The fifth annual Cool Kids ECO-Fest will take place at Genesee Community College from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, April 17 at the Batavia Campus.

The college's Earth Club, Student Activities Office and College Village are once again joining Cool Kids to collectively produce a fun-filled, yet educational event aimed at increasing awareness of important environmental issues and opportunities.

ECO-Fest 2010 will commemorate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day with special activities. All portions of the event are free and open to the public. Most of the festival takes place in the central Forum or Clocktower Plaza. ECO-Fest is part of several activities celebrating Earth Day throughout Genesee County this month.

Cool Kids ECO-Fest 2010 includes numerous exhibits, presentations, activities and prizes, and is an ideal experience for anyone interested in celebrating Earth Day. Hundreds of people of all ages are expected to attend. Many of the prior year's favorite environmental fun and educational opportunities will return, with a wide assortment of new options as well. Through active participation in ECO-Fest activities, attendees increase their chances of winning a variety of prizes, including the Grand Prize – an Adam Miller Toys and Bike's Mountain Bike, at the finale of ECO-Fest. (All winners must be present at ECO-Fest to win.)

New to this year's celebration is a paperback book drive for American troops through the Operation Paperback program. Participants can bring in paperback books to be recycled and sent to service men and women. Along with paperback books, ECO-Fest attendees should also bring in old sneakers to be recycled for Nike's Reuse-A-Shoe recycling program which recycles old sneakers into Astroturf. Attendees can also bring in old electronic devices for the E-Scrap drive. The E-Scrap drive collects residential electronics such as computers, monitors, cell phones, calculators, etc. There will be drive-up curbside collecting for community members who wish to drop off their old, unwanted E-Scrap free of charge. (There is a $5 charge for any television sets dropped off.)

Community residents are encouraged to participate in the Earth Day Eco-Tip Illustration Contest to graphically illustrate their favorite Eco-Tip. There are no age or creativity limits, and entries can be individual or group efforts.

Participants can use the form provided at <http://marketing.genesee.edu/images/Earthday_Contest.pdf> or use their own paper. Entries can be brought to ECOFest on April 17 or can be submitted to: Genesee Community College, Attn: Donna Rae Sutherland / MarCom Office D110, One College Road, Batavia, NY 14020.

All entries must be received by 11 a.m. on April 17. Each submission will receive a raffle ticket for a chance to win a mountain bike from Adam Miller Toys. One winner and honorable mentions will be awarded at ECO-Fest.

"We have some fantastic events planned for this year's Eco-Fest, which we decided to move to a weekend date to accommodate the expanding crowds and presentations," Sutherland said. "Each year gets better than the last and we're excited to be commemorating the 40th anniversary of Earth Day."

She is the associate director of Marketing Communications at Genesee and advisor for the Earth Club.

Other Earth Day celebrations happening in Genesee County later in the month include:

City of Batavia Earth Day Celebration
9 a.m. to Noon, Saturday, April 24
Austin Park (behind Batavia City Post Office)

Genesee County Earth Day Celebration
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 24
Dewitt Recreation Area (115 Cedar St., Batavia) and at Genesee County Park and Forest (Bethany Center Road, East Bethany

For further information contact Sutherland at 343-0055, ext. 6616.

Gov. David Paterson plans to withhold funding for union raises in his next emergency budget act, which effectively suspends a 4-percent raise for the state's union workers.

The raise was part of a contract negotiated in 2007, but with a $9 billion budget deficit, Paterson says the state can't afford the extra expense.

“I am just shocked and amazed that every time you ask the special interests or the unions for some kind of sacrifice that the answer is either ‘no’ or ‘I’m going to sue you,’” Paterson said Thursday after a private meeting with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. “The state has run out of money twice, for the first time in its history, in the last four months. We’re doing everything to keep the ship afloat. And some people are just very reticent or unable to recognize the gravity of the crisis.”

