Organization wants community to know it offers more than traditional hospice care services

ALBION – Hospice of Orleans will announce an exciting new change on Facebook live on Thursday, according to information from Derek Reiner, Development and Public Relations Manager at Hospice.

The public is encouraged to log on to Hospice’s Facebook page (click here) at 2 p.m. on Thursday. The change is intended to increase awareness of the services provided by Hospice.

Hospice of Orleans believes its announced change will better reflect its broad range of supportive services. Those services go beyond what traditional hospice care encompasses, and include supportive care for a variety of illnesses, not only those that are terminal.

Hospice had planned an event for the public on Thursday, but canceled it and chose to do a virtual announcement instead, due to the increase in Covid cases.

The news is also timely, as November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month, which is an opportunity for engagement, outreach and education.

A full press release explaining the change will be posted in the media immediately after the announcement takes place on Facebook.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Holley’s Nathan Nothnagle sends a shot past Pavilion/York goalie Evan Amberger for the Hawks second goal. The action took place during Holley’s home field sectional semifinal win this evening.

Goals just before and after halftime earned No. 3 seeded Holley a 2-0 victory over visiting No. 7 Pavilion/York this evening in the semifinal round of the Section V Class C1 boys soccer playoffs.

Kayden Servais scored what proved to be the game winning goal for Holley when he connected on an angle shot with 5:53 to go in the first half off an assist from Nathan Nothnagle.

Holley’s KJ Biedlingmaier advances the ball between Pavilion/York defenders Kyan Tiede and Jake Taylor.

The Hawks then got a huge insurance goal when Nothnagle scored just 22 seconds into the second half off a nice pass from Cameron Bates.

The goals were the 12th of the season for Nothnagle and the seventh for Servais.

“That was our best game. We really moved the ball around well, the best we’ve done all season,” said Holley Coach Zach Ritz. “All around everyone really played very well.”

Broek Ostrom earned the shutout in goal for the Hawks whose defense was anchored by the quartet of Caleb Schultz, Nick Mandigo, Charlie Turpyn and KJ Biedlingmaier.

“They really stepped up,” said Ritz of his defense. We always say we want to defend in the other team’s end and that’s what we did. They really kept the pressure on.”

Improving to 11-3-1, Holley will next visit top seed East Rochester in the Class C1 championship game on Thursday. East Rochester downed No. 5 Sodus 6-1 in the other semifinal.

Holley’s Kayden Servais works wtween Pavilon/York defenders Caleb Brooks and Jake VanWyk.

Orleans County has 10 more confirmed cases of Covid-19 for a total of 529 positive cases since March.

The new positive cases reside in Albion, Barre, Clarendon, Murray, Ridgeway and Shelby. The individuals are in the age groups of 0-19, 20s, 30s, 60s and 70s.

Three of the individuals were on mandatory quarantine prior to testing positive.

Eight of the previous positive individuals have recovered and have been removed from the isolation list, the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments said. Orleans now has 289 recoveries in the community, which doesn’t include people in nursing homes or other facilities regulated by the state.

Orleans has four people hospitalized due to Covid-19.

• 2 Albion students test positive: The Albion school district also reported this afternoon that two students tested positive for Covid-19. One of the students is a hybrid learner from the high school while the other is a hybrid learner from the middle school.

Both students were last in school on Nov. 9. The Health Department determined there is no need to do further contact tracing due to the 48-hour look-back period, the school district said in an update on its website.

In Genesee County, there are 20 new confirmed cases, bringing Genesee’s total to 598 since March. (Two of the previous positive individuals were transferred to another county due to their residency.)

The new positive cases in Genesee are residents of Alexander, Batavia, Darien, Elba, LeRoy, Oakfield and Pembroke.

The individuals are in the age groups of 0-19, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s 70s and 80s.

One of the individuals was on mandatory quarantine prior to testing positive, the Health Departments said.

Genesee is reporting 15 of the previous positive individuals have recovered and been removed from the isolation list, bringing the recoveries in the community to 387.

In Genesee, nine people are hospitalized due to Covid-19.

State-wide data: Gov. Andrew Cuomo is reporting 5,088 people tested positive for Covid on Monday out of 159,852 tests results, for a 3.18 percent positivity rate.

