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Lost Pet: Oscar missing in Alexander

By Howard B. Owens

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Oscar is missing and Tracy Hastings just wants him to come home.

He disappeared from his home in Alexander this morning.

He's friendly, but gets nervous when not in his normal routine.

He's an 8-year-old English bulldog.

If you can help reunite Oscar with Tracy, email her at tahastin1973@gmail.com.

Roadside couch reportedly on fire in Pembroke

By Howard B. Owens

A couch is reportedly on fire, sitting on the side of the road, on Hopkins Road near Sliker Road, Indian Falls.

Pembroke fire and Indian Falls fire are dispatched.

UPDATE 2:42 p.m.: Responding units can stand by in quarters.

O-A's Cole O'Donnell named region's boys cross country runner of the year

By Howard B. Owens

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Submitted by Peter Beuler from Oakfield-Alabama High School.

Junior Cole O'Donnell has been named the 2016 Genesee Region League Male Cross-Country Runner of the Year.          

Cole is a two-time Genesee - Livingston League Cross-Country All-Star and a one-time Genesee Region League Track and Field All-Star. He helped lead his team to their fourth consecutive division championship and the program's first sectional championship since 2008 this fall.

At Sectionals, he finished fifth and came in 28th place out of 122 runners at the State Meet.

O-A students witnessed Electoral College votes being cast in Albany

By Howard B. Owens

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Peter Beuler, a teacher at Oakfield-Alabama, shared with us today this photo and information about students from O-A going to Albany on Dec. 19 to witness electors casting their votes.

Oakfield-Alabama teacher Peter Beuler’s Advanced Placement United States Government and Politics class was selected by the Governor’s office to represent the Great Lakes region on December 19th to witness New York State’s Electoral College vote for the 45th President of the United States.

The voting was conducted at noon in the Senate Chamber at the State Capitol building in Albany.

This was a prestigious honor for Oakfield-Alabama because only one-hundred high school students state-wide were chosen by the Governor’s office to observe this historic event.

The twelve students had a busy day as they left at 4:45 in the morning and didn’t get back until eight at night.

While in Albany the students were able to visit the offices of their state legislative representatives; State Senator Ranzenhofer and State Assemblyman Hawley.  During the hour-long Electoral College vote, the twelve students got to view and hear from Former President Bill Clinton, Governor Andrew Cuomo, Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul, New York City’s Mayor Bill de Blasio, Buffalo’s Mayor Byron Brown, Rochester’s Mayor Lovely Warren, and other New York State public officials.

Before departing Albany, the AP class received a guided tour of the capitol building where they ran into and got a second to speak to Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul.

The AP class and Mr. Beuler are very grateful to the community members and school’s administrative team who helped make this trip possible.

In the photo: Emily Staniszewski, Ryan Missel, Joshua Larmon, Ciera Baker, Hannah Newton, Mr. Peter Beuler. Clayton Smith, Sara Voltura, Hope Kollarik, Olivia Carroll, Jonah Schnettler, Jacob Houseknecht, Haily Davis.

Through 50 years in law enforcement, Gary Maha has held himself to a higher standard

By Howard B. Owens

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In the half century since Gary Maha started his law enforcement career, a lot has changed about being a cop.

There's the obvious changes -- digital communication, cameras, phones, computers. Then there are the changes of the mind, how society sees itself in the mirror and the role of the police officer in that looking-glass world.

Maha will miss some things about being in law enforcement, but he won't miss the stress.

"I just want to relax for a while," Maha said. "No more two or three o’clock in the mornings when the phone rings. You know it's not somebody checking to see how well you’re sleeping. It’s usually something that’s bad or something’s happened you need to respond to. I won't miss that kind of stuff, all the sleepless nights. I mean, I don’t sleep well at all at night because you’re always concerned and worried either one of your people are going to get hurt or something’s going to happen. You wait for the phone call."

Maha was handed his first straw Stetson, a badge and a .38-caliber revolver in 1967.

In 1967, Genesee County was still pretty much the world Gary Maha grew up in.

