Video: Sunday message from Pastor Roula Alkhouri, Batavia First Presbyterian Church.
The folks at Wolcott Street School made this morale-boosting video.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo conducted his daily briefing at noon today. This is a recording provided by his press office of a portion of it.
Governor Cuomo: "I don't even have the words to express my admiration for them. FDR always had words. Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear. To me that says it all today.
"Something is more important than their fear, which is their passion, their commitment, for public service, and helping others. That's all it is. It's just their passion and belief in helping others. And that overcomes their fear. And that makes them, in my book, just truly amazing, outstanding human beings."
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
"These public people, I don't even have the words to express my admiration for them. FDR always had words. Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear. To me that says it all today. Everyone is afraid. Everyone is afraid.
"Do you think these police officers are not afraid to leave their houses? You think these nurses are not afraid to go into the hospital? They're afraid. But, something is more important than their fear, which is their passion, their commitment, for public service, and helping others. That's all it is. It's just their passion and belief in helping others. And that overcomes their fear. And that makes them, in my book, just truly amazing, outstanding human beings. And I wish them and their families all the best."
This article is from the book "Back in the Day, Snapshots of Local History, The Way I See It," by Anne Marie Starowitz, 2017. Reprinted with permission from the author.
Growing up in the ‘60s in Batavia would be considered very uneventful to today’s young people. The parks program was very popular and the highlight was the parks parade. Main Street was closed down for an afternoon to let all of the different parks parade their floats down Main Street. Young people played outside, made up their own games, and walked or rode their bikes.
In the winter the tennis courts were converted to an ice rink. In the summer the tennis courts would be used for evening dances. There was nothing like dancing under the stars on the tarmac of a tennis count.
The highlight of the summer of 1962 was the opening of the “New Pool.” How the pool became a reality was not important to the young people of Batavia. All they knew was the new pool meant happy days ahead. Young people would wait anxiously in line for the doors to open holding onto their 25 cents and waiting to get a key for a locker. No one ever noticed a plaque on the wall with the name Greta Patterson.
Greta graduated in June 1955 from Batavia High School. Five days after her graduation she made swimming history. She swam fifteen miles from Angola, NY, to Crystal Beach, Ontario, in thirteen hours. As she exited the cold water of Lake Erie she was treated as a heroine. The day after her historical swim she was welcomed on the steps of Batavia City Hall by Mayor Herman Gabriel and was serenaded by St. Joseph’s Drum Corps. The radio station WBTA broadcast the event. In the same year her picture was in the November issue of Seventeen Magazine.
Her swimming achievement inspired the building of a city pool that would be completed seven years later. Members of the Kiwanis Club decided to launch a fund to build a swimming pool somewhere in the city. Several local social clubs joined the effort under the chairmanship of Robert DeLong. He was to head a fund-raising committee.
The first event was a public entertainment program that would be called a Swimarama. The event took place at the Batavia Downs and a Buffalo talent scout provided an all-star cast of entertainers. On August 8, 1955, 9,000 people sat in the stands at the Downs to watch the opening ceremonies. Leading the parade around the track was Greta Petterson riding in a sulky drawn by a racehorse. The entertainers followed in convertibles. The music of St. Joseph’s Drum Corps and the Brockport-Batavia Cavalier Drum Corps filled the air. There were singers, dancers, and impersonators. The event raised $6,000 for the new pool fund. The contributions were slowly coming in. In 1958 William Henry became the new chairman of the pool committee and he established a door-to-door drive hoping that every family would donate one dollar to the new pool fund. Finally, they were very close to their goal of $80,000.
In 1959 the building contract was awarded to Ed Leising to excavate a choice piece of land in MacArthur Park. The pool would measure 60 feet by 100 ft. and would accommodate 100 swimmers.
The pool opened July 9, 1962. People from the summer recreation program were trained to be lifeguards. The pool was never given an official name but the Kiwanis Club did place a plaque on the wall at the main entrance acknowledging Greta Patterson’s part in the creation of the pool. The pool will be forever called the “New Pool” for those young people that made the pool the highlight of that summer and many summers to come.
In 1991 the pool needed major repairs. Due to the high cost for repairs, the pool was closed and was filled with dirt and made into basketball courts. In 1997 the bathhouse was remodeled and made into the Batavia Youth Center. It was decided to ask Greta if she would accept the honor of having the new Youth Bureau dedicated to her. Greta Patterson Hansen was honored.
