Press release:

Representatives from Batavia Downs have announced that Michele Ladd, the founder of National Veteran Resources, will be bringing their 32-foot wrapped RV to the Tanya Tucker Concert this Friday, Aug. 2nd, at Batavia Downs.

The National Veteran Resources website aims to help veterans and first responders get resources for PTSD, suicide prevention, and addiction.

"I wanted to do something for our veterans and first responders that make the ultimate sacrifice for us, so I decided to get 'Boots on The Ground' and try to save lives," Ladd said. "I call this 'Operation 22 to ZERO' based on the fact that 22 veterans a day are dying by suicide."

Ladd said her motivation is her two sons, who are veterans. She has their pictures, along with other military men and women printed on her RV.

During her stops, Ladd meets different veterans and first responders and interviews them on camera. She then posts the videos online, hoping it can help someone else. Ladd also visits organizations across the country to add them to the website for resources.

"It’s real, I don’t edit, it’s raw, we laugh, we cry," Ladd said. "Just in three weeks, I’ve had over 100 family members, widows, veterans, reaching out to me, sharing their stories."

Ladd said she has traveled more than 35,000 miles to raise awareness and will continue her travels as long as the good Lord allows her.

"We are pleased to welcome Michelle to be present at Friday’s concert," said Henry Wojtaszek, president and CEO at Batavia Downs Gaming. "As a veteran myself, I appreciate people who take the time to reach out and help those who have served our country.”

Doors for the Tanya Tucker concert are at 4:30 p.m., with live music, starting at 5.  All VIP and Premium tickets are sold out, but $10 General Admission tickets are available at BataviaConcerts.com or in person at the Lucky Treasures gift shop.

Submitted photo and press release:

TROY -- The Batavia Muckdogs have won a lot of close games this season. Tuesday night, the Muckdogs won not only a close game, but a game that was stopped because of rain after six innings.

Jackson Rose and Eli Villalobos combined on a "perfect" one-hitter as the Muckdogs defeated the Tri-City Valley Cats (Houston Astros), 1-0.

Rose, a 35th-round draft pick of the Miami Marlins in 2018 out of Minnesota, improved to 5-2 on the season as he went five innings, struck out four and did not allow a walk or a run. He gave up a single in the third inning.

Villalobos, a 14th-round pick of Miami in 2018, threw the sixth, striking out two and getting a ground out to Nic Ready at third topic up his second save of the season.

After that play, the rains came down and the thunder and lightning were closer and the game was called.

Batavia improved to 26-18, and remains in first place in the New York-Penn League Pinckney Division.

Julian Infante, who joined the Muckdogs Tuesday from the Gulf Coast League, singled and scored the only run of the game.

Infante, a first baseman, was a 36th round draft pick of Miami this year and played at Vanderbilt. he is a Miami native.

Catcher Andres Sthormes singled in Infante for the game-winning RBI in the fifth inning. Another new Muckdog (who has played Batavia), Harrison Dinicola, had a single and Jack Strunc also singled.

After Batavia took a 1-0 lead, Rose had a seven-pitch inning thanks to the defense of Muckdogs' left fielder J.D. Orr. The first batter, Joe Perez, hit a low-liner to left and Orr made a running, diving catch and rolled twice, holding onto the ball. With little time to enjoy the grab, C.J. Stubbs then hit what appeared to be a base hit and again made a great catch.

Batavia is at Tri-City on Wednesday and Thursday.

The team returns home to Batavia on Friday to play the Connecticut Tigers. Check muckdogs.com for a new ticket special for Friday's game, a family four-pack of tickets is just $20. The game is at 7:05 p.m.

The Muckdogs also play at home Saturday at 7:05 p.m. and Sunday at 5:05 p.m.

There will be fireworks on Saturday and specials all three games.

Tickets are available at muckdogs.com or stop by the Dwyer Stadium Ticket office between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. during the week. The number is 585-483-3647.

Photo: Eli Villalobos earned his second save of the year, throwing a perfect inning with two strikeouts as the Batavia Muckdogs defeated the Tri City Valley Cats, 1-0 in a game called after six innings because of rain. Batavia is 26-18 and in first place.

Defense and prosecution attorneys delivered closing statements in a last attempt to persuade jurors to adopt their interpretations of the evidence from the July 24, 2018, murder of Raymond L. Morgan in his 111 Liberty St., Batavia, home.

