The loud boom heard on the southside of the city about 15 minutes ago was a transformer that blew out. It occurred in the area of 28 Jackson St. by the Salvation Army store. National Grid is on scene to do repair work. City fire was there and had traffic blocked off, but the road is reopened and the city assignment is back in service.
Press release:
Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,I,C-Batavia) recently met with City of Batavia firefighters Jeff Stevens and Greg Ireland at his Albany office while the firefighters were in town for the New York State Professional Fire Fighters Association’s (NYSPFFA) 2013 Legislative Conference. The assemblyman discussed NYSPFFA’s legislative priorities and thanked the firefighters for their service.
“Meeting with two of Batavia’s bravest public servants was truly an honor,” Hawley said. “NYSPFFA’s members are on the front lines protecting our lives and property from devastating fires and they deserve our support. I commend Mr. Stevens, Mr. Ireland and their colleagues for all they do to keep our communities safe.”
A two-car accident with minor injuries is reported at State Street and Fairmont Avenue. City firefighters and Mercy medics are responding.
Law enforcement is looking for a suspect wanted on a Genesee County Court warrant and he was last seen at 19 Manhattan Ave. running through back yards toward Ross Street.
His name is Ryan P. Johnson, 22, and he is described as white, about 5'7" and weighing about 160 pounds.
He is wearing khaki shorts, sneakers and a white T-shirt and a baseball cap.
If you see a person matching this description, phone the Sheriff's Office at 343-5000.
UPDATE: Johnson has made arrangements to turn himself in.
Four-month-old Lilly Bridges will not be in her mother’s arms on Sunday. Cancer-stricken Kailee died last night in the intensive care unit at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester.
On Mother’s Day, the 20-year-old Marine’s family, including husband, Justin, will instead mourn the woman who valiantly underwent life-saving surgery in February while pregnant.
But the concert for Lilly’s Trust Fund scheduled for this Friday at Grace Baptist Church in Batavia will go on as planned with Christian music superstar Bebo Norman, of Nashville. The performance begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $30 and $25 and are available through itickets.com.
Although her doctors and loved ones hoped to have her home by this weekend, about 10 days ago she took a turn for the worse, said her pastor, Mark Hurlbut.
“We’re glad God gave her husband and myself the grace and wisdom to provide for (Lilly),” Hurlbut said, regarding the series of events and decisions that unfolded to bring about the plans for a benefit concert well in advance of Kailee’s downturn.
In the Providence of God, here we are,” he said.
The recording artist has been kept in the loop all along the way, Hurlbut said, describing him as a terrific man of God who “will be asked to wear his preacher’s hat” on Friday.
Kailee, who was from Wyoming County and graduated from Warsaw High School, had been in ICU since her surgery and her young Marine husband had practically lived there over the past few months. In light of the circumstances, the Texas native is holding up.
“If the Marine Corps didn’t make him grow up, this will,” the pastor said. “It’s a lot for a young man to go through, but he is shouldering it well.”
Little Lilly is healthy and adorable.
Those who knew her mother say she had a personal relationship with her Lord and Savior and they know where she is today and that she has no more pain.
H.E. Turner & Co. Funeral Home is handling arrangements for the family.
Patrick Maxwell Hackett, 44, of West Main Street Road, Batavia, is charged with rape, 3rd, unlawful dealing with a child, 1st and endangering the welfare of a child. Hackett is a registered Level 2 sex offender. He is accused of engaging in sexual relations with a minor in the Town of Batavia. He also allegedly supplied alcohol to the minor. Hackett was taken into custody with the assistance of Batavia PD. He was jailed without bail.
Francisco Javier Molina, 47, of Edgecreek Trail, Rochester, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08, speed not reasonable and prudent, failure to keep right and consumption of alcohol in a motor vehicle. Molina was allegedly driving on Route 33, Stafford, at 7:53 p.m., Tuesday, when he took a left turn too fast onto Caswell Road. Molina and his passenger were allegedly seen tossing beer cans from the vehicle. They were both issued citations for alleged littering and Molina was cited for alleged refusal to take a breath test. Molina was stopped by Sgt. Greg Walker.
