Frank Forte was one of the 2019 photo contest winners with this photo of The Max Jacob on the Erie Canal.

Press Release, Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor

WATERFORD – The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor is calling for entries for its 15th annual Erie Canalway Photo Contest. Images should convey the unique character of New York’s canals and canal communities.

Entries must be postmarked by Aug. 28. Winning photos will be featured in the 2021 Erie Canalway calendar.

Images will be judged in four contest categories: On the Water, Along the Trail, Canal Communities, and Classic Canal. Judges will select first, second, and third place winning images in each category, as well as 12 honorable mentions.

Submitted images must be taken within the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor, which spans 524 miles across the full expanse of upstate New York. It encompasses the Erie, Cayuga-Seneca, Oswego, and Champlain canals and their historic alignments, as well as more than 230 canal communities.

Download official contest rules and an entry form by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Oak Orchard Health: Farmworkers hold some of the kits that were distributed on Tuesday by Oak Orchard Health. About 100 kits were given out at local farms.

Oak Orchard Health distributed healthy kits to local farmworkers on Tuesday, which was Agricultural Worker Health Day.

The kits included hand sanitizer, tooth brushes, tooth paste, dental floss, soap, masks, digital thermometers and a water bottle.

Oak Orchard is celebrating National Health Center Week this week. Tuesday highlighted the importance of agricultural workers in the local community and Oak Orchard’s commitment to providing them with the best of health care.

“Agricultural workers in the US have been called the ‘invisible population’ as they are socially and geographically isolated from the rest of society,” said Mary Ann Pettibon, CEO of Oak Orchard Heath. “We want to recognize this population with gift bags of useful supplies and a cool drink to ease their otherwise extremely busy day.”

Originally founded in 1966, Oak Orchard has grown from a migrant health project into an integrated health center with multiple locations providing health care services for the entire community.

Local agencies also approved for significant donations

Press Release, Lyndonville Area Foundation

LYNDONVILLE – At its recent July combined annual and quarterly meetings, the Lyndonville Area Foundation actively continues its mission of community support.

The Foundation in July approved full funding for new dialysis and dialysis-related equipment to Orleans Community Health/Medina Memorial Hospital.

The Foundation’s Board of Directors also approved significant donations and grants to the Genesee-Orleans Ministry of Concern, Christ Church Community Kitchen in Albion and the Arc of Genesee/Orleans.

At its previous quarterly meeting in April, the Foundation expedited nearly $40,000 in grants throughout Orleans County including several Orleans County food pantries that had exhausted supplies for the needy due to high unemployment rates and other Covid-19 related issues.

In June, the Lyndonville Area Foundation again provided numerous scholarships to college and/or military-bound graduates from Lyndonville Central School. The Foundation has provided annual scholarships each year for nearly 25 years. Initially beginning with three scholarships of less than $5,000, the Foundation’s annual scholarship fund has since grown to a dozen scholarships totaling nearly $50,000 per year.

Three current scholarships are made possible by private contributions in liaison with the Lyndonville Area Foundation. On behalf of its board of directors, current Foundation President, Darren D. Wilson, expresses his sincere thanks for the continued support and ongoing generosity of Lyndonville’s Cook family, former Lyndonville resident Mr. Donald O. Skinner and the estate of the late Frank B. Housel, Jr., a lifelong Lyndonville resident, for making the Trevor T Cook, Skinner-Wilson and Housel scholarships, respectively, possible.

The Foundation’s Board of Directors meet again in late October.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Firefighters carry a fan into a house at 105 West State St., where there was a grease fire that caused severe burns to a 30-year-old Albion. The fans were used to blow smoke out of the house.

The man was cooking and tried to put out the grease fire. He suffered severe burns and was taken by COVA ambulance to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester.

The man is the grandson of Suzanne Bourke, wife of Orleans County Sheriff Chris Bourke.

Firefighters were dispatched to the scene at 9:56 p.m. Albion, Barre and Medina responded, along with the Orleans County Emergency Management Office and Albion Police Department.

Sheriff Chris Bourke, left, talks with Albion Police Chief Roland Nenni, center, and Dale Banker, the county’s EMO director.

Orleans County doesn’t have any new confirmed cases of Covid-19 to report today, the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments said this afternoon.

