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Should youth tackle football be banned?

Albany Times-Union: Bill asks ban on youth tackle

In recent years, even on the first day of practice, Buddy Brasky said he was eager for go-time. He thought his teams were ready for their first regular season game.

This year, with six seniors graduating and a roster stocked with sophomores and juniors, it's going to take a little time to get the team into championship form.

"We've got to get better throughout the year," Brasky said following a practice at Batavia High School today. "We get a little bit better, a little better, a little bit better, and hopefully we peak by the end of the year. Where in the past couple of years we've been really good right from the beginning, I think it's going to take a little while this year."

The core of the starting squad appears to be Justice Fagan, a senior guard, and Jeff Redband, a junior forward whose clutch buzzer beater in last year's regional championship helped send the Blue Devils to the state championship semi-finals.

"We've got two really good players, two first-team, all-league type of players," Brasky said. "If we can get the guys around them to step up, yes, we can win the league title and then the next step from there is sectionals."

It's a little bit of a setback, Brasky said, that Redband is sitting out pre-season wth an injured ankle. He's already been sidelined for three weeks and is at least two weeks away from returning for action. He may not be ready for the opening tip-off.

Also missing a big chunk of practice time is starting senior guard Andrew Turner, who will miss the next 10 days of practice after suffering a mild concussion.

Brasky is also expecting a big contribution from sophomore forward Malachi Chenault, who made the varsity last year as a freshman.

Coming up from JV is that squad's second-leading scorer last year, guard Jerrett Laskett, a junior.

"These are good kids," Brasky said. "They listen. They're coachable. Our schemes are pretty complicated. Our defenses are not easy to pick up, so little by little, I see improvement every day. I'm pretty pleased with how they're working right now."

The Blue Devils, in Class A-II this year, opens the season Dec. 7 against Williamsville South at Niagara Falls HS. There are no home games scheduled before the Lions Tournament, Dec. 27 and Dec. 30 at Genesee Community College.

To purchase prints of photos, click here.

Two callers, one on Wood Street, report hearing the sound of a gunshot.

The sound was a single boom with a sustained echo (we heard it, too).

Batavia PD is responding to the area.

UPDATE 8:56  p.m.: A reader e-mails saying he heard what sounded to him like a 12-gauge shotgun in the area of Cherry/Wood/Jackson.

UPDATE (by Billie) 9:02 p.m.: An off-duty police officer told dispatch it sounded like a pop from a blown transformer. Subesequently, a police officer reported that people interviewed on Wood Street say the noise came from Cherry Street. Officers are now scouring the area of Cherry and Pringle Avenue to try and determine the cause of the sound.

UPDATE 9:11 p.m. (by Howard): An officer I spoke with over on Pringle said the sound I described sounds more like a wire arcing than a shotgun, especially since the sound has reportedly been heard over a wide area of the city, not just the Southside. He said a gunshot sound would not carry to such a wide area. Also, another caller reports seeing a bottle rocket in the area of Cherry and Liberty. One officer expresses skepticism that that was the cause and another recalls there were reports of fireworks from that area over the summer.

UPDATE 9:28 p.m.: Officers are clearing the call. "It's probably a power arcing issue," reports an officer. "Nothing else has been found."

With 25 years in the auto repair business -- a career that took him from mechanic to district manager and vp of operations for other people's businesses -- Steve Getty says he's found a place he wants to put down roots, in Batavia.

Getty has acquired a former oil change and auto repair location at 4003 W. Main St. and opened up Syd's Automotive.

"It feels really good to own my own business," Getty said, "especially being where I live."

Asked what will set his business apart, he said, "quality."

"Most companies in the industry I'm in focus on the fast," Getty said. "We'll be quality first, fast second. It's still a fast oil change, but you're getting a quality oil change, quality repair work."

Photo: Getty left with Scott Levensailor, who is also working in the shop.

How many books do you read a year?

The American Conservative: George Vanderbilt & The Reading of Many Books

In the late 1960s, when David Pero played boys basketball for Notre Dame, one of the schools annual opponents that always presented a challenge was St. Mary's School for the Deaf out of Buffalo.

The boys played hard and and ran their plays with no verbal communication.

