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This weekend, MMA fighters from Hands Up Gym on Harvester Avenue had a strong showing at a tournament in Jamestown.

Josh McCarthy won his first bout.

From left are, William Rupp, who also won his first kickboxing bout, and fifth from the left on the top row is Shariff Vascianne who won his first boxing bout.

Gym owner Joe Bailey is holding up the Hands Up shirt.

This tournament was an exhibition so it does not count toward their record.

Also pictured, on the right, Alexander Colon Colon, who won a traditional boxing bout. Also pictured is Colon Colon's instructor, Mr. Platt. At the far right is Gaffar Adams who is the owner of the gym in Jamestown.

Press release:

Representatives from the Genesee County Sheriff's Office, City of Batavia Fire Department and Le Roy Police Department assisted with Senator Mike Ranzenhofer's safety check for child car seats on Saturday morning. More than 20 car seats were inspected during the two-hour event.

Pictured from right: Deputy John Baiocco of Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, Thomas Douglas of City of Batavia Fire Department, Ranzenhofer, Detective John Condidorio of Le Roy Police Department, Nathan Kinne of City of Batavia Fire Department, Chuck Hammon of City of Batavia Fire Department, Sergeant Michael Hare of Le Roy Police Department, and Mark Sacheli of City of Batavia Fire Department.

Press release:

Students in grades six through eight, who are new to Batavia Middle School, or transferring from a private or parochial school, are invited to attend an Orientation program on Thursday, Aug. 29 at 9 a.m. in the Middle School Auditorium. The program will include an overview of our Middle School and will be followed by a building tour. School counselors will be available for students and parents.

There's also this:

On Thursday, Sept. 5, Batavia Middle School will be holding their Orientation Day for fifth-grade students. Students will be participating in the “Connect Day” program throughout the day.

Fifth graders will spend the morning participating in team building activities, finding their lockers and meeting their teachers. During the afternoon, students will be experiencing traveling to their classes and meeting their counselors.

Fifth-grade students need to arrive to school by 8 a.m. and will report to homeroom by 8:07. All students will be dismissed at 2:45 pm.  

Sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students will not report on Sept. 5. The first day of school for all Middle School students (grades five through eight) will be Friday, Sept. 6.

The BMS “Connect Day’s” purpose is to help fifth-graders feel more comfortable as well as help them achieve success in their first year at the Middle School. The program is designed to both welcome and support the fifth-graders by assigning them a Mentor (an eighth-grade student who has met the qualifications of being a good role model and a positive leader). Along with supporting House students, the “Connect Day” program helps Mentors develop leadership skills, responsibility and team work as they begin their transition process to the High School.

Anyone with questions is asked to contact Miss Rogers, fifth- and sixth-grade House Administrator, 343-2480, ext. 3001, or Mr. Eric Knapp, Interventions Counselor, 343-2480, ext. 3002.

Peter McQuillen can keep his barn.

That's the upshot of a decision by the Town of Le Roy Zoning Appeals Board, which met Tuesday night to consider whether construction of the barn violated the Village of Le Roy building code.

The question was rendered moot by McQuillen's decision this week to pull a permit to build a single-family residence on his 13-acre lot off Robbins Road.

"I was prepared to debate the interpretation of the code regarding accessory structures," McQuillen said. "I was also prepared to show precedent from around town of different areas were accessory structures were allowed ... but my wife and I have been thinking about this for a better part of a year ... This was something we were going to do in the future, but we decided a few days ago to go ahead now, so I pulled an application for a permit to start building a house."

Village code says you can't build an accessory structure prior to building a primary structure.

McQuillen was initially granted a permit in July to build the barn even though he did not request a permit to build a house.

That permit, all officials agree, was issued in error. A stop-work order was issued, but McQuillen could keep building while the stop-work order was appealed.

Since McQuillen has now filed the necessary paperwork to build a house, the board found that the barn is no longer out of compliance with the code.

There's nothing in the code, said Dan Lang, who is helping with Le Roy code enforcement issues while training a new code enforcement officer, that requires construction of the primary structure start before an accessory structure.

"The only issue is that there needs to be a single-family home with a driveway from Robbins Road to the accessory structure," Lang said. "If there is, the lot is in 100-percent compliance.

The barn in question sits just feet behind a house in Presidential Acres owned by Town of Le Roy Supervisor Steve Barbeau.

Barbeau and some of his neighbors believe McQuillen decided to build the barn out of spite because Barbeau, along with his neighbor, David Boyce, opposed a patio-home development McQuillen wanted to build on his 13 acres.

