Corporal William James Hillard II (left) and Sergeant David Lockwood (right)
(Photo Credit – WDOE)

Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed two bills to rename bridges on Interstate 86 in honor of Randolph-area Vietnam War heroes Corporal William James Hillard II and Sergeant David Lockwood.

The Corporal William James Hillard II Memorial Bridge crosses West Main Street in Randolph. Corporal Hillard was killed in action on March 15, 1969, in Quang Ngai, Vietnam, just 15 days after his 21st birthday.

The Sergeant David Lockwood Memorial Bridge crosses Schoolhouse Road in Randolph. Following his service, Sgt. Lockwood graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology and worked as an engineer until his death in 2018.

Cpl. Hillard received a Purple Heart, two Bronze Star Medals, one Oak Leaf Cluster, a Good Conduct Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm and the Presidential Unit Citation.

Sgt. Lockwood received the Good Conduct Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Combat Infantry Badge, two Bronze Star Medals, three Silver Star Medals and the Expert Rifle (M-14) Badge.

State Senator George Borrello sponsored the bills in the Senate with Assemblyman Joe Giglio sponsoring companion legislation in the Assembly.

George Borrello

State Senator George Borrello says New York is worse off as a result of the State Legislative session that ended last week.

Borrello cited Governor Andrew Cuomo‘s controversies, saying Cuomo couldn’t effectively govern the state or negotiate a budget in the best interest of the people, “It’s why we saw a record increase in taxes and a record increase in spending. You know, we went from having a budget the previous year that was roughly $190 billion up to $112 plus billion. On top of that, you had federal money in there that was supposed to be earmarked for COVID emergencies that was sat on by this Governor to be used as a political tool for him to avoid the many controversies he’s facing.”

Borrello added the State Legislature’s inaction on rescinding Cuomo’s Pandemic-related Emergency Powers was a huge disappointment. He said there were highlights to the session, “At the end of last year, with the wage board that was going to render a decision on lowering the threshold for overtime for farm workers, they decided to delay that decision for at least year. That was due to a lot of advocacy on the part myself and many others when it comes to making sure our farmers not only survive, but thrive here in New York State.”

Borrello said there were great strides with broadband as well, “Myself and Joe Giglio worked hard to uncover a piece of what they called ‘dark fiber,’ which is underutilized fiber optic cable, one that stretches more than 100 miles across three counties in Western New York and that is now being to be utilized to help fast-track more broadband projects in our area.”

Legislation Borrello hopes to get passed in the next session include the First Employee Tax Credit and legislation to reform how Governor appointments are made.

George Borrello

State Senator George Borrello has announced the I-86 Bridge in Randolph will be named the Sergeant David Lockwood Memorial Bridge.

Borrello said Sergeant Lockwood, a Salamanca native, served in Vietnam. During his military service he received the Good Conduct Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Combat Infantry Badge, two Bronze Star Medals, three Silver Star medals, and the Expert Rifle (M-14) Badge.

Upon returning home from Vietnam, Sergeant Lockwood graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology and worked as an engineer until his death in 2018. He leaves behind his wife Patricia, two daughters and four grandchildren.

Borrello and Assemblyman Joe Giglio sponsored the legislation marking the designation. It has passed both houses of the Legislature and awaits Governor Cuomo’s signature.

George Borrello

OLEAN – State Senator George Borrello (R-Irving) has joined a group of Republican Southern Tier and Western New York lawmakers in urging Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo to provide an exemption for workers who live in Pennsylvania but work in New York from potentially being included in the governor’s COVID-19 travel advisory that now covers more than 30 states.

Cuomo’s travel advisory applies to any person traveling to New York from states with a significant community spread of COVID-19 and requires them to quarantine for 14 days.

Senator Borrello noted that “our regional economies are still fragile and working to recover in the wake of our months-long, mandatory shutdown. If Pennsylvania were to be added to the list of states under quarantine, it would be a terrible hit to our struggling recovery. There are thousands of Pennsylvania residents who work in communities in the Southern Tier and Western New York whose employers would be negatively impacted at a time when they can least afford it.”

