Legislator John Deleo, Diana Fox (current director), Ruth Spink (former director), Jill Yasses, and Legislator Gregg Torrey. Photo by Howard Owens.
Dining and dancing highlighted Thursday evening's celebration of the Genesee County Office for the Aging at Batavia Downs.
The agency was celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Founded on June 1, 1974, the agency's mission is to promote the independence of seniors and improve their quality of life by offering services and providing information, support, and advocacy for those 60 and older.
Currently, the office employs 33 people and receives support from numerous volunteers.
The primary funding for the agency is a federal program authorized by the Older Americans Act.
More than 30 schools around the GLOW region participated in the 6th annual event. Photo by Steve Ognibene
Students from school districts in Genesee, Livingston, Orleans, and Wyoming Counties engage with employers throughout the event, exploring careers that could unveil new opportunities they may not have previously considered.
Over 70 businesses provided hands-on activities and simulations in the advanced manufacturing, agriculture, food production, skilled trades sectors as well as the various branches of the military. Students learned about career opportunities in their own backyard that offer good-paying opportunities immediately after high school graduation, as well as accelerated training programs available in the region.
“We have seen GLOW With Your Hands participants grow into successful professionals, and businesses that participate in our manufacturing and healthcare event grow their next generation. Having over 1,000 students and a record number of employers at our event reaffirms that there is a significant need for these connections and a significant benefit created at our events,” added GLOW With Your Hands, Co-Chair Karyn Winters.
Led by Platinum Sponsors LandPro Equipment, National Grid, and newcomer Davis-Fetch, many businesses have participated in every GLOW With Your Hands since 2019, including representatives of the advanced manufacturing, agriculture, food and beverage manufacturing, and construction trades.
Davis-Fetch specializes in commercial building construction services focusing on building interior spaces, walls, ceilings, and acoustical wall panels. This is the company’s inaugural GLOW With Your Hands event featuring a hands-on demonstration of installing drywall screws and using a drywall zip tool around electrical boxes. Davis-Fetch used this as an opportunity to engage with the next generation of workforce candidates in the GLOW region.
“Rather than setting up a booth and speaking with students, we were able to interact with the next generation of workforce candidates with a hands-on approach that was educational and informative of our work, " said Davis-Fetch President Frank Kittlinger. “After witnessing the engagement of over a thousand students today, we look forward to being a part of GLOW With Your Hands annually.”
After launching in 2019 with 800 students, GLOW With Your Hands has grown into the premier workforce development program in the region. Including GLOW With Your Hands: Healthcare, a hands-on medical careers program held annually in March, more than 5,000 students have participated in GLOW With Your Hands events since 2019.
“Our goal is to provide local youth with family-sustaining career opportunities that lead to fulfilling lifestyles and positively impact local communities,” said GLOW With Your Hands Co-Chair Angela Grouse. “By getting hands-on and informational experiences, our students are taking the first step toward that goal.”
Albion High School Senior Joseph Schoberlein said he was not aware of many of the careers present at GLOW With Your Hands before today and came away with an understanding of what opportunities are available to him after graduation this upcoming spring.
“There are a number of jobs you learn about at GLOW With Your Hands that you do not experience in a traditional classroom setting, a lot of these careers do not require a college degree. I can enter the workforce immediately out of high school with a good-paying job without taking the college route,” stated Schoberlien.
On Tuesday, September 10 FEMA held a meeting at City Hall to review proposed flood zone updates, and present draft maps to City officials.
From the data FEMA collected, new flood zone maps were created for the City of Batavia. The draft maps include 147 structures (they include sheds as well as homes and businesses) and removes 282 structures from the current flood zone. In total, the City will have 1,052 structures in the new draft flood zone.
City officials have been asked to provide comments on the draft maps. The City will be conducting a detailed review of the proposed changes on behalf of City residents and businesses, but want to hear resident feedback.
Below is a link to view the updated flood zone map from FEMA. We are asking residents and business owners to review the map and contact us with comments you may have.
Genesee County Planning is creating a list of affected properties so the City can help property owners identify if the new maps will affect them.
Properties added should carefully review their elevations and future issues of flooding. Properties that will be removed from the flood plain will need to work with FEMA to certify removal and reduce their insurance.
This year’s second annual Wings Over Batavia has already shown a promising sign of the air show's ongoing popularity: an uptick in attendance.
The 2024 event brought in some 2,000 additional people to Genesee County Airport, according to Tim Hens’ annual public works report.
There were approximately 11,000 attendees and volunteers on the premises this year, said Hens, the county’s public works commissioner.
Other figures that strayed from year one of the event were the 2,750 gallons of aviation fuel the county sold to the air show, resulting in $16,500 in revenue for the airport, he said.
Fuel sales spiked at the end of 2023, one of the first real increases since the pandemic, Hens said. The return of the Mercy Flight helicopter helped Jet-A sales. This higher level of usage has continued this year, especially as fuel prices have come down a little, he said.
Overtime costs for public works employees at the air show were identical to those cited in 2023: $6,308. There were no traffic, safety or security issues and only two minor injuries, he said — a volunteer lacerated a finger and a patron suffered dehydration — that required medical attention.
For a second year in a row, Hens noted the quiet (outside of the Labor Day festivities) due to the lack of construction but promised that it is coming.
A future project for 2025 will include the replacement of many incandescent runway and taxiway lights with LED versions. “This should generate future savings on electrical usage,” he said.
An equipment storage building is being designed for construction in 2025, to be mostly paid for with a state AIR-99 grant.
The county is working with OnCore Aviation, a start-up flight school at the airport, which has “great plans for the airport and the local aviation community,” Hens said. He believes “a successful flight school is essential at the airport.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, a senior engineering technician position paying $7 less per hour than the going market rate has remained vacant since May 2023, “with very few interested in the position,” he said.
“We also continue to have high turnover in positions,” Hens said. “We recently lost another very experienced heavy equipment operator who left for the town of Pembroke, which pays significantly more than the county.”
Work goes on, though, with the Fargo Road Bridge in Bethany under construction and scheduled for completion this fall and the Attica Road Bridge replacement design nearing completion and to go out for bid in 2025.
The county has eight federal aid or bridge or culvert projects programmed over the next three years, he said.
Other projects in progress, whether in the design or construction phase, include renovations at the Engine House on West Main Street to add an elevator and make the second floor more accessible; the Animal Shelter, mandated under state policy to be upgraded no later than Dec. 31, 2025, with the biggest change to be air-conditioned kennels; and Holland Land Office Museum’s several life-safety upgrades and Americans with Disabilities Act accommodations, also slated for 2025.
Under the county water category, “there’s always a lot going on with water,” Hens said.
Improvements continue at the city water treatment plant. The filter media was completely replaced, the new lime slaker and boiler were installed, the roof over the pipe gallery was repaired, some electrical and pump upgrades were made, and more is scheduled for the off-peak season. Hens believes there’s more reliability at the water plant, and it’s made a difference.
“We were able to make it through the summer without any type of water restriction,” he said.
Counter to that, there has been slow progress with Phase 2 of the county’s three-phase water project, he said. Investigation is being done about corroded materials at the Mumford and Churchville Pump Stations, and corrosion and its cause are delaying the completion of four remaining pump stations under construction.
Progress has been made on the Morgan Road Pump Station, but due to the related corrosion problems at other stations, the pump selection and ordering must be completed before the improvements and extra water needed can be brought online, he said.
”Without a resolution within the next several weeks, the Phase 2 pump stations might not be brought online until 2026,” he said.
The Phase 3 basis of design, a significant project requiring the entire county to be reevaluated from a hydraulic and water quality standpoint, is nearing completion.
Funding is also a major issue for the project's $150 million third phase.
“We continue to seek funds from anyone and everyone,” he said.
The county recently applied for and received a $30 million Water Infrastructure Improvement grant, and “we have whispers that we might be successful on the first $10 million from the environmental program funds set aside within the Water Resources Development Act.”
HomeCare & Hospice of Batavia received a $1,000 grant from The WalMart Pharmacy Batavia, 4133 Veterans Memorial Drive to continue helping families maintain independence at home, with compassion.
Melissa Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer of HomeCare &Hospice, stated, “It’s an incredible honor to be chosen for a SparkGood grant. HomeCare & Hospice depends greatly on donations, grants, and fundraisers to raise awareness of our services. Being selected from among the many nonprofits in Genesee County is truly humbling.”
HomeCare & Hospice is a multi-disciplinary approach to end-of-life care. It brings together a team of nurses, physicians, social workers, spiritual care providers, aide staff and volunteers to provide the care necessary to allow a patient to pass away, peacefully in a dignified manner in their own homes. This program provides quality pain and symptom management so that the patient's final days, weeks, months have as much quality of life as possible.
