I was looking at our collection of Pat Burr’s drawings of old Batavia in the 60s and was amazed at all the stores that dotted Main Street. You really could walk down the street and, beginning at one end, mail a letter, buy a car, smoke a cigar, look for a gold watch, buy plumbing supplies, pick up your dry cleaning, buy paint, order a drink, have your picture taken, see a movie, eat a doughnut, have your shoes repaired or buy a new pair of shoes.
If it was afternoon, you could have a drink, buy a sewing machine, smell the delicious aroma of freshly baked bread, pick up a prescription, buy a wedding gown, buy new shoes to go with the dress, order a man’s suit for the wedding, buy children’s clothing (you might need another drink after the cost of the wedding gown), have your eyes checked, purchase new furniture, drink a cherry Coke, register for new china, and have a late lunch.
Continuing west on Main Street, you could make a bank withdrawal for the wedding, buy more jewelry, possibly a wedding band, pick up some fresh produce, purchase a new hat and a real mink coat, pick up another prescription, and buy more jewelry.
Now, see if you can match the names of these establishments and their merchandise with their locations on Main Street going east from Jefferson to Bank Street.
In the 60s, on the north side of the street, there was Mancuso’s Dealership, Chris’ Gifts, The Smoke Shop, William Maney’s Store, Marchese’s Produce, and six jewelry stores, Krtanik, Martin Berman’s, Valle’s, Francis and Mead, Rudolph’s and Brenner’s. Clothing stores were plentiful: Alexander’s, Town Shop, Helen’s Darlings, A.M. and M. Clothiers, and Smart Shop. Bon Ton and Bell Hat Shops, Humboldt’s Furriers, and Charles Men Shop were also located on that side of the street, along with the beautiful Dipson Theater.
There were two paint stores, Mosman’s and Sherwin Williams. There were many restaurants and drinking establishments: Mooney’s, Hamilton Hotel, Young’s Restaurant, Mike’s Hotel, Main Grill, Vic’s Grill, The Dagwood Restaurant, and Jackie’s Donuts. A favorite bakery was Grundler’s. A soda shop and candy store was called Kustas’. The furniture store was Bern Furniture, and the dry cleaner store was Jet Cleaners. Lawing Picture Studio, Singer Sewing, Genesee Hardware, Western Auto, and the drug stores of Whelan and Dean Drugs were located on different corners. There were four shoe stores: Ritchlin, Cultrara’s, Endicott and Johnson, and C.E. Knox. The shoe repair was called Boston Shoe Repair.
How many of you could match the store with its location?
If you were traveling down the opposite side of the street, you would begin with the Court House and pass the County Building, where a beautiful Christmas tree would be on the lawn. Eventually, you would hope to have a deed to your new home filed at the clerk’s office. You couldn’t miss the Hotel Richmond on the corner that was now just an empty shell. Located within the building of the hotel was Rapid Dry Cleaners. Next was the three-story JC Penney Department Store.
If you needed a uniform, The Uniform Shop was at your disposal. Kinney’s Family Shoe Store was located next to the Camera Shop. Caito’s Liquor Store was followed by Beardsley’s Men’s Store, Sleght’s Book Store, Bank of Batavia, Sugar Bowl, SS Kresge’s, Scott and Bean, Dean’s Drug, M & T Bank, Thomas and Dwyer, C.L. Carr’s Department Store, Marchese Produce, Good Friend Shop, Rudolph’s Jewelers, JJ. Newberry’s and WT Grant.
Imagining all these stores decorated for the holidays makes you nostalgic for the simpler times and slower pace when the highlight of your week was going to the city on a Friday night to meet friends and shop!
Thank you, Urban Renewal, for taking our Main Street. But you couldn’t remove our memories. Thank you, Pat Burr, the artist, for preserving Main Street with your beautiful artwork, that we are lucky to have your entire collection.
Main Street lives on in our hearts.
Photos by Pat Burr paintings of old Batavia taken in 2010 by Howard Owens at the Genesee County Nursing Home.
Press release:
The Genesee Region USBC has released its tournament schedule for the 2023-24 season, commencing with the Gladys Ford Senior Women's event in mid-November and culminating with the Association Team/Doubles & Singles tourney in April.
Nine tournaments, including three for youth bowlers, are on the schedule. StrikeForce Lanes in Oakfield, recently reopened under new ownership, is slated to host the Youth Doubles competition on Dec. 9-10.
The complete schedule is as follows:
Gladys Ford Senior Women – Nov. 11-12 – Medina Lanes
Senior Masters – Nov. 25 – Mancuso Bowling Center, Batavia
Youth Doubles – Dec. 9-10 – StrikeForce Lanes, Oakfield
Scratch Memorial – Jan. 6-7 – Mount Morris Lanes
Adult-Junior – Jan. 13 – Perry Bowling Center
Youth Team – Feb. 3-4 – Rose Garden Bowl, Bergen
No-Tap Doubles – Feb. 17-18 – Le Roy Legion Lanes
No-Tap Triples – March 23 – Letchworth Pines
Association (Team & D/S) – 4/5-7, 12-14 – Oak Orchard Bowl, Albion
For tournament entry forms, go to www.bowlgr.com.
HIGH LEAGUE SCORES FOR THE WEEK
In GRUSBC league action this week:
-- At Mancuso's, Geoff Harloff, Mike Pettinella and Rick Underhill topped the 700 mark. Harloff posted 267--722 in the County Line Stone Friday Trios, Pettinella finished with 278 for 715 in the Brighton Securities Tuesday Triples and Underhill rolled 702 in the Toyota of Batavia Thursday 4-Man.
-- At Medina Lanes, four bowlers posted 700 series in the Sunday Rolloffs League -- John Ross 279--759, Scott Gibson 267--714, Hayden Allis 242--707 and Buddy Foss 259--706.
The fact that Jennifer Cobb's birthday and Halloween fall so close together may be why she has such an affinity for the holiday, Cobb conceded during a tour of the haunted house she, her husband, and children created on their property in Bethany.
"My mom always kind of combined them," she said.
