowcreatives.

For more information on these and other anticipated gallery exhibitions at GO ART!, click here.

“Blue Moonrise” by Keith Walters

MEDINA – The Class of 1957 at Medina High School may have dwindled in number, but not in school spirit.

The class has met every five years since graduation, said Barbara Clark, who organized this year’s 65th reunion Friday at Shirt Factory Cafe. Many of them in the area had been getting together for lunch every year at Darrell’s in Middleport until the pandemic, she said.

They enjoy the camaraderie and catching up on old times.

“Mostly, we talk about our ailments,” Clark said. “We’re just happy to be together.”

Of 100 original class members 56 are deceased. Twenty-nine attended Friday’s 65th reunion.

The only surviving class officer is president Lee Schrader of Lockport, who has attended most of the reunions.

Photo by Ginny Kropf: The Class of 1957 at Medina High School had its 65th class reunion Friday at Shirt Factory Café. Clockwise from life are Barbara Clark, who organized the reunion; Dorothy Dutcher, Elaine Renouf, Janet Meier and Ron Felstead.

Among the classmates are lawyers, ministers and pilots. Ron Felstead of Medina learned to fly the year he graduated and got his pilot’s license the following year. He went on to a successful teaching career, while advancing his flying ambitions. He became a certified FAA instructor, and a few years ago he received the prestigious Wright Brothers Master Pilot’s Award from the government for 50 years of safe flying with no accidents or incidents.

He took advantage of Friday’s reunion to catch up with classmates, including Rich Manley of Rochester and Edgar Wilkins of Albion.

Clark received correspondence from classmates in several other states, including Florida and Texas, but none were able to attend.

Clark presented each classmate who attended with a magnet on which there was a picture of the old high school and the words, “65th class reunion 1957.”

HOLLEY – The Village of Holley will be celebrating residents who are 90 and older with a party on Sept. 9.

The residents and their families will be recognized at the Salisbury Fountain at the Public Square at 10:30 a.m. that day. If it rains at that time, the gathering will be moved to Sept. 16. There will also be a private reception for the residents and their families at the Community Free Library.

Residents to be recognized include Dorothy Barringer, Rhoda Broekhuizen, Roy Bubb, Virginia DeFilipps, Rose Gifaldi, Louise Lusk, Arlene Mawn, Lorraine Pera, Jane Petta, Edna Ruggeri, Pauline Stazie and Norman Wheeler. Clark Knapp also will be recognized posthumously.

Any other village residents 90 and older not included on the list are encouraged to contact Holley’s Deputy Clerk Hillary Ingalls at 638-6367.

Mayor Mark Bower said he will issue an proclamation honoring the long-time residents and present them each with a Village of Holley pin.

ALBION – The state Department of Transportation has reopened the Main Street lift ridge over the Erie Canal, a day after the 1914 span was hit by a pickup truck.

The bridge was hit by a pickup truck at about 8:30 a.m. The bridge was closed until it could be inspected today. The DOT reported the bridge would reopen at noon today.

The bridge is due to be closed on Oct. 17 for about 18 months for a major rehabilitation.

A heat advisory is in effect in Orleans County today from noon to 7 p.m. with heat index values in the mid to upper 90s, the National Weather Service in Buffalo said.

The advisory also includes the counties of Genesee, Livingston, Niagara, Monroe, Wayne, northern Erie, northern Cayuga, Oswego and Ontario.

The hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat illnesses to occur, the Weather Service said.

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. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances, the Weather Service said.

Photo by Ginny Kropf: Randi Ingersoll, social worker at Orleans Community Health, and Scott Robinson, director of marketing, communication and outreach at Community Partners, discuss plans to bring back a Service of Remembrance, after an absence of seven years.

MEDINA – A service honoring loved ones who died at Orleans Community Health or had been dialysis patients at one of the hospital’s two dialysis units, is being reinstated, after an absence of seven years.

A Service of Remembrance had been a tradition at the hospital for 18 years, during which time it was organized by Debbie Cook. When Cook retired seven years ago, the service kind of retired with her, said Scott Robinson, director of marketing, communication and outreach at Community Partners.

A year ago, Randi Ingersoll was hired as social worker, and while going though files and records, she found information on the services of remembrance.

“I found minutes on the planning committees and news articles that had been written about the services, and it was intriguing to me,” Ingersoll said.

