Boys Basketball
Girls Basketball
Hockey
Wrestling
A motor-vehicle accident with possible injuries is reported in the area of 6758 Alleghany Road, near Ham Road, in Alabama.
Alabama fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.
Since I was out in Le Roy last night, I stopped in the Smokin' Eagle and found that Le Roy resident Billy Lambert was performing. His set list included a mix of covers and originals. Good stuff.
As part of a three-day event to raise money to assist veterans, the American Legion Post #576 is hosting a four-man bowling tournament at Legion Lanes, 53 W. Main St., Le Roy.
The fundraiser began on Friday night and continues today and Sunday with squads at noon and 3 p.m. -- and will also feature a chicken BBQ this afternoon, and a chance auction and a raffle through Sunday.
Last year, the event, now in its third year, raised $1,800 for the VA and the Disabled Veterans of America. This year, said Scott O'Neill, the post hopes to raise more than $2,000.
It's not too late to enter -- openings are available -- but if you're unable to make the event, donations can be mailed to:
Help Our Heroes/Scott O'Neill
American Legion Post #576
53 W. Main St.
Le Roy, NY 14482
Despite the 15-point differential in the final score, this game was a nail-biter through the first three quarters. Pembroke lead by 2 at half time; however, Elba's defense came up big, holding the Dragons to just 11 points in the second half.
Leading scorers for Elba were Emily Reynolds with 21 points and 15 rebounds, and Madison Howard with nine points.
Elba has now won 14 games in a row.
Photos by Destin Danser. Click Here to view more and purchase prints.
From start to finish Alexander dominated its matchup with Kendall, to claim a 66-34 victory.
Alexander had four players scoring in double figures, they scored 26 points in the first quarter and was up 40-20 at halftime.
Alexander only allowed 2 points scored against them in the third quarter.
Zach Jasen had nine points, four rebounds, five assists; Brian George 11 points; Chris McClinic 12 points, five rebounds, five assists; Matt Genaway 11 points; Erik Scharlau eight points, eight rebounds, four blocks; and Dustin Schmieder had 11 points.
"I thought the guys played great tonight," said Coach Josh Bender. "We played with energy and intensity and played great team defense throughout the entire game. We shared the ball very well tonight totaling 20 assists. We got our offense going early and that allowed us to get on top and set our defense down the stretch."
For Kendall, Brandon Miller had 15 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks. John Rath had seven points, seven rebounds.
More pictures from the game can be found on Francletography
A motor-vehicle accident with a possible head injury is reported at 32 Ellicott St., near the intersection with Evans Street, Batavia.
City fire and Mercy EMS responding.
As he prepares for a second public informational meeting early next month, Byron Town Supervisor Peter Yasses says he is optimistic that residents will vote in favor of the construction of a new highway garage on Route 237, a proposed $1.895 million project that he believes is long overdue.
“We’ve kicked the can down the road for much too long,” Yasses said on Friday as he pointed out what he sees as the “cramped, inadequate and unsafe conditions” at the current six-bay, block building that was built in 1957. “This was first talked about in 1974, and here we are over 40 years later.”
Yasses said the town’s four full-time employees and one part-time employee in the Highway Department are working in a building that isn’t big enough to properly park its three 10-wheelers, one single-axle vehicle and its loader and, more importantly, is riddled with safety issues.
Part of a committee of six people who have researched the situation, Yasses said architects and engineers advised that the only route to go is to demolish about 80 percent of the structure – converting the loader bay into office and break room space – and erecting a slightly larger steel building.
The current building’s dimensions are about 40- by 113-feet; the new building would measure 63- by 152-feet and have seven bays – four for trucks, one for the loader, a spare bay and one for maintenance and repairs.
The purchase of a small crane for lifting and assisting in equipment repair also is part of the project, which will have tax implications – the specific amount undetermined due to grant applications that are pending, Yasses said.
He did estimate that the taxpayer would be looking at an increase of $5 to $6 per month based on a house assessed between $88,000 and $100,000.
“The Town Board understands that the project is costly, however, interest rates are at an all-time low – costs are increasing yearly – and the town cannot afford to wait,” Yasses said.