It was quite an experience, as Pero remembered it. As the girls basketball coach at Notre Dame, Pero thought his team should share the same experience.

"This is a life lesson," Pero said. "Our girls get a chance to see that people with disabilities might play the game differently, but it's the same game and they're just as aggressive as we are."

Notre Dame hosted a pre-season scrimmage tonight with St. Mary's, the Rochester School for the Deaf and Geneseo High School participating.

"We thought it would be a great experience for our kids, our girls, to have a scrimmage with hearing teams and with another deaf team," said Tim Kelly, St. Mary's superintendent. "All four schools are getting a great experience playing against schools they wouldn't necessarily play against."

Notre Dame and St. Mary's haven't played competitively against each other in years, since both left the Smith League. The Fighting Irish are now part of Section V and the Genesee Region. St. Mary's and Rochester School for the Deaf are independent teams.

"They were always, always a good basketball team," Pero said. "They would give you all you wanted. We probably only ever beat them, all the years we played them, by three, four, five points, because they always had very good teams."

The scrimmage was a great chance for the teams to learn from each other and about each other, Kelly said.

"We're always looking at our school to have our kids reach their full potential both academically and athletically and this certainly helps our girls reach their full potential," Kelly said.

The scrimmage was sponsored by T.F. Brown's owner Rick Mancuso.

To purchase prints of photos, click here.

Local historians from throughout Genesee County were in County Building #2 today for the official ribbon cutting on the History Department's new home. Cutting the ribbon above are Legislator Esther Leadley and Legislature Chairwoman Mary Pat Hancock while County Historian Sue Conklin looks on.

Previously: Big task complete, history department settles into new digs at County Building #2

Current booking photo Sex offender registry

Sean M. Vickers, the man accused of being a predatory child molester in Niagara and Genesee counties, with alleged victims from up to 20 years ago, won't get a chance to post bail.

Vickers appeared in County Court today to be arraigned on a new 11-count indictment that accuses him of sexually assaulting four children in Batavia from the 1990s to the early 2000s.

Citing the possible multiple life sentence faced by Vickers, Judge Robert C. Noonan said Vickers posed too great a flight risk to have an opportunity to post bail.

Bail was set at $500,000 when Vickers was arrested on the first set of sexual assault charges in May.

Public Defender Gary Horton asked Noonan to set a bail amount, saying that bail out of Niagara County Court, he believed, was set at $100,000 cash or $200,000 bond.

As is usually the case for defendants at an arraignment on new charges, Vickers entered a not guilty plea to all 11 of the counts.

He was indicted by a grand jury last week on: one count of a course of sexual conduct against a child, a Class B felony; two counts of predatory sexual assault against a child, a Class A-II felony; six counts of criminal sexual act first, a Class B violent felony; one count of sexual abuse, 1st, a Class B felony; and one count of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor.

The 44-year-old Vickers was a resident of Geneva at the time of his arrest in May.

The local investigation into Vickers started after detectives in Niagara County contacted Batavia PD about a case they were working on. That helped to bring to light alleged molestation against at least one victim and the ongoing investigation turned up more victims and more evidence to base the new charges on.

Det. Kevin Czora, leading the local investigation, said over the weekend that it's possible there may be alleged victims in the community local law enforcement doesn't even know about. 

Anybody with information that may assist in the investigation can contact Batavia PD at (585) 345-6350 or outside the city, contact your local law enforcement agency.

Previously:

• Former Batavia resident accused of sex offense against a child more than a decade ago
• Grand Jury indicts man for alleged sexual conduct with a child under 13
• Brothers suspected of having multiple sexual abuse victims over three-decade period
• Former Batavia resident accused of sexual conduct with a child appears in court
• New charges filed against former Batavia resident accused of child sexual abuse
• Detective worries there may be more victims locally of alleged child molester
• Grand Jury indicts convicted child molester on 11 new counts

A Monroe County resident who was tied to a burglary at the former Jell-O Factory in Le Roy by DNA evidence, entered a guilty plea this morning in County Court to one count of fourth-degree grand larceny.

James M. Kavanagh is being released under supervision of Genesee Justice pending his sentencing Feb. 4.

