Albion Village Board cancels meeting for this evening
ALBION – Albion Mayor Eileen Banker has cancelled a meeting at 6:30 this evening, which was set for the Village Board to discuss a personnel issue and an employee contract, Banker said.
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Albion police looking for missing girl, 12, and boy, 14
Press Release, Albion Police Department
ALBION – The Albion Police Department is currently investigating a missing person case involving Jennifer Lauro-Ramierez, 12, and Raul S. Cruz, 14.
Both were last scene at approximately 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 12, in the 100 block of South Main Street in the Village of Albion. It is believed the Cruz and Lauro-Ramierez are together.
Jennifer Lauro-Ramierez
Jennifer Lauro-Ramierez is described as follows:
Age: 12
Hispanic Female, Black Hair, Brown Eyes, 5’01” 123 lbs.
Clothing: Black or Gray Hoodie.
Raul S. Cruz
Raul S. Cruz is described as follows:
Age: 14
Hispanic Male, Black Hair, Brown Eyes, 5’06” Slender Build
Clothing: Unknown
Vehicle: None
If anyone has information as to Jennifer Lauro-Ramierez or Raul S. Cruz location, please contact your local 911 center or the Albion Police at 585-589-5627.
Public’s help requested in finding missing Medina man
Courtesy of Medina Police Department
MEDINA — A Medina man’s family hasn’t seen him for about a month and a half, and has filed a missing person’s report.
Heriberto “Roberto” Torres, 57, was living on West Avenue. He attended school at Medina, was in the Army for a decade and was living in the community before moving to Buffalo. About three or four years ago, he moved back to Medina, said his sister, Iris Torres.
The family is concerned because he hasn’t returned to his residence, and left his clothes and medication behind. His phone and wallet have not been found, his sister said.
She lives in Puerto Rico. Anyone with information about her brother can contact her at (787) 391-3801 or jenshejos@gmail.com.
The Medina Police Department posted a missing person’s report for Torres on Sunday. Anyone with information about Torres can contact the Police Department at (585) 798-5602.
Amber Alert cancelled for Byron girl, 14
Kamerie Elliot
BYRON – An Amber Alert has been cancelled for a 14-year-old Byron girl who was allegedly abducted this morning from a location on West Bergen Road.
Kamerie Elliot was located and is safe, State Police said.
She was allegedly taken by a 22-year-old Batavia man driving a blue Dodge Journey.
She was considered in “imminent danger or serious harm and/or death.”
Guillermo Torres-Acevedo
The suspect is Guillermo Torres-Acevedo, who has black hair and brown eyes. The license plates of the Dodge Journey are New York HHP5458.
“They were located together by Pennsylvania State Police in Mansfield, Pa,” the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. “Kamerie was unharmed and will be transported back to Genesee County. Guillermo Torres-Acevedo was taken into custody on warrants from New York State and will be held in Pennsylvania pending extradition proceedings.”
Kamerie and Torres-Acevedo knew each other and Torres-Acevedo had been arrested by State Police on Monday in connection with that an incident involving the girl, the Sheriff’s Office said
Law enforcement say Kamerie got into his Dodge willingly at about 8 a.m. The vehicle was seen traveling northbound on West Bergen Road.
Parade of Lights will lead off with bronze statue of soldier
The statue will be installed in spring by Armory in Medina
This rendering shows the bronze statue mounted by the former Armory, which is now a YMCA on Pearl Street in Medina.
MEDINA – The Parade of Lights this Saturday will lead off with a very special float.
Those who attend the spectacular parade will get the first glimpse of a statue which will be erected atop the monument in front of Medina Armory (YMCA).
The existing monument was an idea of Medina native Bill Menz and pays tribute to the 550 men from Orleans County and the surrounding area who were members of Company F and trained there.
The final piece of the monument, the life-size bronze statue of an infantryman, is to be delivered to Medina Monday afternoon by a family friend, John Brown of Batavia, accompanied by Menz’ daughter Lynne Menz, Cathy Fox (whose father was a member of Company F) and Ginny Kropf, who has covered the story for the media from day one.
Sadly, Menz, at the age of 86, died in July, four months short of seeing completion of his dream.
A veteran himself, Menz first pitched his idea in 2006 to a local World War II veterans’ reunion.
He thought there should be a monument in front of the Medina Armory which would pay tribute, not only to the men who trained there for four world conflicts from 1898 to 1945, but to veterans from all wars. This also included Company C, which trained there from 1947 through 1977, when the National Guard stopped using the building.
With the support of the Sandstone Society, of which Bill was a member, and two years of fundraising, in 2008 the five-sided monument was dedicated, with several World War II veterans and their families in attendance.
Bill’s vision didn’t end there, however, and he began planning for the next phase of his monument – the bronze statue.
More fundraising ensued to raise an additional $65,000 and on Jan. 16, 2017, sculptor Brian Porter of Pendleton was commissioned to do the statue.