For one of her birthdays in her 20s, her mom bought her a casket.
"Every year since I was a little kid, I've enjoyed Halloween," Cobb said. "I've always done big, extravagant things. This year, I decided to go super, super big. In the years past, I've built haunted houses out of my parent's garage and let the public in. I was on the news for that in Buffalo. Then we moved out here and did big huge parties, but I'm like, 'nobody's gonna come out here.' It's too much of a drive, and then we were like, we'll give it a shot, and I hope it's gonna be good. So we'll see. But I love Halloween. I love to scare people."
Her birthday is five days before Halloween.
If you visit the Leising Manor and Graveyard, you will start in the house's dining room, where you will gaze upon a rather macabre dining scene, then you will walk through a haunted kitchen and into the expansive back yard into the trails in the woods where you will find ghouls, goblins, witches, ghosts, cadavers and skeletons among the graveyards scattered among the trees.
Asked why she likes Halloween, Cobb said, "I don't know. I think it's just because it takes people out of their element. Sometimes it makes them really question, 'What drives me, what scares me, what are my fears?' I don't know. I like the gore and the creativity of it. It means something to everybody different. It's just one of them things that you don't have to be a certain religion to like Halloween. You can just like it, you can be young, or old. It doesn't matter. There's no age limit."
The attraction is free, but Cobb said she is asking for donations.
"I'm trying to raise money for a friend who just recently had a fire and lost everything in the fire," she said.
The haunted house is open from 6 to 9 p.m. Sunday, Monday and on Halloween, which is Tuesday. If it rains, Cobb said, "we'll make the best of it." The address is 9772 Bethany Center Road, East Bethany.
Photos by Howard Owens
Trick-or-treaters were able to visit 28 Downtown businesses on Saturday in an event organized by Michael Marsh of Edward Jones, and all participating businesses purchased their own candy.
Photos by Howard Owens
Byron-Bergen soccer fans are now celebrating two sectional championships in the same weekend after the boys team defeated #1 seed East Rochester 1-0 for the Class C2 crown.
The lone goal was fired in by forward Jack Farner, with an assist from Colin Martin, in the third minute of the game. Martin MacConnell, along with the Bees defense, held the Bombers scoreless the rest of the match.
On Friday, the girls' team beat Keshequa 4-3 in overtime to the Class C2 title.
Coach Ken Rogoyski said, "The last time that the boys and girls teams were sectional champions in the same year was 2002 (21 years ago). They also both won in 2001. And before that, in 1981 (21 years prior to the 2002 win). Coincidentally, the girls tied their match on Friday, sending them into overtime with 21 seconds left in the game."
The Bees, now 16-2-1, will face Cuba-Rushford/Hinsdale on Wednesday night, location TBD.
Photos by Jennifer DiQuattro
Batavia High School cheerleaders participated in the Class D2 small school sectional tournament on Saturday.
The team did not score enough points to advance to the next round.
Photos by Debra Reilly.
Jay Antinore had 240 yards passing for Notre Dame on Saturday to help lead the Fighting Irish to a 20-14 win over Oakfield-Alabama in the Class D Section V quarterfinal.
Antinore completed 11 passes in 15 attempts and connected on TD passes to Jaden Sherwood and Chase Antinore, which was 79 yards in the fourth quarter for the game-winner.
On the ground, Antinore gained 33 yards on 10 carries. He scored one touchdown on the ground.
Chase Antinore had three receptions for 110 yards, and Sherwood had four catches for 73 yards.
On defense, Gabe Castro had 13 tackles, and Scotty McWilliams had 9 1/2.
For the Aggies:
Aggie head coach Tyler Winter said, "With everything this team has had to endure this season, I couldn't be more proud of the way they fought to the very last minute. You could write a book on the adversity they were dealt this fall. They handled themselves with class and integrity amidst it all. The sting of defeat hurts right now, but they will be better young men in the long haul because of it all."
Notre Dame, seeded #5, next faces #1 seed York/Pavilion, time and date to be determined.
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A parolee with a lengthy criminal history is in custody following a string of car thefts in Genesee County.
Edward G. Ruckdeschel, 61, of Batavia, is charged with two counts of grand larceny in the third degree and two counts of grand larcenhy in the fourth degree, and could face more changes, according to the Sheriff's Office.
During a lengthy investigation, "several" stolen vehicles were located throughout Genesee County and surrounding areas.
The investigation was conducted by road patrols and criminal investigation divisions with the assistance of the State Police and the Orleans County Sheriff's Office.
Ruckdeschel available criminal record goes back to 1986 when he was arrested in Monroe County and sent to prison, convictions for criminal possession of stolen property 2nd and criminal possession of stolen property first.
In 1997, he was imprisoned for criminal mischief in the third degree and burglary in the third degree.
In 2000 he was sent to prison again on a conviction in Cayuga County for grand larceny in the fourth degree.
In 2006, in Oneida County, burglary in the third degree.
In 2011, criminal possession of stolen property in the third degree and criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree.
In 2017, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle in the second degree.
His first conviction to lead to prison time in Genesee County was in 2020 for grand larceny in the fourth degree, auto theft, and grand larceny in the third degree.
Ruckdeschel was arraigned and jailed without bail.
The Sheriff's Office said the investigation is ongoing and Ruckdeschel faces several additional charges.
Soccer is another game of inches. It's also a game of seconds.
As the clock wound down on Friday night at Gates-Chili, with Byron-Bergen trailing 3-2 in the Girls Soccer Class C2 championship game, a Keshequa Indians player knocked the ball out of the end of the pitch. That made the next play a corner kick. If the ball had gone out of bounds a few more inches to the left, Byron-Beren would have had a throw-in from the side of the field.
On the corner kick, Grace Diquattro struck the ball perfectly, a high, curving shot that Keshequa's keeper managed to touch but not stop as it sailed over her head.
Tie score with 21 seconds left in the regulation time.
It was Diquattro's second goal of the game.
Byron-Bergen won 4-3 on a goal by Makenzie Hagen, assisted by Diquattro, during the fifth minute of overtime.
