Press release from AAA:

Today’s national average price for a gallon of gasoline is $2.83, down 2 cents from last week. One year ago, the price was $2.97. The New York State average is $2.95 – no change from last week. A year ago, the NYS average was $3.10. AAA Western and Central New York (AAA WCNY) reports the following averages:

• Batavia - $2.86 (up 2 cents since last week)
• Buffalo - $2.89 (no change since last week)
• Ithaca - $2.87 (no change since last week)
• Rochester - $2.88 (down 1 cent since last week)
• Rome - $2.88 (down 1 cent since last week)
• Syracuse - $2.85 (down 1 cent since last week)
• Watertown - $2.96 (no change since last week)

Gas prices have declined, on average, by at least a nickel, for the majority of the country since the beginning of May — and that’s a trend motorists can expect to continue into early June.

Stable crude oil prices are helping to push prices down at the pump, despite tight domestic gasoline supply and robust demand. A bump in demand could push prices higher, but hopefully only by a few cents.

To keep gas prices decreasing and/or stable, stocks will need to continue to build.

Owen, 73, an active participant in the Batavia community throughout her life, died Thursday and is survived by her brother Jim Owen.

A 1963 graduate of Batavia High School, she was active over the past 55 years in maintaining the close-knit relationship of her classmates. She was also a graduate of Alfred State College.

A photographer, animal and nature lover, Owen was an avid fan of the Buffalo Bills and Batavia Muckdogs. Her most recent job was at Attica Bus Service and for many years she worked at the dental office of L.L. Mulcahy Jr., DDS.

Click here for her full obituary.

Zachary V.D. Seeley, 22, of Miller Avenue, Batavia, is charged with first-degree criminal contempt. It is alleged that at 9:12 p.m. on May 25 that Seeley was in violation of an order of protection. He was arrested, arraigned in Batavia City Court and jailed without bail. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Christopher Lindsay.

Angela Louise Flowers, 48, of Watson Street, Batavia, is charged with first-degree criminal contempt and second-degree harassment. At 6:15 p.m. on May 26, Flowers allegedly pushed another person, who had an order of protection against her. She was arrested, arraigned in Batavia City Court and released under the supervision of Genesee Justice. She is due back in court today (May 28). The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Christopher Lindsay, assisted by Officer Stephen Quider.

A 17-year-old male was arrested for third-degree criminal mischief after an incident at 6:20 p.m. on Hewitt Place in Batavia in which he allegedly damaged a city police car. He was arraigned in Batavia City Court and jailed in lieu of $1,000 cash bail or bond. He is to return to court at a later date. The case was handled by Batavia Police Offcer Stephen Quider, assisted by Det. Eric Hill.

Frank James Falcone, 33, of Batavia Bethany Townline Road, Bethany, is charged with: driving while intoxicated; failure to dim headlights; operating an unregistered motor vehicle; refusal to take a breath test; and open container in a motor vehicle. Falcone was arrested at 2:28 a.m. on May 26 on Lewiston Road in Batavia. After his arraignment, he was released on his own recognizance and is due in Batavia Town Court on June 24. The case was handled by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Mathew Clor, assisted by Deputy Austin Heberlein.

Jamie L. Edenholm, 32, of Gabbey Road, Corfu, is charged with: driving while ability impaired by drugs; criminal possession of a controlled substance; unlicensed operator; and following too closely. At 1:06 p.m. on May 25, after the investigation of a property damage accident on Main Street in Batavia, Edenholm was arrested on these charges. The defendant was issued an appearance ticket and is due in Batavia City Court to answer the charges on June 5. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Peter Post, assisted by Officer Kevin DeFelice.

Robert James Patnode, 50, of Bishop Street, Warsaw, is charged with driving while intoxicated; DWI with a BAC of .08 percent or higher, and moving from lane unsafely. Patnode was arrested at 7:54 p.m. on May 26 on Route 238 in Darien. He was issued an appearance ticket for June 20 in Darien Town Court. The case was handled by Genesee County Sheriff's Sgt. Jason Saile, assisted by Sgt. Andrew Hale.

