As Genesee County Animal Shelter staff and volunteers prepare for the mandates handed down by New York State for a new companion animal law, there’s no doubt some apprehension in the air.

Dog control officers Sarah Fountain and Catherine Stewart have been at the Route 5 shelter for more than two years each, and though confident in what’s currently being done to care for the animals, they know that modifications to the status quo are coming.

“It’s very overwhelming,” Fountain said Thursday, with two thick packets of the law and guidelines sitting nearby on her desk. “I think change is very scary for people. I think some of this stuff is already being done.”

There are the bigger alterations of the physical building, which sits alongside County Building #2, including a new HVAC system that keeps the air temperature between 60 and 80 degrees, separate ventilation systems for the adoption and stray side of the shelter, larger kennels for both dogs and cats, isolation rooms for sick dogs and cats, treatment rooms for dogs and cats, separate washing facilities for both dogs and cats, additional wash sinks for volunteers, and daylighting for diurnal lighting. 

Those are no small fixes, as they will require major spending, to be offset with a grant for up to the maximum amount of $500,000 the county is hoping to receive. There are also the physical implications of doing work alongside caged occupants. County officials are reaching out to adjacent shelters for assistance with temporary housing while much of the upgrades and repairs are being done, Fountain said. 

Then there are the boots-on-the-ground changes — those day-to-day items that she and Seward and the daily core eight volunteers for dogs and about 15 for cats must abide by per state Ag & Markets law. 

“We have to keep documentation of every little thing, and there’s more training for volunteers and everyone who’s coming into the building,” Seward said. “It’s something we already do, but we have to increase it, keep more detailed records — are they eating, are they drinking, going to the bathroom, the noise levels and temperature levels.”

Other data tracked by animal shelters includes animal handling; behavioral assessment; enrichment and stress reduction; management of bite/scratch cases; and sanitation, plus written protocols approved by a licensed veterinarian, including nutrition and feeding; physical examination; emergency veterinary care; pain management; vaccinations; parasite control; anesthesia and surgery, if performed on-site by the organization; humane euthanasia; and outbreak management/control of infectious diseases.

They both agreed that the animals are well taken care of, and the shelter operation has become one of those “well-oiled machines.”  However, there are a few things that could use attention, such as the temperature. While there hasn’t been a problem with maintaining proper heat during winter, it has gotten very hot during summer. They have some air conditioning and fans, but “it does exceed 80 degrees” on those exceptionally blazing 85-degree days, Seward said.

She looks forward to having something more stable in place.

“I think it’s a good thing. We have struggled to keep them — it’s not all the time, but there are times when we struggle to keep the temperatures down, and we’re moving dogs around to get everybody to where we can keep them comfortable,” she said. 

“And when it’s warmer than 85 degrees, it’s not ideal for the people or the animals,” Fountain added.

They have shuffled dogs around to different spots in the shelter if a room is particularly sunny and warm and make sure they’re near a fan, they said. 

“This past summer, part of it was trying to move them to different spots. We had this room that seemed to be too hot, the way the sun's coming in later in the day, that we have one particular dog room that gets particularly hot. And I think it has to do with the way the sun's coming in," Seward said. "We’ve had to move dogs to the other side to a room that is cooler, we’ll move them over there under more fans over on the other side. And then move them back if we get it cooled off, and move them back before we're open to the public.” 

Daily logs will be mandatory for cats as well, tracking how many minutes a day they have interactions with others and what the interaction was. 

“I think we’ll all have to be checking. We have a system with the cats right now set up. We’re tracking, feeding, and watering so that they get enrichment time," Fountain said. "We need to get into a routine of doing that tracking. I think we just started with the cats, and now we’re going to move on to the dogs.”

With a smaller core group of volunteers working with the dogs, Seward sees that being a little easier to manage than with more people and more opportunity for variety, interacting with the cats since there’s a settled routine and schedule for the dogs. Seward and Fountain like routine.

“Sarah and I have a routine, we come in and in the morning we’re the ones that feed and let out the dogs, and we clean, sometimes there’s volunteers that help with that. But we come in and we do kind of the basic care for the day, everybody gets fed, everybody goes outside,” Seward said. “Throughout the rest of the day, it’s more spot cleaning, everything gets scrubbed in the morning, and then as the day goes on, we just do it kind of as needed. We have a great group of volunteers that comes in in the afternoon. And they kind of have a schedule for who does what days, but it’s a smaller group.”

For as many guidelines as the state has passed on to them, the officers aren’t certain how all of the tracking will be managed. Will it be done via computer or manually written and available in hard copy form? “They haven’t given us an answer as to how they’re going to monitor that,” Fountain said. 

Having all of the information in a computer program would be nice, they said.

Along with the new revisions, we will be replacing all of the cat cages — they’re too small for the new regulations, have slatted bottoms which won’t be allowed, and should be compartmentalized so that sleeping, eating, and litter box areas are properly separated.  

The adoption kennels need to be reconfigured so that there are some bigger cages for those larger breeds of dogs that come in. A sink/wash set-up will be built in the dog adoption area, specifically, “readily accessible sinks shall be convenient to all animal care areas. Single service soap and towels or electric hand dryers shall be available at all hand-washing locations.” Space is to be mapped out to provide isolation areas for animals with infectious diseases, so as not to spread those to others.

