A car has reportedly hit a tree while exiting the Thruway from the eastbound lane in Batavia.
Unknown injuries.
Town of Batavia fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.
UPDATE 12:01 p.m.: A Batavia chief on scene says all Batavia equipment can standby in quarters.
Tim Martin, born and raised in Batavia and a 2014 graduate of Batavia High School, is now in the Marine Corps and a tool he invented to assist in maintenance on the brakes of MV-22 Ospreys is getting the attention of even some of the highest-ranking generals in the Corps, thanks to its ability to reduce maintenance time and save money.
Martin's tool is now patent-pending and being deployed throughout the Corps for use on Ospreys, a type of multi-use aircraft that can take off and land both vertically (like a helicopter) and then fly like a fixed-wing plane.
After graduation from BHS, where he took several advanced-placement classes, Martin started college in an engineering program but decided he didn't like college life much so he joined the Marine Corps. He's now an aviation mechanic.
In his email to us, Martin said, "I have loved my time in the Corps since the day I joined, and wish for everyone to seek out what they are truly called to do. I never thought in my life that I would drop out of college as an engineering student and go on to be patent-pending on a tool I invented a few years later. The opportunities in life are endless. Once you find your calling everything else falls into place."
A slightly revised lease for property owned by the City of Batavia in the mall for Batavia Players got a renewed objection by Councilman Bob Bialkowski and as was the case in February of 2018, Bialkowski was the lone dissenting vote to approve the lease.
Bialkowski objected to the lease at Tuesday night's council meeting, he said, because it didn't address issues he said were typically in commercial leases -- such as provision for a dumpster, snow removal, parking, after-hour usage, and utilities.
He said the lack of clarity on these issues could lead to a lawsuit against the city and that since it is the first of what may be more leases of city property in the mall, the right precedent needs to be set.
"In my opinion, a good lease makes for good business," Bialkowski said.
He made a motion to rewrite the lease but it failed for lack of a second.
City Attorney George Van Ness said the only change in the lease was an extension of the term in order to meet state requirements for Downtown Revitalization Funds.
The proposal by Batavia Players to move the Harvester 56 Theater on Harvester Avenue to 35 City Centre -- the former Dent Neurological Clinic office, between Genesee Dental and The Insurance Center -- at a total cost of $901,750, was approved by the governor's office as part of the $10 million DRI award to the City of Batavia last year. The state grant will cover $701,750 of the construction costs.
Van Ness said if the city renegotiated the lease to the degree Bialkowski proposed, the past year's worth of work with the state to get final approval for the project would be lost and the process would start from the beginning.
"This is a standard commercial lease," Van Ness said. "It's been used in the past for other properties. It's been approved by Dent counsel. It's been reviewed and approved by counsel for Batavia Players as well as the Department of State.
"So respectfully, it's a standard lease in terms and received prior approval by the council on February 12th, 2018. Many of these same questions were asked and answered at that point in time. They were addressed and council voted at that point seven to one in favor of the lease."
Councilman Paul Viele, a contractor and commercial property owner, told his fellow council members that the lease is a standard "triple net."
A triple net lease means the tenant assumes responsibility for not just the rent, but also all other property expenses such as property tax, insurance, maintenance and utilities.
"I don't think anyone understands that they (Batavia Players) are responsible for most of everything that Bob raises as an issue," Viele said.
The council approved the lease on a 7-1 vote, with Councilwoman Rose Mary Christian absent.
There's been enough talk about the deer problem in Batavia, Councilman John Canale said during Tuesday's Batavia City Council meeting after a local resident said he's been chased by a buck in his own yard during public comments.
"Forming another committee isn't going to do anything," Canale said. "We've done this before. We form a committee and the committee studies the issue and makes a recommendation and then there's no action."
It's time for action, he said.
Councilman Paul Viele's suggestion: A controlled kill. It's time, he said, to start thinning the herds that encroach on the city.
Russell Nephew, a Bank Street resident, said there's a large herd that hangs out at that end of town, in the farm fields between Genesee Community College and the city line and enter on residential property, destroying landscaping and leaving their droppings in local yards, and perhaps carrying tics that are a danger to dogs and humans.
"Those things are disheartening and I’ve put up with them but now I’ve got chased through my backyard by a deer," Nephew said. "It reared up and I got away from it luckily. A couple of days later, my 70-year-old neighbor got ran into her apartment from a parking lot. At any one time, there can be from six to 10 deer that run through there."
A resident from Avon spoke up during the council discussion and said that in Avon they've instituted a bait-and-shoot program that has rules, is regulated, and is helping reduce the herd size.
Council President Eugene Jankowski pointed out that any deer killed would have the meat from the animal donated to a food pantry in the region to help feed low-income residents.
