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A second person involved an attempted robbery of a smoke shop in May where the employees fought back and the suspects fled, leading to a regionwide manhunt, entered a felony guilty plea in County Court today.

Misty Dawn Souza, 26, of St. Johnsville, entered a guilty plea to the first count of a five-count grand jury indictment, for attempted robbery in the second degree.

Last week, Jeremy J. Reynolds, 34, of Johnstown, also accepted a plea deal.

The duo was arrested after the Genesee County Sheriff's Office sought leads on the suspects in a robbery of the Smoke Rings Smoke Shop on the Tonawanda Indian Reservation. The man and woman entered the shop with what appeared to be guns, but only the man tried to continue with the robbery after his partner fled. He was confronted by an employee he didn't initially know was in the store and briefly detained in a back room before managing to escape through a window, dangling from the window, held by one leg by an employee, for a time.

Without a plea agreement for Souza, the Class D violent felony carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison. The plea deal caps Souza's possible sentence to three and a half years, provided she stays out of trouble between now and sentencing at 9:30 a.m., Jan. 4.

At sentencing, her attorney, Fred Rarick, will argue that Souza should receive a sentence of probation with no prison term. He said in court today that he believes he can make a convincing case.

As discussed in court today, and as Souza volunteered while sitting in a Town of Alabama courtroom following her arrest in May, Souza suffers from a series of mental health issues and is required to take multiple medications.

In court May 21, Souza was frazzled and disheveled and rambled on about her concerns, the crime itself and her mental health issues while sitting in court. She said she had been off her medication since prior to the robbery attempt. 

Today, in court, she was a different person -- calm, well-spoken and polite as she answered questions from Interim Judge Micheal Pietruszka.

These factors will be part of Rarick's attempt to help Souza avoid a prison term. 

Rarick will also need to make the case that the robbery attempt was really the idea of Reynolds and that Reynolds misled Souza into participating and that while she participated briefly, she fled the scene almost immediately.

Rarick will need to successfully argue that Souza does not present a danger to the community.

She has no prior criminal record -- in the Alabama court, she said she never even had a traffic ticket before. She also has no history of use or abuse of illicit drugs.

She also has five children.

Souza's mother was in court with her today. Rarick told Pietruszka that his client has been nothing but cooperative and timely in her communications and court appearances.

She is out of jail on $50,000 bond.

Pietruszka noted that it will be up to the new county judge, likely Charles Zambito, to decide on Souza's sentencing on Jan. 4.

Previously:

• Suspects sought in thwarted robbery attempt at smoke shop
• Suspects in smoke shop robbery attempt arrested and arraigned
• Grand Jury: Accused smoke shop robber indicted on five violent felonies

There was a time, Jerry Diskin remembers, when there were seven volunteer firefighters working right in the Village of Le Roy. 

That was a time, many years ago, when getting volunteers to turn out for daytime alarms was never a problem, but times have changed.

Lapp Industries has downsized, no new industrial employers have sprung up, businesses are smaller in the village, and more people work in Monroe County or elsewhere, making it hard for them to respond to daytime alarms.

That has Le Roy Fire District looking at any and all potential solutions for ensuring daytime alarms bring out sufficient manpower to cover the call, said Diskin who is chairman of the Board of Commissioners.

It's not that the department doesn't have enough volunteers -- there are 67 on the rolls, said 1st Assistant Chief Tom Wood.

"We’re not hurting for manpower," Wood said. "We’re hurting for guys available in a certain time frame. If you look at our roster, we have the manpower, but like everybody else, it’s just a time frame during the day time where people are in Rochester or wherever."

There was some confusion earlier this week over a report in a fire service newsletter, based on minutes from an East Battalion meeting, that the City of Batavia Fire Department would start to "cover" for Le Roy on structure fire calls in the Le Roy District.

That was never the plan, Diskin said. There was merely a discussion at the meeting about this issue and the city's changing role on structure fire calls.

"As a district, we’re directly accountable to the taxpayers," Diskin said. "To that end, if there is something out there that’s available to us to use or pursue we have a responsibility to do that."

The city has always sent what's known as a Fast Team (a group of firefighters tasked with being ready to rescue firefighters who might be trapped or having difficulty exiting a burning building) to structure fires in Le Roy.

There have been a total of 11 such calls in Le Roy over the past 18 months, Wood said.

