Stories from

Duane Whitmer, the Libertarian Party candidate for Congress in the 27th District of New York, today accepted Democrat Nate McMurray’s invitation to Chris Jacobs to debate McMurray eight times during the election.

So far, Jacobs has ignored the invitation eight times.

“Chris may be afraid to debate Nate,” Whitmer said, “but Nate is apparently also afraid to debate me as he left me out of the invite. So, I hereby accept Nate’s invitation to Chris to debate Nate.”

Whitmer, who is the chair of the Erie County Libertarian Party, received the endorsement from the district county chairs of the Libertarian Party last night and is also petitioning to be on the Right to Bear Arms ballot line for both the special election on April 28th and the general election in November.

“I will really spice up this debate that would otherwise feature two corporate lawyers affiliated with Delaware North who are political centrists,” said Whitmer. “Without a candidate who proposes real change for the 80 percent of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, the audience could very well fall asleep from sheer boredom.”

Whitmer, who is a tax adviser who represents taxpayers before the IRS, said his key issues if nominated would be: ending the twin wars on peaceful gun owners and drug owners; ending the pointless foreign undeclared wars started by George W. Bush and Barack Obama; and drastically cutting federal spending to stop borrowing from our grandchildren to pay for our own greedy programs.

Whitmer, who ran track at Fredonia State, is originally from Franklinville and now lives and works in Lake View.

On Saturday night, Dan Clor, director of the American Warrior Festival, threw a party to thank T.F. Brown's and other sponsors of the festival that supports veterans.

NY-27 resident Michael Caputo, a political strategist with ties to Donald Trump, took to Twitter today to ask why didn't we, in our story about Nate McMurray being put on unpaid leave by his employer, Delaware North, mention that McMurray has said "insulting things" about his company and its owners.

In a statement in the tweet directed at another reporter from Upstate New York, Caputo said, "how long would you last if you tweeted insults about the owners of (the name of the reporter's newspaper)." 

"Do more reporting," Caputo said.

Caputo raised a valid point -- at least insofar as we should have taken a closer look at those tweets, so we did.

In the past 30 days, McMurray has mentioned, either directly or indirectly, Delaware North or the Jacobs family 18 times. 

Sixteen of those tweets were posted since Feb. 8, which would have been after McMurray said he was placed on unpaid leave.

McMurray is running for the NY-27 seat vacated in September by Rep. Chris Collins, who pled guilty to federal insider trading charges. The family of McMurray's opponent, Chris Jacobs, owns Delaware North, where McMurray, licensed to practice law in New York, is a VP of business development.

Attempts to reach Jacobs or a member of the campaign for comment have been unsuccessful.

In an interview with Caputo this afternoon, Caputo said McMurray's tweets are problematic, and whether they came before or after McMurray was placed on unpaid leave, they should give voters pause about McMurray's judgment.

"This is the only public visibility that Western New Yorkers have to the kind of employee he was," Caputo said. "If he's willing to say those things for all the world to see, you can imagine what kind of teammate he was at Delaware North."

Caputo is not associated with the Jacobs campaign and is not currently working with any other potential candidate in the NY-27, though he did spearhead a "Draft David Bellavia" effort last year.

The Aurora resident said, "I know 100 attorneys who are more qualified than him who would kill for the job he has. From my perspective, if he ever darkens the door of Delaware North again, it would be a shame."

We spoke with McMurray briefly today and he dismissed the accusation that he was put on unpaid leave for his tweets but said he couldn't discuss the issue in detail.

"This wasn't something that happened suddenly," McMurray said. "This happened after mounting pressure."

He wouldn't elaborate on what he meant by "pressure."

As for the content of his tweets, especially those sent since Feb. 8, McMurray said, "My duty is to talk about issues relevant to the people of the 27th District."

From a review of McMurray's tweets over the past 30 days, the first reference we can find to his employers is from Feb. 1.

As a kid, the richest guy I knew was my uncle, an electrician with a Caddy.

My opponent’s uncle owns the gosh darn Boston Bruins.

That matters, is reflected in what we fight for.

Deep down, I will always be the kid in the grubby Sabre’s shirt yelling, “the Bruins suck!”

— Nate McMurray for Congress 2020 (@Nate_McMurray) February 1, 2020

His next tweet was Feb. 3.

My opponent calls me a “deranged socialist loser.”

But his billionaire uncle paid me to be the Vice President of Business Development at their company for years! How does that make sense?

NOW HIRING: “Deranged socialist loser” status a plus!