Sound will be another focal point. Each animal shelter “shall minimize continuous exposure of personnel and animals to sound levels exceeding 85 decibels. Active measures shall be taken and documented to minimize sound levels in housing areas. Such measures may include modified kennel design, relocation of particularly loud animals, or use of visual barriers, sound baffling, and behavioral enrichment protocols.”

Each animal shelter is to use a decibel meter at a minimum of once weekly to measure the level of sound in their kennels during cleaning and resting times. “A record of such measurements and the date such measurements were recorded shall be maintained by each animal shelter.”

The current shelter floor has been peeling and needs to be addressed, which will happen as part of the overall project, Seward said. There are pros and cons to consider, from the additional time it may take to complete the ongoing tracking and related paperwork and how to manage several animals during interior construction to the final outcome, she said.

“We have an issue with the flooring back there that the floors need to be refinished, where our flooring is peeling up and it's not truly disinfectable as is. Okay, so it doesn't make sense to fix the floor without also adjusting the kennel sizes. It doesn't make sense to fix this and then take out a wall, and now you have a place missing the floor sealant or whatever they decided to put on. So we kind of need to think of the bigger picture and make sure everything's done in an appropriate way to fix the issue. Not piecemeal things together,” she said. “We do take a lot of pride in taking good care of our animals. Some of the physical changes need to happen to provide the best care. As least temporarily we’re going to have to adjust, we’re going to have the animals out of here short-term. I think this shelter does so much good, we need to upgrade some things.”

They’ve already had a companion animal consultation and visits from officials to take a look at the building. The grant application has only just been approved by the county Legislature for submission, and Fountain and Seward hope to hear something by this spring.

Meanwhile, the new law will take effect Dec. 15, 2025. 

Five Genesee Region USBC members, including two Batavia residents, cashed at the 60-and-Over Tour tournament on Sunday at Medina Lanes.

Batavians Scott Shields and Bill Neubert along with Medina residents Jim Foss, Roger Allis and Bob Hodgson advanced to the 16-bowler eliminator finals as a result of their three-game qualifying scores.

Foss, who led the qualifier with a 730 series, went on to place third, winning $225.

Jim Galletta of Oswego placed first, posting a 266 game in the final round, to take home the $420 top prize. Buffalo’s Dave Rudnick was second ($300) and Jim Pitts of Elmira finished in fourth place ($170).

Shields, who rolled 693 in the qualifying round, and Allis made it to the semifinals and won $125 each. Neubert and Hodgson lost in the first round and won $100 apiece.

In Genesee Region USBC league action last week:

-- Robbie Hanks hit the 800 mark for the eighth time at Oak Orchard Bowl in Albion, posting 278-279-257—814 in the Sneezy’s Monday Night League.

-- Brian Cline raised his average to 238 with a 259-278-237—774 effort in the Mancuso Real Estate Monday Doubles League at Mancuso Bowling Center.

-- Andrew Rose rolled 727 in the Tuesday Coed League and James Townsend registered 726 in the Brighton Securities Tuesday Triples League, both at Mancuso’s.

For a list of high scores, click on the Pin Points tab at the top of the home page.

Press Release:

The American Legion Auxiliary Unit #576 of Le Roy has selected a candidate and three alternates for this year's Empire Girls State the week of June 30 at SUNY Brockport. Grace Slocum has been selected to attend as a candidate. 

As part of the premier ALA program, citizens of the New York Girls State will study local, county, and state government processes during this five-day nonpartisan political learning experience. Grace is a high school junior and honor student from Pavilion Central School District. She is a participant in several clubs and organizations, earning third place in the Literature category at the 2024 Interscholastic Competition in English (ICE). Grace is also a two-season scholar athlete and remains in high academic standing. In addition to Girls’ State, Grace will be attending the Pavilion Close-Up trip to Washington, D.C. in March 2024.

Aubrey Puccio, alternate, is a junior at LeRoy Jr/Sr High school. She is involved in almost all music programs at the school including the musical, chorus and Knights and Gals.

Tristan Harding, alternate, is a junior at Pavilion. She is influenced greatly by her family and has been part of Scouts BSA for years, with the goal of becoming an Eagle scout some day. She also participated in the National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT) this past summer. Outside of Scouting, she spends her time participating in Volleyball and Figure Skating, Performance Guild, SADD, Page Turners, Ski Club, and Trap Club, where she had the opportunity to compete at the State level.

Sammy Privatera, alternate, is a junior at Le Roy. She comes from a family that has been very active in this program. Her brother went to Boys State in 2016 and her sister to Girls State in 2021. Sammy loves all things having to do with music and has participated in Band, Chorus, Jazz Band, Knights n’ Gals, Marching Band, Musical, and other activities. Along with that she is a highly active member of the National Honor Society and loves making a positive impact on her community.

ALA Girls State attendees, known as “citizens,” receive special instruction in parliamentary procedure and organize themselves into two mock political parties. The young women then campaign, hold rallies, debate, and vote to elect city, county, and state officials. Once elected to office, delegates are sworn in and perform their prescribed duties. Attendees not elected to office are given appointments and visit
the offices of those elected to share their viewpoints as citizens.

Every spring, approximately 25,000 young women across the country are selected to attend ALA Girls State programs in their respective states. Two outstanding citizens from each of the 50 ALA Girls State programs are then chosen to represent their state as “senators” at ALA Girls Nation held in Washington, D.C. in July.