A child of Corfu, Maha remembers a village that was a chummy, tight-knit group. People left their keys in their cars, didn't lock their doors and the kids went to the local market or local diner for something to eat and just hang out. Or they played sports. There were no drugs. There were few children raised in single-parent homes or by grandparents. There was one deputy who patrolled the entire county during the night shift.

"Back in those days, you knew your neighbors," Maha said. "You know almost everybody who lived in the Village of Corfu at the time. That’s not the case nowadays with the transient population; people don’t know their neighbors like they used to."

Maha was the son of the man who ran the village court, the local justice of the peace. That's where he developed an interest in law enforcement. Discipline and integrity were traits Maha said he got from his parents.

"My mother was a stay-at-home mom and my father owned a greenhouse in Corfu and she worked a lot in the greenhouse but they were both home all the time," Maha said. "They weren’t strict parents, you know, but you got to follow the rules."

In high school -- it was Corfu High School, then -- there was more discipline and a touch of leadership experience. He played basketball and baseball and became the football team's starting quarterback.

In the early 1960s, the United States was just starting to get involved in Vietnam and Maha joined the Army. He served three years, including a 13-month tour in Korea, then returned home for college and an eventual job in the dispatch center of the New York State Police in Batavia.

It was, in that job, a year when Genesee County's undersheriff walked into the darkroom where Maha was developing photos for a trooper and suggested he apply for a job as a deputy.

A few weeks of training, a week of on-the-job training, and Maha became that lone patrolman prowling the county's back roads.

"I remember once going from Darien to Bergen to respond to an accident," Maha said. "By the time I got there, the guy’s still lying in the middle of the road."

Those were different times, but Maha was always steadfast in his integrity. When we talked about some of the things that have tripped up Sheriff's in other jurisdictions over the years, he recalled those who skimmed money or had sexual affairs and these transgressions cost them their jobs.

"I remember stopping a girl, and she’s out to do anything, anything to get out of the ticket mess and I said, 'I’m sorry. Here you are,' ” and Maha motions handing her a ticket.

Maha said he warns deputies they will face these temptations.

"That’s one thing I tell officers, too, you know," Maha said. "Don’t fall in the death trap because once that happens, they've got your career right there in their hands. They’re going to play that trump card when it’s good for them, not for you. I’m sure to tell all these guys -- because I did when I was a young deputy -- you will get propositioned."

Maha's reputation for integrity extends beyond the border of Genesee County. Rare among those in local law enforcement, he has a top secret clearance from the FBI. Every year, he teaches an ethics seminar through the New York Sheriffs' Association for new sheriffs. He tells them all the same thing, "you have to take care of things at home."

He's seen a sheriff become more enamored with his cottage at the lake than what was going on in his own county. He's also seen sheriffs who think they're on top of the world and can't be touched.

"They have a big ego and that comes back to haunt them and they lose elections," Maha said. "It's the same with a lot of people. They get involved with women or alcohol or greed sometimes. I remember a sheriff many years ago who was a good sheriff, well liked, but he had a drug seizure fund and he was using that to finance some of his personal expenses. He got caught, got charged and spent time in the federal prison -- stupid stuff."

Other sheriffs lose elections. Not Gary Maha. He ran every four years from 1988 to 2012 unopposed.

The route toward sheriff for Gary Maha may have started when his boss in 1972, Sheriff Frank L. Gavel, nominated him for a spot at the FBI Training Academy in Quantico, Va. Maha was accepted in his first year of eligibility. After five years in law enforcement, and at 28 years old, he was the youngest attendee. 

"It's all the same courses that the FBI agents go through," Maha said. "You go through a lot of leadership courses, a lot of management courses including some operational type of courses, and it was three months away from home but it was well worth it."

By the time Maha arrived in Quantico, he was already an investigator handling some big cases.  

The most memorable cases, of course, where the murder cases.

"I remember my first homicide case," Maha said. "It was over on Hundredmark Road. There was a fire in one of the shacks over there. We’re blocking off the road and a fireman found a skeleton, you know, a burned up, charred body inside.

"We had nothing to go on," Maha said. "We don’t know if it was male or female, and the way we finally identified it was female is she had an ankle bracelet on and there was a female missing out of Albion who had that type of ankle bracelet and that’s how we ended up first identifying her, and there was this guy from Oakfield. I won't mention (his name) because he did 25 years to life and he’s out. He picked her up and took her over there and he sexually abused her."