Billie Jeremy McMurty-Rivera, 28, of Hollenbeck Street, Rochester, is charged with falsifying business records, 2nd. McMurty-Rivera, while incarcerated in the Genesee County Jail, is accused of altering commissary paperwork of three other inmates without their consent to obtain food and other products. Bail was set at $5,000.
Town of Batavia Highway Superintendent Tom Lichtenthal and engineer Joey Neth spent an hour on the rooftop of the Rite Aid overlooking Lewiston Road and videotaped the traffic flow, or lack of it.
The resulting highlight reel, played for the Town of Batavia Planning Board on Tuesday night, captured eight near-miss accidents, two dangerous maneuvers by drivers, five unsafe mid-road crossings by pedestrians and two bicycle crossings.
An hour observing West Main Street Road near Colonial Boulevard didn't yield much better results.
For the Lewiston Road side, the driveway for Rite Aid and the driveway for the Tops Plaza, essentially create an intersection, and over the past three years, there have been seven accidents at that intersection.
That's seven times the state DOT average, Lichtenthal said.
"What's going on here is we have so many conflict points, when you look at this intersection; you've got cars merging here; you've got a wide open driveway where one makes a right turn and one makes a left turn; you've got pedestrians trying to cross in the middle of traffic, plus cars coming off the Main Street intersection, and you're looking at all of these things coming together right here, and that's why you get so many of these types of accidents," Lichtenthal said.
The traffic study was conducted because Tim Horton's wants to build a new store behind the Rite Aid, that would connect, essentially, Lewiston with Main.
The overall traffic Tim Horton's is likely to generate isn't that significant by itself -- an average of 50 to 60 cars an hour, with 60 percent of Tim Horton's traffic occurring in a three-hour period in the morning.
Technically, the road capacity in the area, can handle the volume, Lichtenthal said, but the construction of the multiple turning lanes and intersections in the area make for very messy traffic patterns.
It's a situation that's only going to get worse with the expansion of Batavia Towne Center and Batavia Downs.
Lichtenthal said that, unfortunately, it's a classic case of the last one (in this case, Tim Horton's) getting stuck dealing with the problem.
Matthew J. Oates (photo), chief engineer for Benderson Development Co. took a different view.
The combined retail space for Tops Plaza, Rite Aid and the other retail in the area is more than 220,000 square feet, while the Benderson development is less than 20,000 square feet.
He said just as the DOT did when problems got too bad on Jefferson Road and Ridge Road in Rochester, the growing traffic problems on Lewiston and West Main are a DOT issue and shouldn't hold up development of Tim Horton's.
"I understand the town sees a large issue with the traffic, but without the traffic, we wouldn't have the interest in the development and without the traffic, Tim Horton's wouldn't be coming here, so one follows the other," Oates said.
Lichtenthal pointed out that the DOT is out of money and the Feds aren't sending highway grants down the pipeline any longer to help with local traffic issues.
"The DOT is now looking back and the towns and saying, 'you let this development happen without looking at the repercussions on the roadways. Now you expect us to fix it, ' " Lichtenthal said, "and they're telling the towns, 'you fix it.' "
The environmental review process was extended by consent of the planning board and Benderson in order to see if a solution can be found, or plan developed, to deal with the growing traffic issues.
Tim Horton's is just one step along the way, Lichtenthal said.
"These are baby steps," Lichtenthal said. "You take these baby steps and add them together and it's a big step and then what do you do?"
Last week, the Geness County Economic Development Center Board approved $1.7 million in tax breaks for COR Development to add four more retail spaces to the Batavia Towne Center in the location of the former Lowe's store.
There was a water main break on State Street between Denio and Douglas at 3 a.m. and water service was cut for some residence in the area pending repairs.
During the repairs, the decades-old shut-off valve broke, and so once DPW workers repaired the break, they had to dig up the valve and replace it.
