BATAVIA, N.Y. -- It's a great day to BBQ, but apparently some people haven't brushed off the cob webs of winter and reminded themselves cooking out doors.
About 1:35, a resident on Bank Street saw flames from an enclosed area in a neighbors back yard and called dispatchers with report of a fire at 117 Bank Street.
Batavia fire crews responded promptly and found nothing more than a beginning-of-spring bar-b-que in progress.
The Downtown Batavia Public Market returns Thursday, June 25 for its third year of operation, according to Don Burkel, manager of the Batavia Business Improvement District.
The market will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and run until Sept. 10 and operate at the corner of Ellicott and Center streets.
"This year the Market will be open on Thursdays to accommodate residents and employees of the businesses and government," Burkel said. "This provides a convenient venue for them to shop for fresh vegetables, fruit, baked goods, fresh cut flowers, honey, specialty BBQ sauce and popcorn and lots more within a short distance of their homes and places or work."
There is plenty of parking at the location, Burkel noted.
For those interested in being a vendor at the Downtown Public Market they can contact the Business Improvement District Office at 585-344-0900 or for more information visit the BID Web site.
Eric Bastian, 25, of Macedon, was arrested in Bergen Monday and charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Bastian was reportedly driving on Route 262 when a Sheriff's Deputy stopped him for allegedly driving with improperly tinted windows and a partially obscured license plate. When the deputy approached the vehicle, he said he could smell marijuana coming from the vehicle. Upon questioning, Bastian stated it was marijuana, according to the deputy's report. A field test also confirmed that the substance found in the car was marijuana. Bastian was issued a ticket and ordered to appear in court on April 8.
Jason Smith, 30, of Ontario, was arrested for alleged unlawful possession of marijuana following a traffic stop near Oak and Main streets in Batavia. Smith was allegedly speeding. When a Sheriff's deputy approached the vehicle, the deputy could reportedly smell the smoke and then observed smoke in the car. A field test of the substance in the car reportedly confirmed it was marijuana. Smith was issued an appearance ticket for April 8 in the City of Batavia.
James P. Cox, 46, of Pembroke, was arrested for alleged DWI after a witness allegedly observed him hit another vehicle in Erie County. The witness helped Erie and Genesee County Sheriff's deputies track and find Cox. Cox was stopped on Route 5 in Pembroke. He is charged with aggravated DWI and driving with a BAC of .08 or greater. He received additional moving violation tickets. Cox must now appear in courts in both Pembroke and Newstead.
James P. Coles, 30, of Darian, was arrested by Batavia Police yesterday for allegedly violating an order of protection the day before. Coles is accused of sending text messages to, and then showing up at the residence of the protected person. He is being held in lieu of $1,000 bail.
A 17-year-old from Bergen was picked up by Sheriff's Deputies yesterday and charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. The teen was allegedly found in possession of marijuana in the Village of Bergen municipal parking lot.
Last night citizens of LeRoy and surrounding towns flooded the Gymnasium at LeRoy Village Fitness to listen and voice their concerns on teenage alcohol abuse.
The community forum was scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m., but started ten minutes late because people continued to pile into the gym.
Pastor Jack Hempfling was the moderator and gave a big thank you to everyone for coming out.
In her introductory remarks, LeRoy Central Schools Superintendent Cindy Herzog, said it is all about perspective. We all come with many perspectives, we all wear different hats. She connected with the audience by sharing her own experiences.
She is a mother of five, ages 22, 20,16,14, and 13. She talked about a time when her teenage daughter was out one night and she received a phone call in the early morning hours from the police.
“When you get that phone call you can hardly breathe,” she said.
She talked about her husband always putting on the news in the morning, and the fear she feels every time they mention the teenage arrests.
“I fear every time on R News, it’s going to be one of our kids.”
David Markham, Executive Director of GCASA, tugged at the hearts of the listeners when he answered the question of “Why do I care?” He cares because he lost his 5- and 8-year-old, because of someone making a wrong choice. A drunken driver killed his children.
As he spoke he took the time to pause and let the audience reflect when he said today they would be 22 and 25.
He said we must focus on changing the community norms and attitudes, and decrease access.
Markham brought up a great point about the media reacting to the incident with Janet Jackson, at the Super Bowl. Everyone made a big deal about part of her breast being exposed, but there wasn’t anything wrong with the 22 beer commercials that were shown during the Super bowl.
Today teenagers have access at their fingertips; it is up to parents to decrease access.