There were no witnesses and scant physical evidence, but Maha and the other investigators were able to piece things together, draw in statements the suspect made to a fellow inmate, and make a case and get a conviction.

The young investigator helped secure another conviction on a murder case that became a story in "Inside Detective," the once popular pulp magazine. In that case, two young men stopped at a gas station on Clinton Street Road, where an ice cream shop is now, and one of the men went inside to rob the attendant and the other drove down the street and then came back to pick up the robber. 

The driver apparently had no idea his partner shot and killed the recent high school graduate from Bergen who was working that night.

"That was another tough case," Maha said. "The main perpetrator, the actual shooter, he was on parole and he was the coldest-blooded guy I ever met in my life. I mean, he shot this young kid, 18 years old, and he shot him on the back of the head and for robbery. I don’t think he got much money and (the victim) was a great kid, too. I knew his mother. That was just a senseless shooting. It was just cold-blooded."

The shooter was an immigrant from Poland and he was deported after serving his prison sentence. Maha doesn't believe his accomplice, who lived in Brockport, returned to the area after prison.

In 1977, Maha was promoted again, this time to chief deputy.

Today, the department has a chief deputy in charge of road patrol and another in charge of investigations, but in 1977, Maha was it. He supervised both divisions.

With the bearing and demeanor of the late actor Jack Palance, Maha is usually a man of few words who can be hard to get to know. Friends say he has a wicked sense of humor and at department gatherings, he clearly enjoys a good joke. After a community event a few years ago, his wife, Sue Maha, told a local photographer that he accomplished a rare feat -- capturing the stern-faced sheriff wearing a smile in public.

The Mahas obviously enjoy each other's company, even after nearly four decades of marriage and raising two children together. They are both members of Kiwanis and at just about any social event where one goes, they're both there.

For Gary, lasting romance came a bit late in life. He had already been with the Sheriff's Office for more than a decade when he met Sue.

He met her, of course, on the job. No, he didn't pull her over with the notion of giving her a ticket. Nor was the chief deputy fraternizing with the staff.

Sue traveled the region selling photo ID systems to law enforcement agencies and it was Maha's job to review the systems for the criminal division and make a recommendation for purchase.

"That’s when I met her and we fell in love and here it is 36 years later," Maha said.

A man of few words.

Maha never set out to be sheriff. He never sought the job, he said. He didn't even think he was the one who would get it when Doug Call stepped down from the position in 1988 and recommended Maha for the governor's appointment. The governor was Mario Cuomo, a Democrat, as was Call, and Maha is a Republican. He figured the job would go to another Democrat, but Call's recommendation persuaded Cuomo that Maha was the right choice.

While other departments have had their scandals and tragic line-of-duty incidents, Maha's Sheriff's Office has largely run smoothly over the course of his career.

He credits his command staff and the folks they supervise.

He may not be out in the field every day, but good communication combined with the knowledge he gained coming up through the ranks Maha said enables him to keep pretty good tabs on his deputies.

"Some of the guys probably don't realize it, because I'm up here and they are down there, but I know what's going down there," Maha said. "I get a feel for what's going on out there in the community. I hear what's on dispatch all the time and know what's going on. I stay in contact with my chief of road patrol every day. He stops in every day and we discuss things, what's going on. I've got a good bunch of people here. They are well trained, well equipped and well educated."

Becoming a deputy is a lot harder than it was in 1967. 

Where it only took Maha a few weeks of training, and no civil service exam, before he was on patrol by himself, the process for a deputy just starting out today is about a year long.

New hires who want to make it to road patrol go through an extensive background check, hours of psychological evaluation, a polygraph, physical fitness and agility tests, and a medical checkup before they're even given a chance at training. And then they're sent to a law enforcement academy for six months before three months of on-the-job training.

It's a daunting process and a lot of men and women who try don't make it.

That's one reason Maha likes hiring military veterans when he can. They have a proven track record of self-discipline and they understand the command structure.

