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The Genesee Chorale will sing its "greatest hits" from its first 20 seasons in a concert on May 18 called Reflections.

The Chorale will highlight chorale-member favorites at St. James Episcopal Church, 405 East Main St., Batavia, at 4 p.m.

The song selection surveys a range of styles and genres, including pop, classical, sacred, spiritual, and folk music. 

"We are really thrilled at how beautiful this concert is shaping up to be," said member Caryn Wood.

For tickets, click here.

Photos by Howard Owens.

The Kentucky Derby proved to be solid business for Batavia Downs on Saturday, with increases in revenue and attendances, said Ryan Hasenauer, vp of business development for WROTB.

More than a thousand people visited the Park Place event center over the course of the day, and more than 250 attended the Derby Gala in the Clubhouse.

Previously: Farm workers union organizes protest at federal facility in Batavia after 14 migrant workers detained

In response to a story The Batavian published on Saturday, link above, and was republished by OrleansHub, Lynn-Ette & Sons, the employer of a group of migrants who were taken into custody on Friday morning, issued the following statement:

Lynn-Ette & Sons is heartbroken by the recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) action that resulted in the detention of 14 long-standing farm employees.

These individuals are not only vital contributors to our operations but valued members of our extended farm family—many of whom have worked alongside us for years with commitment and integrity.

We are deeply troubled by the manner in which this enforcement action was carried out and the impact it has had on our team and their families. Lynn-Ette & Sons had no prior knowledge of the raid and had no contact with ICE beforehand.

We strongly reject the United Farm Workers’ (UFW) irresponsible and self-serving public claims suggesting that these workers were targeted in retaliation for union activity. These claims are categorically false.

None of the individuals detained were part of the bargaining unit involved in the ongoing union activity on our farm. To insinuate otherwise is not only misleading but irresponsibly politicizes a painful and personal situation for the workers and their loved ones.

Lynn-Ette & Sons remains committed to the fair and respectful treatment of all our employees. We are cooperating fully with legal counsel to better understand the circumstances and to assist the affected individuals and their families where possible.

We call on elected officials and community leaders to ensure that all enforcement actions are conducted with transparency, due process, and human dignity.

UPDATE: In response, UFW issued the following statement:

In response to Lynn-Ette & Sons statement published on this website, Armando Elenes, Secretary Treasurer of the United Farm Workers, issued the following statement.

"There is in fact a bargaining unit at Lynn-Ette farm which covers seasonal workers — as Lynn-Ette is aware, an arbitrator has already been appointed by the State of New York following Lynn-Ette’s failure to negotiate a union contract for them in good faith and we are waiting for the arbitrator to issue their decision. 

It is true that the workers who were detained last Friday are not part of the current bargaining unit. This is because Lynn-Ette itself successfully argued that its year-round workers should be excluded from the unit. At the time, we argued strongly that year-round workers should be included in the same bargaining unit as their seasonal coworkers.

Given that exclusion, several year-round workers were continuing to organize to file a petition for a separate bargaining unit that would negotiate a contract for the year-round workers. Several of the workers who were leading that effort have now been detained by ICE. 

We do now know that ICE came to target the bus as a result of a tip. We demand that ICE be fully transparent about how and why and based on what information these arrests were made, including to the members of Congress who are inquiring about this very issue. 

If workers at any company were to be targeted for immigration enforcement for union organizing, that would be a violation of our Constitution's First Amendment; the right to freedom of association including with your union. Everyone should be concerned about that."

The YWCA of Genesee County honored its 2025 Women of Distinction on Saturday afternoon with a luncheon at Terry Hills.

This year's honorees, in photo from left:

• Mary Kate Hoffman, recognized for her role in inspiration, superintendent of Pavilion Central School.
• Lucy Sackett, recognized for her leadership in education, a community volunteer with a passion for teaching young people to swim, and currently a volunteer at Crossroads House.
• Leadership Genesee Book Club, represented by Brenda Lee Heinemann, Laurie Mastin, Barb Shine, and Donna Morill
• Karyn Winters, recognized for her role in leadership in education and business as director of the Genesee County Business Education Alliance
• Dr. Emily Fraser-Branche (not pictured), recognized as an entrepreneur as owner and founder of Three Little Birds Pediatrics.

