Paul Szmal: We're joined now by State Senator Pam Helming here on FLX Morning on Finger Lakes News Radio. Senator Helming, how are you today?
Guest: I'm doing great. Thank you, Paul. And we get a chance to talk about some stuff that you haven't been able to do for a while. We get to put the whole budget process, the legislative session in the rearview mirror here and focus on a few different things, one of which was your opportunity to award one of the highest achievement honors in the state. Tell us about that.
Paul Szmal: Yes, earlier this week, I had the opportunity to recognize Dr. Wendy Logan Young with the New York State Senate Accommodation Award. And as you said, this is one of the highest honors that a state senator can award to a citizen. It recognizes individuals who have truly gone above and beyond, have demonstrated exceptional leadership, significant contributions. And Wendy Logan Young, I'm sure many listeners are familiar with the Elizabeth Logan Young Breast Cancer Diagnosis Centers. Dr. Wendy Logan Young was a founder of those centers. Back in 1975, she did something that was truly unthinkable. She was a radiologist at the time, and she saw that people, especially women, were slipping through the cracks with diagnosis and with treatments for breast cancer. And she tried to change the process where women who were diagnosed with cancer suspected of having breast cancer were sent immediately to a surgeon. Dr. Young, like I said, she risked everything to build a better way, and she transformed the standard of breast cancer detection, not only in our region, but across the nation. She saved the lives of countless individuals and families. I've heard from so many of them. And at one point, this woman, and I consider her a true trailblazer and a local hero, but at one point she was penniless because when she went to open up the first breast cancer center in the nation, she had to give up her job. So she was literally penniless as she was doing it. But it just shows that, you know, when someone's passionate, when they're guided by purpose and they have that strong commitment to helping others, pretty much anything is possible.
Guest: Truly impressive story. And I wanted to get your take, before we go any further, on what's been happening with the Sam Norquist murder case. Most recently, another defendant has pled guilty. I wanted to get your perspective on it.
Paul Szmal: So, to me, it's just disgusting. It's sickening. It's heartbreaking that human beings could do this. One human being or several human beings could do this to another human being. Sam, the torture, what he went through, no one, no one, no living being, should ever experience that. And I'm proud of our district attorney, Jason McBride, and his team, and that they're getting the people who committed these crimes to plead guilty. But I've listened to Sam's mother, and I believe it was his sister, on the news interviews. I've unfortunately met with parents who've lost children under horrible circumstances. And the one thing that really sickens me even further is that in New York State, like, we're hearing right now that in Sam's case, the people who committed these crimes are likely to be sentenced to life without parole. But in New York State, there are a number of pieces of legislation that have been introduced and have tremendous support. For instance, one, the elder parole bill, it would mandate parole hearings for any convicted criminal who served at least 15 years and reached age 55. So Precious and the others who tortured Sam would be eligible for a parole hearing, regardless of the fact if they're sentenced to life without parole. There's no exclusion, no exception under the elder parole bill that says if you have this sentence, life without parole, you are not eligible. So that's very concerning to me. I think it's misleading to victims and victims' families that because a sentence says life without parole, that that may not change here in New York State. And the elder parole bill, the reason why I bring that up, it's because it's supported by 32 Senate majority members. So if they bring it to the floor, they have enough votes to pass it. And then there's a second bill, it's called the Second Look Act, and it goes even further. It allows anyone who's convicted of any crime to petition a judge for a reduced sentence after they served just 10 years. And what's concerning to me about that, again, it's another bill with support from the legislature, but the highest judge in the state of New York, the chief judge, has repeatedly championed the passage of the Second Look Act. So again, my personal feeling is if somebody has been sentenced to life without parole, that's exactly what it should mean, life without parole.
Guest: We're talking with State Senator Pam Helming here on FLX Morning. Around the backside of the America 250 celebrations, were you able to take part in any?
Paul Szmal: Oh, yes. It's been absolutely tremendous. It's such uplifting, inspiring to see so many people at celebrations, whether it's the parades that are going on. I mean, I was at the big Canandaigua parade. That was just packed, hundreds and hundreds of people to see all those young kids waving their flags, dressed in red, white and blue. Just so inspiring. This past weekend, I was in Canadais at a local celebration. And that one was really kind of unique in that there were residents who shared their stories from the past. They've lived in Canadais their entire lives and talked about the history of the community. And I've been to everything in between. This weekend, I'll be in Pulteneyville and then Lyons for their parades. But it's just been absolutely incredible to be able to celebrate our nation.
Guest: There are various regions around the state that have a lot of lakes, ours obviously included. And those are being commemorated with Lake Appreciation Month here in July.
Paul Szmal: Yes. So this year, I was able to pass a resolution in the State Senate proclaiming July as Lake Appreciation Month in New York State. And as you just said, it's very important, especially in the region that I represent, we have so many of our finger legs. We have Lake Ontario. And it's just important to recognize the significance of these bodies of water, whether it's the economic development that they drive, or the fact that they provide drinking water to literally thousands and thousands of people. They play such an important role in our daily lives here. So I've been out, I met with the Canandaigua Lake Watershed Association, presented them with a copy of the resolution. Last week, I was at the Honeyway Valley Association and presented that group with a copy of the resolution. And I'm hoping to get out to Canisius and Livingston County, and a group on Lake Ontario to present these resolutions.
Guest: Want to give a call out to a couple of things that you have going on, Senator. One of those is the continuation of the summer reading program.
Paul Szmal: Yes, every year I sponsor a summer reading program. It's easy for parents to sign up their children or for students to register themselves on my website. You just register, log the books that you read. And at the end of the program, students will receive an official summer reading, a New York State Senate citation. But it's so important to keep kids engaged in reading through the summer months. There's something that's known as the summer slide, that if kids don't continue with their reading, that they tend to lose a little bit of the progress that they made during the school year. So our libraries are absolutely fantastic. Anyone who hasn't been to a library recently, I would encourage you to go there. There are so many great, as everyone knows, books and reading materials, but they also have craft activities packaged up, grab and go packages that are a lot of fun. There's everything from fishing poles that you could borrow, to state passes, to parks, everything in between, all kinds of museums and everything. So you could borrow this stuff from the library, experience it at no cost.
Guest: We've talked with the folks on the American Red Cross on several occasions about how in the summertime, blood supplies tend to dwindle and donations tend to dwindle. You are hosting several blood drives here over the course of the next couple of months.
Paul Szmal: Yes, our first blood drive is on Monday, August 3rd, starts at 1.30. It's at St. Patrick's Church in Victor. And we'll be doing a lot of emailing. We'll do a promotion through the media and also mailings out to the communities. But we have them scheduled in Victor, in Canandaigua, out in Riga, Chi-Li, and a number of locations. But working with the American Red Cross is something that I appreciate. I had the opportunity and I was extremely honored this year to be named the American Red Cross Legislator of the Year.
Guest: Well, you may not be in Albany for a legislative session, but you certainly are keeping busy. Senator Helming, we appreciate a few minutes of your time today. Thank you so much.
Paul Szmal: Thank you, Paul.
