PEMBROKE – Pembroke Family Medicine’s three locations in Corfu, Alexander and Batavia are now operating with Oak Orchard Health. The Corfu location also has been named in honor of Dr. Mary E. Obear.

“Dr. Obear is the reason we’re here,” said Mary Ann Pettibon, CEO of Oak Orchard Health.

“She started this practice many years ago. It was her dream to bring primary care to this community and it grew to two more locations. We’re excited to welcome Pembroke Family Medicine patients and providers into our organization.”

All three Pembroke locations will remain the same and their patients will retain the same primary care provider. The only change they’ll see are the signs for Oak Orchard Health on the Pembroke locations in Batavia, Alexander and Corfu.

The change to Oak Orchard became effective on July 1. Both healthcare organizations provide services to everyone regardless of medical insurance status.

“I’m really moved by this occasion,” Dr. Obear said. “We’re so pleased to have found a partner in Oak Orchard Health. They align perfectly with our current model of practicing high-quality, patient-centered care. It has always been about our patients.”

Both organizations were recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance as Patient Centered Medical Homes which focuses on improvements in quality of the patient experience, growing staff satisfaction, and reducing health care costs.

Oak Orchard Health was founded in 1966. It has grown from a migrant health project into an integrated health center with multiple locations providing health care services. Oak Orchard currently serves over 22,000 patients at locations in Albion, Brockport, Lyndonville, Hornell and Warsaw.

Press Release, Assemblyman Steve Hawley

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) has signed on with Assembly colleagues to present a reopening plan for schools this upcoming fall.

The plan, signed on by nearly all Minority members of the State Assembly, explores potential solutions for each level of education, as well as special education needs, and re-emphasizes that in-person education and social interactions are critical for the developing youth, according to child development experts.

“We’ve all been struggling with the new realities that the COVID-19 outbreak has given us, and our kids are no exception,” Hawley said. “They’ve been asked to completely adjust the way they go about learning, and in the process have lost many opportunities that are fundamental to youth development. The brilliant educators across our state are doing the best they can, and we couldn’t be prouder of them, but we need to give them and their students a fighting chance to not fall drastically behind.”

The question of schools reopening in New York has been up in the air since they were closed in mid-March. Gov. Cuomo’s administration has stressed public health comes first, but several advocates and prolific education specialists have been pushing for schools to return in the fall with appropriate safeguards in place.

Not only are many students and teachers struggling with this particular change in lifestyle, but the lack of students being in the school physically has left many teachers unable to reach them at home.

Many students across the state still struggle to get internet-accessible devices to do their work, or do not have another trusted adult figure to work with consistently. Additionally, many homes have a parent or parents working without adequate child care.

Orleans County, for the fifth straight day, doesn’t have any new confirmed cases of Covid-19.

The county has one new recovery, bringing that total to 113 people in the community who have recovered after contracting Covid-19.

There are seven Orleans County resident currently hospitalized with Covid-19, the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments reported this afternoon.

Genesee County also doesn’t have any new confirmed cases of Covid-19 and has one more recovery. Genesee has now had 165 recoveries in the community.

The two counties have had 495 people test positive for Covid-19, with 267 in Orleans and 228 in Genesee.

More from the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments:

• Masks: Masks/Face-coverings are still required to be properly worn (covering nose & mouth) for all employees who work with the public. They are to be worn with direct contact (and all food service workers are to properly wear coverings when preparing and serving food – no exceptions) with the public as well as with co-workers when social distancing of 6 feet or more is not able to be kept.

All residents over the age of 2 years old and able to medically tolerate a face-covering are required to cover their nose and mouth with a mask or cloth face-covering when in public and unable to maintain, or when not maintaining social distance of 6 feet or more.

• Social Gathering Sizes: According to Governor Cuomo’s Executive Orders 202.42 and 202.45, all non-essential gatherings of up to 50 of individuals of any size for any reason (graduation parties, celebrations, or other social events) unless otherwise designated (ex. religious gatherings) are now allowed for those regions in phase 4. This is as long as requirements are followed for appropriate social distancing, and wearing cloth masks/face coverings over the mouth and nose.

• 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.

