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Press release:

Sergeant William C. Scott of the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office has been selected by the New York State Sheriffs’ Association Institute to receive its Court Officer of the Year award. The award was presented to Sergeant Scott during the 78th New York State Sheriffs' Association Winter Training Conference in Albany on Jan. 25. Sergeant Scott was nominated for this award by Genesee County Sheriff Gary T. Maha.

This award is given to an employee assigned to the Sheriff’s Court Security Division whose exceptional career achievements and conscientious devotion to duty have demonstrated a spirit of selfless public service.

Sheriff Maha said “Sergeant Scott has not only demonstrated exceptional career achievements over his tenure with the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, but he continues to demonstrate a strong and conscientious devotion to duty as supervisor of the Court Security Detail.” 

Sergeant Scott is a lifelong resident of Genesee County and was hired by the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office on May 23, 1977, as a dispatcher.  On March 27, 1979, Sergeant Scott was appointed a Deputy Sheriff and assigned to the Genesee County Jail.

He worked in corrections until June 14, 1983, when he transferred to Deputy Sheriff (road patrol). Sergeant Scott received his basic police training at the Monroe Community College Regional Criminal Justice Training Center. On Nov. 6, 1995, then-Deputy Scott was assigned to Court Security Detail. On Jan. 13, 1996, he was promoted to sergeant and worked road patrol until 1997 when Genesee County built a new, consolidated courts facility and Sergeant Scott was assigned as supervisor of Court Security Detail, a position he still holds today. 

As supervisor of the Court Security Detail, which consists of five deputy sheriffs and himself, Sergeant Scott is responsible for the daily safety and security of all the judges, courts facility building and visitors to the complex. He works very closely with all courts and departments within the courts facility, which includes the District Attorney’s Office, Public Defender’s Office, County Court, Family Court, Surrogate Court, and City Court.

A total of 66,176 persons were screened in 2010 and 21,471 items were scanned by our Courts Facility Security Detail. A total of 368 items were secured, which included knives, scissors, firearms, razors, mace and drug paraphernalia.

Sergeant Scott has received four Meritorious Service Awards, was named Officer of the Year in 1986, and is the recipient of numerous letters and memorandums of appreciation. He has almost 35 years of service with the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office; 14 of which are with the Court Security Detail.

“Sergeant Scott is a great asset to the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office and to law enforcement in general. He is most deserving of this award,” Sheriff Maha said.

City fire is being dispatched to the area of 8 Central Ave., Batavia, for the report of an arcing transformer.

This afternoon, I took a drive down Gulf Road in Le Roy. As usual, the old quarry visible from the road was interesting to see.

I also stopped by the entrance to the Lehigh Valley Railway derailment site. When I arrived, an employee of the company hired by the EPA to manage the site was standing roadside chatting with a reporter from New York City and an independent researcher. The employee couldn't talk, but gave me a phone number of somebody who might talk. Hopefully, in a day or two -- depending who calls me back and when -- I'll have a follow up on the situation at the site.

There is a new sign on the entrance gate at the site. It was posted today. The new sign says, "No Trespassing." (photo below)

The following statement was shared with The Batavian by the office of Rep. Kathy Hochul. Hochul issued the statement initially in response to a request for a statement from CNN.

The last several months have been challenging for the community of Le Roy. While we are all are anxious for answers, it’s important that we allow medical and environmental experts to collect the facts and accurately identify the source of this unusual and unfortunate situation.

Our top priority must be to protect the health and safety of the community of Le Roy and to this end, my office has been in contact with various federal agencies, like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Environmental Protection Agency.

As a Representative of this community, I’m committed to ensuring that the residents of Le Roy have access to the resources needed to fully understand this situation.

Press release:

Kim Cox, the superintendent of the Le Roy Central School District, is referring media inquiries on medical and environmental questions to the experts from the New York State Department of Health, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the Environmental Protection Agency. They are best equipped to answer your technical questions, as they have ours. 

As has been communicated, the District has been working closely for months with numerous medical professionals, the State Department of Health, the State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the Environmental Protection Agency. All of these agencies and dozens of professionals from these agencies have assured the District that the school is safe.

There is no evidence of an environmental situation or infectious cause. In addition, to help assist the District with assessing all aspects of this situation, it hired its own independent environmental expert to conduct a review of the findings and offer alternative approaches, if needed. This was done not because the District questioned the state medical professionals or federal agencies, but to help reassure the community.