Calling for an end to U.S. funding what they term "genocide" in Gaza, members of the Genesee County Democratic Socialists of America conducted a protest Saturday outside of  Batavia City Hall.

"A lot of people died, a lot of people are displaced," said Logan Cole, secretary for the group. "It's not only that, but they can't come back, they have nowhere to go. The rates of death, especially the death of children, rival that of historical incidences of genocide, including the Armenian Genocide and even some of the concentration camps back during the Holocaust."

Asked for his views on Hamas, Cole said, "Their tactics are not ones I support, but it is very difficult whenever you are held in an area, in an open-air prison, and I think historically, violence has become something that is sort of inevitable when you're putting so much pressure on a particular population."

Asked if Israel shouldn't defend itself against terrorists, Cole said, "I disagree with the characterization of terrorists. I don't think the word terrorists has a place in the discourse. I don't think it's appropriate. It's like, you know, the difference between Hamas, which has killed thousands of people, and the IDF (Israel Defense Force), which I also don't consider terrorists, which has killed tens of thousands of people, where their violence is sanctioned by the state. To me, that's a minor point. I think that I hope for a ceasefire. I hope to end funding the atrocities being committed against Palestinians and, eventually, a free Palestine that is pluralistic and democratic."

After the protest, Cole emailed The Batavian the text of a statement he made later in the day during the protest.  Here is the full statement:

So much of the discussion surrounding the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza is designed to derail conversation about atrocities being committed against Palestinians or prevent one from being sympathetic to those in Gaza. One of the rhetorical devices that has been frequently employed in the propaganda and conversation surrounding Palestine is the thought-terminating cliché. A thought-terminating cliché is an overused piece of language that is intended to stop an argument or conversation, rather than give it the attention it deserves.

For example, the word “terrorist” and the concept of terrorism are often used to try to halt discussion of Palestinian losses so people do not become sympathetic to them. At times, the Israeli media would take the figures of Palestinian casualties provided by the Gaza Health Ministry and say that all of them were terrorists — for example, Israeli news sources would say instead of 9,000 Palestinians killed (many of which were literally children), “9,000 terrorists eliminated.” As far as I’m concerned, the word “terrorist” has no place in the discourse about Palestine.

Sometimes, an important problem is marginalized because it is cynically deployed as a thought-terminating cliché. Bigotry against Jewish people has been a huge problem, as we recently saw at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville and the synagogue shootings in Pittsburgh and Jersey City. Lately, speaking out against the atrocities committed against Palestinians and the Zionist (right-wing, nationalist) ideas that underpin them by groups like Jewish Voice for Peace and initiatives like BDS, has been deemed by some, including the Anti-Defamation League (the ADL), as “antisemitic.” Zionism is not Judaism — indeed there are more Zionist Christians in the United States than there are Jewish people in the world. Declaring an anti-Zionist statement is antisemitic solely on that basis is itself a form of anti-Jewish bigotry because it associates the entirety of Jewish people with the modern form of Zionism, which takes much of its inspiration from atrocious ideologies like Manifest Destiny and eugenics, which themselves were used to justify other genocides. Conflating anti-Zionism and anti-Jewish bigotry through the use of the term “antisemitism” takes attention from the real acts of hate and violence being committed against Jewish people every day. The use of antisemitism as a thought-terminating cliché hurts both Jewish and Palestinian people.

Ironically, perhaps the most commonly used thought-terminating cliché is the idea that the subject is complicated, complex, or that it requires nuance. Nothing ends a conversation or stops someone from asking questions faster than saying a situation is complicated.

The fact that there is a genocide in Gaza is not complicated:

• More than 25,000 dead (more than 10,000 of them children)
• More than 60,000 wounded
• More than 7,000 trapped under rubble
• More than 100 times as many children die everyday in Gaza than in the Ukrainian conflict zone
• More than 1.9 million people have been displaced in Gaza — that’s more than 85% of the population
• Only 5 doctors remain in Gaza
• 83 out of ~1,000 journalists in Gaza have been killed (more than 8%)
• More than 7,000 Palestinian political prisoners detained
• More than 70% of homes have been destroyed in Gaza
• 95% of those facing starvation in the world are in Gaza right now

It’s not complicated. We can’t stop thinking about Gaza. There needs to be a ceasefire, a halt to all US support for the military exploits against Palestine, no further Israeli settlements on Palestinian land, and a free Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.

Press Release:

Lion Ron Metz, president of the Lions Club of Batavia, welcomed Josh Bender, executive director of the GLOW YMCA, who updated club members about YMCA's progress with the ongoing Healthy Living campus project in downtown Batavia. 

The director noted that it started six years ago when a casual group of people had an initial discussion about proposals of remodeling locker rooms. With time, the ideas morphed into a $30 million project shared with Rochester Regional Hospital. 

The grand opening is projected for the fall of this year, with most of the glass enclosure facing Main Street nearing completion. Josh noted three-quarters of the new 80,000-square-foot facility will be occupied by YMCA programming and have children, teens, and multipurpose rooms, as well as the gym, workout rooms, and traditional “Y’ spaces. 

The new project has plans to employ 200 full- and part-time staff, and membership is projected to be 4,000 or more.