In the future, the city will be asked to send a responding engine and another volunteer company will be asked to respond as the Fast Team, on daytime calls, Wood said.

"This is just change to an engine company," Wood said. "They’re not coming here to answer our alarms, they’re coming on structure fire only. ... This has been blown way, way, way out of proportion. This is just a change in assignment for them."

The county's fire response is broken into battalions and mutual aid companies and dispatchers use what are known as run cards to dispatch the right companies in the right order to the right location.

For Le Roy, the typical structure fire has Bergen sending its ladder truck almost right away, with another ladder truck (Le Roy also has its own) if needed from either Caledonia or Town of Batavia.  

The city would not likely be requested to send anything more than the Fast Team, or, now, an engine company.

"The system is designed so we don't deplete any one area," Wood said. 

Both Diskin and Wood emphasized that the issue Le Roy is facing with daytime calls is a countywide problem.

Last month, for example, there were back-to-back fires in Pavilion and Le Roy on a hot day. At the Pavilion fire, it was the third time recently that Wood became scene commander, even though it was Pavilion's district, because Pavilion didn't have a chief available to respond. An Alexander firefighter responded because he worked in Pavilion, even though his department hadn't been dispatched at that point (Alexander's Fast Team was dispatched that day). Le Roy was supposed to have a mutual aid company as a fill-in at its hall, and that company did send an engine but didn't have enough manpower available when the alarm sounded for the fire on Lent Avenue.

At that call, the city's Fast Team was pressed into firefighting duty to give the hot and tired volunteers a rest.

That's all a result of diminished manpower throughout the area for daytime calls, Wood said.

"This whole daytime thing is a countywide issue," Wood said. "It’s just being brought to the foreground by us because we’re being proactive about making sure things are covered."

Diskin said it's important to note that while getting enough people out on daytime calls is a struggle, calls are still getting covered in the district.

Like the Lent Avenue fire, calls sometimes pile up and over. And for the past couple of years, there seem to be more calls for service during the day, Diskin said.

"But that happens (the rare back-to-back call)," Diskin said. "It’s just like, 'it’s only a CO alarm,' 'it’s only a smoke detector alarm,' but somebody has got to answer that. That’s all it is, but somebody has got to go and handle it."

While manpower isn't an issue, recruiting more people is one obvious answer to boost the numbers with the hope that some greater percentage of recruits increases the number of daytime responders.

It's a challenge, and part of the challenge is that firefighting training has gone from a week to now you're into 79 hours of training, and 129 if you want to be an interior firefighter.

“It’s all good training," Diskin said. "I’ve been in training all my life. The issue is, it’s a big time commitment. So you’re trying to ramp that person up to be a valuable member of your department, you’re talking 18 months."

Because of the changing landscape of employment in Le Roy, Wood said, people's lifestyles have changed. A young firefighter probably has a family and kids today and they're signed up for more activities, making parents less available to respond to fire calls.

"Parents are just traveling all the time," Wood said. "I take my brother as an example. He’s got his daughter on a travel volleyball team. He’s gone most of the summer every weekend. So there’s a guy gone. I don’t fault anybody for doing that, but that’s the way it is."

To find out more about volunteering for your area department, visit ReadyGenesee.com.

All available manpower is requested to the Le Roy Fire Hall after dispatchers received multiple calls reporting the odor of natural gas in the Village of Le Roy.

Callers are from multiple locations.

UPDATE 9:59 p.m.: Pavilion and Bergen departments requested to stand by in their halls.

The Batavia High School Girls Soccer Team will likely head into sectional play after three more regular season games with a double-digit win total for the first time in the program's history, despite a 1-0 loss to Eastridge last night at Van Detta Stadium, which dropped the team's record to 9-4.

Eastridge is now 8-4.

The game at Van Detta was a rare night game for the Lady Devils, and even rarer for a soccer game on Woodward Field.

Typically, the senior game is played under the lights at Genesee Community College, but the game was moved to Batavia's track and football complex because of ongoing construction at the college.

More than 6,000 people from out of the state, and even out of the country, visit the Holland Land Office Museum every year, Don Burkel, chairman of the HLOM's board of directors, told the County's Human Services Committee yesterday during a department review.

That's one of the many contributions HLOM makes to the local economy and cultural life of Genesee County, Burkel said during a lengthy presentation that outlined the many programs and exhibits hosted and promoted by the museum each year.