The supervisor outlined a lengthy list of reasons to take action at this time, including the narrow width and low height of the current bays (which have forced workers to park vehicles sideways and put holes in the walls to make room for the plows), inadequate heating and ventilation, deteriorating windows and doors, and building code violations.
“It’s energy inefficient. The warmest it gets in there is 55 degrees and it’s not compliant with the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), but the number one reason is the safety of our employees,” Yasses said. “The building is unsafe.”
The new building would have heated floors -- which will help the plow trucks dry out in the winter -- and radiant heat in the ceiling.
Yasses said the committee has been working with Town Engineer Paul Chatfield’s firm and Wolfe Architecture of Honeoye Falls.
A public PowerPoint presentation is scheduled for 7 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 9 at the Town Hall, 7028 Route 237 – next door to the highway garage. A permissive referendum vote is scheduled from noon to 8 p.m. on Feb. 15 at the Town Hall. All town residents age 18 and over are eligible to vote, Yasses said, as long as they show proof of residency.
Other committee members are David Starowitz, a retired town employee; Jack Reddick, a past Town Board member; Brian Forsyth, highway superintendent; Bill Kennett, current town employee; and Town Councilman Jeff Thompson.
Yasses said if the project passes, he expects the building to be taken down this spring and completed by mid-November at the latest.
Photos -- Top, inside of Town of Byron highway garage on Route 237; Middle, Byron Town Supervisor and employee Todd Cargill pointing to scrapes on the bay opening caused by vehicles getting in and out of the building; Bottom, hole in back wall of garage needed to make room for plow blade. Photos by Mike Pettinella.
A new, $2.8 million renovation project at the VA designed to improve the conditions of long-term veteran residents of the Community Living Center, Maple Lodge, was unveiled today in a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by veterans, VA staff and dignitaries.
Maple Lodge is a completely gutted, redesigned and renovated wing of the VA Hospital in Batavia and features 19 private rooms and one semi-private room.
There were upgrades to central heating, air conditioning, and ventilation.
The design consists of an open kitchen, eating areas, and several living room spaces complete with a fireplace. The kitchen table always has snacks or fruit available along with coffee, tea, and the ability to make fresh-baked goods, reinforcing the home atmosphere. Lastly, all rooms now have state-of-the-art lifting equipment for a safe patient environment that concurrently lowers the risk of staff injury.
John McCune, a disabled veteran living at the lodge, spoke during the ceremony and praised the comfort of the renovations and the great care and support he gets from the staff.
"It's a thankless job they do in many instances, but for me, I try to thank them each and every day, because I do appreciate the job they do, especially for somebody like me," McCune said.
He also praised his fellow lodge residents.
"It wouldn't be a brotherhood without each individual's unique story that comes along with living here," he said. "I can't tell you truthfully and honestly from the first time coming onto the ward, it's a home."
Several speakers praised all the individuals who helped make the renovations possible, from the VA leadership to the local maintenance staff and administration staff members.
"This is truly a community living center," said Kimberly Kwietniewski, geriatric and extended care line manager. "As you know, it takes a village, and if it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to care for our wonderful heroes."
Kimberly Kwietniewski
John McCune
Richard Collins, a World War II veteran who was awarded a Purple Heart, led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Press release:
Legislature Chairman Raymond Cianfrini will deliver his annual State of the County Address at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 8, in the Legislature Chambers at the Old Courthouse, 7 Main St., Batavia.
Press release:
BATAVIA – The Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Foundation will award two $1,000 scholarships, one to a Genesee County resident and one to an Orleans County resident.
GCASA Foundation supports the work of GCASA and other nonprofit organizations in Genesee and Orleans counties. Several organizations have received mini-grants to help sustain the crucial work they do in our community. Now, individuals pursuing a degree in Health Sciences or Human Services can apply for scholarship money that will help them pay for college.
The Board of Directors of both GCASA and GCASA Foundation are committed to providing quality services. Educated, skilled employees and board members are the necessary ingredients for effective service delivery.
GCASA Foundation Board Vice President Jim Morey stated, “Because GCASA exists to help people avoid or recover from addictions, GCASA Foundation believes in honoring area students who seek careers in which they too will help other people.”
GCASA Foundation has been pleased to honor some exceptional students in the past.