Orleans has eight more people on precautionary quarantine due to travel from restricted states.

Genesee County has 2 new positive cases of Covid-19 for a total of 268 positive cases. The two new positive cases are both Batavia residents with one in the 50s and the other in the 80s.

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

Genesee also has two people hospitalized with Covid-19. The county also is reporting 15 new individuals on precautionary quarantine due to travel from restricted states.

More from the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments:

• Be alert for scam artists: The Genesee and Orleans County Health Department staff will always identify themselves, their position, and the reason for their visit or phone call. All staff have county provided identification badges that have their pictures. In the event you are approached by someone stating they are from the health department without a clear reason for their visit or phone call, do not let them in your home and do not give them any information and call 911.

• Community Testing Sites: Check with the testing site for any specific criteria necessary for testing such as illness, contact with someone who tested positive, essential worker, required for reopening/business, etc. Many need to have a doctor referral/prescription. Always call first.

• Oak Orchard Health: 301 West Ave Albion, NY 14411. Call (585) 589-5613 to be screened and to schedule an appointment – no walk-ins.
• WellNow Urgent Care: 4189 Veterans Memorial Drive Batavia, NY 14020.
• Rochester Regional Health Urgent Care: 16 Bank Street Batavia, NY 14020.

Oak Orchard Health has been awarded a $454,916 grant to expand telehealth services, U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand announced today.

The grant is among $5,308,428 in federal funding to provide additional telehealth services for New Yorkers affected by the Covid-19 outbreak, the two U.S. senators from New York said.

The money is from the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) COVID-19 Telehealth Program as allocated by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES). This federal funding will be used to purchase telehealth devices and equipment that will help expand patient accessibility to remote health care across New York State.

“As New York rebuilds and recovers from COVID-19, it’s imperative that our hospitals and health centers have all the tools necessary to keep the virus at bay,” said Senator Schumer.

“This vital funding for telehealth programs provides New Yorkers with safe medical care during our state’s recovery. I will continue fighting for funding that hospitals and health centers need to keep both healthcare providers and patients safe and healthy throughout this pandemic and beyond.”

“Telehealth services have played an integral part of New York State’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak by allowing health care professionals to effectively treat patients without compromising their own health,” said Senator Gillibrand. “I will continue fighting for the resources needed to expand New York’s telehealth capabilities and to support our state’s essential workers and patients during this unprecedented health crisis.”

Oak Orchard Health operates healthcare sites in Albion, Alexander, Batavia, Brockport, Corfu, Lyndonville, Hornell and Warsaw.

The U.S. Census Bureau has staff going door-to-door in Orleans County, trying to get residents to fill out the Census.

Orleans has a low response rate to the census so far. Only 51.6 percent have filled it out. The county’s neighbors have a higher rate. In Niagara, it’s 68.3 percent; in Genesee, 62.2 percent; and Monroe, 65.2 percent.

The state-wide response rate is 59.1 percent.

The Census Bureau says the survey is quick to fill out, taking 5 to 10 minutes.

The survey s done by law every 10 years. An accurate count is important for communities so they receive their fair share of state and federal dollars. The census is also used to draw the boundaries in legislative districts.

Census officials are also working in partnership with local organizations to host events in public places where there will be assistance filling out the census.

The census will be collected until Sept. 30.

Households can still respond now by completing and mailing back the paper questionnaire they received, by responding online at 2020census.gov, or by phone at 844-330-2020.

Travelers from 31 states must now self quarantine for 2 weeks in NY

Press Release, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Office

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that two additional states and Virgin Islands meet the metrics to qualify for the travel advisory requiring individuals who have traveled to New York from those areas, all of which have significant community spread, to quarantine for 14 days.

The newly-added states are Hawaii and South Dakota. Alaska, New Mexico, Ohio and Rhode Island have been removed.

The quarantine applies to any person arriving from an area with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a 7-day rolling average or an area with a 10 percent or higher positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average.

“New York went from one of the worst situations in the country, to an example for the rest of the nation to follow,” Governor Cuomo said. “Our numbers continue to remain low and steady, which shows this virus will respond to an approach based on science, not politics. In order to protect this progress, we must keep up our efforts – we cannot go back to the hell we experienced a few months ago, which is why we are adding Hawaii, South Dakota and Virgin Islands to the travel advisory.”