The awards are bestowed as a tribute to women who are "shaping the future with vision, strength, and purpose." 

The keynote speaker was Linda Dynel, author of Leaving Dorian: A Memoir of Hope, which deals with intimate partner violence. 

For more on the winners, click here.

Batavia High School hosted its annual track and field invitation at Van Detta Stadium on Saturday, and 28 schools from throughout the region participated.

The Blue Devils won the meet in both Boys and Girls divisions.

Top three for the Girls:

• Batavia, 133 points
• Niagara-Wheatfield, 89
• Webster Schroeder, 66

Top three for the Boys:

• Batavia, 107 points
• Niagara-Wheatfield, 85
• Kenmore, 82

For full results, click here.

Top performances for the Batavia girls:

• Karizma Wescott won the 100m (12.57), won the 200m(26.05), and was on the winning 4x100m (49.50) and winning 4x400m (4:12.56) relays!!
• Ella Shamp won the Long Jump with 17' 7" and won the High Jump with 4' 10" and was also on the winning 4x100m relay.
• Adi O'Donnell was on the winning 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay, and placed 2nd in the 200m (26.58)
• Campbell Riley placed 2nd in the 400m (61.43), 2nd in the 800m (2:26.43), was on the 4x800m team that placed 2nd (9:57.08) and anchored the winning 4x400m relay team
• The relays mentioned above are 4x100m (Ady O'Donnell, Nevaeh Thomas, Ella Shamp, Karizma Wescott)  4x400m (Ava Anderson, Ady O'Donnell, Karizma Wescott, Campbell Riley), 4x800 (Mallory Boyce, Amelia Tripp, Jenna Higgins, Campbell Riley)
• Batavia also won the freshman-sophomore sprint medley relay (Mallory Boyce, Natalie Battaglia, Nevaeh Thomas, Sophia Lawrence) with a time of 4:40.15.
• Mady Smith placed 2nd in the 100m Hurdles (15.24)
• Ava Wierda placed 2nd in the shot put (33' 9.5")

• Sheldon Siverling won both the shot put(58'8") and the discus (170'1").
• Karvel Martino 2nd shot (53'9") and 3rd in the discus (134'2").
• Cameron Garofalo won the 1600m (4:30.23), placed 4th in the 800m (204.89), was on the 4x800m relay team that placed 2nd (8:23.19) with teammates En'hazje Carter, Grant Gahagan, and Jamari Irvin.
• Justin Smith won the high jump (6'2"), Grant Gahagan placed 2nd in the high jump (5'10")
• Isaic Varland won the 200m (23.46)
• Greyson Betances placed 2nd in the pole vault (10'6")
• The freshman-sophomore sprint medley team, consisting of Enhazje Carter, Jamere Reeves, Greyson Betances, and Keagan Calmes placed 2nd (4:00.25)

Press release:

As of May 3, 2025, Route 5 between Kelsey Road and Lewiston Road (Route 63) is reopened to public travel, and the surrounding area is considered safe. However, an investigation into the fire remains ongoing, and crews will continue work at the site in the days ahead.

Operations at the Genesee County Jail and Animal Shelter have returned to normal, and County Building Two will reopen to the public on Monday.

The Genesee County Office of Emergency Management sincerely thanks the community for their cooperation and patience, and extends deep appreciation to the fire departments, emergency responders, and law enforcement agencies involved in the response.

Protesters came with signs and bullhorns to the Buffalo Detention Facility on Friday evening in a hastily organized demonstration to raise their voices against Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The protest was called, said Gabrilla Szpunt, an organization coordinator for the United Farm Workers, after 14 migrant workers the union claims to represent were picked up en masse early Friday morning by agents of ICE.

