A car has driven into Tim Horton's on Main Road at Alleghany Road in Pembroke and injuries are reported.
A first responder reports "pretty good" damage to the building, as well.
Pembroke fire, Indian Falls, and Mercy EMS dispatched.
UPDATE 11:28 a.m.: A medic on scene reports no injuries. Mercy EMS can continue non-emergency.
Jeffery David Torrey, 46, of McKenzie Street, Bergen, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Torrey is accused of attempting to use a hole punch to pierce the ear of a child at a residence on Ross Street, Batavia, at 7:30 p.m. July 5.
Kelvin B. Murphy, 45, of Batavia, is charged with DWI. Murphy was stopped at 2:18 a.m. Sunday on Route 98 in Batavia by State Police. He allegedly failed a field sobriety test and recorded a .10 BAC.
Temple Aubrielle Jacobs, 38, of Michigan Avenue, Buffalo, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, driving without an inspection certificate, failure to keep right, and unsafe tires. Jacobs was stopped at 5:40 a.m. Sunday on Route 20, Bethany, by Deputy Eric Andre.
Shawn Joseph Scheg, 50, of Warboys Road, Byron, is charged with driving while ability impaired, aggravated unlicensed operation, failure to signal, misuse of dealer plate, no interlock device. Scheg was stopped at 1:55 a.m. Wednesday on Route 33, Stafford, by Deputy James Stack.
Kevin Watson, 58, of West Main Street, Batavia, was arrested on a warrant for petit larceny. Watson was turned over to Batavia PD after being released by the Monroe County Jail on an unrelated charged. He was jailed on $1,000 bail.
Dina Mercado, 37, of Old Falls Boulevard, North Tonawanda, was arrested on a warrant for alleged failure to appear on traffic tickets from January 2017. She was jailed on $500 bail.
Jason R. Duffina, 41, of Porter Avenue, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Duffina is accused of shoplifting at Tops Friendly Market.
Kevin Wayne Howard, 18, of Bank Street, Batavia, is charged with DWAI, unsafe tires, unlicensed operator, and failure to obey traffic control device. Howard was stopped at 8:20 a.m. Thursday on Main Street, Batavia, by Sgt. Daniel Coffey.
John Joseph Caez-Gonzalez, 31, no permanent address, is charged with criminal contempt, 1st, aggravated family offense, and criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th. Caez-Gonzalez is accused of violating a stay away order. At the time of his arrest, he was allegedly found in possession of heroin. He was jailed without bail.
Anthony K. Wolcott, 32, of Willow Street, Batavia, was arrested on a warrant for alleged failure to appear on a traffic charge.
James Haynes, 31, of Taylor Terrace, Chester, Pa., was arrested on two warrants after being extradited from Pennsylvania. The underlying charges of the warrants were not released. He was ordered held without bail.
Cynthia D. Gause, 47, of Eaton Street, Buffalo, is charged with DWI. Grause was arrested at a location on Bank Street after police received a complaint about an employee arriving at work intoxicated.
Joseph D. Berry, 32, of Bank Street, Batavia, is charged with assault, 3rd. Berry is accused of assaulting an employee of a business on West Main Street, Batavia, at 4:04 p.m. Sunday.
An adult male has been run over by a vehicle in a driveway at a residence on Drake Road, Oakfield.
Unknown injuries.
Oakfield fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.
UPDATE 10:40 a.m.: The door of the vehicle was open and the patient was struck only by the door and he suffered some cuts on his stomach. Mercy EMS is proceeding non-emergency. The patient will be transported to a hospital for evaluation.
A travel-trailer rollover accident is reported on the Thruway in the area of mile marker 376.8 in the westbound lane in Le Roy.
No injuries reported but both lanes are blocked.
Le Roy fire and Le Roy ambulance responding.
Photos by Alex Feig, WBTA.
A pickup truck pulling a fifth-wheel trailer is on fire, fully involved, at Route 77 and Route 5, Pembroke.
The fire is moving toward the trailer, which has a full propane tank on the front of the trailer. There are also power lines overhead.
Pembroke fire and Indian Falls fire responding.
UPDATE 12:12 p.m.: Fire is knocked down. Starting overhaul. Route 5 is closed in both directions.
A one-car accident with unknown injuries is reported on Perry Road at Rodgers Road, Pavilion.
Pavilion fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.
It wasn't all fun and games at Beertavia on Saturday afternoon. There was also the serious business of sampling beers from more than two dozen brewers from Batavia, Buffalo, Rochester, the Southern Tier, the Finger Lakes and beyond.
Four years ago, there were only three brewers participating and 300 people in attendance. This year, at least 700 people attended.
"It’s only going to get bigger and bigger every year," said Cory Wolcott, who has been one of the organizers of the event since its inception. "People love it. We run it well. People are happy, so it will grow."
Four years ago, there were no breweries in Batavia and how we have Eli Fish Brewing Company, reviving a local brand that died out 100 years ago. Eli Fish was a lead sponsor of this year's Beertavia.