Barbeau and Boyce filed a lawsuit that eventually led to McQuillen abandoning the project.

The feuding between McQuillen and Barbeau came to a head earlier this month when a tree -- Barbeau said it's the third such tree -- fell from McQuillen's property onto Barbeau's property. Words were exchanged and Barbeau allegedly pushed McQuillen down and was subsequently arrested on a harassment, 2nd, charge.

Boyce and two neighbors filed an appeal of the building permit for the barn and Attorney Alan Knauf spoke at Tuesday's meeting, even though the appeal wasn't officially considered.

"The question here is there was a permit issued in July and was it a valid permit?" Knauf said. "It was not."

Knauf said the other issue with the barn is that he believes it's a commercial structure, and therefore out of compliance with the zoning of the neighborhood. Citing an article in The Batavian, Knauf said McQuillen gave a description of his planned use for the barn that makes it a commercial structure.

McQuillen said he was misquoted.

"It is in no way a commercial structure," McQuillen said. "I live on Robbins Road. I have a barn. This is a similar situation. I will have a home and a barn on the parcel that I bought. I don't understand why I'm being grilled under such a microscope here when I'm the applicant. I don't think I'm doing anything other than apply for a permit and now I've had lawyers coming after me for 18 months."

Besides the lawsuit filed by Barbeau and Boyce, McQuillen is being sued by Carol Durney, the woman who sold McQuillen the 13-acre parcel for $13,000.

Durney claims McQuillen misrepresented some aspects of the property to convince her to lower the price, and he didn't reveal his intention to subdivide the property.

Between the lawsuits and the lost money on engineering studies for the subdivision, McQuillen said he is out tens of thousands of dollars.

Ask how much, and McQuillan said, "Honestly, I've never sat down to add it up. It would be too depressing."

NOTE: This story would have been published this morning, but just as I was finishing writing it, my computer ate it. At that point, I had to leave to cover something so I couldn't rewrite it then. I've been running around all day since then (hence no posts until now, but they're coming ... )

A 52-year-old man is fighting for his life after being punched in the head Sunday night during an apparent fight outside The Harvester, a bar on Harvester Avenue.

Scott Baker suffered a fractured skull from a single punch, according to a police report filed at City Court.

He's listed in critical condition at Erie County Medical Center.

Taken into custody and held without bail on a second-degree assault charge is 47-year-old Shane M. Bell (in photo), of 161 Jackson St., Batavia.

Police were called to the scene at 8:50 p.m. 

The Harvester was hosting its annual pig roast.

Bell made a sworn statement to police saying, "Scott followed me out to the car. Scott came up to me and chest bumped me. Scott grabbed my shoulder and I turned and punched him in the head."

Police officers also reported hearing Bell make several statements about hitting Baker, such as:

• "I bitch slapped him."
• "I hit him so f--- softly it's not even funny."
• "He went down quickly."
• "I hit him half medium."
• "I'm registered, man. I kick boxed for like seven years."
• "I hit him right in the f--- eye."
• "I used to f-- people up."
• "He was with me for more than three hours."
• "I dragged him from the curb to the grass."

A witness said she heard Bell say, "He pulled my hair so I punched him."

The same witness tried to give aide to Baker until EMTs arrived and told police there was a lot of blood.

Mercy medics told police on scene that Baker was seriously injured and Det. Pat Corona was called to the scene.

"We were told right away it was very serious," Corona said. "We proceeded (with the investigation at the scene) as if it was as serious as it could be, as if it were a homicide."

Corona said investigators are interested in talking with additional witnesses. He's asking that people with any information to call Batavia PD at (585) 345-6350.

Should the government require labeling of genetically modified food?

Reason: What Scientific America has to say about labeling GMO food.

Coming off a 5-4 record, a young Oakfield-Alabama Hornets team is hoping to show some improvement in 2013, but already the injury bug is starting to pinch, said Head Coach Brian Palone.

Three players will miss this Saturday's scrimmage, but it will also be a time for some players at key positions to show whether they're ready to step into starting roles.

"I'm pretty confident in two or three kids at each position now, but I just want to evaluate further as we go along in the week here and as this scrimmage rolls," Palone said.

The Hornets will lean heavily on captains Chris Nanni, linebacker, Chase Manzella, running back, and Hogen Mejia, a lineman.

"We started bring guys a couple of years ago when they were young and now I feel like we have some guys with years of varsity experience, especially at our skills positions, so I'm happy with what I'm seeing right now and how they're developing," Palone said.

Manzella is in line for a QB slot, but Allen Chatt, who finished out last season as QB, has the inside track as the starter.