"It's very important you choose the right person," Maha said. "We are accredited. We are the only local law enforcement agency that is accredited. We have certain standards that you have to comply with and meet. Therefore, a selection of a deputy is very important. So even though we have civil service rules and regulations to comply with, you sometimes have to pick the best of the worst. You would like to get a better officer and mostly we do, but there have been a few who washed out."

For all his sleepless nights worrying about his deputies, there has been only one line-of-duty death during Maha's tenure. That was when Frank Bordonaro passed away in his sleep following back-to-back nights of stressful calls -- a house fire in Le Roy and an ugly, fatal accident in Byron.

"That was tough on the department because Frank was a well-liked guy," Maha said. "He was great at his job, a super guy, very friendly, outgoing, and it was a shock to all of us when that happened. It hit the department hard."

It's also hit Maha hard when he's had to fire people under his command. It's not always an easy thing to do, he said. Most recently, he had to terminate a corrections officer for allegedly engaging in sexual acts with a female inmate. That was tough.

"You know, he has a small child, he's married, so that was difficult," Maha said. "I liked the guy. Some of these guys, you know, they're not deserving (of the job), you know, 'you're out of here,' but he's a decent guy and I hated to have to discipline him and let him go, but you have to."

Maintaining order and discipline is a bit of swimming against the tide of the times, which is another reason Maha has continued to emphasize integrity in deciding who gets hired and who stays.  

One of the biggest changes Maha has seen over the course of his career is the decline in respect for law enforcement.

"Things have changed as far as crime goes," Maha said. "You know, drugs made a big change, gangs, you know, and I think respect not for just law enforcement but for authority, teachers, or whatever. It’s not just there anymore. There are a lot of broken homes where children are raised by one of their grandparents or no adults. It’s totally different."

So it's not totally a bad time to step aside for a guy who started out as a cop when people could still leave the keys in a car's ignition. He knows that. 

That doesn't mean Maha thinks the job is impossible or can't be rewarding for the young ones coming up through the ranks. He tells them, "just do the right thing."

"Don't take any shortcuts," he said. "Make sure you follow the law and be honest. Keep your honor and just be held to a higher standard."

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Gary Maha, second from left, being welcomed to the force with three other new deputies by Sheriff Frank L. Gavel.

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The cover of the "Inside Detective" issue that included a story about a murder in Batavia that was investigated by Gary Maha.

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The first page of the story about the murder at the Minute Man gas station on Clinton Street Road, Batavia.

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Gary Maha, far right, in a photo in "Inside Detective," with another investigator and a suspect in the murder.

Route 63 in Pavilion shut down because of travel conditions

By Howard B. Owens

Several cars are reportedly off the road and travel on Route 63 through Pavilion has become difficult.

Fire police have been dispatched to Route 63 and Route 20, and Route 63 and Route 19 to shut down traffic in the area.

Multiple deputies have responded to assist motorists.

UPDATE (By Billie) 7:24 p.m.: A stranded semi has been removed and a heavy tow is hooking up a bus for removal now. DOT workers are expected soon. The roadway remains closed.

UPDATE: 9:20 p.m.: We just confirmed that Route 63 is now open to thru traffic.

Transfer of nursing home to private buyer delayed by state officials

By Howard B. Owens

A demand put on the company buying the Genesee County Nursing Home by the NYS Department of Health has delayed closing on the title transfer, so in an emergency session this morning, County legislators approved a short-term lease agreement with the buyer.

The agreement will allow Premier Healthcare Management LLC to take over management of the nursing home on Jan. 1.

The county expected to be out of the nursing home business by midnight Dec. 31, so it canceled all of its third-party contracts related to the nursing home effective the last day of the year and told all county employees at the nursing home that they were going off the county's payroll.

This latest wrinkle in the sale process, therefore, caused a bit of turmoil among county officials, said Ray Cianfrini, chairman of the Legislature.

"The fact that this came up at the last minute is disconcerting to all of us," Cianfrini said.

The surprise twist in the plot isn't expected to change the eventual outcome of the sale, Cianfrini said. Officials believe the sale will go through by Jan. 15, but if it doesn't, Premier will pay the county $5,000 per month in rent for January and February. If the deal doesn't close by Feb. 28, rent payments go up to $50,000 a month.

Essentially, Cianfrini said, the health department is trying to nail down assurances that Premier isn't going to acquire the nursing home and the flip it to another buyer who will convert the building into condominiums.