Batavia and Notre Dame faced off against each other in both Girls and Boys Basketball in support of a good cause at Genesee Community College.

The Hoops for Hope Tournament benefited the Michael Napoleone Memorial Foundation.

The Notre Dame girls won the first game 29-24. For the Irish, Sofia Falleti scored eight points and had five rebounds. Emma Sisson scored seven points and had 17 rebounds. For the Blue Devils, Isabella Walsh scored 15 points.

In the nightcap, Batavia beat Notre Dame 53-49. Carter Mullen led the Blue Devils with 17 points. Casey Mazur scored 12 points and Gavin White and Justin Smith each scored eight. For the Irish, Jaden Sherwood scored 20 points.

Photos by Pete Welker.

Merritt Holly became Le Roy's all-time leading scorer in a home game against Avon on Friday night.

Holly scored 21 points on the night, moving him to 1,575 career points. The record was previously held by Brendan Fulmer, at 1,559 points, set in 2003.

"It's a great accomplishment," Holly said. "I'm really happy we got it. I got it, and we got it. It's not just a personal goal. It's really a team goal. I would like to thank all my prior teammates, too. It's great for Le Roy. This hasn't been broken in like 20 years, so it's right to finally break it."

The record-breaking goal did come, however, in a 61-46 loss to #1 ranked Avon.

Besides the 21 points, Holly had 10 rebounds.  Adam Woodworth, seven points, Jake Higgins, seven points, and Jean Agosto, four points and six rebounds.

To view or purchase photos, click here.

Elba trailed Oakfield-Alabama through more than three-quarters of Girls Basketball on Friday, and one point falling behind by 13 points, only to come roaring back in the fourth quarter with 21 points to secure a 44 to 39 win.

Sydney Reilly scored 19 points for the Lancers, and Lydia Ross scored 14.  Mariah Ognibene scored seven.

For the Hornets, Alea Groff scored 15 points.

Photos by Debra Reilly.

The Genesee Community College Cougars beat Clinton CC in overtime on Friday, 99-96.

The Cougars are ranked #11 in the nation and is riding a five-game winning streak. The team is 17-4 on the season.

Friday's stats:

• #3 C.J. McCullum 19 points 3 assists
• #5 Marv Longmore 23 points 6 Rebounds
• #13 Ray Weir 24 points 4 assists
• #35 Jo'el King 20 points 9 rebounds
• #0 Zay Scott 13 rebounds 11 assists
• #30 Deontay Sprattley 10 points

Photos by Pete Welker.

Since it was a small turnout in the Pavilion High School Auditorium on Thursday evening, Don Shomette, a school safety consultant, decided to have a conversation instead of his planned presentation.

He took questions and offered answers.

Those answers included three rules for staying safe if you find yourself in public during a safety crisis, such as an active shooter: act fast, get space and separation, and survive.

"Run, Hide, and fight -- I like it because nobody created it," Shomette said. "It wasn't as if someone sat down and said, 'You know what I'm going to do? I'm gonna go ahead and create a strategy that people can use to make themselves safer. That's not what they did. What happened was we watched a million people react to violence, and we said, 'Oh, everybody does one of three things. They run, hide or fight, or they do a combination of it. What I love about it is all of us will naturally do it."

Shomette is a former Marine, combat veteran, and former school resource officer with more than 30 years of security experience.  He has consulted with police departments, municipalities, and school districts nationally.  He provided the district with a vulnerability assessment based on personal visits inventorying all aspects of the campuses, as well as staff development training and Thursday's community meeting.

The low turnout for his talk on Thursday -- less than a dozen people -- was actually a good sign, Shomette said.  It is a sign there isn't a lot of anxiety about potential violence within the district and that there hasn't been a tragic or troublesome event in the area recently.

Advice for responding to violent acts
As for his advice, if you're in the proximity of violence, acting quickly can help save your life, and the thing you are most likely to think about first is getting away from the violence, Shomette said.

"If you're in a room and you hear what sounds like fireworks or firecrackers, chances are it means that the violence is far away from you, or it's not extremely close to you," Shomette said. "In that case, I would run to the door, close the door, lock the door and get out of the way. I'd stay in the room. Chances are, that might be the best thing to do. Okay, why stay in the room? If you can close and lock a classroom door, you have about a 99 percent chance that no threat will enter the classroom. That is, statistically speaking, what school attackers do is they tend not to destroy doors; they try the handle, and then they move on. So if you're in a classroom and you hear what sounds like firecrackers, my advice to you is if you can get to the door and close and lock it, stay there."

That's creating space - you're putting a physical object between you and the attacker.

If you're in the hallway, he said, you need to create distance. That means running.

"I will say that the vast majority of people who go outside tend to survive," Shomette said.

He cautioned, though, that you want to be sure you're running away from the violence and not toward it. 

Prioritizing survival is fighting, Shomette said. You're fighting to survive.

"You have to adopt the mindset right now that you're going to do anything you had to do to survive," he said.

He told the story of two people at a mass shooting who crawled into a hole in the wall that officials couldn't believe one person could fit in, let alone two.

When it comes to fighting back, that is a matter of assessing your situation and understanding what you've trained or practiced to do.  Some people are better equipped based on size alone or the equipment they care to provide physical resistance to an attacker.  He drew attention to, for example, School Resource Officer Trevor Sherwood, who was in attendance and is a large man, a trained peace officer who, if on campus, is probably properly equipped to fight back.

