Stories from

One of the most requested additional features we get for The Batavian is obituaries. But we can only publish obituaries if funeral directors submit the notices.

The H.E. Turner & Company, Inc. family of funeral homes became one of The Batavian's newest sponsors this week and will now post obituaries for people who have passed when one of their homes -- H.E. Turner in Batavia and Bergen, Bohm-Calarco-Smith in Batavia, and Burdett & Sanford in Oakfield -- handle the arrangements.

If you do not find the obituary for your loved one, please notify the funeral director handling arrangements for your friend or family member and ask him to contact The Batavian about posting the obituary on the Web site.

Tom Rivers is a reporter of boundless energy. He's run in marathons and worked day-long shifts in local farm fields.

Now he's published a book.

The Batavia Daily News staff writer wrote an award-winning series 2008 about his laborious research into just want it takes to work at local farms in Western New York. Those articles are the basis of Farm Hands: Hard work and hard lessons from Western New York fields.

"Books have a little more permanence," Rivers said. "You can read about the titans of industry, such as Dean Richmond, in books, but there aren't a lot of books about the people doing the work. I just think the farmworkers make a great contribution to our community. They deserve the recognition (of being in a book)."

The stories of Tom's days and nights in the fields of Genesee, Wyoming and Orleans counties picking apples and chopping and throwing cabbage give the reader a great sense of just how hard farm work is.

Although he knew it would be challenging, Rivers said he was surprised by how taxing it really is. And it takes training, experience and dedication to ensure that the produce isn't damaged before it's delivered to market.

"There's this feeling that we can just throw anybody into farm work, but not just anybody can do this," Rivers said. "Buyers could reject 40 tons of cabbage if it's not just perfect, if the heads are bruised. There's more pressure on the workers than there is in my job or in most people's jobs. They have to aim for perfection."

The book contains additional material not included in the original newspaper series, Rivers said.

Rivers self-published the book and had it printed at Hodgkins Printing in the Harvester Center.

The full-color book came out looking great, Rivers said. Daily News Publisher Tom Turnbull didn't hesitate to give Rivers permission, without fee, to reprint his own articles as well as the color photos that ran with the series.

"I like that it says, 'Printed in Batavia,' but I don't feel like I was working with a second-rate company," Rivers said. "They were great over there."

The book is for sale locally at the Holland Land Office Museum and Present Tense Books on Washington Avenue.

A bit of confirmation of rumors that Sam Pontillo is working on a deal to reopen the legendary pizzeria on East Main Street came out of the Genesee County Economic Development Center today.

Pontillo's potential landlord, BP Properties out of Rochester, was granted a $6,875 property-tax exemption by the GCEDC.

GCEDC officials said BP Properties and Sam Pontillo are trying to secure refinancing on $500,000 in debt left over from the previous operation.

(via WBTA)

Previously:

• Could uncovered Pontillo's neon be a sign of what's to come?
• Could Pontillo's in Batavia soon be a Pontillo's again?

A Batavia woman wanted connection with alleged drug dealing at two strip clubs in Erie County has been arrested.

Cynthia Sims, 25, was initially considered a fugitive following the FBI investigation, but Sims was reportedly taken into custody yesterday.

Twenty-five other suspects have also been charged in connection with the investigation.

The exact charges against Sims have not been released yet.

(via WBTA)

A Pittsford firetruck that was apparently in Genesee County for repairs seems to have lost a long stretch of four-inch fire hose on West Saile Drive.

Monroe County dispatch was contacted in order to notify the firetruck driver so the crew can return and retrieve the hose.

Meanwhile, a county official is watching over the hose to ensure it's safe retrieval.

UPDATE  1:10 p.m: OK, it wasn't a Pittsford Fire crew that was with the truck -- the truck is still out for repairs. The hose apparently fell off while a mechanic took it out for a test drive.

Tammy L. Cicatello, 39, of 18 Pickthorn Drive, Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th, and criminal use of drug paraphernalia, 2nd. Cicatello was allegedly observed by a member of the Local Drug Enforcement Task Force buying drugs while in a car in a parking lot of a Batavia business. Cicatello's car was stopped on Clinton Street Road and Drug Task Force members reportedly found two bags of crack cocaine and two crack pipes, along with some other drug paraphernalia. Cicatello was issued appearance tickets.