He also blamed the growing herd sizes on fewer hunters in New York. He said more people are giving up hunting as a protest against New York's increasingly restrictive gun laws.
While council members seemed to favor some culling effort, no specific plan was approved at Tuesday's meeting.
Here is the Genesee Symphony Orchestra during Monday's rehearsal performing Aaron Copland's "John Henry."
The Genesee Symphony Orchestra opens its 2019-20 season this Sunday at 4 p.m. with a concert in the auditorium of Pembroke High School.
The concert, "Symphonic Pictures I: Portraits" features "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun" by Debussy, "John Henry," by Aaron Copland, "The Swan of Tuonela," by Sibelius, and "Pictures at an Exhibition," by Mussorgsky.
This is the fourth season S. Shade Zajac leads the orchestra.
For casual fans of orchestra music or those who have never been to see an orchestra perform, this is an excellent show. The pieces are largely modernist and fun. The Mussorgsky piece is particularly exciting (watch the video) and Aaron Copland is perhaps America's greatest composer.
If you watch the video, you will likely want to attend this show.
Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors, and students (with ID) get in for free. Tickets are available at Roxy's Music Store, GO ART!, The YNGodess Shop, Bank of Castile in Le Roy and at geneseesymphony.com.
Pembroke High School is located at 8750 Alleghany Road (routes 5 and 77), Pembroke.
Previously: Video: GSO prepares for opening concert of the season, rehearsing 'Pictures at an Exhibition,' by Mussorgsky
With a senior planner leaving the Genesee County Planning Department for a private-sector job, Planning Director Felipe Oltramari said he sees it as an opportunity to reorganize his department in a way he thinks will be more efficient and help the county save some money.
Oltramari told members of the Public Service Committee on Tuesday that he would like to promote analyst Erin Pence to deputy planning director and create a position of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) clerk, thus eliminating the position of senior planner.
The reorganization, if approved by the Legislature during the budget process, would reduce costs in the department for 2020 by $4,000 and Oltramari said his five-year projection shows continued savings for at least that period of time.
In recent years, Oltramari's staff has consisted of a senior planner (a union-represented position) and an analyst (a non-union management position) and one assistant. The cost savings would be a result of reclassifying the senior planner position into an assistant position.
Oltramari said one of the things he learned after Derik Kane as senior planner for a position with LaBella and Associates is that one reason senior planners tend to stay in such county jobs -- and it's not just Genesee County -- is because the pay scale for the position tends to top out at about the six-year mark at which point, there are better private-sector opportunities.
And since Genesee County's pay scale for that position is about 25 percent less than the market rate, it makes it even harder to hire and retain qualified personnel. Oltramari said he understood why the pay for that position was set at the rate it is at; since it's a union position, raising pay to market rate would necessitate wage increases for personnel in other departments at the same current rate.
The reorganization will also help the planning department provide better service with GIS. Data entry and data management for GIS is time-intensive.
The county GIS map provides a lot of information to the community about tax parcels, jurisdictions, roads, streams and waterways, pipelines, fire hydrants, and a dozen or more other data points of interest.
The GIS system is also used by emergency dispatch, fire departments and local law enforcement for responding to incidents. The GIS system ties into CAD (Computer Assisted Dispatch system in every patrol car. The information can get pretty granular and is ever-changing.)
Keeping up with the information to ensure the database stays current is time-consuming, Oltramari said.
Analyst Pence currently handles the data maintenance and has little time to pursue opportunities to expand the system's functionality.
In her new role, she would supervise the data management position and work on expanding GIS services for the public and county agencies. For example, Oltramari said, it would be useful to have GIS provide road-closure information.
As deputy planner, Pence would also take on the duties of a senior planner.
It's Make a Difference Day for Batavia High School seniors with students and teachers taking on several community projects, including cleanup at the Peace Garden despite the rain.
Top photo: Leah Wroten. Second photo, Wroten along with Carolena Williams, Gabrielle Lawrence, Andrea Kraus, Katie Metzler and Ethan DiLaura.
At the Batavia Agri-Business Child Development Center on Brooklyn Avenue, Ron Williams, Alesia Schmidt and Sherry Crumity.
Marcello Harris, Jacob Bondaruk and Joshua Wasiulewski clean toys at the Batavia Agri-Business Child Development Center.
Jacob Crimes cleaning a display case at the Holland Land Office Museum.
Charlie Burton and Ayden Dowd-Devay paint a door at HLOM, while in the background Eddie Goodenough vacuums.
The Genesee Symphony Orchestra opens its 2019-20 season this Sunday at 4 p.m. with a concert in the auditorium of Pembroke High School.
The concert, "Symphonic Pictures I: Portraits" features "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun" by Debussy, "John Henry," by Aaron Copland, "The Swan of Tuonela," by Sibelius, and "Pictures at an Exhibition," by Mussorgsky.