That apparently happened in New York City not long ago, Cianfrini said, so the state is leery of a repeat scenario. Cianfrini doesn't think that is Premier's intention. He said Premier seems intent on establishing a strong presence in Western New York, where it's finding it easier to do business than in NYC.

Premier agreed to pay $15 million to the county to acquire the nursing home, which has been running in the red as a county operation for a decade, with deficits hitting as high as $2 million a year. Premier has already transferred $1.5 million to the county and has agreed to pay another $200,000, which is money the county will keep if the deal, for some reason, doesn't go through.

Batavia tops Notre Dame to take another Lions' title

By Howard B. Owens

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In a game that was never really close, the Batavia Blue Devils won the annual Lions Tournament at GCC, beating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 60-29.

Tee Sean Ayala scored 19, despite a cold hand in the first half. He hit four three-pointers over the course of the game.

Antwan Odom, the tournament MVP, scored 14. He hit three threes. 

It was another big game for Notre Dame's Ryan Moffat, who hit three threes on his way to 15 points.

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Crowd at Smokin' Eagle cheers Le Roy resident's appearance on Wheel of Fortune

By Howard B. Owens

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Lauren Fritz doesn't have regrets about that one spin. She knew she could solve the puzzle. The answer was obvious to her. "The National Mall in Washington." But she played an aggressive game and flicked the wheel around one more time. She hit the big black "Bankruptcy" card on the big wheel on Wheel of Fortune.

"I've thought about it a lot," Fritz said. "I thought about it on the plane ride back, but I wouldn't change a thing."

Appearing on Wheel of Fortune was a lifelong dream for Fritz. As soon as she turned 18, she started applying. When the online application was just putting in her name, she applied. When she had to write a paragraph, she applied. When they started asking for pictures, she applied. When they required a video submission, she applied.

She's not embarrassed to admit, she said, that she's applied hundreds of times, more times than she can count, and during some periods in her life, she's applied every single day to get on the Wheel of Fortune.

She finally made it this year and last night, the episode where she played and hit that bankruptcy aired. The Smokin' Eagle BBQ & Brew in Le Roy hosted a viewing party for Fritz, her future in-laws, friends and anybody else who showed up, and a lot of people showed up.

She thought it was pretty awesome that her adopted hometown, where she hasn't even lived for that long yet, came out to cheer her on.

And the crowd cheered. They cheered when her face first appeared on the six or seven TV screens in the bar and she was introduced as a resident of Le Roy, NY, which meant more cheers, and they booed when the other contestants were introduced. They cheered when she solved the opening phrase. They moaned in anguish when she hit that bankruptcy.

She won $17,000, which includes a $6,000 trip to North Carolina. That's good enough for Second Place.  

The First Place winner on the episode pocketed $60,000 after qualifying for, and winning, the bonus round.

The way the game played out, Fritz thinks the guy would have made it to the bonus round even if she hadn't hit the bankruptcy. If she hadn't taken one more spin, she would have claimed only a few hundred dollars if she had solved the puzzle at that point.

"I was very happy for him," Fritz said. "It was something I always wanted to do, my lifelong dream. I wish I had made it to the bonus round, obviously, but he has a young family and like anybody, he can use the money, so I was very happy for Lou."

The whole experience was great, said Fritz, who is originally from Grandhaven, Mich. Pat Sajak, Vanna White and the whole Wheel of Fortune crew were super nice, she said. It was touching how they opened their hearts, the studio and the set for two youngsters who spent the day at the studio as part of their Make-a-Wish Foundation wish.

The excitement and fun of the TV show appearance was enhanced, she said, by the getting the support she did from the Le Roy community at the Smokin' Eagle last night.

Fritz is engaged to Jake Whiting, son of Reid Whiting. Lauren and Jake met at the University of Michigan Law School. They will be married in September. Fritz is now an attorney in Rochester and Jake Whiting works with his brother in his father's law firm in Le Roy.  

The couple will settle in Le Roy, she said.

"I appreciate everything everyone has done for me," she said. "It feels like my hometown. Everyone has been so nice."

