For as long as he can remember Batavia native Gary Call Hanley has been surrounded by music. As a child, his grandmother, Leona Pastore, took him to orchestras and encouraged his love for music. It wasn’t long before Call Hanley learned to play a variety of instruments and began to play in various bands.

After a few years of touring in Western New York with local bands, he started playing with national bands. He has played legendary venues like New York’s CBGB. Now, Call Hanley has planted roots in Nashville, Tenn., as a recording and audio engineer with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra.

On July 3, his composition “Plight of the Common Man” will premiere at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center as part of the “Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture: A Star Spangled Evening with the Nashville Symphony” event.  This will be the first time in the history of the Orchestra that it plays a symphony written by someone on its staff.

“The 1812 concert is annually one of the most popular performances on our concert calendar,” Dave Felipe, publicist for the Nashville Symphony Orchestra said. “It means Gary’s work will be heard by upwards of 1,500 or more people along with works by Gershwin, Copland, Barber and more.”

Felipe is right. Call Hanley is very excited.

“I don’t know of anyone else who has had their first symphony played by a world-renowned orchestra,” Call Hanley joked. “I just thought, if other composers can do it, so can I.”

So he did.

“Plight of the Common Man,” starts off minimalistic, builds up in the middle and comes back to a gentle ending. Call Hanley likened it to the life of man.

“We start off small, we live these big lives, and then we end small,” he said.

The title comes from the thought that man is facing a constant struggle.

“Life isn’t always a fanfare, sometimes it’s a plight,” he added. “The challenge is to overcome all of the hardships and heartaches that life brings. With the good comes the bad and with the bad comes the good.”

When he isn’t writing symphonies or recording for a GRAMMY Award winning orchestra, Gary Call Hanley finds solace in playing with his band Subway Lights. In addition to cowriting songs with his writing partner Alex Quinn, Call Hanley sings lead vocals.

“Music is in my DNA,” he said. “I hear melodies and music all the time in my head. If I didn’t have those outlets, I think I would be a very sad man.”

Call Hanley believes that Western New York holds a great deal of musical talent and he feels lucky to be a part of it.

“I feel very fortunate,” he said. “I feel very lucky to be where I am. I am very grateful to that. It’s been a lot of hard work, but I’ve been very grateful.”

(Photo: Courtesy the Nashville Symphony.)

It turned out to be a beautiful evening for some really fine art in Jackson Square. The Centennial Celebration art and artisan show runs until 8 p.m.

(Shaina Czudak and Jim DeLooze)

58 on Main, the art gallery and coffee shop in Le Roy, has been providing locals with art, coffee and a friendly place to chat for a year now.

In celebration of its one-year anniversary, the shop handed out free birthday cake and gave customers a chance to win a photo booth party.

Jim DeLooze, local artist and photographer, and Sean Valdes, co-owner of D & R Depot, run the shop together.

The combination of art and coffee has been a hit in the community. Customers can take painting, pottery and photography classes as well as enjoy a coffee and pastry. Paint nights and pottery painting classes are offered on Friday nights. Photography classes for beginners are offered on Saturday mornings.

The shop also has room for events like small parties. The parties come with the option of catering from D & R Depot and a photo booth.

"It's a real accomplishment for a small startup business to survive a year," DeLooze said. "The art gallery and coffee shop really complement one another and I don't think I could have ran the gallery as a stand alone business."

In the future, the shop hopes to offer pottery birthday parties for children and welcomes any local artists who would like to teach a class to contact them.

"Bring Your Feet to the Downtown Public Market" says the Batavia Business Improvement District. It kicks off this Thursday at the parking lot at Bank Street and Alva Place (across from the Jerome Center). It will be held every Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Sept. 24.

"Support Downtown, Buy Local" says co-sponor Java Farm Supply. Fresh baked goods, fruit, vegetables, cherries & berries, honey, flowers, maple syrup, Alston's BBQ Sauce, dog treats, handmade quilts and clothing, handcrafted wood products, and lots more will be for sale.