After five days of the trial and three hours of deliberations, Richard D. Hanes was convicted of murder in the second degree this afternoon. The jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict to a suspense-filled courtroom packed with family members, legal counsel and law enforcement personnel.

A hazardous weather outlook was issued by the National Weather Service in Buffalo at 2:59 p.m. for Genesee County and other parts of Western New York, as well as North Central New York.

This afternoon and tonight expect scattered thunderstorms that may contain gusty winds and produce heavy downpours through early evening.

Lindsay A. Clemm, 37, of Batavia, was arrested on July 28 following a traffic stop on Route 19 in the Town of Warsaw. Clemm was stopped for allegedly going 56 mph in a 30-mph zone on South Main Street near Jefferson Street in the Village of Warsaw. Multiple other traffic infractions were allegedly observed in the Town of Warsaw while Wyoming County Sheriff's deputes attempted to get Clemm's vehicle to pull over. Clemm allegedly failed field sobriety tests. Clemm's vehicle was towed from the scene and she was taken to the Sheriff's Office where she was evaluated by a drug recognition expert. She was charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs and was processed and released to a third party. She is due in Town of Warsaw Court Aug. 12. The case was handled by Wyoming County Sheriff's Sgt. Colin Reagan.

James K. Penders, 47, of Pavilion, was arrested July 27 following a traffic stop for a loud muffler on Route 19 in the Town of Covington. He was allegedly found to have a revoked license dated June 22, 1996 and an expired license dated March 16, 1995. He was released with appearance tickets for Covington Town Court on Aug. 12. The case was handled by Wyoming County Sheriff's Deputy Adam Hope.

Richard D. Hanes was found guilty by a jury this afternoon of second-degree murder for the killing July 24, 2018, of Ray Morgan at 111 Liberty St., Batavia.

Murder in the second degree is a Class A-1 felony and carries a possible term of life in prison.

Hanes will be sentenced at 9:30 a.m., Aug. 28.

MORE T/K

The 16th annual Fur Ball to benefit the Spay/Neuter Program at the Genesee County Animal Shelter will be held at the Sacred Heart Social Center in the City of Batavia starting at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28.

There will be food and beverages and basket raffles and silent auctions.

Tickets are $25; tickets for children 12 and under are $15. Tables of 10 are available for $250.

Make checks payable to: Volunteers for Animals -- Spay/Neuter Program. They can be mailed to: Volunteers for Animals, P.O. Box 1621, Batavia NY 14020

The Sacred Heart Social Center is located at 17 Sumner St.

The Volunteers for Animals is now accepting new items for the auctions/raffles for the Fur Ball. They can be left at the shelter during adoption hours.

The shelter is located at 131 W. Main Street Road in the Town of Batavia.

Adoption hours are:

• Afternoons on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m.
• Also, Wednesday nights from 7 to 9
• CLOSED THURSDAYS
• Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

info@vol4animals.org

www.vol4animals.org

vfafurball@gmail.com

Press release:

Garden Talk is back from its July break! Join us on the first Thursday of the month starting this Thursday, Aug. 1.

All Garden Talk programs run from 12:15 to 12:45 p.m. Bring your lunch to the Cornell Cooperative Extension office (420 E. Main St., Batavia) and join us. This free series is open to the public. Registration is not required.

Our lineup for the remainder of the year is as follows:

Aug. 1 -- “Sensory Gardens” – Come learn about the benefits and how to create a garden for the five senses. The talk will include how they can be used as a healing therapy for people as well as encourage natural learning experiences for children. The sensory garden invites everyone to enjoy the garden and stimulate their senses.

Sept. 5 – “Growing Garlic” -- “There are many miracles in the world to be celebrated and, for me, garlic is the most deserving” -- Leo Buscaglia. Let’s celebrate Buscaglia’s appreciation of this most essential plant! Join us for a talk on all things garlic -- its history, uses, horticultural varieties and cultivation.

Oct. 3 – “Autumn Décor Demonstration” -- Join us as Master Gardener Jane Grehlinger shows us how to create a fall masterpiece from the garden.

Nov. 7 – “Gardens of England” -- Master Gardener Pam Ketchum will present brief reflections from a 13-day tour of English gardens. Highlights will include the Chelsea Flower Show, Great Dixter, Sissinghurst and Hidcote. Ketchum will share some history of the original owners, and talk about structure, garden rooms, patterning, pathways, and of course – color.