The full, updated travel advisory list, includes: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Virgin Islands and Wisconsin.

Alaska, New Mexico, Ohio and Rhode Island have been removed from the travel advisory. Individuals in quarantine after traveling from a state that has been removed from the advisory should continue to quarantine for the full 14 days.

Today’s data on Covid-19 is summarized briefly below:

• Patient Hospitalization – 540 (+5)
• Patients Newly Admitted – 56
• Number ICU – 120 (-7)
• Number ICU with Intubation – 60 (-2)
• Deaths – 6 (Total Deaths – 25,211)
• Of the 77,059 test results reported to New York State yesterday, 667, or 0.86 percent, were positive. The 667 additional cases of novel coronavirus bring the statewide total to 422,003 confirmed cases in New York State.

Legislation takes effect on Nov. 1 and includes backseat passengers

Press Release, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Office

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today signed legislation (S.4336/A.6163) requiring all passengers in motor vehicles over the age of 16 to wear a seat belt. Currently, passengers aged 16 and older are only required to wear a seat belt in the front passenger seat next to the driver.

“We’ve known for decades that seat belts save lives and with this measure we are further strengthening our laws and helping to prevent needless tragedies,” Governor Cuomo said. “It was under my father’s leadership that New York became the first state in the country to pass a seat belt law, and the nation followed his lead. Now we are building upon this legacy and helping to create a safer and stronger Empire State for all.”

In 1984, under Governor Mario Cuomo, New York became the first state to pass a mandatory seat belt law and in the same year, according to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, approximately 16 percent of individuals wore seat belts. By 2008, 24 years after the law was enacted, the compliance rate was up to 89 percent.

Senator David Carlucci said, “The injuries you can sustain from not wearing a seat belt can be deadly, and that’s a fact whether you sit in the front or the back of a vehicle. With this bill signed into law, we will help prevent tragedies and save lives in New York. Thank you to the advocates, including AAA for their strong support of this legislation.”

The Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee has indicated 30 percent of highway deaths in New York are occupants unrestrained by a seat belt. Safety experts believe that the use of a backseat seat belt could prevent over two thirds of fatalities and serious injuries resulting from crashes. This legislation seeks to reduce automobile accident fatalities and casualties by requiring all occupants of a motor vehicle to buckle up.

The new law takes effect November 1.

District gives families until Aug. 21 to decide whether in-person schooling or remote

MEDINA – The school district has scheduled three meetings next week for the community to learn about Medina’s reopening plan.

The District is planning in-person education from Monday through Friday for students in grades Pre-K through 6. Classrooms have been reconfigured to allow for maximum social distancing, said Mark Kruzynski, the district superintendent.

Students in grades 7-12 will have the option to attend school in-person every other day, alternating on Fridays. They will do remote learning when not in school, in-person.

“We simply do not have the space or staff for all students in grades 7-12 to be socially distant every day,” Krusynski said in a letter to the community on Monday.

Students identified as having higher level, disability-specific needs will be invited to attend school daily, he said.

Families have until Aug. 21 to notify the district whether their children will be attending school in-person or remotely. (Click here for more information.)

Aug. 21 is also the deadline to fill out a transportation request form. (Click here for more information.)

The district also has scheduled the following community meetings about the reopening plan:

• August 17, 4 p.m. with focus on Oak Orchard Elementary
• August 18, 4 p.m. with focus on Medina High School
• August 19, 4 p.m. with focus Wise Intermediate/Middle School

Click here for more information on the links to the live stream/recordings of the meetings.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – A new tugboat (second from left) named after Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a famed leader of the women’s suffrage movement, moves a barge in Albion on Monday, just east of the Ingersoll lift bridge.

The State Canal Corp. was trimming vegetation along the canal banks. The other tugboat at far left also is a new model of a tugboat on the canal.

The new tugboat was dedicated on May 17, 2019 in Rochester to start the canal’s navigational season.

Coline Jenkins, Stanton’s great-great granddaughter, was on hand to dedicate the 26-foot vessel, which is stationed at the Canal maintenance facility in Albion.

The Elizabeth Cady Stanton is shown Friday on the Erie Canal in Albion, between the lift bridges on Main Street and Ingersoll Street.