While not a specific budget request, department reviews to help inform legislators about what is going on in all facets of county government heading into budget talks.

Each year, HLOM receives about $37,000 from the county, after a cut in financial support of about $6,000 a year in 2010.

"The museum costs less than $1 per resident in the county," Burkel said.

Patrick Weissend, a former HLOM director who recently joined the board as vice president, said not much has changed for the HLOM budget since he ran the facility seven years ago.

"The budget remains really lean," Weissend said.

The museum is also supported by memberships and donations, but Weissend said the museum is able to tap into a fund created years ago by donations from the late Congressman Barber Conable. Conable made it a practice to donate any speaking fees he received to nonprofits in Genesee County. Those donations are preserved in an investment account.

The mission of HLOM is to preserve the museum's collection of artifacts and provide educational opportunities to the local community and visitors based on that collection.

Press release:

The Board of Directors of the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) will consider two applications for GAIN! revolving loan funds for agricultural projects in Pavilion and East Bethany.

Cottonwood Farms LLC in Pavilion is seeking to install a wind turbine system that would combine wind and solar power in one turbine in order to increase efficiency and electric energy output. The GCEDC is considering a GAIN! loan in the amount of $65,000 to Cottonwood Farms for the acquisition of the dual system equipment.

The GCEDC also is considering another GAIN! loan for $177,139 for Sandvoss Farms LLC -- First Light Creamery in East Bethany. The loan will be used for the construction of a new refrigeration and storage facility, site work to improve access and traffic flow as well as a new hoop house for feed and materials storage and a new goat nursery facility. Sandvoss Farms processes pasteurized cheese, milk and yogurt from raw goat’s milk.

The Growing the Agricultural Industry Now! (GAIN) initiative is a $400,000 revolving loan fund for Genesee County farms and agribusinesses. It is designed to follow existing revolving loan funds that return investments directly back into a pool for the next round of projects. Projects can receive between $25,000 and $200,000 in gap financing at a 1 percent interest rate.

THE GCEDC will also review an application from Empire Pipeline to terminate their existing PILOT agreement, and instate a new 15-year fixed PILOT for their compressor station and pipeline in Oakfield. As the project incentives are more than $100,000 a public hearing will be set if the GCEDC Board accepts the application.

The GCEDC board meeting will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 6th, at the MedTech Center, across from Genesee Community College, on the first floor at the Innovation Center, Suite 107. All board meetings are open to the public.

With clowns in the news recently, it's perhaps ironic that these old posters would reappear in the offices of WBTA about this time.

Dan Fischer, owner of the 75-year-old station, said a listener delivered the two posters to the station years ago and they were stored behind a bookshelf. They reappeared again during remodeling. 

The listener who brought them in knew nothing about them and Dan doesn't know anything about them either.

If anybody knows anything about the history or what they were promoting, leave a comment.

A group of people is reportedly lost in the woods north of Roberts Road near Sour Springs Road, Town of Alabama.

Alabam fire dispatched to assist.

UPDATE 6:11 p.m.: There is a woman and two other people. They plot to an area near a pond and not far from a small parking lot.

UPDATE 6:18 p.m.: There is 35 minutes of daylight left.

UPDATE 6:26 p.m.: They're not on a trail. They're in heavy brush, but they can hear the airhorn and they're going to start walking toward it.

UPDATE 6:28 p.m.: They are walking toward south, Walkers Road because that is a shorter walk.

UPDATE 6:44 p.m.: They're out of the woods.

Once again, hundreds of runners and walkers turned out for the annual Run of the Acorns at Genesee County Park.

The event features 5K and 10K races and was sponsored this year for the first time by Alex's Place.

Proceeds benefit the county parks.

Press release:

The City of Batavia Police Department has become aware of the reports of people reporting suspicious activity involving people allegedly dressed as clowns. These reports are similar to those other police departments in the area have received.

At this time the City Police have responded to a handful of such complaints and all have turned out to be false or unfounded. The Police Department is working closely with the City of Batavia School District in regards to reports that were made to the District. At this time there is no credible information that leads to any credible threat.

The public is asked, as always, to report any suspicious activity they may see or hear, but do not attempt to detain or interfere with anyone based on the way they are dressed or appear. The public is further reminded that making certain false allegations could be criminal in nature and all investigations into such events shall be taken seriously. 