Future topics and other Master Gardener events will be posted on the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Genesee County website at http://genesee.cce.cornell.edu/.

Submitted photo and press release:

The BCSD Foundation lnc.'s Board of Directors is pleased to announce Chris Dailey as a recent recipient of the BCSD Foundation Apple Award. He was nominated by Stephen Ognibene in June.

Ognibene nominated Dailey and presented him with a Foundation Apple for many reasons. First he would like to "thank Mr. Dailey for his 11 years contributing to much success in our school district." He is a leader to his staff, students, and parents who have connected with him. He has fulfilled his motto "Take Care of BCSD" in so many ways.

Dailey has been engaged in every way with our students and family members. He attended many sporting, events, Mr. Batavia, music concerts, and his worked helped achieve the number one workplace for our district. He was a Blue Zoo participant and a Blue Devil at heart. Our community is truly thankful for the years of commitment to BCSD.

About the BCSD Foundation Apple award

It is given by a member of the school and/or local community to a Batavia City School District employee or volunteer. In the opinion of those giving the honor of this distinction, the awardee has gone above and beyond in their role and is being recognized by one or more people for these accomplishments.

Local artist, Mark Jensen, will be making each individual resin apple -- none will be exactly the same. If you are interested in giving a Foundation Apple award, please submit your nomination form and $75 (payable to the BCSD Foundation Inc., 260 State St., Batavia NY 14020, att: Allison Chua). Nomination forms may be found on our webpage (at www.bataviacsd.org under Quick Links).

Community members with questions are asked to email us at foundation@bataviacsd.org.

Photo: Nominator Stephen Ognibene and awardee -- former BCSD Superintendent Chris Dailey, now superintendent of Gates Chili Central School District in Monroe County.

A car fire, five feet from a residence, is reported at 81 Wolcott St., between Union and Clay streets in the Village of Le Roy. Le Roy Fire Department is responding.

UPDATE 12:34 p.m.: A first responder on scene reports a working car fire.

UPDATE 12:36 p.m.: A chief at the scene says "fire appears to be knocked down. Continue the equipment."

UPDATE 12:51 p.m.: The Le Roy assignment is back in service.

By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs

The first week of live racing at Batavia Downs produced some very impressive numbers for betting and attendance, showing a dramatic spike over last year. 

After the last race on Sunday was over the track had realized: a 27-percent increase of on-track handle; a 6.8-percent increase on export betting; WROTB handle up a total of 12 percent; total betting up 11 percent; and attendance up 16 percent.

“Where we are very pleased with all of our handle numbers, the most impressive stat might be the attendance,” said Todd Haight, director/general manager of Live Racing at Batavia Downs. 

“Our opening night crowd was unbelievable and that carried over into the weekend. We had the New York Sire Stakes (NYSS) and some really nice weather which helped, but there is a definite buzz about our championship meet in the area this year.”

The Batavia Downs summer/fall meet continues on Wednesday (July 31) with post time at 5 p.m. The highlight of this year’s racing session is the $1.8 million NYSS Night of Champions that will be held at the Downs on Saturday (Sept. 14).

Press release:

The Le Roy Police Department is requesting assistance in determining the owner of the items depicted in the attached photographs. These items were recovered during the investigation of a rash of larcenies from vehicles, which were entered during the overnight hours in the Village of Le Roy.

If you recognize any of these recovered items, please contact Detective John Condidorio of the Le Roy Police Department at 585-768-2527, ext. 2219.

Proof of ownership may be requested before the property can be released.

A key issue in the July 2018 murder of Raymond L. Morgan — and a crucial piece of evidence that could connect the perpetrator to the 111 Liberty St., Batavia, crime scene — is the description of the man who jumped out Morgan’s window after the bludgeoning attack. 

This pivotal detail caused defense attorney Frederick Rarick to motion for a trial dismissal for his client, Richard D. Hanes, three times yesterday. Rarick argued that without DNA evidence, finger or palm prints or identification of Hanes at the scene, the case is “all speculative as to who that subject is.”

District Attorney Lawrence Friedman responded that eyewitness accounts of Hanes are not needed to overcome the prosecution’s burden of proof. Judge Charles Zambito denied all three of Rarick's motions because “the People have established each and every element of the offense,” so the jury should be able to reach a verdict on Hanes's second-degree murder charge. 