All 14 were on a bus owned by Lynn-Ette & Sons Farms in Kent, where they worked, Szpunt said.

"They were on their way to work," said Szpunt. These are workers we've been organizing with for at least a year. An entire family was picked up in this raid, and other workers have been here for decades, some for several years. We're here to support them and let them know they're not alone in this process."

She said the union doesn't inquire about the legal status of migrants they organize with, but given the longevity of several of the workers, they likely had visas to work in the U.S., though she couldn't say with certainty that they all were documented.

Szpunt said the UFW is in the process of securing legal counsel for the farm workers.

The protesters chanted a revolving set of messages, many of them demanding an end to deportation and for the protection of workers, but a few of them were laced with profanity, such as "eff ICE" and "eff Fasicist America." 

When asked about the tone of some of the chants, Szpunt said she understood the concern, but she wasn't there to censor what the people who participated wanted to chant. 

Asked what message the UFW wanted to send, she said, "Our message is that we believe these workers have been here for decades. They deserve to a process if they're going to be facing these kinds of immigration proceedings. That hasn't been the case under the Trump administration. People with green cards have been picked up, citizens have been picked up and detained, and disappeared."

At one point during the protest, a stream of cars exited the detention facility. A passenger in one car held a mobile phone in one hand, apparently shooting video as the car drove past, while simultaneously extending the middle finger on his other hand.

According to the UFW website, the UFW has been involved in disputes with Lynn-Ette farms. The union filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the farm for allegedly requiring a UFW representative to leave the farm while meeting with workers. The Public Employees Relations Board in October required Lynn-Ette Farms and two other farms to engage in binding arbitration with the union, according to the UFW website.

Photos by Howard Owens

People across the nation on Thursday participated in a protest against the policies of the Trump Administration, including in Batavia.

The protest was scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. The Batavian did not arrive until 7:20 p.m., when about 50 people were still present.

One protester said there had been a much larger group of protesters at the start of the protest, but thunderclouds and rain had left "only the diehards."

Photos by Howard Owens.

Could one of the people you see in these photos be the next Steve Moses, the 2015 winner of the CBS reality series Big Brother?

More than 300 people turned up at Batavia Downs on Wednesday to try and repeat what Moses did in the show's 17th season when Moses won slot as a constant through an audition at Batavia Downs.

"He was from the Fredonia area, but he was going to college in St Lawrence up by Alexandria Bay. and of course, we're on the way right. Batavia is right on the Thruway, so he timed his run after spring break to be here for the audition," said Ryan Hasenauer, vice president of business development for Western Regional Off-Track Betting.

Channel 8 out of Rochester, a CBS affiliate, ran the auditions, which involved potential contestants waiting their turn to step into a black-curtained booth to be filmed making their pitch to the show's producers. The video will be screened by the producers and the finalist selected.

"Some people are very reserved, and a lot of people are Type A's like me, where they're very loud about it," Hasenauer said. "They get excited, and like that young lady was saying that you were talking to earlier, she was somebody who's watched the show for a long time, 12 years. Some of these people are geared up to do it. It's an exciting thing for us."

That young lady was Chelsea Dezuko, from Buffalo.

"I've been watching Big Brother since I was maybe, like, 13," Dezuko said. "It's something that me, my mom, my sister, we would do together. We would get together, sit on the living room couch. It was like the one excuse that we got to stay up late for school, like past our bedtime."

Big Brother is really the only reality TV series she's watched.

"Honestly, I'm not a huge reality TV person, but Big Brother just feels different," she said. "I feel like there are people of all walks of life who enter the Big Brother house. I love the competitions. Like one of my Big Brother idols is probably Nicole F. She's won the show before."

Tacido Curry, from New York City, was in Batavia to take his second shot at auditioning for Big Brother. He returned from a trip to Brazil to make it to the audition. 

"I'm one of a kind," Curry said. "I'm a little bit different, so I needed to be on the show."

And he likes his shot.

