Oakfield-Alabama beat Holley 72-37 on Monday to give Head Coach Ryan Stehlar his 100th career win.
Kaden Cusmano scored 24 points to lead the Hornets. Travis Wiedrich scored 16 points and Gaige Armbrewster scored nine.
Also in boys basketball
Photo by Kristin Smith.
Oakfield-Alabama beat Holley on Monday, 49-17.
Makena Reding scored 11 points for the Hornets. Kelsey Schlagenhauf scored nine.
O-A is now 5-3 on the year.
In other girls games:
Photos by Kristin Smith. For more photos, click here.
Taylor Augello scored 21 points against Byron-Bergen on Monday night to lead Elba to a 64-37 victory.
The Lady Lancers are now 10-0 on the season.
Brynn Walczak scored 14 points and had 12 rebounds. Laci Sewar scored nine points.
For the Bees, Ava Wagoner scored 15 points and Sasha Schramm scored 11. MacKenzie Senf had eight rebounds.
via Batavia Athletics
Via Batavia Athletics
Oakfield-Alabama fell to Attica in a Saturday game 60-56.
For the Hornets, Gaige Armbrewster scored 15 points, Petyon Yasses scored 12, Kaden Cusmano 11, and Travis Wiedrich 10.
In other boys basketball:
In girls basketball:
Photos by Kristin Smith. For more, click here. For O-A JV, click here.
The House of Representatives Friday passed a $1.9 triillion stimulus bill but NY-27's Rep. Chris Jacobs was not among those who voted in support of the package.
Jacobs called the bill a "partisan package" that did not meet the needs of all Americans. The Republican congressman accused Democrats of rejecting efforts to reach a bipartisan compromise.
Here's his statement:
“Today, we didn’t vote on a focused, fiscally responsible, or targeted COVID-19 relief bill. The bill before the House today was a partisan package designed to advance an agenda, not the needs of the American people. Sadly, Democrats have rejected over 200 attempts at bipartisan consensus to cut costs and improve this legislation.
“More support is needed to defeat COVID-19, and I would have supported a targeted measure that bolstered vaccine distribution, aided struggling local governments, and reopened schools. Yet only 9 percent of the total funding of this package goes to public health measures to defeat COVID-19, and only 5 percent of the $130 billion in school funding will be used this year. In fact, $670 billion of this total package will not even be spent in 2021.
“This bill should have focused on the immediate needs to protect Americans and reopen our country. However, with over $1 trillion still left unspent from previous aid packages and no bipartisan input to craft this legislation – the result can only be described as a disservice to the American people. While there are provisions in this bill I support, it contained numerous provisions that I could not in good faith support or justify.”
The bill passed without a single Republican House member supporting it and two Democrats joining in with the opposition.
If the bill passes the Senate -- which is by no means certain -- it would mean a third round of pandemic-related stimulus checks for Americans, this time for $1,400 per taxpayer.
The bill also includes $350 billion for state and local governments, a proposal generally opposed by Republicans in the Senate. The GOP opposition is based on a belief that Democratic-controlled states have bungled their own finances and shouldn't be bailed out by the Federal government. But even some Republican governors have said their states need the aid.
Jacobs has repeatedly said he supports providing financial support to local governments. He issued statements in October and November calling for more pandemic-related aid to local governments.
A spokesman for Jacobs noted that the congressman supported the CARES act, which allocated funding to local governments, with larger cities getting a direct distribution while it was up to the state to distribute the funds to smaller municipalities and counties. The spokesman said that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has dragged his feet in this regard.
"Furthermore, the CARES Act had a provision that required funding given to governments could only be used for COVID-19 related expenses, not to cover deficits or lost revenues," the spokesman said. "This was done to ensure mismanaged state governments, such as New York that had a $6 billion budget deficit prior to COVID, could not use the relief funding to cover their own prior expenses."
Jacobs is a cosponsor of the SMART Act, which would provide $500 billion to state and local governments, with one-third, or $161 billion, going directly to local governments. The aid would be distributed on proportional need, and county governments could use this funding to cover revenue losses, COVID-19 expenses, and other costs.
The bill has been stalled in a House committee since the fall.
