batavia

Buddy Brasky said it before the game, the key to a Blue Devils win in the semi-final of the Class B state championship basketball game would be slowing the attack of Watervliet's two Division I guards.

That didn't happen.

"We knew we had to try and keep those two guards combined in the 30s and they got 43," Brasky said after Batavia's 60-53 loss at Glens Falls. "It seems to me they seemed like they were shooting from 30 feet out and making them. I don’t know what to say. I mean we hung in there, we battled and they answered every time."

Three times, the Canoneers built 10 and 12 point leads, and for extended periods, Watervliet would maintain a nine-point lead, and then Batavia would pull close enough that a single basket -- three or two -- would tie the score.

But that one shot wouldn't drop and Jordan Gleason, Tyler McLeod or freshman Ty'jon Gilmore would pour in a three-point jumper on the return. Gleason finished with 25 points, McLeod, 18 and Gilmore, 11. Gleason hit six three-pointers and McLeod and Gilmore had two apiece.

"We knew they were hard workers," Batavia's Jalen Smith said. "We knew they could shoot the ball. We knew they had an athletic guard. That was the game plan, stop their guards and their guards caught fire. There wasn’t much we could do about it. We played as tough as we can."

Smith finished with a team high 21 points. Justin Washington added 14 and Jamesson Etienne, 12.

Throughout Batavia's post-season run, the team has proven there's no quit in their approach to the game. Saturday night was no exception.

"They’ve got a lot of heart," Brasky said. "Jalen made some big shots. We kept crawling back. We would get it within two. We’d get it within three. We had the ball a couple of times with a chance to tie and we’d get good lucks but we could never get the final one to drop."

It was a special season for Batavia and even though the season ends a game sooner than anybody would like, there's no reason not to be proud of three championship wins.

"I told them it doesn't take away from their league championship, their sectional championship, their regional championship," Brasky said. "They're a great team. What stinks about the state tournament is only one team goes home with a win. Everybody else goes home with a loss and you feel horrible."

After the game in the locker room, Brasky hugged each of his senior players.

"They mean so much (to me)," Brasky said. "They're the ones who led us this year. They’ve been with me since third, fourth, fifth grade most of them, so we’ve got a bond that’s hard to explain. It’s going to be hard to see them go."

We're prohibited by NYSPHSAA from offering photos for sale.

We'll have complete coverage as soon as possible.

A female has fallen in the parking lot of Billy Goats at 345 W. Main St. in Batavia. She was unconscious but is now conscious. Law enforcement and Mercy medics are responding.

Gregory Scott Snyder, 44, of West Main Street, Batavia, is charged with reckless endangerment, 2nd. Snyder allegedly shot toward the roadway at a fox he believed to be injured using a 12-gauge shotgun. A BB from the shell reportedly hit a neighbor. Deputy Joseph Corona and Deputy Tim Wescott handled the case. The State Police and the Department of Environmental Conservation assisted.

Crystal L. Kiebzak, 30, of 1359 Broadway Road, Darien, is charged with petit larceny, issuing a bad check in the Town of Batavia, and issuing a bad check in the Town of Darien. Kiebzak allegedly drafted checks to buy goods and services from businesses in Darien and Batavia from a nonexistent checking account.

Mindy Maria Miller, 23, of Clay Street, Le Roy, is charged with petit larceny. Miller is accused of shoplifting at Kmart.

Samantha Marie Kent, 19, of East Shelby Road, Oakfield, is charged with petit larceny. Kent is accused of shoplifting from Kmart.

Melissa M. Morton, 27, of 4802 W. Middlebury Road, Bethany, is charged with petit larceny. Morton is accused of stealing cupcakes valued at $9.99 from Tim Horton's.

Joseph A. Ferrando III, 45, of 5 Buell St., Batavia, is charged with DWI and driving with a BAC of .08 or greater. Ferrando was taken into custody by Officer Arick Perkins following an investigation after allegedly being found behind the wheel of his vehicle, which was still running, on Liberty Street at 10:30 p.m., Wednesday.

Timothy M. Pendleton, 27, of 4 Cedar St., Batavia, is charged with resisting arrest, criminal trespass, 2nd, and harassment, 2nd. Pendleton is accused of going to the residence of a person he knows on Wednesday and entering without permission and harassing that person. On Thursday, officers Jason Davis and Eric Hill attempted to arrest Pendleton and he allegedly resisted arrest. Pendleton was jailed on $2,500 bail.