Chris Hayward, LeRoy chief of police presented a slide show full of statistics showing the kids who are drinking the most are the age group 13-15.
The Village Police have seen a 131 percent increase in drug and alcohol related arrests since 2003. This is not including DWI arrests.
In 2008 the 13-21 year-old populations represented 53.5 percent of those arrests. Of those arrests the 13-18 year old population represented 73 percent.
On a national level 22.4 percent of eighth graders and fifty percent of seniors consumed alcohol in the last month from data from 2007.
There were 23 underage drinking incidents in LeRoy since May of 2008. One of the incidents in November was a 15-year-old was so drunk she couldn’t walk or stand up, so her friends just left her. Hayward gave praise for the parent who was out looking for their daughter, if they didn’t, who knows what might have happened.
Part of the message was parents must be responsible and get involved. They asked for places for teenagers to go. Seventy one percent of American youth say their parents are their leading influence.
Sixty percent of LeRoy students have used alcohol in their lifetime.
‘We have great kids,” said Hayward, “Some of our kids are making bad choices, choices that could result in death."
It is not about their character, he said, it’s about their choices.
Jackie Whiting, of LeRoy said she is all about the good choices but really pressed the panel with this question, “What are we going to do to offer better choices?” Now that the community is all here showing their concern what are the next steps to take was her main point.
Herzog responded by saying we are a big community that wants to do a lot of things, but the resources are not there. People in the audience were shaking their heads as soon as Herzog said we accept all ideas.
Ed Bishop, a parent who has spent 40 years in public education agreed there needs to be activities for the kids. He asked a powerful question about parenting.
“Most parents do not know,” he said referring to their child’s activities and whereabouts.
“Do you know?” he said.
One parent asked about the emphasis of arresting teenagers for marijuana. She works at Bryon-Bergen and said she knows kids are getting high before class in their cars.
“Pot is extremely accessible,” she said.
Hayward responded saying three weeks ago there was an arrest for possession of marijuana. He said it is a little bit tricky when it comes to making arrests with marijuana but there are arrests being made for it.
It takes a community to raise a child, one woman said and it took a community forum to realize the seriousness of preventing underage drinking in LeRoy.
The organizers gave everyone two folders full of statistics and pamphlets with advice and articles on underage drinking.
Also on the panel: Dana Berg, student, Ed Bishop, parent, Joe Englebert, Jr/Sr High Principal, Lisa Heywood, Parent, Father Michael Rock, St. Peter’s Church.
A note of interest, as I was walking to my car a couple were talking about the pool located in the Village Fitness, talking about how small it is. Then they went on to talk about how the community pool is getting taken away, and said, "Well now the kids won’t even have that."
Private ambulance companies can begin bidding on a contract to provide Genesee County with ambulance services. The private service will replace the service terminated by a vote of the Batavia City Council and scheduled to end Sept. 1.
Lawn signs protesting the council vote continue to dot the Batavia landscape.
A Request for Proposal (RFP) can be found on the County's Web site. The RFP was developed by the Genesee County Ambulance Task Force.
WBTA interviewed Tim Yaeger is the county’s emergency management coordinator, and head of the task force. Yaeger said the task force will review the proposals and submit recommendations and feedback to the participating government agencies.
Deadline for submissions is April 29.
The RFP is a very thorough document (PDF). It specifies the scope of service, company qualifications, insurance requirements, equipment needs, response times and communication guidelines.
The winning bid will be granted a three-year contract beginning Sept. 1, 2009 and ending Aug. 31, 2012. The contract may be terminated by either party on 120-days written notice.
The selected vendor must submit a surety bond or irrevocable letter of credit in the amount of $500,000 to guarantee performance of work.
The task force also reserves the right to reject all proposals.
Interested companies can ask questions and get more information on April 15, 10 a.m., at the Fire Training Center.
While service must start by Sept. 1, no date has been set for announcement of the awarded contract.
Most of the information contained in proposals received by the task force will be public information, discloseable under the Freedom of Information Law, except information specifically deemed as proprietary, in writing, by the submitting company.
Opponents of the city's decision to terminate its ambulance service set up a Web site to rally community support for its position. At one time, the site contained a (certainly non-scientific) poll to gauge community support for its position. Before the poll was taken down, only about 35 percent of the poll respondents favored the pro-city-ambulance position. The site also contains an online petition, but as of this moment -- several weeks after it was launched -- only 131 people have signed it.
The Obama stimulus package includes $7.2 billion to help rural America access the Internet more easily, and officials in Genesee County would like to ensure some of that money benefits the region.
