batavia

The Spirit Halloween store's back room in the Batavia Commons on West Main Street is filling with smoke. The building is being evacuated. City fire is responding.

UPDATE 2 p.m.: Chief Jim Maxwell at the scene said that an employee started smelling something suspicious around 11 a.m., then later went into the back room and found it hazy. That's when the fire department was called. A thermal imaging camera reveals no heat source. They are continuing to investigate but think it may be that a ballast burned out.

Press release from the City of Batavia:

Genesee Valley Transportation (GVT) Rail Systems is replacing the at-grade railroad crossing on Liberty Street. In order to complete this work it will be necessary for GVT to close Liberty Street between School Street and Ellicott Street. The road closure is scheduled to begin on Monday, Aug. 24, and run through Friday, Sept. 4.

This closure impacts all traffic including emergency equipment.

Bethany and Byron (fire, rescue, medical) personnel are asked to stand by in the Mercy Emergency Medical base facilities at 16 Bank St. in the City of Batavia in case they are needed. Bergen is asked to provide a crew to stage in its own quarters.

Medical responders are apparently stretched thin tonight with the Chris Brown concert in Darien, accidents and medical calls.

UPDATE: Orleans County has also been asked to send three ambulances to Darien Lake in case needed. The concert tonight is sold out. The most serious dispatch we've heard is for an unresponsive female, who was breathing, located at the Employee Entrance off Sumner Road.

UPDATE 8:33 p.m.: The majority of medical calls, according to dispatch, are for underage, highly intoxicated people. Medics tell UMMC that there are two more such individuals en route, and that thereafter such cases will be transported elsewhere. The implication is UMMC is overcrowded, though that wasn't stated.

UPDATE 9:24 p.m.: An ambulance from Lancaster is requested to Darien Lake. An ambulance from Alden was dispatched earlier.  

Members of the Town of Batavia Planning Board responded coolly to a proposed solar farm off of Bank Street Road at its monthly meeting Tuesday night.

Buffalo-based attorney Gregory P. Scholand, representing SunEdison, outlined the company's plan for 15 acres that are currently cultivated for peas.

The farm would produce two megawatts of electricity, which is enough energy for about 20 300 homes. (CORRECTION)

Scholand told board members he had to be honest -- the solar farm won't create jobs and any increase in assessed value, which means more tax revenue, will be delayed by state-backed incentives for solar installations.

"In other words," said Board Member Lou Paganello, "the only people who will benefit are the landowner, National Grid and SunEdison."

Paganello was one of the most vocal members of the board expressing concerns about the proposal, but he also said he was intrigued by it and doesn't want to just kill the idea without learning more.

He also suggested the town needs to develop a plan for dealing with solar farms since this is unlikely to be the last proposal the town is asked to consider.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is trying to push New York toward a stronger solar future. He's committed $1 billion to NY-Sun with the goal of eventually generating three gigawatts of electricity from sunlight across the state. That would be the equivalent of taking 23,000 cars off the road. According to the project's Web site, that much installed capacity will make the solar industry self-sufficient in New York and subsidies will no longer be needed.

The initiative is the reason SolarCity, a company owned primarily by technology multi-billionaire Elon Musk, is building a manufacturing plant in Buffalo that is expected to create 1,460 jobs. 

Solar is coming on strong nationally, both because of the investments of Musk -- a hard-charging entrepreneur who made his initial fortune with two Internet startups, including PayPal, and who is also responsible for the all-electric Tesla luxury sports car and the Space X program -- and because China flooded the market a couple of years ago with inexpensive solar panels.

That, and greater efficiencies in installation and substantial tax breaks and government subsidies have helped reduce costs for power companies, businesses and homeowners.

It doesn't matter, though, to local planning boards that are being asked to back projects that potentially divert productive land to massive complexes of metal and glass.

In Genesee County, of course, that other productive use is farming, the kind of farming that produces grains, vegetables and milk. How much soil does the local area want to convert to solar panels?