The total hospitalizations are up to 2,124, which compares to 1,968 on Sunday. On Sept. 6, there were 410 hospitalizations in the state due to Covid, and 748 on Oct. 7.

“The number of cases across the country and in New York are only continuing to climb,” Cuomo said. “Despite our success in managing the spread, New York is not immune to this national surge of Covid. Our micro-cluster strategy and testing capacity will help us through this new season, but ensuring we don’t go back to where we were in the spring is going to depend on our behavior. We all have a part to play – wear a mask, stay socially distant, avoid gatherings large and small, and wash your hands religiously.”

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The driver of this Buick LeSabre fell asleep while driving on Route 31 in Albion, causing an accident where three people were transported for medical care, a state trooper said.

The driver fell asleep at about 4 p.m., just east of the Eagle Harbor Road intersection. The driver was injured and taken by COVA ambulance to Strong West in Brockport for what are not believed to be serious injuries.

Albion firefighters needed to extricate the driver because the door was damaged and wouldn’t open.

Two people in this SUV were injured and taken to Medina Memorial Hospital. One person had a head injury and another had lacerations. Those injuries aren’t believed to be serious, a state trooper said.

Albion firefighters also cleaned up glass and debris on the road from the accident. No other information is available.

Site at corner of 98 & 104 has many household items from early days of electricity

Photos by Tom Rivers: Bill Lattin, retired director of the Cobblestone Museum, welcomes people into the Vagg House for its first public tour on Nov. 7.

CHILDS – For the first time since 1998, the Cobblestone Society has acquired another historic building to add to its campus.

Located on the southwest corner of routes 104 and 98, the Vagg house was owned by blacksmith Joseph Vagg and his wife Nellie. Joseph’s adjoining blacksmith shop is already one of the eight buildings acquired over the years by the Cobblestone Society.

The home was last owned by Rene Schasel, who died in March 2019. Schasel, was a supporter of the Cobblestone Museum and an avid collector of antiques dating from 1910 through 1940. He was also a friend of Bill Lattin, former director of the Cobblestone Society, and named his sister Marena Rupert and Lattin as executors of his estate.

This overstuffed furniture with its original fabric dates to the mid-1920s.

It occurred to Cobblestone director Doug Farley and Lattin that the house would be going on the market and it would be a disaster if the home should fall into the hands of an “undesirable” owner, with the historic buildings of the Cobblestone Society being only a few feet away.

It became obvious to the executors this house should go to the museum.

With that in mind, the executors dropped the price of the home to $60,000, and an anonymous donation of $30,000 made it possible for the Cobblestone Society to arrange to buy the property. Farley said they will begin a fund drive in January to raise the remainder of the money.

The executors held three estate sales during the past year, but there was still a massive amount of items left. Schasel especially liked antique electrical appliances, and his collection included 200 flat irons, 100 waffle irons, 39 washing machines, 150 coffee pots, 40 vacuum cleaners and numerous refrigerators. There are various other appliances, such as a mangle (iron), electric flour sifter, 60 toasters, an electric coil to defrost the freezer and a pant creaser.

Members of the Cobblestone Museum get ready to go inside the Vagg House on Nov. 7, when it hosted its first public tour after hundreds of work from volunteers led by Bill Lattin. He thanked museum volunteers Camilla VanderLinden, Chris Sartwell, Pat Morrisey and Kim Charon for their cleaning skills to get the Vagg House ready for viewing.

After the first estate sale, Lattin said he realized they should keep enough of the things to maintain the integrity of the home and furnish it in the style of the 1920s.

“The home is now set up to interpret life as the Vaggs would have lived it in the 1920 and 1930s,” Farley wrote in the Cobblestone’s autumn newsletter.

Lattin also added that while the home is full of antique furnishings, they are not the kind of things a collector would be looking for.

“The Vaggs lived a very moderate lifestyle,” he said. “Many of their things were hand-me-downs.”

Lattin compiled the Vagg’s story for the autumn “Cobblestoner.”