Jordan Scott Thomas, 20, of Elm Street, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. At 3:59 p.m. on May 25, Thomas was arrested after allegedly stealing merchandise from Kohl's department store on Veterans Memorial Drive at 12:12 p.m. on May 21. Thomas was released on an appearance ticket for June 3 in Town of Batavia Court. The case was handled by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy David Moore.

Quinn M. Pritchard, 28, of East Main Street, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Pritchard was arrested after a shoplifting complaint at the Dollar General on East Main Street in Batavia at 12:23 p.m. on May 24. The defendant was released with an appearance ticket for June 4 in Batavia City Court. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Peter Post.

Shane Zimblis, 48, of South Swan Street, Batavia was arrested on May 27 on a bench warrant. Zimblis was located at his residence after police arrived for an unrelated complaint. He was arraigned in Batavia City Court and jailed in lieu of $15,000 cash bail or $30,000 bond. Zimblis is due back in court today (May 28). The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Miah Stevens, assisted by Officer Jason Ivison.

A 29-year-old driver from Batavia is accused of failing to stop for a stop sign on Galloway Road leading to a two-car accident that sent two people, including a child, to the hospital at 12:31 p.m., Sunday.

Valerie Covill, of West Main Street Road, was cited by Deputy Kevin McCarthy, who investigated the accident. 

Covill was reportedly westbound on Galloway Road in a 2016 Hyundai sedan when she allegedly failed to stop for a stop sign at Slusser Road.

The Hyundai struck at 2015 Toyota sedan driven by Kyle A. Olmstead, 32, of Byron Holly Road, Byron.

Olmstead wasn't injured but his passenger, 41-year-old Jessica Alexyn, was transported to UMMC by ambulance for a complaint of stomach pain.

One of Covill's passengers, Brenden Delmastro, age 2, was also taken to UMMC for evaluation. 

Another passenger in Covill's car, 5-year-old Caleb Delmastro, was not injured.

Genesee County's unemployment rate dropped by 7/10ths of a percent in April 2019 compared to April 2018, according to the state's Department of Labor.

The 3.6 percent rate is lowest of any April since at least 1992 (as far as published data goes back). During that span, the April rate has never dropped below 4 percent.

The total Genesee County labor force (people who have jobs or are seeking jobs) is reported at 29,400, up from 29,200 the year prior.

The highest April unemployment rates for Genesee County since 1992 were in 2010 and 2012 at 7.9 percent when the labor force was 31,800 and 31,700, respectively. 

A total of 28,300 people in the county are employed, up from 28,000 a year ago.

The state's unemployment rate is 3.6 percent, down from 4 percent a year ago, and the nation's rate is 3.3 percent, down from 3.7 percent a year ago.

Batman doesn't smile. He doesn't smile when posing with Bill and Joy Hume. He doesn't smile when he has a new book out. He doesn't smile while making a public appearance on a Saturday at Foxprowl Collectables.

In this case, Batman is cosplay specialist, public speaker, and author William Lorenz Jr., of Buffalo, and his new book is "The Ballad of Buffalo's Best Batman."

This is a photo of a field of flowers off Route 77 in Alabama that I took a few days ago.

The following people were arrested by the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office during the Chris Young concert at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center on Friday:

Danielle M. Molisani, 19, of Black Street Road, Caledonia, is charged with false personation after allegedly providing a false name while being ejected from the concert venue.

David M. Filion, 22, of Redlein Drive, Lancaster, is charged with trespass after allegedly reentering the concert venue after being ejected and told not to return.

Michelle S. Scheib, 41, of Fulton Street, Buffalo, s charged with harassment, 2nd, after allegedly punching a security guard in the head.

Donald D. Mikowski, 21, of Wabash Avenue, Cheektowaga, is charged with harassment, 2nd, after allegedly pushing and hitting a security guard inside the venue.

Anthony R. Mason, 30, of Marsdale Road, Buffalo, is charged with DWI and driving with a BAC over .08 percent after allegedly being found operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated.

Eric J. Rejman, 33, of Maishoss Street, Cheektowaga, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC over .08 percent and refusing to submit to prescreen device after allegedly being found operating a motor vehicle in an intoxicated condition in the parking lot.

Submitted photo and information.

Girl Scouts from Alexander troops 42031 and 42103 along with residents of Havenwood Apartments made 150 stuffed animals over the past few months for first responders to give to children whose families are experiencing stressful difficulties.