"You open the door for one farm to do this then everyone is going to want to do it," said Board Member Jonathan Long.

Board members seemed unanimous in sharing this concern.

The proposition, put forward by Scholand, that solar farms help reduce an area's carbon footprint, was countered by Long.

"Peas are already taking a lot of carbon out of the air," he said.

The town needs a plan for dealing with solar and Scholand agreed. He said SunEdison fully supports local jurisdictions developing local ordinances to govern solar installations. 

SunEdison hasn't made a formal application yet, but when it does, the Planning Board will be asked to become the lead agency for the environmental review process.

Chairwoman Kathy Jasinski expressed some doubt about the board's willingness to take on that role when its members still know too little about solar energy, the impacts of such farms, how they might affect neighboring property owners and what the benefits might be for local residents. The board needs a quick education in these subjects, Jasinski suggested.

If the Town of Batavia was to reject the proposal, it would be the second time this year that a local government body turned down a solar farm in the county.

In January, SolarCity approached the County about building a solar farm next to County Building #2, but concerns about the viability of SolarCity, whether the subsidies that would help the county save $500,000 and what might eventually become of the infrastructure, led the Ways and Means Committee to reject the proposal.

Meanwhile, solar companies have started pitching subsidized solar installations to local residents. One company had a booth at Summer in the City.

Terrance M. Schramm, Terrence D. Johnson, and Leonard A. Johnson III are indicted for the crime of first-degree gang assault, a Class B violent felony. On April 29 in the area of 27 Holland Ave., it is alleged that these three men, with intent to cause serious physical injury to another person, and when aided by two or more other persons actually present, caused serious physical injury to a third person. In count two, the defendants are accused of the same crime, by means of a dangerous instrument -- footwear and/or brass knuckles or some other handheld hard object.

Kerri Lynn Forsberg is indicted for the crime of second-degree attempted assault, a Class E felony. It is alleged that on July 6 at United Memorial Medical Center in the City of Batavia, Forsberg, with intent to cause physical injury to a registered nurse, attempted to cause such injury while the nurse was performing an assigned duty.

Eric R. Westermeier is indicted for the crime of driving while intoxicated as a Class D felony. He is accused of operating a 2004 Dodge on March 8 on Erie Street in the Town of Darien while intoxicated. In count two, he is accused of having a BAC of .08 or more at the time as shown by a breath analysis. In count three, he is accused of driving while his ability to do so was impaired by the combined influence of any drug or drugs and alcohol, as a Class D felony. In counts four and five, he is accused of first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation for knowing or having reason to know that his driver's license was suspended, revoked or otherwise withdrawn by authorities, and yet he was driving a motor vehicle and doing so under the influence of alcohol or a drug.

Brock T. Barry is indicted for the crime of driving while intoxicated, as a misdemeanor. He is accused of operating a 2013 Jeep on March 22 on Route 77 in the Town of Pembroke while intoxicated. In count two, he is accused of driving while intoxicated, per se, as a misdemeanor, for having a BAC of .08 or more at the time. In count three, Barry is accused of aggravated unlicensed operation in the first degree, a Class E felony, for knowing or having reason to know that at the time his driver's license was suspended, revoked or otherwise withdrawn by authorities, and yet he was driving a motor vehicle and doing so under the influence of alcohol.

Press release from City fire Lt. Jeff Whitcombe:

The City of Batavia Fire Department will be flushing fire hydrants on Thursday, Aug. 20, and Friday, Aug. 21, from approximately 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the general area South of West Main Street and West Jackson Street, including Walnut Street, Pearl Street and South Main Street. Homes and businesses nearby will be affected.

These tests may result in a temporary discoloration of water in that area. As in the past, please do not attempt to wash any clothing if your water appears discolored. If you do experience a discoloration of your water, run cold water for about five minutes or until clear.