"The defense had pushed over a lot," said Hagen after the game. "There was a big gap for me to get in, so I called for it, and Grace passed, and we were good to go."
The Indians, the #3 seed entering the tournament, were crushed, while the Bees. #4, celebrated their comeback win near the Keshequa goal.
The win was a special moment for Hagen.
"It's been a crazy experience," she said. "Our team has worked so hard through the seasons to get here and I'm just so proud of us."
The Bees struck first late in the first half on a goal by Mia Gray, with an assist by Diquattro, but Keshequa fired back within two minutes to tie the score at 1-1, which is how the half ended.
In the second half, Diquattro scored her first goal of the game to give Byron-Bergen a 2-1 lead. That goal, too, was a matter of inches, hitting the crossbar before dropping within the area of the goal to count as a score.
But once again, Keshequa answered. This time in about 20 seconds.
Then came Keshequa's third goal. With about four minutes left in the game, Ava Thayer got past the Byron-Bergen defense in space and had a fairly open shot at goal. She didn't miss.
Often in soccer, a one-goal lead is as good as a win with so little time left on the clock.
That's when those precious inches and seconds became so important, and Diquattro became the hero of the moment.
"There's always a bit of luck, right?" said Coach Wayne Hill. "We had luck to score (taking a 2-1 lead). They had luck to come right back down in 20 seconds and score on us right back. They took the lead. I mean, that corner kick was only a corner kick by like three inches. Otherwise, it was a throw, and we've been sunk. So by the grace of God, we got a corner kick. And we scored the tie, and then just the overtime was fantastic."
While it feels great to win in overtime, Hill said he also understands what it's like to be on the other side.
"I was just happy that they fought back and got the tie," Hill said. "That's the best part of overtime, winning. But you always feel horrible for the team that loses in overtime because they deserve to win too. It's a sad, gut-wrenching experience."
Byron-Bergen will next play C1's #1 seed, Holley, at Cal-Mum on either Wednesday or Thursday.
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With a $150 million future phase III water system and $70 million new county jail facility in progress, coupled with addressing a $3.4 million deficit that “emerged” after receiving budget requests from all department heads, it was no wonder why county Manager Matt Landers needed extra time to put his annual budget message together this year.
What was originally expected for release a week ago had to be delayed until Friday of this week, with Landers explaining along the way that he was working to make edits and needed more time with his words than he did with the budget numbers.
"The next few budgets will have a uniform theme and consistent message from the Manager’s Office, which centers on the new County jail and the constant race to keep water supply ahead of demand. The county is embarking on two of the largest capital infrastructure projects in its history, with a new County jail carrying a price tag of approximately $70 million and phase three of the countywide water system with a current projected price tag of $150 million,” he said in this year’s message. “These two projects are going to weigh heavily on decisions made by the Manager’s Office and County Legislature for the foreseeable future, and is evident in the 2024 recommended County budget.”
Despite all of the upcoming expenses for infrastructure and jail to house men and women out on Route 5, the thrust of the message is not nearly as dire as one might expect. This next year’s all-funds budget of $182,790,077 is $20 million more than the 2023 adopted budget and includes a tax rate that is 37 cents less than the current tax rate, or an expected $8.08 per $1,000 assessed value. For a home assessed at 100,000, if nothing has changed with its assessment this past year, the annual tax bill will decrease by $37.
The total budget also includes:
“This budget funds County government in an efficient and responsible manner while making key investments that will help deliver better service to the residents of Genesee County. The recommended budget stays under the NYS tax cap while covering a lengthy number of expensive State mandates of which we have little to no control,” Landers said. “Crafting a balanced 2024 recommended budget presented considerable challenges, particularly in addressing a $3.4 million deficit that emerged after receiving budget requests from all department heads. To meet the challenge of keeping the net County support impact in line with the 2023 budget, County departments were encouraged to think innovatively and find cost-effective solutions.
“This was a challenge, considering New York State Retirement rates were once again increasing while higher than normal inflation and supply chain issues are causing vendor contracts to increase,” he said. “Despite these increases, I was pleased to see the majority of departments hold the line on spending, which helped greatly in delivering a budget that stays under the tax cap.”
The recommended budget includes $1.5 million of unappropriated fund balance, a decrease of $500,000 from the 2023 adopted County budget, he said. He is proposing a property tax levy of $32,722,377, an increase of $641,615, or 2 percent, which falls within the allowable tax cap. That would drop the current tax rate from $8.45 per $1,000 to $8.08 per $1,000 assessed value for a 4.37 percent decrease.
While he worked with department staff to control spending where possible, Landers also kept an eye on a “continued commitment in increased funding for our roads and bridges infrastructure,” he said, by putting an extra $1 million to play catch-up on work that's been put aside for too long.
“The cracks are showing,” he said. “This continued commitment of an extra $1 million is a big step in addressing the deferred maintenance of the county road and bridge infrastructure.
“The County continues to make strategic investments in its workforce, which will result in better service delivery to Genesee County residents. A large share of the investments in the 2024 recommended budget are being made in public safety,” he said. “Newly created positions are necessary to run an effective 21st Century correctional facility and include creating six new correction officer positions and a new custodial position to help maintain the significantly larger county jail.”
Another key piece of infrastructure is the multi-phase Genesee County Water System, which is nearing completion of the $25+ million phase 2 while Phase 3, a $150 million project, is being quickly designed, Landers said.
“Phase 3 includes bringing in enough water from Monroe County to close the City of Batavia water plant, which draws from a threatened source and has long outlived its useful life,” he said. “However, before the plant comes off-line, millions more have to be invested to ensure water supply keeps up with demand until Phase 3 is complete.”
As he had announced earlier this year, Landers had struck a deal with Mercy Flight and Le Roy Ambulance Service for dedicated ambulance response within the county. That is reflected in the 2024 budget with two new contracts for more than $600,000 annually “to help stabilize emergency response resources in Genesee County.” This action was listed as one of the recommendations from a recent County-funded study that examined fire and ambulance service in Genesee County, he said.
