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It's turned out to take more than four years but restoration work on the Thomas Rocket Car is nearly complete. To finish the restoration work, the volunteers handling the project -- with Dick McClurg of Old World Collision leading restoration -- need to raise another $4,000.

They're asking the community to pitch in. Here is a link to a GoFundMe page where you can make a contribution.

The Thomas Rocket Car was designed by former Batavia resident Charles D. Thomas. He and Norman Richardson, a talented welder and body man just out of high school, built the car in a rented garage near Main Street and Ellicott Avenue in 1938.

The design, and several innovations in the car, such as a rearview periscope and independent suspension, were dreamed up by Thomas while working on his 1935 thesis for the General Motors Institute of Technology in Flint, Mich.

Once the car was built, Thomas tried to interest any one of the Big Three in Detroit to move the car into production. But whether the automakers felt threatened, or because of the prospect of the World War, or it would have been too expensive to retool, all three companies took a pass. One Detroit executive reportedly told Thomas that his car was 10 years ahead of its time.

Thomas went onto a successful career in Buffalo with the maker of the Playboy automobile, and he apparently kept the Thomas car and drove it for some time. He eventually sold it. Local car buffs searched for it a few years ago and found it stored in a barn in Lockport.

They bought the car and returned it to it's rightful home, Batavia, with the intention it become a display piece of history in the city.

Photo submitted by Jaime Tuchek of a double rainbow over Vision Parkway in Pembroke.

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Todd Rapp shared this video from yesterday evening of a rainbow in Bergen.

Investigators believe the person driving a vehicle that ran over a motorcyclist down in the roadway on Route 77 in Corfu on Friday night was driving a 2012 Hyundai Tucson.

The photo is a stock image and not a photo of the actual vehicle.

The car may have sustained some front-end damage and probably has significant under-carriage damage. 

After striking the motorcyclist, the vehicle continued southbound on Route 77 before turning westbound on Route 33.

Travis R. Hartloff, 26, was transported by Mercy Flight to ECMC, where he remains in critical condition.

Hartloff was driving a 1983 Yamaha southbound behind a 2009 Honda Pilot and was unable to stop in time when the Pilot slowed to make a turn into an ice cream shop at about 9 p.m. After striking the vehicle, Hartloff was thrown from his motorcycle and he landed in the middle of the roadway.

He was run over by a third southbound vehicle, which is believed to the 2012 Hyundai Tucson.

Anybody with information that may assist in the case is asked to call the Sheriff's Office (585) 345-3000.

Yesterday morning, Matt Landers was sworn in as county manager for Genesee County, replacing Jay Gsell, who retired Friday after 26 years and 364 days of service.

Reader-submitted video.

The Elba Betterment Committee hosted another night of live music in the Village Park, this time featuring What About Jane, an Albion-based band.

The next show is Thursday, featuring the Old Hippies.

A car has reportedly hit a guardrail and pole on Stroh Road near Alexander Road in Alexander.

No other cars reportedly involved.

Unknown injuries.

Alexander fire dispatched along with the Alexander ambulance. No Mercy ambulance is available.

UPDATE 7:01 p.m.: No injuries. The vehicle is off the road. Alexander units can stay in quarters.

At one point Thursday, cars lined up for free rabies shots for their pets were backed up on Route 5 and a deputy was dispatched to assist with traffic control.

Sarah Balduf, environmental health director for Genesee County, said it was a larger than normal turnout for the rabies clinic and that cars started lining up at 2:30.

Staff members started processing paperwork and vaccinating pets as soon as they were set up, ahead of the 4 p.m. start time, which helped workers keep up with the stream of cars coming through the fairgrounds.

Investigators are looking for information on a vehicle that struck a motorcyclist who was down in the roadway last night on Alleghany Road in Pembroke following a collision involving another vehicle. 

The vehicle that struck the motorcyclist, believed to be a Hyundai sedan, fled the scene southbound.

Travis R. Hartloff, 26, of Attica, was seriously injured in the accident and transported by Mercy Flight to ECMC.

The initial investigation indicates that Hartloff was northbound on Route 77 just before 9 p.m. when a vehicle in front of him slowed down to make a right-hand turn into the parking lot of an ice cream shop.

His 1983 Yamaha motorcycle struck a 2009 Honda Pilot driven by Garrett A. Stevenson, 20, of Clarence. In the vehicle with Stevenson were Samantha P. Kolbert, 18, of Cheektowaga, and Hope E. Stevenson, 17, of Clarence. None of the occupants of the Pilot were injured.

