Press release:

''It's been three weeks now since my opponent, Chris Jacobs, backed out of debating me. With the primary election right around the corner, I have one question to ask my opponent. Chris, what are you so afraid of? Debate me! This is your last chance to prove to the voters that you are not a bought and paid for career politician. I'll tell you what, you and Nick Langworthy set it up however you want. You make the rules, you pick the date, the location, the time -- I'll be there! Or, you can hide from the voters until Election Day. Your choice!

"We need transparency in leadership. As a resident of NY-27 for 53 years, I am sick of career politicians who serve themselves and not the people. We need leaders with convictions, integrity, and passion.The voters of NY-27 deserve this! I know he doesn’t want his liberal voting record exposed, but he owes it to the voters to explain the blatant lies coming out of his campaign."

Alan D. Tidd Jr., 30, of Oak Street, Batavia, is a Level 3 sexually violent offender who is charged with failure to report a change in contact information within 10 days -- first offense. It is alleged that Tidd failed to disclose an email he had been using to exchange pornographic material, solicit sexual acts, and create accounts on online dating websites. He was arrested on May 19 then released with an appearance ticket for arraignment in Batavia City Court at 1 p.m. on July 14. The case was investigated by Batavia Police Officer Jason Ivison, assisted by Genesee County Parole.

Darrell Smith, 53, of Jerome Place, Batavia, is charged with third-degree assault. It is alleged that he struck a person and caused injury during a domestic incident at 6 p.m. on May 31 on Oak Street, Batavia. He was arrested, arraigned in Batavia City Court and then released. He is due back in city court on July 16. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Samuel Freeman, assisted by Officer Christopher Lindsay.

Paul David Hussey, 64, of Hurricane Mills, Tenn., is charged with bail jumping in the second degree. Hussey failure to appear in Genesee County Court on Oct. 24 for sentencing on charges of attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree and reckless endangerment in the first degree (no other details provided). He was arrested at the Port of Seattle in the State of Washington in February. After obtaining a Governor's Warrant, he was extradited back to New York State and arraigned in county court and jailed without bail. The case was handled by Batavia Police Sgt. Thomas Sanfratello.

Shawna M. Purcell, 42, of Tracy Avenue, Batavia, is charged with second-degree criminal trespass. It is alleged that at 6:27 p.m. on June 3 that Pursel entered a private residence on Eleanor Place in Batavia and refused to leave when asked to do so. She was arraigned in Batavia City Court via Skype and released on her own recognizance. She is due bak in city court on July 16. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Joshua Girvin, assisted by Officer Austin Hedges.

Press release:

Press release:

Republican candidate for New York’s 27th Congressional District Stefan I. Mychajliw Jr. released a new television commercial focused on the need for strong leadership to build a better America while lawlessness reigns here at home and across the country.

The new “Stefan for Congress” television commercial titled “Leadership” stresses the need to restore law and order on our streets, offers support for police, while at the same time promises to lead our nation to a better place.

“Taxpayers deserve better leadership now more than ever. People want strong and calming leaders who will work together to build a better America. I stand with law enforcement. We can have zero tolerance for lawbreakers attacking cops. Bad actors can’t justify assaults on law enforcement by wrapping themselves in a cloud of so-called social justice,” said Mychajliw.

Chaos and riots still plague communities across the NY-27 Congressional District. Businesses burned in Buffalo and Rochester, criminals were charged with running over three members of law enforcement, curfews are in place and protests take place daily.

“Rioters attacking police and looters destroying businesses need to be punished to the fullest extent of the law. This lawlessness crippling our communities must end. Once we rebuild, it’s time to restore America to a land of equal opportunity, respect for police and our neighbors. I’ll be the leader in Congress that families need in these trying times,” added Mychajliw.

“I’m Stefan Mychajliw. Like you, I’m worried about America. Rioters are attacking police and destroying businesses. We cannot sit back and let these bad actors go unpunished. It's why I’m running for Congress. Because we need strong leaders who will listen, find solutions and lead our country to a better place. In Congress I will do just that, and deliver a brighter future for my family and yours. I’m Stefan Mychajliw and I approve this message.”

Press release from David Krzemien:

Turning on the news or scrolling through social media, we see violence and calls for change but are those calls falling on deaf ears? Since the death of George Floyd, what has changed within our local, state, and national government? What action has been taken? The answer is none. We need to hold our elected politicians accountable and demand the change that is so needed in our country.