The information told about the services, held annually at a local church, with a keynote speaker and a memorial reading by Cook. Each family member who attended was given a candle which they could light as their loved one’s name was read. Then the family members were invited to stay for a reception after the service.

The service honored every person who had died at Medina Memorial Hospital or who had been a dialysis patient of Orleans Community Health.

“A couple of months ago, I reached out to Deb and asked if she minded if I brought the tradition back, and asked if she would help me,” Ingersoll said. “She said she would be happy to help.”

Ingersoll set up a committee, consisting of two members from the hospital, staff of Orleans Community Health and a private duty nurse. Cook will help when she’s available or by phone.

“A lot of community members remember when we had the service or had a relative who was remembered,” Ingersoll said

The service is scheduled for 3 p.m. May 7, 2023 at Oak Orchard Assembly of God on Ridge Road. Although it’s nine months away, Ingersoll wants to get the word out.

“I want the service to be just like it was before, to show the community we remember their loved ones who passed away,” she said. “Deb was amazed I even knew what the service was and that I wanted to bring it back. I think Day of Remembrance is Deb’s legacy. She spent 18 years of her life honoring patients of the hospital who were lost.”

Prices remain well above cost from a year ago at $3.23 a gallon

The average price for regular unleaded is down 11 cents in New York in the past week to $4.14, while the national price dropped 5 cents to $3.85, according to AAA.

In New York, the average price for regular unleaded is at $4.141 today, which is down from $4.248 a week ago, $4.538 a month ago and $3.232 a year ago. The average price for diesel is at $5.344 a gallon today, compared to $5.401 a week ago, $5.748 a month ago and $3.359 a year ago.

In Orleans County the average price is down 12 cents from $4.38 to $4.26 a gallon. The average price in Orleans is normally the highest in Western New York, but AAA reports today that the $4.264 price in Orleans is lower than the $4.270 in Genesee, $4.286 in Allegany, $4.290 in Livingston, and $4.292 in Wyoming.

The 12-cent drop in Orleans this past week follows a 11.5-cent decrease the previous week and 18-cent plunge the week before that. The price is now down 73 cents from the $4.99 on July 5.

The average price for regular unleaded today among Wester New York counties includes:

• Orleans, $4.264
• Genesee, $4.270
• Wyoming, $4.292
• Livingston, $4.290
• Niagara, $4.052
• Erie, $4.226
• Monroe, $4.213
• Chautauqua, $4.177
• Cattaraugus, $4.187
• Allegany, $4.286

AAA released the following statement this morning about pas prices:

“Stable global oil prices and modest domestic demand for gasoline has resulted in lower pump prices. Drivers are now benefiting from gas prices that are more than one dollar less than their peak in mid-June. But now we need to keep an eye on the weather as hurricane season arrives. Storms can affect prices by disrupting oil production in the Gulf of Mexico and impacting large coastal refineries.

“This morning oil prices range from $94 to $101 per barrel. With Labor Day travel kicking off this week, travelers will benefit from lower gas prices.”

The Marshall Road canal bridge in Medina is shown earlier this month at sunset in this photo by Kim Stawicki.

It will be a hot last week of summer before school starts next week.

Today is forecast to be sunny with a high of 84, followed by a high of 91 on Monday, according to the National Weather Service in Buffalo. Monday night there is a chance for showers and thunderstorms.

The highs for the following days in Orleans County includes 82 on Tuesday, mostly sunny and 77 on Wednesday, mostly sunny and 71 on Thursday, mostly sunny and 76 on Friday, and sunny and 81 on Saturday.

Sharon Gavenda sent in this photo of a rainbow stretched high over Lake Alice in Carlton earlier this month.

Paul Zeppetella of Albion took this photo looking towards the Ingersoll Street canal bridge while out on an early morning walk on Friday.

Provided photo: A pickup truck was headed north when it hit the Main Street lift bridge this morning.

ALBION – The Main Street lift bridge in Albion is closed to traffic until the span from 1914 can be inspected.

The bridge was hit by a pickup truck at about 8:30 a.m.

The state Department of Transportation tweeted this afternoon: “After an incident earlier today, the bridge carrying State Route 98 over the Erie Canal in Albion is closed until further notice. Motorists are advised to seek an alternate route.”

The bridge is due to be closed on Oct. 17 for about 18 months for a major rehabilitation.