Update from Matt Worth, superintendent of water and wastewater:
Water main repair has been completed on State Street and water service restored. Residents in the immediate area should be aware that they may experience some discolored water and should avoid laundry or other activities which may be impacted by this condition until water clarity has returned to normal.
There were 382 people who signed up for the United Way Day of Caring today, but Susie Boyce thinks more people than that are participating because organizers ordered 425 T-shirts and they ran out.
The volunteers will work on 32 projects today, which amounts to about $36,000 in labor contributions.
The group from Genesee ARC.
The Kiwanis Club of Batavia.
Joe Saco sang the National Anthem and America the Beautiful.
Last year, Amber, on the right, received a bicycle that had been reconditioned by volunteers at Adam Miller Toy and Bicycles. Today, she read a message about how much the bike has meant to her to help her get around town and go to and from her job. Shelley Falitico, from Genesee ARC, is with her.
It will be another summer of new commercial development in the Town of Batavia, with three projects already up for Planning Board review, and that doesn't include the expansion project at Batavia Towne Center.
All three projects will be discussed at the planning board's meeting May 21.
Applications for COR's conversion of the former Lowe's location into four retail spaces hasn't reach the town yet.
There's also the housing development off Seven Springs Road that's still going through the planning process.
A possible fire reported behind the residence at 8924 Creek Road. Town of Batavia Fire Department is responding.
UPDATE 4:38 p.m.: Responder on scene reports nothing showing.
UPDATE 4:46 p.m.: "Looks like they were disking (plowing soil) on the east side of Creek Road. I think they may have seen dust." The town assignment is back in service.
Press release:
The Landmark Society of Genesee County will hold its annual Preservation Awards Dinner on May 11 at the St. James Episcopal Church 405 E. Main St., Batavia. The dinner will begin at 6 p.m. and the awards presentation will follow (at approximately 7).
Five buildings in Genesee County will be recognized this year.
“The five award winners this year show that preservation is alive and well in Genesee County. Not only are different towns of Genesee County represented, but also different types of styles. Preservation can come in many forms: restoration, adaptive reuse, and rehabilitation, for example. The goal is not only to pay homage to history but to recognize that communities which value preservation will become the healthy and vital communities of tomorrow,” explained Landmark Society President David Gann.
The Landmark Society of Genesee County is a nonprofit, volunteer-operated organization. Since 1965, The Landmark Society has encouraged local communities and individuals to work together to preserve our architectural heritage. Preservation, protection and improvement of the landmarks located throughout Genesee County are the objectives of this organization.
Award Winners:
Kailee Bridges is fighting for her life right now with a rare bone cancer. She is a 20-year-old Marine, with a newborn daughter named Lilly, and a husband, Justin, who is also a Marine.
To help this Batavia family, major Christian recording artist and Dove Award winner Bebo Norman, who lives in Nashville, has graciously agreed to perform a benefit concert called "Love for Lilly: A Concert for Hope." It's this Friday evening, May 10, at Grace Baptist Church, Batavia, located at 238 Vine St.
Tickets are $30 and $25. Monetary donations are also welcome and the church has set up an account for them called the Lilly Trust Fund.
The concert will undoubtedly draw a packed house of people from Canada to Connecticut to help raise funds for Kailee and her family.
To get tickets, go online to itickets.com
Kailee was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer known as osteosarcoma during her pregnancy. It was found in her pelvis and she was not expected to live. She had emergency, high-risk surgery in an effort to save her life. She pulled through, and so did Lilly, who was subjected to chemo in the womb.
But their ordeal is not over. Her cancer has metastasized and she faces more battles with it.
Press release:
The Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council is pleased to announce the Decentralization Regrant recipients for 2013 in Genesee and Orleans Counties, funded by the New York State Council on the Arts. This year GO ART! received 26 applications to the Reach Grant Program requesting a total of $69,541. With $37,300 available, 24 of the applicants were awarded grants.
GO ART! Also awarded two Ripple Grants* ($2,500 each- listed below) to provide funding for the creation of new work by local individual artists who wish to involve the community in their creative process.