• WellNow Urgent Care: 4189 Veterans Memorial Drive Batavia, NY 14020.
• Rochester Regional Health Urgent Care: 16 Bank Street Batavia, NY 14020. (Rochester Regional Health has transitioned Covid-19 evaluations from the tents at 127 North Street to Urgent Care.)
• Oak Orchard Health: 301 West Ave Albion, NY 14411. Call (585) 589-5613 to be screened and to schedule an appointment – no walk-ins

• Antibody Testing: This is a current snapshot of the SARS-CoV-2 antibody test results in the two counties.

• Genesee County: Of the 1,639 antibody test results received there were 51 who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) antibodies.
• Orleans County: Of the 709 antibody test results received there were 17 who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) antibodies.

DMV has been overwhelmed with calls recently for appointments

ALBION – The Orleans County Department of Motor Vehicles is now offering on-line scheduling for appointments.

“We acknowledge that we were overwhelmed with the sheer volume of calls to schedule DMV transactions the past few weeks,” said Jack Welch, the county’s chief administrative officer. “We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have created for our residents. We totally understand the frustration our residents have had in trying to obtain an appointment at DMV and we hope our new online scheduling service will allow our residents more flexibility and convenience in scheduling their appointments for DMV transactions.”

The on-line scheduling page may be located using the County’s DMV webpage (click here) or by clicking here. The first step in scheduling the appointment is to click on the service needed, then choose a date, provide your name and telephone number.

The software requires the customer’s name and telephone number as a required field.  By providing a mobile number and an email address, the software will provide a text message confirmation and an email confirmation of the appointment. The last step is confirming that all of the information entered is correct.

As a reminder, the county has a lockbox in front of the County Office Building for DMV transactions. The direct number for DMV is (585) 589-3214. The County Office Building address is 14016 State Route 31, Albion, NY 14411.

“The county continues to look for opportunities to serve our residents in the most safe and healthy manner possible for our residents and employees,” Welch said.

Press Release, Lyndonville Mayor John Belson

LYNDONVILLE – Due to the long period of warm temperatures and lack of precipitation the Lyndonville-Yates municipal system is nearing their maximum daily pumping capacity.

Any extra measures that users can voluntarily do to reduce water consumption and high volume use for the next four days would be greatly appreciated. If voluntary conservation measures are unsuccessful, mandatory conservation may be enacted.

Provided photos

RIDGEWAY – Brenden Zukowski, a member of the Oak Orchard Creekers, hauls debris he pulled from the Oak Orchard Creek on Monday.

A group from the Creekers pulled out tires and garbage from the creek, between Slade Road and Townline Road. The creek has become very popular with kayakers.

These Oak Orchard Creek members are pictured with some of the debris they hauled out of the creek on Monday. Pictured from left include Jesse Sponaugle, Brenden Zukowski and Dewey Cox, all of Medina.

Chewy Lee, Richy Lamont and Mike Brendlinger also are members who helped with the cleanup. They and others hunt of trash usually at least once a week. They have put garbage cans along the creek to encourage people to not litter in the water.

Lee started the group and wants to make the creek more inviting to the public.

“The motivation comes from the amount of glass and trash we see all over the side of the river and in the river,” Lee said. “We hold on to our boats and snorkel for glass and trash. We fill our canoes up with trash and float them down to a spot to unload. Any items that are lost we try to return to the owner.”

Jesse Sponaugle found this phone in the creek. One of the iPhones fished out of the water by the group was only two weeks old and still worked. It was returned the owner who donated trash bags for the cleanups.

The Creekers pictures of many of the items they find on their Facebook page. That could include glasses, googles, Smartphones, driver’s licenses, fishing poles and lawn chairs.

The group welcomes more volunteers. Click here to be directed to their Facebook page.

“We have taken several truck loads out of the river and are getting a lot of thanks from the community,” Lee said. “We all grew up on the creek and if we want big changes we need big efforts.”

Dewey Cox pulled this large plastic pipe out of the water.

People coming from Delaware, Oklahoma and Kansas must quarantine for 14 days once in NY

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

The newly added states are Delaware, Kansas and Oklahoma. The quarantine applies to any person arriving from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a 7-day rolling average or a state with a 10 percent or higher positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average.

