An 18-year-old Le Roy resident and a 17-year-old Le Roy resident are charged with endangering the welfare of a child and unlawful possession of marijuana. Le Roy PD responded to a report of the smell of marijuana in an apartment. After a brief investigation, officers concluded the youths possessed and smoked marijuana in the apartment while two youths under age 17 were present. The 18-year-old was jailed on $500 bail. Le Roy PD did not release the names of either individual.

Christopher E. Merrell, 53, of Bergen, is charged with aggravated unlicensed operation, 2nd, no seat belt, inadequate exhaust, illegal window tint and unlicensed operation. Merrell was stopped by State Police on Route 98, Alexander.

Three people have been arrested as the result of two separate investigations into the illegal sale of narcotics in Genesee County.

In the first investigation, arrested were Sege D. Kalmbacher, 39, of Overlook Drive, Batavia, and Paula R. Kalmbacher, 43, of Overlook Drive, Batavia.

Sege is charged with two counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance, 5th, and two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, 5th. Paula faces one count of criminal sale of a controlled substance, 3rd, and one count of criminal possesison of a controlled substance, 3rd.

Both are accused of selling a controlled substance to agents of the Local Drug Task Force.

Sege was arrested Friday and jailed on $10,000 bail. Paula turned herself in Monday and was released under supervision of Genesee Justice.

In the second investigation, arrested was Cynthia C. Richardson, 35, of Maple Street, Batavia. 

Richardson is charged with two counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance, 5th, and criminal possession of a controlled substance, 5th. 

She is accused of selling a controlled substance to an agent of the Local Drug Task Force.

She was arrested at the courts facility and jailed on $10,000 bail.

Wednesday at T.F. Brown's, Batavia, was the Genesee County Interagency Council sponsored a "Cabin Fever Reliever" Basket Raffle.  

"Our goal is to raise funds to support local college scholarships for students entering the fields of: sociology, psychology, social work or human services," said Heather Bell, a social worker with Catholic Charities.  

Applications have gone out to local high schools and are due back by June 1. Contact Lisa Whittmeyer, Scholarship Chair at Community Action 343-7798.  

More than 50 baskets were offered and there was a 50/50 drawing and grand prize -- overnight package with dinner for 2 at Russell's and Salvatore's in Buffalo.

The mission of the Genessee County Interagency Council is to create fellowship and understanding among community human services agencies. The council helps to identify community issues and encourages development of resolutions.

Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/geneseeorleansinteragency

Pictured above from left is: Heather Bell, social worker with Catholic Charities; Karen Hall, coordinator of Financial Management of Lifespan of Greather Rochester; Stephanie Urena, outreach specialist of United Health Care. Pam Case, PathStone family self-sufficiency manager, and Michele Lawson, support coordinator of Care-A-Van Ministries.

Heavy smoke and flames are confirmed in the area of 8487 Lovers Lane Road. Town of Batavia fire is responding.

Law enforcement on scene confirms a caller's report about black smoke from a debris fire at 10700 Darien Alexander Townline Road. Darien fire is responding.

UPDATE 5:04 p.m.: Fire is out. Darien assignment is back in service.

Thomas E. Hensel, 31, and Tonya D. Smith, 29, are charged with grand larceny, 4th, and conspiracy, 6th. Hensel and Smith were allegedly caught stealing items from the Target store. Upon further investigation, they were found to have allegedly committed additional larcenies during March at Target and Walmart. Hensel was charged with four counts of petit larceny and Smith was charged with one count of grand larceny, 4th, and two counts of petit larceny. Some of the stolen items were recovered.

Amir D. Gifford, 19, of Cherry Street, Batavia, was arrested on a warrant for alleged violation of probation. Gifford turned himself in. He was jailed on $2,500 bail.

Jessica M. Rivera-Mann, 31, of Liberty Street, was arrested on a pair of warrants related to alleged parking violations. Rivera-Mann turned herself in and entered a guilty plea in City Court. and was ordered to pay a $100 fine within 60 days.

Kerri L. Forsberg, 43, of East Main Street, Batavia, was arrested on a warrant for alleged failure to appear on a harassment, 2nd, charge. Forsberg was arrested following a reported incident at UMMC on April 3.

Laura J. Reed, 23, of Walnut Street, Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Reed was allegedly found in possession of marijuana at 6:18 p.m. April 10 by Officer Jamie Givens.