"Typically, we think of fighting as going physical," Shomette said. "If you can go physical, go physical. Trevor, stand up. I want you to look at Trevor. Trevor should go physical, don't you agree? Thanks, Trevor. I mean, I would bring Trevor with me and put him in a glass cage and just break it and say, Trevor, take care of it. If I told Trevor not to fight or as a last resort fight, it would be crazy because Trevor is trained; it's his natural, probably, proclivity. It's what he's going to be leaning towards."

But not everybody is well suited to taking on an attacker. Most people aren't, in fact. That's where space and distance comes into play, which Shomette said is also fighting because it's about surviving.

"The deal is 99 percent of people do not first think of physically fighting," Shomette said. "They tend to be 1 percent of people who physically fight. So don't be discouraged by this. Everybody fights in a crisis. If you run, you're fighting. If you hide, you're fighting. If you survive, you're fighting.”

Protecting yourself
Since students can't carry pepper spray, one young woman asked about carrying hair spray as a defensive weapon. 

That's fine if you're practiced in how you would deploy so that you're ready to react in a tense, life-threatening situation, Shomette said, but space and distance may still be your better option if it is an option.

"I would not, however, bank on the idea that I'm going to do something brand new that I've never done before," Shomette said.

When Shomette was a young police officer, he was provided with pepper spray and not a lot of training or practice time on using it.  He was pretty horrible with it as a defensive tool at first, he admitted.  One time he accidentally sprayed his partner in the face with it.

"That was the worst feeling in the world, seeing that red go on his face," Shomette said. "I felt very comfortable using it."

He eventually became proficient, but it took time.

He recalled a mass shooting in a bar, where dozens of adult customers were standing around with beer bottles in their hands.

"How many grown-ups threw a bottle at the attacker? None of them," Shomette said. "None of them, and you would think that they would do it. But the deal is when a crisis happens -- here's this part that it's hard to describe, and it's kind of painful to say, but during an extremely violent act, it is unlike anything you've ever experienced. You can you can feel it. You'll feel the vibrations. You can feel things hitting you. You smell things. In extreme violence, you can smell things that you never thought about. 

"I look at photos of some things that have happened that I've been involved in, and I still remember what that smelled like. I remembered the smell that was there in extreme violence. I don't know if it's from the room or from the weapons being discharged, but I can remember tasting metal. I look at some photos, and I taste metal. I guess my point is that stay away from extreme violence and get away from it. It is shocking. It is incredibly unnerving. You tend to fall back on the things that you feel most comfortable doing."

Mental health
Shomette started his discussion by sharing his views on the primary cause of mass violence -- mental illness, and the fact that mental health is what society needs to address and what parents need to see as a primary need of their own children.

"There are lots of people who believe what's happening is because of lots of reasons," Shomette said. "I won't go into all the reasons, but they are heavy, big-time debates.  ... This is me. My thoughts. The number one problem, or the number one driver for me, about why we have school attacks is because of mental health, hands down. Why do I say this? I just don't say it because I believe it. I study school attackers. I put on classes for police officers that are five days in a row, eight hours a day. All we do is talk about school attackers, who they are, and what they do. 

"I'm not trying to be insensitive, but after every school attack, the newspaper could read, 'We have learned nothing new.' We've learned nothing new for the last 10 years. We have known everything about school attackers, there is nothing new. Every time, it's shocking, but there's nothing new. The mental health aspect is, without a doubt  -- I think every school attacker suffers from mental health illness because they've had a break with reality and they believe it's okay to take a life. Would you agree that that's totally unhealthy? So I think by the act itself, whether they were diagnosed mentally ill or not, it doesn't matter, in the act of murdering an innocent person, you have proven that you are mentally ill."

Parents, he said, watch your kids and make sure they overcome the barriers they encounter in life and enjoy life.

"Are you ready? I have eight kids," Shomette said. "I am super vigilant, hyper-vigilant. I look at all my kids, and I think about these things on a very personal level. If you live life well, I think you tend not to choose violence. I worry that people who don't live life well long enough, they go down. We make the mistake of just going out there and saying they're mentally ill, but they're really not mentally ill. 

“They say that whatever you practice, you become good at whatever it is you practice,” he said. “So, if you have kids, my advice is to do everything you can to help them live well. If kids can live well, I think we'll get rid of most of our issues and problems."

Press Release:

The Historical Horizons Lecture Series is set to make a return in Spring 2024, presenting a captivating lineup of four Wednesday lectures at Genesee Community College, sponsored by the GCC History Club.

The lectures, scheduled to take place at GCC's Batavia Campus in the Conable Technology Building, Room T102 at 7 p.m., promise to offer a diverse range of topics that appeal to both history enthusiasts and the general public. All lectures are free of charge, underlining Genesee Community College's commitment to providing accessible educational opportunities to the community.

The series kicks off on Feb. 7 with a lecture titled "'Opera Was Not Written for New York Alone': Circuit Chautauqua, English-Language Opera, and the Making of an American Middle, ca. 1910-1930." Renowned scholar Cory A. Norling, PhD Musicology, will delve into the rich history of the Chautauqua Movement and its impact on the American Midwest, exploring the role of staged opera as a cultural bridge.

