Mary Tucker was packed and ready to leave her house with some important items Friday.

She had some 2017 pay stubs and insurance documents in a box. Just as she was heading out, her husband asked if she could grab some of his paperwork and take that as well.

“I said that I was all ready to go. I told him no,” Tucker said at the annual Shred Day event downtown. “This is wonderful.”

Hosted by Brighton Securities, this was the 12th yearly event to take in people’s old documents and securely shred them to eliminate any opportunities for identity theft.

There were about a dozen Brighton Securities employees helping to unload boxes and bags of papers — taxes, junk mail, receipts, personal and professional documents deemed obsolete by folks, you name it — and feed them into the shredding truck.

There was even a video camera and screen so that people could view their items being shredded in the moment to know that stuff is actually gone.

What began as a courtesy to customers that first year has blossomed into a free yearly event for a busy line of vehicles, branch manager Steve Hicks said. The event was scheduled from noon to 2 p.m.

“It has grown every year,” he said, as staff members encouraged visitors to grab a bottle of water on their way out. “And now people are so concerned with security, and cybersecurity. It has been nonstop. They started coming at 11:40, and we may even extend it an hour or two.”

The Oakfield-Alabama Boys Tennis team was invincible until it wasn't.

The Hornets finish the season at 15-1 after droppingthe Class B3 Section V final to Cal-Mum 3-2.

Thursday's Games: 

• Preston Tobolski over Lorenzo Martelle 6-2, 6-1
• Mason Cadieux lost to Nate Doll 3-6, 4-6
• Randy McIntire lost to Oliver Johnson 5-7 (7-3) 6-0, 6-0
• Carson Warner/Trevor Enes lost to Garrett Thompson/Jeremiah Anderson 6-2, 6-3
• Tyler Jirovec/Colton Yasses over Michael Gere/Max Poray 4-6, 6-3, 6-2

This was a great final," said Coach David Carpino. "I'm extremely proud of our team. They are a great bunch of kids, and they had a great season.  I will miss them!"

Photos by Kristin Smith. For more, click here.

Batavia, the #2 seed in the Section V Class B Girls Softball tournament, beat Midlakes on Thursday to advance to the finals, where they will face #1 seed Waterloo on Saturday.

The final score was 5-4.

Libby Grazioplene was 2-4 with three RBIs, including driving in the winning run with a  two-run single.

Julia Clark was 2-3. 

Lila Fortes had an RBi while going 1-4.

Giana Mruzcek tossed a complete game for the win, striking out nine.

Saturday's game is at 11 a.m. at Webster Thomas High School.

Photos by Kristin Smith.  For more, click here.

Move over Islands Hawaiian Grill, a new name, concept and slightly revised menu will be truckin’ into town within the next month or so, owner Kourtney Kunichika says.

She and business partner Mike McCartan plan to unveil the Islands Hawaiian BBQ food truck by the end of June or early July in Genesee County, with other eventual stops to be in Erie and Monroe counties. The grill's last day will be June 10. 

“What I would like people to come away with is an authentic taste of Hawaiian comfort food. Japanese comfort food. And then the fusion of Hawaiian and Japanese comfort food into something that you can walk away with easy. Or take away easy. Street food, that's what I would like,” McCartan of West Seneca said during an interview Friday with The Batavian. “It has to be quality. It does. That's the most important thing. I would like people to walk up, look, maybe (they’re) a little bit uneasy. But hopefully, there's a big wide opening smile to draw people in. Just give us a try. Give it a try. You'll like it.”

Given the positive reception that the brick-and-mortar restaurant has received in Batavia, Kunichika is confident that people are open to trying new cuisines and will enjoy a taste of the islands once they do give it a try. 

She and McCartan are counting on that willingness to transfer to the food truck concept, which will be a quicker-paced lunch experience for items such as a hot chicken sandwich or a shrimp po’boy, a lunch of white rice and mac salad plate, kalua pork and cabbage, Hawaiian bbq short ribs, fish tacos or a big island burger.

