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Police Beat: Man accused of rape in Le Roy

By Howard B. Owens

Jacob E. Lambertson, 21, homeless, is charged with multiple counts of rape, 3rd. Lambertson is accused of having sex with two girls from the Village of Le Roy who are under 17 years old. The alleged incidents occurred between April and June. Lambertson was jailed on $10,000 bail.

Photos: Genesee County Fair

By Howard B. Owens

The Genesee County Fair opened Tuesday.

All of the typical county fair goodness is available this year -- carnival rides, food, games, big farm equipment, a chance to get up close to farm animals, livestock competitions, crafts and contests, music, dancing and live entertainment.

There will be a meat auction on Thursday.

The fair runs through Saturday.

More photos after the jump.

 

 

Muckdogs take 2-0 lead into sixth, but can't hold on

By Howard B. Owens

Another strong pitching effort from starter Justin Edwards, but the Batavia bullpen was unable to protect a 2-1 lead and the Muckdogs (16-15) lost to Williamsport Tuesday, 8-3.

Edwards went six innings and allowed only one unearned run. Travis Lawler was charged with a blown save, giving up two hits and one run, but the Muckdogs were really buried when David Kington came on and gave up three hits, walked three and surrended six runs.

The only Muckdog to post a multi-hit game was Nick Longmire, who went 2-4, scored two runs and smacked his fourth triple of the season.

The Muckdogs return home Sunday to face Williamsport.

New membership benefit: A free T-shirt

By Howard B. Owens

We have an exciting new offer for people who join The Batavian's voluntary subscription program -- a free T-shirt from Top Line Shirt Company.

The T-shirt is printed with The Batavian logo on front and back.

All members -- including those who have already joined -- can receive the free T-shirt.

To receive your T-shirt, once you join (and current members have already gotten this e-mail), you will receive an e-mail with a PDF attachment that you can print out and take to Top Line T-shirt Company at 212 E. Main St., Batavia. The voucher must be redeemed in person. T-shirts will not be mailed out.

And of course, as a voluntary subscriber, you will still get vouchers at local businesses for up to $600 in savings, all for less than $60 per year. For a list of savings offers, click here.

The cost is either $4.95 per month or $59.95 per year. You can pay through PayPal, or mail us a check.

For details on the program, click here.

Paying by check: Send a check or money order to The Batavian for $59.95. For those paying by check, only the annual subscription rate is available. Please be sure to include on a separate piece of paper, your name, address, phone and e-mail address. Mail to: The Batavian, LLC, 200 E. Main St., #5, Batavia, NY 14020.

PayPal Buttons:

Monthly Subscription Fee: $4.95

The monthly subscription fee will automatically be deducted from your PayPal account until you unsubscribe via PayPal.*

Annual Subscription Fee: $59.95

 

Photo: Horses returning to the stables at Batavia Downs

By Howard B. Owens

The horses are returning to Batavia Downs for another season of harness racing. The first dozen or so horses arrived today -- by Monday, officials expect the stables to be full and bustling once again.

Live harness racing makes its 2010 debut Monday. First post time is 6:40 p.m.

Straw fire reported on Britt Road, Le Roy

By Howard B. Owens

A straw fire has been reported on Britt Road near Keeney Road in Le Roy.

There's a small fire by the road and a "pretty good sized one" out in the field.

Le Roy Fire is responding with mutual aid from Bergen.

UPDATE 11:59 a.m.: Fires are out. Crews wetting down the fields for precaution.


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Police Beat: State Street woman accused of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct

By Howard B. Owens

Latoya D. Jackson, 24, of 120 State St., Batavia, is charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration; Dashawn A. Butler, 30, of 4016 W. Main Street Road, Batavia, is charged with disorderly conduct. At 9:45 p.m., Monday, Batavia PD responded to a report of loud yelling on State Street. When police arrived on scene, they heard yelling coming from an apartment. Jackson and Butler then reportedly came out of the apartment and continued yelling and using profane and obscene language. There were reportedly children nearby. Jackson was jailed on $2,500 bail. Jackson has at least three prior disorderly conduct arrests.

Virginia L. Martinez, 24, and Amanda Andres-Lopez, 30, both of Dellinger Avenue, Batavia, are charged with petit larceny. Martinez and Andres-Lopez are accused of stealing undergarments and makeup from Kmart.

William Delose Hirsch, 23, of Buckman Road, Pavilion, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Hirsch is accused of having verbal contact with a person he was ordered to stay away from while at the Stafford Carnival on June 18.

Wayne Marcel Diaz, 52, of Highway 50 Road, McClave, Colo., is charged with three counts of aggravated harassment, 2nd. Diaz is accused of making harassing phone calls to another person. He was jailed on $500 bail.

Robert Oliver Taft, 36, of W. Bergen Road, Le Roy, was picked up on a bench warrant for a prior DWI charge.