Gerald John Wiesmore, 47, of Herkimer Road, Darien, is charged with insurance fraud, 3rd, attempted grand larceny, 3rd, and falsely reporting an incident. Wiesmore allegedly reported his 2009 Ford F-150 as stolen and then attempted to file an insurance claim well in excess of $3,000.

Kayla Wethington, 26, of Batavia, is charged with grand larceny, 4th. Wethington allegedly stole more than $1,000 from a family member’s purse at a residence in the Town of Bethany.

Ryan A. Ballard, 23, of Dundee, is charged with DWI, speeding, failing to keep right and improper turn. Ballard was stopped on Harper Road, Darien, by State Police. Ballard allegedly failed the standardized field sobriety test.

Matthew S. Martin, 31, of Canandaigua, is charged with DWI, failure to keep right and excessive window tint. He was stopped on Colby Road, Darien, by State Police. Martin allegedly had a BAC of 0.08. 

Joseph A. Andrese, 28, of Rochester, is charged with DWI, speeding, moved from lane unsafely and driver-no seatbelt. Andrese was stopped on State Route 77,  Corfu, by State Police. Andrese allegedly failed a standardized field sobriety test. He was allegedly found to have a BAC of .15.

Jorge Cortes, 25, with no permanent address, is charged with assault, 3rd, strangulation, 2nd, intimidating a witness, 3rd, criminal possession of a weapon, 4th (non-citizen), and criminal mischief, 4th (preventing emergency assistance). Cortes is allegedly an undocumented person from Oaxaca, Mexico. He is accused of being involved in a domestic incident. He was jailed without bail.

Alex J. Ianita, 21, of Bank Street, Batavia, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child, unlawful imprisonment, assault, 3rd, petit larceny and robbery, 2nd. Ianita was allegedly involved in a domestic incident. He was jailed without bail.

Jimpce J. Etienne, 39, of Warren Street, Batavia, is charged with DWI and open container. Etienne was stopped at 4:16 p.m. Saturday on Jackson Street by Officer Marc Lawrence.

A 17-year-old resident of Walnut Street, Batavia, is charged with resisting arrest. The youth was taken into custody on three separate City Court warrants. He was handcuffed and placed in the back of a patrol vehicle. He allegedly attempted to break free from police, pushing past them. He was subdued and transported to police headquarters where he allegedly caused an ongoing disturbance, kicking walls, doors and other furnishings in the holding room.

Johnnie M Waston, 32, of Dodge Street, Batavia, is charged with attempted assault, 2nd, and endangering the welfare of a child. Waston is accused of grabbing a youth by the legs causing the youth to fall to the ground. The mother of the youth confronted Waston and Waston allegedly threw a glass bottle at her, hitting her with it.

Jacy William Lennon, 39, of Empire Boulevard, Rochester, is charged with issuing a bad check. Lennon was arrested on a warrant and posted $500 bail.

A 16-year-old resident of Vine Street is charged with petit larceny. The youth is accused of stealing food from Dollar General.

John A. Thomas, 50, of State Street, Batavia, was arrested on a warrant for alleged failure to abide by release conditions. 

Kimberly A. Brodsky, 23, of Bank Street, Batavia, was arrested on a warrant for alleged failure to appear on a petit larceny charge.

A 17-year-old resident of South Swan Street, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. The youth is accused of stealing a drink from Dollar General (name withheld by Batavia PD).

Willie A. Saab Jr., 41, of West Main Street, Batavia, is charged with menacing, 2nd, harassment, 2nd, criminal mischief, 4th, and endangering the welfare of a child. Saab was arrested on a warrant. He was also arrested on charges stemming from an alleged domestic incident on Prune Street on Aug. 11. He was jailed without bail.

Matthew D. Derrick, 30, of Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt, 1st. Derrick allegedly violated a stay away order of protection. He reportedly has a prior criminal contempt conviction in the past five years, making the new charge a felony. He was jailed without bail.

