There was not a lot of faith expressed in Buffalo's Ryan Fitzpatrick in our contest last week. Only four people picked him to lead the NFL in points scored, but the fact of the matter is, among the 10 possible choices in our contest, Fitzpatrick came out on top. In a random drawing of those four people who picked Fitzpatrick, Jason Reese won the contest.
Here's the link to this week's contest.
Press release:
The Genesee/Wyoming Music Educators announce that 38 local students will be performing at three music festivals in November and December.
Miranda Graham (chorus-alto) from Le Roy has been accepted to Conference All State that will be held in early December. This is the highest choral honor for vocalists in New York. Miranda was chosen from a large field of students due to her high score at State Solo Festival last spring. Dillon Hirsch (saxophone) from Elba was chosen as an alternate.
Thirty-six other students were chosen to represent their schools at Area All State, which is a group of select singers from nine surrounding counties. All students had to audition at a state solo festival held late last spring.
These festivals will take place for seventh- through ninth-graders (jr. high
orchestra/chorus/band) Nov. 2-3, and for 10th-12th-graders (sr. high orchestra/chorus/band) Nov. 16-17.
The entire Genesee County list is below:
CONFERENCE ALL STATE:
Miranda Graham (chorus-alto) -- Le Roy
Alternate: Dillon Hirsch (sax) -- Elba
AREA ALL STATE
Alexander:
Jr. High Chorus -- Hunter Doran, Alynn Franclemont, Matthew Genaway, Mary Guarino, Marissa Scharlau
Sr. High Chorus -- Mitchell Boughton, Aaron Guarino, Nick Guarino
Batavia:
Jr. High Chorus -- Madison Hoerbelt, Tessa Lynn
Jr. High Band -- Ross Chua, Celia Flynn, Andrea Gilbarto
Byron-Bergen:
Sr. High Chorus -- Sarah Donovan, Andrew Magin, Kelsey Swinter
Sr. High Band -- Lucas DeValder
Elba:
Sr. High Band -- Dillon Hirsch
Le Roy:
Jr. High Chorus -- Katherine Funderburk, Sophia Matla,
Jr. High Orchestra -- Thomas Dunn, Sophie Farnholz,
Jr. High Band -- Joshua Laurie, Kieran O'Halloran, Jennifer Stotz
Sr. High Chorus -- Rachel Glucksman, Miranda Graham,
Pembroke:
Jr. High Chorus -- Ryan Curtis, Grace Fingerglow, Samantha Quaranto, Maisy Ross, Sindel Wille
Jr. High Band -- Katie Brown
Sr. High Band -- Matt Kowalski
Oakfield:
Jr. High Chorus -- Sara Anzalone
Sr. High Chorus -- Eliza Pionessa
St. Joseph's
Jr. High Chorus -- Fiona Beck, Kyra Stella
A caller reports that she can see smoke coming from the South Main Street Apartments. The caller is in the area of 65 Birchwood Drive. City firefighters are responding.
UPDATE 2:31 p.m.: City fire on scene reports nothing showing at the address, 178 S. Main.
UPDATE 2:34 p.m.: A resident at the apartments says the smoke may be coming from a controlled burn behind a residence on Birchwood Drive. Firefighters are investigating.
UPDATE 2:37 p.m.: The smoke is from an open burn on River Street.
UPDATE 2:41 p.m.: "It's in a pit and it's very controlled," says a firefighter on River Street, who nonetheless asked that a water can be brought over.
UPDATE 2:54: The open burn at 59 River St. has been extinguished and city fire is back in service.A car has careened into the post office building at 11142 S. Lake Road in Pavilion. But an officer on scene says he can find no evidence of it. He's told to check the loading docks. There are reportedly no injuries but an ambulance is responding in non-emergency mode to evaluate the person or persons involved.
UPDATE 2:24 p.m.: A responder says fire and EMS can clear the assignment, but a deputy is called to the scene.
Out in the open, this pair of whitetail does little more than give me a passing glance before going about their business of feeding.
This female, hardly concerned with my presence, is about to continue her browsing.
She pays no attention whatsoever to a sizable flock of boisterous blackbirds. Early autumn can be a great time to spot deer feeding in open fields, but a change in terrain can result in limited sighting opportunites.
Whitetails are skulkers, and in woodlands and dense brush one needs to keep an eye peeled for a flicker of movement, like maybe a twitching tail. I waited a considerable time for this deer to raise its head, curious to see if it was sporting antlers.