He was arrested in September by Le Roy PD for the burglary in April 2012.

Also arrested was Kristen Brightenfield. Her case is still pending.

John O'Shea was arrested for the burglary shortly after it occurred and is currently serving a sentence in State Prison. Brightenfield and Kavanagh were accused of being accomplices.

In court this morning, Kavanagh's attorney said he has a fiance who is due to give birth and Kavanagh, who was being held in the Genesee County Jail until today, said he has a job waiting for him in Chili supervising a gas station at night.

Judge Robert C. Noonan placed a curfew on Kavanagh as a term of his release under supervision, but carved out exceptions for him to work and to be present at the birth of his child.

He's also on probation in Monroe County.

At sentencing, Kavanaugh could be facing the potential of a longer prison term because of a prior felony conviction in Ontario County for forgery.

Previously: Law and Order: DNA allegedly links two people to 2012 burglary in Le Roy

Should the U.S. negotiate a nuclear arms deal with Iran?

USA Today: Iran negotiations vs. war: Our view

A motor-vehicle accident with a possible minor head or neck injury is reported on Park Avenue, City of Batavia.

City fire and Mercy EMS are on scene.

The vehicle hit a utility pole. 

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Investigators have determined that the fatal fire early this morning at 10 Davis Ave., Batavia, was caused by "careless use of smoking materials, i.e., cigarettes and lighters."

The fire, first reported around 2 a.m., took the life of 87-year-old George A. McConnell.

McConnell's wife, Candace McConnell, was not injured in the fire.

George was apparently unable to exit his second-floor bedroom after the fire started. Candace made her way to the first-floor back porch and was assisted from the house by Officer Darryl Streeter.

The fire investigation was conducted by the Batavia Fire Department and the Batavia Police Department.

Previously: Fire on Davis Avenue claims life of 87-year-old resident

I couldn't make it to the marker dedication for the East Boundary of the Holland Land Purchase at Four Corners in Stafford on Friday. Sue Conklin sent along this photo and the press release below.

On Friday, November 8th 2013 a historical marker commemorating the Eastern Boundary of the Holland Land Purchase was dedicated in Stafford at the intersection of routes 5 and 237. More than 20 people attended the dedication ceremony, which included a brief reading of the history of the survey and a gun salute provided by the War of 1812 militia. 

Following the dedication the Stafford Historical Society served cider and donuts and several people toured their award-winning museum.

Prior to the dedication a survey using original links and transit was conducted by:

• Rochelle Stein, Genesee County legislator for District No. 5
• Lynne Belluscio, Le Roy House director and LeRoy Village historian
• Susan Conklin, Genesee County historian
• Phyllis Darling, Stafford Historical representative
• Jeffery Donahue, Holland Land Office Museum director

This survey revealed the location of the marker and the actual boundary line is over by 83 links. Had the marker been installed in the actual location, it would be in the center of the intersection of Route 237, something the Department of Transportation would have forbidden. The Town of Stafford graciously provided the Genesee County History Department with an alternative spot.

Welcoming Remarks / Mary Pat Hancock Genesee County Legislator:

"Genesee County included not only the Holland Land Purchase, but many other smaller land tracts. The County had six land companies with the Holland Land Purchase being the largest. It included two-thirds of the county lands and was located west of the Transit Line.  The other smaller companies were located east of the Transit Line and include one third of the county lands. The other land tract companies were the Connecticut, Triangle, Phelps & Gorham, Craigie and the 40,000 Acre.  

"When the Holland Purchase was made, the land was in Ontario County, with the county seat in Canandaigua. On March 30, 1802, Genesee County was formed with the county seat in Batavia. As populations grew, eight other Western New York counties were carved from the original Genesee County.

"The eastern boundary of the 3.3-million acre Holland Land Purchase bisects the old State Road, now known as Route 5, in the Town of Stafford. This boundary runs from the State of Pennsylvania north to Lake Ontario. The Holland Land Purchase extends west from this line to Lake Erie and the Niagara River.

"Today we honor the Holland Land Purchase and commemorate their Eastern Boundary."

A former Batavia resident accused of five burglaries locally has a chance to carry on his life without serving any time in prison.