The ability to manage a patient's symptoms also reduces stress on caregivers, family, and friends. It also prevents unnecessary hospitalizations and emergency room visits. Hospice makes it possible for patients to pass in their own homes.
According to the SparkGood website, the grants are awarded to a variety of organizations, such as animal shelters, elder services, and community clean-up projects. In FY2023, their stores and Sam’s clubs provided more than $45 million in local grants.
Somnit Wilson, Walmart Pharmacy Manager, added, “Why did I choose HCH for this grant? End-of-life care is often overlooked in many communities, yet hospice offers invaluable support to families. It provides essential care that brings comfort and healing to those navigating the end-of-life journey.”
Being an emergency medical service provider in a rural, lower-income population certainly has its challenges, says Dane Sprague, president of Le Roy Ambulance Service, Inc. Board of Directors.
A good percentage of folks using the ambulance service are on Medicaid or Medicare and/or request not to be taken to a hospital, which either cannot be billed or reimbursed.
“I find a good portion of what we do goes unreimbursed in terms of Le Roy Ambulance Service. We go out on a call, and we may provide treatment to an individual that doesn't involve transportation. And we get no reimbursement from the government programs for Medicare or Medicaid for that type of treatment. And if it's a Medicaid patient, we can't even bill them for that,” Sprague said Wednesday to The Batavian. “I haven't seen the specifics of the legislation or what type of rate structure they're proposing, but anything at this point would be beneficial because, as I said, we provide so much unreimbursed care.
“In a typical month, this past month of August, I think we had 125 calls that we went out on. Only 87 of those were actually billable,” he said. “We’re providing a lot of unreimbursed care to people. If they don’t pay us we still can’t refuse service. If somebody needs care they’re going to get care regardless of their insurance status or how much they may owe us for past visits or whatever. If they’re a Medicaid patient, there’s no provision for that.”
He is hopeful that Gov. Kathy Hochul will sign a bill endorsed by the state Association of Counties this week that would allow EMS agencies and ambulance networks to be reimbursed for treating patients at the scene of the incident and/or transporting them to non-emergency room care facilities for treatment and triage.
The legislation has been in the works, and the association adopted a resolution during its annual fall meeting this week. Here is the full resolution awating Hochul's signature. The legislation is now on Hochul’s desk for approval. It is considered critical to ensure that EMS providers, including Le Roy Ambulance Service and Mercy EMS, two providers under contract for Genesee County, are financially stable and can properly operate and serve residents of New York State.
The EMS legislation only covers Medicaid Insurance, which has not been reimbursing providers, county Manager Matt Landers said, and does not cover Medicare or private insurance.
“I support this resolution as it compensates emergency responders for sevices provided and helps shore up the finances of our resource-strapped first responder agencies,” Landers said. “The current model of only reimbursing for transports to a hospital ignore the many instances where a patient receives costly treatment at the scene or when the ambulance transports the patient to a more ideal location for the specific situation, such as an urgent care facility or a mental health treatment facility.”
Genesee County has seen a gradual increase in the need for Medicaid, a joint federal and state program that provides health coverage for people with limited income and resources. It has grown from 13.3% a decade ago to about 20 percent in 2022, according to datausa.
About 70 percent of Le Roy Ambulance Service’s patients are covered by government programs such as Medicaid, Sprague said. And as a result, “we’re operating at a deficit because of poor reimbursement,” he said.
“A good portion of what we do goes unreimbursed. If we provide treatment to an individual but provide no transportation to a hospital, we receive no reimbursement. We cannot even bill them for that,” he said. “Anything at this point would be beneficial.”
“(Insurance/Medicare) only pay because of a transport to the hospital,” he said. “Anything that will enhance our ability … would be great. Hopefully Kathy Hochul will sign it.”
Under current law, EMS agencies are only reimbursed when transporting a patient to a hospital emergency room. This arrangement is not only financially challenging for EMS agencies, but it also contributes to patients being transported to healthcare settings when a hospital emergency room may not be the most appropriate setting to administer treatment.
Additionally, hospital emergency rooms across the state are already beyond capacity, county officials said, with extraordinary wait times for admission to a hospital bed and is often the most expensive care setting possible for the patient.
It’s not like there haven’t been exceptions in the past. During the COVID pandemic, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) allowed waivers for ambulance services to be reimbursed for treatment in place and transportation to an alternative provider, but those ended in May 2023. Data from these waivers indicates that reimbursing EMS for treatment in place and transportation to an alternate provider would save the federal government around $2 billion annually, and commensurate savings at the state level, according to a related press release.
Allowing EMS practitioners to treat patients at their homes or the scene of the incident and receive reimbursement for delivering those services enables EMS agencies to return to action immediately—rather than waiting for a hospital to admit their patient.
Another issue cited by officials is that many patients dial 9-1-1 to seek emergency medical treatment when they are experiencing a mental health crisis. Allowing EMS agencies to transport a patient immediately to a behavioral healthcare facility not only expedites the patient's mental health treatment but also relieves inpatient hospital mental health units from having to respond to every mental health incident.
Reducing those wait times is one important benefit of this legislation, said Scott Wooton, executive vice president of Mercy Flight Inc., while being able to bill for non transports would be another.
“Transporting to alternate destinations, as opposed to a hospital, as far as how that's going to impact EMS, it's not a huge difference. I mean, the time to transport somebody to an urgent care or a doctor's office as opposed to a hospital, is roughly about the same,” he said. “Where it could really have an impact is less critical patients going to an urgent care, as opposed to a hospital, is going to help reduce wait times at ERs. I think it's a good move in terms of utilizing the hospital and utilizing the health resources that are out there in a way that makes sense, where you're not sending patients to an ER that maybe have something that could be treated by an urgent care, because wait times in emergency rooms can be an issue.”
Providers will have to work through the logistics of finding urgent cares that will accept patients via ambulance, and that will get EMS providers back in service more quickly, he said, versus having to wait at the emergency room with a patient while he or she is getting admitted.
The other issue has been when providers complete an on-the-spot evaluation but the patient refuses transport to a hospital. Those cases have not been billable, and although this particular legislation isn’t going to change those scenarios involving private insurance and Medicare, it would ramp up payments from the Medicaid system that has not been reimbursing for such services.
“The fact that the state is now backing that, insurance will now be compelled to cover that we want to be reimbursed, that is smart legislation,” Wooton said.
“You know, we're really not in the business of just transporting patients from one place to another; we're in the business of being ready for emergencies. So anything that we can do to shorten the amount of time that it takes for us to get somebody where they need to go and get back and get ready again for the next one is exciting,” he said. “But then, in terms of the ability to bill for a treat and release, or for a patient refusal, it depends on how that actually works out.”
Given the bill’s freshness, he wasn’t familiar with how billing will work, though he pointed to Medicare as the largest payer for most emergency medical services, he said. Medicare is for people age 65 and older.
“I don’t know how the law will interact with this plan; it’s a little too early to tell the financial impact, but it’s a good thing for patients, and a good thing for people,” he said.
Wooton is happy about the other piece of legislation, the Direct Pay to Ambulance Service law, already passed and ready to take effect on Jan. 1, that will allow for direct payments from the insurance company to the provider rather than to the patient. When payments went to the patient, there would be a lag in the money being turned over to the EMS provider, Wooton said, and this measure will streamline that process and get payments where they belong more quickly.
“This will pay pay to the provider and bring insurance company to the table and are paying fairly and timely at a rate that allows us to be sustainable,” he said. “We need sustainable ambulance services, and the only way to do that is to make sure that they’re being reimbursed fairly.”
School’s back in session, and while a cell phone ban in schools might seem like one simple answer to cyberbullying and unnecessary distractions, at least five Genesee County superintendents are against it, according to questions sent to all eight public school district administrators by The Batavian.
Gov. Kathy Hochul went on a listening tour this summer as she has considered a phone ban for students in New York State schools. Such measures at the district level have been rare so far, with Bethlehem Central School cited as one of only a few of the 4,411 state schools to implement such a ban, and not just on phones at that school, but on all electronics, including earbuds and smartwatches.
Questions included the school district’s current phone policy, thoughts about an outright ban on phones in the school/classroom, how the school community would likely respond, benefits and drawbacks of a ban, and whether it’s worth the potential uphill battle and other logistical and financial considerations.
Gretchen Rosales
Elba Central School Superintendent Gretchen Rosales listed several reasons for why a ban is not a great idea, from organizational to financial burdens.
“An outright ban would be difficult to enforce and a problematic interruption to the organization of education. I am much more in support of teaching students how to effectively use cell phones within a system. This includes educating students on the dangers of social media and how a lack of personal communication affects relationships,” Rosales said. “We model what we want our children to learn; this is also true of cell phone use. When something is banned outright, we lose the opportunity to teach students how to effectively manage it.