After Hartloff's bike struck the Pilot, Hartloff was thrown from the bike and he fell in the middle of the roadway.

Anyone with information that might help identify the driver and the vehicle that struck Hartloff are asked to contact the Sheriff's Office at (585) 345-3000.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation. 

The accident is being investigated by Sgt. Andrew Hale, Sgt. Jason Saile, Investigator Joseph Loftus, Deputy Kyle Krzemien, and Deputy Brock Cummins. 

Assisting at the scene were State Police, Corfu Fire Department, Pembroke Fire Department, and Mercy EMS.

(initial report)

Photos by Alecia Kaus/Video News Service.

Ten years ago, Bill Hume told The Batavian he was living his dream.

He had just opened Foxprowl Collectables at 440 Ellicott St., Batavia, and was excited to translate his passion for action figures and comic book heroes into a real business.

In 2020, the dream is still alive even if there have been challenges over the past decade.

Hume expanded his Ellicott Street location for awhile, tried a location at Jackson and Main for awhile tried selling just online for awhile, even hosted a couple of collectible conventions in Batavia. Each step of the way he's had to make adjustments, but all along he kept the dream alive.

"People started shopping on the internet more and my sales were going down and then sales started going down because the merchandise that I carry started becoming predominate in Target and Walmart and more mainstream with the success Marvel and Star Wars movies," Hume said. "I came to what was kind of tough realization that you’ve got to teach an old dog new tricks. First, it was, ‘what’s wrong with the people?’ and then I came to the realization that it's me not changing with the times. It was a little difficult to swallow."

He made the changes needed, reducing overhead, switching up inventory, and changing his marketing message, and even so, despite the challenges of a global pandemic, the dream is still alive.

He intends to be around for Foxprowl's 20th anniversary in 10 years, he said, as a "staple in the community."

Top photo: Bill Hume, wife and co-owner Joy Hume, and staff member Brenden Gillard.

File Photo: Bill Hume shortly after Foxprowl opened in 2010.

Previously: Batavia native opens pop culture collectibles store on Ellicott Street

For all of our Foxprowl coverage over the years, click here.

Tom Williams, president of the Genesee County Bar Association, issued the following announcement this week:

Hon. Paula L. Feroleto, administrative judge of the Eighth Judicial District, has announced that effective immediately, all Treatment Court proceedings in Genesee County will now be held in County Court.    

The Honorable Michael M. Mohun, Wyoming County Court judge, has been assigned to preside. This change will allow both misdemeanors and felonies to be addressed effectively using an established Treatment Court model.

The Treatment Court coordinator is Sarah Welker. 

Court proceedings both virtual and in-person will be held Monday mornings at 10 o'clock in the Supreme Court Courtroom at the Genesee County Courts Facility, commencing this Monday, Aug. 17, before Judge Mohun. 

Because removing Treatment Court from Batavia City Court seemed rather unexpected and we were curious why a judge from another county was being put in charge of Treatment Court, The Batavian reached out to Judge Feroleto for a more detailed explanation of the decision. She issued the following statement:

The Treatment Court model in the smaller counties of the Eighth Judicial District is to have a county court judge handle the Treatment Court. County court judges can handle felony matters that arise under Article 216 of the CPL, which provides for judicial diversion. These are felony cases over which a county court judge would have jurisdiction. City court judges handle misdemeanors. Rather than having two separate drug courts, one felony level in county court and another in city court, it makes sense to have one drug court handled by one judge. Judge Michael Mohun has handled conflict cases in Genesee County for many years for both judges Noonan and Zambito. This experience has familiarized him with the Genesee County courts and the various stakeholders involved in the Treatment Court model. He has been running the Treatment Court in Wyoming county since 2013. Judge Mohun was honored by the New York State Bar Association in January 2020 for his leadership and innovation with treatment courts. He is ideally suited to handle this change to the Treatment Court model in Genesee County. 

As you are well aware, it has been somewhat of a unique year in terms of challenges. The city courts were unable to process misdemeanor appearance tickets for many months, and Batavia City Court will have no shortage of work as the year moves forward. This change is not a reflection on the city court judges but will hopefully be an enhancement and improvement as the number and types of cases can be expanded. The timing worked out well as Judge Rogers had graduated 10 participants on July 30, so a substantial number of the participants graduated before the program was taken over by Judge Mohun.  Judge Rogers has also taken on all after-hours arraignments of town and village matters during the pandemic, so his plate is full. In my role as administrative judge, I review the caseloads of all the courts and assignments and sometimes it helps to balance workloads or try something different. This seemed like a good time to try something different with the Genesee County Treatment Court model. 