Judge Robert C. Noonan ruled in County Court today that Samuel G. Malone, 27, can serve a year's interim probation before he is officially sentenced on his guilty pleas Aug. 12 to two counts of burglary, 3rd, and one count of attempted burglary, 3rd.

District Attorney Lawrence Friedman told Noonan he thought a prison term was the appropriate way to deal with Malone, who committed his local burglaries in 2008 and avoided detection until he was arrested in another county in January.

The arrest in another jurisdiction helped Batavia PD match Malone's DNA to blood found at three burglary scenes in the city.

Malone was later charged in another local residential burglary and admitted to burglarizing the former Clor's location on Pearl Street.

Noonan was apparently persuaded to give Malone another chance based on pre-sentence reports from the probation departments in Allegheny County, where Malone now lives, and Genesee County. Both reports recommended no prison time for Malone.

The maximum sentence available to Noonan was eight to 16 years in prison.

Malone is on probation on his conviction in another county, so he faces consequences there as well as Genesee County if he violates the terms of his release.

For previous coverage of the Samuel Malone case, click here.

A one-vote margin was all the difference needed to elect Michael Welsh town justice in Le Roy.

He beat Scott McCumskey 817-816, according to the Genesee County Elections Commission, which completed counting absentee ballots from last week's election.

In the other closely watched and tight race, incumbent Ed DeJanerio held onto his 21-vote margin over challenger Bob Bialkowski for a 405-372 victory.

There are some residents who have been pushing to dissolve the Village of Corfu for a decade, said Trustee Ken Lauer.

Depending on the outcome of a meeting early next month, they may get their chance to take a serious look of what the future would look like without a Corfu municipal government.

At its first meeting in December, the village trustees will hear from a grant writer who will explain what it takes to study whether to dissolve the village.

The cost of the study can be from $40,000 to $50,000, according to Deputy Mayor David Bielec.

While there's grant money available from the state, if the village accepts the grant and then doesn't complete dissolution, the local government will be on the hook for half the cost of the study.

"There's a very good possibility the village won't want to take that kind of chance," Blelec said.

The study will answer, or try to answer, all of the unknown questions of dissolution -- will elimination of the court and police department save money; who will plow sidewalks and pick up yard waste; what other services will be lost; how will it effect sewer payments; what happens to the current village department; and most importantly, can village residents realistically expect lower taxes?

"I think it's a good idea, but until you do the financials, you really don't know," Blelec said.

Lauer is also on the fence.

"Am I for it or against it? I want to see the study," Lauer said. "There's good points and there's bad points as far as I can see. As a citizen I've often said what am I paying for?  If I'm paying $300, $500 a year in taxes to the village, what do I get? The sidewalks plowed. Brush pick-up. That's really about it."

Both Lauer and Blelec said they don't believe the turmoil of the past two years -- from the theft of court funds to the behavior of Mayor Ralph Peterson -- are what's driving talk of dissolution. The idea was already in the air before those issues came up.

"It helped bring it to a fruition, but I don't think it was a cause, a direct cause," Lauer said.

Power lines are reportedly sparking along Route 77 near Cohocton after a dump truck hit them.

The driver is out of the vehicle.

Corfu fire is responding.

The Friday morning after a fire destroyed key components of the feed-making process at Baskin Livestock, one of Bill Baskin's newest hires walked into his office. He was certainly wondering if he still had a job starting Monday morning.

"I said, 'Joe,' " Baskin said, " 'Don't worry about it. Come here Monday. You've got a job.' "

Baskin hired two new workers last week and both, like his other 50 employees already on the Baskin payroll, all have jobs, he said. There will be no layoffs even though it will be months before the feed operation is fully operational again.

The feed portion of Baskin's business involves collecting waste from large bakeries operating throughout the Northeast, drying it (if it's not dry), separating it from packaging (if it's packaged) and grinding it into grain that can be used as feed for cows.

Baskin Livestock processes 1,500 tons of feed each week.

The company has hardly missed a beat since Thursday night's fire. Trucks keep bringing in waste product and Baskin has lined up agreements with three other similar operations to buy the waste Baskin collects and sell him back the finished feed, which he can then sell to his customers.