Our politicians are too lazy to get to the root of the problem and solve it. For example, the gun control laws in NYS are far too extreme, instead of sitting down with people who are both pro- and anti-gun-control and making a moderate decision the governor took the easy way out enacted laws that infringe on the rights given to citizens by the Second Amendment.

Instead, I am calling on our state and local representatives to listen to all sides and make decisions that eliminate the violence, that protect the citizens and help those serving in law enforcement. It is the role of our elected officials to be proactive to get communities talking and to work together to best serve the population. When politicians care more about pleasing their big corporate backers instead of listening to the concerns of the citizens, there is no room for change.

If elected to the Sheriff’s Office I vow, as mentioned at my campaign kickoff, to listen to those in our county. I vow to connect with community outreach groups to bridge the gap between law enforcement and the citizens. I vow to communicate openly with the public to ensure our law enforcement officers, as well as our citizens, remain safe. Change is needed and if elected to the Sheriff’s Office I vow to bring change and to unite the county because together we are stronger!

Rose (Lattuca) Sherman, a resident of Le Roy Village Green, turned 104 on Saturday and her birthday was celebrated by staff and with family sending her well-wishes through a window.

Lattuca grew up in Scottsville and lived most of her in Le Roy where she was popular as a babysitter and caretaker for many years. She worked for 20 years for the Genesee Country Museum. She was married to the late Jon C. Sherman Sr. Her four children: John (Pam) Sherman, Tom Sherman, Sandy (Tim) McCulley, Charles (Mindy) Sherman. He has 14 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren, and 14 great-great grandchildren.

She has never had a driver's license.

Photos and information submitted by Janice Sherman.

Al Lang turned 80 on Saturday and his friends and families organized a parade to celebrate his birthday.

Lang worked at Pepsi in Batavia for most of his life. When he retired from Pepsi, he started a landscaping business, Country Caretakers, and also ran for the town board of Batavia and became a town councilman. He has nine children, 40 grandchildren, and 17 great-grandchildren, with two on the way. 

Photos and information submitted by Dave Alvord.

Aerial photos submitted by Anthony Sweet.

Photos below by Bonnie Marrocco.

Over the past couple weeks, Genesee County school districts -- like others throughout the state -- have been gearing up for Tuesday’s counting of paper ballots that will determine the outcome of 2020-21 budgets, propositions and board of education elections.

Now, per an executive order signed on Sunday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, it looks as though they’ll have to wait a bit longer.

The legislation extends the deadline for submitting school budget absentee ballots by mail through June 16, while retaining the requirement that ballots can be delivered by hand to school offices through 5 p.m. tomorrow.

“Obviously, it will delay our process by a week,” said Scott Rozanski, Batavia City School District business administrator. “Tentatively, we will begin to count on June 16 once mail is received.”

Rozanski said he has yet to receive specific guidance on the legislation, which also extends the deadline to submit absentee ballots for the Primary Election until June 23 -- the day of the election.

In a press release, Cuomo said “the COVID-19 pandemic has changed our world, and while we are making great progress and the numbers keep going down, no New Yorker should have to choose between their health and their right to vote.”

Robert Schneider, executive director of the New York State School Boards Association, said, in a press release, the delay muddles the school budget process even further.

“The executive order will likely cause confusion among voters in districts that did not face supply chain issues, thereby adding to what has been an extremely frustrating, costly and cumbersome board election and school budget vote process,” Schneider said.

Rozanski and John Fisgus, Oakfield-Alabama Central School superintendent, said they are ready to count their district’s ballots, and both are reporting a significant increase in voter participation.

“We received over 300 ballots a day for the first four days (since May 29) and now they're coming in at around 150 per day,” Rozanski said. “This will be the highest number of votes since I arrived in 2003. We have already exceeded the highest number, which was in 2012-13.”

Last year, about 550 votes were cast in Batavia.

At Oakfield-Alabama, Fisgus said that more than 700 ballots had been received as of last Friday – more than three times the number of voters in 2019.

As far as counting the ballots is concerned, both districts have their teams in place and will be forming an “assembly line” with different people assigned to specific tasks – opening the envelopes, distributing the ballots and counting the votes separately for the budget, other propositions and school board election.

They also said that guidelines are in place to ensure voter anonymity since the outside of the envelopes have to be signed in order to be considered. 

“(Starting at 5 p.m. on June 16) we will open the envelopes but the ballots will remain folded as not to see the information checked as it must remain anonymous and separated from the envelope,” Fisgus said.

He said the ballots will be placed in a secure lock box, and the two teams counting the ballots will be charged with tallying the budget votes, capital project vote, bus purchase and board member votes.