The Erie Canal, which opened for its 196th season this year, played a significant role in the women’s rights movement. In the 1800s, the canal was like an interstate highway. It was frequently traveled between Seneca Falls and Rochester as Cady Stanton and her fellow suffragists coordinated their campaign for women’s rights.

Seneca Falls, which is part of the state’s canal system, hosted the first women’s rights convention on July 19-20, 1848.

Cady Stanton was one of the key leaders of the convention and the movement. She was the primary author of the Declaration of Sentiments, a manifesto that called on women to fight for their Constitutionally guaranteed right to equality as U.S. citizens.

District sets 3 public sessions to discuss new school year

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday listed Kendall as being among 107 school districts that haven’t submitted a reopening plan to the State Education Department and the State Department of Health. The plans needed to be filed no later than July 31.

Julie Christensen, the Kendall district superintendent, said the state list isn’t correct because Kendall submitted its reopening plan to Department of Health on July 30 and with SED on July 31.

The plan was also posted on the school district website on July 30.

“The district has contacted the state regarding the discrepancy,” the school district said in a statement on Monday.

Cuomo said the districts identified as not submitting their plans have until Friday to submit the reopening document or else they can’t reopen for in-person schooling this fall.

The governor on Monday also reminded districts they must complete the three to five public sessions with parents and teachers and post their plans for remote learning, testing and tracing on their website by Aug. 21 to be in compliance with standards established by the State.

Kendall has three community forums set for this month. They will be conducted through Zoom video conferencing.

The dates and times of the forums are:

• August 14 at 10 a.m.
• August 19 at 4 p.m.
• August 20 at 6 p.m.

Please email Superintendent Julie Christensen (jchristensen@kendallschools.org) with any questions you have in advance of the forums so she can research the answers and present this information during the forums.

For more information, click here.

Press Release, Congressman Chris Jacobs

BATAVIA – Congressman Chris Jacobs (NY-27) is announcing a $1 million grant from the Department of Health and Human Services has been awarded to the Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse (GCASA).

“I am pleased to announce that this great local organization is receiving a grant to further combat alcohol and drug addiction, and the opioid crisis in our community,” Jacobs said. “While our nation has focused on fighting another public health battle, substance abuse has continued to hurt our communities. That is why the work the Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse is critical to our region. I am proud to see this funding go to an organization working to make our communities safer for all members, and I am committed to continuing our efforts to end the substance abuse and opioid epidemic.”

The grant was awarded through a $101 million grant program through the Department of Health and Human Services to combat substance abuse disorders (SUD) and opioid use disorders (OUD). This grant program supports 116 organizations in over 42 states – the grant is intended to expand and enhance service delivery for SUD and OUD in rural communities.

“This grant will allow GCASA to continue a multi-fold aim of removing barriers to recovery and improved quality of life for people suffering from alcohol and other drug problems,” said GCASA Executive Director John Bennett. “Far too long, we have treated addiction only as an acute disease when, in fact, it is a chronic long-term health condition.

“While treatment is a guiding force to assist individuals in establishing abstinence and getting them on the path to recovery, it does not address how to sustain individuals and families in recovery over long periods,” Bennett said. “Grants like this will help build the recovery supports and address the social determinants of health to overcome the long-term effects of addiction. It is designed to break down the barriers to long-term recovery so people can manage their own conditions over time and build on the resources needed for sustained recovery.”

Orleans County is reporting two new Covid-19 cases today, bringing the county’s total to 282 people who have tested positive.

The new confirmed cases includes residents of Carlton and Ridgeway, with one in the 40s and the other in the 50s.

The county also is reporting four more recoveries in the community, bringing that total to 126, the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments reported this afternoon.

Orleans also have 7 new individuals on precautionary quarantine due to travel from restricted states.

In Genesee County, there are no new confirmed and three more people have recovered, bringing the total recoveries to 205.

Genesee also has 40 new individuals on precautionary quarantine due to travel from restricted states.

One person in Genesee is hospitalized with Covid-19.

Click here to view the online map of confirmed cases in Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming counties.

• Statewide: Governor Andrew Cuomo announced 476 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 421,336 confirmed cases. The 476 new cases are out of 54,002 test results reported to New York State yesterday, for a 0.88 percent positive rate.