(they will say anything...)

— Nate McMurray for Congress 2020 (@Nate_McMurray) February 3, 2020

Starting Feb. 8, McMurray sent out 16 tweets that made reference to his job or his employers, including at least one that seemed to hint at his employment situation:

I work for the company owned by my opponent’s family. I’m going to talk about it, because it hasn’t been easy.

I like a lot of the people there. But here’s a secret...a lot of them like me. Many are proud. I’m proud.

Who doesn’t like telling the Boss...

YOU DON’T OWN ME.

— Nate McMurray for Congress 2020 (@Nate_McMurray) February 8, 2020

One of McMurray's favorite targets during this tweetstorm is the Jacobs' family ownership of two casinos in Western New York.

When I leave our humble campaign office in Hamburg, I drive by the glowing casino owned by my opponent’s family...one of many.

Can you imagine owning a casino? Will Ferrell made a movie about it. He went to jail. It’s like printing money.

ELITE PRIVILEGE

That’s what we face.

— Nate McMurray for Congress 2020 (@Nate_McMurray) February 11, 2020

In his tweets, McMurray hinted at corrupt motives of the Jacobs' family in promoting Chris Jacobs for Congress:

On both sides of NY27 are two big casinos. Full of people. Spending lots.

My opponent’s family owns both. In our part of the world only people named Jacobs and Native Peoples (under law) got casino licenses.

And now they want a Congrssman. To get more? Haven’t they got enough?

— Nate McMurray for Congress 2020 (@Nate_McMurray) February 12, 2020

In one tweet, McMurray accused Jacobs of voting on a bill in the State Senate that affects the family casino businesses. We are unable to substantiate the claim.

Did Christopher vote on legislation affecting his family’s financial interests?

Yes. #NY27, didn’t we watch the last Congressman go to jail for doing some of that too?

Yes.

— Nate McMurray for Congress 2020 (@Nate_McMurray) February 15, 2020

One of Caputo's issues with McMurray's tweets is that he is using the Jacobs' family wealth as a wedge issue as part of his seemingly progressive, anti-inequality campaign theme.

If your family owned half of Buffalo, had your name on everything from hospitals to hockey teams—while people across your region suffered from the worst jobless rate in the country—you’d think you’d say, “Maybe we should keep our heads down.” Not, “We want Congress too.”

— Nate McMurray for Congress 2020 (@Nate_McMurray) February 8, 2020

"He uses income disparity with a Berniesque (referring to Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders) spin," Caputo said. "That rhetoric doesn't play well in the NY-27. The vast majority of Republicans in the NY-27 find that kind of rhetoric offensive."

Reminded that this is a populist district that almost went for Jack Davis in the last special election (a special election in 2011 won by Kathy Hochul), Caputo said that may be so, but McMurray's approach to wealth inequality is not the approach that will resonate in the district.

"Looking at the income disparity message, using his employer as an example, he looks like a guy who stabs his employer in the back by using the wealth of a family that has fed him for years as a hammer in the income disparity debate," Caputo said. "The NY-27 is going to find him offensive." 

Caputo is aware that self-funded Republicans handpicked by GOP leadership hasn't worked out too well for the NY-27 in recent years. There was Chris Lee who was caught posting shirtless photos of himself on Craigslist and Chris Collins who is going to prison on insider trading charges.

The other difficulty Chris Jacobs faces in the special election is he does not seem to be the choice of Trump-supporting Republicans. Jacobs is also not Caputo's first choice but Jacobs has his support now.

"I am Republican and I support the Republican nominee," Caputo said. 

Whether Jacobs wins or loses the special election on April 28, both Stefan Mychajliw and Beth Parlato are vying for the title of most Trump-loyal future member of Congress, to the point of attacking Jacobs as a "NeverTrumper," which Caputo acknowledges could dampen GOP turnout in an election timed to coincide with the Democratic presidential primary. If the Democratic turnout is more than 50 percent -- Caputo considers that unlikely -- McMurray could be sent to Washington for at least seven months.

"The real question is how much do you want Nate McMurray as your congressman," Caputo said. "The question Republicans have to answer is, do you want Nate McMurray as your congressman for even five minutes?"

Caputo calls McMurray a socialist. A charge McMurray has repeatedly denied (in our video interview on Thursday, we pressed McMurray on the socialism issue; we'll release the video after Jacobs has participated in a proportional, in-depth interview).

If McMurray does pull out a victory on April 28, Caputo said he's confident he won't stand a chance to in the general election in November.