“These new contracts will strengthen the capabilities of local providers, improve emergency response times for County residents and allow the County to avoid directly purchasing ambulances and hiring staff,” he said.
Overall, Landers, with assistance from the assistant county manager and executive assistant, took a “deeper dive” into more specific budget lines, resulting in “significant budgetary savings,” he said, and more sharing of resources between departments.
How is he reducing the tax rate with all of those expenses on the county’s plate?
There’s a $1.5 million fund balance, $1 million from reserves, an increase in sales tax revenue of $6.7 million — due to the price of goods increasing as the result of inflation, larger online purchasing by Genesee County residents and the retail growth happening in the Town of Batavia, plus a large percentage of sales tax from gasoline sales — and recent interest rate increases have earned the county an extra $1.45 million of interest earnings, all going toward the 2024 budget, Landers said.
The public will have the opportunity to weigh in on the proposed budget during a public hearing at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Courthouse Chambers, second floor of the Old County Courthouse, 7 Main St., Batavia. The county Legislature is expected to vote on a final budget on Nov. 20.
Coming in as the #3 seed, the Batavia Blue Devils dominated #2 seed Geneva in the Class B semifinals on Friday night, earning the right to play for a sectional seminfinal next week with a 44-6 win.
Cole Grazioplene had four receptions for 100 yards and two TDs, plus an 88-yard kick return score. He also scored on a two-point conversion.
QB Bronx Buchholz was 8-14 passing for 144 yards. He tossed three touchdowns and was picked off twice.
On defense, Mekhi Fortes had four tackles and two touchdowns. On offense, he had four receptions for 44 yards and TD.
Zailen Griffin rushed for 63 yards and a touchdown. Brock Warran also scored a TD on the ground.
Also on Friday night:
To view or purchase photos, click here.
Photos by Steve Ognibene
Just as the Pembroke Dragons have done all year, they easily handled an opponent for a big win, this time beating Red Jacket 66-20 in the 8-Man Section V semifinal playoff game.
The Dragons amassed 550 yards, and Tyson Totten ran for 384 yards and six touchdowns on 25 carries with the help of linemen Ben Steinberg, Jayden Mast, Jayden Bridge, Madden Perry, JJ Gabbey, Octavius Martin and Hayden Williams
Fullback Caleb Felski had 113 yards rushing and two touchdowns on just five carries.
Quarterback Vijay Dhanda had 68 yards and a touchdown as well. ]
Defensively the Dragons were led by Felski with 14 tackles, while Jayden Mas had 11 and Tyson Totten had 9. Jayden Bridge, Hayden Williams, Vijay DHanda, Octavius Martin, and Jeremy Gabbey Jr each chipped in with at least five tackles. Caleb Kimmel secured the game's lone turnover on an interception.
The Dragons, now 9-0, will play Bolivar Richburg in the Section V 8-man championship next week.
Submitted info and photos.
This is from a recent edition of an email newsletter published by Investigative Post.
The Batavian has drawn a fair amount of attention over the years for being a successful online, for-profit news organization. What’s been left unsaid is its practice of writing favorable stories about its sponsors and advertisers, in particular, the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. Owner Howard Owens was at it again the week before last, penning another story that echoed the OTB party line (sic on the link).
The Post is a Buffalo-based startup news not-for-profit that doesn't attempt to offer its community complete and comprehensive coverage but rather to cherry-pick the stories it chooses to write.
The publication has been on my radar for a while for its sensationalistic, often incomplete reporting.
Now it is attacking me and my publication, and I think that deserves a public response.
Yes, we're for-profit (though, honestly, it's not that much profit, just enough to keep us in business). And I've known plenty in the nonprofit news sector who consider advertising-supported news to be unethical. Throughout my career, going back to 1986, I've come across no shortage of reporters and editors who thought news should be a charity case.
In 2010, I was in Chicago at the first gathering of small, independent online news publishers. Several of the publishers represented start-up nonprofits. At one session, somebody in the middle of the room stood up and said, "Can we all agree right now that advertising is evil."
I responded by saying essentially that advertising support is far superior to the nonprofit model because you have a greater diversity of revenue. If you're doing it right, no one advertiser is going to be able to hold you hostage. If the need arises to report something negative about a business, you can do so without fear or favor because if that advertiser cancels its promotions, it's not going to put you out of business. It likely won't even mean significant cuts in expenditures. No layoffs. No furloughs. Nobody is hurt.
That diversity of revenue gives us a lot of freedom to report what is factual and honest without succumbing to threats.
I don't give in to blackmail.
For example, by a hard-and-fast policy, we run all arrest reports without favoritism. I've written up arrests of good friends, people I know well and respect. I've had volunteer firefighters, who I have a soft spot for, call me and ask me not to run their arrests. There's no shortage of people calling and asking that we just make this one exception this one time.
But it would be unfair to all the people I don't know, the people who have no connections or advantages or even think to call, to play favorites. We run all arrests we receive from local law enforcement. Period. No exceptions. That has cost us money and hard feelings, no doubt.
Over the past 15 years, three business owners have been arrested (that I know of). In the first case, the advertiser had -- the week before he was arrested -- said he wanted to double his spending with us. The day after we ran news of his arrest, he canceled his ad. He's never advertised with us again. In the second case, the business owner called a staff member and rudely and profanely canceled her ad. In the third case, a friend of the advertiser called me and warned me about running his arrest report. This business owner was a top-tier advertiser. We ran his arrest report the following week when we received it, and he canceled his ad and hasn't run with us since, nor will he again as long as I own The Batavian.
In another case, we ran a story about a local organization that mentioned a newsworthy faux pas by the director. The next time we called for an ad, she said no, citing our previous story.
Look, if an ad buyer has some business reason for not advertising with us and we can't convince that person about why they're wrong, it's the ad buyer's right not to buy an ad from us. But when a buyer tries to blackmail our coverage, that's a line ad buyers are not allowed to cross, as I made clear to this particular ad buyer. We don't change the course of an article to please an advertiser; that's what journalistic integrity is all about.