Following this, on March 6, historian Jess Maxfield will present "The Cautionary Tale of Encephalitis Lethargica: Epidemic Disease and Historical Memory." Maxfield will shed light on the encephalitis lethargica epidemic of the early 20th century, drawing parallels with the ongoing conversations surrounding global pandemics.

April 3 brings us to "The Worst of the Worst: The Story of the Confederate POW Camp at Belle Isle in Richmond During the Civil War" by Associate Professor of History, Derek Maxfield. The lecture promises a compelling exploration of the Belle Isle camp, challenging popular perceptions about Civil War prisoner-of-war camps.

The series concludes on May 1 with a book talk by Civil War Historian Victor Vignola titled "Contrasts in Command: The Battle of Fair Oaks, May 31-June 1, 1862." Vignola's award-winning work on the Battle of Fair Oaks offers a fresh perspective on this pivotal moment in Civil War history.

Genesee Community College invites the public to join them for these enlightening lectures, providing a unique opportunity to engage with historical topics and esteemed scholars. Mark your calendars for an enriching experience at the Historical Horizons Lecture Series this spring.

For more information, please contact the Office of Student Engagement and Inclusion at sei@genesee.edu.

Press Release:

The Town of Batavia Republican Committee will hold its Endorsement Meeting on Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. at The Batavia Town Hall.

Anyone interested in being considered for said Republican endorsement for Batavia Town Clerk should send a letter of interest & Resume to shawley@smhawley.com no later than Jan. 30 at 5. p.m.

Whether it’s $4,000 or $55,000 and larger, City Council members have financial decisions to make either with this year’s budget or those in the future on items big and small, ranging from fireworks at Dwyer Stadium to the city’s technology plan and beyond.

The group has been delving into the numbers line by line the last two weeks, getting department updates about equipment, vehicle, personnel, building, property, and infrastructure needs, future projects, and those in progress, asking questions, and getting the full picture of reality for the city of Batavia. 

“It probably sounds overwhelming, everything we’re telling you, but it’s our job to be completely honest with council on what we’re facing here as employees," Human Resource Director Rebecca McGee said during a conversation Thursday evening about information technology. "And one of the biggest things we face, one of the biggest hindrances we have, is information technology and doing our jobs, and trying to make things work the right way.” 

Apparently, things haven’t been working very well with the city’s contract for monthly maintenance with AIS. Assistant City Manager Erik Fix, who was admittedly sort of pegged as the surrogate IT guy in the absence of someone being on-site full-time, he said, reviewed the plan, which provides a person to visit on-site once a month and perform installations. 

As for handling those day-to-day technical issues, much of that has fallen to Fix and other city staff. Police Chief Shawn Heubusch and his department staff have had to consistently address issues themselves, he said.

“I just pulled up our spreadsheet, we have over 30 computers at our office alone,” Heubusch said. “That is immensely time-consuming when we have to deal with any of the problems. The investment that we have with AIS, although great, it is not enough. I have an officer, a detective actually, on staff who fixes our computers when they’re broken or installs a new program because something broke. That’s a waste of his time and his energy.”

He also mentioned the surveillance cameras, which are great when fully operational, but when they break down, it takes city public works staff to retrieve them from a pole and then someone to make a repair so that they can resume their function on city streets, he said. 

AIS serves a function; it’s just not enough, Fix said. 

“They manage and maintain all of our servers, they manage and maintain all of our equipment,” he said. “It’s that troubleshooting piece, that hands-on piece that Shawn’s talking about. It’s just a constant, constant battle to keep that up and running and avoiding probably doubling or tripling our fees and ask them to have somebody here. We’re managing bare bones.”

Another glitch in the city’s older-fashioned system is the need to do some timesheets manually, McGee said. 

“Do you know we all still do our timesheets by paper?” McGee said as the room went silent. “When we’re thinking about IT, it’s the time-savings of taking 36 timesheets and entering them. When we’re trying to weigh out the costs, it’s the time savings and the cost savings.” 

Fix suggested a 10 percent increase for both the AIS piece and software cost, for a total of $71,500. In this next year’s budget, AIS alone would be $55,000, which prompted Councilman David Twichell to suggest considering dropping the maintenance service and hiring an IT person. If full-time, however, there would be expenses of benefits and retirement costs to be considered.

The city has pulled back on community celebrations spending, reserving $4,000 from last year potentially for a request from Batavia Muckdogs owner Robbie Nichols for fireworks, which is where it went after GO Art! Announced that there wasn’t enough staff and volunteers to pull off the former Picnic in the Park event at Centennial Park on July 4. 

"Last year Council allocated funds to do a fireworks celebration at Dwyer with those funds. I did not add that in there. But I did get a request as we were walking into this meeting from Robbie Nichols. So if you'd like that, I have a written request for that," she said. "We did, however, get a letter from the Holland Land Office Museum asking for support. So I did add that into the budget, but it's certainly something Council can review."

There’s $2,500 slated for both GO Art! And Holland Land Office Museum.

Councilman Bob Bialkowski supported a contribution to the West Main Street museum, he said. 

"They are remodeling and painting, they’re closed for a month, they’re setting up new displays, they're going to be entering into an expansion project from the west side of the building, a major expansion … and doing some major work on the building too,” he said. “This small amount of support from the city really means a lot to him, and I think so many city people use it, you know, the schools, I think it’s a great educational tool.”