Plus, enjoy Alton's pulled pork sandwiches, as well as hamburgers and hots.

Amanda Rose Hagedorn, 25, of West Hazeltine Avenue, Kenmore, is charged with acting in a manner injurious to a child less than 17 and disorderly conduct. Hagedorn allegedly voiced numerous obscenities while in a public place, BJ's Wholesale Club, at 6:22 p.m. Saturday. She was jailed on $1,000 bail. Additional charges are possible.

Kirk Arnold Thomas Jr., 30, of Woodstock Gardens, Batavia, is charged with three counts of grand larceny, 4th. Thomas is accused of stealing more than $1,000 in merchandise from Target on three separate occasions.

Duty Everett Caswell, 23, of North Main Street, Oakfield, is charged with DWI and driving with a BAC of .08 or greater. Caswell's vehicle was stopped in response to a complaint of an intoxicated driver on Angling Road, Pembroke, at 12:13 p.m. Monday. The traffic stop was made by Deputy Joseph Graff.

“We live in a world of gods and monsters,” Mitchell Lawerence, played by Alexander native, Tim Schiefer, said. “We’re simply here to tell the story.”

What story is Schiefer trying to tell? The story of “Godzilla: Heritage.” 

Schiefer and Director Greg Graves have been working on the film for six years. It’s all coming to fruition. However, to make the movie the way they have always pictured it, the crew needs help raising money.

Thirty-Six days remain for the project’s crowd-funded Kickstarter. They have so far reached $10,463 of the $40,000 goal. If the project does not get fully funded, the production will not receive any of the money raised.

This is the second kickstarter campaign following a successful lead. The first time, the crew asked for $10,000 and received almost $20,000. The money that was raised went toward nicer cameras, travel, filming the teaser and the creation of the monster suits.

The suits are being made by season six winner of the SyFy network show "Faceoff," Rashaad Santiago. Santiago moved to Batavia to help with the movie. Godzilla has been a fascination of his since he was a child.

“For me, he was an escape from reality growing up,” Santiago said. “My mom recorded seven or eight hours of a Godzilla marathon when I was younger. I would watch it on loop until the film popped.”

Schiefer and Graves brought several other professionals onto the project. They include Chris Barbis, Kyle Gilmore, Tyler Graves, Billy Rupp and Christopher Bloomer. Bloomer has done visual effects for “Zombieland” and “Dragonball: Evolution.”

The cast and crew need the money to finish making the monster costumes, pay actors, promote the film, for anticipated filming permits and other expenses.

“Eighty to 90 percent of the movie will be filmed in Batavia,” Schiefer said.

Ken Mistler, owner of several local businesses, including City Slickers, has donated the spaces that “Godzilla: Heritage” will be filmed in. Additionally, the movie may need to be filmed outside on a street and permits would be necessary.

The character of Godzilla is not in the public domain. In fact, he’s heavily trademarked. It is for this reason that Scheifer and his team are creating the film as a fan film. No money will be made off of this production. They are making the film strictly for the passion they have for Godzilla.

Press release from County Manager Jay Gsell:

As New York State prepares to renew or make permanent the cap on local government property tax levies, a new report by the Pew Charitable Trusts highlights why local property taxes in New York State are so high.  The problem has little to do with local governments and won’t be solved by a tax cap.

The Pew Trust data show that an average state receives about 2 percent of its revenue as transfers from local governments. In New York State, the number isn’t 2 percent. It is 15. Over one-seventh of the State’s revenue comes from local governments.

As the Pew report notes “New York got more of its revenue from local funds (15 percent) than any other state. Among those states that require local governments to pay for part of the health care costs incurred by Medicaid patients within their jurisdictions, New York’s local governments make a particularly large contribution.”