"He's been working hard this summer and so far working hard in camp," Palone said. "We'd like to keep him at quarterback and Chase at running back.

Jacob and Steven Weber, father and son, were sentenced in Pavilion Town Court today to fines and community service for their violations of the state's property maintenance code.

Jacob Weber -- who entered a guilty plea July 9 to 46 violations for storing unregistered and uninspected vehicles on his property at 11256 Perry Road -- was fined $22,000 and given a one-year conditional release from jail time.

Steven Weber -- who entered a guilty plea the same day as his father to 16 violations for storing unregistered and uninspected vehicles on his property at 11076 Lake Road (the former firehouse) -- received $4,500 fine, 50 hours of community service and one-year conditional release.

A failure to abide by release conditions could result in a new charge for violating a court order and a resentencing on the original charges.

Dan Lang, code enforcement officer for Pavilion, said the violations on both properties have been corrected.

A tree is on fire at Frost Ridge Campground, 8101 Conlon Road, Le Roy.

Le Roy fire is responding.

Cedar Street reconstruction has begun. First up, removing all the asphalt from driveway for the county maintenance building north to Edwards. The road is closed in that location. The rest of Cedar Street remains open.

About 150 barbershop singers were at the YWCA on Monday night to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Barbershop Harmony Society.

The singers came from five area chapters -- Rochester, Buffalo, East Aurora, Geneva, Warsaw, Batavia.  The chapters are part of the Seneca Land District of the society, and Batavia resident Eric Saile, who acted as host for last night's event, is president of the district.

The event included lots of signing, of course, but also pauses to watch videos of barbershop singers in TV shows and movies from over the decades.

Our photos include the chorus, the Friends of Harmony Singers, singing "Singin' in the Rain."

The two young men in the bottom pictures are Rocco, 12, and Blaise, 10, Lucciano, of Clarence. Blaise became the youngest member of the society and was given a membership proclamation and a label pin. Rocco became the youngest member ever to be awarded the "Man of Note" pin. The "Man of Note" is a person who recruits a new member. The awards were presented by Mac Sabol, choir director for the Friends of Harmony Singers.

For more on the society, visit the Seneca Land District's home page. The Batavia chapter always welcomes new members, Sabol said.

Tina M. Martin, 33, of 96 Carlyle Ave., Buffalo, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and speeding. Martin was stopped at 11:47 p.m. Saturday on Pearl Street in Batavia by Officer Arick Perkins.

Eric L. Barnes, 22, of Valiant Drive, Rochester, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana, aggravated unlicensed operation, operating on suspended registration and unlicensed operator. Barnes was stopped for an alleged suspended registration at 4:57 p.m. Friday on Route 77, Pembroke, by Deputy Kevin McCarthy.

William John Dale, 40, of Lattice Bridge Road, Fillmore, is charged with petit larceny. Dale is accused of shoplifting at Kmart.

Should U.S. bomb Syria because of chemical weapon use?

Reason: Chemical weapons as a 'red line'

The trustees of the Village of Corfu voted 4-0 on Monday to delay filing a petition with 4th Appellate Division of the NYS Supreme Court for the removal of Mayor Ralph Peterson from office.

Peterson is reportedly hospitalized and under observation by doctors. Peterson has reportedly told trustees and others that his undisclosed condition is related to stress.

After a closed session, Deputy Mayor David Bielec announced the board's decision to delay sending in the petition. The delay is intended to give Peterson time for his health to improve. The trustees want him to meet with Village Attorney Mark Boylan so Boylan can ascertain how Peterson intends to respond to the trustees' demand that he resign.

There was no response from Peterson to the board's demand for a resignation letter by 5 p.m. last Friday.

"We don't want to take any action until he's out of the hospital," Bielec said. "We want to discuss it within and get a firm decision before we go through the court procedure. It's a very expensive process and you can't know the outcome until you get there."

Trustee Art Ianni also asked the board to reconsider its aggressive approach to trying and recover more than $10,000 in missing court funds.

The trustees believe that regardless of how the funds went missing -- former court clerk Brandi Watts is accused of stealing it -- former village justice Robert Alexander is legally responsible to reimburse the village for the shortage.

Watts is the daughter of Alexander.

"Based on our budget, based on our court budget, this (the $10,000) is a small percentage of dollars," Ianni said. "I don't mind trying to recover it, but it's the kill zone we're looking at when it comes to the families and actions that might come out. I would like to ask the board to take another look at what potentially could happen from our actions. ... We could recover $10,000 and find out we destroyed two families. Is this something we could have some compassion about and say, 'Look, they've lost their jobs and their reputations?' "

When asked, though, Ianni said he would still vote yes on any motion trying to recover the funds.