"I've watched all the seasons, so I wish I were there all the time," Curry said. "I have a very strong personality. I lived in many countries. I am a world survivor. I survived lots of crazy things in my life. I was kidnapped three times. I was in the World Trade Center. I survived the tsunami and the fires of Notre Dame. I'm sure I can survive in the big house. I have a big resume, you know, to share with people and provoke people, too."

Chris Hadlock, from Victor, thinks he's got the resume for a slot on the show as well.

"I've been doing this stuff my whole life," Hadlock said. "I was a professional musician for 30 years. Now, I'm a helicopter pilot. I kind of miss the limelight a little bit, so if I can entertain the crowd, you know what I mean, on a national level, let's do it."

Oakfield-Alabama beat Notre Dame in softball on Tuesday, 8-4.

Savannah Durham got the win, going all seven innings, giving up six hits, one walk, two earned runs while striking out 12.

• Allison Harkness, 2-3,  3 RBI's
• Raine Denny, 2-3, 2 triples, RBI, 2 runs scored
• Savannah Durham, 1-3, RBI, 2 runs scored
• Jess Sosnowski, 1-3
• Rylee Denny, 1-3

Working in law enforcement, the way Sheriff Joseph Graff sees it, is the most rewarding job anybody can have.

He's enjoyed everything he's done since joining the Sheriff's Office in 2005 -- road patrol, criminal investigations, chief of road patrol, chief of investigations, and, since Jan. 1, sheriff.

"All of my positions here have been super rewarding for me," Graff said. "You know, everything that I've done, my road patrol time was exciting, fun, and rewarding. Then all the roles I've had subsequent to that have really followed the same suit. So if you ask me, which one I like the best, I've loved them all. I've loved all my positions here. They've all been great. You know, they all have different facets and different parts that are exciting. And you know, certainly I've enjoyed it all."

The Batavian interviewed Graff on Wednesday to see how he's settling into his new role after five months on the job.

Graff is a congenial and cheerful guy who has always been approachable, even on crime scenes and at serious accident scenes.

"I guess I have always tried to, whether it's people in the community or you guys (reporters), or anyone, give people the same amount of respect that you get from them," 

As a field training officer, Graff said that was the same ethic he tried to pass on to the rookies in his care.

Graff grew up in Stafford in a Catholic household, attending Byron-Bergen Central School for a year before transferring to St. Joe's. He graduated from Notre Dame and then attended St. John Fisher, where he studied finance and economics.

He wasn't sure what he wanted to do, but felt drawn toward law enforcement.  In 1999, he landed a job with Genesee County Probation.

"Patrol jobs were fewer and farther between," Graff said. "Then, you know, at that time in department, life, in society, not a lot of people were retiring. The attrition rate was low. Retirements weren't as frequent as it is now. So I was on the deputy sheriff's list, and when an opening became available, I got hired as a deputy sheriff."

That was in 2005. He worked road patrol until 2015, when he was promoted to chief deputy of road patrol. In 2019, long-time lead criminal investigator Jerome Brewster retired, so Graff returned to investigations as chief deputy of that unit.

When did you first start thinking about becoming a sheriff some day?
"I think it's something that you always think about. You know, when you walk through the door on day one," Graff said.

Do you think all deputies think about becoming sheriff?
"I think they do. I think they should. I think when you do this job, that's something that you kind of always have in your mind, you know, 'Well, yeah, someday I want to be the sheriff.'"

He added, "As I progressed through my career, I had in my mind, always thinking of the end game that, yeah, something I would like to be the sheriff of Genesee County, which, I'm humbled and I'm honored by that."

And, he said, he felt ready for the job when the time came.

"I think having the two roles that I had before this, chief of the road, chief of the Investigation Division, really gave me a front row seat to how the operations work here," Graff said. Then once you get that job, certainly there are other doors. There are those moments of discovery of different things that you have to learn. I'm not naive to the fact that there is still to learn, but, you know, I felt prepared going into it, and certainly having good people around who you know, who have good thoughts and good insights, helps."

