A car has reportedly hit a tree in the area of mile marker 3.1 on Route 490 in the eastbound lane and two people have complaints of pain.
Bergen fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.
UPDATE 12:17 a.m.: Three people involved. One is a sign-off. The other two have possible minor injuries. All responders can come in non-emergency.
A barn fire is reported at 7637 Buffalo Road, Riga. That's in the Bergen Fire District.
Bergen fire responding.
City's Fast team and Mercy EMS dispatched. Le Roy's ladder truck requested to the scene.
A chief on scene reports firefighters will execute an exterior attack only. There are some small explosions, possible fireworks.
UPDATE 6:21 p.m.: The fire is under control and hot spots are being extinguished. Mumford and Churchville also responded to the blaze.
Officer Frank Klimjack, a police defensive tactics instructor, will lead a class on understanding situational awareness, developing a winning mindset, and self-defense.
Grace Baptist Church, 238 Vine St., Batavia
Deputy Ryan DeLong talks about the decision-making process during stressful, emergency situations that people might encounter during a Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events class at St. Paul Lutheran Church this morning.
More than 100 people attended the class, which covered a range of emergency situations, with an emphasis on active shooters, and how people can safely and intelligently respond during such events.
For more background information on the class, click here.
If you missed the class, Frank Klimjack, a Batavia police officer, will present a class called "Do I Need A Bodyguard?" at Grace Baptist Church, 238 Vine St., Batavia, at 6:30 p.m., Feb. 25. Klimjack is a police defensive tactics instructor.
David Fitzpatrick, the author of "Emory Upton: Misunderstood Reformer," spoke about his book and what he learned about the Civil War officer who was born and raised in Batavia while researching and writing the book.
At 10 a.m., Fitzpatrick will participate in a panel discussion with local historians at Genesee Community College in the Conable Technology Building, room T119.
Previously: New book corrects the record on Emory Upton's attitude toward the military and the Republic
A motor-vehicle accident is reported in the area of 1964 Broadway, Darien.
There are wires down with reports of power outages in the area.
A semi-truck and possibly a pickup truck are involved.
Unknown injuries.
A first responder on scene says the pole is sheared off and traffic lights are down.
Traffic is being shut down.
UPDATE 2:15 a.m.: It's a single pickup accident. The tractor-trailer clipped the lines as it was coming through, according to a law enforcement officer on scene.
UPDATE 2:20 a.m.: A fire hydrant was also sheared off. An area stone quarry delivering crushed rock needs to be notified that its trucks will need to find an alternate route for the time being due to the train derailment in Attica.
UPDATE 2:27 a.m.: DOT being notified that Route 20 will be closed for a few hours.
UPDATE 2:46 a.m.: There's a broken pole on Route 238 with a transformer on it. National Grid reports fewer than five customers affected by the power outage.
UPDATE 3 a.m.: Darien ambulance is transporting a patient to UMMC ECMC.
UPDATE 8:42 a.m.: Fire services went back in service about 6 a.m. Route 20 remains closed. Roadblocks now covered by deputies.
UPDATE 8:52 a.m.: Route 20 is reopened.
UPDATE: Carter S. Dale, of Attica, has been identified by the Sheriff's Office as the driver of the pickup truck. He has been charged with DWI, moving from lane unsafely and not wearing a seatbelt. According to the Sheriff's Office, Carter was driving a Ford F-250 that went off the north shoulder of the roadway and struck a utility pole, street light pole, and a street sign, before coming to rest. A tractor-trailer traveling through the area at the time snagged low-hanging wires. The accident was investigated by Deputy Ryan Young, Sgt. John Baiocco, and Deputy Jeremy McClellan. Assisting with the scene were Darien fire and Alexander fire, the State Police, National Grid, Monroe County Water Authority, DOT and gas and cable companies.
Reader submitted photo.
A deal that capped the prison term for Marlek Holmes at 25 years and saved the county the expense of another trial almost came apart after Holmes appeared to renege on the agreement.
