Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down
Thumbs up to Tim Reilly, a Lakewood-Busti police officer who risked his life in an attempt to save the life of 2-year-old Eli Shetler. Reilly arrived at the scene two minutes after the call came over the scanner for a structure fire at an Amish residence at Kortwright Road in Busti just after 2 p.m. According to David Wordelmann, Lakewood mayor, Reilly heard the child screaming upstairs and jumped into action. “He took a fire extinguisher and attempted to go in through the back of the house, up the stairs. He emptied the entire fire extinguisher and was pushed back by the flames,” Wordelmann said as he recounted Reilly’s actions. “He then attempted to go on the outside of the building up a ladder. The ladder actually melted on him – that’s how hot it was. He still tried the best he could.” Reilly was unable to reach Shetler, but the story is a reminder of the courageous men and women serving in county police and fire departments.
Thumbs down to a software update that is rendering some iPhones useless. Users have complained a new software update blocked their calls. Apple had begun distributing the update Wednesday morning to fix several issues in last week’s iOS 8 operating system for iPhones and iPads. Hours later, it pulled the update, dubbed iOS 8.0.1, after some people complained it rendered their phones unable to make calls and caused problems with a feature that lets people unlock their phones with their fingerprint. Users are still able to the upgrade older phones to last week’s version of iOS 8, which Apple said has already been downloaded to nearly half of all iOS devices. Apple said it will release iOS 8.0.2 soon to address both last week’s glitches and the new ones. Late Wednesday, Apple offered users a way to manually reverse the update, a solution that includes connecting the phone to a Mac or Windows computer and downloading a file to restore the older software. What a mess.
Thumbs up to the continued pay-off from Ripley residents’ decision to tuition students to Chautauqua Lake. Ripley area residents can expect another decrease in school taxes next year and then stability for the following three years, according to a four-year plan adopted recently by the board of education. When combined with anticipated slight increases in state aid and expenditures through the year, the plan projects that taxes will decrease by 1 percent, or up to $1 per $1,000 assessed value, for the 2014-15 year and then remain the same through the 2017-18 school year, he said. Board President Robert Bentley explained that the district built up the fund balance when it decided to tuition students in seventh through 12th grades to Chautauqua Lake Central School. The fund balance reached a level of 9 percent of the total anticipated expenditure, which was well beyond the state maximum of 4 percent, he said. The district has been able to decrease taxes for the past two years. By returning much of the reserves into the general fund, it is able to continue this trend for next year as well as project a static level for the following years, he said.
Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down
Thumbs up to the State University at Fredonia for a new program to help veterans transition from military to civilian life. The university was recently approved as one of three sites in the state for the “Serving Standing Down” program, to offer veterans an opportunity to reflect on their service through a variety of texts and guided facilitation and also talk openly about their challenges and future aspirations. Discussion sessions will focus on selections – ranging from poetry about the conflict in Iraq to personal essays about serving in World War II – contained in “Standing Down: From Warrior to Civilian,” an anthology produced by the Great Books Foundation specifically to support this initiative. Under the guidance of a skilled facilitator, the group reflects on big ideas and themes of the readings as well as the military service of its members. The SUNY Fredonia program is being offered at no charge to veterans and their family members receiving veterans’ benefits. To register, contact Mackey at 673-3423 or email mark.mackey@fredonia.edu. Enrollment in the first group is limited to 20 members.
Thumbs up to another area business making a comeback from a winter fire. This time, the grand reopening happened at Jack’s Repair Shop in Mina. The county IDA and partnership from First Niagara Bank came through with a $150,000 loan to help rebuild the business, but that was only a part of the $465,000 project. Family and friends hosted several benefits to help raise the money not covered by the IDA loan and insurance money while Heil Transportation offered space in its building in Clymer while the Tornstroms rebuilt their Mina location. “I get chills when I think about it,” Robin Tornstrom said of the overwhelming support. “We are so lucky to live and work in such a wonderful area of this county where everyone helps each other.” Well said, Mrs. Tornstrom.
Thumbs up to Becky Newton of Jamestown High School. Newton recently received the third annual Robert H. Jackson Center Regional Award for Teaching Justice, an award created to recognize educators who have made an outstanding contribution toward teaching the concept of justice in creative, inspiring ways, which may include teaching about civil liberties, human rights, international humanitarian law, the Holocaust, genocide studies and local issues of justice. Newman, an English teacher at Jamestown High School, left a successful career in private industry to pursue her interest in education. While the 10th-grade English curriculum focuses on world literature, Newman also teaches a women’s studies elective designed to address gender equality and analyze challenges faced by women. The course allows students to “hear” from real women and fictional characters in literature who voice and reflect important gender-related issues. As our society tries to wrap its heads around struggling schools and the roles teachers play in them, it is important to remember our area has some outstanding teachers like Newman who are able to teach the skills needed for her students to do well on state-mandated tests but also pass along the skills necessary for students to engage in the world around them after graduation.
Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down
Thumbs up to a local group that has done more than its part to make sure children have the supplies they need for school. Most school years, Creche delivers about 50 backpacks filled with school supplies to area schools. This was not most school years. Creche recently delivered about 600 backpacks to 13 area schools, with each school receiving 50 backpacks as well as the Jamestown Area YMCA and Love Inc. The additional backpacks were made possible through grants from the Johnson and Chautauqua Region Community foundations as well as the generosity of Mary Rappaport and Abbie Lasker of 59 Lucy Lane, the childhood home of Lucille Ball in Celoron, and their friend Pam Lopienski. The three women themselves donated 67 filled backpacks to Creche. Thumbs up as well to K-Mart, which provided much of the materials at a discount and which allowed staff to help shop for and fill backpacks. It took quite a bit of initiative and work behind the scenes to line up the money to provide that many backpacks. Creche and its supporters should be proud.
Thumbs up to an evening filled with the sounds of marching bands. The Jamestown High School Red Raider Marching Band will hold its 36th annual Fall Festival of Bands at 6:30 p.m. today at Strider Field. Bands performing include the Eisenhower, Wellsville, Pioneer, Hornell, Falconer, West Seneca, Jamestown, Northwestern and Orchard Park schools, with all proceeds benefitting the JHS marching band. Tickets are $6 at the door. Football takes center stage for much of the fall at Strider Field. For one night, at least, it’s good to see musicians take a turn under the bright lights on Martin Road.
Thumbs up to a sale of the Buffalo Bills that keeps the team in Western New York for the foreseeable future. Even those who aren’t Bills fans had to be happy by the news this week that Terry and Kim Pegula made an NFL-record $1.4 billion purchase for the team. The price eclipses the previous NFL-high of $1.1 billion set in 2009 when Stephen Ross completed his purchase of the Miami Dolphins in a deal that also included the team’s stadium. “It is gratifying to reassure these great fans that the two franchises, so important to our region are here to stay,” Terry Pegula said in a statement released by the Sabres. “Ralph Wilson left an indelible mark on our community and we will strive every day to honor his legacy.” The Pegulas’ purchase of the Bills puts the family well on the way to establishing their own indelible mark on Buffalo.
Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down
Thumbs up to a new beginning. The Southern Tier Xpress will play their first game at 5 p.m. today at the Jamestown Savings Bank Arena. The team is an important tenant for the arena while the traffic the team can bring on game nights is important for downtown businesses. Congratulations to the team’s 13 local owners for their hard work bringing the team to Jamestown and establishing the team and its players as a presence in the community. Individual game tickets are $5, season tickets are $99 and the team has other ticket packages available. For more information, visit www.stxpresshockey.com or call the Jamestown Savings Bank Arena at 484-2624. After the disappointing shuttering of the Jamestown Ironmen and the relocation of the Jamestown Jammers, a packed house for some thrilling hockey action on Saturday would be nice to see.
Thumbs down to stalling on debates. Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s election opponents, Democrat Zephyr Teachout and Republican Rob Astorino, want to debate the governor, but Cuomo has failed to agree to a debate. It’s not unusual for comfortable incumbents to refuse to debate their opponents, but the lack of debates is a disservice to the voters – especially in campaigns for such high offices as governor. Cuomo owes it to New York residents to debate the issues publicly. Debates can help voters make informed decisions. They also help bring issues and information out of the shadows and into the open, and give voters a chance to see how the candidates handle themselves in a setting that’s not choreographed.
Thumbs up to an organization that is still finding ways to help the community a year after officially closing its doors. David Anderson, former president of the Joint Neighborhood Project board, recently established the Joint Neighborhood Project CEO Endowment Fund at the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation to support Jamestown residents looking to further their education at Jamestown Community College or Jamestown Business College. “Most of the people we worked with (at JNP) were in a situation where they had a high school diploma or General Education Degree and they wanted to do more,” Anderson said. “We were aware of the challenges they faced, raising children and working different jobs, and they were aware of the demands of going back to school. We are excited at the opportunity to give people that we worked with a chance to get an associate’s or bachelor’s degree and continue to encourage them to be all that they can be.” The fund will help provide scholarships through the CEO program, the brainchild of Jamestown Strategic Planning and Partnerships Commission members in the late 1990s that has provided scholarships for 70 area college students. For more information on the fund, or to make a tax-deductible donation, contact the Community Foundation at 661-3390 or visit crcfonline.org. JNP made an indelible mark on the community during its history. It’s heartening to see that impact continuing now.