Meanwhile, Albany has yet to approve a new budget. Assemblyman Steve Hawley issued the following statement on the situation:

After another week of inaction, and seven days past the due date, the 2010-2011 State Budget has not passed. Instead, the Majority continues to meet behind closed doors, which will likely lead to new taxes, increased government spending, and worst of all, more state borrowing, while sending the rank-and-file members of the Assembly trivial legislation to vote on. With New York State nearly bankrupt, this kind of inaction is unacceptable. We should have been in session last week, and not passing the budget this week only wasted more taxpayer money at a cost of more than $100,000. I am willing to stay in Albany until the budget crisis is solved. Unfortunately, it appears that my colleagues in the Majority are not, and despite the ensuing fiscal crisis, would rather put the budget off until next week, if not next month. Clearly, this year’s budget process shows how broken New York state government really is.

There are now pots of yellow tulips surrounding the statue of the Virgin Mary and infant Jesus in front of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church on Ellicott Street, Batavia.

BATAVIA, NY -- Congress is behind the times, according to Rep. Chris Lee (NY-26). While society is moving to an increasingly paperless existence, the congressional printing office still delivers five printed copies of every bill to the staff of each bill's co-sponsors.

Those can be pretty hefty tomes -- hundreds of pages long -- to dozens of congressional offices.

And they are bills that usually just get tossed in the garbage or recycling bin, because most legislators and their staff members read and track bills on computers.

At the Genesee ARC recycling center today, Lee announced legislation he hopes will pass to end the practice of printing these copies of bills. He called on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has talked before about the "greening of DC" to support the bill, which already has nine Democratic co-sponsors.

"We don't practice what we preach," Lee said.

If passed, Lee said he estimates that the bill would save taxpayers $2.5 million per year.

"This is a win-win," Lee said. "It takes care of our environment and it shows that we’re looking after every penny that comes into our treasury."

As an example, Lee held up all five copies of a recent bill that was 153 pages long and was delivered to the offices of 80 co-sponsors. 

The freshman congressman is concerned that the bill won't be taken seriously in the House, because in an environment were most legislation is dealing with billions or trillions of dollars, $2.5 million is practically "spare change."

"To me, $2.5 million is a lot of money," Lee said. "Unfortunately, there’s this premise that unless it has a “B” or a “T” after it, in Washington, most of the people don’t care."

With an 82-percent return rate, Pavilion is leading Genesee County in census participation, according to figures put out today by the County Planning Department.

All told, the participation rate for Genesee County is 75 percent. That's far ahead of the State of New York, which is at 58 percent, and ahead of the rest of the nation, at 64 percent.

Right behind Pavilion in participation is Alabama, 81 percent, and the Town of Elba at 80 percent. 

The City of Batavia lags the rest of the county at 70 percent, with Ward 5 being the most behind at 61 percent. The top ward for the city is Ward 1 at 77 percent.

There will be no charges filed against an Alabama man who reportedly shot two dogs April 3.

A State Police investigation concluded the dogs may have been ill, as the man claimed.  The dogs belonged to him and his wife, and there is no law against killing your own dogs if you believe they are ill, said Rebecca Gibbons, spokeswoman for the State Police.

On April 3, a woman on Bloomingdale Road called police after she came home and found her dogs shot.  The woman's husband reportedly told police he was the one who shot them.

The case is closed, Gibbons said.

Joshua K. Williams, 18, of 4 Laura St., Rochester, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 3rd, and unlawful possession of marijuana. Williams was reportedly a passenger in a car stopped for alleged traffic violations at 12:50 a.m., Thursday, by Officers Daniel Coffey and Frank Klimjack on Clinton Street. During the stop, it was discovered that Williams allegedly had three outstanding arrest warrants. During a search, officers say they found crack cocaine and marijuana. Possession of controlled substance in the third degree carries the allegation that there was an intent to sell the substance.

Michael Lynn Bropst, 39, 3 1/2 Tracy Ave., upper, Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Bropst was stopped by Deputy Brian Thompson at 12:45 p.m. on March 26 on Route 33 for alleged tailgating. Bropst was allegedly found in possession of marijuana during the traffic stop.