Simply put, New York State has shifted over one-seventh of its costs to local governments, which must then raise property taxes to pay those bills. Rarely has the disparity between New York and other states been so clearly presented, and the mystery of high local property taxes so effectively explained.

Clearly, the problem of high property taxes in New York State will not be solved by a permanent tax cap, or rebate checks, or by Albany conjuring up false images of wasteful local governments.

A real solution depends on the State acknowledging and addressing what is shown with such elegant simplicity by the Pew Charitable Trust's analysis – that the State has shifted 15 percent of its own costs to local governments. When that local property tax subsidy of the State budget ends, so will the era of high local property taxes in New York State. Albany, the next move is up to you!            

Investigators found nothing suspicious in the death of a resident of 400 Towers whose body was discovered Friday morning and had apparently been dead for a long period of time.

Batavia PD spokesman Det. Eric Hill said there is no exact time of death for the male resident, but that he had been dead for an extended period of time before his body was found.

WBTA, our news partner, attempted to contact leadership at the Batavia Housing Authority, which runs 400 Towers, for comment on the situation, but the calls were not returned.

In response to our question about whether this sort of circumstance is rare or common, Hill said, "It’s not unusual for a person to be deceased for a while before they are found. It’s also not something that we keep records on so I couldn’t say if it happens more often at one place than another."

Hill said the name of the deceased is being withheld out of respect for the family. He did say the deceased had a number of medical conditions. 

Press release:

William Fava, Chairman of the City of Batavia Democratic Committee announced the endorsements for the 2015 Election:

• Pierluigi Cipollone, City Council, Ward 4
• Kathy Briggs, City Council, Ward 5
• Rose Mary Sformo Christian, City Council, Ward 6
• Ed DeJaniero, Legislator, District 9

The City Democratic Committee will continue to accept applicants from interested Democrats seeking to be endorsed for the remaining City Council seats in Ward 1, Ward 2 and Ward 3; and Legislator seats in District 7 and 8. The Committee is looking for civic-minded Democrats who may be interested in running for one of these vacancies. If you would like to be considered or interested in working within the committee, please forward your credentials to William Fava, Chairperson at 41 Verona Ave. Batavia, NY 14020. 

The Genesee County Conservative Party Executive Committee announced the following endorsements for the County Legislature:

• Michael Davis, District 3 (Towns of Darien and Pembroke)
• Rochelle Stein, District 5 (Town of Le Roy)
• Gregg Torrey, District 6 (Towns of Alexander, Bethany and Pavilion)
• John Deleo, District 7 (City of Batavia Wards 1 & 6)
• Marianne Clattenburg, District 8 (City of Batavia Wards 2 & 3)

Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) today outlined his priorities for the last scheduled week of the legislative session. He pushed for the Assembly to take up real ethics reform, including passage of a bill that would strip public officials of their pension and retirement benefits for abusing their office.

“Looking back on this year’s session, I can’t help but label it the corruption session,” Hawley said. “If the fall of two of Albany’s most powerful politicians has taught us anything, it is that we need to prevent future abuses of the public trust. I called on legislative leaders last week to pass pension forfeiture for corrupt politicians and my request has fallen on deaf ears. With only days left in Albany, let’s put integrity back into government and show our citizens we are for real when it comes to ethics reform.” 

Hawley, a small-business owner for more than four decades with years of experience in the agriculture and insurance industries, commented on the lack of pro-business initiatives during this year’s session.

“New York is certainly not open for business as the governor claims,” Hawley said. “It is no wonder that businesses continue to move out of New York State in search of less oppressive economic climates. This year’s budget brought virtually no tax or regulatory relief for our business owners and reinforced the exorbitant tax breaks given to the select few companies who participated in the START-UP NY program. This program has proven to be a dismally costly initiative, which needs to be shut down immediately to cut our losses. We still have time to bring the Small Business Full Employment Act, A.5898, to the floor for a vote and leave session having accomplished something meaningful for the thousands of family-owned small businesses across the state.”