But Jacobs continues to support the need to provide more relief to local governments, the spokesman said, even if he couldn't support the current stimulus package.
"The Congressman understands the impact that COVID-19 has had on budgets, especially at the local level," he said. "He recognizes these localities need this aid urgently, given they provide essential services ranging from EMS to public safety to education, and they also employ thousands of individuals across NY-27."
This afternoon, we're featuring WNY musician and songwriter Tom Mullen. He's from Buffalo and his wife is from Le Roy.
Here's some background:
Tom Mullen has been making music for over 30 years. During the 1990s, he was lead singer, guitarist, and principle songwriter for The Skeptics, an alternative power pop band that enjoyed regional acclaim and CMJ charting. Tom has opened shows for national acts The Tubes and 10,000 Maniacs and appeared twice on A.M. Buffalo with The Skeptics, as well as Nickel City Scene. He released his 2nd solo CD, Unfamiliar Ground, in 2018.
Tom’s music has been compared to Elvis Costello, R.E.M., The Wallflowers, and Fountains of Wayne. His influences include Buddy Holly, The Beatles, Elvis Costello, R.E.M., and much more.
Tom's new full-length CD, Into the Twilight, is receiving significant airplay and is climbing the College Radio Charts. He has released a music video for the lead single off the album, “Invisible Hand.”
More information can be found at www.skepticsongs.com.
Tom is originally a native of Buffalo and a graduate of Canisius College. He earned a master’s degree in English from Buffalo State College. He lives with his family in Western New York.
Oakfield-Alabama notched its fourth win of the season Friday with a 42-32 win over Attica.
Makena Reding scored 12 points for the Hornets and Kelsey Schlagenhauf added 10.
In other girls basketball:
In boys basketball:
The Elba Lady Lancers now have three starters in the 1,000 point club, with Brynn Walczak reaching the milestone early in the first quarter last night on a two-pointer in the paint.
Within the past week, both Leah Bezon and Maddie Muehlig scored their 1,000th career points.
Elba is now 9-0 on the season after blowing out Lyndonville 75-51.
Taylor Augello scored 19 points, Muehlig and Walczak both scored 15 points, and Bezon added 12. Muehlig and Walczak each had six rebounds.
For Lyndonville, Ella Lewis scored 19 points.
Photos by Debra Reilly.
The construction of a hydrogen fuel production facility at WNY Science and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park will have benefits for Genesee County that go far beyond the 68 jobs expected to go along with the $290 million project, said Steve Hyde, CEO of the Genesee County Economic Development Center, in an interview this afternoon.
Besides positioning STAMP to potentially be a big part of New York's green energy future, Plug Power has agreed to invest more than $55 million in a 450-megawatt electrical substation that other potential STAMP manufacturers can tap into.
"This is a big, huge investment," Hyde said. "This will more than double our investment into infrastructure in STAMP."
While some infrastructure is already in place much of the infrastructure construction for STAMP has been on hold until an advanced manufacturer agreed to locate a plant in the 1,250-acre mega site. Now the business development team at GCEDC will be able to tell site selectors that critical infrastructure, such as the substation, will be in place by a time-specific date. That may help some site selectors who have been kicking the tires of STAMP -- including, according to news reports, Samsung -- make a final decision about their construction plans.
STAMP has been Hyde's dream project for more than a decade and throughout all these years he has cheerfully repeated, "economic development is a marathon and not a sprint." He used the phrase again today.
And he's not across the finish line yet. There is still a purchase agreement to complete and get approved by the GCEDC board with Power Plug as well as ironing out the final figures on an incentive package to help bring down development costs for the company. Typically these include a PILOT (payments made in lieu of taxes), and tax abatements on construction materials.
New York has already committed to providing $2 million in tax credits for job-creation its Excelsior program. These are incentives the company will not receive unless they meet job creation targets.
Plug Power will tap into clean hydroelectronic power from Niagara Falls to convert water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen will be liquified, stored in tanks, and transported to Henrietta where Power Plug is building a hydrogen fuel cell factory.
Many of those fuel cells will be used in forklifts and other warehouse equipment used by companies like Walmart and Amazon, giving those companies a cost-effective and 100-percent carbon-free source of energy for a key part of its operations.