Islands Grill opened in August 2019, and it found success at Batavia City Centre on Main Street with an outdoor patio and a regular customer base, Kunichika said. One “bittersweet” aspect of closing the doors will be “I feel like I let my customers down,” she said.

“Because there's a lot of customers, you know, we have a lot of regular customers,” she said. “And we want to be able to offer them the island-style food, and show that we really appreciate and acknowledge that they've been very positive and just definitely built relationships with them and friendships that we want to maintain, and see how they're doing and be able to serve them as well.”

She recently notified her staff of 10 to 15 employees that June 10 will be the site’s last day. Regular business hours for the restaurant will be from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. June 9 and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. June 10.

Kunichika and McCartan hope to have the food truck wrapped in its new logo and on display in front of the restaurant for a special Pride weekend and trial run event from 10 p.m. to midnight on June 9.

As they’re learning — McCartan especially, since his role is the administrator and taking care of county health department and state permits --  is that paperwork can be a time-consuming process. Fingers crossed, they’d like to be serving out of the truck that evening.

McCartan has been a patron of Islands Grill over the last several months, he said, and he and Kunichika struck up a friendship and have been kicking around ideas for some time now. Add to that the arrival of Ryann, Kourtney and her wife Cait’s daughter, and raising a family has added to the stress of restaurant hours and responsibilities, Kourtney said.

“It’s hard not owning the building. And I'm realizing parking is kind of tough in this location. But more so, it's me kind of just now having a family — we have a daughter. She was born almost a year ago now,” she said. “So I think for me, it's just, I'm looking for something with a little more flexibility while being able to still serve the food I really enjoy, and I want to bring to people still in Genesee County, but also Rochester and Buffalo, I'm hoping to be able to serve them as well.”

Anyone with Islands Grill gift certificates may use them at the food truck or redeem them for cash at the restaurant. Food truck hours and dates will be posted online, and the business partners would like to book entire days, versus a few hours at a time, in Genesee County. If any businesses have a parking lot or space for them to set up for a time period, they want to hear from you at islandshawaiianbbq@gmail.com.

This business can even go year-round, McCartan said, and bust through the winter doldrums.

“Say, it’s February, and everyone’s sick of the snow, and you want to have a little get-together, we’ll cater it,” he said. “And we’ll bring a luau to wherever.”

Property owner Ken Mistler said that he has no one going into the restaurant location, which had previously been Larry's Steakhouse. If anyone is interested in a turnkey restaurant, contact Mistler at nys1@me.com.

Press Release:

We have been alerted through the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) of a scam targeting families we may have recently served. The predators are targeting those who have recently experienced a death by using recently published obituaries as well as those who may have made preneed funeral arrangements.

For the families who have recently experienced a death, scammers posing as a member of the funeral home’s staff are calling to tell families that they owe another $1,000 (or some other amount) for the service.

Families are also being contacted to say that a “security deposit” of $1,500 (or some other amount) is needed for their preneed account. The scammers threaten that if the deposit is not paid immediately, the funeral home cannot guarantee that the service will take place.

“While we have not been made aware of any specific instance of this scam happening locally, we certainly encourage all families in our community to be aware of this ongoing situation and to contact their funeral home of preference independently of any phone call received making such claims,” said Justin D. Calarco-Smith, funeral director and president of H.E. Turner & Co. and its affiliated funeral homes in Genesee and Wyoming counties. “If this is indeed happening in our area, we’d like to be aware,” added Calarco-Smith.

Press Release:

Nearly 100 youths gather in Washington D.C. to protest Altria Group, Inc.’s shareholder meeting and expose Big Tobacco’s lies and schemes to addict kids. 

Last week, Abbigayle Leone and Judith Newton - Reality Check leaders from Batavia High School - joined more than 125 youth and advocates from 15 different states to protest Altria Group, Inc.’s 2023 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. These advocates held a demonstration outside Altria’s Washington, D.C. office, while several youth activists had proxy tickets to directly address Altria’s executives and ask questions during the virtual shareholders’ meeting.