A fixture in local prep sports for decades, Bill Wade, who has led the Lady Blue Devils for five years, announced last night that he's retiring from basketball coaching.

Wade made his announcement during the annual girls banquet at Bohn's Restaurant.

Besides Batavia, Wade has coached at Byron-Bergen, Notre Dame and SUNY Brockport.

In 1984, he led Byron-Bergen to the state's final four, and did it three more times with Notre Dame.

“When I took the job at Batavia five years ago," he told WBTA, "I took it over with the challenge of building the program. I felt that we’ve been very successful in that because I’ve had Marty Hein and John McClellan to help me and the kids have been great. I just reached a point where it’s time to step aside. You have to do the off season work and the off season work takes a lot of time. I want to spend more time with my wife and actually head into a retirement.”

Wade has seen a lot change in prep sports since the 1980s.

"When I first coached at Byron-Bergen, there was no three-point line and the girls played with a guy’s ball," Wade said. "What I’ve always loved about the girls game is that I find it a very pure game of basketball. I think girls basketball is how James Naismith planned it to be when he came up with the game years and years ago and that it to be played below the rim.”

Wade led Batavia to the program’s first-ever appearance in the Section Five finals this year. He plans on following the girls' basketball careers.

“I told the girls, I am no longer yelling at you, I will only be yelling for you because I will be in the crowd for several of their games – as many games as my wife and I can make," he said. "I’ve been a coach of this game for so long, I’m really looking forward to becoming a fan of the game.”

Wade's successor has not yet been named.

Photo: File photo

Press release:

The Genesee County Youth Conference Coalition sponsored its 25th Annual Youth Conference at Genesee Community College this week.

This conference is offered on an annual basis to local seventh- and eighth-grade students in an effort to address pertinent social issues of interest to youngsters of middle-school age.

This year we also invited a select group of students from Orleans County. There were approximately 500 seventh- and eighth-grade students in attendance.

This year’s theme of the conference was “Illusions … To Lead or to be Mis-Led.” 

The keynote speaker, nationally known Illusionist Tom Coverly, addressed the kids in the areas of bullying, respect and positive decision-making. 

After the keynote, students attended two morning workshops, were provided lunch and then attended an interactive afternoon workshop. Professionals from the community volunteered their time to provide information to the students in their respective fields of expertise.

Workshops were provided in the areas of…Communication, Yoga, Nutrition, Careers, Pet Therapy, Zumba, Triple D-Dodgeball (Drug and Alcohol Awareness Game), Conflict Resolution, Dance, Getting Active with GPS, Creating Artist Trading Cards, Assuring a Positive Future and many others.  

Members of the Youth Conference Committee are extremely grateful to the workshop presenters who volunteered their time to educate our area seventh and eighth graders. We are also grateful to the following businesses/organizations that provided discounts or donations for the conference…Genesee County Stop DWI Program, Upstate Milk and Subway.

The Genesee County Youth Conference Committee is comprised of representatives from the following agencies: Batavia Youth Bureau, Genesee County Youth Bureau, Genesee Community College, GCASA and YMCA.  

For more information on this year’s Genesee County Youth Conference or to find out how you can participate in the next event, call the Batavia Youth Bureau at 585-345-6420 or the Genesee County Youth Bureau at 585-344-3960.

Submitted photo: Pictured are the 500 seventh and eighth graders and their school chaperones who attended the 2013 Genesee County Youth Conference held at GCC on March 12, being addressed by Tom Coverly, “The Illusionist,” and Keynote Speaker.

A full auditorium of Batavia High School students cheered on the varsity basketball team as it gets ready to head off to Glens Falls for the state championship basketball tournament.

The Blue Devils made the final four when sophomore Jeff Redband nailed a buzzer beater Saturday to beat Olean 63-62 in the Far West Regional championship game.

The shot was replayed during the pep rally and as the ball went in, the auditorium exploded in cheers, including from Redband's teammates (above).

Batavia takes on Watervliet at 8:30 p.m., Friday.

The Cannoneers come into the tournament with a seemingly unimpressive 16-8 record, but five of those losses were the result of a forefeit early in the season after officials discovered the team had an ineligible player on its roster.

The team has one three straight sectional championships and last year lost the state championship Class B game by one point to Bishop Ludden.

They’re a really good team," said Batavia Head Coach Buddy Brasky after the pep rally.

Like Olean, Watervliet features two high-scoring guards. Both seniors are headed to NCAA Division I schools next season.