There are also some who are attempting to marry the 1970 derailment to the school when in fact the plume has been shown as moving in the opposite direction some three miles away.   

The Le Roy community should take assurance that the Department of Health concluded extensive reviews of both the epidemiology and the clinical evaluations and found no evidence of environmental or infection as the cause of the students’ illness. An environmental exposure would affect many people.

The treating physicians ruled out PANDAS. The school was tested for Volatile Organic Compounds (including TCE) by an independent firm. The school is served by a public water system. The Gardasil vaccine was ruled out because many of the girls did not receive the vaccine. The Department of Environmental Conservation reaffirmed the evaluation that there is no evidence of environmental factors.

The District will certainly welcome input from outside experts if they choose to offer it in a professional and constructive manner. It will rely on its own expert as well as counsel from the Department of Health, DEC and EPA as to whether any further testing is deemed appropriate.  However, in the event that it is recommended, it will be done with a specific plan based upon all available information and accepted scientific protocols.

The District wants to be clear that it has confidence with respect to the conclusions of the Department of Health based upon its comprehensive review of this situation as well as the assessment of the physicians at the DENT Neurologic Institute. 

The Le Roy Central School District and the Le Roy community want what is best for the children in the schools. Unfortunately, the endless speculation without factual basis is creating an extreme level of anxiety and concern. Students are unable to focus on learning. The constant attention has had a negative impact on the recovery of some of the students who are directly affected, many who were improving and whose symptoms have now become exacerbated.

The District knows this has been an emotionally hard situation on the community and everyone hopes for the speedy recovery of its students.

Submitted by Debbie Reed.

Robert J. Eppolito, 29, of 61 Church St., Apt. #2, Le Roy, admitted in Genesee County Court today that he punched and kicked another person during a confrontation in Le Roy last September.

By pleading guilty to assault in the second degree, Eppolito faces a possible prison term of up to five years, with time being served concurrently on his sentence from a guilty plea for violation of probation.

As a second felony offender, Eppolito will serve at least three years in prison.

Sentencing was set for 9 a.m., April 23.

Eppolito admitted in court that he kicked the victim and broke the victim's nose and bruised his left eye.

While awaiting sentencing, Eppolito will be released under supervision of the probation department.

We have a new Shop Batavia contest: Like Shop Batavia on Facebook and complete the registration and you will be entered to win a set of handmade Valentine's Day Wine Glasses from Bruggie's. For more amazing handmade items created by Bruggie's, all available for purchase from Shop Batavia, click here.

Click here to enter the contest.

A third-party caller has reported a motor-vehicle accident at Route 63 and Roanoke Road, Pavilion.

There are reportedly injuries.

Dispatch has received no other calls.

Pavilion Fire Department and Mercy EMS are being dispatched.

UPDATE 6:28 a.m.: Fire police dispatched to the scene for traffic control. A deputy on scene reports dangerous road conditions.

UPDATE 6:48 a.m.: We missed any further transmission about the nature of injuries, if any.  The Pavilion assignment is back in service and the roadway is reopened.

It's been a beautiful snowy night so I stopped by Austin Park and took this picture of two trees under one of the lights in the park.

A slippery highway is to blame for a one-car accident at 6:53 p.m., Saturday, that sent one person to the hospital with minor injuries.

Adam F. Helmer, 28, of Chestnut Ridge, Middleport, was reportedly driving west on Route 5 in the area of the former Batavia Party House, Stafford, when he lost control of a 2005 Ford pickup truck.

The truck slid off the south shoulder of Route 5 and into a ditch, turning onto its passenger side.

Helmer's passenger, 27-year-old Cheryl Cary, of Chestnut Ridge, Middleport, who owns the truck, was transported to UMMC by Mercy EMS.

The infant with Helmer and Cary was not injured.

No citations were issued.

The accident was investigated by Sgt. Greg Walker.

(Initial report)

Sarah Veazey sent this picture over from today's snowstorm, which dumped two or three inches of snow on the Veazey property on Lockport Road, Oakfield.

"Perfect sledding whether," Veazey said.

Unfortunately, the Veazeys' annual snow box derby has already been canceled for 2012 because of lack of snow.

Steven Rebert, the former Oakfield resident convicted of killing a married couple in Pennsylvania and a suspect in the murder of Bill Fickel in 2005, will spend the rest of his life in prison, a Jefferson County jury decided after four hours of deliberation.