“I’m so proud of my youth for fighting against the manipulative tactics the tobacco industry uses to target them,” said Brittany Bozzer, Youth Coordinator at Tobacco-Free Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming (TF-GOW). “After using their powerful voices in Washington, D.C., the teens plan to continue to address the challenges of tobacco use in their communities back home, as well as mobilize their peers to take action.”

This year marks the eighth consecutive year that Mobilize Against Tobacco Lies (MATL), a collaborative of youth programs and national partners, gathered to expose and fight back against the tobacco giant’s lies. Reality Check youth from across New York State rallied with a coalition of seven tobacco control youth programs and five national partners, including Michigan Making It County, Texas Say What, New Hampshire Dover Youth to Youth, Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaii, Wisconsin FACT, Delaware Kick Butts Generation, Indigenous Peoples Task Force, Corporate Accountability, Counter Tools, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Center for Black Health and Equity and Truth Initiative.

Altria sells the number one most popular cigarette brand among kids, Marlboro, and has long targeted kids and other vulnerable groups with its products. Altria claims to be “moving beyond smoking,” but the truth is that they rake in billions from cigarettes and other tobacco products, hook kids with new products like e-cigarettes, and fight real efforts to reduce tobacco use.

Despite Altria and the tobacco industry’s efforts, the United States has made great progress to reduce youth smoking. However, the latest government survey shows over 3 million U.S. middle and high school students still use tobacco products, including over 2.5 million who use e-cigarettes.

Reality Check is a teen-led, adult-run program that seeks to prevent and decrease tobacco use among young people throughout New York State. For more information about Reality Check, visit realitycheckofny.org.

Submitted photo courtesy of Gretchen Galley

An alleged open burn with smoke blowing into a residence is reported at 86 South Main St., Batavia.

City Fire dispatched.

Law enforcement is in route.

Press Release: 

Starting May 30, Genesee County Offices will shift their hours of operation from the previous hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. to the summer hours of 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 

As in years past, this slight shift of hours will not affect the total number of hours that County Offices will be open to the public. 

These new hours will remain in effect until Sept. 1.

Press Release:

The West Division Champion, Batavia Muckdogs, have announced their final 10 more members to their 2023 roster. The final Muckdgos include Giuseppe Arcuri from Saint Leo University, James Aselta from Lafayette College, Garrett Beaver from Salisbury University, Tucker Beving University of Wisconsin-Stout, Trace Florio from Lafayette College, Sean Ladd from Dallas College Mountain View, Eric Swiencicki from Le Moyne College, Michael Pedraza from Kentucky St. University, Ben Webber from Salve Regina University, and Lucas Lopez from St. Thomas University.

Standing at 5'9 and weighing 175 pounds, Giuseppe Arcuri is an infielder from Saint Leo University. This past year saw Giuseppe crush the ball when he hit 4 home runs, 17 RBIs, and a .934 on-base slugging. Also, in 2017, Giuseppe won a state championship with the Allentown Redbirds.

Standing at 6’1 weighing 195 pounds, James Aselta is a utility guy from Lafayette College. With an 86-mile-per-hour fastball in his arsenal as well as being able to play behind the plate and in the infield, James will be a great platoon option for this Muckdogs roster. His freshman year saw him pitch 10.2 innings, took 8 at-bats, and had a perfect fielding percentage.

Standing at 6’1 and weighing 175 pounds, Garrett Beaver is a pitcher from Salisbury University. Garrett will be a great addition to the Batavia bullpen due to his 9.2 innings of relief work this past season, he put up a 2.79 era, 11 strikeouts and a 1.03 whip. 

Standing at 6’0 and weighing 150 pounds, Tucker Beving is a pitcher from the University of Wisconsin-Stout. Tucker in his freshman season in 8 appearances, recorded 38 strikeouts, a 3-1 record, and opponents had a .239 batting average when Tucker was on the mound.