Hydrogen fuel cells will also be available for long-haul trucking as well as other applications.
"We're going to be part of a 100-percent green, renewable energy ecosystem," Hyde said.
He said that will help make STAMP attractive to other companies participating in New York's push to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy.
That viewpoint mirrors the opportunity for STAMP to become an innovative hub for green energy with 1366 Technologies, which manufactures state-of-the-art solar wafer chips, announcing its intention to build a plant in STAMP in 2015. That proposal fell apart after years of delays because the Department of Energy would not sign off on a previously promised loan guarantee. Then Rep. Chris Collins apparently did nothing during that time to help push the project along with the DOE.
The DOE will not be as heavily involved in this project and Rep. Chris Jacobs seems to have no reservations about supporting the project. He issued this statement this evening:
“Landing Plug Power is an incredible win for Genesee County and the entire region. Thanks to the great work of the Genesee County Economic Development Center, the STAMP site is attracting high-tech, innovative businesses to bolster our region and provide high-paying jobs to Western New York. This is only the beginning, and I’ll do whatever I can to help bring more opportunities to our area.”
The Plug Power plant is expected to produce 45 tons of hydrogen fuel on a daily basis.
The New York Power Authority is supporting the project with:
Power Plug is investing another $125 million in a facility in Henrietta to create fuel cells. The project is expected to create another 377 jobs for the region.
In a statement released yesterday, Plug Power CEO Andy Marsh said, "Plug Power's future rightfully revolves around building the green hydrogen economy. We are grateful our home state of New York supports aggressive climate and clean energy initiatives. And, that Plug Power's green hydrogen solutions can make such an impact on positive environmental and economic climates in the state."
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Coworkers and Sheriff's Office senior staff gave two retiring staff members respectful, socially distanced, farewells this afternoon.
Correction Officer Kelly P. Creegan retired after 19 years with the department and Catherine T. Uhly closed the books on a 20-year career with Genesee Justice.
Previously: Sheriff's Office announces retirements of two staff members
Photos submitted by the Sheriff's Office.
Sheriff William Sheron, Kelly Creegan, Undersheriff Bradley Mazur, and Jail Superintendent William Zipfel.
Sheron, Catherine T. Uhly, and Mazur
Interview with Merritt Holly, superintendent, Le Roy Central schools, about going back to full-time in-class teaching and the school's capital project.
Both Bryn Luckey and Jillian Curtis did their part Thursday night in Le Roy but it wasn't enough for the Lady Knights to overcome Haverling.
Haverling won 60-45.
Luckey scored 23 points and Curtis scored 13 and pulled in 12 rebounds. Goose Dunn had nine rebounds.
In other girls basketball:
Photos by Tim McArdle.
It was the Gaige Armbrewster show in Oakfield on Thursday night as the junior scored 28 points to dominate the Hornets game against the Alexander Trojans.
Oakfield-Alabama won 60-44 to move to 5-1 on the season.
Travis Wiedrich scored nine points for the Hornets and Jordan Schlagenhauf and Kaden Cusmano each scored six.
For Alexander, Devin Dean scored 17 points and Nicholas Kramer scored nine.
In other boys basketball:
Photos by Kristin Smith. For more, click here.
Press release:
Correction Officer Kelly P. Creegan and Genesee Justice Program Coordinator Catherine T. Uhly will be retiring from the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office this Saturday, Feb. 27, and this Sunday, Feb. 28, respectively.
C.O. Creegan is a 19-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office, starting his career on Jan. 5, 2002. During his career, C.O. Creegan has been the recipient of a Commendation, Certificate of Appreciation, and Meritorious Service for continuous excellence.
Program Coordinator Catherine T. Uhly began her career on July 8, 2002, as a Principal Clerk at Genesee Justice, was appointed a Case Manager in 2014, and in 2016 was appointed to her current position as Program Coordinator. She has received two Meritorious Service awards for continuous excellence and the 2020 Distinguished Service Award.
“Both Kelly and Cathy have been dedicated employees and everyone here at the Sheriff’s Office wishes them the very best in their futures,” said Sheriff Sheron.