In addition to Senator Borrello, the state lawmakers who signed the letter include Senator Tom O’Mara, Senator Fred Akshar, Assemblywoman Marjorie Byrnes, Assemblyman Chris Friend, Assemblyman Joe Giglio and Assemblyman Phil Palmesano. Together, they sent a letter to Cuomo warning that the inclusion of neighboring state workers in the required travel advisory quarantine would be devastating to local economies across the Southern Tier region.

In their August 3 letter to Cuomo, the regional legislators wrote, “Currently, the travel advisory is one of your administration’s primary efforts to contain the pandemic and protect the positive trajectory that New York State and our local regions have achieved in controlling its spread. While we understand the need for caution behind the advisory and its accompanying quarantine requirement, we also strongly urge you to take into full consideration the potentially severe economic consequences for regions like ours that border another state, in this case Pennsylvania, where there is a daily influx of out-of-state workers essential to our local economies.”

The letter outlines a worst-case scenario where, for example, Pennsylvania is added to the Cuomo travel advisory largely because of coronavirus spikes in large cities like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh (while border counties remain stable).

“Consequently, we appreciate this opportunity to urge you to be pro-active on this consideration and, anticipating a worst-case scenario, immediately work to clarify this concern for employers and workers and, especially, devise protocols that will continue to accommodate across-the-border employment.  In fact, we have read the recent reports that you have provided an exemption from the travel advisory/quarantine for New Jersey residents and believe that residents and workers from New York’s other border states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Vermont should be provided a similar exemption,” the legislators wrote to Cuomo.

On Tuesday Gov. Cuomo said an additional state meets the metrics to qualify for the travel advisory requiring individuals who have traveled to New York from those states, all of which have significant community spread, to quarantine for 14 days.

The newly-added state is Rhode Island. Delaware and Washington, D.C. have been removed.

Based upon Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order 205, the following states and territories meet the criteria for required quarantine:

• Alaska
• Alabama
• Arkansas
• Arizona
• California
• Florida
• Georgia
• Iowa
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Maryland
• Minnesota
• Missouri
• Mississippi
• Montana
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Nebraska
• New Mexico
• Nevada
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Puerto Rico
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Virginia
• Washington
• Wisconsin

This is based upon a seven day rolling average, of positive tests in excess of 10%, or number of positive cases exceeding 10 per 100,000 residents.

A small group of protesters gathered in Jamestown as part of a Reopen New York Rally on May 1 in front of Dow Park. Another rally is scheduled for Saturday, May 16 at noon. (Image / Kevin Mylett)

JAMESTOWN – Another Reopen NY rally is being planned for tomorrow in Jamestown.

Organizers say individuals will again meet in Dow Park at noon on Saturday, May 16 to continue to call for the ending of New York on Pause, which was put in place by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in mid March in order to slow the spread of COVID-19.

“Individuals will gather to urge our state, county, and local officials to honor their oaths to the Constitution and allow western New Yorkers to get back to work and their lives responsibly,” explained organizer and local resident Garrit Cain. “We will have residents ready to share with the press how their livelihoods have been negatively impacted by the NY on PAUSE/Shutdown.”

As part of his Forward New York plan, Gov. Cuomo announced at the start of this month that each of the state’s ten economic development regions are required to meet specific thresholds for seven different sets of criteria before a phased-in reopening can begin. Those metrics are based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control. So far Western New York has yet to meet all of the criteria, while five other regions in the state have been given the green light to being reopening.

FLAWED REOPENING STRATEGY?

Cain said the strategy of reopening the Western New York based economic development region all at the same time is flawed because it ignores the difference between rural counties like Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany Counties and the more heavily populated Erie and Niagara Counties.

“The data are clear that the virus is not impacting these regions equally. Therefore, we should have very different reopening strategies,” Cain said. He’s also pointing to recent comments from state and federal representatives who also favor a county-by-county reopening strategy.