This is the fourth season S. Shade Zajac leads the orchestra.
For casual fans of orchestra music or those who have never been to see an orchestra perform, this is an excellent show. The pieces are largely modernist and fun. The Mussorgsky piece is particularly exciting (watch the video) and Aaron Copland is perhaps America's greatest composer.
If you watch the video, you will likely want to attend this show.
Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors, and students (with ID) get in for free. Tickets are available at Roxy's Music Store, GO ART!, The YNGodess Shop, Bank of Castile in Le Roy and at geneseesymphony.com.
Pembroke High School is located at 8750 Alleghany Road (routes 5 and 77), Pembroke.
A driver is suspected of following another car too closely on Route 98 in Alexander on Sunday at 7:02 p.m. when it struck another car that was also traveling northbound near Dodgeson Road.
Possible charges are pending following a blood analysis, according to the accident report filed by Deputy Brock Cummings.
James J. Moscicki, 39, of Geise Road, Attica, was reportedly driving a 1991 Ford sedan when the car struck a 2005 Pontiac sedan on Alexander Road. The Pontiac was driven by Laqueasha M. Taylor, 26, of Bank Street, Batavia.
After being struck, Taylor's vehicle began to spin, heading in a northwest direction and came to a rest on the west side of the road facing south. Moscicki's vehicle continued traveling northwest and struck a fire hydrant. It then came to rest on the west shoulder facing north.
Both Moscicki and Taylor were transported by Mercy EMS to UMMC for evaluation of complaints of pain in their arms and shoulders.
Athena M. Short, 28, a passenger in Moscicki's vehicle, was not injured.
Illustration: Accident report drawing of the accident scene.
Deep Blue played in Saturday's finale of the Smokin' Eagle BBQ & Brew Battle of the Bands contest and finished second but this video, if you ask me, came out really well. You should watch it. It's Deep Blue performing the Paul Butterfield Blues Band's "Born in Chicago."
The John Payton Project won the 2019 Smokin' Eagle BBQ & Brew's Battle of the Bands on Saturday night. Here's JPP performing the third song of their set.
Click here for coverage of Saturday's event.
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Van Detta Stadium was filled with soccer players and soccer fans on Saturday for "Super Soccer Saturday" with five soccer games on the pitch, including an alumni soccer game in the afternoon (top photo).
Games:
Photos and info submitted by Carolyn Della Penna.
Batavia senior girls: Syd Della Penna, Maddie Taggart, Erica Flint, Azalea Wierda, Katie Moore, Liv Ells, Emily Janes, Bri Gutman.
Press release from AAA:
Today’s national average price for a gallon of gasoline is $2.64, down a penny since last week. One year ago, the price was $2.89. The New York State average is $2.70 – down 2 cents from last week. A year ago, the NYS average was $3.
AAA Western and Central New York (AAA WCNY) reports the following averages:
- Batavia -- $2.68 (down 1 cent since last week)
- Buffalo -- $2.67 (down 1 cent since last week)
- Ithaca -- $2.66 (down 1 cent since last week)
- Rochester -- $2.69 (down 2 cents since last week)
- Rome -- $2.70 (down 1 cent since last week)
- Syracuse -- $2.58 (down 3 cents since last week)
- Watertown -- $2.66 (down 2 cents since last week)
At the close of Friday’s formal trading session on the NYMEX, WTI increased by $1.15 to settle at $54.70. Crude prices increased after more tensions in the Middle East that could lead to a disruption in global crude supply.
Crude prices also increased based on reports that OPEC and its partners could deepen production cuts next year in an effort to reduce supply, which would lead to higher oil prices. This was not reflected in pump prices, which are down slightly over the past week.
In the Fifth Annual Battle of the Bands at the Smokin' Eagle BBQ & Brew in Le Roy, after a summer-long competition, the John Payton Project came out on top in the finalist pairing of the season on Saturday night.
Second place went to Deeper Blue.
Here's a video highlighting last night's event. We'll have full-song videos from each band over the next two days.
Notre Dame went on a romp Saturday afternoon against Canisteo-Greenwood gaining 526 rushing yards and scoring seven touchdowns to remain undefeated on the season with a 49-6 win over the Redskins.
Jed Reese scored three of the TDs on 12 carries for 237 yards. Gabe Macdonald rushed for two TDs. He carried the ball seven times for 149 yards. Alex Totten and Dylan Warner each had second-half touchdowns, with Totten gaining 80 yards on seven carries and Warner picking up 39 yards on four carries.
Canisteo managed only 178 total yards, 87 on the ground and 91 passing.
Dakota Sica led the defense with 12 tackles. Macdonald had 10 and Reese had eight. Reese also intercepted a pass in the end zone to thwart a Redskins' drive.