As part of the deal, Holmes had to agree to drop an appeal related to his conviction on sexual assault, and everybody -- District Attorney Lawrence Friedman, Defense Attorney Fred Rarick, appeals attorney Timothy Murphy, and Holmes himself -- all signed the document Murphy was supposed to send to the appeals court informing the justices that the appeal was dropped.
Then Holmes wrote Murphy and said he changed his mind.
Today, Holmes was transported from Auburn, where he is serving his sentence, to Batavia, and after meeting with Rarick and Murphy for 30 minutes, agreed to stick by his original agreement to drop the appeal.
Friedman said he wanted to make clear on the record, however, that there is little to prevent Holmes from just changing his mind again later, and creating an endless loop of back-and-forth over the case.
If Holmes does back out of the deal again, Friedman said as far as he's concerned, there won't be a second chance. He will make motions to proceed with a trial on the charges against Holmes that he failed to register a change of address as a convicted sex offender in 2016. He would also want to proceed with a hearing on whether Holmes is a persistent violent felony offender, which would expose Holmes to a potentially harsher prison sentence on his conviction of assault on fellow inmates at the Genesee County Jail.
Zambito indicated he would be inclined to entertain those motions if Holmes again changed his mind.
In determining how to sentence 17-year-old Isaac Abrams of Basom, Judge Charles Zambito said there conflicting viewpoints to consider.
As a 17-year-old, in a couple of years under recent reforms in New York criminal law, Abrams would perhaps be considered a juvenile and wouldn't even appear in County Court and would be presumed to be not responsible for his actions.
However, Abrams admitted to serious offenses that could have led to the loss of life and in just five short months has established a pattern of repeated offenses and disregard for authority.
Zambito said he's concerned about the direction Abrams seems to have chosen for his life recently.
In December, Abrams entered guilty pleas to making a terrorist threat, a Class D felony, and reckless endangerment in the first degree, also a Class D felony. The charges stem from incidents where he threatened to kill Sheriff's deputies during a confrontation on the Tonawanda Indian Reservation and appeared to try and run over pedestrians at a fast food restaurant in Batavia.
"I understand you have a child and that is important to you," Zambito said. "But if you continue on this path, you won't see your child again, if you even survive."
Zambito sentenced Abrams to one-and-a-third to four years in prison followed by parole until he's 21.
Abrams was granted youthful offender status, which will expunge his record once he's an adult if he stays out trouble.
He said the sentence, he felt, balanced protecting the community, serving justice, and won't prevent Abrams from living life as a productive member of society once he's out of the criminal justice system.
First Assistant District Attorney Melissa Cianfrini argued against granting Abrams Y.O. status. She said he has engaged in increasingly violent acts, shown a disregard for authority and human life, and violated his release under supervision contract numerous times.
"He's a high risk to the community," Cianfrini said. "Look at his statements. He seriously minimizes his conduct. He said that he gave people something to talk about at dinner. This is not somebody expressing remorse."
Defense Attorney Vanessa Guite suggested that Zambito take into account his age and the fact that before this rash of incidents started, he had no criminal charges in his life.
"To a certain degree his actions are the result of immaturity and the role alcohol played in his conduct," Guite said. "His criminal history started only five months ago. There are many people with worse histories walking the streets right now."
She said from her viewpoint, the prosecution was trying to make Abrams out as the worst criminal in history, which she said she understood was the prosecution's job, and she suggested that Cianfrini overstated the weight Zambito should give to the RUS violations.
"Their recommendation is for substantial prison time for what amounts to using marijuana and staying out late," Guite said.
After Guite's remarks to Zambito, Abrams had his turn to make a statement on his behalf. After a whispered exchange with his attorney, Abrams said, "I'm sorry for my actions."
An Erie County construction worker will spend weekends in the Genesee County Jail for the next four months, starting tonight, for defrauding a Batavia resident on a contracting job.
