Press release:

This is going to be a big weekend at Batavia Downs Casino. Honoring and remembering is the theme.

Tonight, Joseph Teresi will be honored as the Batavia Downs Casino Italian-American of the Year with a special Winners Circle ceremony. The inaugural recipient of the award, Joseph Gerace, nominated Teresi for the award. Gerace recognized the work that Teresi does in the community and how he honors his Italian heritage doing so.

Teresi is currently the vice president of Tompkins Insurance Agencies. Some of his accolades include Geneseean of the Year, YMCA Volunteer of the Year, two-time Lions Distinguished Service Award winner and “Lion of the Year” award.

He is also involved as: the current president of Regional Action Phone Line; founder and volunteer of the YMCA Challenger Sports program; member of the Notre Dame High School Education Foundation; supporter of the T.F. Brown’s/Batavia Lions club annual Christmas dinner; past president of the Genesee YMCA Lions Club; and co-chair of the recent Genesee Foundation “Encore” event.

A special Italian-American themed buffet will be served in the Clubhouse while the Formula band, known for playing traditional Italian music, will be in Grandstands Bar & Grille from 8 until midnight.

On Saturday night, two big events will be taking place. After the fourth harness race, five high school students -- Elizabeth Shuknecht from Elba High School; Kendra Wall from Notre Dame of Batavia; Natalie Tuites from Batavia High School; Conor George from Oakfield High School; and Wyatt Chittenden from Pembroke High School -- will go behind the starting gate to race for their share of $7,500 in college scholarship money.

The scholarship race is a partnership between Batavia Downs Casino, Buffalo Raceway, Harness Horse Breeders of New York and the Western New York Horsemen Association. The college scholarship breakdown is as follows: $3,000 to the winner; $2,000 to the second-place finisher; and $1,200, $800 and $500 going to the third, fourth and fifth place finishers, respectively.

All students practiced at least five times during the month of August with the driver/trainer that they will be teamed up with. They were exposed to the full equine experience associated with the racing industry. The students and their professionals will race 1-mile, that's two laps around Batavia Downs on double-seated jog carts.

Later in the evening, Benny "The Whip"  Webster and P.C. "Patsy" Rapone will be installed in the Upstate New York Harness Racing Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2011 representing Batavia Downs. Webster and the family of Rapone will be presented their Empire Pinnacle Crystal awards to mark the occasion, trackside after the 7th and 8th races.

Webster is a homegrown Western New York racing legend. He lived in Hilton, and got his first driving win at the age of 16 at the Hemlock Fair; both a mere 25 miles from Batavia Downs Casino. But that incipient stage of his development would later see a 47-year career unfold on the biggest stages of the sport as Webster would go on to win the Hambletonian, the Little Brown Jug and the Kentucky Futurity.

In a career that spanned six decades, Webster won 4,378 races and his horses earned purses of $43,197,645.

Born and raised in Caledonia, Patsy C. Rapone came from a harness-racing family; just about every relative was involved in the sport in some capacity. His father Lou Rapone was a national training and driving force from the 1950s right through the 1970s and amassed 2,069 wins in his career. So it was no surprise when Patsy left high school to go work with his dad taking care of the horses.

He started driving at age 21 at Batavia Downs in 1974. During his short career, Rapone won 2,643 races and $5.8 million in purse money. He died of brain cancer on May 16, 1996 at the age of 42.

Ken Adams had a job in Brooklyn in 2001 and on Sept. 11, with his wife home sick, it was his turn to pick up their daughter from school. 

He was late getting there, one of the last parents to arrive, and he remembers walking into the class and there was only his daughter and a little girl standing next to the teacher.

"I looked at her and she looked at me and we had the same thought at the same time," Adams recalled. "There will be some children whose parents won't be picking them up today."

Adams, the commissioner of Empire State Development, was in Batavia today for the Sept. 11 memorial ceremony, representing Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

During a brief speech, Adams described what it was like in New York City on 9/11 -- from walking his daughter home on a bright, clear blue-sky day, but with the acrid smell of the fallen twin towers in the air, to the office paper ashes falling in their small Brooklyn back yard.

"I remember getting home, looking at my little girl and thinking, 'No one knows how to tell a 6-year-old girl about evil," Adams said.

The ceremony included remarks by Council President Marianne Clattenburg, Legislator Ed DeJaneiro, State Sen. Mike Ranzenhofer and Sheriff Gary Maha.

On 9/11, Maha, along Deputy Ron Meides and another member of the department traveled to NYC to help with the relief efforts.