Known as "Title VI--Broadband Technology Opportunities Program," the allocation is a mere 1 percent of the entire stimulus program.
County Manager Jay Gsell clued me in a couple of weeks ago about the County's efforts to attract some of that money to help areas of the county that do not yet have broadband access. He said the broadband effort is one of many tasks on the County's to-do list related to bringing as much stimulus money to the county as possible.
Stephen Zimmer, Genesee County Director of Information Technology, said the county is participating in a state program to map current broadband availability and identify areas of need.
New York Farm Bureau President Dean Norton applauds the effort to help rural residents access the Internet more easily.
"Farmers in rural, agricultural areas need broadband," Norton said. "Support for broadband has been in our policy book for years. Technology is necessary to keep agriculture viable. Your business (The Batavian) thrives off of technology and agriculture is needing technology more and more."
Much is unknown even at this point about how the broadband program will be administered, and it may not be until 2010 before we see any results. This PCWorld article explains some of the unresolved questions about the program.
The broadband stimulus program is also not without controversy.
Former FCC economist Michael Katz has been acerbic in his dismissal of rural American and the need for spending $7.2 billion on improving Internet access.
Katz listed ways that the $7.2 billion could be put to better use, including an effort to combat infant deaths. But he also spoke of rural places as environmentally hostile, energy inefficient and even weak in innovation, simply because rural people are spread out across the landscape.
"The notion that we should be helping people who live in rural areas avoid the costs that they impose on society … is misguided," Katz went on, "from an efficiency point of view and an equity one."
According to the same NPR piece, a New York Times article has referred to the rural broadband initiative as a "cyber bridge to nowhere."
But others say the package could help another 20 million Americans get broadband access, and high-speed access does help create and retain jobs.
A study of 3,000 people in Michigan, Texas and Kentucky found those in areas that received broadband Internet grants from the federal Rural Utilities Service quickly signed up for service, matching the penetration rates in cities. That happened where network investment was coupled with community programs aimed at convincing people about the benefits of Internet access.
Home broadband users were more likely to start businesses or take classes online, and less likely to move away, the researchers at Michigan State University found.
Norton said a lot of farmers in Genesee County are still stuck with dial-up, which hurts their productivity. It also keeps them from accessing more advanced online-software that help them run their businesses.
"(Broadband) will help the more progressive and larger enterprises the most," Norton said, "but with the smaller ones, there lies another opportunity to educate people and help them."
In a statement issued last night, Assemblyman Steve Hawley said the elimination of VLT money (video lottery terminal funds) is going to cost both Batavia and the County some big bucks.
Today we asked City Council President Charlie Mallow (who, along with Rose Mary Christian, apparently will be a candidate for the County Legislature) about the impact of the state budget on local governments.
Charlie sent along this statement:
The city never planned for the VLT money to continue. We have always looked at the money as a short term windfall that was used to pay down the city’s debt. This year we used most of the money for designs to plan for infrastructure repairs. On the bright side we were able to dodge a bullet that would have taken $40,000 in state aid that helps support our Youth bureau. We lobbied hard to change the governor’s mind about those block grants. As far as I am aware at this point, some careful planning has helped us in the long run and this budget shouldn’t have a major effect on the city.
Hawley's statement about the VLT cuts:
The budget will also include a 50% reduction in VLT funding that will leave municipalities that depend on this money left holding the bag. The City of Batavia will see a cut of $314,849, the Town of Batavia $114,563, and Genesee County $143,137. This lack of funding will force municipalities to pass along the added burden to taxpayers.
Reltated but out of the area: In an editorial, The Canandaigua Daily Messenger recently said Farmington was wise not to count on keeping VLT money, which has been targetted for potential cuts before.
Homer is the moniker selected for the Batavia Muckdogs following a contest among local residents.
More than 100 names were submitted for the big lovable dog mascot of the NY-Penn League Champions.
The contest winner is Katie Houseknecht of East Bethany. She was the first person to submit an entry and the first one to suggest Homer for the mascot's name.
"The name was a no-brainer for me," Katie said in a Muckdogs' press release. "Homer is my brother Tim's nickname. And if the Muckdogs hit lots of 'Homers,' they will be NY-Penn League Champions again."
She won an electric scooter, courtesy of 7-Up, plus two tickets for Opening Day at Dwyer Stadium. The Muckdogs will play against the Auburn Doubledays in the Friday June 19 game. Fireworks will follow.