The Batavian received the following complaint from a reader:

I dropped off paperwork at the Batavia DMV. They say it takes 2-3 weeks to get it back. You're telling me that something that takes normally 20 minutes to do in person takes weeks due to the COVID? Could you please help shed light on this for all of Genesee County.

County Clerk Michael Cianfrini responds:

Very simply, the volume of dropbox work has increased exponentially since we were able to reopen and began processing them, while at the same time we are seeing an increase in dealer work, providing great service to our in-office customers and manning the phones all day long. We are currently receiving approximately 20x the normal daily volume of dropbox transactions, in addition to seeing a significant increase in the volume of our dealer work.  Every day we allocate staff to focus on the dropbox work, but when 200 or more transactions are received each day, including many, many from out of county, we can only do our best to process them and return them as quickly as we can. We have to dedicate staff to the dealer work to ensure that those transactions are processed and returned in a timely fashion, and we obviously have to assign staff to service the in-office customers who have made appointments. We also currently hand deliver dozens of license plates to Genesee County residents at the curb outside every day, in order to avoid them having to come into the office and unnecessarily placing themselves at risk. Factor in the fact that we now receive well over 600 phone calls per day that someone has to try to answer, and we, unfortunately, end up with approximately a 2 week turnaround time. 

While some customers may view this as an unusually lengthy turnaround time, I assure you that given the situation it is not.  In fact, we are receiving so many out of county transactions via mail and the dropbox precisely because many of the surrounding counties are experiencing an even longer lag time. Based upon conversations I have had with other county clerks, two weeks is actually a shorter turnaround time than many other county DMVs can provide. I would also like to add than in the case of registration renewals submitted with the renewal invite that the customer received in the mail, we are able to process them and mail them back usually the same day. We are also one of the only counties that have phone lines still open to the public to answer questions, as many other counties have turned off their phones completely, a fact that out-of-county residents express to us on the phone countless times each day. 

In summary, while the situation may not please every customer, Genesee County is absolutely not alone in experiencing a backlog on submitted transactions. I am very proud of the job we are doing and the service we are providing given the circumstances. We are in the same situation as almost every DMV statewide and are handling the extreme volume of work in an efficient and timely manner all things considered. If one were able to even reach a neighboring DMV on the phone, they would find that Genesee County is as fast or faster in most cases in processing and returning work. While one transaction may only take “20 minutes to do in person,” that transaction must now take its place in line with the hundreds and hundreds of other transactions that were submitted before it. For every complaint that you may hear from an anxious customer, I assure you we receive many times that number of "thank you’s" and compliments on our fast and courteous service. 

I hope this sheds some light on the situation, and I thank the residents of Genesee County for their continued patronage and patience.

A driver whose pickup truck burst into flames following an accident on Route 33 in Stafford on Monday said she wasn't paying attention and failed to notice an uninvolved vehicle slowing down in her lane ahead of her so she hit the brakes and swerved left to avoid a rear-end collision.

Her eastbound 2019 Dodge pickup traveled off the south shoulder of the roadway and struck a signpost and then a culvert.

Possible citations are pending for Justine D. McWethy, 33, of Batavia.

McWethy was transported by ambulance to UMMC for evaluation.

The accident, which was reported at 12:37 p.m., was investigated by Deputy Travis Demuth.

There was a secondary accident on Clinton Street Road at Horseshoe Lake Road about 30 minutes later that sent two people to area hospitals for evaluation. The Sheriff's Office has not released that accident report.

A man from Rochester and another from Batavia are facing narcotics dealing charges following a raid by the Local Drug Task Force on Wednesday morning of residence at 22 Hutchins Place, Batavia.

Donald Brown, 46, of Liberty Pole Way, Rochester, is charged with: two counts of criminal possession of controlled substance, 3rd; criminal possession of a controlled substance, 4th; criminal using drug paraphernalia, 2nd; criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th; criminal mischief, 4th; and unlawful possession of marijuana.

Ronnie K. Johnson, 50, of Hutchins Place, is charged with two counts of criminal possession of controlled substance, 3rd.

Both men were arraigned in Batavia City Court and ordered held without bail.

The press release from the Genesee County Sheriff's Office doesn't state what drugs the two men were suspected of selling.  

Also arrested was Madalyn R. Muntz, 34, of Hutchins Place. She is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th, and unlawful possession of marijuana. She was released on an appearance ticket.