“The only joy greater than reading the personal essays written by all the bright, gifted young people who submit applications is seeing the looks on the winners' faces as they receive the scholarships for which they competed,” Morey said.
Individuals whose primary residence is in Orleans or Genesee County and who have been accepted at an accredited college in an eligible program such as Social Work, Nursing, Health Science or Human Services are encouraged to apply. Scholarship criteria and applications are available in high school counseling offices throughout both counties and online by visiting www.gcasa.net.
The National Weather Service is now saying to expect slightly less snow over the course of Saturday into Sunday morning.
A previous winter weather watch has been downgraded to an advisory.
From two to four inches possible Saturday, three to five inches Saturday night, with a storm total of five to nine inches.
Winds will be 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph from the southwest.
Blowing and driving snow could make travel difficult at times in some locations.
Le Roy moved to 8-5, riding a three-game winning streak, with a 86-55 win over Warsaw at home on Thursday night.
The team continued to draw contributions from up and down its lineup. Thursday, it was Canyon Roster's turn to step up and provide a scoring spark. He hit 10 field goals in 14 attempts and 6-7 from the line for 26 points. Luke Stella added 12 points and Ryan Boyce, 10. Boyce and Ryan Kettle each sunk a pair of three-pointers.
For Warsaw, big Ben MacConnell had a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Nate Tangeman scored 13 points and Scott Rashaun had 10.
This Saturday, both the girls and boys basketball teams, varsity and JV, travel to Notre Dame for a basketball blowout event to honor longtime Fighting Irish basketball Coach and Athletic Director Mike Rapone, brother of Le Roy's boys varsity Coach Rick Rapone. The Hoops extravaganza starts at noon. Girls varsity is scheduled for 4 p.m., with a ceremony honoring Rapone at 6:30 and boys varsity at 7 p.m.
For more high school sports scores, check the Scoreboard provided by Batavia's Best.
On Saturday, the South Byron Volunteer Fire Department held its annual banquet and named Chief Scott Blossom Firefighter of the Year and President Dean Bates Member of the Year. They are flanked by Sen. Mike Ranzenhofer and Assemblyman Steve Hawley.
Robert Fite, pictures below, was honored for 50 years of service.
Info and photos provided by Scott Blossom.
Boys Basketball
HS Basketball Roundup (01/26/2017): Le Roy, Byron-Bergen, Attica, Alexander, Elba all victorious
Hockey
Wrestling
Swimming/Diving
Natarajan sets new meet record at GR League Diving Championships
The City of Batavia and the Village of Perry are among the beneficiaries of the latest round of Restore New York Communities Initiative money designed to reinvigorate downtowns and generate economic opportunity in communities throughout the state.
According to a press release issued by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office, funds in the amount of $500,000 each have been allocated to Batavia for demolition, remediation and rehabilitation of the former Ellicott Station to create a mixed-use facility, and to Perry for the Restore Downtown Perry Project.
City Manager Jason Molino said the award reinforces the strides Batavia has made in the area of redevelopment in recent months.
“This affirms the state’s commitment to the City of Batavia and belief in what we’re trying to do here,” Molino said. “This makes a total of $2.4 million that the state has invested into the city.”
In December, the state awarded a $1.9 million Consolidated Funding Application grant by the Finger Lakes Regional Development Council for the Ellicott Station project -- a $17 million renovation and redevelopment of the former Santy’s Tire Shop and Soccio & Della Penna Construction site on Ellicott Street into a retail/commercial/residential complex.
Molino said that remediation work is “already in motion” between the Batavia Development Corp. and Buffalo developer Samuel Savarino, and he expects construction to begin this year.
As far as the Restore New York Communities Initiative is concerned, nearly $40 million was awarded to 75 municipalities through Round 4 of the program, which was enacted in the 2016 fiscal year budget and designated to Empire State Development for implementation.
For Round 4, cities, towns and villages were all eligible to apply for support for projects that include demolition, deconstruction, rehabilitation or reconstruction of vacant, abandoned, condemned and surplus properties.
For a full list of projects, go to <https://www.governor.ny.gov/sites/governor.ny.gov/files/atoms/files/RestoreNYFundingList.pdf>.
Malware, ransomware, hackers, scams, viruses.