Statewide there are 535 hospitalized with Covid-19 (down by 13), 127 in ICU (down by 4), 62 in ICY with intubation (down by 4) and two more deaths from Covid-19, bringing the state total to 25,204.

“Our numbers reflect the work of everyone in this state, and the number of ICU patients and hospitalizations have reached new lows again,” Cuomo said. “That is extraordinary given where we were just a few months ago.”

• New Mask PSA: The Governor also released a new Public Service Announcement, reminding their neighbors to wear a mask and help stop the spread of coronavirus. Click here to see it.

The new highlights the effective use of masks during the 1918 deadly Influenza Pandemic that infected 500 million people – a third of the world’s population. The advertisement features archival photos of the use of masks during the 1918 outbreak, which was crucial to preventing the spread of the deadly virus, to inspire Americans to wear masks today. This new PSA is one in a series launched by the governor to inform the public on the importance of wearing masks during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“All the data and science show that masks work, and it is essential that everyone wear a mask to protect one another and further prevent the spread of Covid-19,” Cuomo said. “Our message is simple: I wear a mask to protect you and you wear a mask to protect me.”

From the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments:

• Travel Advisory: Travelers from the following states with high coronavirus rates will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Those violating could be subject to a judicial order and mandatory quarantine and potential fines.

• Traveler Health Form: For all out-of-state travelers from NYS restricted states, whether arriving by land or air, must self-identify by completing a traveler health form or be subject to a $2,000 fine. Click here for the traveler health form.

• Waiting for Testing Results:  If you are being tested for Covid-19 it is important that you self-quarantine until you get your test results whether you have symptoms or not.  If you are symptomatic, meaning you are coughing, have a fever or other symptoms, self-quarantine even if you are an essential worker until you get your results back, if you have Covid-19 you may be spreading it!  That means to stay home and limit contact with other people, even in your household.

Supporters of project expect turbine revenue will reduce town taxes significantly

BARRE — A survey of Barre households paid for by George McKenna, a local veterinarian, shows nearly 70 percent of the respondents are “totally opposed” to turbines in the town.

McKenna sent surveys last month to 735 households in Barre. He received 258 responses. (Five were returned by Postal Service because no one lives at house.)

That is a 35 percent response rate for the 735 surveys. McKenna has been vocal in his opposition to the turbine project proposed by Apex Clean Energy. The company wants to build 33 turbines in Barre that would top 650 feet.

McKenna had a group of local residents, including a lease holder for a turbine, open the surveys and compile the results.

“I was expecting 40 to 50 percent to be opposed,” McKenna said. “But they are overwhelmingly opposed at 70 percent.”

In the survey, residents are asked to consider 11 scenarios and to check only one box that they most strongly agree with.

The first option — “We don’t want the wind turbines” — was the most popular answer, by far. It was checked by 176 of the 258 surveys or 68 percent.

Other responses asked if residents would support turbines, with responses varying on whether the turbines are not more than 500 feet high or not more than 700 feet tall.

Other responses varied whether the setbacks were from property lines at a distance in compliance with World Health Organization recommendations or another response was a distance of 1,500 feet from property lines.

The survey also offered responses for residents to state their support for turbines whether the revenue from the project would wipe out town taxes fully, at 50 percent or at 25 percent.

McKenna acknowledged in a letter accompanying the survey that the turbines could lower the town’s property taxes.

“Who doesn’t like lower taxes?” he wrote in the letter. “If your family views this as an opportunity that can sustain you for the foreseeable future, I respect that decision, and no one can fault you for making it as long as the neighbors are protected from any loss, being health and property value.”

Among the surveys that showed support for turbines, 35 of the 78 (45 percent) said they would support the project only in town taxes were completely offset by the wind energy project.

Those surveys in support also showed that 58 percent or 45 of the 78 want the town to require setbacks at the WHO length, which is more than 1,500 feet from property lines.

One response on the survey allowed people to check, “We want them no matter the consequences.” That was checked by 22 people or 9 percent of the responses, which represents 28 percent of the people who said they would support the project.

Another 4 respondents said they were “undecided” about the project.

McKenna is on the Town Board’s agenda for the meeting this Wednesday at 7 p.m. where he will present the survey results to town officials.

“I want the Town Board to know how people really feel about this,” McKenna said. “The Town Board assumes most people are for it.”