Matthew B. Hardesty, 24, of Blasdell, was originally charged with fourth-degree grand larceny. He was allowed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge after paying restitution to the victim, who hired him to construct a fence at his residence on Narramore Drive.
According to court proceedings this morning, Hardesty is facing a similar complaint in Buffalo.
Before sentencing, Hardesty apologized for his actions and said it was the result of being a young and inexperienced businessman; that he had taken on a contract that was too big and had a payout too far in advance, and rather than notify customers of his difficulties, he didn't respond to their complaints.
After becoming embroiled in financial difficulties, Hardesty gave up his contracting business and went to work for another construction contractor.
District Attorney Lawrence Friedman rarely responds to the statements defendants make at their sentencing, but this morning he stood up and said he was going to make a rare response.
"He's a scam artist," Friedman said. "He's trying to con the court now."
Friedman said Hardesty already got a substantial break on his potential sentence by being allowed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor and didn't deserve any further consideration because he was clearly trying to scam people.
Judge Charles Zambito agreed. He said considering the length that his victim had to go to in order to get his money back indicates Hardesty was trying to evade paying back the money. It was only after he was facing potential jail time that he made restitution.
"The message needs to be clear to the public that you can't do this kind of thing here," Zambito said. "When you start a business, you take on a responsibility. You take on a burden. You can't take people's hard-earned money and just walk away with it."
Two art shows opened at GO ART! on Thursday night -- "Where Do I Go From Here?" a ceramics exhibit by Shirley Nigro, and "The Kite Boy," an acrylic exhibit by Alex Segovia.
Nigro is the owner of Fire Up Ceramics on Ellicott Street in Batavia.
Her ceramic work is nothing like most people might associate with the word -- figurines and knickknacks to scatter around the home. Her work is complex and imaginative but still leaning heavily on realism.
The exhibit is a good demonstration of how ceramics can be used to create art.
Segovia is originally from El Salvador and now resides in Avon. He started painting three years ago after watching a documentary about Vincent Van Gogh. His work reflects that post-impressionistic style, though he says he's moving more toward abstract expressionism. The bright colors recall Henri Matisse or fauvism.
Both shows run through April 7.
After six days missing, an Alexander farmer today spotted Blue, the English pointer we reported missing over the weekend.
Christina said the farmer called today with the good news he had found Blue.
"We are happy to say he is home now," she said. "We are grateful to have him home safe."
Alexander volunteer firefighters along with the hazmat team for Genesee County Emergency Services and with the county's emergency management coordinators responded to a train derailment in the Town of Attica today.
The accident was in the area of Route 238 and reported at 4:05 p.m.
Emergency Management Coordinator Tim Yaeger said the accident was in a pretty inaccessible location in Wyoming County and because of that, an engine fire was being allowed to burn itself out. There was no hazmat concern other than the diesel fuel of the engine. The hazmat team set up booms to contain any potential fuel.
As a precaution, the City of Batavia was contacted to temporarily close the water intake from the Tonawanda Creek.
Eleven cars derailed along with two engines from the Norfolk Southern line.
Two crew members self-extricated and were transported to an area hospital. They suffered non-life-threatening injuries, Yaeger said.
Town of Batavia fire responded to Alexander's hall as a fill-in.
UPDATE 8:14 p.m. (By Billie): All Genesee County responders are clearing the scene. Federal, state and local officials involved at the scene will remain for now. Heavy equipment will be forthcoming to remove some train cars so that Route 238 and Main Road in Attica can be reopened. Train crossing sites should be reopened by 10 o'clock tonight. The diesel fuel is allowed to continue to burn.
UPDATE: Press release from the Wyoming County Sheriff's Office:
On Feb. 15, at 4:03 p.m. hours, the Communications Division at the Wyoming County Sheriff’s Office received a 9-1-1 call of a train derailment near the East Main Road intersection in the Town of Attica.
The Attica Fire Department responded to the scene. Attica Fire Chief Jay Myers reports, “two engines and approximately 10 railroad cars derailed of the Norfolk Southern Railroad. The railroad cars were carrying new cars as cargo.”