Do you know who else is undefeated in Section V Class D? The Alexander Trojans.
The Trojans also had a big win this weekend, beating Cuba 56-7, setting up a big end-of-the-season showdown Friday night under the lights at Alexander High School. The two teams will be battling to become the number one seed in sectionals for Class D.
On Friday, the Trojans jumped to a 21-0 first-quarter lead and kept the ball rolling in the second quarter to go into the half up 42-7.
Dylan Busch was 15 for 20 passing for 287 yards and four touchdowns. He threw one interception. Kam Lyons caught six of those passes for 95 yards. Josh DeVries had two for 69, Ty Woods, three catches for 53 yards, and Connor Hollands had a big night at tight end, filling in for the injured Devin Dean, with two catches for 41 yards.
In the ground attack, Alexander spread the ball around with eight ball carriers picking up a total of 231 yards and scoring four TDs.
Hayden Walton led the team with 10 carries for 64 yards and two touchdowns. Ty Woods had three carries for 45 yards and one TD. Jay Morrison had six carries for 50 yards and one TD. Josh DeVries had two carries for 41 yards.
Defensively, Ethan Heineman had eight tackles. Hayden Walton had six tackles. Ty Woods and Nolan Quackenbush each had fumble recoveries on defense.
The Trojans Sophomore kicker Eric Cline was once again perfect going eight for eight on the PATs.
Also on Saturday, Batavia lost to Greece Arcadia 26-7.
In eight-man football, Oakfield-Alabama/Elba beat Dundee 56-6. Joshua Cramer gained 147 yards on 19 carries and scored one touchdown.
Oakfield-Alabama's open house on Thursday night was capped off by the music department's annual cabaret show, which featured some of the students' favorite show tunes.
Sources say the legislation necessary to implement a new 40-year sales tax sharing agreement between Genesee County and the City of Batavia has been delivered to the desk of Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
He now has 10 days to sign it or veto it or let the deadline pass (known as a pocket veto).
The bill incrementally shifts sales tax revenue previously shared with towns and villages with that revenue targeted to pay off bonds for a proposed $60 to $65 million jail and for water infrastructure projects.
As The Batavian reported exclusively two days ago, with the bill lingering in Albany, unsigned, the county was in danger of going without a sales tax agreement in 2020 and that County legislators felt it necessary to suspend the planning process for the new jail.
If the bill is signed, there will be a sales tax sharing agreement in 2020 and jail funding can be secured.
The state's Corrections Commission is requiring Genesee County to replace its substandard jail.
Previously: Plans for new $65 million jail put on hold while governor dawdles on sales tax legislation
A routine traffic stop on Route 33 in Byron on Thursday morning led deputies to the discovery of 47 bags of fentanyl inside the vehicle, according to the Sheriff's Office, and the arrest of three people from Monroe County on drug-dealing charges.
Taken into custody were:
Deputies Ryan DeLong and Jared Swimline also reported finding a large quantity of drug packaging materials.
All three suspects were arraigned in Town of Byron Court. Williams was ordered held on $20,000 bail or $40,000 bond. Barnwell-McClary on $15,000 cash or $20,000 bond. Chin on $10,000 cash, $20,000 bond.
The deputies were assisted by the Local Drug Task Force, Trooper Sean Gourdine and his K-9 "Ash" and the District Attorney's Office.
Press release:
The Batavia Police Department and Genesee County Sheriff’s Office has received an armored rescue vehicle from the U.S. Government’s 1033 program.
The program allows for departments across the nation to receive surplus military vehicles, for free, to use in special operations.
The vehicle received is called an MRAP, which stands for Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected. The vehicle was designed to withstand improvised explosive devices and ambush attacks. Due to its larger size, heavyweight, and big tires, it is also a perfect vehicle to use during flood situations and natural disasters.
The departments will take possession of the vehicle today and will begin retrofitting it with the necessary equipment to include paint, decals, lights/sirens, seating, and communications to make it suitable for law enforcement use.
The departments plan to use the vehicle for a multitude of duties to include, rescue operations during floods or natural disasters and high-risk law enforcement activities such as active threats/warrant executions, throughout the county.
This new addition will allow the departments to provide better protection to citizens in natural disaster situations and also protect officers who are involved in higher-risk law enforcement activities.
The Batavia Police Department and Genesee County Sheriff’s Office are proud to have this vehicle which better prepares the City of Batavia and Genesee County for any threat, both natural and man-made.
Previously:
Sen. Rob Ortt, who is also a candidate for congression in the NY-27, spent much of his day in Genesee County on Wednesday, first attending the veterans town hall in Corfu about the new national cemetary, then paying a visit to The Firing Pin in Bergen, and then holding a meet-and-greet at Ken's Charcoal Pits & Bar-B-Q.
The Batavian caught up with Ortt at The Firing Pin.
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