“Right now, this has not been considered, as the legislation has not been passed. I can see it creating a financial burden on schools to implement another mandate - monitoring for use and detecting possession can be a costly distraction,” she said. “I would not want to speculate on how the entire school community would react to such a ban without having conversations first. This is a topic with varied opinions. Whenever faced with a large-scale policy shift, having an open dialogue with all stakeholders proves to be most effective.”
Elba’s current policy is that cell phones are not allowed at elementary school and that there’s a limited-use phone policy at junior-senior high school. Phone use for “educational purposes,” such as using a calculator or accessing educational sites, is up to teacher discretion, she said. Per the district’s code of conduct, students are “prohibited from taking pictures of or recording others, or using phones in a way that may disrupt the educational process,” she said.
Officials at one of those few schools with a full ban had been quoted as saying it made a difference in students’ interactions with one another and that an “enjoyable noise” could be heard of kids laughing and talking in the hallways versus focused on the phone screen.
Rosales was one of several superintendents who has experienced this, she said, regardless of whether a phone ban is in place.
“I find that students interacting with each other still happens more frequently than we might believe. I would also state that any battle we believe in is worthy of fighting. The crux of the argument lies in a) a balance of providing safe boundaries for children to navigate the world and b) allowing local school districts to decide how best to educate the children in their communities based on the school's specific needs,” she said. “Every school is different — so our approach to the cell phone issue should be as varied as the needs of our individual communities.”
Matthew Calderon
Pembroke Central School Superintendent Matthew Calderón shared the socialization he observed on Wednesday, even with cell phones in hand.
“Today was the first day of school in Pembroke, and I experienced the common and enjoyable sound of kids interacting with one another in the hallways despite many of them having cell phones. We have amazing students, strong families, and wonderful employees, and if the state chooses to ban cell phones, I have full confidence we can navigate it in a way that helps everyone overcome their angst. Is it a battle worth fighting? Good question. The fight to nurture and care for the hearts and minds of our young people is a noble and necessary fight, and at the same time, I believe an all-out ban on cell phones will greatly miss the mark in that regard,” he said. “If we want to help young people learn how to interact with each other in real and authentic ways, there are better ways to do that. I'm also not sure that our academic performance on numerous measures, including state tests, indicates that cell phones are hindering learning here in our small rural school district.”
As for his stance on a cell phone ban, “I believe in local autonomy, and I generally don't support state-wide one-size-fits-all approaches,” he said. “We do not intend to move toward an all-out ban. If it becomes yet another mandate for schools, we will assess what we need to do at that time.”
That being said, Calderón feels that there are advantages and disadvantages to allowing cell phones in schools and to banning them.
“I would need to survey my community to know for sure, but my sense is that the majority of parents, employees and students would be opposed to an outright ban on cell phones,” he said.
Current policy at Pembroke is that cell phone use is permitted during non-instructional time, such as lunch, and during class for instructional purposes in the junior-senior high school, per teacher discretion.
“While some elementary students may have phones, it's not really an issue at the two elementary buildings,” he said. “School districts already have the autonomy to ban phones if they so choose, and I believe it is a decision that should be left to each school district and its community.”
John Fisgus
Over at Oakfield-Alabama Central School, the question of banning phones isn’t really the point, Superintendent John Fisgus said.
Students at OA are allowed to carry their cell phones with them at all times and are instructed and taught when they are allowed to use them or not. Our students, who show great respect for these limitations, understand that it is not about banning cell phones, but about teaching them the proper use and time to use them,” Fisgus said. “This understanding and respect from our students is a testament to the effectiveness of our approach. I do not support the banning of cell phones.
"It's important to remember that media literacy is not just a buzzword, but a critical skill for our students who are born and live in a rapidly evolving digital society, of which cell phones are a common denominator,” he said. “Parents and students also find safety in having access to their phones, especially communicating (texting) during emergencies.”
He also cited an important medical reason for keeping one’s phone nearby: apps that work as blood-level monitors.
“I, for one, am a diabetic who utilizes a sensor and a cell phone app to constantly monitor my glucose levels,” he said. “My cell phone provides me with alerts and real-time glucose readings. I certainly know we have students in our district who do the same.
“Outright banning cell phones is an extreme measure in my eyes. Teaching this generation how/when to use cell phones during school hours provides a healthy balance for our staff, students, and their families,” he said. “Again, let's ‘teach’ about and role model when to use cell phones, not ban them.”
Likewise, Batavia City and Le Roy Central school district superintendents Jason Smith and Merritt Holly oppose a phone ban and believe that it’s a district's responsibility to teach about cell phone use rather than merely banish it from the classroom.
Jason Smith
“Our District does not have an outright ban, and I believe we need to teach students how to properly manage their devices' responsibility, as opposed to a total ban, Superintendent Jason Smith said about the Batavia City Schools’ students. “There are cell phone rules on airplanes, concerts, movie theaters, etc., and I believe schools should operate under a similar premise: use the technology responsibly and appropriately.”
The Batavian must note that, in September 2023, the district’s Board of Education joined a consortium formed to sue social media giants — TikTok, Snapchat, and Facebook, for example — for creating “a youth mental health crisis caused by social media addiction” via their cell phones. So, while the district is against banning cell phones during school time, it is also suing social media for bombarding kids through those phones.
So, The Batavian asked Smith why not remove those opportunities for social media during the school day.
"At our schools, we have procedures in classrooms that provide structure and guidelines for cell phone use, and we are continually refining and updating these procedures, as well as providing reminders to our students," Smith said. "When used properly, cell phones have a myriad of teaching opportunities, too, as I have seen teachers use apps and programs that enhance lessons. If we are required to institute a total ban, then we will do so, but again, we have procedures in place at our schools that govern cell phone use. Completely removing cell phones does nothing to teach students proper use--that is precisely why we have rules and procedures in our schools."
And is the district educating kids about the dangers of social media on their cell phones since you speak about teaching responsibility to them?
"We have provided training to our library media specialists over the years on digital citizenship, and they have subsequently written a curriculum on this topic. We have two digital citizenship classes at the Batavia Middle School in grades 5 and 8," he said. "Finally, at every opportunity we have, our principals and assistant principals, along with our counselors, always remind and teach our students proper cell phone use. I would continue to encourage families to continue to do the same with their children."
When asked if he thought his school community — parents, staff, faculty, students — would benefit and get on board with a phone ban, Smith replied:
“There would likely be a wide range of opinions on this matter, with some strongly in favor and some strongly opposed, and many views in the middle,” he said. “Regardless, we are educators first and foremost and need to teach students how to use devices properly, just as we teach 16-year-olds how to drive a car properly – both can be dangerous if used improperly.
“Should the governor be successful in gaining legislative support for this measure, we will work with our school community and staff on how to best implement such a policy,” Smith said. “An outright and full ban does not teach students how to properly manage their devices. In addition, cell phones have become an integral part of society and often serve as a measure of safety for parents and students.”
He said the district’s current policy has cell phones off and put away, but it depends on the school. Each school has its own special guidelines based on the age of students.
“We do not have a complete cell phone ban at any of our schools, and phones are allowed in schools,” he said.
That policy has not seemed to deter students from interacting with one another, something that may go against one’s belief that devices are isolating, according to Smith’s daily walks through school.
“I am in our schools every day, and not a day goes by when I do not hear the enjoyable noise of students interacting with one another and our staff – with or without a cell phone,” he said.
Merritt Holly
Le Roy has a color-coded policy, where the Red Zone at Wolcott Street School for grades kindergarten through grade six signals that phones are to be off and in one’s backpack or locker during the school day, versus a Yellow Zone in the Junior/Senior High School for grades seven through 12 is for the hallway, cafeteria, classrooms, and library.
The zones were created to guide students in properly using their electronic devices, Le Roy Central School Superintendent Merritt Holly said. The teacher communicates if using a cell phone is allowed in these areas. Red Zones at the high school are in the bathrooms, locker rooms and auditorium.
He would not support an outright ban of phones in the classroom and believes it should remain a local school decision. Implementing a ban would also eliminate the opportunity to do what schools are supposed to do, he said and ignores the main issues about phone usage.
“Our cell phone procedures function in both buildings and allow teachers and administrators to educate our students on properly using their electronic devices. The cell phone procedures also allow for flexibility, especially at the Jr/Sr High School. If a Jr/Sr High School teacher wants to make their classroom a red zone for the day, week, month, or year, they have the option to do so. Another teacher may have the student use their phone for instructional purposes. Building principals could also limit cell phone use for a particular student if a student violated the Code of Conduct or had a zone violation,” he said. “Instructing students in and on digital literacy is essential in education. Students need to learn how to use technology safely, effectively, and responsibly to communicate effectively. Instituting a ban does not address root causes or concerns around cell phone use.”