R.A. Aaron, 39, of 111 Liberty St., Apt. C, Batavia, is charged with disorderly conduct. Batavia Police officers responded to a report of a disturbance at the Green Wolf Tavern at 10:59 p.m., Thursday. While officers were on scene, Aaron allegedly continued to be belligerent and was shouting obscenities while in the parking lot. Aaron also allegedly pushed a police officer.

Brandon C. Dodd, 23, of 128 1/2 State St., Batavia, is charged with harassment, 2nd. Dodd was arrested at 12:43 a.m., today, in Batavia. Dodd allegedly struck another man on the side of his head and also spat on him. Dodd was jailed on $1,000 bail.

Accidents from the state police blotter:

2:43 p.m., March 3, Cato Street, Pavilion, two vehicles; Driver 1: Corey R. Ryan, 20, Le Roy; Driver 2: Kathleen D. Kingsley, 51, of Pavilion. No injuries reported.

Matty's Pizzeria, 4152 W. Main St., Batavia, NY: Matty's is another Batavia favorite for pizza and wings. We have a $20 gift certificate for $10.

Center Street Smoke House, 20 Center St., Batavia, NY: Authentic Southern BBQ, from ribs to brisket with all the fixin's. We have a $25 gift card for $12.50.

Oliver's Candies, 211 W. Main St., Batavia, NY. Oliver's, a Batavia landmark, offers the finest chocolate and confections in the area. We have a $20 gift card for $10.c

Alex's Place, 8322 Park Road, Batavia, NY: People come from all over the region for a fine dining experience at Alex's. It's best known for its ribs, of course, but Alex's seafood is also a favorite of the restaurant's diners. We have a $25 gift certificate for $12.50.

O'Lacy's Irish Pub, 5 School St. Batavia, NY: In Irish pubs, it doesn't get more authentic than O'Lacy's. Be sure to try the homemade chips. We have a $25 gift certificate for $12.50.

Delavan's Restaurant and Tavern, 107 Evans St., Batavia, NY: To me, Delavan's is one of those restaurants where you want to eat frequently until you try everything on the menu. We have a $20 gift certificate for $10.

Sallome's Italian Deli, 40 Oak St., Batavia, NY: Wraps, subs, paninis and pasta as well as pizzas -- Sallome's offers a tasty variety of Italian deli items for eat-in or take-out.  We have $10 gift certificates for $5 each.

T.F. Brown's, at 214 E. Main St., Batavia, NY: T.F. Brown's is a great place for a good meal, good friends and to catch up on what's going on in the sports world. "If it happens in sports, it happens at Brown's." We have a $20 gift card for $10.

Great Kutz, in the Valu Plaza, 4152 W. Main St. Road, Batavia, NY: The Batavian is able to offer a limited number of reduced-price haircuts for children under 12. Click Here for details of the offer and to purchase vouchers.

NOTE: If you've never bought Deal of the Day before, or are otherwise unfamiliar with the rules and process, click here.

SOLD OUT

Did you like the sun today? There's supposed to be more of that where that came from. In fact, the weekend should be quite nice, with highs in 40s and more sun.

Not to put a damper on things, but Weather.com is predicting snow overnight in a week.

But in the meantime, pre-spring weather with highs in the 40s and sun, or partly cloudy, seems to be in our immediate future.

Pictures: From this evening, a barn on Lear Road. Below a tractor and old garage on Wilkenson Road.

The first thing Mike Rapone wanted to do after Notre Dame notched a Section V playoff victory Wednesday night in Gainsville was find his daughter.

They embraced at center court and fans, friends and family gathered round.

When the Rapones moved over closer to a sign bearing the numbers 546, Mike Rapone looked up at the crowd, still holding his daughter close, and for a second, the emotion of the moment was clear in his eyes and a quivering lip.

With a 60-41 victory over Arkport, the Fighting Irish clinched the final spot in the Section V Class D1 championship, and Mike Rapone became the all-time wins leader in Section V boys basketball.

"(The record) means a lot to me because it means so much to the people I coached over the years," Rapone said. "So many of them are here tonight. They’re the ones who won the games. I’m the coach. You steer the ship, but they’re the sailors. They do all of the hard work."

The 56-year-old Rapone has a shot at victory number 547 in the Blue Cross Arena at 11:45 a.m., Saturday, when the Irish face Fillmore.

A win Saturday would give Notre Dame its eighth Section V title under Rapone. The Irish have also notched two New York State championships, in 1992 and 2001.

