A Voice from the Eastern Door
A Voice from the Eastern Door
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By Andy Gardner MASSENA. The Massena Central School District superintendent outlined what would happen if a student starts to show symptoms of COVID-19 while in school during the upcoming school year. Superintendent Pat Brady said students will be screened both at home and upon arrival at school. If the student has a normal temperature and no symptoms of COVID-19, they will be allowed to take the bus. However, if a student develops symptoms at school, they will be taken to an isolation room by the school nurse. The nurse will then contact a...
By Andy Gardner Fishing League Worldwide remains interested in Massena as a venue for their major tournaments next year, despite the town canceling two big FLW tourneys that were to have happened this summer. Don Meissner, who the town contracts as a sportfishing promoter, updated the Town Council during their Wednesday, Aug. 19 meeting. The two axed tournaments were the FLW 2020 Toyota Series, July 9 to 13, and the FLW Pro Circuit Championship, Aug. 24 to 29. “They are so appreciative of what Massena has done that they’re planning one of the...
By Andy Gardner MASSENA. The Board of Education made appointments and approved resignations and retirements. The board appointed Evelyn Fiske as interim junior high principal, effective Aug. 18 as needed at $425 per day; Tomorrah Nezezon Averill as high school science teacher, effective Sept. 1, 2020 to Aug. 31, 2023 at a $59,756 salary; Lisa Dashnaw as high school art teacher, effective Sept. 1, 2020 to Aug. 31, 2024 at a $45,721 salary; and Nikki Arney as a library aide, effective Sept. 1, at a $22,087 salary. The board accepted resignations...
By Andy Gardner The Board of Education held a public hearing on proposed pandemic-related changes to the student conduct code for the 2020-21 school year. The hearing drew no comments from the public. Superintendent Pat Brady said the board will vote on a final version of the proposed code change at their September meeting. The proposed changes require students to wear masks at school and mandates social distancing. It also calls for regular handwashing and covering the nose and mouth while coughing or sneezing. Brady said the changes line up...
By Andy Gardner MASSENA. Massena Central’s Board of Education wants to find a new way to put an armed police officer in school after the village decided to not renew a contract to provide the service. During their July 26 meeting, village Board of Trustees members said they didn’t think they should continue the service because the school district comprises residents of both inside and outside the village, but the village taxpayers are the only ones paying the bill. The school resource officer, Jody Daggett, was a village police officer who ans...
By Andy Gardner MASSENA. The St. Lawrence Centre mall has met the state’s requirements for reopening and is now open again. Mall Manager Erica Leonard said the stores open now are Shoe Department, Maurice’s, Olympia Sports, JC Penney and Melissa’s Hair Studio. She said other mall stores are on track to reopen “kind of here and there between now and next week.” Food court eateries are now closed, but she said those will eventually reopen too. Wendy’s was to have opened Wednesday, Aug. 12. “We’ll also announce openings on our social media an...
By Andy Gardner MASSENA. More than 110 people marched through downtown Massena on Saturday to support a Black family who had a noose left in their yard, and to also demand larger systemic change. The group gathered at Emmanuel Congregational Church on West Orvis Street and headed down Main Street around 2:30 p.m. The column of marchers stretched from the Post Office to Sunoco. They turned onto Bridges Avenue, went down Highland Avenue, turned onto Nightengale Avenue and paused at Massena High...
By Andy Gardner Nineteen Akwesasne students received diplomas from Massena High School during an outdoor socially distanced ceremony that took place over two nights. This year's graduates include honors graduates Andrew Cook and Shannan Cree, along with Regents grads Caleb Arazy, Kanatires Barreiro, Tisha Benedict, Ieniente Cook, Bradley Cook-Green, Hannah Delormier, Talon Doxtator, Mitchell Gardner, Kloey Herne, Creedence King, Darryl Lazare Jr., Ieronhenehtha Lazore, Jenna Oakes, Kawennaien...
By Andy Gardner St. Lawrence County’s Board of Health president discussed what he calls his “Reopening Rollback Prevention Program” during the St. Lawrence County legislature’s Monday, July 27 Finance Committee meeting. Dr. Andrew Williams said a recent uptick in coronavirus cases in St. Lawrence County and nationwide brings with it “appropriate fear things are going to change and we’re going to have to roll back the reopening.” He made his comments during a time when coronavirus cases in Akwesasne have started to go up as well. During his pr...
By Andy Gardner The New York State Education Department has released what they describe as “the framework of guidance to help schools and school districts as they plan to reopen, whether that occurs in person, remotely, or in a combination of the two.” In addition, formal guidance will be disseminated later this week that will enable New York’s schools to continue to safely educate their students this fall, NYSED said. The framework was informed by four virtual Regional School Reopening Task Force meetings as well as a student forum hoste...
By Andy Gardner A recent Supreme Court decision that ruled about half of the state of Oklahoma is Muscogee Creek reservation land could have an impact on St. Regis Mohawk Tribe’s land claims, according to the tribe’s general counsel. The plaintiff in the case, a Seminole man named Jimcy McGirt, claimed that the state of Oklahoma had no jurisdiction to try him for sex crimes. He claimed the alleged offenses took place on Muscogee Creek land established in an 1866 treaty that was never ceded from the tribe by an act of Congress, therefore Okl...
By Andy Gardner An NFL team that goes by an anti-Native slur will change their name, and a second Major League Baseball team has said they will review their controversial celebration gesture, but don’t appear to be ready to change their name. The NFL’s Washington Redskins announced Monday, July 13 that they will change their name and logo. Although they haven’t announced a new name and logo, they will drop the term Redskins amid a global outcry against systemic racism that occurred in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Floyd, an unarmed Black m...