The Batavian did not receive responses from Alexander, Byron-Bergen and Pavilion school districts.
Hochul seemed fairly confident in her decision to move toward a ban after her tour of school districts earlier this year. If she approves a state law, New York will join Florida, Louisiana, Indiana, South Carolina and Los Angeles County with similar restrictions. New York City is also reportedly considering its own ban ahead of the potential state-wide mandate.
“I pretty much know where I’m going. I believe people will come along because I know what I’ve heard, that this is probably the one bipartisan — I want to say nonpartisan — issue that really is having a breakthrough,” Hochul said in a recent interview with The NY Times. “I want to go big on this one. We’re going big.”
A harvesting robot in an automated greenhouse for strawberries. Submitted Photo
Tucked into rural Genesee County is a little-known greenhouse filled with automated technology. It’s overseeing a sweet crop of strawberries that just might turn agriculture on its head.
At least that’s what founder and CEO Gilwoo Lee is banking on with Zordi, her autonomous greenhouses with robots and artificial intelligence (AI) designed to make delicious, high-quality produce available anywhere in the world. Her company has two locations: the most recently acquired farm in southern New Jersey and, through the connection of co-founder and head grower Casey Call, a greenhouse in Oakfield.
Zordi has made the top 20 list for the annual Grow-NY, a business competition focused on enhancing the emerging food, beverage, and agriculture innovation cluster in upstate New York. Winning companies will be required to make a positive economic impact in the Grow-NY region, which includes 22 counties located in Central New York, the Finger Lakes, and the Southern Tier regions.
Lee isn’t quite certain what the pitch will be to snag the winning spot in the contest, but she knows her end goal.
Gilwoo Lee
“So basically what we need to prove out, is the largest market in the U.S. gonna love us?” she said. A native of South Korea, Lee has a unique vantage point of that area’s use of controlled environments.
"I applied to Carnegie University's Robotics Institute. That's like the number one when it comes to robots. So I started studying there, and then, long story short, I graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle with a Ph.D in AI and robotics. I really wanted to take that to where it felt personally, very meaningful and passionate about climate change sustainability and where there's labor shortage, and that led me to control the environment in agriculture like greenhouses and indoor farming in general,” she said. “One thing just historically is interesting about Korea, and that's kind of why I was a little bit more familiar, is that they do a lot of greenhouses, mainly because they get a lot more scarcity, like land, and not all the weather is as great as California. So I was just studying that and started my company.”
An AI roboticist and product of MIT, University of Washington and Carnegie Mellon University, Lee wants to build robotic greenhouses anywhere, and perhaps even more importantly, “deliver the best food.”
Before she could proceed, though, she needed to get the best farmer/grower for her initiative. After securing a venture capital company, she was able to meet with some 30 different head growers across the country.
She ended up meeting this one guy “doing a lot of greenhouses and vertical farm, indoor farm stuff. Turns out I really, really liked what the person that stood out the most, like way above everybody else in terms of the mission and expertise and knowledge, was working at a company called Plenty, which is in the Bay Area. It is the largest vertical farm, completely indoors, without sunlight,” Lee said. “And he was in charge of the production, and he was ready to basically, and it's super expensive, by the way, to do those things, so he was a little bit really looking for a more affordable, effective solution. And so I asked him to join the company ... So he was my first employee/co-founder.”
His name is Casey Call, son of Peter, president of My-T Acres in Batavia. Lee learned that Casey is a sixth-generation farmer, and she was drawn to Western New York. The co-founders ended up leasing a greenhouse that Pudgie Riner was retiring with Triple P Farms, she said.
"We were building a new greenhouse as a complete startup; it takes a lot of expertise, and we're like, how do we get this right? You don't have that much time. You kind of have time and money to kind of balance out, and Pudgie at Triple P was really kind to offer a greenhouse that was ready to retire. So we took that, and we are leasing it," she said. "We completely retrofitted it, put a lot of infrastructure to make it essentially, you can flip the season inside of the greenhouse. So that's how we started growing these very new, exciting varieties of strawberries that are really sweet varieties.
"And we've been very small, and that's why I've been very stealth, not necessarily stealth, it was just a really small growing them, running a robot," she said. "And as a startup, you do actually have to kind of prove it and put your best effort in one location.”
The crop has been small in volume and Zordi has sold to two stores in Manhattan, and is selling to a Wegmans in New York City, in addition to using family members as guinea pigs to taste test the sweet product, so no one locally will have seen it or been able to purchase these berries yet, she said.
Bottom line: venture capital investors are looking to confirm that Lee and Call know what they are are doing and can do it well before moving on to the next stage.
So what’s the next stage?
“We opened a second farm in South New Jersey as part of that kind of one step ahead for kind of proving our points," Lee said. "So we are running both of the farms. Both of them are still pretty tiny; we’re not actually scaling. It’s more like we’re proving these out across these two locations.”
The Oakfield greenhouse opened in September 2022, and Southern New Jersey a year later. They employ up to four full-time people and have three different types of robots on site: scout, which involves the robots moving throughout the greenhouse and capturing all of the growing data; harvest, to collect the plants; and spray the plants. The first two were built in-house, said Lee, an engineer who really likes robots, abstract things, math and computer science and loves it “when I can bring things to real life.”
She foresees using robotics in the greenhouse for other healthy fresh produce, such as cucumbers and tomatoes. As for the Grow-NY contest, “we’re still trying to hash out the best project, but this particular site and what we’re bringing in is certainly very innovative and futuristic,” she said.
“We have our own proprietary robots and AI kind of fully managing the greenhouses. We certainly have a lot of experts kind of coming in and really contributing. But really the ultimate goal is, can we make this farming easy enough for young growers to run these farms or young operators to run these farms and have really high yield and quality, that is what we’re tracking,” she said. “We do have, for example, monitoring robots that are running around the farm, literally capturing every single plant, every single day, and then the AI that’s making decisions, harvesting robots that are helping out all the harvesting labor, spraying robots.
"So a lot of these are automation to help the farms scale up. Those are the key things that we’re putting together and pushing demonstrating that it results in a much better quality product, enabling the better quality products to be delivered at a very affordable price," she said. "That, I think, is the ultimate goal of our business, and we’re starting that out. We have been proving that out in Western New York.”
Casey Call, who obtained his master’s in business administration from Boston University, was an agronomist for more than 15,000 acres at Grimmway, the largest carrot grower in the world, and head grower for Plenty, a leading vertical indoor farming system, floats between the two Zordi greenhouse sites in New York and New Jersey to manage them.
A total of 312 startups applied from 50 countries, including Canada, the UK, and Italy for the Grow-NY competition. Domestic teams also showed strong interest, with 26 states represented in the applicant pool, including 89 entries from New York. Forty-four percent of applicants included a female founder, and 60 percent included a founder from a culturally diverse group.
A panel of 30 judges, reflecting a depth and breadth of regional economic development expertise, knowledge of the region’s agriculture and food production communities, and entrepreneurial experience, reviewed all the applications to determine the top 20 finalists that will pitch their business plans at the Grow-NY Food and Ag Summit in Ithaca in November.
Grow-NY will award seven winners a total of $3 million in prize money. This includes a $1 million top prize, two $500,000 awards, and four $250,000 prizes.
Just two years ago, a local company, Craft Cannery of Bergen, won a $500,000 award for Paul Guglielmo's pitch. A tip for future applicant Lee, perhaps: he opted to play the soundtrack from the Broadway musical "Hamilton" to pump him up, and it really energized him, he said.
“From farming to food production, New York is an innovative, world-class leader in agriculture. Year after year, the Grow-NY competition is instrumental to bringing new, high-growth businesses in the industry focused on critical areas to our state,” State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball said. “This event has once again brought to light just how critical agriculture is to our communities and to our economy, and I congratulate these finalists on their innovation that will help bolster our food systems, feed our communities, and move our state forward.”
The last several months and leading right up to the final pitch have included mentorship opportunities, introductions to the region’s leaders and resources to connect applicants with potential partnerships and other strategic opportunities; site visits, business tours, industrial and economic development agency introductions, and pitch training.
The accelerator culminates with a live pitch at the Grow-NY Food and Ag Summit, scheduled for November 6 and 7 in Ithaca at the brand-new Downtown Ithaca Conference Center.
The Summit will be held in two formats simultaneously, in-person and virtually, with finalists pitching their business ideas live in front of an audience and answering questions from a judging panel. The event also includes a food and agriculture symposium, ecosystem expo, and student pitches. The 2024 Grow-NY winners will be revealed in a live awards presentation at the conclusion of the Summit.