Undersheriff Brad Mazur, who also served as undersheriff for Sheriff William Sheron, has been a big help with the transition, Graff said.

"He's been invaluable," Graff said. "All the leaders that we have here at the Sheriff's Office, in the communications division, Animal Control, Genesee Justice, the CAC (Child Advocacy Center), the jail, the road patrol. The Sheriff's Office is more than you know. I'm glad we have established people here who are good leaders that I can trust."

As for goals, the Sheriff's Office, Graff said, has a tradition of community service.

"I want to maintain that, but at the same time, law enforcement has changed even in the course of my career," Graff said. "There's more to do. With the evolution of law enforcement and the changes in law enforcement,  I want to make sure that we're staying in step with that and we're still able to provide the community with the services that we should be providing."

For example, he said, just from the time he started in investigations until now, things are "vastly different."

"The opportunities for investigative leads are much higher, but at the same time, we have different types of crimes that we're looking at, too," Graff said. "I don't want this to all be about investigations, but I'm just thinking that in the future, I want to make sure there are offices prepared to handle anything that comes our way."

One aspect of the job that has changed over the past 20 years is that today, there is a greater emphasis on officer wellness.

"I don't want to just say officer wellness. I want to say, our whole-department wellness," Graff said. "I think historically, law enforcement hasn't had a great track record of recognizing (wellness) and taking care of (wellness). We have become more cognizant of that in recent years. That's something that's on our radar and that we're working to better recognize the tolls that this profession takes. We're trying to be better, recognize that, and assist (officers) along the way."

Outside of public safety, what can law enforcement do to make society better?
"Certainly, public safety is our primary mission. ... We're also in the building community relations business, too. I think a perfect example of that is our SRO (school resource officers) program. They're certainly there for the safety aspect of schools, but they also build those relationships with the students in the schools. Those students relate to the deputy that's in the school as a person, and that certainly helps in that in the direction of public safety, too."

The cost to taxpayers for all the SROs in the county exceeds $1 million. Is it worth it?
"Absolutely. The safety of probably our most vulnerable population, our kids, should be a top priority for everyone. The SROs in the schools certainly provide that safety aspect. But as we were talking about a minute ago, I think the relationships they build in the schools, that they build with the students, probably have unseen benefits. You can't really put a number on it, or put a financial price on, just the benefits of having someone there who they know they can go to, builds a trusting relationship with police, which is obviously super important for a community."

Graff and his wife Erin celebrated their 20th anniversary in January. They have three daughters, Gabrielle, who is now in college, and Gianna and Lila both attend Byron-Bergen.

He credits his mom and dad for his work ethic. 

"I always believed that if you're going to put your name on something, you want it to be right," Graff said.

He's proud to live and work in a community that supports law enforcement, he said. 

"I think we're very fortunate that I live and work in a community where we have the support of our community," Graff said. "It's not like that in other places in the country. I am very grateful that we have the community support that we have here in this county. I think anyone who lives here feels that support. I think it's a great place to live. The weather can be a little shaky now and then, but I love winter. I do love winter. So that doesn't bother me at all."

Any final thoughts?
"I'll tell you, I'm super proud of the Sheriff's Office and who we are and what we do," Graff said. "I still love to come to work every day. I'm excited about opportunities in the future. I want everybody to be as proud of the Sheriff's Office as I am. I guess that's one of my goals."

A motorcyclist died at the scene of an accident that was reported at 6:46 p.m. on Monday at Route 19 and the I-490 on-ramp in Le Roy.

According to the Sheriff's Office, Duane L. Girdner, 65, of Rochester, was traveling northbound on Route 19 on a 2005 Vespa Motorcycle when the bike struck the rear passenger side door of a 2015 Chrysler 300, driven by Sara J. Stevens, 25, of Livonia, that was northbound approaching the on-ramp. 

Steven allegedly failed to stop for a stop sign and failed to yield to oncoming traffic, pulling out in front of Girdner's bike.