"It's metaphysically impossible for a Democrat to win in the district when Donald Trump is on the ballot," Caputo said.

UPDATE 9 p.m.: It's been brought to our attention that we have perhaps not explained enough about what Delaware North is. Here's the Wikipedia entry: "Delaware North is a global foodservice and hospitality company headquartered in Buffalo, New York. The company also operates in the lodging, sporting, airport, gaming and entertainment industries. The company employs over 55,000 people worldwide and has over $3.2 billion in annual revenues." Key people:  Chairman Jeremy Jacobs, and Jerry Jacobs and Louis M. Jacobs are co-CEOs, and Charlie Jacobs is CEO of Boston Holdings. Delaware North operates nine gaming facilities nationally, including Hamburg and Finger Lakes. 

Shortly after this story was published, Nate McMurray (we had asked him to substantiate his tweet quoted above) provided links to three senate bills that are related to the casino business in New York that Jacobs cast votes on. They are:

• Senate Bill S6669: Authorizes regional off-track betting corporations to allocate up to $500,000 from their capital acquisition funds for employee salaries and benefits;
• Senate Bill S6675: Provides that consent to simulcast at off-track betting branches, horse races run at a regional track, shall not be unreasonably withheld;
• Assembly Bill A5059A: Authorizes the sale of cider, mead, braggot and wine at games of chance.

Eighteen winter guard teams from throughout WNY and Canada were in Batavia on Saturday night for the 20th annual competition in the Batavia High School gymnasium. 

Top three photos of the Batavia varsity team, followed by photos of a senior guard team, called Luminosa made up of students from throughout the region, then the team from Medina. 

Help support local coverage of local events. Please become a supporter today.

Andrew Englerth remains undefeated on the season in wrestling with his 47th win, coming in as a 160-pound D2 state qualifier.

He will now wrestle for a state championship in Albany during the tournament Feb. 28 and 29.

Englerth beat Justin Smith, of Marcus Whitman/Penn Yan, in a major decision, 13-4.

Also picking up championship wins were Zach Hannan, Byron-Bergen, at 152 pounds, beating Kade Slayton of Hornel in a 2-0 decision, and Mitchell Gaiser, Alexander, beating William Tennity of Wayne in a fall at 4 minutes.

Photos submitted by Tim McArdle.

Le Roy's boys and girls indoor track teams competed in their final regular-season meet this weekend, and Bella Condidorio and Aidan Harrington both set new school records. 

Condidorio won in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8.96 and Harrington came in second in the 300 meter dash with a time of 36.60.

In the girls' pole vault, Gavin Konieczny, of Batavia, won with a vault of 9-06.00.

In boys' shot put, Alex Rood won with a toss of 51-10.00.

Oakfield-Alabama placed second in the Section V varsity cheerleading sections in the Class D2 C division. The team competed against 18 other schools.

Photo and info submitted by Amanda Fonda.

When Nate McMurray ran against Chris Collins in 2018 for the NY-27 congressional seat, there was no apparent problem with his employer, Buffalo-based Delaware North.

He kept his job. He kept his salary.

During his tenure as supervisor in Grand Island, he kept his job. He kept his pay.

Two weeks ago, Delaware North informed McMurray he was being placed on leave without pay. He wasn't given an explanation. 

Delaware North is owned by the family of Chris Jacobs, McMurray's opponent in the April 28 special election for the NY-27.

McMurray said he and his family are presently getting by on vacation pay and an earned bonus.

"I worked hard for the company," McMurray said. "I love many people there. But this is unquestionably difficult. I’ve expressed that to them."

Despite the loss of a regular paycheck, McMurray said he's committed to staying in the race.

McMurray made reference to his loss of wages today on Twitter and The Batavian reached out to him for clarification. He said he was limited in what he could say about the situation but confirmed that he had been put on leave without pay.

An attorney licensed to practice law in New York, McMurray is part of Delaware North's legal team.

Multiple attempts to reach the Jacobs campaign today for comment were unsuccessful. We also tried reaching out to Delaware North for comment and were unsuccessful. Messages were left in both cases.

Photo: Still from a video interview The Batavian conducted with Nate McMurray on Thursday evening at the Richmond Memorial Library. We intended to release the full nearly 50-minute interview once we've secured a similar and proportional interview with Chris Jacobs.

The Batavian is the first news outlet to report this story. We work hard to bring you quality political coverage. Support local news. Support our efforts. Click the Support button below.