Standing at 6’0 and weighing 180 pounds, Trace Florio is a left-handed pitcher from Lafayette College. Trace, in high school, was named Most Valuable Pitcher and was a member of the All-FAA First Team during his junior season.

Standing at 6'3 weighing 250 pounds, Sean Ladd is a first and third baseman from Dallas College Mountain View. This past season saw Sean have a .282 batting average, 2 home runs, and a .791 on-base slugging. Also, on stolen bases, he went an efficient 6 for 7.

Standing at 5'11 and weighing 190 pounds, Eric Swiencicki is a pitcher from Le Moyne College. Swiencicki, in his 29 innings pitched this last season, saw him go 2-1 in his 14 total appearances, get 34 strikeouts, and only walk 8 batters.

Standing at 5’10 and weighing 190 pounds, Michael Pedraza is a pitcher from Kentucky St. University. Pedrazza is another addition to the bullpen where he’ll show why this past season, in his 30.2 innings pitched, he recorded 32 strikeouts.

Standing at 6’6 and weighing 210 pounds, Ben Webber is a pitcher from Salve Regina University. The second tallest pitcher on the team, Ben, in the previous season, had 3 starts in which he did not have a loss to his name and also recorded 12 strikeouts to only 3 walks.

Standing at 5’9 and weighing 175 pounds, Lucas Lopez is a second baseman from St. Thomas University. This past season, Lucas had a .216 batting average, along with 12 runs batted in and a .346 on-base percentage.

You can catch the brand new 2023 Batavia Muckdogs complete roster in their home opener at Dwyer Stadium against the Elmira Pioneers on Saturday, June 3rd. Following the opener will be a fireworks display for all to enjoy. For both individual and season tickets, as well as keeping up with future games and promotional nights, please check out our website https://www.canusamuckdogs.com/ or call 585-524-2260!

Press release:

Dennis Maid of Byron, a longtime league bowler and officer, was elected as a director of the Genesee Region USBC at the association's annual banquet at Batavia Downs Gaming.

Maid, 63, has served as president of the Tuesday Coed League at Mancuso Bowling Center in Batavia for the past four years and previously was the president of the Wednesday Firefighters League at Mancuso’s for 10 years.

A bowler for 50 years, he also competes in a league at Midway Lanes in Vestal, not far from his full-time work as the pulmonary manager for UHS Binghamton General Hospital and UHS Wilson Medical Center in Johnson City. Maid, a consistent 175 average bowler, commutes from the Binghamton area on a regular basis, making sure to be back in Batavia to bowl on Tuesdays.

Maid fills a vacant director with a term expiring in 2025.

Association Vice President Jerry Davis of Pavilion was re-elected for another three-year term, as were directors Gary Gilman of Albion and Alishia Foss of Brockport. Currently, the association has one more vacant director post.

More than 50 people attended the banquet, which was highlighted by comments from guest speaker Patric Donaghue of Rochester, a former Batavian who will be inducted into the New York State Bowling Hall of Fame next month.

Donaghue has excelled in both the Senior Professional Bowlers Association -- cashing in multiple tournament -- and at the USBC Championships, where he has a 202 average in 25 years of competition on the challenging oil patterns.

A product of youth leagues at the former Moose Lanes and at Mancuso’s in Batavia, Donaghue competed in the Classic League for a couple years – recording a then Batavia Bowling Association-record 778 series -- before moving to Rochester after college in 1981. 

“I have to credit Batavians Dave and Tony Martino for helping me get rid of the hop at the end of my approach – they worked with me for several hours – and also (former Batavian) Ray DiSanto for giving me lessons,” he said.

Donaghue rolled the first of his 14 300 games in 1986, but he said he took some time off.

“When I came back in 1995, the game changed dramatically,” he said.