"They’re probably going to be the two best players combined that we’ve faced all year," Brasky said. "They average about 45 points between them."

Jordan Gleason, wearing #1, is 6'1" and is heading to Sacred Heart. He averages 24 points a game and is a good three-point shooter, Brasky said.

Tyler McLeod, wearing #10, is 6'3" and is being recruited by La Salle in the Atlantic 10. He averages 21 points a game and is a "pull-up jumper" type of guard, Brasky said.

"Just like Olean had two kids who averaged about 40 points a game, our goal is to keep them in the low 30s," Brasky said. "If we can do that, we can be right there."

According to a Times-Union article, the Cannoneers will bring a freshman guard who has been a key part of the team's success this season. Ty'Jon Gilmore averaged 23 points in Watervliet's regional championship game.

Gilmore enters Friday's contest averaging 8.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 3.0 steals per game.

DiBacco says Gilmore's ability to be disruptive defensively has strengthened the Cannoneers' ability to press and trap the opposition.

"It gives me the chance to put Jordan and Tyler in the back of a lot of our traps and use our length and speed," DiBacco said. "Ty'Jon is a big reason why we're (in the state semifinals)."

Brasky likes to pressure opponents and get them out of rhythm.

"They try to make up and down, high tempo game," Brasky said. "Our challenge is to handle their pressure, try to get it to a half-court game where we can get into our half-court sets. If we can get them into half court, I think we can be successful defensively."

After Redband's big shot and the national attention it gained, it was a bit of a challenge to bring the Blue Devil players down from the excitement, Brasky said, and he kind of let them ride the high through Monday's practice, but on Tuesday, they came in focused and have remained focused since.

"They believe they can win and that's half the battle," Brasky said.

The senior leaders of the team's boosters give the players a pep talk.

After the rally, a team picture.

The senior players.

Two cars hit head on shortly after 1:15 p.m. at Main and Bank streets. Both drivers appeared a little shaken up but not seriously injured.

Batavia PD, city fire and Mercy EMS were on scene quickly and the intersection was cleared by 1:45 p.m.

For Father Ivan R. Trujillo, today's election of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, had a special meaning and brought Trujillo a special joy.

Bergoglio, now known as Pope Francis I, is the first pope from South America, and though Bergoglio is from Argentina and Trujillo is from Bolivia, it is a good thing for the church that a new pope was selected from the 455 million Catholics in South America, home to 42 percent of all Roman Catholics in the world.

"I'm very happy that they elected somebody from South America because most South Americans, most Latin American people, are Catholics, I'd say 80 percent" Trujillo said. "They are very happy. I'm very happy."

Trujillo is pastor of Resurrection Parish, which includes Batavia's St. Joseph's and St. Mary's. He was ordained in Jamestown in 1990 and became an assistant at St. Mary's in 1995. Four years ago, when St. Joe's and St. Mary's merged to form Resurrection Parish, Father Ivan was appointed pastor of the parish.

It was a Jesuit, like Pope Francis, who inspired Trujillo to become a priest. In Bolivia, while studying philosophy, the rector of the school was a Jesuit. The priest had a passion, as most Jesuits do, for working with the poor.

A good deal of Father Ivan's work in Western New York is with the poor and less fortunate. He works with the poor and sick in his own perish, ministers to inmates at Attica and Wyoming correctional facilities, and works with migrant workers in Genesee, Orleans and Niagara counties.

Pope Francis -- taking the name of St. Francis Xavier -- has a reputation for humility and caring for the poor, living an austere life in Buenos Aires. For a time, Bergoglio gave up riding in a limo and instead took public transportation around the city, but had to give up the practice for security reasons.

"I believe it is a great sign that he will be a pope for the poor and everybody else," Father Ivan said. "I’m pretty sure he’ll be trying to reach the most needy people."

Trujillo believes that Francis, coming out of the Jesuit Order, will be a capable administrator as well as a spiritual leader, which is something, he said, the church needs now.

"It's a good time to celebrate," Trujillo said. "I know there are many problems with the church, but knowing about Jesuits, I'm sure he's well organized and he'll be a good asset for our universal church."

Trujillo was returning from Wyoming when church staff called him to say that a new pope had been elected. He returned to St. Joe's in time to see Pope Francis introduced to the crowd in Vatican City and a worldwide television audience.

It was an thrilling moment, he said.