Detective Sgt. Kevin Czora, the last witness called by the prosecution, questioned inconsistencies about the gray sweatpants and green shirt — similar to those of the unidentified suspect — found in Hanes’s bedroom closet at his former 5 Thorpe St., Batavia, house. 

The clothing items recovered from Hanes’s closet did not match either the descriptions given by witnesses or the clothing items shown in surveillance video footage from Southside Deli, Marchese Computer Products and a Goade Park residence.

The videos also captured a man who appeared to be Hanes biking from Liberty Street to Ellicott Street at 11:13 p.m., moments before Batavia PD received a 9-1-1 call to the scene at 11:14 p.m. Czora testified to the possibility that Hanes arrived at 111 Liberty St. unnoticed by making a U-turn on Goade Park and cutting behind the house. 

Rarick called witnesses Michael Elmore, Danielle Case and Bonnie Cortright to attest to their recollections of the man who fled the scene. Elmore said his statement to police was mistakenly based on the premise that the individual who jumped out the window was Morgan. 

“I gave [Batavia PD] a description that resembled Ray Morgan,” Case also told jurors. 

Rebuttal testimony from detectives Matthew Wojtaszczyk and Thad Mart offered evidence against Case and Cortright. The detectives said the suspect was bald and wore sandals despite the women’s claims that the individual had short dark hair and wore sneakers. 

The jury must sort through these contradictory descriptions starting today in Genesee County Court. Jurors will hear closing arguments and elements of the second-degree murder charge before entering verdict deliberations. Hanes can be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.

In the six months since Kim Albanese learned of her mother's and brother's death in an accident on a snow-covered road on Route 98 in Elba, it hasn't stopped hurting, she said today during a stop at the accident scene where she placed some flowers in memory of Teresa M. Norton.

Norton would have turned 54 today.

In the six months since the accident, Albanese has given birth to a daughter. She also suffered the loss of her stepfather, who was the intensive care unit at Strong Memorial Hospital when he learned that his wife of 30 years and son had died.

"It still feels like a nightmare like still trying to put the pieces back together," Albanese said. "It's so hard. It feels like yesterday that they died. I still pick up my phone and go to call her or receive a phone call from her."

Norton and her son Thomas, 22, were northbound on Oak Orchard Road when she lost control of her 2008 Suzuki on a stretch of roadway that was heavily covered by drifting snow. Her Suzuki was broadsided by a pickup truck driven by Jeffrey S. Toussaint, 59, of Albion.

"That accident destroyed three families not just ours, but the guy that hit her," Albanese said. "We feel horrible because he was an innocent party in the whole thing. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. We don't blame him at all."

Given the conditions of the road and the lack of information forthcoming from the Department of Transporation about road conditions at that time, Albanese has retained an attorney, Jon Wilson, of Buffalo.

Wilson confirmed a lawsuit has been filed.

"The State answered and served various discovery demands and we are in the process of responding to those demands," Wilson said.

Albanese said telling her stepfather of his wife's and son's deaths was one of the hardest things she's ever had to do.

The whole process has been difficult.

"You watch it on the news and you're like, 'Oh that stinks for their family. I feel bad. My heart goes out.' But when it happens to your own family -- I lost my whole family in that instant, in that split second -- and I think the hardest part is I got stuck in the detour," Albanese said. "I was just at that light and I could see the tow trucks lights.

"But it was up on the hill, just right where I couldn't see my mom's truck. And I was like 'well, that's good maybe.' People tell me it was a good thing you didn't because I didn't go into labor because I could've had my daughter at 29 weeks pregnant."

Her fiancé, Cory Vanameron, said Albanese is a strong woman to go through what she's gone through. He said he's a bit older, more experience at life, he's been through the death of loved ones before but she doesn't see how she carries on.

"I couldn't do it," he said.

"I had my daughter two months after the accident," Albanese said. "(My mom) never once got to hold her. She never once got to see her. She was so excited to have a granddaughter and now just to look at my daughter, knowing she would never experience my mom, it's heartbreaking."

Previously:

• Mother and adult son killed in crash on snow-covered Route 98 in Elba
• Witness recalls scene of double fatal accident in Elba on Saturday
• State DOT declines to address road conditions at site of double fatal accident in Elba
• Vigil held in Elba for Teresa Norton and Thomas Norton, who died in collision on Route 98

ALABAMA

An open burn in the city is reported at 130 Pearl St. City fire and law enforcement are responding. The location is between Roosevelt Avenue and Brooklyn Avenue.