Billie and I will be away from the scanners for the next 24 hours.
We're driving down to Binghamton for Batavia High School's football state championship semi-final game.
The game is today at 3 p.m. and you can listen to it live on WBTA.
A pair of brothers from Batavia are suspects in a string of burglaries in Batavia and Stafford, including one who was stopped Thursday night on Washington Avenue and allegedly found in possession of a stolen handgun.
The handgun was allegedly taken in one of the burglaries and after the burglary, the serial number had been partially removed.
TeeSean T. Ayala, 19, of Walnut Street, Batavia, was reportedly driving the car stopped by Investigator Chris Parker on Thursday night on Washington Avenue. Parker recognized the vehicle as possibly linked to the string of burglaries.
The driver of the vehicle pulled into the driveway of a residence on Washington Avenue -- by coincidence, the home of County Manager Jay Gsell -- and somebody in the vehicle threw the handgun out the window.
The appearance of a gun prompted a multi-patrol response from local law enforcement.
Ayala, a former standout basketball player at Batavia High School, is charged with criminal possession of a weapon, 2nd, criminal possession a weapon, 3rd, unlawful possession of marijuana, and plate obstructed.
His brother, Malik Isiah Ayala, 27, of Walnut Street, Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of stolen property.
Malik Ayala is accused of being in possession of stolen property at Pawn King on Oct. 24 valued in excess of $3,000.
Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster said both arrests are the result of an investigation into burglaries that occurred in the City of Batavia, Town of Batavia, and Stafford.
In all, at least five burglaries are believed to be connected to the same suspects, Brewster said.
TeeSean Ayala was ordered held on $15,000 bail. Malik Ayala's bail was set at $20,000 cash or $40,000 bond.
Brewster said the investigation is ongoing and additional charges are possible.
Press release:
Ten area firefighters from six fire departments successfully completed the Rescue Tech Basic course held at the Genesee County Fire Training Center on Sept. 17.
This 24-hour course prepares students for a wide variety of possible rescue scenarios.
Specialized rescue, search, technical rescue management, risk and priorities, use of ropes, knots and rope systems in a low-angle environment as well as the establishment of landing zones for helicopter operations were addressed.
The program involved demonstrations as well as practice sessions.
Congratulations to the following personnel:
- CITY OF BATAVIA FD: Stefano Napolitano
- TOWN OF BATAVIA FD: Joshua K. Boyle, Clayton A. Gorski
- BETHANY FD: Richard J. Klunder III
- CORFU FD: Glenn J. Eck, Daniel Smith, Jacob D. Stiles
- ELBA FD: Michael Pfendler
- STAFFORD FD: Dean A. Brooks, Randal J. Henning
To find out more about volunteering in your local community, visit ReadyGenesee.com.
Press release:
Nine members of the Genesee County Emergency Support Unit/Hazardous Materials Response Team recently received Hazardous Material Technician certification.
The Hazardous Materials Technician program is offered regionally by the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control (OFPC).
Certification requires successful completion of a five modular training program consisting of a total of 84 hours. The modules focused on:
- Modular 1: Primary Skills for the Hazardous Materials Responder
- Modular 2: Interpreting the Hazardous Material Environment
- Modular 3: Managing the Hazardous Materials Incident
- Modular 4: Advanced Skills for the Hazardous Materials Responder
- Modular 5: Specialty Skills for the Hazardous Materials Responder
Hazardous materials are a vital component in a multitude of today’s industries. HazMat related incidents pose a threat not only to the community and the environment but to emergency responders as well.
Mitigation and response expertise is essential for an efficient and effective response, minimizing risk and threat. The Genesee County Emergency Support Unit responds to a multitude of incidents each year.
Team members, having been trained in all categories of unknown industrial chemical hazards in liquid, aerosol, powder, solids and vapor/gas forms and who have received Hazardous Material Technician certification, are:
- ALABAMA: Gary Patnode
- ALEXANDER: Tom Green, Lance Scharlau
- TOWN OF BATAVIA: James W. Bouton, Patrick J. Spear
- BYRON: Mark S. Holley
- CORFU: Lori A. Santini, Brian D. Schollard
- DARIEN: Jeffrey D. Luker
To find out more about volunteering in your local community, visit ReadyGenesee.com.
Press release:
The Genesee County Office of Emergency Management Services in conjunction with the NYS Office of Fire Prevention and Control offered a four-hour Alternative Fuel Vehicles & New Technologies class to any emergency response personnel.