"At the moment I’m a little bit shocked and so glad," Father Ivan said. "I wish the best for the pope and the whole church. One thing that impressed me with him was that he asked first to be blessed by the people in Rome and after that he blessed the people. After he was blessed by the people, he blessed them. That was a very nice symbolism that he will be a pope for the people and at the same time he brings some order that we need."

The Batavia Ramparts are presenting the Collin Crane Memorial ice skating event on Saturday, March 16, at the Falleti Ice Arena on Evans Street in the City of Batavia.

Schedule:

• 1 to 2:20 p.m. -- Open Memorial Skate -- with free skating and skate rentals
• 2:30 p.m. -- Mite Tournament (Mite sponsors are Max Pies, West Main Wine and Spirits, Cornerstone Abstract, South Side Deli)
• 4:40 p.m. -- Midget A Rampart Exhibition Game vs. MOHL

Food from Clor's Meat Market will be available, including pulled pork, turkey, and beef sandwiches.

There will be raffles and gift baskets. All proceeds will be used to establish a hockey scholarship in Collin's name.

Raffles include:

• $400 gift certificate to Adam Miller Toys
• $150 gift card to Alex's Place
• $100 gift card to Valle Jewelers
• $50 dinner and free play at Batavia Downs
• Autographed Ryan Miller Jersey
• Autographed Americans' Jersey

Seventeen-year-old Collin Crane, of Batavia, died in a two-car head-on collision on Dec. 8 on Route 33 in the Town of Stafford. A 49-year-old woman was seriously injured in the accident.

There's a man down, unconscious and bleeding from the neck at a residence on Hutchins St. in the city. Law enforcement is on scene and Mercy medics are called. It's an "unknown situation." The location is between Ellicott and Sumner streets.

UPDATE 12:40 p.m.: The patient, who was found inside the residence, is being transported to Strong Memorial Hospital.

UPDATE 12:49 p.m.: Mercy Medic #3 rerouted to the hangar at Genesee County Airport so the patient could be flown to the hospital by Mercy Flight.

UPDATE 1:01 p.m.: Investigators remain at the scene to gather more information. This may have been a medical issue.

April Marie Palmer, 26, of Liberty Street, Batavia, and Jaime Leigh Ayala, 33, of Wood Street, Batavia, are charged with grand larceny, 4th. Palmer and Ayala are accused of stealing merchandise from Walmart.

Patrick K. Gross, 29, of 15 Merrick St., Binghamton, is charged with DWI, refusal to take breath test, aggravated unlicensed operation, failure to yield right of way to emergency vehicle and several other violations. Gross allegedly failed to keep right and struck a median sign at the intersection of West Main and Oak streets. Gross allegedly failed to stop when a police vehicle using lights and siren attempted to stop his vehicle. Gross was jailed on $10,000 bail.

Alex S. Dumbleton, 19, of Greece, is charged with two counts of harassment, 2nd. Dumbleton allegedly threatened physical injury to two people.

The second alarm is called for a fully involved barn fire in Bethany at 4658 Route 20, just west of Francis Road. A deputy there reports black smoke billowing from the barn. The road will be shut down. The Bethany chief is on scene and all equipment from his department is called in.

Mutual aid is requested from Darien, Alexander, Attica, Town of Batavia, the city's Fast Team, and the Village of Wyoming. Stafford is called to stand by in Bethany's fire hall. The city's first platoon is called to stand by in headquarters.

The occupants are out of the house. Power is shut off in the barn. Vehicles have been removed from the property. The propane tank is also shut off.

UPDATE 3:34 a.m.: Westbound Route 20 is shut down at Texaco Town (the junction of routes 63 and 20).

UPDATE 4:01 a.m.: Command reports the fire is under control.

UPDATE 4:45 a.m.: The town and city units from Batavia have returned to quarters. Wyoming responders are released.

UPDATE 6:39 a.m. (by Howard): For the past 45 minutes or so, mutual aid departments have been going back in service. Bethany remains on scene. Photo: Reader submitted photo.

Yesterday, Lorri Goergen, of North Spruce Street, Batavia, showed me these pictures on her iPad. It's a herd of deer that appeared in her backyard the day before -- in the city, on Spruce Street.

The cost will be significant to clean up a former industrial property at 301 Bank St., Batavia, but it will be the state that picks up the bill, the City Council learned Monday night.

Some 4,000 tons of solid waste needs to be removed and another 20,000 tons of contaminated soil must be dug out and trucked to Texas for incineration.