Once positioned between a pair of hawthorn trunks I was able to make out an antlerless head. Its a doe, craning her neck for a backward glimpse.
Brian W. Pike, 49, of 37 Lake St., Le Roy; Brant G. Matthews, 17, of 10 Maple Ave., Le Roy; Roxanne M. Redden, 47, of 37 Lake St., Le Roy, and an unnamed 16-year-old female are all charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Pike was also charged with unlawful imprisonment, 2nd. The four individuals were charged following a Le Roy PD investigation into a domestic incident at 6:45 a.m., Thursday, at 37 Lake St., Le Roy. When arriving on scene, officers observed Pike allegedly holding Matthews in a headlock on the floor while Matthews was holding his 3-week-old daughter. Redden and the 16-year-old are accused of being involved in the altercation prior to police arriving. Pike is accused of physically preventing Matthews from leaving the residence. All four subjects were arraigned and released on their own recognizance. DSS assisted in the investigation.
Danielle M. Stevens, 26, of Ford Road, Elba, is charged with petit larceny. Stevens is accused of shoplifting from Tops Market.
In the Byron-Bergen School District, students aren't just learning how to read, write and solve math problems. They're also being taught the basic skills of leadership.
"We want them to be confident individuals," said Brian Meister, the elementary school principal. "We want them to be self-sufficient individuals. We want them to be able to make good choices consistently."
The leadership course is based on Stephen R. Covey's acclaimed "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People." Covey's company has developed "The Leader in Me," a program to teach students the seven habits in a format they can grasp.
In Byron-Bergen, the curriculum is part of a strategy to educate children in a well-rounded fashion. Yes, they learn academics, but they're also exposed to the arts and good citizenship.
At the Thursday evening board meeting (unusually packed with parents), a group of third-graders sang songs, recited their leadership pledge and showed off their leadership pictures.
"It's so important not to just teach them academics, but to teach them to be good citizens," Superintendent Casey Kosiorek said. "We can all agree that if one of these find young individuals moves next door to us, we want them to be good people and we also want them to be intelligent."
The seven habits:
Meister said faculty and staff are really proud at how well students are responding to the course. He said it's rewarding to hear students talk about solving conflicts with a "win-win" attitude.
It's not easy, he said, for a child in elementary school to "seek first to understand," and put themselves in the shoes of the other person before trying to meet their own needs. But he said in fact, they're seeing child trying to learn to take exactly that approach.
During the school board meeting, Kosiorek noted a recent study that showed the vast majority of new patents are filed in the United States, not China. The iPad, he noted, was invented in this country, not overseas. He said the next generation of entrepreneurs will come out of today's schools, and it's Byron-Bergen's job to prepare the next generation of business leaders.
Meister agreed and said that as students move on from elementary school, into high school and then into college or careers they will be the self-confident individuals who are followed by their peers.
"We really believe here at Byron-Bergen that it’s not only our job to teach kids the academics, but also to make sure sure we provide the leaders of tomorrow," Meister said.
A beautiful fall afternoon, I thought I would stop by Godfrey's Pond and see what picture-making opportunities I might find. Mother Nature still has some work to do with her fall palette, but things are coming along nicely.
Pembroke has been forced to cancel its Genesee Region match-up with Holley in Holley on Saturday.
For Holley, that apparently means no homecoming game.
Athletic Director Ron Funke said the team came out of its last game with only 16 healthy players -- the bare minimum required by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association. Then on Tuesday, a player was scratched after reporting he had mono.
"The rules say we need 16 players," Funke said. "We apologize (to Holley) for that, but there is nothing we can do. It is what it is."
Funke said the school looked at all of its options, but without a JV team there was just no chance to get enough players on the roster for Saturday's game.
It's been a tough year for the Dragons, who are 0-5, being shut out twice, scoring more than seven points in only one game and giving up 30 or more points every time out.
A parent who contacted The Batavian said he traced the problem to the addition of boys soccer to Pembroke's varsity schedule.
Two years ago, coaches, parents and students lobbied the board of education to bring soccer back to the school.
Funke said there is no correlation between the addition of soccer and the shortage of football players.
Last year the team had 24 players and 20 of them were seniors. This year, the team has only three seniors.
"I'd like to see what kids on that team who want to play football that aren't (playing football) anyway," Funke said. "They're very different sports."