The class, held on Monday, Nov. 5, at the Fire Training Center, was attended by 11 Genesee County fire personnel.
Information about the hazards of the new fuels such as methanol, compressed natural gas and electric power; as well as the pressures created within fuel cylinders were addressed in addition to safety information on other possible hazards related to alternative fuel vehicles. State Fire instructor David Harrington addressed the changing technology of the automobile.
Participants included:
To find out more about volunteering in your local community, visit ReadyGenesee.com.
Press release:
A fall Basic Exterior Firefighter Operations (BEFO) program was held at the Genesee County Fire Training Center. The 79-hour program began in August and concluded on Nov. 6. Twenty-four students completed the 79-hour program from nine county departments and three neighboring departments.
The BEFO program is an entry-level program for the volunteer fire service designed to prepare students to respond to emergencies as exterior firefighters.
Students are instructed in fire extinguishers, building construction, forcible entry, ladder deployment, incident command, drafting operations, and hazardous materials operations level. In addition, students are trained in ropes and knots, and first aid/CPR.
The Genesee County participants were:
Town of Batavia -- Thomas Marlowe
Bergen -- Brandon Cunningham
Bethany -- Rick J. Klunder III and Jose E. Torres
Corfu -- Jayden D. Eck, Casey L. Felski, Ethan J. Librock, Dylan L. Lang, Megan G. Stiler, Elizabeth S. Tebor
East Pembroke -- Samantha M. Cavalieri
Elba -- Mark E. Anuo
Le Roy -- William M. Crandall, Adam G. Hamel and Chelsea M. Pierce
Oakfield -- Garrett M. Gibson and Noah R. Toal
Stafford -- Megan E. Burton and Kenneth V. Collins
To find out more about volunteering in your local community, visit ReadyGenesee.com.
Press release:
One hundred and twenty-seven students were joined by family, faculty, and staff in Byron-Bergen School's the Fourth Annual Turkey Trot.
The Turkey Trot is an initiative, started by the Health and Wellness Committee, to promote physical fitness and healthy lifestyles. The non-competitive run/walk kicked off in a flurry of excitement on Nov. 8 at 3:30 p.m. behind the Elementary School. The brisk evening was ideal for outdoor activity and, though the sky was overcast, no rain fell.
“The students love this event,” said Elementary School Physical Education teacher and event organizer Danielle Carson. “I hope that this experience will inspire them to get outside more often to hike, bike, or just run around.”
From the starting line behind the four-square court, participants followed the one-mile course through the wooded cross-country trail, along the soccer stadium, over to the high ropes course, and back to the four-square court finish line.
The buildings and grounds crew had prepared the forest section of the course by marking roots, stones, and other tripping hazards with orange paint.
The orange markers were not the only splash of color. Orange, yellow, and brown leaves provided a vivid backdrop as the participants followed the well-worn path through the woods.
“Planning the Turkey Trot at the height of the fall foliage creates a unique experience for our students and their families,” said Elementary Principal Brian Meister. “It’s a chance to get outside and exercise, but it is also a chance to appreciate the beautiful natural resources we have on campus.”
After the trot, students and families gathered in the cafetorium with lots of smiles and rosy cheeks for a healthy snack.
The Turkey Trot is also the non-official kick-off to the District’s Holiday Community Service project. Annually, the District partners with community organizations to collect toys, clothing, wrapping supplies, and – in 2017 – more than 1,200 nonperishable food items. This year’s Turkey Trot participants started it off on the right foot by donating more than 100 nonperishable food items.
Celia Murillo-Rios, left, and Michael Cook, students at Batavia Middle School came out the big winners Thursday night at the school's annual Family Night when their names were drawn in a giveaway of two bicycles.
The girl's bike was donated by the school's Parent-Teacher Association and the boy's bike was donated by the Batavia Police Benevolent Association.
Also pictured, Maureen Notaro, 7th and 8th grade VP, and Brian Sutton, 5th and 6th grade VP.
It wasn't a lot of snow that fell overnight but it was wet and heavy and that made it hard to shovel, said Bob Pappalardo, above, who was clearing a driveway on Summit Street this morning.
Paul Lamendala, below, said the snow wasn't much easier to clear with a snow blower on the sidewalks outside of City Church/St. Anthony's on Liberty Street.
The snow is tapering off through early afternoon and Saturday and Sunday are expected to be partly cloudy.
The defense attorney for Jennifer Serrano, the 48-year-old woman accused of killing an 18-year-old Hinckley resident in a hit-and-run accident in Darien on Aug. 11, will be given a chance to challenge any statements obtained by police from her during the investigation that led to her arrest.