Maha described helping with relief efforts and visiting ground zero and seeing the devastation of the terrorist attacks.

"It's heartwarming to see everybody here today paying respect to those who lost their lives on Sept. 11," Maha said.

Adams said it's important that the country, and New York, not forget what happened on 9/11, and that we teach our children about the "brutal facts" of that day.

Remembering, he said, will provide lessons and teach us about unity.

"We are bound together in our grief over the tragedy of Sept. 11," Adams said. "We are bound by our resolve never to let Sept. 11 fade from our memories."

UPDATE: Video from WBTA.

The 2011-2012 school year has started. It is September 8 and the community pool has gone another summer without being opened. What makes this September 8 different from last September 8, though, is that there has been action taken.

In July at a very well attended open meeting, local attorney Mike Welsh made a proposal to the Le Roy Village Board to fix the pool with donations (thank you to the Giambrones) and volunteer labor. The village board in turn voted 4-1 to rescind the previous official closing of the pool and then in another vote of 4-1 made the pool and its buildings surplus, freeing them to be sold to an entity for one dollar and pledging $11,000 per year to maintain the pool.

The problem is that there has not been an entity willing to buy the pool, nor was there one at the time of the vote. A petition was also presented to the board by a concerned citizen signed by concerned citizens who pledged to fund raise and keep the pool going. In addition, the village board voted to create a pool committee to explore all of the options and try to get some answers to questions that have been asked. To date this committee has not been formed, perhaps because of the potential outlined below.

The last word that I have received indicates that the same group of concerned citizens who has been working with Mike Welsh will present an option to the Le Roy Town Council this evening. It involves the town taking over the pool with the support of the proposal made to the village board and the money the village board has pledged.

This is, of course, one of the options suggested in comments to my previous blog about the pool.

As I promised during the same discussion, I have found out more information about a referendum. The village could attach a referendum to the March 2012 public vote for little cost, whereas if we were to hold a separate referendum it would cost us about $20,000. Yes, there are town and county elections in November, but as they are not village elections, the village would have to pay to hold a referendum.

The problem is that March is a little too late to get it open for next summer. Also, I learned that a referendum is NOT binding, though it would show what the voting public wants.

I am writing today’s blog to update everyone who is interested in the pool. The Le Roy Town Council meeting takes place tonight at 7 (Thursday, Sept. 8). The pool is not a dead issue, unless you want it to be. I hope to see you there.

The red-tail hawk is equipped with piercing eyes that can spot prey from a considerable distance and spot minute movement in tall grass and underbrush. There is much to be said about his hunting ability, but an encounter with a red-tail up close is quite telling -- his weaponry speaks for itself.

That hooked bill is keen-edged like a razor and his lengthy talons are needle sharp. They are more than a match for the small mammals he hunts. You can add smaller birds and the occasional reptile to his menu and you still have but a partial list.

Despite being such a lethal and ominous-looking raptor, the red-tail is something of a romantic. He's monogamous and the courtship flight involves both the male and female soaring high on thermal currents while gliding in wide but separate circles high in the sky.

Claudia and I took these photos at the Hazard Campbell project on the Oak Orchard Wildlife Management Area.

NOTE: Rick actually submitted this article yesterday morning and we neglected to put it on the home page. Apologies to Rick and the fans of Pembroke soccer.

The Pembroke Boys Varsity Soccer team started its regular season at home Tuesday with a league game against Kendall. After a slow first half where they gave up three goals, the Dragons came out strong in the second half, scoring their first goal of the season.

Sophomore Collin Lewis got the goal on an assist from Gabe Birkby. Coach Burch and the boys were very upbeat after the game, having played a very solid game against a strong opponent. The final score was 3-1. Next Dragons game is Friday 9/9 at 4:30 p.m. at Lyndonville. Go here to see more photos of the game.

Oakfield Fire Department is responding to a reported tractor fire at Lamb Farms.

The tractor is near a building.

An Alexander fire chief was the first to call in a personal injury accident in the area of 10543 Brookville Road, Alexander.

Alexander Fire Department and ambulance dispatched.

UPDATE 1:13 p.m.: Alexander ambulance is transporting a patient to Corfu to meet up with a Mercy EMS ambulance for transport to Buffalo.

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A Facebook group has been created to support the family of Andrea Lynn Mangefrida, the 3-year-old Le Roy girl who drowned Saturday at a residence in Alexander.

Nearly 120 people have joined the group so far to express their sympathies to the Mangefrida family. There's also a PayPal donation link on the site.