Batavia Downs
Yes, there's no hiding the fact that Batavia Downs is a major advertiser. And yes, we put effort into covering most of the Downs' good news stories (Wiener Dog races, donations, concerts, etc.). Some of this stuff is just fun to cover. And being a comprehensive local news publication, or at least trying, we cover positive events as well as news that is less than favorable to people and places. A news outlet that isn't covering what is good in a community is not serving the community. It's a drain on the community if all the news is negative and sensational, something the folks at Investigative Post clearly don't understand.
I don't think positive stories about local businesses are a bad thing. They are not unethical. Investigative Post seems to disagree, based on the statement above. We cover a lot of business openings. We celebrate significant business anniversaries and expansions. We make it to as many ribbon cuttings as we can. I think successful small businesses are critical to a healthy local community (one of my major complaints about not-for-profit news outlets is they often ignore their locally owned shops, which ill-serves their communities). You will never see positive coverage of locally owned businesses in the Post because, you know, "advertising is evil," which means small business owners don't matter to the "serious journalist."
As for Batavia Downs and what it means to The Batavian: If Western OTB canceled all spending with us, yes, it would hurt. It would hurt a lot. I'd probably cry. But it wouldn't put us out of business, not with our diversified revenue streams (something Early Access Pass is slowly helping with, as well, so please join). If that happened, we would cut back on some spending but nothing that would hurt our employees.
Our main reporter for Western OTB is Mike Pettinella. He's a freelancer, which is ideal in this circumstance because, in accordance with state employment law, I have limited ability to direct his work. He chooses his own stories for the most part (I can suggest stories), and he chooses how to cover them. Investigative Post is making it sound like I cover Western OTB, but I've only ever been to two meetings of the board, and I've done only one significant story about the organization's legal issues. This is by design. I recognize that Batavia Downs is a major advertiser. When Mike is available to cover OTB, his coverage provides a degree of separation between me and that business interest.
Mike is an experienced and professional reporter. He does something that the folks at Investigative Post often fail to do -- he makes sure all sides are represented. He doesn't cherry-pick. He doesn't sensationalize. He just reports the story straight.
It seems the folks at IP think we toe the "OTB party line" (itself a loaded phrase that betrays the Post's bias). No, we just ask Henry Wojtaszek questions and are careful not to misquote him or misrepresent him. Apparently, the folks at IP equate telling a balanced story, letting both sides have their say, with biased coverage. That tells us something about their mindset. Being fair is biased when your view is already made up about a person or entity.
It's almost like they want to try and cower another publication from calling into question their shoddy reporting.
Take, for example, their latest report on Western OTB's legal fees.
OTB shells out millions for lawyers and lobbyists
The basic presumption of the article is biased, that Western OTB isn't entitled to respond to legal challenges.
Legal challenges that were largely created by the past sensationalistic reporting by IP on Batavia Downs, a fact IP pretty much admits to:
Investigative Post used 2018 as a benchmark for spending on lawyers and lobbyists because OTB operated in relative obscurity until Investigative Post began reporting on its problems that December.
Investigative Post considers mistakes and oversights to be "problems," implying misdeeds in the context of the story. More bias.
An old journalist's trick to justify reporting on something you think should be scandalous is to find somebody to criticize it without full transparency about the source's agenda or finding a way to balance his or her opinion. IP has those sources, an Erie County elected official with a political agenda and a former disgruntled OTB executive. Not that there is anything wrong with giving those people a platform to speak their minds, but knowing up front that they are biased against the target of a story, a fair so-called investigative reporter would seek out sources who might have a different point of view, particularly the chief spokesperson for the agency in question, in this case, Henry Wojtaszek. Of course, Wojtaszek refused to comment on this particular story, but who can blame him, given the IP's history of sensationalizing its coverage of OTB? But surely, the reporter, J. Dale Shoemaker, could have found another legal expert to address the issue that would balance the story, perhaps noting that these expenses are not out of line given what OTB has had to deal with since December 2018.
We now know that Shoemaker could have called City of Rochester OTB representative Dennis Basset for a less sensationalistic take on the legal expenditures, though one suspects that Shoemaker didn't much like Bassett's response to his questions following Thursday's OTB meeting. There are surely other board members who support Wojtaszek who would have shared their views on the matter.
Then there is this quote from Mike Nolan, the former OTB employee, that is presented naked of any meaningful context.
“As a former chief operating officer, the costs that you’re speaking to seem to be extraordinarily high from what they were in years past,” he said.
Well, of course, costs have gone up since Nolan left. He's one of the reasons for higher legal costs since he filed a lawsuit against Western OTB alleging wrongful termination. And since he's left, there have been other questionable attacks on Western OTB that officials there feel the need to defend. Why is it surprising that the agency's legal costs have gone up? And isn't it the right of OTB leadership to defend themselves against what they see as unfair and legally misguided attacks?
Here's their most significant 2018 story reported by IP:
OTB’s part-time board enjoys gold-plated perks
This started the ball rolling on the accusation that the OTB board has illegally or improperly provided itself health care insurance. In the one story I've written on this topic because Mike Pettinella wasn't available, Wojtaszek explained how this issue has been misrepresented. The interview was in response to a now-dismissed lawsuit by George Maziarz (who was represented by another Erie County Democratic politician, Nate McMurray). (It's worth mentioning that this story gave Maziarz his say and allowed Wojtaszek space to respond -- fair and balanced reporting, as it should be done).
As for health insurance for board members, Western OTB has attorneys working on the issue. The agency does not agree that board members can't receive health insurance coverage.
While Maziarz says that the Comptroller's Office and a legal firm hired by Western OTB say the practice is illegal, the issue doesn't appear to be that cut and dry. There is an older Comptroller's opinion that says the practice is permissible. The memo on the topic, prepared by attorneys Gabriel M. Nugent and Robert J. Thorpe for the board, cites the 1978 opinion as well as the later opinion and suggests board members no longer accept health insurance. It doesn't, as Maziarz claims, call the practice illegal.