The idea began with Marilyn, a resident of Havenwood who passed away but had told the Erin Saile, service coordinator at Havenwood, that she used to make stuff animals in Florida for first responders there. Saile is the wife of Sgt. Jason Saile, Sheriff's Office, so she immediately thought it would be a good project to undertake locally. 

Saile contacted Meghan Ripstein, a Girl Scout leader in Alexander, to enlist Girl Scouts into the effort. Several donations from the community also helped make the project possible.

On Friday, the stuff animals were presented to the Sheriff's Office, City fire, and Batavia PD.

Previously:

Memorial Day ceremonies in Batavia.

A car fire has apparently started a house fire at 3625 Telephone Road, Alexander.

Alexander fire dispatched along with Town of Batavia.

UPDATE 10:58 p.m.: The structure is NOT on fire. An ATV was on fire. It was moved away from the house. Town of Batavia can stand down.

Jim Beverly, a hunting retriever trainer from Oakfield, hosted his second annual Companion Retriever Hunting Challenge at Godfrey's Pond in Byron on Saturday. The challenge is primarily for retrieving-trained dogs who are more often pets than hunting companions.

An audit by the state comptroller is more than welcome, officials with Western OTB, operator of Batavia Downs, said this week.

The board of directors unanimously passed a resolution pledging transparency in its business dealings and Henry Wojtaszek, president and CEO of Western OTB, sent a letter to Thomas DiNapoli inviting an audit.

"Over the past several weeks, some media reports have focused on our finances and promotional operations," Wojtaszek wrote. "In order to continue to meet our high standards of transparency and compliance, I would like to inform you we welcome an additional audit of the corporation's finances by your staff and of course will follow any recommendations we can to improve moving forward."

The moves come as a result of reports, based on information from anonymous sources, that Western OTB is the target of an FBI investigation into allegations that "politically wired" companies have received preferential treatment in contracts with the corporation. 

It's a charge officials with Western OTB deny.

A source on the board characterized the news reports as based on "rumors."

In his letter, Wojtaszek noted that Western OTB has generated more than $231 million in revenues for the 15 counties in its region and that prior comptroller audits have not revealed any financial impropriators or irregularities.

"(That) is something we are very proud of," Wojtaszek wrote.

Farmworkers have the right to form unions and collectively bargain for wages and working conditions, a New York appellate court ruled this week in a decision that also denied the respondent in the case an opportunity for a hearing on the topic.

The ruling drew a swift rebuke from the respondent, the New York Farm Bureau. The Farm Bureau issued the following statement:

“We are extremely disappointed in the majority’s decision and the breadth of its ruling. The Appellate Court was considering the trial court’s decision on a motion to dismiss, which, if denied would have permitted Farm Bureau to fully litigate this case in the trial court.

"Instead, the majority of the court decided to make a far-reaching determination by declaring the right to collectively bargain as a “fundamental right,” on par with the freedoms of speech and religion. We believe that the majority’s conclusion is unsupportable and disregards decades of precedent.

"The court’s dissenting opinion exposed the flaws in the majority’s ruling and identified that the decision eliminates Farm Bureau’s right to defend the constitutionality of the statute in a trial court. 

"Speaking more broadly, if the legislature, and now the courts do not recognize the value of preserving a viable and economically sustainable food production system in the state, New York agriculture will continue to shrink under a mountain of mandates.

"Our rural economy and local job opportunities will suffer. And New Yorkers will find it harder to access New York grown food, instead, relying on food brought in from out of state, or worse yet, out of the country to feed their families. New York Farm Bureau fully intends to appeal the court’s ill-conceived ruling.”

Assemblyman Steve Hawley also criticized the ruling.

“The New York state Appellate Court got this wrong. I’m deeply disappointed, both in the substance of the ruling and in the judicial overreach which prevents the New York Farm Bureau from appropriately litigating this case in trial court. Make no mistake, if the Court of Appeals doesn’t overturn this decision, it will mark the end of family farms in New York state, wiping out hundreds of thousands of jobs, billions of dollars in economic impact and generations of time-honored tradition older than New York state itself. It’s imperative that the New York Farm Bureau’s appeal is successful,” said Hawley.