Still, he became a student of the game and teacher, guiding his son and daughter, who are accomplished bowlers. Donaghue went on to obtain his PBA card and made his mark on the regional circuit by cashing in five of six PBA50 events in 2010 and four of five in 2011.

Inducted into the Rochester NY USBC Hall of Fame in 2008, Donaghue has three Rochester Senior Masters titles and is a former champion of the Brockmyre scratch singles tournament in Newark. He also placed first in a NYS USBC Senior tournament in 2018.

He will be inducted into the NYS Hall of Fame on June 3 at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona.

In other action at the banquet, seasonal leaders were honored, as follows:

• High Series, Men, Robbie Hanks (Oak Orchard Bowl), 848; Women, Traci Spanitz (Le Roy Legion Lanes, 733.
• High Average, Men, Curtis Foss (Oak Orchard Bowl), 239; Traci Spanitz (Le Roy Legion Lanes), 213.
• High Game, Men, 300 by 38 bowlers; Women, Alishia Foss (Mancuso Bowling Center), 300.
• High Youth Series, Boys, Ben Sputore, (Mancuso Bowling Center), 645; Girls, Allie Faryna (Perry Bowling Center), 523.
• High Youth Game, Boys, Dominic LaPiana (Mount Morris Lanes), 279; Girls, Gianna LaPiana (Mount Morris Lanes), 218.
• High Average, Boys, Ben Sputore (Mancuso Bowling Center), 183; Girls, Allie Faryna (Perry Bowling Center), 150.

Association Tournament champions also were recognized with plaques.

• Open Team -- Nothnagle Drilling (Le Roy Legion Lanes), Kristin Clements, Jeff Nothnagle, Andrew Martin and Polly Nothnagle; Women's Team -- Perry Girls, Montana Bzduch, Joann Van Duser, Katy Bzduch and Rachel Huntz.
• Open Doubles -- Steve and Cory Werner (Perry Bowling Center); Women's Doubles -- Roe Smith and Missy Potter (Mount Morris Lanes).
• Open Singles -- Matthew Hurlburt (Perry Bowling Center); Women's Singles -- Barbara Casavant (Oak Orchard Bowl, Albion).
• Open All-Events -- Jeff Nothnagle (Le Roy Legion Lanes); Women's All-Events -- Traci Spanitz (Le Roy Legion Lanes).

Winners of the grand prize drawing were Kevin Wallace of Stafford, Jason Jennings of Le Roy and Jared Zinkievich of Medina, $500 each, and Dennis Van Duser of Perry, Paul Spiotta of Batavia, William Yates of Churchville and Zachary Farruggia of Mount Morris, $25 each.

Association President Gary Kuchler has announced that the league secretary meetings for the 2023-24 season will take place on Aug. 15 at T.F. Brown's in Batavia and Aug. 17 at Mount Morris Lanes, both at 6:30 p.m.

It's about sportsmanship. It's about understanding. It's about working together for a common goal. It's about giving opportunity to those who might not otherwise get an opportunity.

That's why Pembroke has, for the second season in a row, brought together a Unified Basketball team and held an Assembly Game at the end of the team's regular six-game schedule so the whole school can join in and cheer for fellow students who don't often get opportunities to hear the applause and pep songs rooting them on.

The Unified Basketball team is comprised of students with intellectual disabilities and students who do not have those disabilities so they can all enjoy competing together.

"I think it teaches them understanding," said Pembroke HS Principal Nathan Work, who is also one of the team's coaches. "I think it teaches them commitment. I think it teaches them to help one another."

The players on the unified team gain popularity during the season because of the recognition they get.  Their baskets after games are announced over the PA system at the school. They get to wear jerseys.  They know what it means to represent their classmates.

"It's palpable on campus," Work said. "You can feel it. Some of the students are mostly in self-contained classrooms, but they walk around the halls, and they're legends right there with the announcements of their scores.  You see the other players in the stands today. They're cheering for kids that otherwise wouldn't have a chance to wear the Pembroke uniform or the Pembroke colors."