This is the official Bergen Boy School Troop 31 neckerchief, which C.M. Barons shared with us in response to a post the other day about the eastern massasauga rattlesnake being listed a threatened species. 

Barons said his mother, Virginia, designed the neckerchief while C.M.'s father was troop leader in the late 1960s.

The design features the snake, the white ladyslipper orchid (also a rare species in the Byron-Bergen Swamp).

Boy Scouts often trade patches and neckerchiefs at jamborees and other events and Barons said the Troop 31 neckerchief is highly sought-after.

Statement from Matthew E. Calderón, superintendent, Pembroke Central School District:

It brings amazing joy to announce that the Pembroke Central School District, in partnership with the Alexander Central School District, will initiate “PALS for Healthy Lifestyles” after winning another U.S. Department of Education Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) grant!

The full name of our project is “Pembroke and Alexander Schools for Healthy Lifestyles,” and only 5 percent of organizations that applied for the PEP nationwide received awards. We are super excited to report we were awarded over $1.8 million to invest over a three-year period!

PALS for Healthy Lifestyles will address the physical and nutritional needs of both districts by implementing nutrition education at the elementary level, adding hands-on practical components to nutrition education at the secondary level, shifting to a lifelong fitness-focused PE curriculum, and adopting a comprehensive school physical activity program.

Between the two districts this project will provide services to at least five project sites and nearly 1,800 students. This program will introduce new equipment, new lessons for students, enhanced education for individualized fitness plans, partnering with various community organizations to maximize services provided to students, and age appropriate nutritional education for students.

Through the implementation of PALS for Healthy Lifestyles, we plan to improve the overall health and wellness of students, starting with education at the primary level, and encouraging a continuation of the developed skills through adulthood.

We plan to implement research-based standards-aligned curriculum, to increase students’ daily physical activity levels and overall fitness, and to increase students’ consumption of recommended daily amounts of fruits and vegetables.

Billie had to go out of town today unexpectedly. I'm still in Chicago and the LION Publishers' conference is in full swing.

For most of the day, we won't have anyone monitoring the scanner. I think we'll have some news flow today, but a slight unexpected disruption.

On Wednesday night, Alexander Elementary School hosted an event designed to bring families together to have fun with math, called Math & Movement. It is a multi-sensory approach to teaching math and reading the uses physical activity and visual elements.

The program uses specially designed floor mats and banners that enable students to hop, walk, crawl, or dance their way to mastering math and reading concepts.

Among the reasons for a program like this is that eight of ten children are what's known as kinesthetic learners and the program taps into a child's natural kinesthetic learning style.

The program is based on research that shows that moving during learning facilitates muscle memory, an important factor with younger children whose abstract thinking skills are not fully developed. Studies show this type of activity allows teachers and students to feel more energized, focused, and prepared to learn.

Information and photos provided by Matthew Stroud, principal of Alexander Elementary School.

One of the six Cuban nationals who operated out of Batavia and Lockport to run a massive credit card fraud operation was sentenced today to 12 months in federal prison for his part in the scam.

Yasser Carrillo Chartrand, 24, who previously pled guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, was also ordered to pay $13,786 in restitution. 

Previously convicted co-conspirators were Eduardo Hernandez Quinones, Claudia Diaz Diaz, Yaily Santurio Milian, Jose Valdivia Quinones and Misael Toledo Rios, all citizens of Cuba.

Chartrand and his cohorts acquired the credit card numbers of real people, including at least two Genesee County residents, from online databases of stolen data and by using card skimmers placed on gas station credit card readers. They then created new, authentic-looking credit cards, which they used in stores throughout the Western New York region.

Investigation of the case began with a complaint to State Police in Batavia of fraudulent credit card transactions. The case expanded from there to include law enforcement in other jurisdictions and federal investigators.

A home on Batavia-Oakfield Townline Road that was used as a base of operation by the group was raided in January 2015.

Previously: Group of Cubans running massive credit card fraud ring had base in Batavia

This week, the Batavia High School Girls Tennis Team capped a nine-match winning streak with a Division IV championship, the team's third, and now enter sectional play as the #2 seed in Class B. They next play Wednesday, vs. Aquinas, #7 seed, at home.

A 400 Towers resident admitted in County Court yesterday that he placed a live cat in his apartment's oven and baked it to death.