Health insurance, Wojtaszek said, is justified because pretty much every other public benefit corporation in the state offers it, and Batavia Downs operates in a very competitive environment and needs to attract and retain the most qualified board members.
The other issue addressed by Wojtaszek is the allegations first raised by IP and echoed in the Maziarz suit is the use of free tickets to sporting events.
Batavia Downs acquires tickets as perks for high rollers and special guests, Wojtaszek said. A host from Batavia Downs typically accompanies these guests to the events. The role of the host is to ensure things go smoothly that people get their tickets, get into the venue, receive the service expected for the event, and that the host takes care of any issues that arise.
"Previously, if you were host, we provided a ticket to the host and then the host was allowed to bring a guest with them," Wojtaszek said. "At that point, they may have brought somebody from a wife, a husband, a son, or a daughter with them. We have since corrected that. Subsequent to the recommendation from the compliance company, it's just a host who takes care of whatever event, hockey game, football game, concert, and I think we're doing it properly now."
He said that the accusation that board members could just casually ask for tickets to Bills or Sabres games at board meetings and receive them misrepresents what actually took place. He said anybody, including board members, could ask for tickets on behalf of patrons of Batavia Downs. They were not, he said, asking for themselves and friends and family. However, to help improve the procedure, all requests must now be in writing and clearly state who is receiving the tickets.
There were about 100 tickets unaccounted for, not the thousands previously alleged.
Balanced Coverage
These are just two examples where the Investigative Post has sensationalized stories and misrepresented the truth. If you search the Post's website for "Batavia Downs," you will find four pages of sensationalized headlines and stories, a regular drum beat of negative story angles. What you won't find are stories about record revenue, about Democratic board members backing Wojtaszek's leadership, record distributions to counties, in-depth interviews with Wojtaszek addressing the allegations against him and the board, the Downs' support of area charities, any of its concerts, or its successful Night of Champions. It seems that anything positive about Batavia Downs would disrupt the flow of IP's "corruption" narrative.
Shoemaker was so eager to push the corruption narrative that he used that loaded word with Bassett in an interview after the board meeting on Thursday.
Clearly, Shoemaker didn't like Bassett's full response to his question because he truncated the key portion of Bassett's quote in his report on the meeting.
"I think corruption is a very strong term," he said. "I've been on this board, as I said, 14 years, and I don't see corruption."
The denial of corruption by a Democrat completely upsets the narrative being pushed by the Post, so of course, Shoemaker didn't include it. Shoemaker's article on the whole overlays and misrepresents Bassett's discussion of "reform." Overall, Bassett concentrated on how well Western OTB is doing and that it is important to stay focused on the business of the operation and its success and not be distracted by politics.
Shoemaker also left out Bassett's statements about changes and reforms already undertaken, instead focusing on potential further "reforms." Again, it would disturb the narrative to report that Wojtaszek and the board have actively responded to criticism and made changes.
If your news business model is to always attack and criticize without ever recognizing the good in people or institutions, then that's a flawed business model. As long as Investigative Post maintains that business model, all it will do is hurt its credibility with fair-minded people while partisans cheer them on, giving them the illusion that they're doing everything right.
It's worth noting that nobody yet, not even the Post, has turned up any evidence of corruption. Mistakes, yes, as Wojtaszek has owned up to, which IP hasn't reported. Throughout five years of constant badgering by IP and others, no illegal activity has been identified. Yes, there is an FBI investigation (which is helping drive up OTB's legal costs), but that has been ongoing for years -- apparently, but the FBI never confirms anything -- and an investigation is not proof of illegal activity. Yet IP throws around the word "corruption" often enough to convince me that the folks there clearly believe OTB is corrupt. In old-school journalism, we call that kind of belief "bias."
GCEDC
Based on a prior email conversation with Shoemaker, the folks at Investigative Post also seem to think we pander to GCEDC because GCEDC bought some ads from us. Yes, GCEDC this year -- for the first time -- placed some ads with The Batavian. The entire expenditure is less than one percent of this year's revenue. Yet Shoemaker called into question my ethics. He was ticked that I wouldn't grant him an interview about the ad buy. Why? Because I don't trust the Investigative Post, which I made clear to him.
We've had no issue in the past reporting stories that are unfavorable to GCEDC's agenda. Most notably, we brought attention to GCEDC's plans to use tax incentives for remodeling at Batavia Towne Center. Those design changes would eventually, as expected, lure Dick's Sporting Goods to Batavia. Tax incentives to support retail businesses are a questionable use of an IDA's power since locally owned businesses can be damaged. In fact, both businesses mentioned in the story above are now out of business. I know for a fact that our stories did not please, to put it mildly, the folks over at GCEDC.
Tainted Money
So let's return to the for-profit vs. not-for-profit debate.
I've encountered the arrogance of nonprofit publishers many times over the past 15 years. They think that because they are not driven by profit in capitalist terms, their motivations are pristine. And that is their blind spot. All news organizations need to bring in more revenue than they spend and set some aside for inevitable revenue shortfalls when business cycles take a dive, as financial disclosures show Investigative Post does.
Here's the thing though: All money is tainted in some way. The need to raise money to fund journalism doesn't isolate the publication's leaders from pressure to shade coverage. It doesn't matter if you operate with a profit motive or without. As Bob Dylan sang, "You've got to serve somebody."
If you rely on advertising, you might be tempted to bend to an advertiser's will (though, as I explain above, this is less likely, but I have seen it happen). If all of your revenue comes from readers, either through subscriptions or memberships, then you will be more likely to cater to the will of the readers, who don't always see the full picture or have a balanced view of the world. For example, if you're a publisher in a largely progressive Democratic community, you're going to be hard-pressed to publish stories that run against that orthodoxy. If nothing else, you'll be less welcome at swank cocktail parties. And, finally, if all your revenue comes from donors, you're going to be beholden to your largest donors.
If most of your donors are institutional -- meaning big annual grants -- you're only going to get grants if your operations conform to the foundation's political ideology if they have one, and in my experience, many do, either left or right, because that's why they get into the business of handing out money -- to push agendas.