Kenardo R. Fields, 25, of Ellicott Street, Batavia, is charged with harassment, 2nd, and endangering the welfare of a child. Fields was allegedly involved in a domestic incident at 9:20 a.m., Sunday.

Zachary Michael Burk, 18, of Sparks Road, Pavilion, is charged with petit larceny. Burk allegedly stole a 30-pack of Busch beer from Pavilion Farm Market.

Charles H. Wroten, 54, of Buell Street, Batavia, is charged with aggravated DWI (Leandra's Law), DWI, improper right turn, improper signaling a turn. Wroten was stopped at 11:03 p.m. Tuesday on West Main Street, Batavia, by Sgt. Ron Meides. Wroten is accused of driving while intoxicated with a child less than 15 years old in the vehicle.

Michael Robert Sigl, 22, of Pratt Road, Batavia, is charged with possession of a forged instrument, 2nd. Sigl was arrested on a warrant. He was jailed without bail.

Taylor Nicole Tillotson, 19, of Perry Road, Le Roy, is charged with trespass. Tillotson allegedly returned to College Village after being banned from the property.

A two-car accident with minor injuries is reported at Oak Street and Prospect Avenue in the city. It is blocking traffic. City fire and Mercy medics are responding.

UPDATE 3:54 p.m.: An 80-year-old female is complaining of chest pain due to the seat belt.

UPDATE 4:21 p.m.: The patient is being taken to UMMC.

A portion of Main Street, Downtown Batavia, was blocked off by traffic cones this morning in advance of clean-up work by city crews along the street and sidewalk. The work is expected to take most of the morning.

Local artist Larry Buckley gave an oil painting demo Tuesday evening at GO ART! for members of the Batavia of Society of Artists.

Other events coming up for the society:

• Spring Show, opening reception 6:30 to 8 p.m., May 7, Richmond Memorial Library;
• Steve BonDurant, plein air demo and picnic at Kiwanis Park, 6 p.m., July 14;
• Joint event with Batavia Players at Jackson Square, free and open to the public, where the players will practice parts and also serve as models for artists, 6 p.m., Aug. 11;
• Kevin Feary, oil-graisalle demo, Sept. 8;
• Brian Kemp, acrylic abstract demo, Oct. 13;
• Dennis Wood, perspective drawing, Nov. 10.

For more information on the Batavia Society of Artists, e-mail bsa.bataviasocietyof artists@gmail.com.

Batavia boys beat Brockport 79-62 Tuesday in a track meet at Van Detta Stadium. The girls won 84-45.

Activity is picking up on the muck this week as onion growers finally have suitable conditions for planting. One onion grower told us yesterday that ideally, growers like to have all of April to plant and they're getting a late start this year, but they should still get all of the fields filled with seeds and seedlings by May, if the weather holds.

New York Times: Abraham Lincoln, the One President All of Them Want to Be More Like

A semi-truck is said to be tipping over on Akron Road, Pembroke. Unknown cargo. Law enforcement is responding.

A car vs. semi-truck accident with injuries is reported at Oak Street and Richmond Avenue. City firefighters and Mercy medics are responding.

Oral arguments in the latest appeal of Scott Doll's murder conviction were heard by Judge Robert C. Noonan this morning in Genesee County Court.

Timothy P. Murphy represented Doll and ADA William Zickl represented the people.

Murphy's appeal is based on a few key points:

• There was no "emergency doctrine" need to transport Doll from Pembroke to the Sheriff's Office on Park Road the early morning of Feb. 19, 2009 after Doll was found in blood-covered clothes and blood was found on his vehicle parked at North Lake Road and Main Road. Doll, Murphy argued, was taken into the custody, not just merely held in an attempt to find out if somebody was hurt and in need of help;
• There was no DNA evidence taken from under the fingernails of the murder victim, Joseph Benaquist. If there had been, it's possible the presence of a third party at the scene might have been discovered, which could have changed the outcome of the trial;
• The failure of Doll's defense attorneys, Paul Cambria and Dan Killelea, to raise these issues at trial constitutes incompetent representation.