The collision threw Girdner into the side of the vehicle, causing serious physical injuries. He was pinned under his Vespa until bystanders, Le Roy Fire, and Mercy EMS responded and administered life-saving measures.

Girdner succumbed to his injuries roadside and was pronounced dead by the Coroner's Office at the scene.

The cause of the accident is still under investigation, and no charges were announced. The Crash Management Team is handling the investigation. Assisting at the scene were the Le Roy Fire Department, Mercy EMS, Le Roy PD, and multiple bystanders.

The Salvatore's Pizzeria chain, with more than 30 restaurants in the Rochester region, celebrated the opening of its first location in Genesee County, at Lewiston and West Main, Batavia, on Monday.

The new owners of the location are Kevin and Kari Consaul of Churchville.

Kevin said he's excited to open in Batavia because of the warm welcome he's received from the community.

"Over the past eight months, I witnessed vibrant energy throughout Batavia, in this community," Kevin said. "That lets me know that we made the right decision to be in Batavia -- things like, 'when are you opening,' and 'I love this pink roof,' and the best is, 'I love your pizza.'"

Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For more information, go HERE or call 585-250-4004.

Shad Nowicki, an Ellicottville resident who has gained a national reputation as a pop artist specializing in vivid portraits of movie characters, appeared at Foxprowl Toys and Collectibles on Ellicott Street, Batavia, on Saturday.

He met with fans and discussed his work for six hours.

Owner Bill Hume said Nowicki "has been commissioned directly by many celebrities to do work for them and is very well-known in the Comic-Con circuit."

John F. Innes III, age 61, of Stafford, who passed away on March 29, was honored today with a truck memorial parade on Saturday from the Genesee County Fairgrounds through Stafford.

More than 50 trucks participated in the parade.

It was organized by Bruce Scofield, owner of Scofield Transfer & Recycling Inc., where Innes worked for nine years.

"He was like family to everyone at Scofield Transfer & Recycling," Scofield said. "He was a great employee. He never called in sick the entire time he worked for me."

Scofield said more than 250 people attended a celebration of life after the parade.

Photos by Howard Owens.

Will Bardenwerper's book about baseball in Batavia and America has been getting national attention and is currently ranked #17 on Amazon's list of best-selling baseball books.

 The book, "Homestand: Small Town Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of America," is resonating with readers and reviewers.

That may signal, Bardenwerper said, that people are looking for small-town values of community.

"I think it speaks to the fact that maybe there is a real hunger for these kinds of places where people can come together for an affordable price and have a good time and kind of put some of the division that we find in our society behind us for a few hours and just have fun," Bardenwerper told The Batavian during a book signing at Eli Fish Brewing Co. on Saturday evening.

There have been several book reviews of Homestand published, including in major publications such as the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.

The book addresses the growing divide in America between the corporatist world of Major League Baseball and the grassroots game in places like Batavia, which lost its historic minor league team when MLB broke with tradition and consolidated its minor league affiliates. That decision turned out to make baseball in Batavia better with the arrival of Robbie and Nellie Nichols, owners of the revived Batavia Muckdogs of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League.

If highlighting that dichotomy has ruffled any feathers in the executive suites at the MLB, Bardenwerper hasn't heard about it.

"I don't know to what extent it is or isn't on their radar," Bardenwerper said. "If it is, I'm guessing they just kind of would like it to go away."

If you missed Bardenwerper at Eli Fish, there is another book signing Saturday (today) in Medina at Author's Note Bookstore, as part of Independent Bookstore Day. Bardenwerper will be in store from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Other authors participating are Doogie Horner from 10:30 to noon and Mylisa Larsen from noon to 1:30 p.m. Author's Note is located at 519 Main St., Medina.

Genesee County will receive $61,096 as its share of a record distribution of profits for the first quarter by the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation.

The distribution to all 17 municipalities that control the OTB for the first three months of 2025 is $2,864,269, breaking the previous record, set in 2023 of $2,269,956.

The distribution for the first quarter of 2024 was $2,003,522.