Judge Charles Zambito granted the motion today by Frank LoTempio for the hearing, known as Huntley Hearing, which is pretty standard in criminal cases.
LoTempio will be able to question the officers involved in obtaining statements from Serrano to determine whether or not her rights were violated and whether the statements were legally obtained.
Serrano was allegedly the driver of a vehicle that struck and killed Connor Lynskey after the Jason Aldean concert at Darien Lake. Lynskey and a group of people were walking on Sumner Road back to the Darien Lakes State Park, where they were camping, when he decided to run ahead to catch up with a friend. He was reported missing later that night. His body was found by a deputy the next day.
About a half-hour later, Serrano was stopped and charged with DWI but she did not mention the possible prior accident and was only connected to the accident the next day through police investigation.
At the DWI stop, where she reportedly almost hit a patrol vehicle, Serrano may have tried to talk the deputy into letter her go, according to police reports.
Serrano appeared in court shackled alongside LoTempio and co-counsel Jack Sanchez dressed in gray sweatpants and an orange sweatsuit hoodie jacket.
She is being held on $100,000 cash bail or $200,000 bond while her case heads toward a possible trial.
LoTempio also filed a supplemental motion challenging the search warrants used in the case. He had filed the motion after recently receiving copies of the warrants and the statements used to obtain them. District Attorney Lawrence Friedman will be given time to file a written response before Zambito rules on the motion.
A 24-year-old Oakfield resident involved in a serious injury accident in Corfu in April is facing up to six years in prison after pleading guilty this afternoon in County Court to aggravated vehicular assault.
Jacob J. Szumigala also agreed to plead guilty to DWI as a misdemeanor and aggravated unlicensed operation.
As part of the plea deal, Szumigala must also plead guilty in Town of Oakfield on a pending DWI case.
Szumigala is out of jail pending sentencing at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 15 and must abide by court instructions and the agreement or statutory enhancements could be added to his guilty plea, which would mandate a five- to 15-year prison term.
There is no minimum prison term and Szumigala could receive a probationary sentence if he abides by the terms of the plea agreement.
On April 18, Szumigala was driving a 2008 Hyundai Sonata with North Carolina plates on West Main Street Road through Corfu when his car rear-ended a Honda driven by James M. Hoskins, of Corfu. Hoskins' car then struck a westbound pickup truck. Hoskins was seriously injured in the accident.
In court today, Szumigala admitted that his BAC exceeded .18 percent at the time of the accident and that he was driving recklessly.
A month earlier, Szumigala was arrested by State Police for allegedly driving drunk on Lockport Road, Alabama. That case is still pending in the Town of Oakfield Court.
Photo: File photo of April 18 accident.
Press release:
Nate McMurray has issued the following statement after Congressional Republicans, apparently at the request of indicted Chris Collins, blocked McMurray from attending the New Member Orientation today.
"It is customary for candidates in close races to attend New Member Orientations so that they are best prepared to serve in the event that they win. After traveling to Washington to train alongside my peers, including others in contested races, I was informed that Rep. Gregg Harper, chairman of the Committee on House Administration, had personally denied my participation even after House Democratic leadership continued to advocate on my behalf.
"I am very disappointed by Congressional Republicans catering to Chris Collins’ demands, who is under indictment on 11 felony counts and spent his campaign lying and hiding from his constituents. I came to D.C. to equip myself to hit the ground running and better serve the people of Western New York once the results are official.
"It is shameful that Collins is continuing his efforts to diminish the will of the voters and call this race before all votes have been counted. As usual, he is actively undermining the future of this district and our country. I am grateful to Democrats from the House Administration Committee for having me at the Democratic events during the orientation and offering to come to the district to provide me and my team with all of the training, support and information we will need when we win.”
Josh Fullmer sent in this picture he took yesterday afternoon of a Chinook helicopter landing at the Genesee County Airport.
Downtown Batavia's future is not the mall; it's the open areas south of Main Street, suggests Tim Tielman, a preservationist and urban planner with a track record of success in Buffalo.
Jackson Street, Jackson Square, the south side of Main Street, are where we can find what's left of Batavia's vitality, Tielman said, in a recent interview with The Batavian. The mall, he said, is the last place Batavia should invest tax dollars.
"It's a continuing drag on Batavians, their creativity, their dynamism, their energy," Tielman said. "It's this energy sucking death star in the middle of the city, and you shouldn't spend any money making it a better death star."