In the following months, Bill, Lynne, Fox and Kropf made visits to Porter’s home to view his progress.
Menz, in a wheelchair, also got to visit the foundry at UB were the firing was done, just 11 days before he died.
The Company F soldier will be the first where Porter incorporated 3-D imaging to create molds for the cast bronze statue. In the new process, a miniature clay model was scanned with the 3-D technology and data sent to a CNC machine, which cut out thin plywood slices which were then glued together. This wood structure became a subframe on which clay was applied.
Porter is also an assistant professor of art at Erie Community College, and has created such masterpieces as the United States Seabees Memorial in North Tonawanda. He has also worked with the University of Buffalo to create two statues of graduates to be installed at their North Campus.
The statue’s unveiling at the Parade of Lights will be in front of a crowd anticipated to be 10,000 people.
It is interesting to note the parade route is the exact opposite of that taken by those troops when they marched from the armory to the train station all those years ago.
The statue will be placed in storage after the parade, to await installation in the spring. The Medina Department of Public Works will help erect the 1,500-pound statue on the float and return it to storage.
Valentine is worthy of support for Murray Town Board
Editor:
Teen, formerly from Albion, faces capital murder charges in deaths of sister, mother
A 15-year-old girl formerly from Albion has been charged with two counts of capital murder following the deaths of her sister and mother.
The Limestone County Sheriff’s Office in Alabama announced the charges on Friday. Because the teen is being charged as a juvenile her name is not being released.
She is accused of fatally stabbing her mother, 44-year-old Rosa Aminta Maldonado, and older sister, 19-year-old Rosa Lee Maldonado, who graduated from Albion in 2017. The Maldonados moved to Alabama about a year ago.
Many of the family’s friends in the Albion community had a vigil of remembrance on Friday evening at Bullard Park in Albion.
Rosa Lee Maldonado and her mother were found deceased by deputies at about 1 a.m. Wednesday, after someone in the house made a 911 call.
The 15-year-old had stabbed herself in the head and neck, the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office said. She was treated at a hospital in Huntsville and released on Friday.
The family has established a fundraiser on Facebook. (Click here for more information)
“We’d appreciate any help that we can receive,” according to the post. “We are trying to bury two loved ones who recently passed away. We’d appreciate anything, even the small is big.”
Rosa Aminta Maldonado was the mother of Katie Sanchez, who was 15 in January 2011 when she strangled to death by her brother-in-law, Carlos Cardenas. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Rosa Lee Maldonado was Katie’s younger sister at the time.
911 and Sheriff’s administrative phone lines are down
Press Release, Sheriff Randy Bower
ALBION – All 911 and seven-digit administrative telephone lines at the Orleans County 911 Center are down. If someone has an emergency, call 585-590-4171.
Medina officer tells students that police work to build trust with community
Provided photo: Medina Police Officer Brian Marsceill recently visited with the Security and Law Enforcement classes at the Orleans Career and Technical Education Center. Pictured include, from left: Teacher Gene Newman, Colton Bohall (Royalton Hartland), Hannah Adams (Medina), Officer Brian Marsceill, Lindsay Fulwell (Medina), Elizabeth Keyes (Royalton Hartland) and Teacher Steve Browning.
Press Release, Orleans/Niagara BOCES
MEDINA – Recently in the Security and Law Enforcement classes at the Orleans Career and Technical Education Center, Medina Police Officer Brian Marsceill stopped in to talk to the students about the role of police in a community.
The conversation took an interesting direction about how the press and social media have portrayed law enforcement in light of current events.
Officer Marsceill was invited by teachers Steve Browning and Gene Newman to talk talked about what it takes to become a police officer, what is involved in the exam and interview that is given and his own career path.
Marsceill also opened a dialogue about how police are perceived by the public with the national coverage of assaults and shootings and the general feeling of mistrust in local communities towards law enforcement.
He told the students like any career, you will have people that are not good at doing their jobs and how that is affecting law enforcement and their role in the community.
“It’s really pretty sad that when you talk to children to introduce yourselves and build a relationship and their parents will pull them away and tell them not to talk to us,” Marsceill said. “They tell them that we will take them away if they are bad. It makes our job ten times harder. One of our goals as a police officer is to have transparency with the public and keep the lines of communication open. Bad officers should be held accountable for their poor conduct, but it is not fair to view us all in that light. Most of us got into this career to help people.”
The students were cautioned not to believe everything posted on Facebook and Twitter and in some cases in the media.
“People can say whatever they want on social media and many times they are lies,” he said. “Videos can be edited or not show the whole situation. The news asks very pointed questions so they can write the story they want. It has become a big problem. Many police departments are giving more training on how to deal with the community and change that negative perception.
“We are also getting more training on less lethal methods to take someone down, like tasers, pepper spray and bean bag shotguns. We are trying to change the way people view who we are and what our role is. Involvement is our community is very important and we are working hard to build that trust with the people we have sworn to protect.”