M. Gary Guiste appears to have formed the group and writes, "This group is set up for the sole purpose of assisting the Andrea Lynn Mangefrida family in easing the financial burdens of medical costs and the financial burdens associated with the tragic loss of Andrea Mangefrida."

Guiste's note indicates that Andrea was an autistic child.

In an unfortunate accident that is the #1 cause of death in autistics, Andrea was taken from her family too prematurely. As a group, we want nothing more to have her back safe in her family's arms.

As a community of friends and families of police/law enforcement, EMS and fire professionals we stand ready to help the Mangefrida family with anything we can do.

An investigation into a C. difficile outbreak at UMMC has concluded, a spokesman for the NYS Department of Health announced today.

In a short note to media, Jeffrey Hammond said "strictly as a precaution" the DoH monitored UMMC following the start of the outbreak in February.

"DoH is not finding more anymore cases associated with the outbreak," Hammond said.

According to Hammond, there were two cases of "C. Diff " at UMMC in August and none at the hospital by September.

The total number of C. Diff cases from February to August was 35, with 18 attributed to the facility.

There's no record to confirm, but it's probably been decades since a new barbershop opened in Batavia.

Sure, there have been plenty of hair salons that have opened, but a barbershop, it's almost as if they went out of style with, well, styling.

According to Brandon Armstrong, barbershops remain popular in bigger cities and he decided to bring some of the same flair of the modern barbershop to Batavia.

The Batavia resident has opened City Styles at the corner of Ellicott and Liberty streets (before any of us were born, the location of a corner grocery drug store called Gioia's, but more recently, the location of Mother's Chicken & Fish).

"In the bigger cities, there's a bigger barbershop culture," said the 22-year-old Armstrong. "The barbershop is a big part of their daily life."

Besides haircuts, Armstrong also offers hot towel shaves.

There are only three barbershop schools in New York and one of them, Sheer Eagle, is in Rochester, which is where Armstrong studied. He also worked as a barber at Le Roy Manor.

"There's a big demand here for a barbershop that serves a younger crowd," Armstrong said, explaining why he opened a barbershop. "I've always wanted to be my own boss. I used to work for my cousin Brian Kemp at T-Shirts Etc. and I saw that I would like working for myself."

While Armstrong believes his shop will be the only one in town with an expertise in African-American hairstyles, he isn't putting up a barber pole out just to serve one segment of Batavia's population.

"I can cut anybody's hair," Armstrong said. "I'm well-rounded and have lots of experience with all styles."

Pictured with Armstrong is Eric Smith, Armstrong's first paying customer after Armstrong opened Wednesday afternoon.

Notes: A few weeks ago, Vic Marchese, owner of Main St. Pizza Company mentioned to me, almost offhand, that he thought it would be fun to sponsor a fantasy football contest for the 2011 NFL season. As it so happened, just of that very day, I had available the tools to make it happen. So here you go, a weekly football challenge sponsored by Main St. Pizza Company.

Each week, you will be asked to pick an NFL player who will lead the league in an offensive or defensive statistical category. All of the entrants who pick the correct player will be entered into a drawing to win that week's prize. This week, for example, is a sheet pizza from Main St. Pizza Company.

Each Tuesday we'll post who won the previous week's contest and the new challenge question.

Click the ad above to enter the contest.

An alleged robbery-in-progress has been reported at 383 Bloomingdale Road in Basom. That's the address of Jan's Smoke & Gift Shop. The suspect is in the store's custody but he is fighting with them.

Law enforcement is en route.

The location is south of Martin Road by Shanks Road.

Benjamin Gove Evans, 22, of West Main Street, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Evans is accused of shoplifting at Kmart in April.

Kristen L. Brightenfield, 18, of 6559 Main Road, Stafford, is charged with petit larceny. Brightenfield is accused of stealing a box of hair dye from Tops Market during the early morning hours of Wednesday.

Micaheal J. Elmore, 20, of Sumner Road, Darien, is charged with two counts of petit larceny. Elmore was arrested by the Wyoming County Sheriff's Office following an investigation into thefts in Orangeville. Elmore was identified as the suspect with the help of a pawnshop in Batavia. Another piece of stolen property was recovered in the Village of Attica.

Diane E. Winger, 46, of 329 Eva Road, Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada, is charged with driving while ability impaired and failure to keep right. Winger was stopped at 11:43 p.m., Sunday, on Snipery Road in Darien by Deputy Patrick Reeves.

The City of Batavia's 9/11 ceremony has been moved up to tomorrow, Thursday, at 2 p.m.