The jury could have sentenced Rebert to death -- which in Pennsylvannia currently would be 23 hours a day in solitary confinement for the rest of his life -- but instead said Rebert should receive four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Rebert was convicted of two counts each of first- and second-degree murder and aggravated assault, theft, burglary and robbery.

Rebert reportedly told a Jefferson County television news reporter that he plans to appeal his conviction.

Genesee County DA Lawrence Friedman is expected to make a decision soon on whether to prosecute Rebert for Fickel's murder.

Rebert is also a person of interest in the unsolved murder of an Orleans County man, Kevin Smith.

Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster has long sought the identity of a witness who may have been at the scene the night Fickel was murdered, but even with a $100,000 reward, no such witness has yet come forward.

Brewster said last week, however, that there is sufficient evidence, even without the witness, for the DA's office to consider a murder charge against Rebert.

More than 100 brides visited Terry Hills today for a bridal show that featured 33 local vendors, such as Valle Jewelers, Stella's Bridal Boutique, Charle's Men Shop and Sweet Ecstasy Bakery.

It's the second year for the show and Lisa Fickel, marketing manager for Terry Hills, said the number of vendors is three more than a year ago, but the show can't get much bigger (maybe one or two more vendors next year) and she thinks that's a good thing.

"Rochester and Buffalo already had their shows and brides say lines are 12, 14 people deep and a lot of times they can't even get a business card from a vendor," Fickel said.

The show is helping expose local brides to the advantages of shopping locally for their gowns, cakes and accessories, Fickel said.

"People are very surprised to find we have all of this locally," Fickel said. "A lot of brides automatically think they need to go to Buffalo or Rochester for a quality wedding dress or a quality photographer," Fickel said. "They have been amazed to find they can find it all right here."

For a complete list of vendors who participated this year, click here.

As snow fell on Batavia Sunday afternoon, Evan went for a walk on East Main Street sporting a unique mohawk-style winter hat. Evan said it was a gift from his mother.

While the snowfall today was interesting, not much stuck and roadways remained pretty clear.

That may change tonight.

The National Weather Service is predicting two to four inches of snow overnight and drivers are warned that visibility may be reduced to a quarter of a mile. During the heaviest periods of snowfall, the rate could be as much as an inch an hour.

At 2:35 p.m., Bill Albert, representing the Le Roy Central School District, issued the following press release. It came more than two hours after a sometimes confrontational impromptu press conference with national and regional media (and one local news reporter), Albert and Superintendent Kim Cox (both pictured above).

This morning, without any prior notice to the District, camera crews from a number of media sources, including both national and local outlets, entered District property for the purpose of filming an unidentified individual taking soil samples.

It is appalling that whatever group or entity employing this individual, as well as the media outlets participating in this effort, chose to conduct themselves in this way -- which can only be characterized as grandstanding. Not only was this criminal activity which forced the District to call in local law enforcement to maintain the security of its property, it disrupted the District’s preparations for a weekend music event involving students from over twenty-two schools as well as other student activities.  No legitimate organization would function in this manner.

As previously indicated, the District is working in conjunction with local and state agencies relative to this matter. Based upon the results from testing already conducted at the District as well as review of other information from multiple sources, environmental factors have not been identified as a cause of the symptoms that have manifested in some students. Testing conducted with rogue samples is of no scientific value, as it is not conducted in accordance with scientific methodologies and safety protocols utilized by reputable environmental experts in all testing situations. In fact, such actions could hamper the coordinated effort already underway by the District in conjunction with environmental, health, and safety experts to address this matter. The District will continue to provide information with respect to these efforts as it becomes available. 

Local law enforcement will continue to monitor the security of the District’s property. 

Here's the background:

I arrived at district propety at 11:15 a.m. At the time, there were not even a dozen cars in the parking lot of the school. There were no students to be seen.

I could see a group of people, and recognize a boom mic, clear across the athletic fields, so I drove around to that side, which is a public park. Several members of national and regional media were at the location. 

The media and members of the Erin Brockovich team left the location and drove to a location on Route 5. Bob Bowcock wanted to gather well water samples from that location. When he was finished there, he wanted to drive back to the school because he was told an attorney would be there to let him know whether he could have access to the school grounds.

Shortly after the caravan arrived at the park, Albert and Cox arrived.