Bill Lattin gives museum trustee Mark Bower a tour of kitchen. This cupboard is full of cobalt blue Depression glass known as Modern Tone. This became very popular in the 1930s. With more than 30 cups and saucers it can be used for future teas.

Joseph and Nellie moved to Childs from Barre in 1909 with their two children Melva and Norris. Melva, who married Kenneth Warner, recalled she was 3 years old when they came to live at the corner of routes 98 and 104. After her mother died in the late 1970s, Melva inherited the home and lived there until she sold it in 1985 to William Nestle and Rene Schasel. Rene liked the house because he said it was “untouched.”

When Melva had the house for sale, Mark Tillman from the Village Inn looked at it and made the comment that the kitchen would have to be done over. Melva took great offense and stated “Young man, this kitchen was remodeled in 1929 and there is nothing wrong with it today.”

Schasel became sole owner of the house when Nestle, who was a former president of the Cobblestone Society, died in 2009.

Lattin felt the house could be used for small gatherings of less than 30 people, such as meetings, rehearsal parties or teas, put on by a caterer, as well as being part of the Cobblestone Museum.

Furnishings in the home include a Monitor Top refrigerator, a 1930’s kitchen table and chairs, an 1840 chest recently donated to the Museum by David and Camilla VanderLinden, a gray enamel sink, a Kalamazoo kitchen range made in 1935 and a Morris chair donated by Gerard and Pat Morrisey, which belonged to his grandfather, Poelma, and was built in 1917.

Other period furnishings are Royal Rochester waffle iron and coffee urn, a player piano and Orthophonic Victrola. Floor and table lamps with fringed shades, a wicker rocker, candle holders with shades and a hooked wall hanging which had been given to the museum. The wallpaper in the parlor was put up when the Vaggs celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary in 1948.

The property now boasts its own outhouse in the back yard, which Lattin built out of scrap lumber.

Lattin added that electricity was distributed down Ridge Road between 1926 and 1928. Prior to that, the Vaggs would certainly have had an outhouse.

Lattin quoted a sentence which was advertised in the 1920s, “Electricity is the only servant you will ever need.”

Bill Lattin shows Doreen and Gary Wilson a 1930s food mixer and a green enamel hot plate. There is also a Kalamazoo kitchen range was made in 1935. The Vaggs used it for heat as well as cooking. Museum Trustee Maarit Vaga is at right.

Keeping as much of the Vagg house in its original state is important because of Child’s designation by the Landmark Society of Western New York as one of their “Five to Revive” in 2019, Lattin said.

The house is also a perfect fit to the area, with Joseph Vagg’s blacksmith shop next door already part of the Cobblestone Museum. He built the shop in 1921 and Nellie bequeathed it to the Cobblestone Society after she died in 1975.

“This brings the Cobblestone Museum’s buildings to nine,” Farley said. “We have 18 if you count the outhouses. We are very excited to have a presence on this corner. The potential here is unlimited. This house will be included in our future tours.”

Farley said visitors will notice a big difference between the 1920s-era  Vagg house and the cobblestone Ward house, furnished in the style of the 1880s.

In the dining room, a Royal Rochester waffle iron is plugged into the ceiling light fixture. In the corner is a Orthophonic Victrola dating to circa 1928. The 1920-era Vagg House represents a different era from the Ward House, which depicts life in the 1880s. Latin said in the 1920s it was advertised, “Electricity is the only servant you’ll ever need.”

The shades on the candlesticks was very popular in the 1910s and ’20s.

Mark Bower checks out the upstairs, where the hallways have hardwood floors.

A member of Elderberry Jam performs on the lawn at the Vagg House for the event on Nov. 7.

There is a small plaster bust of Frances E. Willard in the dining room. The bust, made in 1932, shows Willard wearing a small white ribbon, which was characteristic of the temperance movement. Willard was born in Churchville and became president of the National Women’s Temperance Union. Nellie Vagg also was active in the temperance movement and wore a white ribbon until her dying days. “Nellie was a warhorse on liquor,” Lattin said.

Press Release, Assemblyman Mike Norris

LOCKPORT – State Assemblyman Mike Norris’ annual Winter Clothing Drive is kicking off this week with the public being able to start dropping off donated items at the Assemblyman’s office or the Lockport Town Hall this Wednesday, Nov. 18. Items will be collected at these locations until Dec. 14.