Starting forward, senior Tom Rapone, said victory meant a lot to the team and to him personally.

"I’m so happy to be able to get it for my uncle," Rapone said. "He’s done so much for me in basketball. I always dreamed of playing for him in high school. The fact that I was able to help break the record for him as the last Rapone to come through Notre Dame High School, it’s just an amazing feeling."

Despite the lopsided total at the end, Arkport didn't make it easy for the Irish to get the win for Rapone. While the Irish led from start to finish, Arkport pulled close near the end of the half, and again near the end of the 3rd Quarter. Too many missed shots in the 4th quarter, though, allowed Notre Dame to pull well ahead.

"It’s sectionals and no team is going to quit," said Tom Rapone. "We just came together as a team. We’ve got great chemistry. We know how to play as a team. We can turn it up fast. That’s all thanks to our coach. He’s taught us great things in practice. It’s all thanks to him. He’s an amazing coach."

Even when Arkport pulled within three points late in the 3rd quarter, coach Rapone said he felt his team knew it was going to win the game.

"I don’t think they ever lost their confidence that they were going to win," the coach said. "That’s the mark of a winner and that’s why they’re 19-1."

More pictures pictures after the jump.

 

 

 

A Batavia woman is reportedly wanted by the FBI in connection with an alleged heroin and cocaine ring being run inside two strip clubs in Erie County.

The FBI is encouraging anybody who knows the whereabouts of Cynthia Sims to call the police.

According to WGRZ, several law enforcement agencies were involved over the past year in investigating the alleged drug dealing at the clubs.

The clubs were identified as Rick's Tally Ho in Cheektowaga and 24k Gold in Hamburg.

WGRZ reports that the owners of the clubs say they had no idea that drug dealing was going on at their establishments.

A man wanted by Batavia Police has been located in Florida and is in a Tampa-area jail awaiting extradition to New York.

A week ago, Batavia Police issued a "wanted" notice for Dajuandrick Gardner, 33, of Byron. Gardner is wanted for an alleged violation of parole.

U.S. Marshalls' took Gardner into custody on Monday.

No information has been released regarding the original charges against him.

When the police released the wanted information on Gardner, they also listed 18-year-old Jeremiah Williams as a wanted person on unrelated charges. Williams remains at large.

A 16-year-old Batavia girl is charged with two counts of petit larceny. She allegedly stole items from Walmart and Kmart. She was arrested at 9:31 p.m., Tuesday.

Deborah Ann Butler, 42, of 5335 Egerton Road, Elba, is charged with issuing a bad check. Butler was picked up on a warrant on the charge.

Lynda Lee Snyder, 27, currently in state prison, is charged with criminal facilitation, 4th. Snyder allegedly allowed a person who had been ordered to stay away from her child to be in the residence and company of the child.

Kelly J. Rhim, 31, of Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Rhim was reportedly stopped by state police on the Thruway in Batavia at 7:30 p.m., Feb. 28.

Accidents from the state police blotter:

8:58 p.m., March 1, Route 98, Alexander, one vehicle: Driver 1: Joyce M. McNutt, 46, of Darien Center. No injuries reported.

6:05 a.m., March 1, Quaker Hill Road, Elba, one vehicle; Driver 1: Karen J. Vancott, 49, Albion. No injuries reported.

One person so far has reported a headache in apparent connection to a natural gas smell at a building at 8020 E. Main Road, Le Roy.

The building has been evacuated.

Le Roy Fire and Le Roy Ambulance have been dispatched.

UPDATE 10:12 a.m.: An assistant fire chief reports no reading of gas inside the structure.

UPDATE 10:16 a.m.: Le Roy Fire is back in service.

View Larger Map

If you weren't biting your nails at the half on Tuesday night, you're not a Batavia Blue Devils fan.

At the half in Batavia's Section V semi-final playoff game against Hornell, the Blue Devils were in locked horns at 20-20.

Even though Hornell came into the tournament as the #5 seed in the division against Batavia's #1 standing, Hornell wasn't making it easy on Batavia.

Hornell came out of the locker room with an aggressive game plan that had Batavia a little bit flustered in the opening minutes of the match.

“We didn’t play very good at all in the first half – our shots weren’t falling and the presses got to us, particularly me," said Batavia's leading scorer, Andrew Hoy. "I didn’t really know how to break it at the time, but we figured it out at half time. Coach gave us a game plan and we came out in the second half and said we’re going to hold them to 13 points per quarter and we played defense. That’s what Batavia is built on, defense.”