A person is complaining of leg pain after being struck by a vehicle in front of Rancho Viejo Mexican Restaurant, 12 Ellicott St.

City of Batavia firefighters and Mercy medics are responding.

The weather is once again playing havoc with the potential onion crop in the mucklands.

Early in the season, it was too dry and too hot. Now, saturated ground is stressing some tender plants.

Perhaps as much as 20 percent of the crop won't make it to harvest.

Paul Mortellaro said the situation is hardly a disaster at this point.

"It would be nice to get some normal weather," Mortellaro said, "rather than ' it's too hot, it's too cold, it's too dry, it's too wet.' "

It it rains, it floods at the Le Roy Country Club, at least when it rains like it has recently. 

A creek that cuts through the lush green fairways on the front 9 often overflows with an abundance of water, and according to course pro Robbie Sinclair, the "lake effect" is often teeming with wildlife after a big storm. I tried to make it out today while several herons were at the pond, but only came across this duck hen and her ducklings.

All 18 holes remain open for golf, though the normally par 4 second is reduced to a par 3, with a tee shot over a lovely water hazard.

A tractor-trailer and car collision is reported at Broadway and Alleghany roads. One male is injured. Darien fire and Mercy medics are responding.

UPDATE 11:56 a.m.: The injured man is up and walking around, but bloody due to multiple lacerations. There was air-bag deployment.

 

Similar sentiments echoed from family, friends and the community with respect to Douglas Mess. 

“He was an amazing guy.” 

“A big teddy bear.” 

“He would do anything for anyone.” 

“He loved family.” 

“He was an excellent mechanic.”

A spaghetti dinner and raffle was held Saturday to help Mess’s four sons, Douglas, Matthew, Michael, and James. The four men lost both their parents in an incident that shook the Attica community.

“It’s nice to see the community coming together for this,” said event organizer Jackie Murphy. “But by the same token, this shouldn’t have had to happen.”

The fundraiser was held at the Alexander Firemen’s Recreation Center, Alexander. All proceeds go to the brothers to help with living expenses. According to Murphy, the support from the community has been overwhelming. 

“Everything has been donated by community members and local businesses,” Murphy said. “The response has been wonderful, from setting up this event to just asking ‘how ya doing?’ It’s just been amazing.”

“I wasn’t expecting the response we got,” said Gina Olszewski, Matthew’s girlfriend. “The support from the community is awesome. It’s such a horrible situation and it’s nice to have the support we’ve received.”

Tom Gadd worked with Doug for 14 years at Alexander Equipment and viewed the man like a brother.

“He was just an amazing guy; a great guy. That sums it up right there,” Gadd said.

“He’s been proud to see the support,” Olszewski said.

According to the elder Mess’s son Doug, he was a “shop man dictionary.”

Michael and James describe their father as happy and caring.

Douglas Mess was found murdered April 20 on the farm he and his wife of 30 years owned in Attica. Charlene Mess is charged with his murder and is currently being held in the Wyoming County Jail in lieu of $1 million cash bail or $2 million bond. She is due in court Aug. 6.

“We are extremely grateful,” James said. “There has been lots of support from an extremely caring community.”

See related: Murder of Douglas Mess a big loss for Baskin Livestock; Charlene Mess pled not guilty in the murder of Douglas Mess

Harvey J. Lockhart, 32, of Batavia, and Kevin Q. Thomas, 26, of Batavia, are charged with criminal possession of a weapon, 2nd, criminal possession of a controlled substance, 3rd, and endangering the welfare of a child. Lockhart and Thomas were arrested following a traffic stop in the Village of Le Roy by Le Roy PD. As a result of an investigation, Lockhart was allegedly found in possession of loaded .22-caliber handgun in his shorts pocket as well as 10 bags of crack cocaine. Thomas was also accused of possessing a handgun and crack cocaine. A child was reportedly in the vehicle. Lockhart was held without bail and Thomas was held on $10,000 bail.