Chief Myers also stated there were two railroad personnel on the engine who were injured. They were taken to Erie County Medical Center.
“The lead engine is on fire and in coordination with the Norfolk Southern, the engine will remain burning, primarily due to the difficult location of the derailment,” Myers said.
Wyoming County Emergency Services Director Anthony Santoro is on scene, coordinating efforts from the federal, state, local and railroad resources.
Wyoming County Sheriff Gregory Rudolph says “an initial investigation was conducted and we are turning over our investigation to the Norfolk South Railroad Police and the Federal Railroad Administration and a cause has not yet been determined.”
Director Santoro says, “the mutual-aid resources that responded and assisted were the: Alexander Fire Department, Varysburg Fire Department, Bennington Fire Department, Wyoming County Emergency Services and Hazmat Team, Genesee County Emergency Services and Hazmat Team, the New York State Police, the Attica Fire Department and Wyoming Correctional Facility.”
Norfolk Southern personnel are on scene and making efforts to clear the Route 238 and East Main Road intersections with an estimated time of 10 p.m. The long-term cleanup of the damaged engines and railcars will be days.
Photos: Reader submitted photos.
I've gotten a lot of positive feedback on this photo since 2013 when I made it.
Today, when I drove out to Pavilion, I discovered the barns have been demolished. A local business owner told me they came down last week.
Press release:
New York State Senator Michael H. Ranzenhofer has announced his support today for a broad-based 2018 Jobs and Opportunity Agenda. The plan focuses on regulatory and economic development reforms, as well as comprehensive tax relief, to help make New York more competitive and foster job growth.
“Families, individuals, homeowners, seniors, veterans, local leaders, small businesses and manufacturers continue to tell me that New York’s overly burdensome regulatory practices and high taxes hinder job creation. The Jobs and Opportunity Agenda will help to make the state more competitive and business-friendly. Enacting this plan will create jobs and opportunities for all of our residents and jumpstart our state and local economies,” Ranzenhofer said.
According to the State Department of Labor, in 2017, the Rochester area lost 3,500 jobs, while the Buffalo-Niagara region lost 4,600 jobs. The entire state lost a total of 500 jobs, for the period December 2016 through the end of last year.
The Jobs and Opportunity Agenda includes:
Cutting Tax Rates on Small Businesses:
- New Tax Relief for Businesses -- $495 million: Reduce the amount small businesses and farms must pay in taxes by increasing the corporate tax threshold from $390,000 to $500,000 and lowering the rate to 2.5 percent. The proposal also expands the small business exemption to all businesses filing the personal income tax regardless of whether they have employees; increases the threshold to $500,000; and increases the exemption to 15 percent (additional 5 percent for farmers).
- Tax Relief to Boost Manufacturing -- $90 million: This proposal would extend the zero percent Corporate Franchise Tax parity to all manufacturers in New York regardless of how they are organized. Currently, only approximately 25 percent of manufacturers – those organized as C corps – can receive the zero percent rate on business income.
- Reduce Energy Taxes -- $280 million: Eliminate the 2-percent Gross Receipts Tax on utility bills, ($190 million) and terminate the 18A assessment tax ($90 million).
- Create STAR for Small Businesses - $275 million: Allow real property owned by a small business (100 or less employees) to be eligible for the STAR property tax savings program.
Reducing Red Tape and Overregulation:
- Prevent Regulatory Steamrolling: Curtail state agency overuse of the emergency regulation process to ensure it is only used when necessary to protect public health and safety. This proposal also includes allowing the Administrative Regulations Review Commission to delay the adoption of new rules by 90 days. This will help when businesses raise concerns about possible rulemaking inconsistencies with statutory authority or legislative intent, or could potentially burden taxpayers or local governments.
- Improve the State Rulemaking Process: Reform the regulatory, licensing, and permitting processes to make them easier to understand, more responsive to businesses’ concerns, increase transparency, improve consistency, and reduce overly burdensome or unnecessary requirements.