We interviewed Tielman in advance of his talk this Wednesday night at 7 o'clock at GO ART! for The Landmark Society of Genesee County's annual meeting.
The topic: How Batavia gets its mojo back.
Tielman's basic thesis is that Batavia was at its apex just after the end of the 19th century when the village, soon to become a city, had a robust, densely populated urban center with hundreds of businesses.
If that downtown, which was destroyed by urban renewal, still existed Tielman said, people from Rochester and Buffalo as well as the rest of the GLOW region would flock to Batavia every week for the small city experience.
Niagara on the Lake still has it. Batavia lost it. But, with effort, Batavia can get it back, but it will literally be a ground-up process, not a top-down, consultant-driven, developer-driven effort. Batavians have to do it for themselves. But Batavians are already pointing the way if city leaders will listen.
"There's obviously an innate human need for want of a better term, congenial spaces, in towns, cities, and villages, and even in times where they've been destroyed in war or urban renewal, people find them or build them," Tielman said. "What we see in Batavia is people have happened upon Jackson Square because it's a leftover thing that no one thought about and wasn't destroyed.
"The qualities of the thing as a physical space make it a very interesting case. You enter through a narrow passageway, and suddenly, totally unexpectedly, you come to a larger space, and even though it obviously wasn't designed with gathering in mind it has everything people want as a place to gather."
Jackson Square, Jackson Street, combined with the local businesses that still populate the business district on the south side of Main Street are strengths to build on, Tielman said. Batavia can leverage the density already found there and add to it.
But Tielman isn't an advocate of trying to lure developers with tax dollars to build big projects. He believes, primarily, in a more grassroots approach.
The "death star," he said, and continuing efforts to deal with it, are part of the "urban renewal industrial complex," as he put it, and that failed approach should be avoided.
"The solutions (of urban renewal) are all the same," Tielman said. "It's like, 'let's put out an RFP, let's get some state money instead of saying', 'well, what do the Batavians need? What are they thirsty for? What are they dying for?' What you'll find is that Batavians are like every other group of homo sapiens on the face of the Earth. If they had their druthers, they'd want something within walking distance.
"They'd want to meet friends. They'd want to do stuff close at hand and in a way that they're not killed by vehicles careening down streets at 30 or 40 miles an hour. They want their kids to be safe. They don't want to worry about them being struck by a tractor-trailer when they're riding their bikes to the candy store."
That means, of course, narrowing Ellicott Street through Downtown, perhaps adding diagonal parking to Main Street, moving auto parking from out of the center of the city, particularly in the triangle between Jackson, Main and Ellicott, which Tielman sees as the most promising area of downtown to increase density first.
Batavians will need to decide for themselves what to do, but what he suggests is that the city makes it possible for the parking lot between Jackson and Court become one big mini-city, filled with tents and temporary structures and no parking.
"The rents for a temporary store or a tent or a stand or a hotdog cart should be low enough to allow a huge segment of the population (of Batavia) to experiment," Tielman said.
Low rents remove one of the biggest impediments to people starting a business and open up the experimental possibilities so that Batavians decide for themselves what they want downtown.
"This gives Batavia the best chance to see, whether for a very low investment on a provisional basis, (if) this will work," Tielman said. "It's not sitting back for 10 years trying to concoct a real estate investment scheme based on some RFP to lure developers and give them handouts at tremendous public risk. The idea is lower the risk and do things the way successful places have done it for millennia."
That's how it worked for Canalside, one of the projects, besides Larkin Square, Tielman has helped get started in Buffalo. With Canalside, development started with tents and temporary vendors. Now the area is revitalized, and permanent structures are being erected. It's a Buffalo success story.
The idea of starting new business and community centers with tents and temporary structures is something Tielman suggested for Batavia's future when he spoke to the Landmark Society in 2013. He suggested then the major obstacle standing in the way of Batavia's economic vitality wasn't the mall, it is massive amounts of asphalt for parking -- economically unproductive and mostly unused.
While he likes the Ellicott Street project, primarily because of the 55 apartments being added to Downtown's housing stock but also because of the involvement of Sam Savarino who has been part of successful restoration projects in Buffalo, Tielman thinks the project needs to have "connective tissue" with everything on the north side of Ellicott Street.
That means narrowing Ellicott, adding wider, more pedestrian-friendly sidewalks, and slowing down truck traffic flowing through Downtown.