On Thursday, the Unified Dragons played in front of the entire school against the City Honors Centaurs from Buffalo. The game had all the hoopla of a homecoming game with the pep band, cheerleaders, and the school's mascot.

Pembroke Superintendent Matthew Calderon said the Assembly Game is an amazing event.

"It's one of those events that you root for both sides, no matter what happens," Calderon said. "You know, kids with special needs are important. We're happy that we've got some people willing to invest the time and make this happen for them."

Right now, Pembroke competes against teams from Section VI because there aren't enough schools in Section V participating in this program of the Special Olympics.  He's hoping that will change.  Work and the other coaches recently made a presentation about the program to Genesee Valley BOCES, and Calderon said he thinks other schools in Genesee County are considering forming united basketball teams.

"Because of Pembroke's leadership, other teams are getting interested," Calderon said. "Hopefully, if every school in  Genesee County gets involved, we could be closer together and play each other and have like a Genesee Region League.  I think that could happen in a couple of years."

Photos by Howard Owens.

Press release:

Cub Scouts from Pack 6069 and Boy Scout Troop 6069 placed flags in front of the headstones of veterans at the Batavia Historical Cemetery on Thursday, May 25.

The Troop has been working with the cemetery's historical society for several years on this project. 

It is a pleasure for the Scouts to provide this service to their community. 

Pack 6069 Committee Chairman Bill Brown made sure to take the Cub Scouts to the grave site of Samuel Wood, who is buried there. Sam Wood is the namesake of the Western New York Scout Council Cub Scout Resident Camp located in Pike. Sam Wood was the first Eagle Scout recorded in Genesee County. 

Boy Scout Troop 6069 is chartered through the First Presbyterian Church in Batavia, and Cub Scout Pack 6069 meets at Jackson Primary School.

Photos submitted by Judy Schildwaster.

Press release:

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that the New York Power Authority Board of Trustees approved economic development awards to three firms that will spur more than $508 million in capital investments and create 205 jobs. 

Included among the approved items are low-cost hydropower allocations to Plug Power, a New York-headquartered hydrogen fuel cell manufacturer, for further development of its Genesee County site. 

The NYPA board also approved low-cost hydropower allocations to facilitate an expansion in Niagara Falls for EnerPlate, an electroplating service provider for grid-scale battery systems, and CWT, a hatching eggs producer for the global poultry industry, expanding in Watertown. 

"New York's growing clean energy infrastructure and local economic development go hand in hand," Governor Hochul said. "The items approved today by the NYPA Board of Trustees will create good-paying jobs and spark hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in communities in Western and Northern New York." 

At today's meeting, the NYPA board approved a 50-megawatt (MW) low-cost Niagara hydropower allocation to Plug Power, located at the Genesee County's Science, Technology & Advanced Manufacturing Park (STAMP), to support the firm's $387 million green hydrogen fuel production expansion project that will lead to the creation of 19 additional jobs at the location. The firm is underway with its construction of the $290 million green hydrogen fuel production facility at the site that was announced by Governor Hochul in 2021. The expansion project will increase the capacity of the planned hydrogen production from an estimated 45 tons per day to 74 tons per day. The NYPA board also approved an additional 62 MW of High Load Factor power that NYPA will procure for Plug Power on the energy market.

The Power Authority supports Plug Power at three other locations: Slingerlands, which completed construction in January, Latham, and West Henrietta. In total, NYPA supports Plug Power with 272 MW of low-cost power, supporting more than 2,100 jobs throughout the state.

The county's $1.8 million restoration of the brick and Medina sandstone of the Genesee Justice/former Sheriff's Office on West Main Street in Batavia has been a months-long project but appears to be nearing the end.

The contract for the work was awarded to Montante Construction last June after the County Legislature realized that delaying the restoration project had only driven up the cost.

The facade of the historic structure was crumbling, with large bits of sandstone falling away from the building.