Whether Tiger Woods can ever play competitive, PGA-level golf again depends on more than just his determination to recover from injuries he sustained Tuesday in a single-vehicle accident in Los Angeles, said Dr. Matthew Landfried, an orthopedic surgeon at United Memorial Medical Center.
Landfried spoke with members of the local media about the front-page news of the past couple of days involving the world's most famous golfer.
The 15-time winner of major tournaments lost control of the SUV he was driving and it crossed a median and veered through two lanes of traffic before hitting a curb, hitting a tree, and landing on its side in the brush, according to news reports.
Woods suffered multiple leg injuries. Landfried said based on what he's read of the injuries, Woods has a long, difficult recovery ahead of him.
"The amount of energy or force that causes the injuries creates additional problems with healing, excessive tissue damage, et cetera," Landfried said.
What concerns Landfried the most, when it comes to playing on the PGA tour, is the broken bones in the golfer's feet. Such injuries may make it impossible for Woods to walk -- as required by the PGA -- over 18 holes of golf on four consecutive days.
Then there are the compound fractures in his legs, which of themselves Woods may be able to overcome, but there are potentially two complications: whether the bones were broken at the ankle and knee joints (unknown) -- making rehabilitation more difficult -- and a procedure apprarently required in this case called a fasciotomy.
Landfried explains:
There are four (compartments) in the lower leg. Around those compartments is a sheath that's called fascia and it's actually very hard. I don't want to call it stiff, but it's unforgiving. It doesn't expand. So inside each compartment, most of them, there's a nerve and muscles and blood supply or blood vessels. When the muscles get injured that much, they bleed, they swell and they expand or want to expand beyond the ability of fascia to expand.
What starts to happen is you start cutting off blood supply, muscle starts to die and the nerves can be injured or killed. So you have to split that fascia. You have to take a knife and open that up from the top to the bottom. And when you do that, a muscle kind of comes oozing out and pours out, but it's taking the pressure off.
He added:
Because it is so swollen, you never close the fascia, but you can, most times close the skin, even in the leg. ... They probably did a two incision, for four compartments. So you got two large wounds from, you know, top of your leg to the bottom of the leg, wide open now. So those have to be treated with dressing or vacuum dressings, and infections are the biggest risk.
Finally:
The ability to heal because at that level of trauma is a second problem because what happens when the bone breaks that badly, it comes through the skin, the periosteum, which is a lining around the bone. I tell people it's like the sausage, the skin on a sausage, but it's around the bone that's been torn and stripped the blood supply to those areas that are broken, have been stripped and are gone. So, you know, as long as they reestablish, then you heal. If they don't reestablish, then you get what's called a delayed union or nonunion and sometimes it never heals.
So, all of those varabiles factor in Tiger's ability to not only fully recover but recover enough to hit the links again.
Woods hadn't been playing because he recently went through his fifth back surgery and was in recovery. Landfried said he hasn't seen any reports to indicate whether Woods reinjured his back in the accident but that could be another factor in his ability to play on the tour again.
At 45, Woods is just at the start of the age where most people find it more difficult, and it takes longer to recover from injuries. What may be in his favor is his athletically maintained body and his own willingness, well demonstrated over his career, to work hard. He will also have the advantage of physical therapists working with him every day.
"He's an incredible athlete," Landfried said. "He's working hard and he's going to have the best of the best. So as long as he can walk the 18 holes, he'll be back. But I just think it'll be some loss of power."
A head-on collision, unknown injuries, is reported on East Main Street, Batavia, in the area of Will's Carpet One.
City fire and Mercy EMS responding.
UPDATE 6:47 p.m.: No injuries. At the same time this call came in, Batavia PD was also making a traffic stop on Ellicott Street and the driver fled the scene on foot. There was a search of the area, including the K-9 officer.
UPDATE 7:53 p.m.: This incident started with a report of an erratic operator and while patrols where responding they received a report of a head-on collision involving the vehicle. The driver of the truck that was struck was uninjured. The other driver was transported to Strong Memorial Hospital by Mercy EMS for treatment of minor injuries. The investigation is ongoing, including whether the driver who crossed the center line was operating under the influence. He will at least likely be charged with traffic violations, said Sgt. Mitch Cowen.
LIVE: Ice Devils vs. Spencerport. Livestream via Batavia High School Athletics.