“Once all the legal ballots have been counted, the teams will come together for a final tally of the propositions and board candidates,” said.

Rozanski said the Batavia district is using a local vendor to assist in the process.

“We have partnered with ABS (Applied Business Systems) to have the mailed ballots delivered to them using their Business Reply Mail permit,” he said. “Each day we receive notification of the ballots received and an employee picks up the mail. In addition, ballots could still be dropped off at the Administrative wing at Batavia High School (by 5 p.m. tomorrow).”

To be eligible to vote, persons must be a U.S. citizen, 18 years of age or older, and be a resident of the school district for at least 30 days prior to June 9 – all in accordance with the provisions of section 5-106 of the Election Law.

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Reigle to Run for Batavia Spot

The Batavia City School District has another candidate for the school board as John Reigle has thrown his hat into the ring as a write-in.

He joins incumbents Tanni Bromley and Barbara Bowman as well as recent appointee Alice Ann Benedict in the race for the three open board seats.

The two candidates receiving the most votes will serve from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2023, while the third-place candidate’s term will be June 9, 2020 through June 30, 2021.

While livestreaming yesterday's protest/march, I was also video recording with my DSLR camera. Here are key points from three hours of recording edited into 20 minutes so that you might, hopefully, be able to get a flavor of the day's event in a condensed version.

I hope and trust that the editing has maintained an accurate reflection of the event. A few people have complained that during the livestream, they couldn't hear interviews. The iPhone used for the livestream is an omnidirectional mic. It picks up everything. The shotgun mic on my DSLR is directional, so you will be better able to here the excerpts from those interviews in this video.

This is a significant event in Batavia's history. Please watch.

For more photos, visit Steve Ognibene's photo gallery. 

Press release from AAA:

Today’s national average price for a gallon of gasoline is $2.03, which is 5 cents higher than a week ago. One year ago, the price was $2.76. The New York State average is $2.20 – 2 cents higher than last week. A year ago, the NYS average was $2.90.

AAA Western and Central New York (AAA WCNY) reports the following averages:

• Batavia -- $2.25 (up 3 cents since last week)
• Buffalo -- $2.19 (down 1 cent since last week)
• Ithaca -- $2.11 (up 1 cent since last week)
• Rochester -- $2.20 (no change since last week)
• Rome -- $2.21 (up 3 cents since last week)
• Syracuse -- $2.10 (up 1 cent since last week)
• Watertown -- $2.19 (up 1 cent since last week)

The national average price for a gallon of gasoline has topped $2, after spending months below that $2 mark due to inactivity among motorists, low demand and slowed production.

Prices have been slowly rising as states reopen and demand for gasoline increases for both work and recreation purposes. While demand is on the rise, levels are still lower than one year ago.

Expect prices to continue to increase as the summer travel season gets underway. This year, AAA expects road trips to be very popular.

From GasBuddy:

"It's no surprise that gasoline prices have increased for the sixth straight week as gasoline demand has hit its highest level since early March as Americans are returning to the roads," said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy.

"With OPEC extending its large oil production cuts until at least July, oil prices continue to rally. In Sunday evening trade, a barrel of WTI crude oil briefly touched $40 per barrel, the highest level in months thanks to rebounding demand for oil and gasoline as well as the previous production cuts.

While I don't see oil's strength holding too long given that oil demand remains 20-25 percent below a year ago, I believe the anxiety pushing oil prices up is coming from the fact that the economy may be recovering quicker than most anticipated. For now, motorists will likely continue to see gas prices rising for the weeks ahead."

A one-vehicle rollover accident is reported in Pavilion at Transit and Keller roads. A female sustained a back injury and is unable to exit the vehicle. A male complains of head pain.

Bethany Fire Department is responding along with two Mercy ambulances.

UPDATE 8:45 p.m.: Extrication equipment is requested and more manpower from Bethany.

UPDATE 8:56 p.m.: The patient with the back injury has been extricated.

A caller in the 6800 block of Transit Road in Elba reports to dispatchers that four-wheelers are traveling up and down the roadway at a high rate of speed and the operators are not wearing helmets. Sheriff's deputies are responding.

Photos submitted by Brandon Lewis.

A referral for a special use permit and area variance for an addition of 20 housing units at DePaul Apartments, 555 E. Main St., Batavia, is on the agenda for Thursday’s Genesee County Planning Board meeting via Zoom videoconferencing.

