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Highs and lows: Some of the best, worst of the week

Here are some of the best – and worst – of the week:

BEST

Today’s bests are all about people!

SPECIAL OLYMPICS – For the past 27 years, Maureen Bialaszewski has been overseeing the Northern Chautauqua County Special Olympics. Literally hundreds of special education students gather on the SUNY Fredonia campus and participate in the annual event. Obviously, something of this size can’t be done by one single person; there’s a team of volunteers that help manage the Special Olympics event. But we want to give Bialaszewski special recognition for being the brain-child of the event and keeping it going all these years later!

LIBRARY HELPER – Earlier this month, the Ripley Town Board declared May 8th Marion Pell Day in Ripley. Marion Winter Pell started her career as a part-time clerk with the Ripley Free Library when she was in high school. She has continued to help out the library for more than 50 years. May 8 marked her 87th birthday and a surprise party was held for her that day. Town officials noted Ripley is proud to claim Marion Pell as a member of its community. They should be.

NURSING STAR – Brocton native Michael Petsch-Munger was recently awarded the Nurse of the Year Excellence in Nursing by D Magazine in Dallas. Munger won the General Practice category for his heroic efforts to save a drowning girl from a lake outside of his apartment building in Dallas. Munger, who is also an EMT and paramedic, heard a cry for help outside his home and pulled a young girl out of Lake Carolyn. We congratulate him for his act of heroism.

WORST

NAMES WITHHELD – Six Jamestown high school males thought it would be fun to hold a senior prank. So the young men forced open a doorway at the high school, placed stickers on surveillance cameras, spread glitter throughout all of the hallways and the gym floor, tied string through countless lockers in the main hallways, and damaged a lock in one of the main office buildings. All six are now facing charges. On Friday, Jamestown Superintendent Tim Mains told the Post-Journal, “It is disturbing to me as the leader of this district that in the course of the police investigation, whether by a breach of confidentiality or merely by rumor and innuendo, a number of students who were not involved in this incident have been widely and inaccurately described as playing a role in it. I do not want our effort to protect the confidentiality of actual perpetrators to be used in order to continue to malign students who had nothing to do with this.” Want to stop the gossip? Release the names of those charged. That will not only help the innocent from being wrongfully accused, it could also help prevent future acts of vandalism, if students learn their names will go public. We don’t know if it was the school’s or the police’s decision to withhold the names, but those students should lose their right of privacy.

highs and lows Some of the best, worst of the week

Here are some of the best – and worst – of the week:

BEST

AUTHOR GOING TO MOVIES – Fredonia native Wendy Corsi Staub, has written more than 80 thrillers, dozens of light romance novels under the pen name Wendy Markham, and several young adult novels. Now one of Staub’s books will be turned into a movie. “Hello, It’s Me,” (Warner Forever, 2005) written with her Markham pen name, will air on the Hallmark network in August. The movie will star Kellie Martin (“Mad Men,” “Army Wives”), and Kavan Smith (“Rogue, Eureka”). The storyline features Annie, a young widow and mother of two who keeps her late husband’s cell phone connected so she can dial it and hear his voice on the outgoing message. One day when she calls it, he answers the phone. We applaud Staub for her success and look forward to seeing the story on television this summer.

PUCCI HONORS – Pucci Carpet One Furniture & Bedding in Fredonia was honored this past for supporting the “Building for America’s Bravest program,” which aims to raise funds for custom-designed, specially adapted “smart homes” for American service members returning from war with catastrophic injuries. Carpet One Floor & Home and its manufacturing partner, Mohawk Industries, have committed to providing and installing flooring in all the smart homes scheduled to be built through 2016. To date, 28 smart homes have been built and another 200 are pledged to be built. “I thank the Pucci family for letting us come in and explain this mission we’re on, the same one they’re a part of now,” said Joe Morstatt, a retired New York City firefighter, who presented Pucci’s with a shadowbox award. It’s a well deserved award.

BASEBALL HONORS – It was a special game Tuesday, when the Dunkirk Marauders defeated the Silver Creek Black Knights. It was the last game played at Al Stuhlmiller Field before renovations take place. The tennis courts are being taken down and a maroon wall will be put up so people can watch both tennis and baseball at the same time. The hill in right field will be relaced and drainage systems in the outfield will take place as well. To commemorate the day, the Marauders invited former baseball players to join the current team for a photo. It was a special day indeed.