While the questioning was at times pointed and aggressive, it wasn't unprofessional.

Bowcock was told by Albert that he could walk the grounds, just like any other citizen in Le Roy, but could not take soil samples, and the media would not be allowed on the grounds. Albert said that while members of the media were citizens, they could not go on the property while acting in capacity as media, even though numerous Supreme Court cases have not drawn a distinction between a "person" and a "corporate entity" (most recently Citizens United) for the purpose of First Amendment rights.

School property is public property and public access cannot be denied so long as it does not disrupt the educational purpose of the campus.

The media was on site during non-school hours and there was no evidence of educational activity. To label the media presence as "criminal activity" is beyond ludicrous.

One additional note: The additional law enforcement was two overtime patrols from the Genesee County Sheriff's Office. The school district paid for the extra enforcement. The patrols will be in the area throughout Sunday.

An environmental specialist from Los Angeles in Le Roy on Saturday scoffed at studies used by the Le Roy Central School District to say there was no environmental cause for a tic outbreak among a group of students at the high school.

“In my opinion, that (the reports released by the district) wasn’t even close to science," said Robert W. Bowcock (top photo), an environmental investigator with Integrated Resource Management, based in Claremont, Calif.

Bowcock said he was in Le Roy at the request of Erin Brockovich, a famed environmental crusader, but "working for free" to try and help uncover the cause of the tic disorder.

As many as 15 students of the school reportedly suffer from tics and verbal outbursts similar to Tourette Syndrome.

At a Jan. 11 community meeting, district officials and the NYS Department of Health released reports on environmental studies conducted at the school by BOCES.

"Nobody has received any information that can be checked or tested," Bowcock said. "We’re not out here to invalidate anybody’s work or validate anybody’s work. We just want to see all of the information so we can help gain further knowledge."

The Brockovich team attempted to walk onto school district property around 11 a.m., Saturday, and were stopped by local law enforcement. They were told they didn't have the proper permits to gather soil samples on the property.

At around noon, William Albert, a public information specialist with the law firm Harris Beach, along with Kim Cox, superintendent of the school district, appeared at the public park adjacent school property to issue a statement (click here to read the statement delivered to media representatives at the site).

Albert initially said neither he nor Cox would answer questions, but wound up in a debate/discussion with media representatives about access to school grounds.

At the impromptu press conference, Cox characterized the Brockovich team's actions as unprofessional and Albert would later issue a press release labeling the media presence as unprofessional and "criminal."

"We’ve been working very closely with professionals across the state and across the country trying to keep the community as involved and up to date as possible," Cox said. "We’re disappointed about how this has unraveled today. We would have expected to be contacted ahead of time. The district was taken by surprise by this. There was no pre-arrangement. We would have expected that this would have taken place in a professional way."

Cox said if Bowcock and his team were allowed on school property to gather samples, the research would have lacked validity because they would have been gathered in an unprofessional manner.

"I've never been kept out of a public place in my history of environmental investigation," Bowcock said. "Usually, we’re welcome because entities want us to rule them in or rule them out, or give them information to help them deal with the problem."

Brockovich's team and the media were being kept off the property, Cox said, because it was a disruption to education of students.

At the time, there were fewer than a dozen cars in the school's parking lot and no students in sight.

"We would have welcomed the help if they had gone through the appropriate channels and contacted us instead of just showing up on a Saturday morning with camera crews," Cox said. "It's a bit of a grandstand. We would be happy to talk with those folks and coordinate it through the appropriate channels.

"Why would you show up on a Saturday morning with a camera crew without a conversation with the superintendent of the district if you were truly interested in helping us? This doesn’t feel like support."

When a parent pointed out that community residents walk on school grounds all the time, particularly using the track for exercise, Albert clarified that any citizen could walk on the grounds, but Bowcock could not take samples and the media could not tag along.

After walking the grounds, Bowcock said he did gain valuable information from the walk.

"I noticed things like, the public roadway drains onto the school property, or through school property," Bowcock said. "What that means to me is that the school property is not wholly intact. It is subject to intrusion from outside sources of water and perhaps outside sources of contamination that could come in onto the property, cause an event and evacuate from the property. Did that happen? I don’t know."

Bowcock said his goal for his Saturday visit to Le Roy was to gather water and soil samples and analyze them for any contaminants. He said there might be a 100 chemicals that could cause problems for students, but of most interest was trichloroethene (TCE).