It will be held in the mall concourse.

City Council President Marianne Clattenburg, Genesee County Sheriff Gary Maha and ESD President Ken Adams will be speaking at the ceremony.

The auction and gala to benefit the Child Advocacy Center is just around the corner -- Sept. 17 -- and auction items are rolling in. Above, Anita Strollo shows off a group of cigars in a traveling humidor that will be among the items offered up by auctioneer Seth Kent (white shirt, center), of William Kent, Inc., of Stafford.  From left are: Grace Flannery, CAC; Strollo; Tiffany Szymanek, Genesee Justice; Kent; Assemblyman Steve Hawley, who will emcee the evening's festivities; and, District Attorney Lawrence Friedman, president of Batavia Kiwanis.

The Kiwanis Club is sponsoring a "Bidding on a Brighter Future" Gala and Auction at 6 p.m., Sept. 17 at Batavia Downs. Donations of items for the auction are still being accepted. Tickets for the gala are $40 per person or $75 per couple. Checks can be mailed to: Justice for Children GLOW Foundation, Inc., 108 Bank St., Batavia, NY 14020.

Disclosure: As of Thursday, Howard Owens is a member of the Batavia Kiwanis Club.

It's a big leap from middle school to high school and for the past four years, to help freshmen students make the transition, Batavia High School has conducted a special orientation day the day before classes officially begin.

For the class of 2015 that was today.

Of the 198 students in the frosh class, all but three students showed up for the orientation that began at 8 a.m. with a dramatic welcome by faculty and administration in the gym -- lights turned down, spotlights turned on and music playing loud, the students are welcomed into the gym like a championship team.

"We tell them up front that there will be some corny stuff," said Joe Hussar, one of the faculty organizers. "It's a little over the top sometimes."

The goal is give the students an introduction to BHS without 800 other students around. 

"It gives them at least one day where they can take their time and figure things out," Hussar said.

Like where their locker is and how to open it, and how to get from history class to English class.

The students also meet some of the upperclassmen who act as mentors during the school year.

More than 100 upperclassmen applied for the program and the 53 selected went through three days of training over the summer. Today, after the initial gym meeting, they led small groups of students in exercises to help them learn each other's names, how to communicate better and just get to know each other so at least on the first day of school there will be a few familiar faces.

Tomorrow, all the mentors will wear bright pink T-shirts so they can be easily identified by any freshmen who can't find a class, have a question or otherwise need help.

"It's awesome that so many of our upperclassmen are taking the lead," Hussar said.

To further assist the freshmen, the upperclassmen leaders have lockers strategically positioned among a group of freshmen lockers -- for about every seven or eight frosh lockers are two mentor lockers. The arrangement will last throughout the year.

After the small group exercises, the freshmen were given a tour of the school, had a break for lunch and then did a modified version of their class schedule -- 10 minutes for each class so they can learn how to get from room to room with less confusion tomorrow.

A man is reportedly riding a motorized two-wheel bicycle on the sidewalk on Main Street in the City of Batavia. When the caller reported this he was near Burger King. Watch out pedestrians. The guy is going about 30 mph.

Upon getting the report the cop says: "Oh kay," with some hesitation.

The dispatcher replies: "I know what you mean."

He's toting a light-brown backpack on his back. He's white. But he was easily spotted by police, all descriptions aside.

Two days ago the same guy was seen, by me, on Maple Street (actual street).

UPDATE 12:35 p.m.: The bicyclist is having a chat with an officer about his travel plans.

Ten different businesses have been burglarized 11 different times since June and the Batavia police are looking for the public's help is identifying the suspects.

Det. Charles Dudek released the video posted above in the hope that it might lead to more information about the suspects seen in the video.

The video was taken by surveillance camera at Batavia's Original, 500 E. Main St., Batavia, on Aug. 30. Batavia's Original has been hit twice in the past couple of months.

The same two suspects are believed to have burglarized Ficarella's Pizzeria in late August.

A witness reportedly spotted the suspects at about 4 a.m. leaving Ficarella's without their masks or hoods on.

The suspects are identified as white males in their late teens or early 20s. Both are about 5'8" to 5'9" tall. One suspect is described as stocky with short blond hair and a light complexion. The other suspect is thinner with short dark hair.

The string of burglaries dates back to June 2, when Neptune's Garden was hit.

In four cases, safes were stolen, or the safe was opened at the business and in one case the suspects were unable to either open or take the safe.

Anyone with information that could aid in the investigation should call the confidential tip line at 345-6370 or the Batavia PD at 345-6350.