WORST

LARGER SCHOOL BOARD – We have to disagree with Pine Valley residents. Voters rejected a proposal to reduce the size of the board from nine to seven members. Pine Valley residents were upset this spring when they found out the board was cutting several teaching positions. But keeping a larger board is not going to improve things. Instead, it’s going to create scenarios where more people will be running unopposed and residents will feel more frustrated over the lack of a choice.

highs and lows Some of the best, worst of the week

Here are some of the best – and worst – of the week:

BEST

BUILDING CLEAN-UP – Ken Thrank, 84, of Forestville, was upset because the abandoned house next to him has started to collapse and part of a wall fell into his driveway, making it so he was unable to utilize his garage. After the article ran, the former owner of the house was in town and cleaned up Thrank’s driveway. Not only that, but two others in the community contacted Thrank and offered to clean out his driveway for him. Although the house is still in shambles and the problem could reoccur, we’re glad for now the problem has been fixed.

POSTER CHAMP – Congratulations to Autumn Rivera, an eighth grade student of the Dunkirk City School District, who was the grand prize winner of the 2015 Chautauqua Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Council Poster Contest. Her poster will eventually be made into a billboard and displayed around the county. Congratulations to Rivera, as well as all the other students who participated in the contest, designed to bring about awareness of substance abuse.

DRAFTED – Applause for Cody Fleckenstein. The Nichols School student who lives in Fredonia was drafted by the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League in the 11th round. Fleckenstein began his hockey career as a member of the Northern Chautauqua County Youth Hockey Association and played for the Mite Mosquitoes. There are more than 200 National Hockey League players who previously played in the USHL. We’ll see if Fleckenstein becomes another. But for now, we are excited for him in this new opportunity.

WORST

SKELOS SPEAK – Both State Sen. Cathy Young and Assemblyman Andy Goodell say Dean Skelos, state Senate Majority Leader, should keep his position, even though Skelos has been arrested. Skelos, a Republican, is accused of using his political position to benefit his son. Meanwhile, the day former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was arrested, both Young and Goodell called for Silver to step aside. Silver, a Democrat, was accused of pocketing millions of dollars for helping various entities. Goodell, in particular, said he thought Silver needed to step down because the severity of the crimes but said accusations against Skelos aren’t as serious. Sorry, we’re not buying it. Skelos was arrested by federal agents. He needs to step down – and his political affiliation does not matter.

Highs and lows: Some of the best, worst of the week

Here are some of the best – and worst – of the week:

BEST

GIVING GRANDPARENTS – It’s great to have a grandparent. It’s great to be a grandparent. But there are children in our area that could use another grandma or grandpa in their lives. So for 50 years, the Foster Grandparents program has been in place, which connects senior citizens with young people, to provide mentoring and caring for the underprivileged. On Thursday, a special recognition dinner was held at the Dunkirk Moose. We want to applaud all those “foster grandparents” for being willing to step up and make a difference in a young person’s life. For more information about becoming involved with the Lutheran Foster Grandparents Program, call 665-5354.

FORESTVILLE MUSICIANS – Congratulations to Forestville High School’s bands and chorus. The students recently traveled to Chicago’s Bolingbrook High School and competed in the WorldStrides’ Heritage Performance Program, where Forestville won the top music program. Many other individual awards were won as well. It was a great experience for the students and an honor for the community.

REMEMBERING LINCOLN – It was fitting this past week when the Westfield Academy and Central School District took time to remember the late President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln’s body went through Chautauqua County 150 years ago this past week after he was assassinated. Lincoln’s visit to Westfield to meet Grace Bedell has been well documented. We also learned from Hanover Historian Vince Martonis that Lincoln visited Silver Creek during the President’s inaugural tour and received an arrangements of rosebuds from a little girl. In response, Lincoln thanked the girl and called her a “sweet rosebud.”

WORST

CLOSING DOWN – Friday was the final day of production scheduled for Carriage House in Fredonia. It marks a sad end. The former Red Wing plant, Carriage House announced in 2013 that the plant would close after many of its products would be produced at other locations around the country. A total of 425 people will have lost their jobs. County officials have been busily marketing both the Fredonia and Dunkirk Carriage House plants. Carriage House was easily the largest private employer in Fredonia. Some employees have been able to find work, while others will start their search full time. Losing your job is never easy. Losing a major employer is even more difficult.

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