Bonnie Lynn Tracy, 43, of North Street, Attica, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Tracy allegedly made a phone call to a person she was ordered not to contact.

Mitchell R. Freeman, 21, address not released, is charged with unlawful imprisonment, 2nd, and assault, 3rd. Freeman allegedly restrained another person and the victim suffered an injury during a domestic incident. Freeman was jailed on $3,000 bail.

Muckdogs need only one run in the first inning to secure win

By Howard B. Owens

One run on an RBI single by hot-hitting catcher Audry Perez in the first inning was all the scoring the Batavia Muckdogs needed at Dwyer Stadium on Monday to notch the team's 16th win of the season.

The Muckdogs (16-14) rode nine innings of scoreless ball by four pitchers to move within two games of the visiting team, first-place Jamestown Jammers (18-12).

Venezuelan Jose Rada, four years in the Cardinals, but in his first season with the Muckdogs, walked one but didn't surrender a hit in the ninth to pick up his sixth save and lower his ERA to 0.98.

The biggest noise of the night came from a group of Jamestown Jammer fans sitting high up in the first-base-side bleachers, cheering on their team in the top and bottom half of every inning -- for eight-and-half innings (pictured below).

Folks, everyone of you reading this who hasn't been to a game yet this season needs to go to at least two. Or we're going to lose our team. Not only is it a lot of fun, and shows great community spirit, but it's also a chance to see future major leaguers up close. This past All-Star Game included 22 players who came through the NY-Penn League.

More pictures after the jump:

Photo: Cars for sale on Bloomingdale Road

By Howard B. Owens

While out in Alabama today I spotted these two cars for sale at the corner of Bloomingdale Road and Route 77 and thought they looked pretty interesting together.

Genesee County firefighters responding to barn fire in Albion

By Howard B. Owens

At least three companies from Genesee County are responding to a barn fire in Albion at 13823 W. Barre Road.

Dispatched are units from Elba, Oakfield and Alabama.

UPDATE 4:53 p.m.: Additional Genesee County units are being activated. Town of Batavia may already have an engine at the scene, an additional unit has been dispatched to the Albion Fire Hall to fill in. An East Pembroke engine is requested to Elba to fill in. Byron has also been dispatched. Orleans County firefighters are reportedly dealing with multiple incidents right now.


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Pest company manager says gull problem at Latina's can be handled

By Howard B. Owens

The gull problem at Latina's is "hand-able, but a large-scale problem," according to a manager for Pest RX, a company out of Clarence hired by LKLWL Properties to assess the situation and recommend a solution.

"It's not like it's a one-shot deal," said Jeff Waiter. "It's not like we're going to come in here for however long and we'll never see a seagull again. We're going to have to work with the property owner and work on a long-term solution."

Both Waiter and Pest RX owner Jeff Phelps said they still need to put together a plan, but the preliminary solution includes fixing the drainage on the roof, getting rid of standing water, and coming up with an "exclusion" system, something to make it harder or scarier for the gulls to land on the roof.

Just ensuring it's a clean, dry roof will do a lot to deter the gulls.

"The first thing is, the standing water has to go," Phelps said. "Once that's gone, we'll do a power wash and clean off the roof, but to keep them off permanently, there's a lot of obstructions there.

"We're trying to put our heads together and come up with a plan," he added.

It shouldn't be necessary to get the DEC involved at this point, Waiter said. He said the team spoke with the DEC this morning, they have a copy of the DEC manual and so long as they're not disturbing eggs or active nests, no DEC permit is required.

He said they found no eggs and only old nests on the roof today.

"We can definitely make the place tidy without a DEC permit," Waiter said, "so long as we don't harass the young or the eggs."

Photo: From left, Phelps, Waiter and another Pest RX employee.

Fire alarm at Jerome construction site

By Howard B. Owens

If you're wondering about City Fire going code 3 down Main Street -- it's just another "automatic alarm of fire" at the Jerome Center construction site on Bank Street.

Car and motorcycle accident reported on Route 98

By Howard B. Owens

There are reportedly only minor injuries following a car and motorcycle accident on Route 98 at West Saile Drive, Batavia.

Town of Batavia Fire is responding along with Mercy EMS.

Church fire on reservation under investigation

By Howard B. Owens

(Update II at 2:19 p.m.)

A late night fire at a Presbyterian Church on the Tonawanda Indian Reservation may have been deliberately set, according to Tim Yaeger, emergency management coordinator for Genesee County.

The fire is under investigation by the Genesee County Sheriff's Office, the Alabama Fire Department and Yaeger's office.

Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster said the fire was spotted by a person driving by the church who saw an orange glow through the windows. He turned around, confirmed the fire and called dispatch at 11:05 p.m..

"It's on the further recesses of the reservation," Brewster said. "I'm surprised somebody was out driving by that church that late. Not a lot of people drive through there at 11 o'clock at night. It's very remote."