Dan Courtney, athletic director for Holley, hasn't responded to our request for information on what Holley's plans are for Saturday and homecoming without an opponent.
An accident with injuries is reported at Park and Lewiston roads. Town of Batavia Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding.
UPDATE 3:42 p.m.: A 59-year-old woman whose car was rear-ended in this two-vehicle accident is being taken to UMMC with complaints of neck and lower back pain. Town fire is back in service.
UPDATE 3:47 p.m.: A 56-year-old woman who was a front seat passenger in the vehicle which was rear-ended is also being taken to UMMC. She has neck and back pain and is upset.
UPDATE 4:09 p.m. (by Howard): Deputy on scene said both patients transported primarily for evaulation. The red minivan had relatively minor damage and the SUV that hit it had nearly no damage.
Press release:
The Le Roy Police Department collected a total of 88 pounds of excess medications and 15 pounds of sharps in the last Drug Take Back operation which is part of the nationwide campaign run by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
The Le Roy Police Department wishes to remind all residents that the Le Roy Police Department will take in excess medications any time of the day or night but sharps are only taken in on specific Drug Drop Off days. Please contact the Le Roy Police Department at 345-6350 to request a drop off.
Press release:
Today, Representative Kathy Hochul (NY-26) announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated the seven counties of New York State’s 26th Congressional District as natural disaster areas due to the significant production loss caused by damage from armyworms.
"The infestation of armyworms combined with the spring's wild temperature swings, the summer's drought, and high feed prices have resulted in a particularly difficult year for Western New York farmers. The USDA's disaster designation will provide much needed relief to our farmers dealing with the devastating effects of the armyworms. Farms seeking assistance will now be eligible for emergency loans to help them recover and keep their businesses viable," Rep. Hochul said.
For more information, affected farmers are encouraged to contact their local Farm Service Agency office or Cornell Cooperative Extension Office.
Since the initial reports of the armyworm outbreak, Rep. Hochul has worked with local farmers to mitigate the damage, including seeing the effects firsthand at a Wyoming County farm.
Rep. Hochul has continually advocated for agriculture, a mainstay of Western New York’s economy with nearly 3,500 farms and an annual output of over $739 million in the 26th District alone. Support for agriculture is a key component of Hochul’s REBUILD Plan.
Press release:
The State University of New York Community College Collaborative recently announced that $14,633,390 has been awarded for the Training and Education in Advanced Manufacturing (T.E.A.M.) Educational Pathways Project.
GCC's allocation was $145,348 from the collective pool of T.E.A.M. funding for all 30 New York community colleges, which is subsidized through the U.S. Department of Labor Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College Training Grant Program.
It will ultimately provide more than 3,000 of New York's trade adjustment assistance-eligible workers and unemployed veterans with the education and training necessary to secure high-quality, high-wage jobs in the advanced manufacturing industry.
The T.E.A.M. Educational Pathways Project aligns advanced manufacturing industrial career pathways and third-party certifications for participating students to attain credentials and degrees in two years or less. The targeted industries for the Pathways Project include: advanced manufacturing, plastic and all its related sub-industries, optics, photovoltaics, precision machining/CNC, semi-conductor, and nanotechnology.
A statewide process for designing and offering training and education programs will be developed to replicate the T.E.A.M. model across all community colleges and all academic programs in the applied and occupational sciences.
The Pathways project will also allow the SUNY Statewide Community College Collaborative to leverage additional funding opportunities, such as $20 million in the SUNY2020 capital funds, and a $5 million proposal to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Workforce Innovation Fund in partnership with New York State DOL.
The T.E.A.M. Educational Pathways Project incorporates the following eight key strategies:
(1) Develop and promote educational pathways in advanced manufacturing with clear entry and exit points;
(2) Build and offer uniform core and specialty curricula based on the USDOL competency model for advanced manufacturing and incorporate the NAM-Endorsed Manufacturing Skills Certification System;
(3) Validate new and existing curriculum with industry at state, local and national levels;
(4) Build and offer fast track developmental education curricula in advanced manufacturing programs;
(5) Offer core specialty and developmental education courses online and in other delivery formats;
(6) Build and offer a uniform statewide system for awarding academic credit through prior learning assessment;
(7) Provide centralized student services through campus-based T.E.A.M. Centers in partnership with public workforce systems;
(8) And build and implement a coordinated statewide approach to outreach, recruit, and "earn and learn" models for the advanced manufacturing industry.