Four people were injured in a two-car accident in the Batavia Downs parking lot at 5:07 p.m., Sunday.

The two cars collided where two cross-lanes of traffic converged. Both cars appeared to enter the intersection at the same time, according to an accident report by Sgt. Jonathan Szumigala.

There were no traffic control devices at the intersection.

No citations were issued.

Injured were Sandra L. Johnson, 55, Alessa R. Naylor, 21, Zachary C. Johnson, 22, and Donna M. Azalone, 52.

Sandra Johnson, of Byron, was driving a 2009 Dodge SUV. Azalone was driving a 2003 Chevy sedan. Azalone had no passengers.

All four patients were transported to UMMC by Mercy EMS for evaluation and treatment. None appeared seriously injured.

 

Bishop E. Williams, 20, of 106 Lake St. Le Roy, is charged with three counts of burglary, 3rd, petit larceny and criminal mischief, 4th. Williams is accused of an early morning forced entry burglary of a business on Mill Street, Le Roy, and stealing several items from the business. Williams, and possibly a conspirator, allegedly used a rock to break the window of the building and that Williams allegedly entered the building three separate times. Police report locating Williams on Lake Street. Assisting were the Sheriff's Office and the Livingston County K-9 unit.

Amir D. Gifford, 17, 139 Bank St., Batavia, is charged with assault, 3rd. Gifford was alleged involved in a fight with an acquaintance at 4:43 p.m., Tuesday, at a business on West Main Street, Batavia. He is accused of trying to injure the other person.

Michael C. Kraatz, 34, of 66 Tracy Ave., Batavia, is charged with trespass and harassment, 2nd. Following an alleged domestic incident, Kraatz allegedly returned to a residence he had been advised by police not to reenter. As Kraatz was being removed from a police vehicle following his arrest, he allegedly kicked the door of the car causing it to strike an officer, which led to the harassment charge.

Daniel M. Hacker, 27, of 248 North Meadowbrook Parkway, Cheektowaga, is charged with driving a motor vehicle with registration suspended. Hacker was arrested on a warrant out of Batavia City Court.

Ronda L. Reisman, 41, of 105 State St., Batavia, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Reisman was arrested following an investigation into an alleged incident at 10:22 p.m., Thursday. No further details released.

Mark E. Flaming, 23, of 21 Wood St., Batavia, is charged with menacing, 2nd, criminal possession of a weapon with intent to use and reckless endangerment, 1st. Flaming was arrested following an alleged domestic incident at 10:32 p.m., Wednesday. No further details released.

Michael P. Ashley, 51, of 9455 Clipnock Road, Stafford, is charged with felony DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or higher, running a red light and aggravated unlicensed operation. Ashley was stopped at 12:54 p.m., Sunday, on East Main Street, Batavia, by Officer Arick Perkins.

Stephen Joseph Holdaway, 61, Pearl St., Batavia, is charged with felony DWI, driving with a BAC of .18 or greater, speeding and failure to yield to emergency vehicle. Holdaway was arrested following a traffic stop at 5:09 p.m. Wednesday on Pearl Street Road, Batavia, by Deputy Patrick Reeves.

Kevin A. Roberts, 22, of Perry Road, North Java, is charged criminal mishief, 3rd, petit larceny, unlawful possession of marijuana, aggravated unlicensed operation, bald tire and throwing refuse on highway. Roberts is accused of cutting a locked cage inside Walmart in order to gain entry and damaging the case in the process. He is accused of stealing clothing from Walmart and possessing marijuana. He allegedly drove to the store on a suspended license. Roberts was jailed on $1,000 bail.

Rachel Elizabeth Hyatt, 17, of State Street, Batavia, is charged with stalking, 4th. Hyatt allegedly initiated contact with a person she had been previously warned not to contact. An order of protection was issued.

Stephanie Marie Gilfus, 27, of Genesee Street, Auburn, is charged with petit larceny. Gilfus is accused of stealing an iPod Touch from an employee of Darien Lake Theme Park.

Justin Ryan Smith, 31, of North Pearl Street, Oakfield, is charged felony DWI, driving with a BAC of .18 or greater and leaving the scene of a property damage accident. Smith was allegedly involved in an accident on North Pearl Steet, Oakfield, at 5:55 a.m. Sunday. The accident was investigated by Deputy Matt Fleming.