Officials with Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) don't see things the way a group of activists in the area do when it comes how detainees at the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility are being treated in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Activists say the conditions have led to two detainees going on a hunger strike. An ICE spokesman confirmed that as of Feb. 18, there were two individuals on a hunger strike. It's unclear if that's still the case. One person familiar with the facility indicated one of the hunger strikers may have been returned to Canada.
Representatives of Justice for Migrant Families of WNY, which is based in Buffalo, claimed during a press conference on Tuesday that during the recent COVID-19 outbreak, COVID-positive patients have been kept in solitary confinment, that conditions in the facility are unsafe and represent a health threat to the Genesee County community, particularly since, in their view, detainees are being held purely for violations of immigration laws.
ICE officials dispute these allegations.
JMF played two recordings of men they said were detainees at the facility who were on hunger strike.
One man identified himself as Raul (no last name provided).
"I am doing this because I suffer from depression almost every night and I throw up and that's why I'm doing this," Raul said. "I have PTSD. I suffer a lot. And that is why I am doing this."
He added, "I want them to release me. I cannot hold on being here longer. I don't know. I suffer a lot from depression and I am afraid that I will get infected with the virus because I have heard there are a lot of infected people here."
We asked Jennifer Connor, executive director of the organization, if anybody from the group had spoken to Raul and warned him that not getting proper nutrition could weaken his immune system and potentially put him at greater risk, and she said, "The hunger strikers are putting their health at risk. They certainly are, and no one undertakes that lightly.
"It is something that people have resorted to when they are truly desperate. It's a real cry for help. They are essentially saying, 'if if you do not hear me, if you do not end this suffering, then I am going to risk my life to make my voice heard.' So I don't think people take that risk lightly."
A spokesman for ICE said facility personnel closely monitor detainees on hunger strike:
In general, ICE fully respects the rights of all people to voice their opinion without interference. ICE does not retaliate in any way against hunger strikers. ICE explains the negative health effects of not eating to our detainees. For their health and safety, ICE closely monitors the food and water intake of those detainees identified as being on a hunger strike.
ICE’s detention standards concerning hunger strikes may be reviewed here.
Raul claimed that detainees are not required to wear masks. The ICE spokesman said detainees are issued five masks upon entry and can request new masks as needed. They are required to wear them in common areas but not required to wear them in their own housing units.
Connor and Mary Rutigliano, a local resident who is a member of the Rochester Rapid Response Network, complained that contractors who work as guards at the facility as well as facility employees are not required to be tested for COVID-19.
Rutigliano expressed a lot of concern about employees coming and going from the facility as they could be asymtompatic carriers.
"(Batavia) is the gateway between the Finger Lakes Region and Buffalo," she said. "So people moving through, stopping in Batavia. That's a huge issue for two big regions in our state."
A source familiar with the facility said ICE has no authrority under the law to require anybody to get tested or to receive a vaccine.
Connor and Rutigliano both complained about COVID-positive patients being kept in solitary confinement.
According to our source, there is no such thing as "solitary confinement" at the facility.
When The Batavian toured the facility in 2018, we learned there are isolation rooms for people who might be infected with communicable diseases as well as rooms that can be used to isolate detainees involved in conflicts for a cooling off period.
Detainees, however, are not cut off from the world as they would be in solitary confinment in a prison. They retain, for example, their iPads.
The ICE spokesman said, "Individuals who are exposed to infectious illnesses are cohorted from non-affected detainees in accordance with CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines. Within these separate areas they are still free to walk about and engage with each other and staff."
Previously, The Batavian was told COVID-positive detainees were cohorted in two pods and not intermingled with non-COVID detainees.
The only solution to the problems outlined by the activists, Rutigliano said, is for the population of the facility to be reduced but the facility can house more than 600 detainees. The current population is 139, or 35 percent of its capacity, the ICE spokesman said.
A source familiar with the facility said more than 80 percent of the current population are people referred to immigration by state and federal courts because of criminal cases and the rest are held by order of the immigration court. ICE is not holding people at the facility on its own authority. Since the start of the pandemic, ICE has maintained a policy of releasing everybody who can safely be released, the source said.
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