“Because of the pandemic we limited the locations this year but the need for warm winter clothing items will be greater than ever before so I hope our community will still continue to show its generosity to our neighbors in need this season,” Norris said. “Children’s boots are always in high demand and, as always, all items donated will stay within our community. Thank you so much to everyone who helps make this drive possible and for those who are donating.”

Gently used warm winter clothing items like coats, gloves, mittens, hats, scarves, boots and other items can be dropped off at the Assemblyman’s office in Clarence (8180 Main Street) or the Lockport Town Hall (6560 Dysinger Road) during regular business hours.

If you need to make other arrangements for a drop off outside of those hours, please call the Assemblyman’s office at (716) 839-4691 to coordinate.

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Oak Orchard Health has new signs out thanking health care and essential workers for their continued commitment during the Covid-19 pandemic, which has been ongoing the past eight months.

Oak Orchard has signs on Route 31 in Albion, in front of its healthcare facilities.

Public welcome to fill out online survey, email comments

MEDINA – The Medina Committee on Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative was planning a second public meeting on Wednesday to take comments from the community.

But the recent spike in Covid-19 cases locally prompted the committee to cancel the in-person meeting.

“With new restrictions being put in place, we want to make sure we’re taking the public health of the community into account with all of our actions,” said Scott Robinson, a member of the committee.

The committee has been reviewing current Medina Police Department policies and procedures, while also reviewing new additions and modifications for consideration.

Following the public comment received on September 23, the committee launched an email address and survey to increase participation in the process. Comments can be emailed to medinaprrc@gmail.com.

Click here for a link to the survey in English and click here for the survey in Spanish.

Through the remainder of 2020, the committee will be reviewing public comments, policy and procedure recommendations, and additional recommendations being offered by stakeholders from the community and committee.

On June 12, Governor Andrew Cuomo initiated an executive order entitled the New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative. The core objective was that each local government with a police department needed to review the policies, procedures, and strategies of the police department.

To achieve this, each head of government must work with the leader of the police department to compile a group of community stakeholders who will review these activities. In medina’s case, Mayor Mike Sidari and Police Chief Chad Kenward worked to form a committee.

The committee includes faith-based leaders, business owners, the district attorney, public defender, a representative of the public schools, and others.

Consistent with the Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order, after receiving community input, a plan will be submitted for acceptance to the Medina Village Board and provided to the state by April 1.

The New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) this morning announced that the start for “High Risk” winter sports including basketball, wrestling, competitive cheerleading and ice hockey has been moved back to January 4, 2021.

The NYSPHSAA release added that until authorization is granted by state officials, NYSPHSAA member schools are not permitted to participate in sports determined to be high risk by the New York State Department of Health. (NYSDOH).

Low and moderate risk winter sports which includes swimming, will be permitted to begin on November 30th as previously determined by NYSPHSAA.

“The NYSPHSAA membership has expressed concerns pertaining to the increase in infection rates,” said  NYSPHSAA Executive Director Robert Zayas. “Minimizing risk and exposure to COVID-19 is a top priority of the Association. We continue to make these types of decisions based upon readily available information and communication with state officials.”

The release adds that low and moderate risk winter sports practices are still on schedule to begin on November 30th for those schools and sections who have determined it feasible to host interscholastic athletics at that time. Regular season games/contests can begin for low and moderate sports  once student-athletes have participated in the required number of practices.

“NYSPHSAA’s leadership recognizes the numerous challenges interscholastic programs are experiencing and the obstacles associated with resuming high risk sports,” said NYSPHSAA President Julie Bergman. “While it is certainly the goal of the Association to provide all students with the ability to participate in interscholastic athletics we must remain steadfast in our decisions to ensure the safety of our athletes is our focus.”

The release concludes by stating that “at this time all winter NYSPHSAA State Championship events remain as scheduled.”

Press Release, Genesee & Orleans County Health Departments

BATAVIA – The Genesee County Health Department has received a positive Covid-19 test from an individual who was at The Harvester in Batavia last week, November 8th through the 14th.