A series of existing credentials, both credit and noncredit, will be incorporated into the training program, including but not limited to: ACT's Work Readiness System (National Career Readiness Certificate/NCRC), Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), Manufacturing Skills Standards Council (MSSC), and National Institute of Manufacturing Metalworking Skills (NIMS). Additional training to support or enhance core and specialty curricula will be based on employer demand to include Six Sigma, OSHA standards, EntreSkills and web-based programs offered by the NYS Small Business Development Center.
"Genesee Community College is delighted to be the local partner in a national initiative designed to sharpen the competitive edge of our manufacturing sector," President Jim Sunser said. "Together as partners, the Pathways Project will allow community colleges to bring the very finest, most up to date training programs to our workforce and business community."
Through the grant, GCC will hire three adjunct faculty members to not only teach designated courses, but to also participate in the collaborative developmental meetings and planning process. In addition, the grant will allow the college to purchase equipment in support of its academic programs.
Sheriff's deputies are at the college to check on a complaint of erratic driving. Campus security has the gray Ford Focus in question stopped in the parking lot of College Village. According to dispatch, it's the same vehicle that not long ago was "causing some issues" in the city related to traffic safety when it stopped and conducted "a Chinese fire drill."
A property damage accident is reported on Sand Hill Road, on the Tonawanda Indian Reservation. The driver of the vehicle which reportedly struck the involved property fled northbound in a green Chevy Astro van. But the driver left his or her passenger at the scene.
Paul Petit will soon officially be in charge of two county health departments -- Genesee and Orleans.
Over the past couple of weeks the two counties have hammered out an agreement to share health department services.
Petit, out of Orleans, will become Genesee County's public health director while retaining that position in Orleans County.
Genesee County's interim director, David Whitcroft, will become the environmental health director for both counties.
The official appointment of Petit was approved Wednesday by the Ways and Means Committee and will next be voted on by the full legislature next week.
Petit will be paid by Orleans County and get reimbursed for a portion of his salary by Genesee County, and Whitcroft's $65,000 salary will remain on Genesee County's payroll, but Orleans will share in the expense.
Over time, County Manager Jay Gsell, the arrangement may lead to more shared services between the two health departments, meaning potential cost savings.
For now, the real cost savings comes from the fact the county won't need to hire its own public health director.
For several years, Genesee County has relied on interim health directors, but the state is putting a stop to such an arrangement.
The county must have an actual public health director, but the qualifications for such a position put the annual salary in the $80,000 to $100,000 range. The shared services arrangement will help the county avoid that expense.
There are no sacred cows in county spending any more said Mary Pat Hancock, chair of the Genesee County Legislature, during a budget session on Wednesday.
After first-term Legislator Shelly Stein questioned with trepidation why the county finances the Holland Land Office Museum, Hancock said the legislature should consider every discretionary line item as a possible cost savings.
Legislature Robert Bausch added county parks, GoArt! and the libraries into the mix.
Marianne Clattenberg and Ray Cianfrini had already suggested Genesee County Economic Development Center for the chopping block.
Of course, it's not going to go over well if the legislature cuts both the county's economic engine and its tourism engine, Hancock said.
Clattenberg said that, at least with her constituents, she won't be able to explain a cut to something like HOLM if there aren't also cuts to GCEDC.
Legislators believe the county is facing a fiscal crisis of massive proportions, driven by Albany's cap on tax increases and the inability of state officials to curb spending -- specifically the so-called "unfunded mandates" that counties must fund with no control over how much the expenditures will be or how the money is spent.
During the meeting, there were no votes taken, no decisions made, no real proposals put forward. The budget conference was just a chance for each member of the legislature to sound off about their budget thoughts and concerns.
Frank Ferrando, participating in his first round of budget talks as a legislator, suggested his colleagues stop calling the Albany-driven spending spree "mandates." He said what the mandates really are is a tax on counties levied by Albany politicians.
During the meeting a lot of anger and frustration was directed at Gov. Andrew Cuomo for earlier in the day proclaiming that the tax cap enacted nearly two years ago by the State Legislature is working.
"It frustrates me that the governor can take credit and the Assembly and the Senate can take credit for the tax cap," Ferrando said. "They're killing us and we're too soft on them. It's time to face off. The counties are going broke. They're taxing the heck out of us. The rank-and-file don't get it. You call it a mandate. They don't know what a mandate is. Tell them it's a tax. Everybody gets what a tax is. Our taxes are going up."