By Andy Gardner St. Lawrence County’s public health director says the cancelation of a Cayuga County Bassmaster tournament would have eliminated a safety window where the anglers could be tested twice before coming to St. Lawrence County. Meanwhile, the county’s Board of Health president says the biggest risk to another COVID-19 outbreak in St. Lawrence County is people traveling to high-transmission areas and bringing the virus back. Dr. Dana McGuire, the public health director, and Dr. Andrew Williams, health board president, addressed the...
By Andy Gardner MASSENA. The Massena High School Diversity Club is asking the Board of Education to consider making their graduation gowns a single gender-neutral color. Paul Haggett, who chairs the board’s Policy Committee, brought up the request during the board’s June 18 meeting held online via Zoom. “They are interested in modifying graduation dress to include a single-color graduation gown that would be for all students, except for the approved Native American dress,” Haggett said. “We expect to be looking at another dress code policy ch...
By Andy Gardner Local public health experts and St. Lawrence County legislators discussed concerns about bringing anglers to the area for fishing tournaments who are coming from states that are seeing a recent explosion of COVID-19 cases. The discussion took place during the board’s Finance Committee meeting held June 29 via Zoom and streamed live on YouTube. “We have had a few phone calls with Bassmaster … there have been no answers. We’ve talked about some of the safety issues, some of the gathering restrictions,” said Dr. Dana McGuire,...
By Andy Gardner MASSENA. A student ex officio member of the Board of Education told members that distance learning due to the pandemic was harder on some than others. Ieronhenehtha Lazore, the board’s non-voting student member, spoke during a June 18 Board of Education meeting held online via Zoom and broadcast over YouTube. It was her final participation in a board meeting, as she will graduate this year. Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered all New York state schools closed in March. It was initially supposed to be for a month, but later was extended t...
By Andy Gardner CANTON. St. Lawrence County could be vulnerable to a second wave of COVID-19 due to unnecessary travel to and from high-transmission areas, according to one of the county’s top public health experts. Dr. Andrew Williams addressed the St. Lawrence County Board of Legislators Finance Committee during a June 29 meeting streamed online via YouTube. Dr. Williams is president of the St. Lawrence County Board of Health. “Even though the first wave seems to have passed us … it’s very possible we could see a second wave of COVID in New...
By Andy Gardner Salmon River Central is planning a drive-through June 26 graduation ceremony. Salmon River will have the graduates and family members arriving at specific times. It will be June 26 at the main campus in front of the high school by door 9. They plan to start at 10 am until all graduates have walked across the stage to receive their diploma, Salmon River Superintendent Dr. Stanley Harper said. “Also important to know is each individual (graduate) will receive a video of the entire graduation. A team of teachers will film each s...
By Andy Gardner MASSENA. The Route 56 Auto Drive-In, 9783 State Route 56, will celebrate their 65th anniversary this year. JS Cinemas owner Jeff Szot, who bought the drive-in about 33 years ago, said they are trying to adapt to the coronavirus pandemic restrictions and still offer something where people can safely go out of their homes for a night. "It's been crazy getting it open," Szot said. "We are doing all the social distancing for the COVID aspects." He said that patrons so far have...
By Andy Gardner The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on fall high school sports is still largely an unknown. The New York State Public High School Athletic Association is working on giving coaches a guideline on how to safely work out over the summer. The NYSPHSAA COVID-19 task force has recently issued its first set of guidelines for coaches to consider when operating summer workouts and conditioning camps. This is for all activity prior to Aug. 24, the official start of the fall season. The guide is suggestions, as the task force does not...
By Andy Gardner POTSDAM. About 100 people gathered downtown on Sunday afternoon to protest racism and police brutality in solidarity with demonstrations happening around the United States and now throughout the world. The Potsdam protest, which happened on Elm Street in front of the Post Office, was in response to the killing of George Floyd. The 46-year-old black man died last week after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is white and was a cop at the time, was filmed using...
By Andy Gardner POTSDAM. SUNY Potsdam Police have come under fire for sharing a Blue Lives Matter meme on its Facebook page. The post went up on May 31, the same day that about 100 people gathered in downtown Potsdam for the first of two racial justice rallies. "This morning a member of our team inappropriately shared a very insensitive post on our Facebook page. While the post was immediately taken down, we don't want to diminish the hurt and frustration that you may be feeling," Tim Ashley,...
By Andy Gardner CANTON. Local officials are in talks with Bassmaster, who still wants to hold their Elite Tournament in Waddington later this summer, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce Director Brooke Rouse discussed the ongoing talks at a Monday, May 18 St. Lawrence County legislature Finance Committee meeting streamed online. She said instead of the typical event where thousands of people go in and out of Whittaker Park in Waddington, Bassmaster is considering sending their anglers out on the water and...
By Andy Gardner MASSENA. Fishing League Worldwide are trying to hold their tournament in Massena later this year, adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic, over the summer. Don Meissner, with whom the town contracts to promote local fisheries, filled in the Town Council during their Wednesday, May 20 meeting held online via Facebook Live. “The FLW is very, very aware of what New York state is doing and they’re willing to compromise, to adapt, to do anything we need to do to ensure safety comes first,” Meissner told the board. The tournaments are class...
By Andy Gardner Massena’s superintendent of schools says he and other regional superintendents will meet June 2 to discuss how to handle graduation for the Class of 2020. “Currently, under executive order, the (restriction of) 10 people or less for social gatherings remains,” said Pat Brady, Massena Central superintendent. Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s NY on PAUSE executive order expires Thursday, May 28. His decision on whether to extend or relax the restrictions won’t be made until after press deadline for this edition. “I think all of the regional sup...