Paul Schreiner of Parrone Engineering of East Rochester, acting on behalf of DePaul Properties, filed building permit, special use permit and Zoning Board of Appeals area variance applications for the construction of a 20,100-square-foot, two-story, 20-dwelling unit addition to the existing 42-unit development.

The current 49,786-square-foot multifamily complex on the north side of Route 5, west of Eastown Plaza, was built in 2009. Applicants for the one- and two-bedroom apartments must meet eligibility requirements of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program.

The project also will include the expansion of the existing parking area, adjustment of the existing storm drainage system and site grading. Whitney East of Rochester has been selected as the general contractor.

Following a review and recommendation by county planners, the proposal is scheduled to go before the Batavia City Planning & Development Committee on June 16 for a site plan review and then to the City ZBA on June 25 to review and act on required variances.

Variances required are as follows:

-- The maximum permitted number of dwelling units per building is 16 for large-scale multifamily developments. Currently, there are 42 units and 20 more are proposed for a total of 62.

-- Buildings in large-scale multifamily developments are required to be set back from interior roads, driveways and parking lots by at least 20 feet; eight feet is proposed.

-- Off-street parking is required at a rate of 1.5 spaces for each dwelling unit. The proposal calls for a total of 56 parking spaces at a rate of .90 spaces per dwelling unit. Currently, there are 32 spaces for the 42 units.

Other items on the agenda include:

-- A referral of the “final plat” of the Clinton Gardens Subdivision filed by Batavia Homes & Development on property behind 387 Garden Drive.

The proposal outlines the division of a portion of the property’s 11 acres into six separate parcels, with five of them dimensioned for development and the remaining portion to be set aside for future development.

The application was approved by the City Planning & Development Committee last June 18, contingent upon the owner submitting a “final plat” with one year.

Documents filed in 2019 by Robert Padanick, senior project manager for Nussbaumer & Clarke Inc., of Buffalo, indicate the owner is seeking to extend existing Carolwood Drive and Harrold Square – connecting two public dead-end streets – and allowing development of five new lots.

Additionally, about 460 feet of new pavement will be constructed, along with sanitary sewer, water and drainage utilities that previously were approved by city and county officials.

-- A referral for a special use permit submitted by Martin Rivers for a motor vehicle repair shop within a commercial district at 5278 Clinton Street Road (on the property of R&D Electronics).

The permit is required per Article III of the Town of Stafford zoning code.

Documents for the business, Rivers Performance, indicate that the shop will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, with one to five cars on site and no outside storage.

Rivers is no longer operating a shop at his former location on Liberty Street.

-- A referral from Brickhouse Commons LLC, for a special use permit to operate a drive-thru business on Route 77, across from Pembroke Central High School.

According to submitted documents, the plan is to build a three-story, 32,000-square-foot multiuse building featuring 8,200 square feet of space for retail businesses as well as indoor parking and fitness area for tenants on the first floor and 17 apartments on the second and third floors.

J&R Fancher Property Holdings LLC, previously proposed the $3 million project at the Buffalo East Technology Park, located in the Town of Pembroke’s Interchange District.

-- A referral for a special use permit from Nixon Peabody law firm of Rochester on behalf of Blue Sky Towers III LLC, and Bell Atlantic Mobile Systems LLC (Verizon Wireless) to construct and operate a 155-foot cell phone communications tower (plus 4-foot lightning rod) on the property of Jeff and Patricia Jarosinski near 6811 Batavia Byron Road in the Town of Byron.

According to a letter to the Town of Byron Planning Board, Blue Sky will construct and own the tower and associated components for the benefit of Verizon Wireless (and potential subsequent users of the tower), with Verizon leasing a 100- by 100-foot area from the property owners.

Since the site is located in an Agricultural-Residential zone, a special use permit and site plan approval from the Town of Byron Planning Board are required.

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For more information about Thursday’s meeting, contact the Genesee County Planning Department at (585) 815-7901. County planners generally make recommendations of referrals, which then are moved on to municipal planning boards and zoning boards of appeals.

More photos from today's March for Justice in Batavia by Philip Casper.

A physical fight among about a dozen people in the 100 to 200 block of Ross Street in the city is reported. Police are responding.

UPDATE 2:33 p.m.: Police are on scene.

UPDATE 3:02 p.m.: Police report the situation is under control.

Photos by Jim Burns, taken this morning at the protest "March for Justice" in Downtown Batavia.

A blue Honda Odyssey and a red Chevrolet SUV collided at East Main and Bank streets in Downtown Batavia, partially blocking traffic. No words on injuries.

Batavia police, fire and Mercy medics responded.