The current owner of the property, Batavia Waste Material Co., Inc., went into bankruptcy in the mid-1990s. The city could have filed a tax-lien foreclosure in 1999, but the risk was the city would take on the responsibility for clean up of any contamination.

For more than 50 years, the property was used as an iron and metal recycling facility, so the possibility of contamination seemed likely.

"From a city perspective, the situation first involved a Hobson's Choice," said City Attorney George Van Nest. "What do you do? Do you foreclose and maintain municipal ownership, or do you leave it alone for the next 100 years."

The city found a middle way in the early 2000s -- apply for a state grant to hire a consultant to do an environmental assessment and come up with a plan for cleanup. 

Working with the Department of Environmental Conservation, the city hired GZA GeoEnvironmental of New York, based in Buffalo, to take on the study and develop the plan.

It's been a slow process, at a cost of more than $200,000 (city share, 10 percent) because DEC officials have had to approve it each step along the way.

Fieldwork was conducted between January 2006 and December 2010. There were 22 test pits dug, 50 soil probes, seven monitoring wells sunk and some 130 soil, sediment, surface water and groundwater samples collected.

The result -- some significant contamination on some portion of the property, including lead and PCB.

Already, some 40 tons of soil laced with PCB and pesticides have been removed and incinerated in Texas, just to take care of the most pressing issues.

Now the DEC is considering a full-on cleanup and will hold a public meeting at 6:30 p.m., March 20, to present its findings and gather public input. A final "record of decision" will be released March 31.

The cleanup, called remediation, is expected to take as long as 10 years, but when completed, the city will be able to finally foreclose on the property -- valued at about $190,000 -- and then sell it to the highest bidder. CORRECTION: The entire prodcess, starting in 2004, is a 10-year process, so officials expect completion in 2014.

The property is zoned for residential development.

As for who pays for the cleanup, the DEC will use money from the state's Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Site Superfund, a pot of money collected from fines and fees paid by polluters. 

Part of the Superfund process for a site cleanup is identifying a "responsible party" who will then be billed to remediate the current site.

"This is the best case, because we don't have to take over the property and be responsible for the cleanup and assume the cost of the cleanup," City Manager Jason Molino said. "In time, we can turn it into residential property."

Top photo: Chris Baron, consultant with GZA GeoEnvironmental.

There was nearly a full house for Monday night's public hearing on proposed changes to the City of Batavia's garbage collection law.

Most speakers -- and most applauders -- argued for some variation of "keep Genesee ARC" as the city's official garbage collection agency.

A couple of speakers said the city should get out of the garbage business.

There was no vote or comment by the council itself Monday. Council members did what they do at public hearings -- sat and listened.

The council is considering a proposed change to the ordinance that would take the cost of garbage collection off the tax rolls, end a 28-year relationship with Genesee ARC, and leave it up to each individual resident to contract with a garbage collection company of his or her choice.

Even the speakers who favor free choice said they would go with Genesee ARC if the price was competitive.

"If ARC chooses to provide trash service I will go with them," said John Roach, who supports the proposal to get the city out of the trash business. "It's the right thing to do and a good many people feel the same way."

But many supporters, such as Carol Grasso, said the city has pulled a fast one on residents by proposing a single-payer, pay-as-you-throw tote system and then when people protested, just saying, "OK, we'll get out of the trash business."

"Council may have misunderstood what we wanted," Grasso said. "Many of us wanted it to stay the way it was."

Grasso suggested that if the council votes for the new ordinance, come November, local voters may just "throw out the garbage."

Mary Ellen Wilber suggested that supporters of ARC may just seek the 400 signatures necessary for a ballot initiative to overturn any decision that gets the city out of the trash business.

"We need to do something together as a city and work together," Wilbur said. "You guys need to understand it wasn’t really broken. I don’t know what happened that this came to this point, but it has to be equitable for everybody."

Thomas Houseknecht said the proposed change unfairly increases the cost for city residents who can least afford the increase and offered to serve on a committee that would help the city come up with a better plan for garbage collection.

Several people made such an offer, and even supporters of choice, such as Jim Rosenbeck, said the city hasn't collected enough public input, studied the issue thoroughly and given it enough time.

"Trying to make the decision in two months is unfair to people," Rosenbeck said.

While he also offered to serve on a trash committee, Rosenbeck clearly favors getting the city out of the trash business.