“Our State legislative and US Congress representatives have all come out in support of a county-based reopening strategy despite the obstinacy of Governor Cuomo to keep the plan tied to arbitrary economic development regions,” Cain said – referring to a recent press conference held by Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning), State Senator George Borrello (R-Irving), and Assemblymen Andrew Goodell (R-Ellicott) and Joe Giglio (R-Gowanda). “These law makers have stopped just short of telling Chautauqua and Cattaraugus Counties to open in defiance of the State. Assemblyman Goodell made the boldest case saying, ‘Chautauqua County needs to open in a safe responsible manner now.'”

According to Borrello and Goodell, most local businesses in Chautauqua County have already developed and submitted reopening plans that detail safety measures they will enact to protect staff and customers.

“It’s time for our representatives -especially at the local and county level – to trust and support the people they were elected to represent. We are calling on them to be bold, stand up to the State, tell us we are free to get back to work responsibly,” Cain explained. “A localized strategy could include the County Health Departments signing off on business’s reopening plans and having business owners sign some sort of liability release for the County.”

“There will likely be pushback by the State but these potential consequences pale in comparison to the damage to lives and livelihoods that has occurred and will continue every day this shutdown drags on,” Cain Said. “We ask those brave legislators who spoke Tuesday, County Executive PJ Wendel, and municipal leaders to take that leap and assure us they have our backs if we go back to work with or without the blessing of the State.”

This is the third week in a row that such a rally is planned in Jamestown. The latest rally also comes as Lt. governor Kathy Hochul announced on Thursday that Western New York is not ready to reopen after the region experienced another setback and is no longer meeting the criteria for new hospitalizations.

• AUDIO ALSO AVAILABLE AT SOUNDCLOUD

Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY 23), NY Senator George Borrello (R-Irving, 57th District), and Assembly members Andy Goodell (R-Ellicott, 150th District) and Joe Giglio (R-Gowanda, 149th District) hold a press conference at Crown Roasting Company, Jamestown, NY on Tuesday, May 12 to call for the start of reopening the economies of Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany Counties.

Congressman Tom Reed, Senator George Borrello, and Assemblyman Andy Goodell were at the Crown Roasting Company on 3rd Street to hold a news conference updating the community on their effort to reopen the local economy while also voicing criticism of the governor’s regional plan. The three Republicans were joined by fellow Republican Assemblyman Joe Giglio, who represents Nearby Cattaraugus and Allegany Counties in Albany.

• LISTEN TO FULL PRESS CONFERENCE

Reed said that unlike the more heavily populated Erie County, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany counties are all seeing significantly lower COVID-19-related numbers – yet they still have to follow Erie County’s lead because they are all included in the same Western New York region.

“There is a very logical reason for those three counties to be considered separate than Erie County and the Western Region that they have and obviously it’s that there is a difference between those three counties and the urban population center of Buffalo… There is a really good – and I made this argument with the Lieutenant Governor and she acknowledges that is a legitimate position to take – in regards to separating those counties out,” Reed said, referencing a meeting earlier in the day with Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is overseeing the reopening effort of the Western New York region.

Senator Borrello also said that businesses are already working on making adjustments to deal with COVID-19 and that needs to be considered when it comes to allowing the counties to reopen.

“Nobody is expecting us to flip a switch and go back to where we were before this pandemic,” Borrello said. “We’ve also called on businesses to develop their own plan. I can’t think of anyone better than someone who owns a business or manages a business to come up with a detailed plan on how they can restart. And that is what happened – following CDC and OSHA guidelines, which is also what the governor has called for – to ensure those businesses have a plan that is tailored.”

Despite their concerns about being included in the Western New York region, the group of representatives said they are hopeful numbers will allow the region to open soon (as of Tuesday the region met five of the seven standards required for reopening under the governor’s New York Forward Reopening Plan). But if not, they are going to continue to pressure the state to allow the lower populated counties to move forward, regardless of the numbers coming out of buffalo. They also said they support resident’s opposed to the governor’s regional approach to also continuing voicing their concerns.

• MOBILE APP USERS: LISTEN VIA SOUNDLOUD

MAYVILLE – Chautauqua County County Executive George Borrello (R-Irving) confirms that he is hoping to be the area’s next representative in the New York State Senator.