The plan worked. Hornell was able to manage only three baskets in the second half and Batavia went on to win 51-34.

Hoy sank three three pointers and led Batavia (17-3) with 24 points.

Justin Washington and Co Co Irvin each added nine.

The Blue Devils advance to the Section V finals against Livonia on Friday night.

Thirty more pictures after the jump:

Submited by Robert Hunt:

Batavia Ramparts Squirt B finished their regular season undefeated and went on to win the Division Championship Sunday February 28th over the Rochester Youth Hockey Hawks.

Law enforcement officials now believe that there was actual methamphetamine in a house at 9434 Route 19, where the Local Drug Enforcement Task Force executed a search warrant at 2 a.m., Tuesday.

Initially, officials didn't believe there was any completed product at the house, though suspected precursor chemicals were found and Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster described the meth lab set up as particularly dangerous because of the use of batteries in the alleged process.

At a little after 1 p.m., investigators from the state police crime lab (pictured) arrived at the house to gather evidence and conducted tests on the chemicals and compounds allegedly found at the scene.

In a press release this evening, the Sheriff's Office announced that more than two ounces of suspected methamphetamine were found in the house.

A police officer on scene this afternoon said the room where the suspected lab was found, which he also described as potentially highly flammable, was right next to the bedroom of a 6-year-old child.

Charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 2nd and criminal possession of a hypodermic instrument were Christopher L. Williams, 31, of 8 Erie St., Le Roy, and Nicholas Patrick Sadwick, 23, of 354 Sandybrook Drive, Hamlin.

The two men were jailed on $32,500 bail each.

It's unclear who was living at the house. The residence was clearly occupied. Officials discussed the fact that a dog was picked up earlier in the day and two domesticated cats hung out near the front door. A neighbor said that new tenants had only recently moved into the house and that this morning, the school bus stopped at the house as it usually does, but this time, no little boy was there to get on it.

No other charges have been announced by the Sheriff's Office against any other individuals.

Tonight's press release said officials found "chemicals and equipment which are commonly used to manufacture Methamphetamine."

This is the fifth suspected meth lab found in Genesee County since Nov. 12, when suspected labs were discovered in Alabama and on Jackson Street in Batavia.

A member of the drug task force at the scene today said that media coverage of that first raid helped alert local residents to the problem and the dangers of meth labs, and the increased vigilance has led to more tips about these other suspected meth operations.

For previous coverage of suspected meth labs, click here.

This is a reader-submitted photo of the rollover accident in the Village of Elba last night. The driver was reportedly unhurt.  We've received no further official information on this accident at this time.

UPDATE: We received a copy of the accident report from the Sheriff's office later this evening.

The car was driven by Mark J. Schultz, 24, of 4658 Barryville Road, Elba. Deputy J. M. Graff reported the Schultz said he fell asleep. The car drifted off the roadway and struck a utility pole. No tickets were issued.

That big blue and white object in the background isn't some jet engine I PhotoShoped into a farm picture -- it's a wind turbine, called the WindTamer.

Owner Garry Wilson said the turbine will be fully operational this week and will provide more power than he needs for his farm.

Wilson's farm is on Route 19 in Le Roy, right next door to the suspected meth lab police found this morning.

While Wilson said he's never heard a blade-type wind turbine, this one doesn't make much noise at all.

"We had quite a bit of wind a few nights back and it was no louder than a truck idling," Wilson said.

The turbines are advertised as more efficient, producing more power, than conventional turbines.

Wilson said he believes he has the first WindTamer in Genesee County, and the first turbine of any kind in Le Roy.

I got a chance to talk with Garry because while I was waiting for something interesting to happen at the suspected meth lab house (more on that later), I stood along the edge of the road and started trying to take some pictures of his horses, which is when I spotted one laying on the ground with its hoof apparently caught on a fence railing.

I spotted Garry's number and gave him a call. He came out immediately to help the horse get uncaught and get back up. He said it happens once in a while when the horse lays down too close to the fence and then rolls over, getting its hoof caught.

Pictures below of the horse rescue as well as one of Garry throwing some hay to his horses and of his cattle.

The horse seemed perfectly fine after it got up, even coming over to the railing where I was hoping I might be a person with a treat. Sorry, horse, no treats.