Anyone living in Batavia, and certainly those in the vicinity of Genesee County Airport, would have heard the unmistakable engine sounds of airplanes and jets zooming overhead Friday afternoon and evening as performers rehearsed and pivoted for media in preparation for the Wings Over Batavia Air Show this weekend.
Organizers and county leaders were at the airport excitedly anticipating the two-day event. While much of the focus, understandably, zeroes in on the performers and acts, county Legislative Chair Shelley Stein says there are other aspects to be considered.
"This air show is about pride in our community and what we can put together as a group of individuals,” Stein said Friday evening at the airport on Saile Drive. “You don't really have to be an airplane aficionado to appreciate the artistry in the sky and the fact that it's a family event, right? So, the kiddos get in for free when you have a parent buying a ticket. It's affordable. It is imaginative here, and it encourages kids to think about flying as a career. You can't help but catch a little bit of a bug here for the kids. So it's just engaging on all levels for our community.”
Although the event has done well in drawing locals and encouraging them to sign up as “Bataviators” for an online newsletter to get updates about the show, it also benefits the community by driving others here to Batavia, Stein said.
“To see our communities, our community center here, and as they come through, they're looking at our downtowns, they're looking at our small villages, they're checking us out from every angle,” she said. “And, of course, there's always that spending that happens in the community. So we're appreciative of the gas tax, not just the gas tax, but the sales tax throughout the community that gets paid from all of our visitors.
"We know that our hoteliers have said that they've got blocks of rooms that have been blocked out for months getting ready for this air show. We've got visitors from all over Canada, California, Pennsylvania," she said. "It's exciting for us to have somebody else bringing dollars into our communities. You know, I just can't say enough thanks and appreciation to the leadership team here that put on the Wings of Batavia, and the hospitality of Pete and Doreen Zeliff is absolutely incredible. What a gift they are to our community.”
Austin, left, and Ken Rieder, pilots with the Red Line Air Shows. Photo by Jim Burns
Father-son duo Ken and Austin Rieder, with their show, Red Line Air Shows, based out of Cincinnati, Ohio, were ready with their Vans RV-8 aircraft, specially built by Ken, with four so far with a fifth one in the works.
“We have modified them in a few ways, but they are subtle modifications, and it's just for increased performance for us, for what we're doing, obviously inverted oil and inverted fuel systems so we can fly upside down,” Austin said. “But beyond that, it's just kind of, we have it specially set up for us, and then also for a night show, fireworks show that we do. So we're a tight, precision formation team, and what we try to do is we're looking for more of like a ballet or a very specialized, smooth performance. Both of our airplanes are there as they are aerobatic, but they're not as aerobatic as maybe another airplane extra or a Pitts or, you know, an MXS.”
No matter what they’re not, these aircraft promise an adrenaline-rushing demonstration that will keep everyone on their toes. Ken said it takes skill and maneuvering, for sure, and good communication back and forth.
“I do all the talking. Since I'm flying the lead position, I'm responsible for setting up the position, the timing, what maneuver we're gonna do, where we're located within the box, and our aerobatic area. And he makes me look good,” he said. “All I have to be is very predictable for him to be able to match what I'm doing. And that's the whole deal. So we've done this same routine for the last three years, and quite honestly, I've done that for the ten or more before that the exact same routine. So he expects me to snake certain calls at certain times, and the only times he'll speak up is if I got a little too much power in or if I'm creeping away. Or, you know, we're trying to match timing. Tally, Tally, meaning, I see you, you see me, those kind of things.”
Austin described it personally as a lot of fun for him.
“It's a different element than just flying solo by yourself, especially flying with your dad. That's another added bonus. But it's just super enjoyable to be sitting on somebody else's wing while they're flying a maneuver, and you're just trying to mirror it to the best you can,” he said. “What I like is that a difference from a solo performance is we take up the whole view from somebody from corner of the box to corner of the box, old runway position.
"So we want to kind of fill the whole space for a spectator to see what's going on. You know, you can be at one end of the box or the other and still get the same performance throughout the whole thing," he said. "A lot of the maneuvers we’re doing opposing or opposite from each other. And then, obviously, we're doing a whole lot of things together too.”
Ken was the first in his family to learn to fly and has been doing aerobatics for 38 years now. When he first started out, he said a 21-year-old Ken started aerobatics after buying a book to learn about the maneuvers and did rolls and loops before he knew it. This was way before YouTube "tutorials" were available.
He recalled how Austin “was probably three years old climbing up onto my lap watching ‘Wings’ on the Discovery Channel, and my wife said he’s going to be a pilot.”
Ken described the night show they will also be including this weekend.
“So the night show, we're shooting off about 2,500 individual shots of fireworks. So there's a whole lot. It takes us about six hours to load up for a six-minute fireworks show. So it is a lot, but it is about the neatest thing I think you can do. There's only a few of us in the nation who do it, and three that really do it to the level that we're doing it,” he said. “You'll see this weekend from (Nathan Hammond) and I, but yeah, next year, he'll (Austin) be doing it with me, so we're looking forward to actually doing this as a two shift.”
Both nights explode in fireworks shows, and this year, 500 drones will be added to the twilight display. Limited tickets are still available. For more information or tickets, go to Wings Over Batavia.
Starting Tuesday, September 3 Genesee County offices and departments will return to the general business hours of 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m., concluding the summer hours of 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The change will not affect the total number of hours that County offices are open to the public.
It’s what folks with their backs against the wall call a state protocol that mandates they abide by it no matter the cost, even when the cost might be astronomical, and in more ways than one.
The more official definition is a confusing or difficult problem or question. Insert New York State’s impending electric vehicle mandate, expected to fully begin taking effect by 2030, and ask Genesee County Public Works Commissioner Tim Hens what that’s going to mean in terms of expense and logistics for the department, and the two-digit conundrum he will face as result.
Would you believe about $80 million?
“And that’s not even counting the fact that you probably aren’t going to have the electric in the system to provide chargers for 54 trucks all at the same time,” Hens said during an interview with The Batavian.
Just how does he arrive at such a figure? Well, electric vehicles have an estimated hour’s long charge to go out and do the snow plowing, he said, which means you would need back-ups for the trucks you need out on the roads in the first place. Each truck takes six hours to charge, so that would have be accounted for as well.
“So we have six trucks that run snowplow routes. So if I’ve got to do six times nine, I’ve got to buy 54 trucks. My building is designed for six, so I need a new building to hold 54 trucks. I need 54 chargers. The Level One chargers are a couple hundred thousand a piece, so I’m looking at a new building. So there’s a $30 to $40 million building, plus 54 trucks at, let’s say, $700,000 a piece. That’s another $40 million.”
Then there’s dealing with the staff, having drivers out with a truck an hour at a time before having to return for another vehicle. They have to plug the used truck back in, load the other one up and go back out. He said what used to take three hours is most likely going to now take five or six hours. It’s a longer shift, or more help would have to be hired, he said. Overtime would have to be managed.
“Instead of three-hour routes, we have three times as many people and three times as many trucks, and everybody goes out at the same time. And now the routes are only an hour long instead of three hours long,” he said, noting the strain the electric use would have. “Right now, a Level Three charger is a 90 amp, and I think the heavy-duty ones might be 90 to 120 amps a piece. So if you’ve got 54 of those, that’s almost five megawatts. And that’s probably three or four times what’s available in the grid at any given point.”
When Hens thinks back to the blizzard in December 2022, he knows the outcome would have been different with these future regulations in place.
“You know what's going to end up happening is the taxpayers are going to have to foot such an exorbitant bill, they're going to flip out. And really, what will be the straw that breaks the camel's back? It will be if there's a blizzard and people die because they're stuck in snow, or we can't plow because the plows don't push snow when it's five below zero in a 60-mile-an-hour wind,” he said. “We wouldn’t have been able to do what we did. We would have had people dying.”
Yet when members of the County Highway Superintendent Association have raised their concerns with the people establishing these regulations, they’re told, “We’ll figure it out.”
“It's so disjointed that you can't even really describe it to somebody. When people look at you like, what? What is Albany planning? you guys tell them this, and no one's listening to you. It's frustrating. And it honestly doesn't matter if it's a Republican county or a Democratic county. It is full on. None of the professionals in the industry think it makes any sense, and everyone's against it,” Hens said. “We had a presentation at one of our professional development conferences last January and the guy worked for Tesla, he’s an electronics guy. He was even saying electrifying the heavy-duty, over-the-road and construction fleet is not feasible at this point.
"If you electrified every over-the-road truck, every single truck stop in the United States across the map, you would have to have a 40 to 50-megawatt power source at that truck stop so the trucks can recharge and keep going on the roads," he said. "It's hysterical. It's comical if you start throwing out the real numbers and the facts out there.”