Contact tracing is in progress. However, unidentified individuals may have unknowingly been in contact with the positive case at the tavern.

We advise all individuals who were at The Harvester anytime last week to monitor their symptoms for 14 days. If symptoms of Covid-19 develop, contact your primary care provider to seek testing immediately and self-isolate until you receive your test results.

Symptoms of Covid-19 include but are not limited to fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhea.

Many volunteers, community members contribute to friendly environment

Photos by Ginny Kropf: Debbie Rothmund, coordinator of the Eastern Orleans Community Center, and volunteers Rachael Escobar and Hunter Rife get desserts ready for lunch at the Holley Center.

HOLLEY – Whether providing free holiday food boxes or a free lunch, or just offering a place for friendly conversation, the Eastern Orleans Community Center is a vibrant program of Community Action of Orleans and Genesee.

The center, led by coordinator Debbie Rothmund, provides a variety of services to the community, including an emergency food pantry, daily meals, free holiday food baskets, free clothing, family development/case management services, public access to computers with internet and more.

With all this, many of the people who visit the center, like a woman named Patti, come every day for the socialization.

“And the food is always good,” she said.

The Eastern Orleans Community Center partners with several local agencies to fight poverty and hunger on the eastern end of the county. These include FEMA Pro, St. Vincent de Paul from Rochester, Food Link and The Salvation Army.

National Honor Society students from Holley High School volunteered to put boxes together last week at the Eastern Orleans Community Center in Holley. The boxes were packed with food for Thanksgiving dinner for families in the Holley area.

Annette Finch, director of emergency services at Community Action, praised the cooperation from local organizations and people, such as the National Honor Society members at Holley High School. Last week they came to the center to fold boxes and help give out 60 Thanksgiving food boxes.

“We do it every year,” said high school senior Julia Buck.

Senior Kasey DeFrank said she likes to do it to help the community.

Rod Skehan, local treasurer for the St. Vincent de Paul Society, said they have been involved for 40 years. They had always done some drive at Thanksgiving at their church, but with change in the laws, they now partner with the Community Center to provide Thanksgiving dinner to needy families.

“Through donations to our society, we are able to purchase turkeys, milk and bread to distribute to the families,” he said. “We utilize the Honor Society to tie it in with the community.”

Julie Tranello, standing, a volunteer at the Eastern Orleans Community Center, talks with center coordinator Debbie Rothmund in the dining room.

Finch said it is amazing what Rothmund does at the center. They average 750 meals a month, serving daily at 11:30 a.m. They play bingo on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

“Through the pandemic shutdown, we never stopped,” Rothmund said. “We did take-outs instead.”

Rothmund, who has been at the Community Center for almost 20 years, also makes regular phone calls to the shut-ins to make sure they are alright.

The food pantry serves 60 families a month and food distributions benefit 600 households annually.

Patty’s Boutique next door provides free clothing, all of which is donated, to anyone. Volunteer Julie Tranello works at the boutique. The Center’s affiliation with The Salvation Army helps people facing eviction, utility shutoffs or needing prescriptions.

Carol Pietrzykowski, seated, new fiscal director at Community Action, enjoys lunch at the Eastern Orleans Community Center. Talking to her, from left, are Community Action’s director of emergency services, Annette Finch, and volunteers Maria Fernandez and Kerri Glover from Maison Albion.

The center is always looking for volunteers, such as Kerri Glover, new owner of Maison Albion (formerly the Pillars) on County House Road in Albion, and her venue coordinator Maria Fernandez. Kerri, her husband Cole and son Benjamin, 12, visited the center last week, where Kerri volunteered to help serve lunch.

After purchasing the Pillars, the Glovers were looking for a non-profit agency to support, and she learned about Community Action. After meeting with Finch, she asked where she could volunteer. Maison Albion is planning a grand opening celebration on Dec. 12 and will be doing a fundraiser for Community Action at that event, which will be in-person and virtual.

The Eastern Orleans Community Center welcomes all residents. Finch’s invitation is to “Stop by, meet our friendly staff, get answers to your questions, have a cup of coffee, play a game of cards or bingo or just have fun.”

The Center is located at 75 Public Square in Holley.