There's been some lost sales in the immediate aftermath of the fire, Baskin said, but the procurement side of the business has continued nonstop.

"Procurement is important because a place that is making cookies or donuts or cakes, if they can't get rid of their waste, they have to shut the plant down," Baskin said.

We may never know how the fire started.

The ignition point was somewhere in the area of the equipment that screens and separates material for feed.

"Was it in the fan, was it in the cyclone, was it in the compactor motor? I can't tell you, but that's where the fire started," Baskin said.

Ironically, Baskin was just four weeks from finishing the installation of new equipment that would have pretty muck taken the equipment where the fire started out of production.

"If that was the case (the new equipment in place), the part that failed, whatever part it was that failed, would not be in use," Baskin said.

Baskin hasn't sat down and totaled up the cost of the damage yet, he said, but it's probably approaching seven figures and could exceed a million dollars.

That doesn't count temporary lost sales and the big cut into profit margins while his feed is being processed in out-of-state plants.

The big unknown is how much damage the main building, the warehouse, sustained. It will take a battery of structural tests on the I-beams and foundation to determine if the building is still structurally sound.

"Our structural engineer who designed the building said it's all a function of how hot it got and how fast it cooled," Baskin said.

"You don't want to have a two-foot snowstorm," he added, "and have your roof sitting on your equipment."

The other irony of the fire, Baskin said, is it started in the screening area of the process, not with the burners.

The fire that severally damaged Baskin Livestock five years ago started in the burner and the current system is built with state-of-the-art fire-suppression technology.

If the burner detects even an errant spark it ejects the product being dryed onto a cement pad outside the building and the system is deluged with water.

"We've got so many safety features built in on the drying end because you figure you're running 1,400 or 1,500 degree burner to dry this feed, 25 million BTUs, with all kinds of opportunities for failure there, so everything is designed around that," Baskin said. "Then we've been running this (the screening area) for years without a problem and that's where the failure was."

Baskin had just climbed into bed when he got the call from an employee that there was a fire and when he and Susan looked out their window, they could see the glow.

Baskin jumped in his car and rushed to the plant. He immediately got an a skip loader and created a fire break in the warehouse, moving product on the floor away from the burners and the north side of the building to slow the opportunity for the fire to spread to those pieces of critical and expensive equipment.

When firefighters were on scene and had sufficient water supply, he implored them to fight an interior fight in the warehouse to keep the fire from spreading north, and the strategy appears to have worked.

Baskin is grateful for the support of so many people in the community, the close friends he and his wife, Susan Blackburn, have made in the 21 years they've lived here. He also praised the Bethany Fire Department in particular, but all of the departments that responded to the fire, for their hard work and dedication to their jobs.

Even his customers have set aside hard-nosed business negotiation to offer their support and express their desire to keep doing business with Baskin Livestock.

"The bakery people say we're glad you're OK because you're really important to us," Baskin said. "I've had customers say we can cut back a little bit but we really want to keep your product in our product flow. What can you so to help us get through until you're back full steam? It's gratifying that at the end, after you're done fighting over price, fighting over product, there's that kind of concern."

He's told his employees not to worry about their jobs, that Baskin Livestock will be a bigger and better company once the plant is fully functional again.

Baskin estimates the plant will be 75 percent operational by Christmas and up to 100 percent by March 1.

In an interview Monday, Bill Baskin was all business talking about his business, but when asked what was different or what was the same about this fire and the fire five years ago, Baskin said there was a key similarity between the two fires -- and this is when he got a tad emotional -- that nobody was hurt.

"I couldn't have been through it once, much less twice if anybody got hurt," Baskin said. "The rest of it can be replaced. It can be rebuilt and be bigger and better or whatever, but for me, that's the take home. Nobody got hurt."

Top photo: Bill Baskin, right, meeting with an insurance adjuster Monday afternoon.

Here's the slide show we published Friday morning of Thursday's fire:

A car has reportedly traveled well of the roadway on the Thruway in the area of mile marker 403 in the west bound lane.

Pembroke and Indian Falls fire departments along with Mercy EMS are dispatch for what is reportedly a minor injury accident.

UPDATE 1:06 p.m.: One person transported to UMMC with minor injuries.