Investigative Post reported $434,875 in donations in 2022. Jim Heaney, the founder, editor and executive director, was paid more than $70,000. That isn't exorbitant for his leadership position, but clearly, he needs the Investigative Post to be successful if he wants to continue earning that salary in an era when good-paying journalism jobs are hard to come by.
The Post lists among its major donors some fairly progressive, left-leaning funders, such as the Wallace Global Fund, the Rowboat Family Foundation, and the Knight Foundation (this might surprise some, but I have personal experience dealing with that foundation's agenda-driven contributions in another organization where I served on the board).
These potential ties to Democratic donors, and the need to pander to mostly Democratic Erie County, are important to think about because the reporting of the Post has helped lead the the disenfranchisement of the rural counties that are members of the OTB board of directors. Earlier this year, Democratic State Sen. Tim Kennedy of Buffalo pushed through legislation that weighted the OTB board voting in favor of the Democratic-dominated counties of Monroe, Niagara and Erie.
For the Investigative Post, mission accomplished, perhaps. The problem is the current board seems to favor Monroe County's Bassett, who seems to support Wojtaszek, as its new chair, with one notable exception. Erie County's board member Jennifer Hibit blocked Bassett's appointment to chair.
Isn't it interesting that an Erie County Democrat, Sen. Kennedy, wrote legislation to put enough power in the hands of Erie County's Democrats that one OTB member can thwart the will of the rest of the board, including non-Erie County Democrats? A more cynical and conspiracy-minded person (and I hate conspiracy theories) would suspect that Erie County Democrats, aided and abetted by the Investigative Post, are trying to angle to gobble up more of the revenue generated by Batavia Downs. Legally that might be difficult, but way less difficult for Erie County Democrats to pull off is selling Batavia Downs to the Seneca Nation or the politically connected Delaware North (where Gov. Kathy Hochul's husband works UPDATE: A couple of days after publication I was informed Bill Hochul recently left Delaware North). Don't be surprised if there is pressure from the governor's office on Monroe County to remove Bassett from the OTB board. Would Heany and Shoemaker call that corruption?
And don't expect the Investigative Post to question the motives of the Democratic Party when it comes to Western OTB.
Savarino and Elliott Station
If the Post isn't just about pushing a political agenda and really, truly, about investigating questionable conduct, why hasn't it written anything about Sam Savarino and Savarino Companies?
Savarino is one of Buffalo's most prominent developers and has been involved in multiple projects supported by taxpayer dollars, which is normally just the kind of target the Post likes.
As The Batavian has pretty much exclusively reported -- Ellicott Station was sold to the community first as market-rate housing, then as workforce housing, only to find out it was really intended to be very low-income housing with subsidized rents. The Investigative Post has called into question our relationship with GCEDC, but that reporting by Joanne Beck led to a less-than-pleasant phone call from a GCEDC official. Of course, we knew our reporting would upset some people locally, but we did it anyway because it was the right thing to do.
Since then, Savarino Companies has gone out of business. The result, apparently, of questionable dealings with Alfred State and New York State, leaving, we're told, multiple projects incomplete, including Ellicott Station.
This is surely a situation that begs for more investigative reporting. We're doing our best to push hard on the Ellicott Station issue, the only news organization to do so, even though we must rock some boats in the process, but we don't have the resources to commit to a major investigative project. A developer of Savarino's history certainly has a deep and long paper trail an investigative reporter could explore. I would love to do it, but I wouldn't be able to cover soccer and basketball games, school board meetings, planning board meetings, town board meetings, community events, and other such news that I'm sure Heany finds beneath his dignity. All my time would be taken up by digging through Savarino documents and ferreting out sources.
Meanwhile, the Investigative Post is generating substantially more revenue than we are, has a much larger staff with only one charge -- digging up dirt -- and they're letting Sam Savarino off the hook. Why?
My only guess is it has something to do with Savarino being a major contributor to Investigative Post and sitting on the board of directors.
Talk about a conflict of interest for Heaney. He's living in quite the glass house, but he wants to throw stones at me.
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Genesee County’s Legislature approved a slate of resolutions Wednesday, including funding to cover a budget shortage in the Sheriff’s Office due to overtime pay and fringe expenses for services to outside agencies, including for the air show and Darien Lake.
During the Public Service meeting earlier this month, Undersheriff Bradley Mazur explained a shortage of more than $120,000 due to overtime costs, due at least in part to sheriff’s deputy details at the Wings Over Batavia air show and at Darien Lake concerts during this calendar year.
The Legislature approved expenses of $95,000 for the additional overtime in police services, $5,890 for Social Security tax, $1,378 for Medicare tax, and $18,525 in retirement costs, for a total of $120,793.
The county will recoup those expenses by billing the agencies where sheriff's office services were rendered, county Manager Matt Landers said.
The Legislature also approved an increase in revenue to the Sheriff’s Office from STOP-DWI grant funds in the amount of $12,607 to cover the cost of the High Visibility Enforcement Campaign details worked in 2023.
Genesee County law enforcement agencies, including the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, City of Batavia Police Department, and LeRoy Police Department, will be participating in a coordinated effort with the STOP-DWI program this coming week to bring awareness to the dangers of impaired driving.
The statewide STOP-DWI Impaired Driving High Visibility Engagement Campaign begins Friday and goes through Tuesday.
The message is simple: Designate a driver, and don’t let alcohol take the wheel. When it comes to impaired driving, “Halloween can turn the roads into a horror fest,” organizers say.
While families spend time with their children trick or treating and hosting parties with loved ones, law enforcement officers and STOP-DWI programs across New York State will participate in special efforts to stop impaired driving, prevent injuries, and save lives.
The STOP-DWI Halloween High Visibility Engagement Campaign is one of many statewide initiatives promoted by STOP-DWI NY and the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee. Highly visible, highly publicized efforts like the STOP-DWI High Visibility Engagement Campaign aim to further reduce the incidence of drunk and impaired driving.
Pembroke Town Supervisor Thomas Schneider Jr. is well aware of social media comments in opposition to a planned apartment complex on Route 77 and understands people's concerns, he says.