Annette Finch, left, director of emergency services at Community Action, opens a pizza for lunch at the Eastern Orleans Community Center in Holley. Looking on is center coordinator Debbie Rothmund. Hunter Rife, at right, comes every day to volunteer.

Highs will be in 50s later this week

Photo by Tom Rivers: A barn and field of corn are pictured Monday on Keitel Road, near Zig Zag Road in Albion.

The area could see some snow showers this morning before 9, with rain and snow showers also likely between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., according to the National Weather Service in Buffalo.

Today is forecast for a high of 37 in Orleans County. It will be blustery tonight with a low of 27 and a chance for 1 to 2 inches of snow, the Weather Service said.

On Wednesday, there is also a chance for snow showers, possibly mixing with rain after noon, then gradually ending. It will be mostly sunny on Wednesday, with a high near 35. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch is possible, the Weather Service said.

The high temperatures then go up the rest of the week with 54 on Thursday, 58 on Friday and 54 on Saturday.

Orleans could eliminate 8 full-time positions and 12 part-time jobs

ALBION – Jack Welch, in his first year as Orleans County’s chief administrative officer, submitted the county’s tentative budget today. For months Welch has expressed concern about the county finances with declining state revenues, and potential hits in sales tax.

The 121-page document submitted today shows a spending plan that increases spending by 2.16 percent, from $71,711,638 to $73,262,025.

Jack Welch

It would increase taxes by 1.66 percent, with the tax levy going up by $299,798 — from $18,009,699 to $18,309,497.

The tax rate would increase by 1.11 percent or 11 cents, from $9,87 to $9.98 per $1,000 of assessed property.

Welch said the budget faces uncertainty with the state, if the governor and Legislature will pull back funding in 2021.

“The financial challenges we are experiencing include our businesses being restricted in their operations due to the changing Covid-19 operating guidelines that must be followed,” Welch said in his budget message. “This has affected our residents purchasing from local businesses which has changed the historical patterns of sales tax revenue for 2020. Therefore forecasting 2021 sales tax revenues is challenging at best.”

Some budget stresses are certain. The county will be paying 20 percent more in retirement contributions. That’s because the stock market was at a low point on March 31, and that’s the date the state comptroller takes the valuation of the retirement fund to set retirement rates for 2021.

The county also faces a 19 percent increase in health insurance premiums for 2021 due to  rising pharmaceutical costs in the county’s health plan.

The county also is in a two-year annual sales tax diversion of $190,274 for “Fiscally Distressed Health Facilities,” which was imposed by the state.

“Of course we have had to plan for continued use of PPE for our employees as well as for heightened cleaning and disinfecting of our facilities in 2021,” Welch said.

The budget meets a goal of county legislators in maintaining core services while staying within the state tax cap.

The budget also maintains funding to outside agencies. They didn’t face a funding cut, and they didn’t get an increase.

Those agencies and organizations in the budget include:

• $240,000 to Cornell Cooperative Extension
• $190,000 to Orleans Economic Development Agency
• $92,500 to Soil & Water Conservation District
• $10,000 to be shared among four public libraries
• $5,000 to Mercy Flight
• $4,000 to Sportsmen Federation, same since 2019
• $3,000 to GO Art!

The tentative budget would eliminate 8 full-time jobs and 12 part-time positions from 2020. The county will down 8 full-time positions from 333 to 325. The county is adding eight full-time positions, but eliminating 16 for a net reduction of eight.

The new positions include two in Office for the Aging, two in highway administration, one in public health, one in computer services, one in emergency services, and one in real property tax services.

The full-time reductions include four in the Sheriff’s Department, three in the highway department, three in mental health, three in probation, two positions in social services, and one in the county jail. (The four deputy positions in the Sheriff’s Department that are being eliminated were assigned to courthouse security, which has since been taken over by the state. New York was paying the county for security, but is now staffing it with state court security officers.)

The number of part-time employees also will be down by 12 from 95 to 83. Those changes include two less part-timers in real property (from 2 to 0), one less in the public safety communication system (from 6 to 5), six less in the Sheriff’s Office (from 6 to 0), one less in the jail (from 12 to 11), one less in emergency management (from 10 to 9) and one more in social services (from 4 to 5).