Earlier in the meeting, Hancock made a lengthy statement about Cuomo taking credit for the tax cut, but never addressing the need for mandate relief. And she pointed out that the county legislature will need to make big cuts -- if not this year, then next -- to what small part of the budget it does control.
"He says they curbed out-of-control spending by the counties," Hancock said. "That's the message he's put out there, making us all the bad boys and bad girls of local taxes, but he's not talking about mandate relief or a true takeover of Medicaid.
"He said the tax cap worked and to some extent, that is true," Hancock added. "It's not going to change until the people see their services are not the same. They can't be the same. You cannot do what you did for less money.
"They feel if we were just a little more clever, if we pinched here and we did this little bit more wisely, then we would have plenty to spend on local services, but we don't have any control over a lot of these expenses," Hancock continued.
"You heard about the impact on all of the constituents we serve," Hancock said. "You heard from our veterans. You heard from Genesee Justice. You heard from probation. You heard from DSS. These people serve your constituents and we're the ones cutting their budgets. We're the ones sitting here at this table and the pie is getting smaller."
Stein opened the discussion Wednesday evening by asking why the county has both a probation department and Genesee Justice.
"Why they can’t be one, or is that taboo and we can’t talk about?" Stein said.
Her initial remarks were met by a long silence.
County Manager Jay Gsell pointed to a bottle of hand sanitizer in the middle of the conference table and said, "Pretend that's the grenade. You notice nobody's pulled the pin yet."
Gsell then explained that there really are some key differences between the two departments. Probation deals primarily people who have been convicted of a crime and Genesee Justice supervises people going through the court system. One agency is more enforcement-oriented, the other more about monitoring activity and behavior. Probation gets state funding. But release under supervision gets almost no funding support although it helps keep the county's jail costs down, Gsell said.
The other sacred cow several legislators expressed a willingness to gore is the Genesee County Nursing Home.
It simply costs the county too much money, they said, and is a problem that needs to be dealt with sooner rather than later.
"We need to get some direction as a legislature or we're just going to keep shoveling money into that place," Annie Lawrence said. "I just see no end to it if we continue to be owner/operators of such a place. The state and federal government are just going to shift more and more of the cost onto local taxpayers."
A looming crisis for the county are roads and bridges. Lawrence and Ferrando wondered if the county shouldn't finance repairs and reconstruction through bonds. But Gsell said one of the problems the county faces is some existing debt (which will be paid off in two years) and the failure of the state and feds to reimburse the county for social service expenses, most of it tied to the nursing home.
"That $6 million in rolling debt from the state and feds affects our bond rates," Gsell said.
When it came Cianfrini's turn to share his budget thoughts he opened with, "I know I'm going to make some enemies with this, but ..." and then he raised the issue of cutting spending for GCEDC.
"I know, it's a job well done and they've done a great job, but I don't see how we can continue to fund them at the current level when they show profits into the millions of dollars," Cianfrini said. "We're at the point, and I made this comment earlier, where we should only provide essential county services. If it's not an essential county service, we should look at cuts there."
Cianfrini also expressed concern that not everybody in the county has tightened their belts as much as they should. He cited specifically a case of members of the Public Defender's Office all going to a conference at a cost of $4,000 or $5,000.
"Was that necessary?" Cianfrini said. "No. How much of that is going on in the county. I don't know. I think we have to really start looking at where all this money is being spent and (ask) is it really necessary.
Cianfrini also suggested the county look at the services it offers and decide which ones the county should start charging a fee to provide. If the county can't raise taxes sufficiently to cover increased expenses, maybe the county should take a page from Albany's way of operating and start tacking on fees.
"It's always tough to find new sources of revenue," Cianfrini said.
GRAND OPENING! Genesee County Republican Headquarters! Come and enjoy pizza and wings, get your ROMNEY/RYAN Lawn Signs!
Support your 2012 GOP Candidates: Congress-27th - Chris Collins, State Senate-61st - Mike Ranzenhofer, State Assembly-139th - Steve Hawley, Sheriff - Gary Maha, County Treasurer - Scott German, Coroner - Don Coleman & Karen Lang, City Council - Brooks Hawley & Jim Russell
Paid for by the Genesee County Republican Committee
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