Assisting in the investigation and raid were Batavia PD, the Sheriff's Office, State Police, City fire, Batavia Code Enforcement, and the District Attorney's Office.

Top photo: Reader-submitted photo.

Anti-slavery sentiment ran strong in Le Roy in the 1830s and 1840s, with much of the activity centered around the First Presbyterian Church, where at least five significant anti-slavery meetings were held, culminating in December 1847 with a speech by famed abolitionist and escaped slave Frederick Douglass.

Local history buffs have long believed Douglass once spoke in Le Roy, but the date was placed in 1838. That wouldn't be possible because Douglass was still a slave in Maryland in 1838. 

James Evinger, a Presbyterian minister in Rochester, noticed the discrepancy and that sparked his curiosity. He began digging. With the assistance of Lynne Belluscio, Le Roy historian, he started down a path where he uncovered secondary and primary sources for all of the notable anti-slavery activity in Le Roy, including the first important anti-slavery meeting in Le Roy in 1833 where Rev. Thomas James spoke.

James was an escaped slave and founder of the first Black church in Rochester. A few years later, while working as a pastor and abolitionist in Boston, James would find the recently escaped Douglass a capable speaker and mentor to the young man as a touring speaker in the cause of abolishing slavery.

The 1833 appearance of James also brought out the pro-slave racists who mobbed the church, throwing rocks at the windows, trying to drive James from the building. A Le Roy resident, Henry Brewster, sequestered James at his home. 

Thanks to the work of Evinger, the anti-slavery movement in Le Roy is now commemorated on a historical marker in front of the Presbyterian Church on Main Street.

You can read a complete account of Evinger's work and his findings in the latest edition of the Universalist Herald. Click here (pdf).

An investigation has concluded that a residential fire at 13 Hutchins St. on July 4, 2019, was intentionally set but police do not yet have a suspect and are looking for information from the public that might help them solve the crime.

The fire was reported at 2:45 a.m.

At the time of the fire, all four apartments in the building were occupied. Residents on the second floor became trapped and needed to be rescued. One person sustained a serious injury.

The Batavia Police Department can be reached at (585) 345-6350; the confidential tip line at (585) 345-6370.

Previously: City PD assisting in investigation into Hutchins Street fire

If you drive down Ross Street past the Richmond Memorial Library, you are likely to spot a full and beautiful bed of flowers along the driveway leading to the library entrance.

The flowers -- lisianthus -- are a gift of Nancy Mortellaro, who started buying and donating the plants to the library's garden four years ago. Billy Truitt has volunteered each year to plant the flowers and help tend to them.

"I think they’re gorgeous," Mortellaro said. "They look like roses. They’re gorgeous and they last a long, long, long time in a vase."

Mortellaro buys the seedlings from Aaron Harrington Byron. She also grows them at her own house and at the community garden. The plants at the community garden can be used to replace any at the library that fail to flourish. 

Truitt said he doesn't remember the flowers producing as many blooms as this season.

Lisianthus grows as an annual in the Northeast but is a perennial on the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico, where it's known as Prairie gentian or Texas bluebell.

With the assistance of the Emergency Response Team and City fire, Batavia PD executed a search warrant this morning at a residence on Hutchins Place.

Chief Shawn Heubusch said Batavia PD will issue a press release this afternoon with more information about the situation.

Reader-submitted photo.

Alabama Town Supervisor Robert Crossen acknowledged Monday night that he should already have a draft budget for town board members to review but given the uncertainty over revenue streams, he isn't quite ready to present a budget that could require drastic cuts to services.

There is some hope that Congress will pass a new stimulus bill that will include aid to local governments, all the way down to the town and village level.

If that happens, the town could get $100,000 in aid, and if the county and the other municipalities get proportional aid from the Federal government, it could give the County Legislature enough leeway to share sales tax with towns and villages.

The Town of Alabama's typical share has been $450,000.

"We're not a very big town so when you take out $450,000, that's a lot of money," Crossen said. "That's people. That's things we're not going to be able to do."

That could mean, Crossen told the board, eliminating a town justice, not paving roads, eliminating part-time employees.

It's likely the town will need to raise property taxes in excess of the state limit and in preparation of that anticipating increase, the town board unanimously approved tax cap override legislation Monday night.

Crossen said county officials have been as cooperative as they can be while trying to negate the current financial crisis -- brought on by the  global coronavirus pandemic.

"They have bent over backward to say we're under a lot of pressure here and we're going to work this out together with you guys," Crossen said.