Stories from

A driver leaving the Country Max store on Veterans Memorial Drive late this afternoon was looking one way while a bicyclist was coming from the opposite direction and then the driver pressed the gas peddle.

The car struck the bicycle. 

According to Sgt. Andrew Hale, the driver stopped the car, got out, and checked on the condition of the bicycle rider, as he's required to do by law. The rider was fine. The driver pulled a wad of cash from his wallet, Hale said, and handed the rider $200 and said, "this is for your bicycle." He then got into his car and drove off.

A caller reported a hit-and-run pedestrian accident and Town of Batavia fire was dispatched and a Mercy ambulance called but the rider was uninjured and everybody went quickly back into service.

First, there was a pickup truck accident with a car fire and just as Stafford fire had things under control at the first location on Clinton Street Road, an MVA with serious injuries was reported a quarter-mile away on Route 33 at the intersection with Horseshoe Lake Road.

It turned out there were no serious injuries in either accident.

But it was a hot, humid day for the volunteer firefighters, deputies, and medical personnel who responded to both incidents.

Previously: 

• Pickup truck in flames on Clinton Street Road, Stafford
• Crash reported at Clinton Street and Horseshoe Lake roads, Stafford

More than 1,500 flags received by the local veterans' groups were piled several feet high at the Northwoods Sportsman's Club on Sunday afternoon and given a dignified retirement as prescribed by the U.S. Flag Code.

Title IV, Section 8(k) states, “The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem of display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.”

The event was organized by the Botts Fiorito American Legion Post #576 in Le Roy and Commander Dave Rumsey thanked Bill Joyce, Genesee County Veterans Service Officer, and the Legion posts in Bergen and Caledonia and the VFW post in Caledonia, each of which provided their communities with a flag deposit box. 

Photos by Philip Casper.

Two people who were located with a disabled vehicle on Clinton Street Road, Stafford, at 6 p.m., Friday, are facing multiple charges including drug dealing and assault.

During an interaction with the subjects, deputies determined that Shonje Kaliq Jefferson, 22, of Norton Street, Rochester, might be in possession of drugs. A subsequent search revealed he allegedly had a quantity of crack cocaine on his person.

Due to the amount of crack cocaine deputies believe they located, Jefferson was arrested on a count of criminal possession of a narcotic drug with an intent to sell.

Deputy Erik Andre and Investigator Chris Parker arrested Jefferson on charges of criminal use of drug paraphernalia, aggravated unlicensed operation, 2nd, unlicensed operator, and pedestrian failed to walk facing traffic.

A passenger in the vehicle, Chaniah Lache Wellington-Martino, 19, of Danforth Street, Rochester, was interviewed by Parker and Sgt. Andrew Hale. She allegedly threw her purse over a guardrail and an attempt to destroy evidence in the purse while fighting with the officers. She is also accused of attempting several times to bite the officers.

She is charged with attempted assault, 2nd, resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, tampering with physical evidence, and unlawful possession of marijuana.

Jefferson was arraigned in Genesee County Court and ordered held on $2,000 cash bail or $5,000 bond. The release status of Wellington-Martino was not included in the press release.

A deputy is responding to Kiwanis Park on West Main Street in Batavia to meet with a caller who claims he fell in "quicksand."

In the age of coronavirus, the YMCA has been carrying on with socially distanced summer camps. Kids are taught to use their "alligator arms" to ensure they're keeping their distance from other kids and there's ample sanitizer on hand.

This week, the kids competed in their Camper Cup, an Olympic-style event that culminated in a color run at the Notre Dame High School football field.

"Rudy" is an artiste. She has her own expressive way of coloring a canvas and today, area children got to help her make individual pieces of art for them to take home.

The art event was held outside the Interpretive Center at Genesee County Park & Forest.

The children also learned about 14-year-old Rudy and her fellow red-eared slider turtles, which hail from the Southern United States.

On the drive back from Genesee County Park early this afternoon, I stopped for some scenic shots along Bethany Center Road.

Previously: Fully involved barn fire reported on Lockport Road in Oakfield

Press release:

Last week, I met with local restaurant owners to discuss the process and the effects the pandemic is having on their businesses.  Despite Upstate New York being in Phase 4, the reopening process continues to be plagued with questions and uncertainty.

Today, I am calling on our state leaders to take action. Guidelines must be streamlined and transparent to ensure everyone knows the rules. It seems as though the Governor is making changes to the regulations every day and is constantly moving the goalposts, even going as far as defining “food."

I understand that the situation is ever-evolving, but it is government's responsibility to develop clear and transparent regulations that restaurants, and all businesses, can understand. Small businesses that are struggling to survive should not be left to interpret new rules on their own.

In honor of the retirement of Jay Gsell's retirement as county manager, the Batavia Rotary Club -- he's a member -- has purchased yard signs and they've been distributed around the city.

Gsell will be guest on a special hour-long segment of WBTA's Main and Center tomorrow morning (Thursday), from 9 to 10 a.m.

Press release:

U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy Jr. announced today that Daryl Sumeriski, 52, of Batavia, who was convicted of possession of child pornography, was sentenced to serve 60 months -- a total of five years -- in prison by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan K. McGuire, who handled the case, stated that Sumeriski was residing in a halfway house in Bath, when fellow residents expressed concern about certain images they observed on the defendant’s cell phone and alerted authorities.

As a result, a search warrant was executed and investigators found more than 3,000 images of child pornography on Sumeriski’s phone. Some of the images depicted the violent abuse of infants and toddlers.