(name redacted, charges dismissed), 47, of Rochelle Drive, Churchville, is charged with coercion, 1st, criminal mischief, 4th, and menacing, 2nd. REDACTED allegedly coerced a woman while at her residence.

Press release:

For the fourth year in a row, Genesee County, New York has been recognized as one of the fastest growing Food Processing Industry Metros by Business Facilities, a national site selection publication.

The Agricultural and Food and Beverage Sector employs more than 1,500 workers in Genesee County, and throughout the Western New York and the Finger Lakes Region there are more than 20,000 employees within the Food and Beverage Cluster. This number has increased significantly in recent years with the opening of Alpina Foods, LLC, and Muller Quaker Dairy along with the expansion of other food processors in the County.

“The recent construction of two new food processing facilities demonstrates a substantial return on our investment in our Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park,” said Steve Hyde, president and CEO of Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC). “We are honored to be once again recognized by Business Facilities as it keeps us on the radar screen for site selectors throughout the United States and the world.”

The Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park encompasses 211 shovel-ready, pre-permitted acres strategically located between Western New York and the Finger Lakes region in Batavia, NY.  On site, there is access to low cost process water via a local aquifer, a short and main line rail access to move products, and large capacity municipal sewer and water. Through the support of National Grid and National Fuel the site has an enhanced utility infrastructure.

“Genesee County and our strategic partners, GCEDC, GCC, our utility companies, Farm East and other local governments like Batavia, Pembroke, Bergen, etc., made sure that nine-plus years of planning and preparation are paying off in terms of infrastructure, shovel-ready site, employment and training opportunities and good paying, long-term employment options for our community and the region,” said Mary Pat Hancock, chairwoman of the Genesee County Legislature. “The vision and collaboration necessary to make this happen and to sustain development and progress is what our community has always been about.”

Alpina Foods, LLC, a leading dairy producing company in Colombia and South America, recently opened its first specialty yogurt manufacturing plant at the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park. This is Alpina’s first United States facility and the company recently exceeded their original job commitments of 50 employees. PepsiCo, in a joint venture with German dairy company Theo Müller, also recently opened its own $206 million yogurt manufacturing facility, Muller Quaker Dairy, and as of June 2013 have hired 110 employees for their Batavia facility. 

“Food manufacturers value our region’s abundant milk supply and access to fresh water,” said Mark S. Peterson, president and CEO of Greater Rochester Enterprise. “These assets are just some of the reasons Genesee County has become a magnet for leading yogurt manufacturers such as Alpina Foods and Muller Quaker Dairy.”

“A wealth of agricultural assets, shovel-ready sites, transportation infrastructure and access to major U.S. and Canadian markets have helped to establish Genesee County as a leading location for the food processing industry,” said Thomas A. Kucharski, president and CEO of Buffalo Niagara Enterprise.

“Leading dairy companies like Alpina Foods, Muller Quaker Dairy, Yancey’s Fancy and O-AT-KA Milk are among the almost 400 food processing companies that have grown and prospered in Genesee County and the surrounding area,” Kucharski added.

By the time firefighters got the call at 2:28 a.m., a barn filled with hay at 2311 Bennett Road, Darien, was fully engulfed in flames.

At 9 a.m., firefighters were still on scene tending to smoldering hay bales with potentially hours of work still ahead of them.

A few firefighters who had been up practically all night had to leave for their day jobs.

Responding to the fire with Darien were East Pembroke, Indian Falls, Corfu and Alexander. Crittenden filled in at Corfu's hall and Alden filled in for Darien.

Water was drawn from a pond on Charlie Miller's property at Ellinwood and Brown roads.

The barn property is owned by Miller's Sonshine Acres, Inc.

The barn, of course, was a total loss, but firefighters said that was apparent from the moment they rolled up on scene. From that point, it was just a matter of knocking down the flames.

Reader submitted photo.

Info and photos submitted by Phil Mangefrida.

We had beautiful weather for the debut of the Andrea Mangefrida Memorial Basket Raffle.

We had 140 people show up for golf and dinner or just dinner, with 21 foursomes, not to mention people who just walked in, bought raffle tickets and left. Here are some pictures.

The dancers are from Clann Na Cara School of Irish Dance in Buffalo.

They are, from left: Kelly Patterson, Monica Panzer, Molly Mangefrida, Xavier Patrick Dzielski, and Sarah Ziarniak

The SkyDivers are from Western, NY Skydivers.

Money raised from this event went to the Andrea Mangefrida Memorial Fund at Stepping Stones Learning Center in Irondequoit.

A big thank you to everyone who donated their time, effort, and baskets for this event.