- Remove Speedbumps to Development: Create a new statutory “Fast-Track” process for certain economic development projects.
- Advocate for Small Businesses: Make the state an advocate, not an adversary, by creating a small business liaison to help startups navigate the state agency bureaucracy. The advocate would hear concerns, advocate within an agency on behalf of small businesses, and increase education of and outreach to entrepreneurs.
Revamping Economic Development Programs: Several of New York’s economic development programs and strategies are not producing the results that taxpayers expect and lack the transparency needed to help the state be more fair and competitive:
Shut down START-UP NY: The Governor’s program has failed to produce the job-creating results that were promised. This proposal would stop the state from accepting new applications for the program at the end of 2018.
Improve Transparency with a Database of Deals: Ensure greater transparency and accountability in state contracting by creating a searchable database of all state subsidy and economic development benefits so that individuals, businesses, and public officials can monitor how taxpayer dollars are spent.
Promote Additional Oversight: Create an Independent Oversight Panel for all large public work projects and state procurements of $50 million or more.
Strengthen In-School Training Programs: Expand and make permanent the P-Tech School Programs that prepare thousands of New York students for highly-skilled jobs in technology, manufacturing, healthcare and finance.
Promote Practical Skills and Experiences: Allow academic credit for high school students who participate in internships and other practical experiences and encourage schools to promote apprenticeship participation.
Use Better Metrics: Enhance outreach, education, and reporting by the state Department of Labor on employment and training programs.
Last summer's concert series is one of many reasons Batavia Downs has been able to grow revenue and remain competitive in a saturated gaming market, said Henry Wojtaszek, president of Western OTB, and Mike Nolan, CEO, today at a press conference announcing an eight-show lineup for this season.
"We offer a lot of different things," Nolan said. "We have our own little niche here."
Wojtaszek said the key is offering options for customers and when you get them in the door, treating them right.
"That includes entertainment, it includes better food, it includes a cigar lounge, and frankly, just provide the best customer service," Wojtaszek said. "We like to think that’s why we’re growing. That’s what we like to concentrate on. Our focus is on providing excellent customer service."
The eight shows announced for this summer:
Wojtaszek said the concert series went so well last year that Batavia Downs would like to add more shows, but one step at a time.
He also said Batavia Downs will be working with the City and the Town to accommodate larger crowds. Last year, attendance was about 4,000 and this year the casino would like to attract 5,000 to 6,000 fans to the shows.
The concentration on classic rock and country is a conscious effort to bring in shows more appealing to older music fans, Wojtaszek said.
"They are the patrons coming into Batavia Downs and we wanted to provide them with the entertainment they’re looking for at a reasonable cost," Wojtaszek said.
Tickets for the shows will be $10 each.
Batavia Downs is hosting several other events this year sure to bring people from throughout the region to Genesee County.
There will be professional wrestling Feb. 24, a Whiskyfest in June, a Mixed Martial Arts event during the summer, plus Batavia Downs is in the midst of a $4 million capital improvement project that includes opening a cigar lounge, expanding 34 Rush sports bar, Fortune's Restaurant, and the conference center.
"There’s a lot of demand to have things here and it’s amazing to see the response we get to the events we do have," Wojtaszek said. "It’s a perfect location, right between Buffalo and Rochester and we're even getting people here from as far as Syracuse."
Bonnie Ames saw the empty restaurant building on Ellicott Street Road near Shepard Road and knew it was the place for her.
"I saw the building was empty and when I walked in it reminded me of a place when I was very little, and I said, 'oh, my God, I've got to do it.' "
Ames, with daughter Amy Goodenow, has opened the Route 63 Diner in Batavia.
She said it's just a traditional diner with good American food.
She's undaunted by the fact four other restaurant owners have tried to make it at the same location in the past few years.
She said the reason she's optimistic is she's met a lot of wonderful people during her first four weeks in business and they all seem to appreciate a good home-cooked meal.