He said that inside that climate-friendly vehicle are 20,000 pounds of batteries in a heavy-duty dump truck that will be dead and without any resale value in 10 years.
To clarify, Hens is not against going green where possible and helping to save the planet. But there are ways that make more sense than using heavy-duty trucks, he said.
“I want to be as green as the next person. There are a lot of places where the electric vehicles make sense, like the postal routes, or even like our facility maintenance vehicles for the county that just go from building to building to building all day,” he said. “Absolutely, those could be green, you know, plugged in, or some other green system. But you have to be practical about it.”
New York’s Advance Clean Truck Rule is to take effect Jan. 1, 2025. It will build upon existing regulations enacted in New York in 2012 by requiring all new sales of passenger cars, pickup trucks, and SUVs to be zero-emission by 2035. It would require an increasing percentage of new light-duty vehicle sales to be zero-emission vehicles (ZEV), starting with 35 percent of sales in the model year 2026, 68 percent of sales by 2030, and 100 percent of sales by 2035.
New pollutant standards for passenger cars, light-duty trucks, and medium-duty vehicles with internal combustion engines from model years 2026 through 2034 would also be required. The regulation allows manufacturers to meet the emission requirements and successfully transition to cleaner vehicles.
State Assemblyman Steve Hawley has appealed to Gov. Kathy Hochul to delay the regulation’s enforcement after he has been contacted by several constituents that tried to purchase new trucks for their small businesses.
“The regulations set to start in January 2025 are already affecting vehicle retailers to sell heavy-duty vehicles because there are so many unanswered questions for the consumers,” Hawley said in a letter to Hochul. “The Legislature passed, as part of the 2024-25 budget, a directive to the NYS Energy Research and Development Authority (ERDA) to conduct a highway and depot charging needs evaluation within the next 18 months. This study should be done prior to implementing mandates on an industry that is imperative to New York State.”
Hawley fully supports and agrees with the state Automobile Dealers Association and the Trucking Association, both which expressed concerns about the new regulation, he said. Both organizations just want a more thorough examination of the regulations before they are fully implemented, and Hawley asked that Hochul allow for the ERDA to complete its evaluation.
Both on and off the field, the Genesee County Spartans achieved what they set out to do this season in the Northeastern Football Alliance semipro league.
That’s the assessment of Head Coach Harry Rascoe and Board President Tammy Hathaway, who pointed to the team’s 7-3 record and an “all for one, one for all” attitude that bodes well for the 2025 campaign.
“We made great strides this year, without a doubt,” Rascoe said. “Our only losses were to (league champion) Lockport and there were no instances of misconduct. We’re only a couple players away from contending for the title.”
In its return to the football scene last season, the organization was hampered by a lack of discipline on the field.
Hathaway said that the codes of conduct put into place this season and the leadership of the team’s captains resulted in an organization that local fans could get behind.
“Speaking for the board of directors, I couldn’t be more pleased with the players’ performance in every aspect,” Hathaway said. “Hopefully, we’re building something special here.”
Recently, the team learned that nine players were named as league all-stars and have been invited to play in an East vs. West game on September 28 in Apalachin, home of the Broome County Stallions.
All-stars on offense: Wide receiver Deyonci Farley, tackle Jordan Chambers and guard Anthony Natrigo.
All-stars on defense: Linebackers Kaden Marucci and Marley English, linemen Gunner Rapone, Steve Kowalczyk and Jalen White, and defensive back/returner Jzhon Henderson.
Rascoe said the team’s awards banquet is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. October 5 at T.F. Brown’s Restaurant in Batavia. For more information, contact Rascoe at rascoeh@yahoo.com or go to the Spartans’ Facebook page - Genesee County Spartans.
The Genesee County Sheriff's Office is seeking applicants for the Deputy Sheriff exam, with applications due by August 28. The examination is scheduled for September 28.
Interested candidates can find the exam application, job description, and minimum qualifications on the Genesee County Human Resources page at www.geneseeny.gov.
The Sheriff's Office is an equal opportunity employer and encourages all qualified individuals to apply, regardless of race, creed, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, or marital status.
For additional information and to apply, visit www.geneseeny.gov/departments/humanresources/exams.php.
United Way of Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes is allocating more than $8 million in multi-year program grants and bridge funding support to nonprofits across its six-county service area—the investment will create transformative change in communities in the Greater Rochester and Finger Lakes region.
Thanks to the considerable generosity of the 30,000 donors who invest with the United Way of Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes, and its workplace partners, the multi-year program grants— the first available funding opportunity in United Way’s 2025 funding and resource allocation strategy--were awarded to 97 programs representing 89 nonprofit organizations. Additional bridge support funding is available to the nearly 200 current multi-year grant recipients. Funding distribution beings in January 2025.
“United Way is a community-driven organization. We listen and respond to the community needs,” said United Way President & CEO Jaime Saunders. “The multi-year grants are one component of a robust support strategy for our nonprofit sector. We recognize that the needs of our neighbors are significant and immediate—they can’t wait for our full strategy evolution, thus we are not only committed to supporting the 2025 multi-year recipients but also supporting any transition of important services provided by our current multi-year partners today.”
2025 Multi-Year Program Grant Recipients
The following multi-year program grant recipients represent nonprofit organizations and/or their funded program. This is an initial award list. Approximately forty-one programs awarded 2025 multi-year grants are in process and not listed. We will share a full list at the end of the year once the campaign and contracts are finalized.
Recipients were selected through a double-blind, comprehensive review process based on many factors including their alignment with the following United Way Worldwide informed impact areas. The reviews were conducted by staff and a volunteer review committee. Two-, three-, and five-year program grants were awarded. The total funding received by all is dependent on the success of United Way’s 2024 campaign with an estimated $6 million to be distributed for this initial grant offering.
Financial Security
United Way’s partnership supports programs that ensure our neighbors have access to the necessary tools to increase income, build wealth and improve financial stability.
Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Rochester, Inc.’s Financial Counseling Program
Family Promise of Greater Rochester, Inc.’s Eviction Prevention & Homelessness Diversion Program
Keeping Our Promise, Inc.’s Safe Passage Housing Initiative Program
Literacy Volunteers of Wayne County, Inc.’s Adult Tutoring Program
MHA Rochester/Monroe County’s Peer Training Academy Program
Monroe Community College Foundation’s Money Smart Financial Coaching Program
PathStone Corporation’s PathStone Genesee County Housing Stability Program
Person Centered Housing Option’s Housing First and Care Management Program
Rochester Museum and Science Center’s Career Ladder Program
Wayne County Action Program, Inc.’s STEADY Work Program
Worker Justice Center of New York, Inc.’s Rise Up! Women in Motion Program
Healthy Community
United Way’s partnership supports programs that improve the health of our community throughout the lifespan with a focus on the social determinants of health—the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age.
Cancer Action, Inc.’s Mapping My Journey in Communities of Color Program
Catholic Charities Steuben/Livingston’s Emergency Services, Livingston County Program
Challenger Miracle Field of WNY’s Miracle Field: Health Equity for People with Development Disabilities Program
The Child Advocacy Center of Greater Rochester’s Supporting Children and Families Impacted by Abuse Program
Dansville Food Pantry’s Dansville Food Pantry Program
Deaf Refugee Advocacy, Inc.’s Healthy Deaf Community Supports Program
Family Promise of Ontario County, Inc.’s Homeless Shelter and Eviction Prevention Program
JustCause’s Volunteer Attorney Family Law Legal Services Program
The Legal Aid Society of Rochester, NY, Inc.’s Access to Justice for Survivors of Domestic Violence Program
The Legal Aid Society of Rochester, NY, Inc.’s Immigrant Basic Needs Advocacy Program
The Legal Aid Society of Rochester, NY, Inc.’s Youth Advocacy for Academic Success Program
Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc.’s Finger Lakes Community Legal Assistance Program
Reach Advocacy, Inc.’s Project Haven Program
Salvation Army of Geneva, Geneva’s Emergency Assistance Programs
Spot-Canandaigua, Inc.’s School Based Resource Rooms Program
St. Vincent DePaul Society’s Food Voucher Program
Survivor Advocacy Center of the Finger Lakes’ Bridgeway: Connecting Survivors to an Empowered Life Program
The Housing Council at PathStone’s The Housing Council Housing Stability Program
URMC Noyes Health’s Home Safe Home Program
Venture Compassionate Ministries, Inc.’s Food Pantry Program
UR Medicine Home Care’s Meals on Wheels Program
Volunteers of America Upstate New York’s Emergency Shelter for Homeless Families Program
WAVE Women, Inc.’s My Way Project: Transcending Humanity Program
Warrior House of WNY’s Aging Strong Program
Wayne County Action Program, Inc.’s Optimal Health Program
Willow Domestic Violence Center’s Emergency Shelter Program
One Stop Re-entry Continuum of Care Expansion 2025 Program
Youth Opportunity
United Way’s partnership supports programs that help put children on the path to success by supporting their development from early childhood to young adulthood.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Rochester, NY’s Mentoring Youth for Educational Success Program
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Rochester, NY’s Site-Based Mentoring Program
Boy Scouts of America, Seneca Waterways Council’s Career Exploration Program
Hillside Children’s Center’s Hillside Work Scholarship Connection Program
Hillside Children’s Center’s Parents as Teachers Program
Hope Center of Leroy’s Fresh Start Tutoring Program
Hub585, Inc.’s Mentoring Program
Mission Fulfilled 2030’s Certified BIPOC Boys Initiative Program
Mt. Hope Family Center’s Building Health Children Program
Roc Royal, Inc.’s 585 Dream Afterschool Program
Society for the Protection and Care of Children’s Teenage Parent Support Services Program
The Center for Teen Empowerment, Inc.’s Neighborhood-based Youth Organizing Program
United Youth Music and Arts, Inc.’s Socioemotional Learning with Drumline Program
Wayne County Action Program, Inc.’s Community Schools Integrated Supports Program
Western New York Rural Area Health Education Center, Inc.’s Health Career Exploration Program
Women's Empowerment Program
Community Resiliency
United Way’s partnership with programs that help individuals and communities have access to disaster relief and recovery, emergency preparedness, crisis hotline and support, and environmental stewardship and sustainability.