"We've been very creative in our marketing," said Byron Brown, president and CEO of WROTB. "We have been marketing to individuals who are large players in our advertising campaign. We've been able to reduce the cost of advertising while increasing the number of television spots that we receive and the quality of service that people receive when people come here -- the friendliness of the staff, and the quality of the restaurants, is keeping people coming back."

The Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation is taking on the IRS in tax court over an employee retention tax credit that is worth about $5 million to the corporation.

The Internal Revenue Service's position is that the OTB is a government agency and, therefore, not eligible for the pandemic-era tax credit.

"We are not supported by the government. We don't report to the government," said John Owens, OTB's acting legal counsel. "We've made the argument that there have been other matters in which we've been held not to be an agency, that we're not and that we should be entitled to (the tax credit)."

The board approved a resolution to hire Lippes Mathias LLP, a Buffalo law firm, and the only firm to bid on the project, to represent WROTB in tax court. The agreement authorizes an hourly payment up to $200,000 to handle the case and a $250,000 contingency fee if the firm wins the case.

The credit is available to eligible employers that paid qualified wages to some or all employees after March 12, 2020, and before Jan. 1, 2022. 

One of the arguments that Batavia Downs is a business is that the corporation received a PPP loan during the pandemic, which was a program not available to government agencies.

"We were determined to be eligible for that, and that was fully vetted," Owens said. "We had opinions of counsel, and everyone said, yes, we were eligible for the PPP."

About three weeks ago, a minor -- a person under 18 years of age -- was found on the gaming floor at Batavia Downs, a violation of state law.

Officials at Batavia Downs self-reported the violation. The result was a $10,000 fine.

Since that violation, all guests at Batavia Downs are being asked to present an ID to prove they're over 18 to enter the gaming floor.

"I think this was actually the third (violation)," said Byron Brown, president and CEO of Western Regional Off-Track Betting. "The first one was $1,000, I believe. The second one was $5,000, and the third one was $10,000. We took immediate action after each of these to make changes. But after the third one, we went to the ID and the all-visitor policy."

The new ID policy was approved by the New York State Gaming Commission.

Staff at the state's Gaming Association informed WROTB executives that there is a push to implement an ID requirement for casinos statewide.  The association's position is that requiring ID should be voluntary. 

"We have already implemented it," Brown told the board during Thursday's meeting. "It's going smoothly, and whichever way it goes with the state, we are ahead of the curve, and we are IDing all customers that come into the property, and hopefully that will put us in a position where we no longer incur any fines from minors being able to find their way onto the gaming floor."

ID is being required of all customers to ensure that no youth is able to "present" as older than 18, Brown said. There was initially some push back from regular customers but that has faded, Brown said, as IDing becomes the new normal.

"We don't want to give away our money that's being earned by being fined again," Brown said. "Our security does a good job. Sean and his team do a good job. So things are going very smoothly with that at this point."

The Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation is close to hiring a new chief financial officer, President and CEO Byron Brown said after Thursday's board meeting.

The search is necessary in order to replace CFO Jackie Leach, who is retiring.

Brown said the board authorized the use of a search firm that specializes in working with CFO candidates who have gaming experience. 

"So we've got additional resumes, including an internal candidate, and we hope to be able to make a selection in the very near future," Brown said.

The board is also looking to hire a new general counsel to replace Henry Wojtaszek, who served both as CEO and general counsel.

"We had a number of highly qualified resumes for general counsel," Brown said. "We did not have to utilize a search firm for the General Counsel. We are very close to selecting someone for general counsel."

Board President Dennis Bassett commended the board, particularly those members who have participated in search committees. 

It's been nearly 10 months since the board agreed to buy out Wojtaszek's contract, along with Leach's and that of VP of Operations William White.

"We will have brought on board a total of seven senior-level executives into this organization when we're finished with the chief financial officer and legal counsel, and there has been tremendous activity to make sure that we get a good cross section of those members that have agreed to serve on committees," Bassett said. "I think the process has gone very well, and I would like to thank each and every board member who has taken the time to participate in the selection process."