"They're wonderful," she said. "I feel that with the way they feel about the food, they are coming back. It's a great location. I think our attitude, and good food, is what's going to make it."
Christina Matrella demonstrates how to provide first aid to a baby who is choking for state fire officials who spent Tuesday and Wednesday in Batavia for a series of training classes.
The classes, which included a range of topics, including hazardous material, provides state officials with uniform training that they can use to better assist and support local fire departments.
There are more than 200 state fire officials now, said Deputy Chief Brian Benstead, and getting them all in one place at one time for training and meetings can be difficult, so the agency is trying regional meetings and Batavia was chosen as a location in Western New York this training session.
"This is primarily our safety training like anyone else goes through, just like any other fire department or police department goes through on a regular basis," Benstead said. "Ours is enhanced by the fact that this is how we make that connection to the local communities and how we support them."
About 20 fire officials were in Batavia for the two days, staying at local hotels and eating at local restaurants.
The training was held at Batavia's fire headquarters.
Chief Stefano Napolitano said he was proud the state chose Batavia for a meeting location.
Thomas Jacob Wolcott, 33, no permanent address, Batavia, is charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle, 3rd, unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, and aggravated unlicensed operation, 2nd. Wolcott is accused of taking and driving another person's vehicle without permission. Wolcott was also taken into custody on warrants from the State Police, Rochester PD, Ogden PD, and Gates PD. He was jailed on $1,500 bail.
Jeffrey D. Freeman, 37, of South Spruce Street, Batavia, was arrested on a warrant for alleged failure to appear. Freeman was jailed on an unspecified amount of bail.
Julia B. Wescott, 35, of South Main Street, Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Wescott was stopped at 12:10 a.m. Saturday on East Main Street, Batavia, by Officer Peter Flanagan.
Nicole K. Casey, 30, of West Main Street, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Casey is accused of shoplifting from Tops at 3:57 p.m., Feb. 7.
Tonya M. Ficarella, 31, Lovers Lane Road, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Ficarella is accused of shoplifting from Tops at 11:50 a.m., Feb. 7.
Stephanie G. Pelkey, 23, of Masse Place, Batavia, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child, resisting arrest, reckless endangerment of property, and unlawful imprisonment, 2nd. Pelkey is accused of restricting the movement of another person inside a residence, throwing property outside of the residence, and resisting arrest in the presence of a child. Pelkey was ordered held on $1,500 bail.
Aaron M. Mucher, 30, of Lewiston Road, Batavia, is charged with harassment, 2nd. Mucher is accused of making verbal threats against an employee at a local government office.
Joshua G. Bachorski, 35, of South Spruce Street, Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of stolen property, 5th. Bachorski was arrested on a warrant. He is accused of taking stolen property to Pawn King in Batavia. He was arraigned and ordered held on bail.
Press release:
United Memorial Medical Center (UMMC) is relocating its urgent care services in Le Roy from 8745 Lake Street Road to 3 Tountas Ave. The move is part of Rochester Regional Health’s plan to expand primary care, diagnostic and urgent care services in the area.
After a renovation project at the 3 Tountas Ave. location, residents will have more timely access to care in a convenient, modern and comfortable setting.
“It is important we remain focused on patient-centered care and acknowledge the needs of the community. Centrally locating these services will enhance access, operations, communication and patient engagement,” said Jennifer Dunivent, United Memorial Medical Center’s director of operations, outpatient services.
To accommodate the project, Urgent Care services in Le Roy will temporarily close effective Friday, Feb. 16 until the project is finished this spring.
During this transitional period, patients can visit UMMC’s urgent care location at 16 Bank St. in Batavia. The urgent care in Batavia will have additional staff, expanded hours and onsite laboratory and radiology services. The location is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Diagnostic services at the 8745 Lake Street Road location in Le Roy will not be affected and will remain open Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
This latest project reflects the organization’s ongoing commitment to ensuring patients have local access to the care and services they need; all while staying connected to emergency room services and a team of highly skilled specialists when patients need them.
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