Thomas F. Rudolph, 18, of Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession marijuana. Rudolph was arrested at 4:36 p.m., Wednesday, by State Police in the Town of Batavia. No further details were released.

Billy J. Johnson, 32, of Oakfield, is charged with harassment, 2nd. Johnson was arrested at 8:37 p.m., Wednesday, in the Village of Oakfield by State Police. No further details available.

Wind Tamers -- the bright white and blue, jet-engine looking wind energy devices -- are catching on in Genesee County.

There's already one installed in Le Roy (the picture on this post is of the one we mentioned in March), and Thursday evening, the Genesee County Planning Board recommended approval of two more and a company representative said a fourth unit was recently sold in Pavilion.

In all, Wind Tamer, Inc., has sold 40 of the turbine wind machines in New York, Ontario, Canada, and Pennsylvania since the company started selling them last year, according to Glenn Steed, installation coordinator.

"We’re trying to bring wind energy to people, to areas that might not be able to support large towers or open rotor designs or anything with noise and really bring a kinder energy to wind," said Steed following Thursday's meeting.

Approved were applications from Wayne and Jane Smith at 10744 South Street Road, Pavilion, and Joseph Falcone at 10213 Perry Road, Le Roy.

The Wind Tamer was designed by Jerry Brock and it achieves greater efficiency and produces more energy than traditional windmills because of its jet-engine like design.

The design is also quieter and can be mounted at lower heights for less visibility.

These advantages, Steed said, are proving very attractive for small businesses, agricultural uses and rural residents.

"Thre’s no noise at all," Steed said. "We just had a noise study done and the results are on our Web site. They’re just really quite. There’s really no increase in the ambient noise from the surrounding area."

Prices start in the $15,000 range, but Steed said the return on investment, because of the greater energy production, is much faster than traditional windmills.

Wind Tamer is based in Geneseo and Steed said most of the materials and all of the labor so far comes from New York.

“It’s a lot of good dollars in New York State," Steed Said. "It’s a good, growing business in New York.”

NOTE: This is an updated version of the story that corrects the implication from the Albany Times-Union story that the Batavia Kmart was involved, and the error in the TU story that warning letters were sent to the stores.

-----

Six grocery stores in New York -- including one in Batavia -- were notified by the state that some fish products the were selling were apparently overpriced.

The allegation is that the stores were selling seafood packed in ice, and the ice was being weighed so that consumers were paying not just for filets and shrimp, but ice as well.

The Batavia Tops was one of the six stores asked to remove products from its selves and either re-label the packaging or return it to the distributor, a company out of New Jersey, according to Jessica Ziehm, spokeswoman for the state Department of Agriculture and Markets.

Tops reportedly sold fish fillets packed in ice that was counted as part of the weight.

Press release available here.

The City of Batavia and the union representing many its workers have apparently reached a tentative contract agreement.

Details of the agreement with the Civil Service Employees Association have not been released.

The new five-year contract, which will run from April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2015, will give union workers graduated raises (no raise in the first year, but a $1,000 bonus and compensation instead), and 2-percent raises in the fourth and fifth year.

The total impact of the raises over the next five years will be $79,000 in additional expense.

New hires will not be able to accrue sick leave to use to purchase health care upon retirement. They will not be able to purchase health care from the city when they retire.

Health care contributions for current workers will increase, with the first-year contribution being 10 percent, then 12.5, then 15, then 17.5, then 20 percent. There are cash incentives, up to $1,000 per employee and spouse, for participation in wellness programs.

New hires will contribute 30 percent to health care, an amount that can be reduced if they participate in wellness programs. If both spouse and employee participate, the total health care contribution by the employee would be reduced by 25 percent.

Information on the settlement is contained in the Batavia City Council's agenda for Monday night. The council will be asked to approve the agreement.

The council meets Monday at 7 p.m.

The Batavian apologizes for the incorrect information in the original version of the story.

A car fire has been reported at 9606 Berned Road, Pavilion.

It is parked in a driveway and is not near a structure, however the caller just called back and reported the car fire has now started a grass fire.

Le Roy Fire is responding.