Chad Daniel Crawford, 37, of McKenzie Street, Bergen, is charged with assault, 3rd. Crawford was allegedly involved in a domestic incident. Crawford allegedly grabbed another person and pushed the person's head into a sink.

Four Batavia PD patrols responded to the Columbia and East Avenue area of the city for report of a disturbance involving multiple individuals around 10 p.m.

There was a search for a subject, who was found and detained in the back of a patrol car, but subsequently let go after the person identified as the victim declined to pursue a criminal complaint.

Also, a witness provided a suspect description that differed from the alleged victim, said Sgt. Chris Camp.

Camp said there may be a history, though unconfirmed at this time, of the "victim" and the other individuals involved and an alleged petit larceny of property from a front porch.

A witness told The Batavian there were racial slurs thrown about and there may have been a verbal confrontation that precipitated the larger melee. 

Camp said there were no injuries as a result of the conflict.

Officers were clearing the scene at 10:45 p.m.

There's a fine line between arrogance and cockiness. Confidence can breed complacency. Desire can succumb to expectations that lead to a catacomb of missed opportunities. A season can unravel in the difference between resolve, determination and grit versus just showing up and settling for an "I tried" shrug and a "pass the Gatorade." 

It's that difference Batavia Blue Devils Head Coach Brennan Briggs must negotiate as he heads into the 2015 season leading a team that a year ago, by all accounts, shouldn't have won a sectional title but did, and now is stocked with talented, seasoned seniors who are talking about a repeat on the first day of practice.

"That's going to be biggest battle I'm going to be fighting this season is telling these guys the 2015 football team hasn't won a single game yet together," Briggs said. "Last year, yes, we won a championship, but we were fortunate. We had 24 kids. We stayed healthy. We had zero injuries. We caught quite a few breaks and we made some big plays when we needed to. Nothing is guaranteed. It's very, very difficult to win a back-to-back championship, so honestly I don't like that they're talking about championships or anything like that."

The Blue Devils start pre-season camp with 31 players, and 18 of them are seniors. Some of them are stars if not solid contributors. Greg Mruczek is back at QB. He'll be joined offensively by Trevor Sherwood, Malachi Chenault, Adonis Davis, Anthony Gallo, Dominick Mogavero and Noah Dobbertin.

The depth and versatility is noticeable to the players and they can't help but talk of a repeat.

"We're ready to step back up," Mogavero said. "I feel like the whole team is ready to step up its game."

Gallo agrees.

"We're definitely after another championship," Gallo said. "I feel like we're all ready for it. I feel like that's everybody's goal. We want to win and we just want to get back where we were last year."

Briggs wants to see his players focus on getting better every day. Every day, they play against a faceless opponent on their own internal clock and only they know the score, but the outcome of those matches will determine what happens on Friday nights.

While Briggs wants to tap down the championship talk, he also gets that he's dealing with a group of confident kids, and it was confidence that carried this team from a tough opening loss in 2014 against Livonia through big wins to close out the season and bring Batavia its first sectional title in football since 1991.

Briggs calls it "swag," a characteristic the coach talked about as the wins began to pile up last season.

"I do appreciate that they do have a little bit of swag to them, I guess you could call it that, and it is good, because as we found out last year, we were in some tight games toward the end and that kind of pushed us though," Briggs said. "They had confidence that they could get the job done. I think with all of their off-season work and the commitment they've put into the program, and the buy-in, that does help with every single game, day-in-and-day-out, to know that we have what it takes to win a championship, but saying it and feeling it is a little bit different than going out and doing it."

At the end of Monday's workout, Briggs had a straightforward message for his team: "You have a target on your backs."

If the 2014 team was one that came into the season just hunting for a few extra wins, it's now the team to beat for every local gridiron warrior in helmets and pads.