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'Friends and family' turn out for open house at p.w. minor

By Howard B. Owens

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The p.w. minor factory was open last night for a "friends and family night" with tours, refreshments and a chance to buy a new pair of p.w. minor shoes.

The event was part of p.w. minor's rollout of new product lines, the Abram Boots and Batavia Boots and Shoes.

Above, CEO Pete Zeliff shows off a pair of Patriot boots to Brian Kemp. And below, Ron DiSalvo, the former owner of DiSalvo's Shoes, a retail outlet he operated in Downtown Batavia from 1967 to 2007.

Retail shoe sales are returning to Downtown Batavia through a partnership between p.w. minor and Charles Men's Shop.

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Accident on Thruway blocking traffic in Pembroke

By Howard B. Owens

An accident with possible injuries is blocking traffic on the Thruway in the area of mile marker 401.1 in Pembroke.

Pembroke fire and Indian Falls fire along with Mercy EMS dispatched.

House fire reported on Lewiston Road, Oakfield

By Howard B. Owens

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A house fire was reported at 7506 Lewiston Road, Oakfield about 15 minutes ago. 

There were flames showing and heavy smoke.

Oakfield fire along with Elba, East Pembroke, Town of Batavia and Alabama responding.

UPDATE (By Billie) 2:26 p.m.: A man at home alone heard the smoke detector alarm and discovered fire in the master bedroom. He got out safely along with a pet cat. The cause of the fire is not yet known and is being investigated A quick response by volunteer firefighters is credited with keeping the blaze contained to one room before it was extinguished.

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William Sheron sworn in as first new Sheriff in 29 years

By Howard B. Owens

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With his family all around and many lifelong friends in attendance, William Sheron, after 21 years as undersheriff, became Genesee County's top cop Wednesday evening during an oath-of-office event at the Old Courthouse.

Administering the oath for Sheron was Thomas Graham, town justice in Oakfield, who was Sheron's first trainer when Sheron first joined the Sheriff's Office, walking into dispatch one day in 1977 and meeting Graham as a fresh-faced 18-year-old who "had no clue as to what I was doing, no clue at all." Graham had just been promoted to deputy and said, "sit down and start learning. The sooner I get you trained, the sooner I get to move on to being a deputy."

"He was at the start of a career that has been just phenomenal and the best part about it has been the people," Sheron said. "You’re not going to find nicer people. Every time I’ve progressed, people have stepped up and said they would help me out, ‘whatever you need, Bill.’ This is just the culmination of many, many years and I’m extremely proud to become Sheriff."

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Greg Walker was sworn in as undersheriff.

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Don Coleman, county coroner. 

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Scott German, county treasurer.

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Kevin Andrews, deputy county treasurer.

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Shirley A. Gorman, assistant district attorney.

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Karen Lang, county coroner.

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Randy Baker, town justice, Oakfield.

To purchase prints, click here.

Person of interest in shooting on Jackson Street not yet located

By Howard B. Owens

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Police have yet to locate Jeremy "Boog" Armstrong, a person of interest in a shooting that occurred Dec. 2 in the area of 107 Jackson St., Batavia.

Investigators have been attempting to locate Armstrong since the shooting, which sent a man to the hospital reportedly with a chest and shoulder wound.  

Det. Todd Crossett said this morning that Armstrong's whereabouts are still unknown and there is no new information available in the case.

Armstrong is described as a light-skinned male black about 5’10”- 6’ with a thin build. He has a deformity to his right ear and also to one of his hands.

Police say, if seen, do not confront Armstrong, but call 9-1-1 immediately. Information can also be supplied to Batavia PD through the confidential tip line at 345-6370, or Det. Sgt. Crossett at 345-6353.

Also, regarding the Key Bank robbery two days ago, Crossett said police have received hundreds of tips and are currently working through the leads.

Burst of heavy snowfall headed our way

By Howard B. Owens

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A brief burst of heavy snow is heading toward Genesee County, according to the National Weather Service.

The snow is expected midmorning.

Snow accumulation could be about an inch, falling within about a 45 minute time period.

Expect slippery roadways and fast accumulation on recently cleared surfaces.

"Motorists should slow down and allow some extra time to reach their destination through mid morning," the weather service advises.

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