The sound of the words themselves is scary. Just think of the horror that arrives when these “diseases” actually infect a person’s computer.
Safeguarding one’s computer from uninvited software and/or criminal activity should not be taken lightly, according to two longtime Batavia businessmen who specialize in computer sales, repair and data protection.
Paul Marchese (top photo) of Marchese Computer Products on Ellicott Street and Marc Johnson (bottom photo) of Millennium Computers on Washington Avenue gave almost identical responses when it comes to protecting computer files.
“Backup, backup, backup,” Marchese said, “and always back to more than one place, such as separate external hard drives or recovery systems. And never, and I repeat never, use DVD or flash drives as primary backups. Both of these devices fail on a regular basis.”
Johnson agreed.
“It’s important to save multiple iterations of the files – local backup and offsite (Cloud) backups,” said Johnson, who, like Marchese, offers managed offsite backup along with anti-virus, anti-malware and critical update services.
Backups of a computer’s (or network of computers’) programs, data files and hard drives are essential should a computer crash or be infected by viruses or a devious hacker.
For those not familiar with the terminology:
-- Malware is software that is intended to damage or disable computers and computer systems.
-- Ransomware is a type of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid.
-- Viruses are types of malicious codes or programs written to alter the way a computer operates and are designed to spread from one computer to another. They can be spread through email and text message attachments, Internet downloads, social media scam links, mobile devices and smart phones – and can be disguised as attachments to such things as funny images, greeting cards, or audio and video files.
A necessary first step, Marchese said, is to install top-rated virus and spyware software on your computer.
“Symantec, BitDefender and McAfee are the top three,” he said. “In our industry – more than most – you get what you pay for. Free anti-virus does not do much more than what is built in, and that is not good.”
Both Johnson, whose business is in its 20th year, and Marchese, who opened in 1981, said they have been busy restoring individuals’ and business computers from viruses, phony messages and from hackers purporting to be from Microsoft, Facebook or other legitimate companies claiming they have information that the computer is infected.
“They’re all fake. No one from these companies ever will call you because your machine is infected,” Marchese said. “These unscrupulous people just want access to your machine so they can encrypt and force you to pay to get the key.”
Computer pop-ups can create havoc as well.
“Oftentimes a message will pop up on your screen, stating that the computer is infected and that a call needs to be made to Microsoft to fix it,” Johnson said. “This illicits an emotional response and the user will call the number and let the person remote into their computer.”
This usually opens a Pandora’s Box for trouble, resulting in anywhere from the computer being encrypted and locked (ransomware) to personal passwords and account information being stolen.
Marchese said the best response to an unsolicited call is to tell them “my computer guy is coming in an hour to install my new printer, so I’ll have him take a look at it. Never go to your machine – tell them it is off if they keep pressing you.”
Johnson also mentioned a virus known as “locky,” which can come as an attachment to an email stating that a shipment is delayed or one with a similar message.
“Once you open the email, the virus basically encrypts all your documents,” he said, “and you can’t decrypt them unless you pay them to get the key. You’re held ransom.”
Some other measures people can take to protect themselves are as follows:
-- Updating operating systems and software on a regular basis;
-- Enabling Microsoft product updates;
-- Installing anti-malware, anti-spyware, firewall and anti-exploit technology;
-- Destroying all personal info on hardware you plan to sell (erasing the hard drive);
-- Avoiding Wi-Fi that is not password protected;
-- Placing passwords on all devices, including desktops, laptops, phones, smart watches, tablets, cameras, etc., and using the fingerprint lock for the iPhone and passkey or swipe for Android.
At about 11 a.m., Larry Abaire was working in his rented garage at 2369 Pratt Road, Pembroke, removing parts from a junked car when something sparked a fire in the detached gas tank. He tried using three fire extinguishers to put out the fire, but it wasn't enough to stop the fire from spreading quickly.
He lost $200,000 in tools, which were uninsured.
The fire spread to another attached garage and neighbors who had their ATVs and snowmobiles stored there were able to get those vehicles out before the fire reached that structure.
"Nobody got hurt, that's what matters," Abaire said.
East Pembroke Fire Chief Don Newton said the fire was "blowing out the front" of the building when crews arrived on scene and there wasn't much left to save.
Previously: Barn fire reported on Pratt Road
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