The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Kevin Kelly.

In the age of social distancing, Woodward Memorial Library has created a "story walk" leading up to the steps of the library.

Director Betsy Halvorsen said a new story is posted on signs along the walk every Friday and new stories will be posted through Aug. 21.  

The stories are pages from picture books mounted on lawn signs and are designed to encourage children to continue with their summer reading.

Several libraries in the Nioga system are participating in the program.

As long as I was at the library on a beautiful day, I took a picture of the bust of Lemuel M. Wiles, a highly regarded artist of the 19th century who was director of the art school at Ingham University. Ingham was an all-women university in Le Roy. The bust was created in 1922 by sculpture Chester Beach.

City Church hosted another in a series of free, drive-thru food distributions at St. Anthony's this morning.

Video by Mo Schoen at Pixel Pro Video.

Even though officials at the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility were able to contain an initial outbreak of COVID-19 back in April and there have been no new cases since, the New York American Civil Liberties Union apparently filed a lawsuit against Immigration and Customs Enforcement on behalf of inmates at the facility.

The lawsuit claimed vulnerable detainees were not given proper protection and the terms of a settlement reached this week, the NYACLU told WXXI, will ensure those protections are in place if there is another outbreak at the facility.

In April, there were 49 detainees who tested positive, all housed in two pods segregated from the rest of the facility's population, and most were asymptomatic. All recovered without the virus spreading out of those two pods.

A source at the facility at the time said because of the closed nature of a detention facility, all detainees are considered vulnerable, not just older detainees. As a result, staff has taken several measures to contain the spread of the virus, a source told The Batavian in April.

According to the source, at the start of the novel coronavirus outbreak, the director of the facility, Thomas Feeley, ordered regular, thorough cleaning, including wiping down door handles with bleach every hour.

"Every time you turn around," the source said, "you smell bleach."

There is medical staff on duty inside the facility 24/7 and posters have been placed in the facility to inform detainees about COVID-19 and how to protect themselves, the source said in April.

The facility can hold 650 detainees. Today, a spokesman for ICE said the facility has maintained about a 300-person detainee count since the outbreak to help ensure social distancing is maintained.

ICE issued the following statement about the settlement:

“The facility’s response to the public health crisis has been exemplary. There are currently no active cases of COVID-19 at the facility. The men and women employed at BFDF, including the dedicated medical professionals with ICE Health Service Corps (IHSC), are the best in their field and have taken extraordinary precautions to keep both our detainees and staff safe,” said ICE ERO Buffalo Field Office Director Thomas Feeley. “The settlement reached has affirmed the value of the proactive measures previously undertaken, which has protected both staff and detainees.”

There have been news reports of a "surge" of COVID cases at ICE facilities but there have been no new cases at the facility in Batavia since April and the ICE COVID-19 information page reports fewer than 50 detainees nationally have tested positive, with the largest count, 15, at a facility in Lousiana.

Press release:

• Genesee County received one new positive case of COVID-19.
  • The new positive case resides in Batavia.
  • The positive individual is in their 50s.
  • The individual was not on mandatory quarantine prior to testing positive.
  • Thirteen new individuals are on precautionary quarantine due to travel from restricted states.
  • One of the individuals is hospitalized.
     
• Orleans County received two new positive cases of COVID-19
  • The new positive cases reside in Murray and Kendall.
  • The individuals are in their 30s.
  • Both of the individuals were not on mandatory quarantine prior to testing positive.
  • Six new individuals are on precautionary quarantine due to travel from restricted states.
  • One of the individuals is hospitalized.

Last year, Unity Hospital in Rochester became the first hospital in Upstate New York to launch a rooftop honeybee program. This summer that program expanded with honeybee hives now on the roofs of Clifton Springs Hospital & Clinic, Newark-Wayne Community Hospital, Rochester General Hospital and Batavia's United Memorial Medical Center, as well.

This program supports Rochester Regional Health’s sustainability mission to strengthen and support our local environment. The bees produce honey and is bottled and available to employees, patients, and visitors for purchase. There are about two million bees total between all video hospital roofs.

Video supplied by Rochester Regional Health; edited by The Batavian.

Dr. Matthew Prindle, of Geneva, shot his first-ever hole-in-one while playing at the Stafford Country Club on Saturday with his father-in-law Bill Hayes, of Batavia, and Dan Prong and Sam Frank.

Hayes, who submitted the video, said it's a tradition for them is to play at the Ricky Palermo Tournament at Terry Hills in the morning and then take in 18 more holes at Stafford.

Prindle hit a pitching widge on the 120-yard, Par 3, fourth hole.

Press release:

• Genesee County received five new positive case of COVID-19.
  • The new positive cases reside in Batavia, Elba and Pembroke.
  • One of the positive individuals is in their 20s, one is in their 40s, one is in their 50s, one is in their 60s, and one is in their 70s.
  • The individuals were not on mandatory quarantine prior to testing positive.
  • Thirty-three new individuals are on precautionary quarantine due to travel from restricted states.
  • One of the individuals is hospitalized.
  • Five of the previous positive individuals have recovered and have been removed from mandatory isolation.
     
• Orleans County received one new positive case of COVID-19.
  • The new positive case resides in Yates.
  • The individual is in their 50s.
  • The individual was not on mandatory quarantine prior to testing positive.
  • Twenty-seven new individuals are on precautionary quarantine due to travel from restricted states.
  • One of the individuals is hospitalized.