City staff participates in the Memorial Day parade, Christmas in the City and Veterans Day, with corresponding investments, for a total of $13,500 for community celebrations.

The city also has $12,500 for a hot water tank and $20,000 for seating repairs earmarked from reserves for Dwyer Stadium. There’s a need to improve a section of seats that have been beaten up by the weather, Tabelski said.  Those seats haven’t been able to be used, and that equaled a loss of ticket sales, she said. 

Other Dwyer expenses are $6,000 for salaries and another $3,000 for maintenance, for a total of $43,500.

The ice rink is to get $20,500, with $16,500 for a contractual expense and $4,000 for public works salary. 

In other recreational-related expenses, Human Resource Director Rebecca McGee let council members know about a new health perk for employees.

“We are excited to announce that we're able to increase our gym reimbursement program so that anybody can turn in a receipt up to $100 towards their membership for a gym,” she said. “We're pretty excited about that. Again, this continues to just keep going towards the health and well-being of all of our employees, and how seriously the city is taking that.”

Bialkowski asked how many employees take advantage of the reimbursement. 

 “We have $1,500 budgeted for it, so 15 employees,” Deputy Director of Finance Lisa Neary said.

There is also $2,500 for employee recognition, which includes fees for participation in the annual GLOW Cup 5K in Batavia.

“We’re moving towards the wellness and continuing to keep that in the forefront and focus for all of our employees. As we can see, they're pretty excited to have it, we'll take advantage of that one to help to make sure that we're all staying healthy. And then employee recognition, we had a great turnout over the last couple of years for their GLOW race, which is celebrated in Centennial Park that first week in August. So that's the increase towards that. We've had a lot of members take advantage of that over the last couple of years,” McGee said. “We’re pretty excited to be able to again continue to offer that as a wellness benefit for all of our employees, and making sure that we're all staying healthy, and being able to have some bonding time with our fellow employees and recognizing the importance of that, to have that line increase there as well.”

Other assorted budgeted expenses from general governmental services include:

• $45,000 for City Centre properties (fees and taxes) parcel #s 2, 11 and 16; 
• $25,000 for the city’s mall fees; 
• $11,000 for recycling and garbage pickup; 
• $10,000 for city facility maintenance; 
• $22,000 for court operations and maintenance; 
• $15,000 for mowing, boarding and picking up garbage for code inspection-related properties.
• The expense of $310,000 for the portion of roof over Main St. 56 Theater was negotiated, but from here on out, future sales of city properties will be considered “as is,” Tabelski said. 

The big-ticket items for major departments will be included in future articles. Council has more budget sessions scheduled for the week of Jan. 29.

Oakfield-Alabama beat Elba on Thursday evening 64-45.

Avery Watterson scored 27 points for the Hornets. Gavein ARmbrewster scored 8, and Kyler Harkness scored eight, as did Nate Schildwaster.

Ashley Bezon scored 15 points for the Lancers and Mike Long scored 11.

Also, in Boys Basketball on Thursday, Pembroke beat Notre Dame 60-54. Tyson Totten scored 24 points for the Dragons.

Photos by Debra Reilly.

Byron-Bergen beat Lyndonville on Thursday night 69-15. 

Braedyn Chambry scored 24 points, and Colin Martin scored 10.

It was the Bees' 11th win of the season.

OPEN HOUSE this Saturday  Click here for more information on 43 Prospect Avenue in Batavia!

Click here for more information on 5444 School Road, Stafford.

The chair of Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. board of directors this afternoon said it’s likely that an outside law firm will be hired to look into sexual harassment and wage theft allegations by three former Batavia Downs Gaming employees.

“The allegations in the lawsuit made by the OTB employees are certainly concerning to us as a board and warrant an investigation,” Dennis Bassett, (photo at right), who represents the City of Rochester, told The Batavian. “Presently, we are discussing whether we should seek an outside law firm to conduct further investigation to ensure the integrity of their findings.”

Bassett said he spoke to all the other directors by telephone on Thursday and is fairly certain that attorneys from an independent firm not connected to the public benefit company will be retained.

“Our intention is not to delay moving forward on this,” he added.

Former WROTB bartenders Tara Sweet of Elba, Corrine Armison of Batavia and Brooklynn Cline of Belmont are suing the corporation, claiming wage theft by supervisors who kept a share of pooled tips.

Furthermore, Sweet is alleging sexual harassment against Chief Operating Officer Scott Kiedrowski and Director of Security Daniel Wood.

Kiedrowski and Wood are named as defendants, along with WROTB and Batavia Downs Gaming, in the suit that was filed in Supreme Court in Genesee County on Wednesday.

Bassett said that both Kiedrowski and Wood are on the job pending the outcome of the investigation and lawsuit.

“They are innocent until we find out the facts,” he said. “We’re going to look at all the facts, as well as our institutional policies and how we responded (to the allegations).”

He said some of the allegations in the lawsuit were not presented to WROTB administration, necessitating the need for an independent investigation.

“By hiring an outside firm, we would send a signal that we want to get to the bottom of this and act accordingly,” he said. “I don’t believe administration had all the pieces to do a thorough investigation but did as much as they could with the facts presented.”

When it was mentioned that WROTB continues to find itself embroiled in legal troubles, giving the corporation a “black eye,” Bassett sighed before responding.