The fee for solid waste and recycling service will be $216, which is a 2percent increase from 2020.

“The current fee will continue to support the e-waste collection efforts for county residents at three sites across Orleans County,” Welch said. “The program remains very popular, with high demand for the disposal of CRT monitors and televisions. The county is also planning to continue to offer the Household Hazardous Waste pick up annually.”

Orleans passes 500 cases since March; 2 counties have nearly 1,000 people on mandatory quarantine

Orleans County is reporting 25 new confirmed Covid-19 cases today in the first update since Friday. Genesee County is reporting 78 new cases. The two counties combined are reporting that 843 people are on mandatory quarantine with 633 in Genesee and 210 in Orleans.

The new confirmed cases in Orleans are in nine out of the 10 towns: Albion, Barre, Carlton, Clarendon, Gaines, Murray, Ridgeway, Shelby and Yates. Kendall is the only town without a new case since Friday.

The new cases are in all of the age groups categorized by the local Health Department: 0-19, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s.

The Genesee & Orleans County health Departments are reporting three of the individuals were on mandatory quarantine prior to testing positive.

In Orleans, 18 of the previous positive individuals have recovered and been removed from the isolation list. The county now has six people hospitalized due to Covid-19.

• The Villages – The Health Department has been notified that 2 residents of The Villages of Orleans Health and Rehabilitation Center have tested positive, the first new cases in the nursing home in several months. The Villages has now had 60 residents test positive during the pandemic. No further information will be shared by the Health Department.

• Medina Central School – The Health Department has been notified that one staff member of the Medina Central School District has tested positive. The individual is on mandatory isolation until they recover. Contact tracing has been done for those who are considered close contacts and will be on mandatory quarantine for 14 days from the last contact with the positive individual.

In Genesee County, there are 78 new confirmed cases from Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The county has now had 580 positive cases since March. This report reconciles the positive cases from last week including the 30 reported on Friday.

The new positive cases includes residents in 13 communities – Alabama, Alexander, Batavia, Bergen, Bethany, Byron, Darien, Elba, LeRoy, Oakfield, Pavilion, Pembroke and Stafford.

The new cases also include all of the age groups – 0-19, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s.

Nine of the individuals were on mandatory quarantine prior to testing positive, the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments said in a news briefing this evening.

Genesee is reporting that 31 of the previous positive individuals have recovered and been removed from the isolation list.

There are currently 5 Genesee residents hospitalized due to Covid.

Two of the active positive cases are residents from The Grand Rehabilitation and Nursing at Batavia and one is a resident at the Batavia VA Medical Center.

MEDINA – Orleans Community Health/Medina Memorial Hospital is hosting a series of focus groups this week in an effort to obtain community/consumer-based input on the services provided through the local healthcare system.

The local healthcare provider also wants to hear if there are any barriers residents may have experienced or know what others may experience when it comes to receiving proper healthcare throughout the county.

Anyone who lives or works in Orleans County is welcome to participate in these groups, according to Jessica Capurso, director of Outreach, Education and Marking at the hospital’s Community Partners.

All sessions will be presented in a hybrid format, meaning one can attend in person at the Shelby Fire Hall or attend virtually through a Zoom call. Due to the quick pace of the sessions, they will be limited to 10 participants each.

Session times and dates are 1 or 5:30 p.m. Nov. 17 and 18; 1 p.m. only on Nov. 19 and 5:30 p.m. only on Nov. 20.

For all those who attend in person at Shelby Fire Hall, a light meal, snacks and refreshments will be provided. Masks, sanitizer and temperature checks will be required upon entering the facility, and social distancing will be practiced throughout the event.

Registration is required by e-mailing Heather Smith, Orleans Community Health Foundation director, at hsmith@medinamemorial.org or calling her at (585) 798-8426.

In your e-mail or voice message, please be sure to include name, e-mail, phone number, date and time of the session you want to attend and indicate if you are attending in person or through Zoom. For those attending via Zoom, Smith will send a link to log in before noon the day of the meeting.

Smith extended thanks to Shelby Fire hall for donating their space for these sessions.

“We appreciate their dedication to improving healthcare throughout our community,” Smith said.