If the case had gone to trial 42-year-old Darren Annovi could have faced a maximum sentence of two years in county jail, but with the plea deal his sentence will be capped at five years probation and six months in jail.

He will be sentenced Nov. 29.

District Attorney Lawrence Friedman said he believed there was strong evidence against Annovi and that is presumably why he agreed to plead guilty, but he wouldn't discuss any possible statements Annovi may have made and didn't know why Annovi killed the cat.

"I don't think there is any rational explanation for why (he did it)," Friedman said.

Wendy Castleman, with Volunteers for Animals, who assisted in the investigation by paying for the cat's autopsy, said outside of court that she thought Annovi should be barred from ever owning pets again.

Friedman said he recommended to her that she contact the probation department prior to Annovi's sentencing and suggest that as a sentencing option, but that any such prohibition of pet ownership could not extend beyond the term of Annovi's probation.

Typically, county jail sentences can't be longer than a year; otherwise. inmates are sent to a state prison, but the Ag and Market Law this case was prosecuted under allows for a two-year maximum county sentence.

Annovi is out on bail of $5,000 bail.

Our news partner, WBTA, provided information for this story.

A Bergen resident has been arrested on suspicion of operating an unlawful marijuana growing operation out of his home, according to the Sheriff's Office.

David M. Campuzano, 24, of South Lake Road, was jailed on $15,000 bail or $30,000 bond following his arrest and arraignment.

He is charged with criminal possession in the second degree, a Class D felony, unlicensed growing of cannabis, a Class A misdemeanor, and violation of a restricted driver's license.

Campuzano was arrested by members of the Local Drug Task Force following the execution of a search warrant on his home and car.

He was allegedly found in possession of a pound of marijuana, equipment used to grow marijuana and paraphernalia. He is also suspected of driving outside of restrictions on his license. 

The District Attorney's Office and uniformed deputies assisted in the investigation and arrest.

I didn't get a chance to post this before I left, but I'm in Chicago through Saturday.

I'll miss the Wine Walk, but we've got coverage lined up of various things while I'm gone. 

I'm attending a two-day conference for programmers working for news organizations and then I'll be at the annual conference for Local Independent Online News Publishers. I'll be speaking at that conference on Saturday.

To help expand and extend what Batavia City schools can offer students, a group of community supporters have come together to form the Batavia City School District Foundation, a nonprofit that will raise money within the community to assist with scholarships, grants for innovative classroom initiatives, sports and recognition awards for those who help city schools.

The foundation held its kickoff event last night at Carter's Restaurant.

"In the Batavia City School District, we do a very good job with the budget and the funds we have," said Leslie Johnson, foundation chair. "The tax base is slightly sluggish, but does that impede our progress? Fortunately, no, but it limits where we can go with that as far as what is required and a few steps beyond. We would like to go further."

During opening remarks, Superintendent Chris Dailey said among the opportunities he envisions is the ability for teachers to come up with innovative ideas or discover pieces of equipment that might be useful in the classroom and then, outside of the normal budget cycle, apply for grants to try out those ideas. If they work, then perhaps they can be incorporated into the next budget.

"We want to be on the cutting edge, not the bleeding edge when it comes to innovation," Dailey said. 

With a 95-percent graduation rate and many creative programs and demonstrated success in academics, arts, and athletics, the district is already among the best in the region, Daily said. The foundation and community support can help make it one of the best in the nation, he said.

The foundation will also provide scholarships for students who want to further their education and provide recognition awards for those who provide exceptional aid to the district in fulfilling its mission.

The idea for the foundation started with School Board Chairman Pat Burk many years ago, and he suggested Johnson to Dailey as a champion of the idea. Johnson, Dailey said, turned out to be the perfect choice because she had the vision and the ability to see it through. Dailey said staff member Bobbi Norton was also instrumental in organizing the foundation.

Jim Owen, Batavia's most popular substitute teacher, pictured above with Johnson, was also recognized as one of the honorary chairs because of his early financial support of the foundation.

Johnson said the desire to create a philanthropic foundation for the school district has little to do with constraints on revenue by the property tax cap or any sense of revenue shortage, but a real desire to help fund the gap between how good the district is and how good it can be, and just offer more opportunities for students to grow, learn and achieve.

"We hope to appeal to people who are already spending money philanthropic dollars elsewhere, and we're saying, 'keep it at home where it can really make a difference for these kids,' " Johnson said.