Zickl countered:

• Doll's defense had every opportunity to raise these issues and did in fact raise these issues, at the trial level and through the appeals process and they lost on the rulings;
• The emergency doctrine does apply to the transport of Doll because the emergency continued unabated until the body of Benaquist was discovered;
• The transport was necessary because investigators felt certain that Doll was covered in human blood and even though they didn't yet know what happened, it was likely a crime might be discovered and the evidence needed to be secured, rather than letting Doll walk around in 10-degree weather;
• Because Noonan served as trial judge, he knows Doll received a vigorous, cogent and coherent defense that can hardly be characterized as incompetent;
• Even if DNA had been collected, and even granting for the sake of argument that a third-party presence might have established, that fact wouldn't have changed the outcome of the case. The evidence that Doll killed Benaquist is simply overwhelming and conclusive. Where Murphy argued that physical evidence indicates Benaquist was involved in a struggle against attackers, Zickl argued the evidence is clear that Benaquist was ambushed and had little opportunity to defend himself. 

Noonan said he should have a written ruling in about a week.

The Batavia City Council took a step back from a proposal aimed at spurring investment in vacant and abandoned residential properties.

Rather than send a resolution to state representatives asking for legislation to make a tax exemption for investment in such properties possible, the council asked that the proposal be brought back to a future conference meeting.

City Manager Jason Molino warned that with the legislative session under way and ending in June, a delay could decrease the opportunity for timely passage of the legislation.

Councilman Eugene Jankowski took the lead role in opposing passage of the resolution last night.

Jankowski said what little feedback he's gotten on the proposal from constituents is opposition to other homeowners getting a tax exemption not available to them.

He also said he would like to provide residents with more time to digest the proposal and provide feedback to council members.

Molino said the idea that current homeowners are missing out on something is a misunderstanding what the tax exemption is about.

The proposal would provide a limited tax exemption on select owner-occupied properties to offset the significant investment required to rehabilitate vacant and abandoned homes. 

The exemption would be graduated over a number of years, starting at 100 percent of the difference of taxes due on the increase in assessed value that would result from rehabilitation. The homeowner would still pay taxes on the original assessed value.

The exemption is called "gap financing" because it's designed to address the fact that it simply isn't financially realistic to expect somebody to invest tens of thousands of dollars to save a home that has limited value in a market not known for a rapid increase real estate values.

"We're trying to create a tool that attracts investment," Molino said.

The value of the tax exemption, Molino said, would be less than what the city would start receiving in water and sewer payments once the house was occupied again.

In some cases, it would return properties back to tax roles that previous owners have abandoned and allowed to go into foreclosure.

Councilwoman Patti Pacino pointed out that by saving these homes, it would help protect the home values of neighboring residents.

Both Jankowski and Councilwoman Rosemary Christian voted against a motion to suspend the rules for moving the proposal to the same night's business meeting. A rules suspension requires a unanimous vote to pass.

Monday evening, Batavia City Council presented its annual awards, including the Business of the Year Award to the New p.w. minor. Owners Andrew Young and Pete Zeliff brought some longtime company employees to the council meeting for the award presentation.

Ray and Patty Chaya received the Homeowner of the Year Award from Kathy Briggs.

Steven Grice was named Volunteer of the Year and received his award from John Canale.

Kerry Driscoll, a human resources clerk, was named Employee of the Year for the City of Batavia, and received her award from Eugene Jankowski.

Press release:

The Genesee County Sheriff’s Office recently filled four vacant Correction Officer positions with the hiring of Eric T. Hayes, James M. Smart, Brett J. Peters, and Kevin P. Thomas. 

These four Correction Officers graduated in a class of 19 on Thursday, April 2, 2015, from the Erie County Basic Corrections six-week Academy that was held at the Erie County Training Facility. Speakers at the graduation were Erie County Sheriff Timothy B. Howard, Genesee County Sheriff Gary T. Maha and Wyoming County Sheriff Gregory J. Rudolph.  Training at the academy included instruction in the care and custody of inmates, inmate supervision, defensive tactics, firearms training, and other topics pertaining to corrections.

Sheriff Maha stated, “Correction officers Hayes, Smart, Peters and Thomas will be great assets to the Jail Bureau and excelled at the Corrections Academy."

A vehicle found burning in a field off Bloomingdale Road, Basom, early yesterday morning, was stolen, according to Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster.

The 2002 Ford F150 pickup was stolen from a residence on Draper Road, Akron.

The fire was reported at 4:43 a.m. and the truck was completely engulfed by the time first responders arrived on scene.

The criminal investigation is being handled by the Erie County Sheriff's Office.

Alabama fire handled the call.