Any such plan would involve the state Department of Transportation but that, he said, is just a matter of the city being willing to stand up to the DOT and paying for its own maintenance of that stretch of Route 63.
"If the Batavia's really serious about fixing (Route 63), it should do it on its own dime," Tielman said.
As part of Tielman's suggestion to concentrate growth strategies on the south side of Main Street, Tielman agrees that the farmer's market, currently at Alva and Bank, should be moved to Jackson Street.
The current location is too far from the existing local businesses, so the tendency is for people to drive to Alva, park, shop and leave. The traffic being drawn downtown isn't staying downtown.
Tielman talked about contiguity, the quality of commercial spaces adjoining each other, being necessary for convenience of users and survival of businesses.
"Connective tissue," a phrase used several times by Tielman, is critical to city centers.
"Contiguity is the lifeblood of settlements of towns and of cities," Tielman said. "If left to their own devices, places will develop like this -- and you'll see this up to World War II -- whether they were European cities, Asian cities or American cities.
"Look at a (1918) map of Batavia, contiguity was everything," Tielman added. "In a town of 18,000 people you had four-story buildings. It's crazy, you would think, but (it was built up that way) because (of) the distance from the train station to Main Street to the courthouse. That's where you wanted to be. Everyone's walking around."
People are social animals -- Tielman made this point several times -- and Batavians, if given a chance, will support a city center with more density, Tielman said because that's human nature. What exactly that looks like, that's up to Batavians, but creating that environment will give residents a stronger sense of community, more personal connections, and shared life experience. That will foster the community's creativity and vitality, which is better than just accepting decline.
"I mean, if you look at the great John Gardner," his formative years are "when Batavia was still a place where a young John Gardner could walk up the street, buy comic books, get into trouble over there by the railroad tracks, buy something for his mother on the way home, blah, blah, blah. He could have quite a day in town and encounter characters of different stripes that can actually (be worked) into pretty rich novels of American life. You wonder whether Batavia could produce a John Gardner today."
Tim Tielman has a lot more to say about Batavia getting its mojo back (this is condensed from an hour-long conversation). Go to GO ART! at 7 p.m. Wednesday to hear more about it, ask questions, even challenge his ideas.
Top: Use the slider on the map to compare Batavia of 1938 with Batavia of 2016.
A hunter has apparently called into emergency dispatch and reported that he's lost in the swamp near Sour Springs Road, Alabama.
There's no report of the hunter being in distress.
Deputies are responding to assist.
Press release:
Today we observe Veterans Day, a day when we honor the sacrifices of the men and women of our armed services who have given so much to defend our democracy, keep our nation free and make our world a safer place for everyone.
It is a day worthy of discussing our elections and the importance of counting every vote, especially those of our service members who voted absentee.
As of now, several counties have begun the official canvass of the voting machines, but the vast majority remain uncounted. Tuesday is the deadline for absentee ballots to arrive, and most of the absentee ballots will be counted on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.
Beyond the official canvass and counting of absentee ballots, there are a number of affidavit ballots that may or may not be valid. All of these will be duly considered in the coming days until the Boards of Elections are ready to provide final official results.
All of the Boards remain enjoined by Court Order from finalizing the results until all ballots are counted. This is a slow process, but a necessary one.
There are multiple races across the state facing similar delays in determining the outcome, some with Democrats leading in the unofficial results, some with Republicans leading. I believe that in all of these, every vote must be counted. In those races, as in ours, the election isn’t over until all the ballots are counted.
NOTE: McMurray also shared this on Twitter this afternoon: "TOMORROW: As the count goes on, I’m headed to DC! It’s new member orientation and some friendly members of Congress invited me down."
A two-vehicle accident is reported in the area of 5312 Cole Road, Byron.
One person reportedly has minor injuries.
Both vehicles are off the road.
Byron and South Byron dispatched.
From our News Partner 13WHAM
George Botts, Cecelia Cochran, Errol Crittenden, Leo Fiorito, Thomas Illes, Edward Kaine, Percy Luttrell, Patrick Molyneaux, Edgar Murrell, George Ripton, Alvin Smith and John Wilder.
Twelve Le Royans who went to war in the Great War, the War to End All Wars, and who didn't return home.
Today they were honored on the 100th Anniversary of Armistice Day. The day when a treaty calling for the end of hostilities in Europe on the 11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour 1918 went into effect.
A new memorial to Le Roy's 12 who died as a result of the war was dedicated at Trigon Park with prayers, poems, a song, a reading the names of the 12 names, a 21-gun salute, and the playing of taps.
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