George Borrello

On Thursday morning WRFA talked with Borrello during an appearance at Jamestown Community College. Borrello said that he was pleased to learn he has received the endorsement of the Chautauqua County Republican and Conservative Party Committees in being their candidate in a special election for the recently vacated 57th senate district.

“I’m certainly very proud to have the endorsement of our Chautauqua County Republican Committee,” Borrello said. “There are other steps to take and there are three other counties involved besides Chautauqua County, so we’ll move through that process.”

The three other counties involved include Cattaraugus, Allegany and Livinston Counties. In a special election  to fill the remainder of a term of a vacated legislature seat, the county committees for each party within the legislative district are required to agree to a candidate with a weighted vote taking place if more than one name is being considered. But with Chautauqua County containing nearly 50 percent of all registered Republicans in the district, it appears Borrello is a near certainty to secure a district-wide endorsement.

Borrello, who is a also former Chautauqua County Legislator, is only in his second year County Executive. He admits he was reluctant to consider the Senate opening, but eventually decided to pursue it for a number of reasons.

“I felt the sense of duty that we need good representation in Albany for Chautauqua County and the rest of the district,” Borrello said. “Although I was reluctant to jump in because of everything we have going on here as county executive, after talking to a lot of people including my wife, I really decided that for us to push forward with so many initiatives that are already in the works – things like the Ripley Gateway Center, or the hops and barley coop, or all the things going on around Chautauqua Lake to improve the water quality – those require strong, persistent diligent advocacy by our state representatives. Cathy Young did a fantastic job. She leaves a tremendous hole and big shoes to fill, so we need somebody there who is going to have the energy, drive, and commitment to advance those projects and everything else that is important to the people of the 57th District.”

A map showing New York’s 57th Senate District, which is now vacant following the resignation and departure of former Sen. Catherine Young

Making the path easier for Borrello on the Republican side is the fact that the region’s two Republican Assembly members – Andrew Goodell (R-Ellicott) of Chautauqua County and Joe Giglio of Cattaraugus County – have both reportedly announced they will not run for that seat.

Meanwhile on the Democratic side, Lakewood resident and past Senate candidate Nancy Bargar announced via email on Thursday afternoon she was withdrawing from the race. Chautauqua County Democratic Committee chair Norman Green tells WRFA they will likely announce their endorsement for the Senate seat next week.

The senate seat was vacated by Cathy Young (R-Olean) at the start of this week. She announced at the end of last month she was leaving the Senate to take a job at Cornell University. Prior to her departure she had served in the Senate for 15 years and prior to that in the State Assembly.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has the option of scheduling a date for when the special election will take place. If he opts to not schedule a date, it will automatically occur during the November General Election. The winner will serve the remainder of the current term, which ends December 31, 2020.

Meanwhile, as the district waits for a new Senator to be voted on to fill the district’s vacated senate seat, residents across the region are left without a representative in the State legislature’s upper chamber.

Despite the absence, 57th Senate District Administrative Assistant Lisa Vanstrom tells WRFA that the district offices are still staffed and anyone seeking help or assistance is still encouraged to call.

She also said that for questions involving legislation – local residents in Chautauqua County should contact via email Assemblyman Goodell.

The New York State Assembly Chambers

ALBANY – There’s just eight days remaining in the current legislative session in Albany and a group of lawmakers are pushing for the passage of legislation to help fight heroin and opioid abuse and addiction.

Members of the State Assembly’s Minority Conference – including representative Joe Giglio (R-Gowanda) who represents Cattaraugus County – joined with parents and representatives from advocacy organizations on Wednesday to call on the Legislature and governor to take immediate action and pass legislation before the end of the legislative session on June 16.

in January the Assembly Minority Task Force on Heroin Addiction & Community Response issued a report that included, in part, the HELP (Heroin Elimination & Prevention) Plan and several recommendations.