Bryan Henry Fetterly, 29, of Byron Holley Road, Byron, is charged with criminal tampering, 3rd. Fetterly allegedly threw property belonging to another person into a garbage dumpster that contained garbage. The alleged incident was reported at 10 a.m. Sunday.

Dekota Starr Leiser, 23, of West Main Street, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny and unlawful possession of marijuana. Leiser allegedly stole tools from a business on Bank Street Road, Batavia. During the investigation by Deputy Joseph Graff, Leiser was allegedly found in possession of marijuana.

Philip William Czaja, 31, of Elm Street, Batavia, was arrested on a warrant for alleged failure to pay fine. Czaja turned himself in. No further information released.

Kristen Anne Cianfrini, 30, of West Main Street Road, Batavia, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Cianfrini was arrested after a passerby found her 3-year-old child unattended, wandering near the roadside of Route 5, by a passing motorist. It's alleged that Cianfrini did not know her child had walked out of their residence and that the child had been wandering near the road for an undetermined period of time while Cianfrini was sleeping. The alleged incident was reported at 9:10 a.m. Saturday.

Adam Michael Jellison, 37, of Sierk Road, Attica, was arrested for an alleged probation violation. Jellison was issued on a warrant out of Wyoming County. He was arrested after he went to the Sheriff's Office on Park Road to retrieve found property and the warrant was discovered.

Melissa Courtney Cicatello, 23, of Webber Avenue, Oakfield, is charged with criminal mischief. Cicatello allegedly intentionally damaged the car door of another person's vehicle.

The baseball season is just days away. Yup, the Batavia Muckdogs are returning to Dwyer Stadium for all the fun and community and professional baseball that we all enjoy.

Join The Batavian Club and receive a voucher for two free tickets to a regular season game.

Members of The Batavian Club receive more than $300 in gift certificates. These are gift certificates that be used in the same local businesses we all patronize every day.

The Batavian Club is a great value for all of its members. An annual membership is a mere $60. So think about it, use your first $60 in gift certificates and the rest of your membership package is like getting free money. Who doesn't like free stuff?

Sign up with an annual recurring payment instead of a one-time payment, and save another $10 off your membership fee. More free stuff!

You're helping to support The Batavian's mission to bring you the best local coverage and supporting local businesses at the same time. Everybody wins.

Here's what you get:

• Adam Miller Toy and Bicycle, $3
• Alex's Place, $5
• Alli's Cones & Dogs, $3
• Batavia Country Club, $5
• Batavia Muckdogs, Two free GA tickets
• Beds-N-Bones Pet Lodge, $5
• Blue Pearl Yoga, $10
• Center Street Smoke House,$5
• City Slickers, $4
• Dan's Tire & Auto, $5
• The Detail Shop, $2
• En Garde, $5
• Floral Fantasies, $3
• Great Kutz, $3 on haircuts
• Hardcor Audio, $20
• Jagged Edges Salon, $5
• The Mane Attraction, $5
• Main St. Pizza Company, $3
• Max Pies Furniture, $100 on $500 or more retail value
• Millennium Computer, $20 on $100 or more purchase
• R&D Outlet Center, $5
• R.W. Vapors, $5
• Santino's Pizza, $5
• Settler's Restaurant, $5
• Smokin' Eagle BBQ & Brew, $5
• Sweet Pea's Cupckaery Cafe, $2
• Valle Jewelers, $25 on $100 or more retail value
• Vinyl Sticks
• West Main Wine and Spirits, $3

There are three ways to join: Use Paypal (buttons below) call us with your credit card information, or mail us a check.

Call us at (585) 250-4118 during regular business hours.

Download this form and mail it to us with a check.

Single member non-recurring payment: $60 Single membership annual recurring automatic payment of $50