Greta’s history has come full circle from being Batavia’s famous swimmer, inspiring the community to create a community pool, to coming home and having the Batavia Youth Center dedicated in her name. Today the Batavia Youth Bureau is housed at 114 Liberty Street in St. Anthony’s former school.
Picture below and at top courtesy of Anne Marie Starowitz. Photo of the painting of Greta Patterson as a little girl, courtesy of the Holland Land Office Museum. The book "Back in the Day, Snapshots of Local History, The Way I See It," is available at the museum.
Press release:
Today, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the date of the New York State’s presidential primary and special election will be moved from April 28 to June 23, to align with the congressional and legislative primaries across the state.
New York follows 10 states and one territory to move their presidential primaries in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Puerto Rico have all delayed their primaries.
“There is nothing more critical than protecting the health and safety of our families right now," said Nate McMurray, the Democratic candidate in the NY-27 District. "I am grateful for Governor Cuomo’s leadership and for putting the people of New York before politics.
"This decision protects not only the general public, but hundreds of election workers and Board of Elections staff. When we carry out this essential democratic process on June 23rd, it will allow all residents, volunteers, and staff to do so safely. My team will be checking on the community to ensure that all our residents are prepared for the June election. I believe in Western New Yorkers and know they will be ready.”
A severe thunderstorm watch is in effect until 6 p.m.
A wind advisory is in effect from 2 until 11 p.m.
Winds of 20 to 30 mph expected with gusts of 50 mph.
UPDATE 2:40 p.m.: Tristine Vanice submitted the photo above taken from her backyard off Lewiston Road, Oakfield, of the storm rolling in. Thunder and rain started in Batavia few minutes ago.
A fuel gas leak from a vehicle parked in a garage at 5561 Clinton Street Road, Stafford, sparked a fire at about 7:50 p.m. yesterday.
Stafford Fire Chief Matt Hendershott said that a vehicle owner was working on a vehicle when the fire started. The vehicle owner and the owner of the garage managed to pull the vehicle from the building before fire crews arrived.
As a result, the vehicle owner was transported to an area hospital for evaluation of possible smoke inhalation.
Hendershott said because the vehicle was removed from the structure, the structure did not catch fire.
Stafford fire responded with additional manpower from South Byron and Town of Batavia fire responded for traffic control.
Reader-submitted photos.
A gas leak has reportedly caused a barn fire at 5561 Clinton Street Road, Stafford.
Stafford fire dispatched.
South Byron, Byron, Town of Batavia, Le Roy, and the City's FAST Team asked to standby in quarters.
The location is between Prole Road Extension and the Thruway.
Press release:
“One more resident in Genesee County tested positive for COVID-19 since yesterday afternoon,” said Paul Pettit, Public Health director of Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments. “This now brings the official total to eight positive cases in Genesee County. Orleans County remains the same with four.
The individual is under the age of 65 and resides in the central part of Genesee County. The person is at home in mandatory isolation. Contact tracing has begun.
Genesee and Orleans County health officials emphasize that the public should take precautions against the spread of the coronavirus. Practice social distancing and wash your hands often.
If you are sick with any illness, the best way to keep it from spreading is to stay home!
If you have a fever, cough and/or trouble breathing, please call your health care provider for an assessment of your symptoms.
For general questions in regard to COVID-19, please contact the NYS COVID-19 Hotline at: 1-888-364-3065, or click here to ask a question electronically.
From Coach Jim Fazio: "Players and coaches from the Batavia varsity softball team participated in the Section V Softball Challenge.
"Previously high schools from Waterloo and Rush Henrietta came up with the idea of practicing social distancing by still being involved with their teams in a unique way with softball related skills and players' imaginations.
"Since Alexander High School and others did a fantastic job with their videos, this challenge took off and we thought it would be a great idea to join in and have some fun while practicing social distancing and playing safe."
Statement from Republican candidate Chris Jacobs on NY-27 District special election:
“My foremost concern is the health and safety of all New Yorkers in this difficult time," said NY-27 District Republican candidate Chris Jacobs about the upcoming special election.
"As we continue to deal with this national challenge, I urge everyone to stay safe and follow all the recommended guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19. We will meet this challenge as we always have. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone.”
Video of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's daily briefing for March 28, 2020.