Goodwill of the Finger Lakes’ 211/LIFE LINE Program
Bridge Support Funding Recipients
Action for a Better Community, Inc.
Alex Eligh Community Center
All Babies Cherished Pregnancy Assistance Center
American Red Cross, Greater Rochester Chapter
Baden Street Settlement
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Rochester NY
Bishop Sheen Ecumenical Housing Foundation
Bivona Child Advocacy Center
Boy Scouts of America, Seneca Waterways Council
Boy Scouts of America, Western New York Scout Council
Boys & Girls Clubs of Rochester
Boys and Girls Club of Geneva
Catholic Charities Family & Community Services
Catholic Charities of the Finger Lakes
Catholic Charities Steuben/Livingston
Center for Employment Opportunities
Chances and Changes, Inc.
Charles Settlement House, Inc.
Children’s Institute, Inc.
Clifton Springs Area YMCA
Community Action of Orleans and Genesee, Inc.
Community Place of Greater Rochester
Compeer Rochester
Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Rochester, Inc.
Coordinated Child Development Program
Dansville Food Pantry
Empire Justice Center
EnCompass Resources for Learning
Family Counseling of the Finger Lakes
Family Promise of Ontario County, Inc.
Family Promise of Wayne County
Finger Lakes Area Counseling and Recovery Agency
Focus on the Children
Foodlink, Inc
Friendship House of Middlesex, Inc.
Gateway Home Comfort Care, Inc.
Genesee Orleans Ministry of Concern, Inc.
Genesee Valley Health Partnership
Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council
Geneseo Groveland Emergency Food Pantry
Geneseo Parish Outreach Center, Inc.
Geneva Family YMCA
Geneva Lakefront Child Care Center
Gillam Grant Community Center
Girl Scouts of Western New York
GLOW YMCA
Goodwill of the Finger Lakes
Hillside Children's Center
Homecare and Hospice
Hope Center of LeRoy
Ibero-American Action League, Inc.
Jewish Family Service of Rochester, Inc.
Junior Achievement of WNY
JustCause
Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc.
Lifespan of Greater Rochester, Inc.
Literacy Volunteers of Wayne County, Inc.
Literacy Volunteers Ontario Yates
Literacy West NY, Inc.
Mary Cariola Center, Inc.
Medical Motor Service of Rochester and Monroe County, Inc.
MHA Rochester/Monroe County
Monroe Community College Foundation
Mt. Hope Family Center
Partnership for Ontario County
PathStone Corp
Phelps Community Center
Rochester Rehabilitation Center
Safe Harbors of the Finger Lakes
Salvation Army, Canandaigua
Salvation Army, Geneva
Santa Hat Society, Inc.
Serenity House of Victor, Inc.
Society for the Protection and Care of Children
SouthWest Area Neighborhood Association, Inc
St. Joseph’s Neighborhood Center, Inc.
St. Vincent DePaul Society
Survivor Advocacy Center of the Finger Lakes
The Center for Youth Services, Inc.
The Housing Council at PathStone
The Legal Aid Society of Rochester NY, Inc.
The Rochester School of the Holy Childhood, Inc.
The Salvation Army, Batavia Corps
The Salvation Army, Rochester Area Services
Trillium Health, Inc.
UConnectCare
UR Medicine Home Care
Urban League of Rochester New York, Inc.
URMC Noyes Health
Villa of Hope
Visiting Nurse Service of Rochester and Monroe County, Inc.
Volunteers of America Upstate New York
Warrior House of WNY
Warsaw Food Pantry
Wayne Pre-Trial Services, Inc.
Willow Domestic Violence Center
Wyoming County Community Action
YMCA of Greater Rochester
YWCA of Genesee County, Inc.
YWCA of Rochester and Monroe County
“We are honored to support new and longstanding partners through our multi-year grants,” said United Way Chief Impact Officer Dr. Ashley N. Campbell. “Over the next few months, we will focus our efforts on expediting the remaining grant opportunities for our region. These one-year grants include support for community resiliency, capacity building, innovative concepts, summer programming, and more.”
Additional funding opportunities will be available in early 2025. In the coming weeks, United Way will meet with nonprofit partners to discuss the next steps for engagement.
To make remaining grant opportunities possible and ensure multi-year grant recipients can collectively receive a minimum $6 million in support, United Way needs to finish its 2024 campaign year strong, and that depends on community support.
“United Way’s work is fueled by the generosity of our community. What we raise goes out into the community,” said Saunders. “When you give to United Way and our Community Impact Fund, your dollar goes farther by joining with your coworkers and neighbors, which bolsters funding and provides critical support to those who need it most. We are seeing increased needs and call on our community to donate. Please join in and make a gift today.”
To learn more about United Way and donate, visit unitedwayrocflx.org.
Genesee County law enforcement agencies, including the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, City of Batavia Police Department and Village of LeRoy Police Department are participating in a coordinated effort with the STOP-DWI program to bring awareness to the dangers of impaired driving.
The statewide STOP-DWI Campaign starts on August 14 and run through September 2. Law enforcement officers across New York State are taking to the roads in an effort to stop impaired driving, prevent injuries and save lives.
STOP-DWI efforts across New York have led to significant reductions in the numbers of alcohol and drug related fatalities, however, still too many lives are being lost because of crashes caused by drunk or impaired drivers.
Highly visible, highly publicized efforts like the STOP-DWI High Visibility Engagement Campaigns aim to further reduce the incidence of drunk and impaired driving.
Don’t let alcohol take the wheel. Designate a driver.
Depending on the weather, aerial and hand distribution of oral rabies vaccine baits will take place in Western New York from August 12- August 17. Areas of New York State are once again taking part in a nationally coordinated effort to halt the spread of raccoon rabies in 16 states.
Ongoing field evaluation of oral rabies vaccine (ORV) called ONRAB will occur in Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Clinton, Erie, Essex, Genesee, Jefferson, Lewis, Niagara, Oneida, Onondaga, Orleans, Oswego, St. Lawrence, and Wyoming counties.
These sites were selected in part because of ongoing collaborations with Quebec and Ontario, Canada in the fight against rabies to protect human and animal health and reduce significant cost associated with living with rabies across broad geographic areas.
“Rabies is a serious public health concern because if left untreated it is generally fatal. Costs associated with detection, prevention and control of rabies conservatively exceed 500 million annually. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, greater than 90 percent of reported rabies cases in the United States are in wildlife,” stated Paul Pettit, Public Health Director of the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments (GO Health).
The efforts are focused on controlling raccoon rabies, which ontinues to account for most of the reported wildlife rabies cases in the United States.
Raccoon rabies occurs in all states east of the established ORV zone that extends from Maine to northeastern Ohio to central Alabama. Continued access to oral vaccine and bait options that are effective in all target wildlife species remains critical to long-term success.
The ONRAB bait consists of a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) blister pack, containing the vaccine.
To make the baits attractive, the blister packs are coated with a sweet attractant that includes vegetable-based fats, wax, icing sugar, vegetable oil, artificial marshmallow flavor, and dark-green food-grade dye.