2013 brought a new grant opportunity to the community through GO ART! called the Arts Education Grant. This category awards funding to individual artists or cultural organizations that wish to work with students within a public school setting. Artists are awarded funds to enable them to set up a brief residency within the school in order to offer a new experience to the students that they would not typically have in the school setting. Three grants of $2,000 each were awarded in this category.
History of the Grant Program:
The Decentralization Regrant Program (known locally as Reach and Ripple) was first developed in 1977 by the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) in response to a mandate by the New York State Legislature to encourage greater participation in the state’s cultural funding at the local level. Local decision-making is the basic principle of the Decentralization Regrant Program in supporting a wide range of community- based professional and avocational arts programs in diverse communities throughout the state, and in helping to support the work of individual artists. GO ART! is proud to administer the NYSCA Decentralization Regrant Program in Genesee and Orleans Counties.
The grant process begins in the summer with grant workshops held throughout Genesee and Orleans Counties. Individuals, non-profit organizations and local government agencies are encouraged to submit applications in the fall for community- minded artistic and cultural programs. These proposals are reviewed by a separate panel for each grant category, made up of artists, community leaders and educators from the two counties. The panel then submits funding recommendations to the GO ART! Board of Directors for approval. Through the Decentralization Regrant Program, GO ART!, NYSCA, and the New York State Legislature hope to expand, upgrade and increase arts and cultural programming in Genesee and Orleans counties. In order to publically recognize and congratulate the 2013 grant recipients, a Grant Awards Ceremony is scheduled for May 17, 2013.
For a complete list of winners, click here (PDF)
At one meeting about the future of the Wiss Hotel building, Trustee Jim Bonacquisti said he looked forward to driving south on Route 19 and seeing the Presbyterian Church without the Wiss blocking the view.
After the building was done, Mayor Greg Rogers said, "The other day I had the opportunity after the building was somewhat down to come up Lake Street. My personal opinion is nothing looks more inviting and I'll say more New England than to see a wooden white church with a steeple and and open porch as you drive into a community. It's pretty striking. It really kinds of shows you the place where we all live."
This is a picture taken this morning of the church from behind where the Wiss once stood.
While out and about late this afternoon, early evening, working on a future story, I took a few pictures.
Above, Oatka Creek, Village of Le Roy.
State Street, Batavia, near the Thruway overpass.
Watson Road, Elba.
Two Batavia-area athletes competing for Fredonia State made strong showings this past week at the SUNYAC Outdoor Track & Field championship meet at SUNY Cortland.
Eric Williams won the 110-meter high hurdle title and Max Radley finished second in the men's hammer throw.
Williams, a freshman, won with a time of 14.70 seconds.
Radley's best toss measured 52.34 meters. Radley is a senior.
Fredonia is a Division III NCAA school.
A fourth suspect has been rounded up in the joint-agency investigation into thefts in the Le Roy area of high voltage wire from industrial facilities.
Dustin G. Nicometo, 25, of Bernville, Pa., has been charged with burglary, 3rd, and grand larceny, 2nd.
Nicometo is the brother of Michael A. Nicometo 28, 45 North St., Le Roy.
The older brother was arrested in March. Later, two alleged accomplices were also taken into custody: Jonathan D. Smeak, 22, of State Street Road, Batavia, and Joseph Paul Pratt, 18, of Church Street, Le Roy.
Police allege that Dustin was living with Michael at the time of the thefts and participated in the crimes.
Le Roy PD arrested Dustin in Bernville and returned him to Le Roy for arraignment. Correction: Dustin was arrested locally.
The found men are accused of being part of a ring that stole high voltage wire and copper wire from a warehouse on Lake Street in the Village, from Dolomite's Gulf Road facility and from other locations in the town and Village of Le Roy.
Dustin is accused of participating in the thefts between Nov. 30 and Jan. 2.
According to Le Roy PD, no further arrests are expected in the case.
Bail for Dustin was set at $15,000 cash or $30,000 bond.
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