Press release:
Governor Cuomo: "People come up with all of these interesting ideas, you know. Who's painting their house because they never had time to paint their house before. Who's working on a project that they never got to. Who's reading a book that they never got to do. Who's writing a book. A few people say I'm writing my journals, I'm writing my life story. You know, find a way. You have the advantage of time here.
"I'm not trying to say it's not a terrible circumstance, but even in a terrible circumstance, if you look hard enough, you can find the little rays, a few rays of light, and people are doing it and I think we all should."
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
"My gratuitous 2 cents, see if you can't find a silver lining in all of this. People say extraordinary things to me that I just pick up anecdotally. I was going for a walk with one of my daughters and Captain, Captain's my dog. People come up with all of these interesting ideas, you know.
"Who's painting their house because they never had time to paint their house before. Who's working on a project that they never got to. Who's reading a book that they never got to do. Who's writing a book. A few people say I'm writing my journals, I'm writing my life story. You know, find a way. You have the advantage of time here.
"And you have the advantage of time for communication. I've had conversations with my daughters, hours-long conversations, where it's just us, just us talking. No place to go. She doesn't have to go to work. She doesn't have to run out. And they're priceless, they are priceless. I'll never get the opportunity in life to do that again.
"You know, we're going to get through this, and they're going to go off and find a boyfriend and do whatever they do. I've had conversations with my mother, who can't leave the house, and she's in the house, and so we sort of take turns talking to Mom. And I talked to my mother for hours. And it's special. It's special.
"So, yes, it's terrible. And I'm not trying to say it's not a terrible circumstance, but even in a terrible circumstance, if you look hard enough, you can find the little rays, a few rays of light, and people are doing it and I think we all should."
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced this morning that all elections in the state scheduled for April 28 -- village elections, the presidential primary, and the special elections -- will be held on the same day as congressional and legislative primaries in June.
This means the NY-27 special election will be held on the same day as party primaries for the NY-27.
This means the GOP's candidate for the NY-27, Chris Jacobs, will also be facing primary challenges from two or three other Republican candidates.
The Democratic special election candidate is Nate McMurray. He has not specifically announced a candidacy in the primary nor have any other Democrats announced a primary campaign.
This is a developing story and we'll provide more information when available.
We're talking with Sarah Hinze, owner of Note Your Worth Music Therapy. We've offered free live stream interviews to local business owners and this is part of that series.
Press release:
From the three passed Congressional bills in response to the coronavirus emergency, and the FEMA Major Disaster Declaration, which was aggressively advocated for by Sen. Charles E. Schumer, New York State and state-funded agencies have already received, or will soon receive, at least $15.9 billion in direct federal aid.
New York can and should put these funds to work to fight the coronavirus public health emergency and to address its budget challenges.
CARES ACT/Coronavirus 3: $10.2 Billion
Education funding going directly to NYS:
Coronavirus 2 Families First Legislation:
FEMA Disaster Declaration: $426 million
TOTAL IN MARCH: $15.9B
$5.1 billion in state and local aid via State Relief Fund
Despite strong opposition from Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who pushed for no state & local aid, Sen. Schumer secured substantial support for New York and its largest municipalities. The CARES Act provides $7.5 billion in aid to New York governments, including $5.2 billion to the state, $1.5 billion to New York City, and proportional amounts to the largest counties. Secretary Mnuchin, on a 3/26 call with the nation’s governors, pledged to give maximum flexibility on the implementation of this legislation, and to allow for a broad range of expenses and rapid deployment of funds to states in need.
$3.8 billion to the MTA
The MTA is primarily funded via New York’s budget. Schumer fought massive GOP opposition to secure $25 billion in Federal Transit Administration formula funds and maximized New York’s share.
$5.2 billion in Emergency FMAP aid
On March 14, Congress passed the second coronavirus response legislation, which provided $6.7 billion in Emergency FMAP aid to New York State ($5.2 billion) and the counties and NYC ($1.5 billion), which share the Medicaid payment burden. The federal share of Medicaid payment was increased to 56.2 percent. There is no legal or procedural barrier to New York accepting these funds.
$1.16 billion in the Education Stabilization Fund and $162.4 million in Child Care Grants
These two streams of funding address critical needs at the state and local level. The Education Stabilization Fund includes primary, secondary and university levels.
MORE ON FMAP
As part of the Coronavirus 2/Families First legislation, House Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi included a “Maintenance of Effort” (MOE) provision to guard against (mainly Republican) states that are hostile to Medicaid from receiving billions in aid and then cutting the Medicaid program.