"Nobody is going to give you anything - nobody," Briggs said. "Nobody is going to say, 'Ah, we're playing Batavia, we're going to back down.' Everybody who plays us is going to want to beat us because it might make their season. That might be it. On their calendars, there might be a star, 'We've got a shot to prove something. We've got a shot to beat Batavia. They think they're on top right now. We're going to go out and show everybody else that we're better than them.' "

But the players do think they're better, maybe not yet better than University Prep, better than Wilson, better than Penn Yan and better than Geneva, but they believe they're better than last year, and that's the team that marched through that championship season with a lot of swag.

"Really, I expect to win another championship," Wilson said. 

His job, as he sees it, is to help keep his teammates focused on that goal and fired up for every minute of every practice, because that's what wins games.

"The seniors want to make it happen again, so there's a lot of pressure to do it again," Davis said.

There's peer pressure, then there are community expectations, something Mruczek acknowledges. 

"This community has a lot of expectations," Mruczek said. "With me being the senior quarter people think I need to step up as a leader and I've been trying to do that more; lead this team in the right direction to win another championship. My goal is to put in another solid season, do my 1/11th on the offensive side of the ball and lead this team to another championship."

Briggs thinks Mruczek is ready for the challenge. He isn't a player, the coach said, who worries about his own stats. He gets ready for each game, each play, and knows what his role his.

"He knows how to keep a level head on his shoulders," Briggs said. "I've never questioned his competitive edge or how hard he works, so I'm not too worried about anything like that. He knows what his job is -- go out there and manage the game and be a leader, and hopefully make some big plays when he needs to."

If all eyes are on him as the senior QB, Mruczek is fine with that role, he said.

"I like the pressure," Mruczek said. "I'm confident in this team. We've got a lot of guys with a lot of confidence. I don't really feel any pressure right now. I'm out here having fun my senior year."

A motor-vehilce accident with unknown injuries is reported at 427 E. Main St. in Batavia. City firefighters and Mercy medics are responding.

A man who stole $6,000 from the bedroom of an acquaintance admitted in County Court today to one count of fourth-degree grand larceny and faces a possible term of one to three years in state prison.

Benjamin J. Bullard, 28, of Maple Street, is out of jail under supervision of Genesee Justice until his sentencing Oct. 13.

Bullard has a prior conviction for grand larceny in City Court; he entered that plea in October.

He was arrested earlier this month on the grand larceny charge, accused of stealing the $6,000 from a residence on Swan Street while the occupant was on vacation.

A Stafford resident accused of dealing drugs in a parking lot off Main Street, Batavia, in March, admitted in County Court today to one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance, 5th.

The plea deal means a possible prison term for Joseph C. Wind, 45, of Horseshoe Lake Road, Stafford, of two to five years.

Wind was observed by members of the Local Drug Task Force participating in a drug deal and was arrested following a traffic stop. 

Investigators found Wind in possession of heroin.

Sentencing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m., Oct. 14, in County Court. He is being held on $50,000 bail.

A 23-year-old Batavia resident will spend three-and-a-half years in prison as the result of his guilty plea last month to one count of criminal possession of a narcotic drug with intent to sell.

Dillion M. Brito, with an address on Highland Park at the time of his arrest in June, was sentenced in Genesee County Court today by Judge Robert C. Noonan.

Brito was arrested in the parking lot of Kibbe Park after being found with a quantity of crack cocaine.

Upon his release from state prison, Brito will be on two years post-release supervision.

Press release from City fire Lt. Martin Hinz:

The City of Batavia Fire Department will be flushing fire hydrants on Tuesday, Aug. 18, from approximately 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the general area of West Main Street, Oak Street and Richmond Avenue. Homes and businesses nearby will be affected.

These tests may result in a temporary discoloration of water in that area. As in the past, please do not attempt to wash any clothing if your water appears discolored. If you do experience a discoloration of your water, run cold water for about five minutes or until clear.

A car struck a gas pump at the Citgo Station at 16 Clinton St., Batavia. No injuries. The vehicle is leaking fluids, but it's not yet known if the gas pump is leaking. Town of Batavia Fire Department is responding.

To purchase prints, click here.