"I don't believe the sky will fall if the city gets out of the trash collection business," Rosenbeck said. "It works in the town. It works in other communities. I think if trash piles up on the streets, you folks are charged with making sure that's taken care of, and I trust that you will."

Donna Rae Sutherland said the city getting out of the trash business is "bad governance" because it's the city's responsibility to provide shared services that benefit all residents.

Part of the economic calculation, she said, needs to include the local impact of Genesee ARC on jobs created, taxes paid, money spent locally -- the whole multiplier effect of local employment.

A trash collection committee should be formed, she said, to come up with a plan in conjunction with ARC that will increase recycling and create shared revenue with the city.

A select-your-own system, she said, is just going to lead to problems.

"Absentee landlords and unruly tenants will certainly clash over who pays and who is responsible for trash collection," Sutherland said. "Neighbors with garbage contacts and business owners with Dumpsters will find other people’s trash added to their own. Pocket parks and green spaces and back alleys will become drop garbage zones and our streets will become more congested with trash vendors."

Roach said, free choice works in other communities and there's no reason it can't work in Batavia.

"Former City Council President Charlie Mallow has moved to Webster where they have this free choice system and everybody has a different service provider," Roach said. "According to the former city council president, it is not a major problem, trucks running up and down the streets or anything like that. It’s workable. Glens Falls doesn’t have a problem. Saratoga doesn’t have a problem. The Town of Batavia doesn’t have a problem. Get out of the trash business. I don’t need anybody telling me who I have to hire."

Capt. Jay Steinbrenner, who retired recently from the City of Batavia Fire Department, and Sgt. John Peck, who retired from Batavia PD, were honored Monday night by the City Council with proclamations recognizing their decades of dedicated service to the city.

Top, Steinbrenner with Councilman Brooks Hawley, and below, Peck with Councilwoman Kathy Briggs, and bottom, Steinbrenner, Chief Jim Maxwell and members of city fire.

Organizers of the Facebook group "Batavians Want to Keep ARC Trash Collection" have been exhorting their members this week to show up at 7 tonight at City Hall for a public hearing on the proposed trash ordinance.

The new trash law would require each city resident to contract individually for trash collection.

Genesee ARC's director Donna Saskowski has said the agency is ready to go into the competitive trash business, but some ARC supporters are advocating for an ongoing exclusive contract with ARC.

One message:

Hope to see Many People at the Council meeting tomorrow night at 7 for the Public Hearing on the Latest proposed ordinance which would require all residents to hire their own trash contractor by June 1st. If you think it is a bad idea, we really need you to come and show your support and let Council know!

Residents who wish to speak either for or against the proposed ordinance should plan on showing up early and signing in. Speakers will be called to the podium in order of sign-up.

The council will also hold a public hearing on the proposed budget for 2013-2014, which lowers taxes based on the proposal to take garbage collection off the tax roles and have residents become responsible for their own garbage collection.

Sheriff Gary Maha was on vacation last week when The Batavian sought a response from him on allegations raised by Larry Andolina, attorney for Greg Phillips, that Sgt. Steve Mullen had mishandled the investigation of a bookmaking case involving two city firefighters.

Phillips is one of three men, including another former city firefighter, who admitted in December to bookmaking (taking sports bets). 

This afternoon we received the following response from Maha:

Allegations were made through defense counsel (Mr. Andolina) that Steve Mullen had in the past placed bets with his client. Information was that these alleged bets were placed four to five years ago.

As you know, placing a bet is not illegal, however if this was true, it would be a violation of our rules and regulations.

Based upon these allegations, we initiated an internal investigation. Steve Mullen retired prior to the completion of our internal investigation, therefore this became a moot issue as I could not discipline him if these allegations were sustained. All personnel matters are confidential.

Phillips and co-defendants Brian Bordinaro and Lance Engel each entered guilty pleas Dec. 11 to a Class A misdemeanor charge of promoting gambling, 2nd. Last Tuesday, they each learned that Judge Robert Balbick intends to give them weekend community work details as part of their sentences.

After the hearing, Andolina spoke with the media and said the reduced charge (the bookies were originally charged with the Class B felony of enterprise corruption) was the result of the Sheriff's Office mishandling the case. Pressed for proof, Andolina mentioned Mullen's retirement, but declined to produce any other evidence.

Later that evening WIVB aired a story that more specifically accused Mullen of placing bets, but it was scant on details and offered no factual information to back up the allegation. The story was based entirely on anonymous sources.