Local dairy farmers are hurting, according to Dean Norton, president of the New York Farm Bureau.
Prices have plummeted -- because of decreased demand for dairy products at home and abroad -- while costs have increased substantially.
Currently, milk is selling for $10.50 to $11.50 per 100 weight (about 8.5 gallons), while the cost of production is $15 and $16 per 100 weight.
Last year, milk sold for about $20 per 100 weight.
"The area economy stinks and it's a tough year," Norton said. "Receipts are down and individuals might be exiting the dairy industry."
Exports have dropped and domestic demand has been driven down as people eat out less during the recession, so there is shrunken demand for dairy products.
To help address the plunging prices, Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has initiated a herd retirement program, which will help reduce the number of milk-producing cows and lower supply. Bids must be postmarked by May 1.
Dairy farmers throughout the nation are hurting according to The Rural Blog:
“The number of dairy cows being sent to slaughter has risen by about 20 percent from last year, as desperate farmers cull their herds and sell at fire-sale prices,” Sue Kirchoff writes for USA Today. “Adding to the problem, banks are less willing or able to extend farmers’ loan payments amid the financial turmoil.” John Murawski reports for the News & Observer in Raleigh, "Several dozen dairy farms in North Carolina are expected to go under this year." (Read more)
The National Dairy Federation has called on President Obama to aggressively address the problem, or thousands of jobs could be lost.
“There are several reasons for the implosion: oversupply, falling export demand and continued high prices for supplies such as feed,” Kirchoff explained. “The dairy sector in the past has been less prone to huge price swings than other areas of agriculture, but that’s changing as the industry relies more on the markets and less on government programs.”
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a program to buy 200 million lbs. of nonfat dry milk surpluses for domestic low-income programs.
Neighboring Wyoming County is being especially hard hit by the downturn in the dairy market, according to a story by Tom Rivers.
The $60 million in reduced revenue is compared to 2008 prices, when dairies averaged about $17.50 per hundredweight. This year the prices are forecast to average $12.80 for the year. The prices are expected to climb above the current $11 level and top $14 in September, which is still below most farms' production costs.
The county's 47,970 cows, which outnumber the county's residents, produced $178.9 million worth of milk products in 2007, by far the most in the state.
"The market is saturated and these prices are likely to be with us until mid-summer," Norton said.
According to our internal statistics, these were the most viewed posts in March.
And since I forgot to post this list for February, here it is:
Residents of LeRoy are asked to attend a community forum tonight to discuss the issue of teenage alcohol abuse.
The meeting will be held at LeRoy Village Fitness, according to WBTA.
Over the past six years, there has been a 250 percent increase in incidents involving under-age drinking. Most recently, a 21-year-old man was found in the Village so intoxicated, allegedly, that he had to taken to the hospital. He allegedly bought and served alcohol to an 18-year-old in the Village.
WBTA posted an audio quote from Cindy Herzog, superintendent of LeRoy Central Schools.
The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m..
Batavia-based Graham Corp. announced new orders worth about $3.5 million for surface condensers to be installed in two oil refineries in India and South Korea and a fertilizer production facility in the United States.
The orders follow quickly another $5 million in sales for the company's ejector systems, according to the Democrat and Chronicle.
CEO James Lines said:
"While we expect the global recession and tight credit markets to continue to affect the pace and timing of new order placement ... we view the potential bookings pipeline favorably," Lines said. "We believe the long-term fundamentals supporting increased global demand for energy are solid."
Two Rochester residents and a Batavia man are in custody after an investigation last night by Drug Enforcement Task Force members into the sale of crack cocaine in Batavia.
Arrested where Mark H. Gissendanner, 24, or Rochester, Aileen Nieves, 21, of Rochester and Shawn M.Walburn, 35, of Batavia.
Gissendanner was arrested in the parking lot of 21 Liberty Street, while Nieves and Walburn were picked up in the parking lot of Van Detta Stadium on Union Street.
All three suspects were arraigned in Batavia City Court and are being held without bail.
Gissendanner reportedly sold a quantity of crack cocaine to task force members on two occasions and then was allegedly in possession of more of the drug when he was arrested. He is charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree.
Nieves reportedly sold crack cocaine to an undercover office while in Batavia and was allegedly in possession of more crack when she was picked up. She is charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree.
Walburn was allegedly in possession of crack when his vehicle was stopped by task force members in Batavia. He is charged with criminal possession of a controled substance in the forth degree.