Quick action by three Alabama Fire chiefs who arrived on scene at the same time kept the fire from causing more serious damage.

Chief Bill Schutt said he and assistant chiefs Andy Merkel and Gary Patnode realized shortly after arriving on scene at 6978 Meadville Road that the biggest fire was confined to a piano, so they used extinguishers to put it out. They dealt with some additional flames using water in an ice cooler that had been left in the church. A fire hose was needed only to deal with some minor extension into a wall.

"Minimal water was used," Schutt said.

Brewster said whoever set the fire, set several small fires inside the building. No accelerant was used and because it was extinguished quickly, there was no structural damage.

The most serious damage was to the piano.

There are no suspects yet, though several church members and the original caller were interviewed. Because it's a church fire, and therefore a potential hate crime, ATF and the FBI were notified, per protocol.

Brewster described the church congregation as small and they meet only once a month with an out-of-town pastor conducting services. The church did meet yesterday.

"Our crew along with Indian Falls, who responded, too, did a good job," Schutt said. "It could have been much worse."

NOTE: I went to the scene to get a picture of the church, which is now boarded up, and when I spoke to a Tribal Council member, he said I couldn't publish the picture without council approval, and the earliest approval could be granted would be tomorrow. So, no picture.

Police Beat: DWI arrest following alleged fight

By Howard B. Owens

Mathew J. Sherman, 23, of 5547 Horseshoe Lake Road, Stafford, is charged with DWI and driving with a BAC of .08 or greater. Police responded to a report that a person had fled the scene of a fight at a local restaurant/bar. Sherman's car was spotted in the area of 344 Ellicott St. by Officer Mark Lawrence where he was stopped and determined to be allegedly DWI.

Benjamin L. Szabo, 18, of Clarence Center Road, Clarence, is charged with petit larceny. Szabo was reportedly working as an outside vendor at Kmart on June 30 when he allegedly stole an iPod from a backroom shelf.

Janice M. Colburn, 62, of Fargo Road, Corfu, is charged with driving while impaired by drugs. Deputy Chris Parker responded to a report of an erratic driver on Pearl Street at 2:14 p.m., Friday, and subsequently stopped Colburn's car.

Robert James Macklem, 20, of Prospect Avenue, Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt. Macklem allegedly violated an order of protection by being with the protected person. He was jailed on $1,000 bail.

Christopher P. Tresco, age unknown, of 108 North St., is charged with DWI and driving with a BAC of .08 or greater. Tresco was stopped at 2:12 a.m., Saturday, by Le Roy Police Sgt. Micahel J. Hare on East Main Street. Hare reportedly spotted Tresco driving on the Main Street Bridge with his headlights off.

Phillip M. Case, 20, of Hilton, is charged with trespass. Case was arrested by State Police at 9:02 p.m., Saturday, at 9993 Allegheny Road, Darien Lake. No further details were released.

Raymond Amaro, 23, of Yabocoa, Puerto Rico, is charged with DWI, harassment, 2nd, and resisting arrest. Amaro was arrested by State Police at 2:54 a.m., Saturday, in the Stevens Street Allen Foods parking lot. No further details were released.

Jesse Le Gould, 31, of South Main Street, Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Gould is accused of going to an ex-girlfriend's house at 7:55 a.m., July 12, and pounding on the exterior of the house and yelling. Gould has been ordered not to have contact with the woman unless it is related to their child.

Photo Essay: The pilfering squirrel

By Howard B. Owens

This afternoon I set up a chair in the shade of a backyard tree, brought along my laptop and camera, thinking I'd get some work done and maybe snap a bird picture or two.

It wasn't long before this ne'er-do-well trespassed (notice, no allegedlies here -- sue me, Mr. Squirrel) onto our property and committed the crime of petit larceny, stealing bird feed.

Methinks this isn't his first such thievery, the scoundrel.

Even as he seemed quite aware at times of my presence with my camera, he brazenly continued to thumb his nose, so to speak, at my attempts to keep him from his dastardly deeds.

More after the jump:

After I chased him off the branch once, he returns to the scene, scoping out the terrain for my presence. Satisfied that I'm at a safe distance, he begins again, munching from the feeder.

After I knock him from his perch with a well tossed walnut, he wastes no time in scavenging for seeds on the ground. After seemingly getting his fill, he high-tails it back to the confines of the neighbor's yard.

Even more brazen than before, he dashes to the birdbath ...

... and steals water ...

... after chirping out a taunting "nah-nah-nah," Mr. Squirrel returns to the scene of his original crime.

So after posting this irrefutable photographic evidence of this scofflaw's crimes, I expect a the Batavia PD to appear forthwith to take a report and make an arrest.

If not, I trust that publication of these photos will serve as ample humiliation for Mr. Squirrel and perhaps as a warning to other squirrels who might be tempted to abscond with our bird food and water.

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