The Cuomo administration has indicated it wishes to cut costs in its Medicaid program next year and has made a number of cost-cutting proposals via its Medicaid Redesign Team (MRT), which must be approved, rejected or altered by the legislature in the budget.
Some of the MRT proposals, like provider cuts, do not run afoul of the MOE, others, like program cuts, may run afoul of it. It is important to note that New York has indicated it is voluntarily delaying the potential provider cuts.
To guarantee receiving the $5.2 billion in FMAP funds now, it could also choose to delay the proposed program cuts, until the eFMAP funds are dispersed, as part of the pending budget.
ADDITIONAL WAYS THE CARES ACT WILL HELP NEW YORK MEET FINANCIAL CHALLENGES
States Access to Treasury Lending: As part of the $450 billion that we have authorized for use by the Treasury to inject capital into our system and provide needed liquidity to many different industries, we insisted that one such vehicle specifically provide liquidity to state and local governments. The Secretary committed to including an explicit reference to the importance of such a facility in the text of the bill.
The bill states that the Secretary shall “seek the implementation of a program or facility… that provides liquidity to the financial system that supports lending to States and municipalities.” Therefore, we believe that the Fed is likely to establish a facility in which market participants that will provide lending to states and municipalities at low-rates and generous terms. The establishment of this facility will provide states with access to much needed capital and serve as another resource for them to help stabilize their budgets and unforeseen needs.
FEMA: New York State has obligated $426 million from the Disaster Relief Fund for COVID-19. C-3 just appropriated $45 billion in new dollars for the DRF which will ensure that New York State gets billions in reimbursement for COVID-19.
FEMA eligible expenses (partial):
Press release:
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, current recommendations from the Centers of Disease Control, NYS social restrictions and the wellness and health of our community we regret to inform you that we have cancelled the Spring 2020 Gun Raffle at the rec hall.
We will not be issuing refunds for the main ticket sales and will still be holding a live drawing for those items listed on the main ticket.
The main ticket raffle will be done during a live feed on the Corfu Volunteer Fire Department Facebook page on March 28 at 2 p.m.
Items will be raffled by random draw subject to availability from Sugarbush Amory on that date.
**ALL WINNERS WILL HAVE TO CONTACT SUGARBUSH ARMORY TO ARRANGE AN APPOINTMENT FOR BACKGROUND CHECK AND TO PICK UP FIREARM.
We wish the circumstances were different and hope they will improve soon for everyone.
The members of the Corfu Rescue Hook & Ladder Co. #1 would like to THANK YOU for all your continued support. Please stay safe, healthy and we will see you at next year’s event.
If you have any questions please call the fire hall at 585-599-3618.
Press release:
The Alexander Fire Department has been monitoring the potential impact of the COVID-19 and is following the current recommendations from the Centers of Disease Control and the New York State Health Department.
After thorough discussion and concern for our community members and our volunteers, the following decisions have been made regarding events that have been scheduled at our Recreation Hall:
Supplies are dwindling for basic food items stocked at the Corfu Presbyterian Church food pantry, located at 63 Alleghany Road, which is operated in partnership with St. Maximilian Kolbe Roman Catholic Church.
"We have a lot of elderly people, who used to go out to restaurants, relying on us," said pantry coodinator Paula Trapani.
If you can help, they are especially in need of:
Trapani said meal items that can be prepared quickly are needed, adding that cake mix and canned frosting, or brownie and muffin mix would be nice treats, too.
The pantry is also running low on basic hygiene supplies and toiletries like soap and shampoo.
To help families pass the time during the COVID-19 pandemic, the pantry is also making room to stockpile puzzles, board games, hidden word search booklets and the like.
There will be someone at the church from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays. Please leave items on the bench outside and someone will retrieve them.
If anyone has questions or needs to drop off items at another time, please contact Paula Trapani at (716) 423-1907.
One thing they do not need is frozen French fries.
"Our freezer is stuffed with bags of frozen French fries from a truck that caught fire last week, I believe on Route 5, and they were able to salvage quite a lot of French fries -- I'm not kidding," Trapani said, adding that the freezer at the St. Kolbe's also chock full of them.
So don't forget the ketchup, folks...
UPDATED at 1:46 a.m. Sunday, March 29: Forgot to include crackers; all kinds of crackers.
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