A 1970 train derailment in Le Roy dumped approximately one ton of cyanide crystals and around 30,000 gallons of Trichloroethene (TCE) onto the ground, polluting soil and groundwater.

Bowcock said the TCE plume in Le Roy is the largest in the United States.

The EPA has considered the plume's movement to be mostly eastward, but Bowcock said a number of factors -- such as capping of wells, storm patterns and new wells opening to the east -- could influence the direction of the plume.

"All those different things could have caused a release of the TCE into the surface environment from the subsurface environment for a period of time and then it could have ceased," Bowcock said. "You just won’t know until you get out here to investigate."

He was careful to point out that he has no evidence to suggest any such change has actually taken place.

TCE is typically a carcinogen (it can cause cancer), but Bowcock said that depending on the amount of exposure, can cause neurological disorders.

Bowcock and his team spent the day traveling to various locations in the town and village, examining the topography and environment as well as gathering soil and water samples.

There were dozens and dozens of places in Le Roy that residents suggested through emails to Brockovich that Bowcock check, he said.

One of the key sites was the location of the 1970 train wreck (bottom six photos).

It's still a Superfund clean-up site, and Bowcock said he was shocked by the condition of the site (located on Gulf Road on the east side of the Town of Le Roy).

The site contains breached and leaking barrels of contaminated water and soil and "the berm and liner is pretty much gone."

"Unfortunately, and I’ll say it like it is, we found a remediation site that has housekeeping issues," Bowcock said. "It is pretty much a mess."

The real threat, Bowcock said, is to anybody with well water. The village residents and its businesses on municipal water have nothing to worry about.

It's slim odds, Bowcock indicted, that TCE is the cause of the tic symptoms in the girls, but local residents, he said, need to be aware that the government hasn't adequately addressed the 1970 spill.

"The good outcome from that is that the people of Le Roy realize that they have the largest TCE plume in the eastern United States under their community and the government has given them lip service for 40 years telling them 'we’ve cleaned it, we’ve cleaned it up,' " Bowcock said. "Frankly, I’m here to tell you, they haven’t done a darn thing."

Bowcock said the only thing that has really been removed was the railroad tracks -- which are worth money -- but the old bedding and ties are still on the site.  Near the entrance of the site are two piles of bedding stones. One is covered by a heavy plastic tarp, as if it might be contaminated, and the other -- complete with exposed railroad ties -- is uncovered.

In every discussion with media, Bowcock was careful to say there is no apparent environmental cause of the tics and that further testing needs to be done.

He said he and the team -- along with possibly Brockovich and "Dr. Drew" (Dr. David Drew Pinsky) -- in three or four weeks hope to do more specific and detailed testing of soil and water in the community and at the school.

"The one common factor for the students affected is the school," Bowcock said.

Bowcock said parents wouldn't even have asked the Brockovich team to come to Le Roy if government officials had been more forthcoming and transparent at a Jan. 11 community meeting about the tic outbreak.

"Since the fall they’ve been asking for answers and I think they anticipated they would receive something of substance (at the meeting)," Bowcock said. "They would have heard, 'This is what we’ve done. This is how we’ve tackled the problem.' I think they felt like they were paid lip service. It was like, we did some testing and here’s some air samples. They weren’t even scientists (the parents) and they could recognize the deficiencies of the reports."

FOOTNOTE: An interesting aside to the "Brockovich is coming to Genesee County" angle, some prankster called the the legendary Red Osier Restaurant in Stafford to convince staff she was heading there for dinner. At about 9:45 p.m., Friday, a person called Red Osier and identified himself as a member of Brockovich's security team. He said Brockovich would be arriving in five minutes. He said Brockovich required a private dining area and a Stoli martini. Staff had no reason to doubt the authenticity of the call, according to co-owner Michael Moore, so one of the empty dining rooms was prepared and the fire in the fireplace was lit. The chef stayed on duty, ready to prepare a meal for Brockovich. After nearly an hour of waiting, Moore sent the staff home. Bowcock confirmed Brockovich wasn't even in town and said she would never make such demands.

A vehicle occupied by two adults and one infant is reportedly on its side in the area of 5801 E. Main Road, Stafford, but only minor injuries are reported.

The location is just east of Batavia Party House.

Stafford Fire Department and Mercy EMS dispatched.