“Regardless of how successful we are – and we certainly have been over the past couple of years, we cannot and will not in any way overlook the concerns of our employees,” he said. “We will look into this and take it very seriously. At the end of the day, our success depends on how our employees are treated.”

On Thursday, The Batavian reported in detail on the lawsuit, which was reported by the United Public Service Employees Union on Oct. 30. Batavia Downs Gaming fired Sweet on Nov. 16, while Armison and Cline quit their jobs in the spring.

A letter dated Dec. 8 from the attorney representing Sweet, Armison, and Cline indicated that the trio was seeking $250,000 “to right these wrongs:” and that Sweet be reinstated and her disciplinary record be swept clean. If those conditions weren’t met by Dec. 22, according to the letter, the demand for compensation increases to $500,000, along with the threat of a lawsuit.

WROTB officials contend that Sweet was let go for stealing from a customer, something that is disputed in the lawsuit.

Previously: Former Batavia Downs employees file lawsuit alleging wage theft and sexual harassment; OTB documents point to inconsistencies

Press Release:

Arc GLOW has chosen a new name for the 48th annual event held at Terry Hills Golf Course. 

GLOW Abili-TEES Golf & Bocce Tournament.

“The new name aligns with Arc GLOW’s mission of focusing on the abilities of individuals served by Arc GLOW while adding a twist to the word “Abili-TEES” as it relates to the game of golf,” said Ed Carney, chairman of the GLOW Abili-TEES Golf & Bocce Tournament committee.

It was chosen after a staff naming contest was held.

“The individuals who Arc GLOW serve have a lot of talent; we want to highlight that at this tournament while raising money so we can further help empower and support them,” said Lisa Bors, public relations director for Arc GLOW.

This year it will be held on Monday, July 15 at Terry Hills Golf Course, located at 5122 Clinton Street Road in Batavia.

Along with enhanced sponsorship opportunities, Arc GLOW has reduced the golf fee to $135 and bocce to $60 for the tournament. To reserve a spot, e-mail Sandy Konfederath at SKonfederath@ArcGLOW.org or (585) 343-1123 ext. 1715.

Keep your eyes peeled for further information on the Arc GLOW Facebook page and website, and save the date to be sure to help empower and support people of all ages with a broad spectrum of emotional, intellectual, and developmental disabilities.

Press Release:

On Saturday, Jan. 20, the Genesee Valley School Board Association (GVSBA) met for their annual breakfast hosted by the Byron-Bergen Central School District. 

The event included superintendents and representatives from districts throughout the GLOW region as well as Assemblywoman Marjorie Byrnes, Assemblyman Steve Hawley, and Gregg Torrey representing Senator George Borrello. The gathering served as an opportunity for the school administrators and school board members to discuss issues with their state representatives and
honor the 2024 recipients of the Excellence in Student Service awards.

“I was very pleased with the nominations as they came in this year and the wide range of programs,” said GVSBA Coordinator Pat Burk. “It shows that schools are thinking outside of the box to make what they do much more accessible as well as entertaining and really, really special.”

Twenty school districts and Genesee Valley BOCES received Excellence in Student Service awards. Byron-Bergen was honored for the district-wide therapy dog program which launched in 2021 through the efforts of district staff and retired Byron-Bergen teacher Jen Faro. The program began with one therapy dog, Pinot, owned by Faro, and has quickly expanded to include six dogs and additional visiting dogs from the Rochester-based not-for-profit, RocDogs.

Pinot, Maya, Dottie, Stew, Hula, and Daisy are valuable members of our team,” said Byron-Bergen Superintendent Pat McGee. “These therapy dogs are boots on the ground, in the district supporting student and staff mental health. I am extremely proud of this program and believe that they deserve this recognition.”

The award was presented by Burk and GVSBA and Byron-Bergen School Board President Deb List. The award was accepted by McGee, Director of Instructional Services Betsy Brown with her therapy dog Dottie, and Byron-Bergen High School Counselor Kristie Holler with her therapy dog Stew.

“The therapy dogs are here for all of our students as well as the staff,” said Brown. “There are students who specifically visit the office just to see Dottie and receive some love and attention. Research shows that interacting with therapy dogs reduces stress and anxiety and I’m thrilled that Dottie and I can be active participants in the program.”

The event also included a performance by the Byron-Bergen Jr./Sr. High School Jazz Ensemble led HS Band Director Kevin Bleiler, breakfast catered by the Byron-Bergen Food Service Department, and discussion sessions in which school and elected officials discussed rural education.

Press Release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C-Batavia) attended a press conference yesterday to address the governor’s decision not to “Hold Harmless” school district regarding foundation aid in the state budget. 

Gov. Hochul released her state budget proposal early last week and did not keep her promise to local school districts that they would not see a decrease in their foundation aid funding from the previous year. 

This comes as the state has put more regulations on school districts such as last year’s mandate requiring all school buses to be electric by 2035. Hawley is frustrated that upstate rural and suburban school districts will not receive the funding they need.

“Gov. Hochul is at it again,” said Hawley. “It’s ridiculous our schools should have to take a back seat while the governor continues to hinder them with less funding and more regulations. The governor should remember her promise to ensure foundation aid for local school districts would not decrease and give them the resources they need. I cannot and will not vote for any state budget that does not put the education of our children first.”