“As states around the country experience increasing community spread, New York is taking action to ensure the continued safety of our phased reopening,” Cuomo said. “Our entire response to this pandemic has been by the numbers, and we’ve set metrics for community spread just as we set metrics for everything.”

There are now 19 states on New York’s travel advisory. Those states include Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.

“Three more states have now reached the level of spread required to qualify for New York’s travel advisory,” Cuomo said. “We will now require individuals coming from Delaware, Kansas and Oklahoma to quarantine for 14 days. New Yorkers did the impossible – we went from the worst infection rate in the United States to one of the best – and the last thing we need is to see another spike of COVID-19.”

The governor in a news release said 588 more New Yorkers tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday out of 56,736 tests or 1.04 percent. The state has now had 398,237 confirmed cases of Cvid-19.

There were 836 people hospitalized in the state on Monday from Covid-19, up by 19 from Sunday. Ten people also died from Covid-19 on Monday, bringing the state’s total deaths from Covid-19 to 24,924.

ALBION — Hoag Library will hold an election on Wednesday from noon to 7 p.m. for trustees on the board of directors. The library will also have its annual meeting at 7 p.m.

Three trustees will be elected. There are five candidates: Anitrice Bennett, Dan Conrad, Allyson DeBoard, Carol Miller and Joyce Riley. (Bennett, Conrad and Riley are currently on the board.) Click here to see candidate statements on Hoag’s YouTube page.

Voting will be at the library, which this week added extended hours and is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Hoag is located at 134 South Main St.

Voters must be at least 18 in live in the library’s service area – the central Orleans towns of Albion, Barre, Carlton and Gaines.

Kevin Gardner, an Albion native who now lives in Brockport, has published his first novel, Lost and Found.

The 256-page book became available on July 1. Gardner, an English composition professor at Genesee Community College, has the book available through Amazon and Goodreads.

Gardner wrote this teaser to the novel:

“Lost and Found introduces the story of once-successful writer, Arn Maxwell. Broke, and divorced, he packs all he owns into his 38-foot sloop and leaves South Florida.

Seeing the need to rebuild his life and searching for a change in scenery, he heads to Saunders Point, and Aunt Liz.  After a joyful reunion, he learns that she is being conned.  Reverend T. Whitman Earle is soliciting funds for a non-existent school in Africa.

Angered by the possibility, Arn decides to investigate.  With the help of Kim, the pretty young librarian, and Johnny Good, a childhood friend, he learns of Earle’s shady past. With the local police at his heels, he builds the case that the minister is conning his flock. Then killing them.”

Kevin Gardner

Lost and Found can also be purchased by contacting the author directly at kevincgardnerauthor@gmail.com.

Gardner has lived in Western New York and worked as a carpenter for most of his life. When life demanded that he make a change, he developed his creativity and love of words into a career in teaching, and creative writing. That led him to SUNY Brockport and a master’s degree.

Lost and Found is his first venture into the world of fiction. He has many writing projects in the works.  Last fall he was also named the outstanding professor for GCC’s Albion campus center.

Gardner has three children and two grandchildren. He currently lives in Brockport with his wife and stepdaughter.

Photos by Tom Rivers: Ed Fancher speaks during the 50th anniversary celebration of Community Action of Orleans & Genesee on Oct. 1, 2015. Fancher the executive director of the agency. He started with Community Action in 1987 as the fiscal director when he was 22.

ALBION – The school district on Monday evening honored the late Ed Fancher as a Friend of Education.

Fancher, an Albion graduate, passed away at age 54 from cancer on May 24. He was the director of Community Action of Orleans & Genesee. He was also very active with the Albion Alumni Foundation and the Albion Rotary Club, organizations that have assisted Albion students.

With Community Action, he welcomed a statistics class to pour over local demographic data. He welcomed interns in the district’s school-to-work program and also helped distribute tens of thousands of produce collected by the FFA each year in a food drive.

Fancher typically would help unload a tractor trailer with heavy boxes and bags of produce. This December, he was still there for the unloading, but physically wasn’t able to help move the boxes. He thanked the FFA students for their work in lining up the donations from farmers, and then packaging the food and delivering it to Community Action.

The agency would share the food with other local food pantries and churches. Community Action would store many of the boxes and bags of food.