Through those recommendations, Republicans in the Assembly have developed legislation that includes:

• Creating the class E felony of criminal possession of fentanyl, a highly-addictive painkiller that has been linked to heroin overdoses (A.9098, Graf);
• Requiring the Department of Health to establish limitations on the amount of certain Schedule II controlled substances, most notably opioids, that can be prescribed during a course of treatment (A.9585, Giglio);
• Requiring insurance companies to cover at least seven days of detoxification treatment and 30 days of rehabilitation services for substance abuse disorders (A.9604, Giglio);
• Enabling family members to help their loved ones who are suffering from addiction by creating involuntary admission procedures (Marchman Act) through the courts (A.9619, Graf);
• Providing that possession of 40 or more individual packages of heroin or a heroin mixture is presumptive evidence of a person’s intent to sell, thereby increasing the severity of the crime (A.9749, Graf); and
• Improving the operations of sober homes by requiring their certification and requiring inspections to ensure adequate conditions for individuals residing in them (A.9794, Graf).
• Establishing the “Officer Randolph Holder’s Law” – which aims to honor the memory of fallen NYPD Officer Randolph Holder by making necessary reforms to keep drug dealers with multiple felony convictions behind bars.

In May the New York State Senate Joint Task Force on Heroin and Opioid Addiction released its own report summarizing findings and recommendations resulting from forums held across the state. That report also included comprehensive legislative recommendations to address shortcomings in the state’s heroin and opioid prevention and treatment-delivery strategies, as well as a four-tiered approach to combating the heroin epidemic- prevention, treatment, recovery and enforcement.

It’s not yet known if any of the proposed legislation from either the Republicans in the state Assembly or the in the Senate will be taken up before the June 16 legislative session deadline.

NYSUT regional director Anne Geronimo works with more than 7500 members from throughout Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany Counties. She was a guest Thrusday on WRFA’s Community Matters program and during our interview, she said educators aren’t necessarily opposed to Common Core, but instead are against how it’s been introduced and implemented by state education leaders.

“We support raising standards for kids. We always have supported that and we have many of our members who think the Common Core as they’ve seen it is a great thing and they’re happy to be working with it in their classrooms,” Geronimo explained. “Where we’ve run into problems is the state’s implementation of it in such a way that materials were not provided to teachers in a timely fashion. They were asked to test students on material that they hadn’t even introduced in the classroom yet.”

Geronimo also said that because of the poor implementation, both teachers and students are seeing a negative impact. “Children are having anxiety over this. They’re failing exams that they had never even seeing material for. They’re coming home crying. They’re exhibiting a lot of symptons in the classroom of anxiety. Any teacher is going to be deeply stressed by seeing their students stressed. So the genesis of our resistence to the implementation was the experience we saw our students having with the tests.”

New York State Education Commissioner John King, Jr. speaks with reporters prior to a public forum on public education at Jamestown High School on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2013. King has been criticized by NYSUT and others for not being receptive to concerns regarding the implementation of the Common Core.

Geronimo adds that teachers across the state are also against the state’s new evaluation model, which uses the test results from Common Core to help determine a teacher’s overall performance. She said its simply not far to use those results, considering teachers were not made aware of what material would be on the tests – making it difficult if not impossible to prepare students.

In January NYSUT came out with a  vote of no confidence for State Education Commissioner John King, Jr. In addition, it is calling for a moratorium on Common Core so that some of the issues can be addressed. Leaders in the state legislature have also offered their support and Geronimo tells WRFA she’s also seeing local support.

“Joe Giglio, the assemblyman from Cattaraugus and Allegany County did come out against the common core and so far he’s the only legilsator in this region to make a public statement supporting our posiiton,” Geronimo said. “We’ve had very good conversations with [Senator] Cathy Young on that also, so we know that the legislators are hearing from their constituents who are coming from the place that we have to protect our schools and our kids and our communities.”

Geronimo says in the coming  months, NYSUT will be focusing on the school budget votes and elections for various local school boards, encouraring residents to support those candidates who are opposed to the way the state has handled the rollout of Common Core.  She also encourages anyone who wants to be more involed with the issue to contact her office in Jamestown at (716) 664-7425 or to learn more by visiting NYSUT.org.

If you missed the full interview with Geronimo, it will be replayed at noon this Sunday on WRFA and will also be made available at wrfalp.com via podcast early next week.