UPDATE: It appears the fire is under control. No more units need to respond to the scene.

View Larger Map

The cherry blossoms (or I assume they are cherry blossoms) are in bloom behind the Upton Monument outside the Old Court House at Main and Ellicott streets.

BTW: We still might get thundershowers today and tonight, and there's still a chance of snow on Friday night.

New York's top jurist, Jonathan Lippman, will be in Batavia April 23 for Law Day at the Genesee County Courthouse.

It may be the first time a Chief Judge of the State of New York has visited Batavia.

County Court Judge Robert C. Noonan said a chief judge has never visited Batavia in the 35 years he's been involved in the local legal community, and he doesn't believe a chief judge visited during his father's time practicing law in Batavia, which goes back another 35 years.

"It is possible that this is the first time the Chief Judge EVER came here (of that, I am not certain), but this is a big event and we in the legal community are excited at the prospect of Judge Lippman's visit," Noonan told us in an e-mail.

Noonan anticipates a large turnout, with members from the legal community in Genesee, Wyoming and Orleans counties expected to attend. The event is open to the public, but space will be limited.

The Chief Judge will make a presentation at 9:30 a.m., and the one-hour session is likely to include time for questions and answers in a Town Hall format.

Lippman was appointed to his current position in January 2009 by Gov. David Paterson. Before that, he was Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, First Department. His legal career spans six decades. A full biography is available here.

Recent news items involving the Chief Judge:

• Lippman wrote the opinion on a unanimous decision limiting the scope of police search warrants, prohibiting, in certain cases, the search of persons who just happen to be in a house subject to search.
• Lippman has called the lack of pay raises for the past 10 years for State judges "demoralizing."

Some members of public employees unions in New York are bucking their union bosses and saying they should give back their 4-percent raises, according to Associated Press.

"I talked to my friends and neighbors who are losing their jobs and taking pay cuts and for me to get a raise, I functionally have to ask them to pay for it," Regan said in an interview with The Associated Press. He said he hasn't heard from anyone who opposes his view.

In other budget news, a group calling itself Better Choice for Budgeting Campaign, is calling on higher taxes and closing tax loopholes for Wall Street financiers and hedge fund managers.

“When you look at hedge fund managers making millions and millions of dollars and Wall Street having caused a great deal of the economic turmoil we find ourselves in, they should really help pay for it,” said Sen. Neil Breslin.

And while New York's budget is a week late today, Albany's Democrats and Republics are squabbling over procedure, according to the Times-Union.

Senate Democrats gathered on Wednesday to roll out an ambitious set of reforms to New York's budget process. Republicans shot back that the majority would do better to devote their time to the work at hand, and lambasted Democrats for failing to follow budget reforms that are already on the books.

The 17-year-old who was allegedly the subject of a manhunt in the City of Batavia on April 2 has been charged with an additional crime stemming from the search.

Christopher Allen Laird, of 30 South St., Le Roy, has been charged with obstructing governmental administration, 2nd.

Batavia Police and Sheriff's Office police, at least one State Trooper and a State Police helicopter were out looking for Laird the morning of April second in the area of State and North streets.

Laird was not captured that day, but was arrested in Le Roy on April 5. Laird was wanted on a warrant for alleged violation of probation stemming from a burglary charge.

Laird was the subject of a manhunt, also involving the State Police helicopter, on Sept. 23, 2008, following a burglary, 3rd, charge. Laird reportedly went missing a few days before, and was spotted in Elba. He was eventually found, according to reports, at a Transit Road residence where he had been accused of stealing a Polaris Trail Blazer off-road four-wheeler.

The Sheriff's Office put out a wanted notice for Laird on Feb. 2. He apparently remained at large until his arrest a few days ago.

Laird is being held without bail. His next scheduled court appearance is April 14.

The county wants to look at a range of options for dealing with its financially troubled nursing home, according to a memo written by a consultant the county plans to hire.

The scope of work planned by the Center for Governmental Research in Rochester is detailed in a memo from its director of human services analysis, Donald E. Pryor. The memo was released at the Ways and Means Committee meeting on Wednesday.