Elba's Colton Dillion scored a career-best 47 points in route to setting a new school record for career points, beating the old record of 1,244 points and raising his own record to 1,252 points.

Elba beat Kendall 76-46.

Photos by Kristin Smith. For more photos, click here.

It seems like a good idea to reiterate our comment policy, especially since some things might not be apparent since we now use Facebook's comment plug-in to manage comments: 

• Even with Facebook registration, we still require real names. If we see a name we suspect is fictitious, we will check it against public databases. With Facebook, however, we also can now look at your profile. Fake accounts are usually easy to spot. We ban people from making comments with names we do not believe are the person's true identity. Interestingly, the way it works with Facebook, the person doesn't even appear to know they've been banned. I can still see their comments in our comment moderation tool even though the comments are not appearing on the website.
• Attacks on public officials are a special case. The higher up in office, and the less directly connected to our local community, the more leeway is allowed, but name-calling and personal attacks rarely illuminate or add to a worthwhile discussion. We reserve the right in our sole judgment to hide comments that we find offensive or inappropriate.
• Racism is never tolerated. 
• We still do not allow personal insults. Some insults are obvious, others are more subtle, and we don't always catch them. Any comment we suspect of containing a personal insult, we hide. Only the person who made the comment and their Facebook-connected friends will see the comment. 
• We don't allow profanity.  
• We expect civil discourse and obvious trolls get their comments hidden and are subject to potential bans.
• Comments that stray off topic are also subject to being hidden.

No comment is ever hidden because of the content of the comment. All opinions are welcome so long as the comments are within our guidelines.

Driving down Route 262 in Byron this morning, I spotted this old, snow-covered truck, in a yard off the roadway.

A reader spotted the Planter's Nutmobile (replete with the now-deceased Mr. Peanut) on Route 98 this morning.

As part of the legal process required by the state for a special election, the eight-county chairs that comprise the NY-27 met last night and officially named Nate McMurray as their candidate in the April 28 election.

The chairs are Michael Plitt, Judith Hunter, Jeanne Crane, Jerry Zeller, Brittany Wells, Francine Del Monte, John Hurley (who attended via phone), and Cynthia Appleton.

The meeting was held at the Holiday Inn in Batavia.

UPDATE: Press release from Nate McMurray:

Nate McMurray, the Democratic candidate in NY-27, issued the following statement in response:

“I am putting my full heart into this race. We all know this election is critical because we aren’t just sending a message to New York, we are sending a message to the entire country to say that we don’t want ‘politics as usual’. We don’t need another ‘Rich Chris’ using this position to make deals for themselves and their companies. We need representation and a message that includes everyone. We need to give the people of NY-27 a voice,” said Nate McMurray.

“Nate was our person from the start,” said Michael Plitt, Chair of the Genesee County Democrats. “His platform shows that he knows exactly what our district needs. He’s going to protect social security. He’s going to improve healthcare. After years of not having someone who represented our interests, Nate is someone who finally can.”

“I can tell you that Nate McMurray has created a grassroots movement here and has demonstrated understanding and concern for the residents of Wyoming County and beyond.  But it's more than that. He has reminded all of us that Liberty is a precious thing, not to be buried but held up to the light every day of our lives and when Nate McMurray goes to Washington, we know he will do that very thing," said Cindy Appleton, County Chair of Wyoming County Democrats. 

"Last night we ratified what we have known for a very long time: Nate McMurray is our candidate. We've been united behind him for over two years because he works like no one else we've ever seen to bring true representation to NY 27,” said Judith Hunter, County Chair of Livingston County Democrats.

“Unbelievably, the Republican powers that be have decided for the third time in the last dozen years that what this district needs is a rich guy named Chris who can't possibly understand what life is like for the ordinary voters of the 27th, despite the fact that the previous two times ended very badly. Unlike his opponent, Nate McMurray gets it.”

“A tough and well-deserving candidate,” said Brittaney Wells, County Chair of Monroe County Democrats, “Nate McMurray was officially designated last night by the Monroe County Democratic Committee for the Special Election in NY-27. The MCDC has complete faith that Nate will uphold his values as a fighter for families and a defender of the United States and the communities he will represent.” 

Jay Zona, County Chair of Niagara County Democrats, said, “Niagara County was one of the first counties to get on board with Nate for this special election.  He performed very well here in the 2018 election as a new name and we are looking forward to getting his message out.”

Here's a birthday present that paid off in a big way -- a lottery scratcher purchased at a convenience store in Elba for Nichole Williams turned out to be worth $1 million.