The FFA food drive started out at 3,000 pounds in 2010 and reached a new high of 40,000 pounds in 2019.

Ed Fancher, Class of 1983, fills a bag of popcorn during the Homecoming football game on Oct. 4, 2013. He works in the booth with Jean Shervin, Class of 1953. Fancher was a proud Albion graduate.

“We were never discouraged by them or turned away even as the numbers increased exponentially,” said Sue Starkweather Miller, the district’s school-to-career coordinator and public information officer. “He always helped unload until couldn’t lift. This December he was there in rain, cheering us on and thanking us.”

Starkweather Miller is on the Alumni Foundation Board of Directors with Fancher, where he was the treasurer. The Foundation in June distributed about $90,000 in scholarships to Albion High School seniors.

With the Rotary Club, Fancher cooked the hams for the annual Rotary St. Patrick’s Ham Dinner, with the proceeds going to the Rotary-sponsored Interact Club at the school. The Rotary Club also gives three scholarships annually to Albion seniors.

“He was a true servant leader, he was a proud Purple Eagle and he is a friend of education always,” she said during the Board of Education meeting.

County has only added one new case in the past week

There are no new Covid-19 cases to report in Orleans County, the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments said this afternoon.

The local Health Departments updated the confirmed cases in the two counties today for the first time since Thursday.

Orleans County has only had one new case in the past week. The county remains at 267 cases with seven people currently hospitalized from Covid-19.

Genesee has three new confirmed cases, and now has had 228 people test positive for Covid-19.

The positive individuals reside in Batavia, Bethany and Oakfield. One of the positive individuals is in the 30s, one is in the 50s, and the other is in the 70s.

Two of the positive individuals were not on mandatory quarantine prior to testing positive. Genesee also has had three more recoveries, with that total now at 164. Genesee doesn’t have any residents hospitalized from Covid-19.

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

The facility breakdown is only showing the total positive cases from those facilities with positive cases of Covid-19.

More information from the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments:

• Social Gatherings – According to Governor Cuomo’s Executive Orders, all non-essential gatherings of up to 50 of individuals of any size for any reason (graduation parties, celebrations, or other social events) unless otherwise designated (ex. religious gatherings), are now allowed for those regions in phase 4. So long as appropriate social distancing, wearing cloth masks/face coverings over their mouth and nose, requirements are followed.

• Stay vigilant with social distancing – Please continue to make sure you are practicing social distancing especially if you have underlying health conditions or are over 65 years old. Wear masks/face coverings whenever you are out in public, especially if you cannot maintain a 6-foot space between non-household members. Wash or sanitize your hands and shared items often.

The most important thing to remember is if you are having any type of symptoms to STAY HOME! Some of the symptoms people have been reporting are fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, muscle or body aches, new loss of taste and/or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, headaches, fatigue nausea or vomiting and/or diarrhea.

• Travel Advisory – New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut announced that travelers from states with high coronavirus rates will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days.

As of July 2 those states include Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah. Those violating could be subject to a judicial order and mandatory quarantine and potential fines. These states may change at any time.

• 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.

• WellNow Urgent Care: 4189 Veterans Memorial Drive Batavia, NY 14020.
• Rochester Regional Health Urgent Care: 16 Bank Street Batavia, NY 14020. (Rochester Regional Health has transitioned Covid-19 evaluations from the tents at 127 North Street to Urgent Care.)
• Oak Orchard Health: 301 West Ave Albion, NY 14411. Call (585) 589-5613 to be screened and to schedule an appointment – no walk-ins
• To find additional test sites nearest you, please click here.

Photos by Tom Rivers: David Green is pictured on Aug. 23, 2017 during the Super Cruise on Main Street. There won’t be a Super Cruise this year, but there will be car shows on Fridays in the Canal Basin.

MEDINA – The classic car cruise-ins will return to Medina this Friday.

The Canal Basin will host the cars from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. for the next eight weeks. People are encouraged to set up in chairs behind their cars. If they want to walk around and look at other vehicles, they should wear a mask, said David Green, the event organizer.

Medina has been hosting the car shows on Fridays for more than 20 years. Green held off on them in June, but now feels comfortable with the events as long as people adhere to social distancing and wear a mask.