The study will involve numerous interviews with key stakeholders, an examination of past operational and financial history and comparisons with other facilities around the state.

CGR will look at least a dozen options for changing the status of the nursing home, including both keeping the operation as it is or selling it. Even closing it will be an option considered.

"CGR now understands clearly that the County is not currently considering the 'sell' option, and that there are many options that you wish to explore in more detail before you do consider that option, if you indeed ever do," Pryor writes.

"Thus this memo reframes the original proposal in that spirit, with the intent of exploring the implications, pro and con, of a number of options the County may wish to consider along a continuum of possible change, ranging from no change (status quo) to closure of the Nursing Home facility, and many options in between."

Among the other options Pryor discusses are bed licenses to a third-party operator, conversion of the nursing home to a free-standing, not-for-profit facility, renegotiating agreements with the employees union, creation of a public benefits corporation, and better marketing of the facility.

"Rather than focus on an RFP process designed to determine the possible interest and viability of entities who may be interested in the possibility of purchasing the County Nursing Home, our revised proposal deletes all reference to that RFP process," Pryor writes. "Instead, the focus of this revised proposal is on an objective assessment of the strengths, limitations and overall implications of a wide range of options for the operation, management and possible disposition of the Nursing Home and its companion Adult Home."

The memo was part of the final contract provided to the Ways and Means Committee for review and approval. The committee unanimously approved sending the contract to the full legislature for review and possible approval.

The memo states that the $62,000 consulting fee will cover all in costs, including travel and any other expenses.

For previous nursing home coverage, click here.

The number of retiring Genesee County workers over the next two years could increase county expenses by as much as $3 million.

That's according to figures released Wednesday by County Treasurer Scott German at the Ways and Means Committee meeting.

Afterward, he said the looming increase is troublesome.

"I’m very concerned about that because I’m not sure how we’re going to be able to come up with that kind of money without raising taxes," German said.

In other items German shared with the legislators:

• The recent tax foreclosure auction turned a slight profit for the county of $6,900.  Initially, German didn't think the auction was profitable -- the amount spent by auction winners compared to the amount of property taxes owed -- but the early figures included interest payments on the back taxes, which did not need to be included.
• The county has a fund balance of $9 million for 2009. This is up $397,022 from 2008. The fund balance is a measure of all money either collected or due the county from various sources, such as property taxes and state and federal sources. It doesn't necessarily mean the money is in the bank or that it has even been received.
• The county's bond rating was bumped two grades to AA-. German noted that a two-grade bump is very rare and is "reflective of financial policies being practiced by the County Legislature and Treasurer's Office."
• Interest earnings continue to decline. Earnings in 2009 dropped to $412,000, which is half the earnings of 2008, at $700,000. And 2008 was half of 2007, which was $1.4 million.
• Revenue from sales tax dropped in 2009, which is the first drop since 2003 and only the second drop since 1991. Sales tax revenue is expected to be flat in 2010.

Four people who are charged with helping unemployed workers get back on their feet are now looking for jobs themselves.

Today, the Ways and Means committee authorized the elimination of two full-time and two part-time jobs with the Genesee County Job Development Bureau.

The layoffs were necessary because of cutbacks in state funding for the program.

"If those funds are replenished and restored to the county, we would certainly look at reinstating those jobs," said Ways and Means Chairman Hollis Upson.

The two full-time jobs are employment and training counselors. One job was eliminated effective April 1. The other position terminates April 21.

The other positions eliminated were part-time clerk-typist positions.

The layoffs reduce the county budget by $76,990.

The Job Development Bureau will, however, continue to provide services to the area's unemployed.

“This is just a shrinking of staff," Upson said. "The same services will still be available, the same contacts are there, the same liaisons between the Department of Labor, Genesee Community College, local employers, are all still there."

Genesee County's unemployment rate stands at 9.1 percent, and recently as many as 100 local residents who have been unemployed for 99 weeks or more started losing benefits.

The resolution authorizing elimination of the positions must still be approved by the full legislature.