Williams, a mother of three, and a cancer survivor, and resident of Knowlesville, said the money will help pay off her medical bills and she will start a college fund for her children.

“It’s definitely a blessing,” Williams said. “It’s definitely a huge weight lifted off my shoulders that I can provide college for my kids or if they don’t want to go to college we can put it towards a tech school or whatever else they want to do.”

Photo and information courtesy OrleansHub. For more on this story, click here.

Camden White checked off a big life goal yesterday when he signed a letter of intent to attend Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pa., on a football scholarship.

"Just growing up, I fell in love with football," White said. "The main dream was being able to go to college for free. I always wanted to get a scholarship and Mercyhurst gave me a pretty good offer. I'm almost going to college for free so the dream came true."

White will study sports medicine, strength, and conditioning.

Mercyhurst is a Division II program.

It's no surprise to Batavia's head football coach, Brennan Briggs, that White landed a football scholarship.

"He's a product of hard work," Briggs said. "He came and played football with us when he was younger and he was a little smaller and he just dedicated himself to the weight room. He decided he was going to put his mind toward playing college football. His worth ethic and effort paid off and I just know he's going to have a great career at Mercyhurst."

His father, Al White, said he's glad Cam picked a school close to home.

"It was a good option," he said. "He could have gone further away but academically and athletically, it was the right choice for him."

Top photo: Front row, Caeden White, Al White, Camden White, Tina White, and Gavin White. Back row: Ted Stevens, Buddy Brasky, Brennan Briggs, Chris Harloff, and Javaughn Johnson.

Pembroke scored 300 points in Wednesday's second match of the Scholastic Bowl at Genesee Community College to beat out Pavilion, 140 points, and Oakfield-Alabama, 130.

Alden won the first match, beating Akron and Elba, 340 to 220 to 70.

A car is on its side in a one-vehicle accident at Lewiston and Fisher roads in Oakfield.

A person reportedly has a minor head injury.

Mercy EMS requested to the scene for patient evalutaion.

Oakfield fire responding.

A winter weather advisory is in effect for 12 hours, from 10 p.m. until 10 a.m. with three to five inches of snow expected in Genesee County, according to the National Weather Service

Residents can also expect very cold air to hit the region Thursday night through Friday night with wind chills dropping below zero.

Graphic: Accuweather

Pembroke's young team, sparked by freshman Cayden Pfalzer, put up a good fight against Oakfield-Alabama at home Tuesday night, forcing the game to overtime before falling to the Hornets 66-57.

Pfalzer hit four three-point shots on his way to 16 points for the game.

For O-A, Gaige Armbrewster scored 17 points, Kaden Cusmano, 16, Travis Wiedrich, 15, and Joey Burdick, 11.

Pembroke's Garrett Totten scored 11 points, Adam Dulski, 11, and Noah Godzala, nine.

The Hornets are 14-4 on the season, Pembroke 7-10.

Also in boys basketball on Wednesday:

• Alexander beat Attica, 59-50;
• Notre Dame racked up 110 points to beat C.G. Finney, which scored 77 points;
• Bergen beat Holley 71-42;
• Le Roy beat Bath 67-47. For Le Roy, Cody Lytle scored 12 points and had 10 rebounds. Andrew Loftus 13 points, and Ethan Beswick, 12 points;
• Elba beat Lyndonville 81-75;
• Batavia beat Newark 48-47.

Photos from Le Roy's game by Caitlin Napper (This is a correction)

An Oakfield man is accused of fleeing from police after a deputy attempted a traffic stop for an alleged expired registration early yesterday morning in the Town of Batavia.

Jonathan F. Suggs, 37, of Lewiston Road, Oakfield, faces multiple charges in three towns after leading police on a chase through Batavia, Oakfield, and Alabama, where Suggs eventually stopped, according to a Sheriff's Office press release.

The suspect was released on an appearance ticket.

Deputy James Stack attempted to stop a 2016 Jeep Cherokee at 1:30 a.m. yesterday. Suggs was later identified as the driver. Once he stopped, he was taken into custody without further incident.

He is charged with: unlawfully fleeing a police officer; aggravated unlicensed operation in the third degree; failure to yield right of way to an emergency vehicle; speeding; and other vehicle and traffic violations.

He is scheduled to appear in: Town of Batavia Court at 1 p.m., March 12; Oakfield Town Court at 6 p.m., March 2; Alabama Town Court at 6 p.m., March 11.