But he hasn't received a lot of direct contact from opponents at Town Hall.
"We do hear the concerns," Schneider said after Thursday's board meeting. "One thing is the zoning has been in place since 1991. We've been working under the same zoning. I know it's sometimes hard for people to be informed, but if you don't know what's in your zoning, you can't be shocked when something comes in that's allowed in the zoning with a special use permit or buy right."
The project is approved. The Town Planning Board approved it on Sept. 27. On Thursday, GCEDC approved an incentive package for the project. There's no amount of opposition that can stop it now.
But even if there had been greater opposition before the approvals, mere opposition from community residents isn't enough to stop a development that meets all the legal requirements to be built at a specific location.
"According to state law, you shouldn't turn it down just because public opinion is 'we don't want it,'" Schneider said. "There should be a justifiable reason, an evidence-based reason, to turn it down."
Developer Mike Schmidt of Alden is planning to build four buildings over four phases at 8900 Alleghany Road. Each phase consists of a building with eight one-bedroom and 16 two-bedroom units, totaling 96 market-rate units, with 168 parking spaces along with garages.
Schmidt is planning on investigating $15 million in the project.
GCEDC on Thursday approved a sales tax exemption estimated at $739,200, a property tax abatement estimated at $2,020,688, and a mortgage tax exemption estimated at $130,000.
Schneider said he personally supports the project.
"My personal feeling on the whole thing is, as a former school board member, there are people who want to be in our district," Schneider said. "Our district does need kids in the district to help it survive."
He said he has met with Schmidt, and he believes Schmidt will do what he says he's going to do.
"I think he's a man of his word," Schneider said. "I don't see him as wanting to have subsidized housing (meaning HUD aid to tenants). The EDC said they're gonna pull the incentives if it is subsidized, so I am not concerned about it. I think there's a lot of change going on in the town this year that has people a little squeamish, but we need to grow."
Growth is part of the town's approved Comprehensive Plan, he said.
"I think that's the direction of the town board's past and present," Schneider said. "The comp plan in the town says (routes) 5 and 77 and 33 should have more intensive type of commercial build-outs."
The project did raise some issues with current zoning, Schneider noted during the meeting, and he's proposing the town work on making some changes to the zoning code with a moratorium on some development until the changes are approved, which could take about a year to get through the legal process.
One example he used of an area to be addressed is bus access to an apartment complex site.
"Things like that we can actually write into the zoning law," Schneider said. "That really takes it out of the hands of the planning board or, (not having) them having a struggle with what type of stipulations to put in the (approval). Let's spell it out."
He stressed he is not proposing a complete ban on anything.
Batavia’s downtown Business Improvement District members would like to spend some of their more than $220,000 capital account to enhance the downtown area, and because that will take a city amendment to do so, a public hearing is necessary.
The BID’s current agreement with the city requires the amendment to “add language for improvements in the district that will be allowable under their capital account,” City Manager Rachael Tabelski said. Tabelski explained the need for the amendment and set a public hearing during this week’s council meeting.
“The BID has requested that we update a very specific portion of the plan in relation to the capital infrastructure fund. They currently have $222,000 designated to be used for projects. And they asked to amend the list we had previously to include capital purchases, enhancements in the district of decorations, banners, planters, light poles and accessories, signs, wayfinding, decorative trash bins and potential sidewalk improvements,” Tabelski said. “So they'd like the ability to do these types of projects within the plan and to spend this funding on those projects. So by modifying the plan, you'd give permission for them to undertake these types of activities with this funding. This is a local law change. So it will need to go through the public hearing process.”
The BID currently has $222,470.50 in its capital account and has requested to make multiple purchases to enhance the district.
Because a substantial portion of the Management Association’s activities are funded by a special assessment levied by the city and its activities are important to the economic health and vitality of the city, it is necessary that the business of the Management Association be performed in an open and public manner, according to city code.
This provides for the residents and businesses in the community to be fully aware of and able to observe the activities of the Management Association Board of Directors, as well as attend and listen to the deliberations and decisions that go into the making of BID policy.
In addition, providing access to meeting minutes allows residents and businesses to observe the decision-making process by the Board and to review the documents leading to those determinations.
Tabelski recommended that the same Local Law No. 3 be amended for the BID plan to include these latest requested improvements and to also include a related public hearing.
That hearing will be at 7 p.m. Nov. 27 in Council Chambers at City Hall.
The Batavian contacted BID President Derek Geib for comment since the matter was going to be part of a public hearing. He did not want to provide comment and instead referred The Batavian to BID Executive Director Shannon Maute, who also did not want to offer a comment.
A little background about the BID may be in order. A local law was adopted on Nov. 24, 1997, outlined in Chapter 58 of the city’s code, to establish the district, which is comprised of several streets from Liberty Street west to Court Street and Ellicott Street north to Washington Avenue.
The local law was amended on June 27, 2005, to include the Ellicott Street business area. It was later further amended on Aug. 6, 2016, and again on March 12, 2018, all of which required public hearings due to the properties within the district being in the public’s interest.
Under General Municipal Law 980-a ... the Batavia City Council requires that the Management Association Board of Directors comply, conform and abide by the State of New York Open Meetings and Public Information laws. This will apply to all Management Association and sub-committee meetings, including executive committee meetings. The Management Association will further post all by-laws, board and committee meeting minutes, annual budgets, audited financial statements and annual reports on the Management Association’s website for public viewing.
The Batavian contacted Tabelski about this requirement, since the BID has not had an active website for several months. The Batavian asked where the reports were being posted and who was responsible for ensuring that they were being posted as mandated by municipal law.
Tabelski did not directly respond to those questions, however, she said that the website was discussed during BID’s meeting on Tuesday and that it was being redeveloped and “should relaunch soon.”
There are two sources for funding the activities of the BID, according to related city documents: the BID assessment and the City of Batavia. The BID assessment for each property is calculated by multiplying the assessed valuation of the property by the BID assessment rate, which was $1.81 per $1,000 of assessed value as of Jan. 18, 2021.
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