The issue is also part of a contentious dispute in the state Legislature over proposed changes in state labor law that, if passed as currently written, would give farmworkers the right to organize and also institute for farmworkers an eight-hour workday, and a 40-hour work week. These provisions, farmers, and farmworkers say would devastate the state's agriculture industry.

The ruling potentially takes away a bargaining chip from opponents of the bill by granting the bill sponsors one of the changes in law they are seeking.

State Senator Rob Ortt, the ranking minority party member of the Agriculture Committee was also unhappy with the ruling.

“After today’s ruling, the last thing we need to do is pass the Farmworkers Fair Labor Act, which goes far beyond today’s ruling, and adds even more regulations on the backs of those responsible for growing our food.”

The ruling, of course, was applauded by those who support labor unions for farmworkers.

“The court’s ruling today was unequivocal that denying farmworkers basic labor rights is flat-out unconstitutional, and farmworkers, like other workers, have the right to organize,” Donna Lieberman, executive director of NYCLU told the New York Law Journal. “The workers on whom we depend for the food on our tables have the right to be treated humanely and with dignity, like any other hardworking New Yorker.”

The Cuomo administration has recently openly supported the move to allow farmworkers to collectively bargain and Attorney General Letitia James said she supported the decision.

The state did not defend itself from the lawsuit filed three years ago by former farmworker Crispin Hernandez, leaving it to the Farm Bureau to represent farmers' interests.

The lawsuit challenged the State Labor Relations Act, passed in 1937, that granted broad rights for workers to organize but specifically excluded farmworkers.

Critics of the exclusion claim the exclusion has its roots in Jim Crow practices (not, at the time, unknown in New York, though generally thought of as practices in the early 20th century in the Deep South) that discriminated against blacks. That history factored into the plaintiff's arguments.

The case was heard by the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Judicial Department.  The majority opinion as written by Justice Christine M. Clark.

The plaintiff's attorneys argued that the 1937 act denied their client equal protection under the law and infringed on a fundamental right to organize and collectively bargain and also violated New York's Constitution. A provision passed at a constitutional convention in 1938 afforded employees the right to organize.

Clark found that constitutional meaning of "employee" included farmworkers.

Indeed, there is nothing in the language of the constitutional provision to support the suggestion that the drafters intended for the term "employees" to be narrowed or limited in any way. Accordingly, when the term "employees" is given its natural and ordinary meaning, we think it clear that the constitutional right to organize and collectively bargain extends to individuals employed as farm laborers

In his lone dissent, Justice  Stan L. Pritzker noted that the constitutional convention was held a year after the labor act was passed so the framers certainly had a very clear understanding of the law as written and did not intend to include farmworkers in the constitutional provision allowing employees to organize.

He also did not include the right to organize in his list of fundamental rights even though the right to assembly (and by extension, according to prior Supreme Court cases, the right to free association) is part of the Bill of Rights. 

From his dissent:

Fundamental rights are those deeply rooted in this Nation's history and tradition. They include the right to marry; the right to have children; the right to decide how one's children will be educated; and the right to engage in private consensual sexual activity."

Fundamental rights also include the right to vote, the right to travel, the right of free speech and the right of a criminal defendant to appeal. One need only imagine and compare laws that would prevent farm laborers from exercising freedom of speech, voting, traveling, marrying, raising children or appealing criminal convictions to recognize the distinction and understand why a fundamental constitutional right is not implicated here.

Further, the inclusion of the right to organize and bargain collectively in the New York Bill of Rights does not, per se, confer upon it fundamental constitutional right status (citations omitted).

The dispute over whether the right to organize is a fundamental right is important because if it's a fundamental right, it would carry more weight than the 1937 law as passed by the Legislature.

The Farm Bureau will be able to appeal the ruling to the state's Court of Appeals.

A vehicle has reportedly run under the back of a semi-truck on the Thruway in the westbound lane at about mile marker 388.4 and a female is reportedly trapped in the vehicle that is under the semi.

Extrication will reportedly be required.

Town of Batavia fire and Mercy EMS dispatched. 

UPDATE 10 p.m.: The victim has self-extricated with minor injuries.

UPDATE 10:01 p.m.: Mercy Flight cancelled. Fire crews needed for fluid spills.