Participating in the investigation were members of the Genesee County Sheriff's Department, the Batavia Police Department and the LeRoy Police Department.
Pictured above in order are Gissendanner, Nieves and Walburn.
Don't forget to submit your date-specific events to The Batavian's Calendar.
If your business, civic group, sports organization or church group has an upcoming event, you should be sure it's in our calendar.
Click on the "add event" link under the calendar on the right side of The Batavian's Web pages.
If you tag the post "announcements" it will also show up in our announcements section.
We just received the following statement from Assemblyman Steve Hawley.
I did not know until I read it here that the proposed budget shifts money from local governments to the state, which as Hawley points out, is going to only mean increased local taxes (or severe cuts in services).
I've tried to keep my comments on the budget as non-partisan as possible. The shipwreck of a budget could have just as easily been produced by a GOP-controlled Albany -- maybe not the same, but I have no confidence the Republicans could do any better. That said, I think it needs to be said: Local Democrats tend to be pretty active commenters on The Batavian. It's noteworthy, then, that in two days of raising the budget issue on The Batavian, none of the usual Democratic stalwarts have stepped forward to defend Paterson, Smith and Silver. Maybe my noting this will bring forth some sort of intelligent defense. I would love to hear it. But I suspect strongly that any common-sense Democrat also recognizes this budget proposal is exceptionally indefensible.
Hawley's statement follows the jump:
Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,I,C-Batavia) today expressed his displeasure with the 2009-10 State Budget and the secret negotiations used to hammer out a deal.
"The budget was agreed upon in secret closed-door meetings that involved the state's three legislative leaders, Governor Paterson (D - Harlem), Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith (D - Queens) and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D - Manhattan/Chinatown) - all downstate New York City Democrats - with no input from other elected representatives.
"The state budget, details of which were hashed out at the last minute under a cloud of secrecy, lacked the transparency and openness that New Yorkers deserve. Albany's dysfunction once again reared its ugly head at a time when the state is in the midst of a recession and is struggling to survive with a $17 billion budget deficit.
"The $132 billion spending plan calls for a ten percent increase, or $10.5 billion in spending, over last year and includes $7 billion in new taxes and fees. In addition, the budget eliminates the critical STAR Rebate program that provides middle-income homeowners with $1.7 billion in relief from skyrocketing property taxes. More taxes and no property tax relief is the last thing that New Yorkers need right now. Raising taxes through "hidden" fees will force more New Yorkers to flee the state in search of less expensive areas and will further erode the state's tax base. The governor is retaining $1 billion from the federal stimulus program (newly printed money) and I challenge him to use it all to reinstate the STAR Rebate program.
"The budget will also include a 50% reduction in VLT funding that will leave municipalities that depend on this money left holding the bag. The City of Batavia will see a cut of $314,849, the Town of Batavia $114,563, and Genesee County $143,137. This lack of funding will force municipalities to pass along the added burden to taxpayers.
"The budget spends too much, taxes too much and does nothing to solve the state's fiscal problems. New Yorkers are struggling everyday to pay their bills and put food on the table and placing additional tax burdens on their backs will only further the struggle. New Yorkers deserve better, and for this reason I have voted no on the entire 2009-10 state budget."
Kevin L. Madden, 24, of Albion, was charged with DWI and issued traffic tickets for unsafe speed and moving from lane unsafely, following a rollover accident on Transit Road, off Route 63 in Bethany (reported on The Batavian yesterday), Madden was transported to UMMC, treated for minor injuries, and released to State Police. He is scheduled to answer the charges in Bethany Town Court on April 7 at 7 p.m.
Rory Howe, 21, of Attica, is charged with petty larceny. Howe is accused of shoplifting at the Wal-Mart in Batavia. According to a Sheriff's Office report, loss prevention officers at Wal-Mart apprehended Howe Monday with $55.25 worth of merchandise on her person as he exited the store.
A black Mazda SUV pick up was involved in a single vehicle accident on Transit Road off Route 63 at about 3:40 p.m. The driver told emergency personal he was unhurt, but was placed in an ambulance and checked over as a precaution. State Troopers on scene estimated the driver tried to make turn off southbound Route 63 onto Transit at 55 p.m. Skid marks arched across both lanes of Transit from Route 63 to the crashed truck. There were no passengers. Dispatchers had received a report of an erratic driver heading south on Ellicott Street in a black truck with a ladder rack, possibly a Nissan, at about 3:30 p.m. The driver was allegedly driving in the oncoming traffic lane, nearly causing at least one head-on collision.
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