The car shows are typically capped with a “Super Cruise” in late August when a section of Main Street in closed to traffic. That event can bring in 200 to 300 cars and usually includes a performance by Terry Buchwald, an Elvis impersonator.

This year there won’t be a Super Cruise or entertainment by Elvis due to the large crowd that event draws to Medina.

The shows in the Canal Basin usually bring about 80-100 cars to the village.

These classic cars are parked for the cruise-in at the Canal Basin in Medina.

Governor says President would send a powerful message to Americans by simply wearing a mask

Photoshopped image courtesy of Gov. Cuomo’s Office: Gov. Andrew Cuomo said President Donald Trump should acknowledge the seriousness of the Covid-19 and wear a mask which has proven successful in slowing the spread of the virus.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo reported today that the state has its lowest hospitalizations due to Covid-19 since March 18. There are 817 people hospitalized with Covid-19. At its peak, there were more than 18,000 New Yorkers hospitalized with the coronavirus.

“It’s unimaginable at one time that we would be this low,” Cuomo said.

The state, which peaked at nearly 800 deaths from Covid-19 on April 8, has averaged about 10 deaths a day the past six days, or 58 from June 30 to July 5.

There were 54,328 tests on Sunday with 518 of those positive, or 0.95 percent.

“All of the regions are performing well,” he said.

The state on May 15 began the reopening of different regions in phases. The governor said experts warned the state would see the number of infections and hospitalizations go up due to the increased activity.

“We’ve actually had a slight decline,” Cuomo said. “That is really great news.”

The data shows the state has taken the right approach in the reopening, with a focus on protecting public health and gradually boosting the state’s economy.

That contrasts with an strategy in many other states that pushed to reopen too soon, without stressing needed social distancing precautions and the wearing of masks when in public.

Cuomo said 38 states are seeing a rise in cases.

He faulted President Trump for not stressing to Americans the seriousness of Covid-19. The president would send a powerful message if he simply wore a mask, Cuomo said.

“I understand people are fatigued, we have been doing this for 128 days, but that doesn’t change the facts,” Cuomo said. “We have to stay smart.”

In New York, he said local governments need to do their part and enforce social distancing, and ensure people are wearing masks in public when it’s not possible to stay 6 feet apart.

The spike in cases in many other parts of the country is “frightening,” Cuomo said, and poses a risk to New Yorkers because so many people to visit New York.

He said President Trump is a facilitator and an enabler of the virus’s spread by talking down the threat of Covid-19, and for holding large-scale public events.

“If you deny the problem you will never solve it,” Cuomo said. “We are not the United States of Denial.”

Cuomo said Americans shouldn’t follow the president’s example, especially by not wearing a mask in public.

“True patriots wear a mask,” Cuomo said.

Governor wants schools to reopen, but only if it’s safe

The governor also addressed schools reopening in the fall. That decision hasn’t been made. There are about 700 public school districts in the state.

They all need to develop reopening plans, looking at different scenarios for student learning.

Cuomo said his desire would be for students to be in schools, in person.

The state Department of Health continues to pour over data with the virus. Cuomo said health experts now say Covid-19 spreads mainly through the air, not by surface contact.

“There is no decision yet on whether or not we are reopening schools,” he said. “Obviously we would very much like to. We want kids back in school, but we’re not going to do it until we know it is safe.”

Photo by Tom Rivers

KNOWLESVILLE – Carl Aldinger cooks French fries and chicken fingers on Sunday at the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds.

He works in the Morrell’s Potato House Fries food booth, one of the eight food vendors that were at the fairgrounds from Friday through Sunday.

About 2,500 to 3,000 people stopped by for the “Fair Food Fest,” said Robert Batt, executive director of the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Orleans County, which owns the fairgrounds.

The Extension wanted to give people a taste of the fair because the week-long event in late July has been cancelled this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The event was take-out only with no tables to sit down and eat. People had to return to their vehicles with their food.

Batt said many of the fair food vendors have had nearly all of their events cancelled this year. The Extension wanted to give the vendors a chance to make some money during a tough economic time for them.

Scott Kolassa of Churchville runs a taffy, candy apple, cotton candy and fudge booth, as well as a lemonade stand. He suggested the fair food fest.

“It was nice to see the familiar faces and old friends,” he said.