While humans and pets cannot contract rabies from the bait, those who come across the bait directly should leave it undisturbed. Most bait packets are consumed within four days, and nearly all of the bait will be gone within a week.
Please do not attempt to remove a bait from your dog’s mouth. The bait will not harm the dog and could lead to vaccine exposure.
Should contact with baits occur, immediately rinse the contact area with warm water and soap and contact your local health department at 585-344-2580 ext. 5555 for Genesee County or 585-589-3278 for Orleans County.
If you have additional questions related to the field evaluation in New York, please contact the Wildlife Services office in Rensselaer, NY at (518) 477- 4837.
Photo of (left to right): Jail Superintendent William A. Zipfel, Undersheriff Bradley D. Mazur, C.O. Trent D. Ryan, C.O. Tyler D. Brown, C.O. Kelsey R. Kasmarek, Deputy Jail Superintendent Jeffrey J. Searls. Submitted photo.
Press Release:
Genesee County Sheriff William A. Sheron, Jr. announces the graduation of Correction Officers Kelsey Kasmarek, Trent Ryan, and Tyler Brown from the Niagara County Law Enforcement Academy’s 28th Basic Course for Correction Officers.
These Correction Officers recently graduated in a class of 10. At the top of the class was C.O. Kasmarek who received the Academic Excellence Award and C.O. Ryan received the Defensive Tactics Award.
The 247-hour course included training in effective communications, essential services, use of force, NYS Penal Law, Criminal Procedure Law, Inmate Transportation, Firearms, Pepper Spray, Taser and Defensive Tactics, and other topics pertaining to corrections.
“Congratulations to all three of these Correction Officers. We look forward to their future in Corrections at the Genesee County Jail,” stated Sheriff William A. Sheron, Jr.
Lorie Longhany’s mind was on personal business that Sunday afternoon six days ago when a history-making decision was making news. Then she got a phone call from the county’s Board of Elections deputy commissioner.
“She told me that President Biden bowed out. And as soon as it happened, even before I could get on Twitter or Google anything I had already decided in my head, it’s got to be Kamala Harris, I don’t care what anybody says, I’m backing Kamala Harris. And so I guess I was thinking the way most everybody else was,” Longhany said during an interview with The Batavian. “I felt strongly about Joe Biden, and I feel even more strongly about Kamala Harris, I’m excited.”
Longhany will get that chance since, in December, she was nominated as a delegate for New York State’s 24th Congressional District to the Democratic National Convention. She didn’t apply for the role, but was recognized for her years of service and involvement to the party.
This won’t be her first rodeo, so to speak, as Longhany, Genesee County’s Democrat election commissioner, was also a delegate for former President Barack Obama at the Charlotte, NC, convention for his second term and was on the ballot for the 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
She didn't make it that time.
“I got beat. Not by a lot. I got beat because they pick a female, male, female, male, and the male got in, and I didn’t get in,” she said. But I went to that one, too. That was in Philadelphia. I went just as a Hillary supporter.”
This one has so far been somewhat different, however, since Harris hasn’t actually run for the position and has been preliminarily nominated on a Zoom call.
“I’ve had mixed feelings about it because I really think that Joe Biden has been the most consequential president, maybe not of my lifetime, but a good part of my lifetime. He's accomplished so much. And most of it is just not even recognized by people,” she said. I look around Genesee County, and there's a lot going on. And maybe none of it has to do with some of Biden’s, with the infrastructure bill and the Chips and Science Act, but I have a good idea that some of it does. I think he's made a lot of good things happen in four short years.”
Although she’s a big Pete Buttigieg fan, Longhany also believes that Harris, as a former attorney general and prosecutor in a major city, brings a lot to the table.
“I like her a lot; I’m very energized by this candidacy right now. And even though I love Joe Biden and I think the world of him, and I think he’s the most compassionate man that I’ve ever seen in public office, I didn’t have this kind of energy. I wasn’t that excited about going to Chicago. I’m excited to go to Chicago now,” she said. “I think she carried a lot of Biden’s good stuff with her. She’s a woman, or she’s a woman of color; it’s that we’re ready for this. And we don’t have to sugarcoat it anymore. I think she can bring so much to the table.”
The first Monday she’s in Chicago, there's an early delegate breakfast meeting, and that week, she rolls through a convention that she will be “learning as I go,” she said.
“I don’t know the process for this; it's different from the last two,” she said. Because I am a pledged delegate to Joe Biden, I think he has to release all the delegates because it’s huge. Well, I’m not going to guess; it’s just, I’m gonna play it as it goes.”
She hasn’t landed on who she thinks Harris should pick as her vice president, but the right names have been bandied about: Josh Shapiro from Pennsylvania, Mark Kelly from Arizona, Gretchen Whitmer from Michigan, and maybe even Buttigieg will get some consideration — any of them would be a good choice, Longhany said.
She said she would definitely strap in for a debate between Harris, the Republican contender, whoever Harris picks for a V.P. and the newly announced J.D. Vance. She has cringed at the level that political discourse has sunk to lately.
“We shouldn’t be doing this to each other,” she said. "I don’t like the tone, the tenure, or the rhetoric—I don’t like any of it.”
She will be packing for a week-long convention in mid-August, with the event wrapping up with what members hope is a final nomination for Harris. There might not be a world wrestling icon up on stage as there was for the Republican convention, Longhany said, but there might be Carole King, James Taylor, and — who knows — Taylor Swift and her Swifties, perhaps? coming out in solidarity against recent politically charged comments about single, childless “cat ladies.”
New York’s 307-member delegation includes 268 pledged delegates who are eligible to vote on the first ballot at the convention. If Harris wins at least 1,976 votes in that first round, she would win the Democratic presidential nomination outright.
According to cityandstateny.com, an unofficial survey of delegates by the Associated Press found that Harris had the support of at least 1,640 pledged delegates, not including New York’s delegation, prior to the vote. With the support of New York’s 268 pledged delegates, Harris had the support of at least 1,908 delegates – putting her fewer than 100 delegates away from securing the nomination in the first round of voting.
Shortly after the New York vote, California’s delegation held its own vote, and its more than 400 delegates unanimously pledged to support Harris. That put her well over the 1,976-vote threshold needed to secure the nomination, cityandstate.com stated.
There were so many delegates crammed onto the Zoom call that only four or five faces could be seen at once, Longhany said. As far as she could tell, that vote was unanimous for Harris.
If Harris somehow fails to reach 1,976 votes in the first round at the convention, then New York’s other 39 delegates would come into place. They are “automatic” delegates, also known as “superdelegates,” who can only vote if no candidate gets enough support the first time around.
Longhany is a former Democratic County Committee Chair and currently serves as one of two Genesee County election commissioners. Both major parties are represented at the Board of Elections. The Republican commissioner is Richard Siebert.
As election commissioner, Longhany wants folks to know that she’s careful to leave politics at the doorstep when she enters the Board of Elections office. It's her job to ensure that everyone’s vote counts no matter what side of the aisle they’re on and who they’re voting for.
“I don’t want people to worry about elections in Genesee County, that everybody can vote easily,” she said. “I want people to trust that I care about this job, even if they’re not voting who I want them to vote for … when I’m in the office, there’s no politics in that office.”
The Genesee County DMV, Genesee County Clerk’s Office and Genesee County Department of Social Services are now operating business as usual. The previous system outages have been resolved.
Genesee County has been notified that it will be awarded $14,237.00 for Phase 39, $28,155.00 for Phase ARPAR, and $9,966.00 for Phase 41 federal Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) funds through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, as appropriated by Congress through FY2022.
Applications are due from qualified organizations by July 31.
The National Board consists of the U. S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), American Red Cross; Catholic Charities, USA; National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA; The Jewish Federations of North America, The Salvation Army; and, United Way Worldwide. More about the national program is available online at www.efsp.unitedway.org.
A Local Board is charged to distribute funds appropriated by Congress to help supplement food and shelter programs in high-need areas around the country. The Local Board will determine how the funds awarded to Genesee County are to be distributed among local qualifying agencies.
The Genesee County Emergency Food & Shelter Program (EFSP) Board is encouraging local agencies that meet requirements to apply for the funds. Under the terms of the grant from the National Board, local agencies chosen to receive funds must:
Be private voluntary non-profits or units of government
Be eligible to receive Federal funds
Have an adequate accounting system
Practice non-discrimination
Have demonstrated the capability to deliver emergency food and/or shelter programs
If they are a private voluntary organization, have an active voluntary board of directors.
Qualifying agencies are urged to apply.
The deadline for applications to be submitted online is July 31. Non-profit organizations or public agencies interested in applying for funding may contact local board chair Katrina Standish at (585) 589-5605, ext. 103 or via email at KStandish@caoginc.org.