Workers removed all the sandstone and restored the underlying masonry before putting the sandstone back in place.

Tom Rivers, editor of Orleans Hub, as part of a series on Medina sandstone structures in the region, wrote about the old Sheriff's home and headquarters in 2013.

The jail is part of the Genesee County Courthouse Historic District that was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The district represents the civic core of the city and includes buildings from the 1840s to 1920s.

The collection of historic structures includes the old county courthouse, former city hall, U.S. Post Office, The Holland Land Office Museum, a county office building and a Civil War monument. The jail is the only Medina sandstone building in the disitrict. St. Mary’s Catholic Church, which is close by, also is a striking sandstone structure.

The building was constructed in 1902-03. It was designed by Poughkeepsie architect William J. Beardsley in a Victorian Gothic style. Beardsley also was the architect for the Attica State Prison and many county courthouses.

The Legislature first discussed the need for restoration in 2016 and sought grants to help cover the anticipated $500,000 costs.  Last year, Chair Shelley Stein noted, “We should be kicking ourselves for not doing it sooner, but we didn’t have the money.” 

There has been a “tremendous amount of damage” that, along with inflation, tripled the initial price estimate, County Highway Superintendent Tim Hens told legislators in June 2022. "There are pieces of stone falling from the top of the porch, and many areas of it are cracked and crumbling."

Currently, the former Sheriff's Office is the office of Genesee Justice, but Genesee Justice, and the jail behind it, will relocate later this year to the new jail facility being built by County Building #2 on West Main Street Road in the Town of Batavia.

County Manager Matt Landers said Thursday evening that the county is still evaluating possible uses for the building and is going to have SMRT, the architectural firm working with the new county on the new jail, assist in that evaluation process. Landers said he has some rough ideas of what could be done with the space but isn't at liberty just yet to publicly discuss those ideas.

Photos by Howard Owens.

On Wednesday, Batavia First Presbyterian Church issued a statement through Rev. Roula Alkhouri about the church being willing to provide care for any undocumented immigrants that show up in Genesee County during this time of a local State of Emergency and related executive order. 

The order bans entities such as hotels and motels from taking in busloads of immigrants that arrive here, which is a current fear given talk that downstate New York may be sending immigrants elsewhere, including other parts of New York. 

The Batavian asked Alkhouri for clarification about whether the church intended to provide shelter as well as amenities such as food and clothing. She responded with a revised statement Thursday in response to the Genesee County State of Emergency regarding Sustainable Migration.

In short, yes -- shelter is part of the offering.

"We, the spiritual leaders of First Presbyterian Church of Batavia,  are very concerned.  While we can't solve the country's immigration issues, we are a church that helps people, all people.  Our Christian beliefs and mission compel us to show compassion and dignity to all of those in need and don’t believe that should conflict with any laws in our country. By example our church is part of a joint ministry of many churches known as 'Los Samaritanos' which provides support on a regular basis to those who are released from the Buffalo Federal Detention Center here in Batavia," she said. "This help takes the form of providing temporary shelter, food, clothing, and/or transportation. We also provide the same kind of help for those who are in a temporary crisis. We will continue to be to help others, all others, who are in need and thus we will respond as Jesus has taught us, “for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Matthew 25:25-36."

In light of the possibility that this church, or anyone in the county, would potentially provide assistance, Landers expressed his concerns and invited others considering such a move to have a conversation with him before doing so.

Press Release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R, C - Batavia) is once again partnering with the Sunnking recycling group to offer free electronic device collection and recycling for the community. Collection day will be Saturday, June 17, from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the parking lot at 5130 E Main Street Road in Batavia. 

Pre-registration is requested of all attendees at the website https://form.jotform.com/Sunnking/Hawley23.

“Recycling is a small but impactful way we can help keep our communities clean, and I’m grateful to the good people at Sunnking for partnering with me for another year of work,” Hawley said. “Anything from cell phones to computers to TV’s can be recycled, so please, register today and help keep our communities clean!”