This is the first year that VIP tickets sold out in advance.
Wolcott said one reason people love Beertavia is it's easy to try so many different craft beers.
"They like the ability to get to a brewery and try their beer pretty effortlessly," Wolcott said. "There are a lot of bigger events but this is like a medium event so you can still try just about everybody who is here without waiting too long or feel like you’re elbow-to-elbow with somebody. It’s so relaxed but still big enough to enjoy a lot of different breweries."
Previously: Photos: BID's first Beertavia
Dick McClurg was excited to see the Thomas Rocket Car return to his shop on West Main Street Road, Batavia, today, after more than five months under the care of Josh Quick in Caledonia.
Quick fabricated all of the sheet metal parts, such as replacing a fender and the floorboard, that is needed to help restore the concept car designed by Charles Thomas and built by Thomas and Norm Richardson in Batavia in 1938.
Once the car is fully restored it will be donated to the City of Batavia.
Quick put in 320 hours of work on the car and McClurg said he went above and beyond what he was asked to do.
"You haven't left any work for me," McClurg joked.
McClurg said what Quick did confirms there is a God because Quick is an angel, adding, "the ugliest angel I've ever seen, but an angel."
Next for McClurg, filling and sanding parts of the body that aren't yet smooth. There's still work to do on the trunk and hood, and of course it needs to be primed and painted and the interior restored.
There's still a lot of work to do.
Luke Rindell is congratulated by Deputy Matthew Butler, middle, and Sheriff William Sheron during the graduation Friday of the first class to complete the new Teen Academy in law enforcement presented by the Sheriff's Office at Byron-Bergen High School.
Rindell was the only student in the 14-member class to score 100 on his final exam.
Below, a press release from the Genesee County Sheriff's Office about the academy:
“I am pleased to announce that the First Teen Academy was an extreme success," Sheriff William Sheron said. "The students were provided with the opportunity to experience the various roles of law enforcement in our community, and they eagerly embraced all aspects of the curriculum.
"I want to thank the students for their hard work and dedication and to all those that provided instruction throughout this weeklong program. A special thank you to the Academy Director, Deputy Matthew R. Butler, and deputies Chad P. Cummings and Deborah L. Snyder for their assistance and efforts in coordinating such a unique, one-of-a-kind experience for the students.
"We look forward to hosting the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office Teen Academy on an annual basis for students throughout Genesee County."
The following participants are graduates of the First Annual Genesee County Sheriff’s Office Teen Academy:
- Class captains -- Brandon Kowalski, Devon Reigle and Morgan Rhodes;
- Zachary Babcock;
- Cameron Buck;
- Shaina Dejesus;
- Bailey Faucett;
- Ethan Pocock;
- Luke Rindell;
- Noah Toal;
- Shawn Turner;
- Gianni Vallese;
- Alessandra Wolf;
- Jayson Yauchzee.
Previously: There's no slack in training for first group of students going through law enforcement Teen Academy
Press release:
Grandma’s Luv’n Care is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization located in Batavia. The facility is a childcare and developmental center established in 2005 with the mission to help children grow physically, socially and emotionally in a loving environment. The daycare center currently employs 21 staff and provides care for 59 children.
Managing a not-for-profit daycare in today’s economy has become increasingly challenging. Minimum wages have risen each year for the last two years and further minimum wage increases are planned at the end of this year, and each year thereafter through at least 2020. Other operating costs have also risen with typical inflation. Appropriately, the childcare industry is also highly regulated and staffing ratios must be maintained in order to provide optimal care to the children.
The Board and management team of Grandma’s Luv’n Care have taken numerous steps over the past two years to manage the financial pressures of operating the daycare. However, when all factors are combined, the economics of keeping the center open are no longer viable. The Board of Directors has made the difficult decision to close the facility on Aug. 31st.
The Board highly values its staff and the children and families it has served for many years and felt it was imperative they provide adequate notice of the closure. As such, notification of the closure was provided this week to allow families time to seek care for their children and staff time to seek other employment.
Jim Goff never knew. For decades the Stumblin' Inn in Elba was a haven for local musicians. He knew he was having fun. He didn't know what it meant to the musicians he nurtured and the community that followed them.
Now he knows.
A fire destroyed the storied watering hole the second Sunday of the July, despite a valiant effort by the Elba Volunteer Fire Department and their mutual aid companies to save the 143-year-old building. Jim and his brother Steve, or Stork to everybody who knew him, were asleep upstairs when the alarm went out. They were alerted in time to make a safe escape.
They found themselves on the sidewalks of their small village surrounded by friends and neighbors sharing their tears.
"I never knew until this happened how much it meant to the community," Goff said shortly after arriving Thursday at an open mic night in a park across the street, next to the Elba Fire Hall.
More than 150 local musicians and music fans had gathered for what is likely the last open mic night for the Stumblin' Inn, a Thursday night tradition for years.
"Musicians have always been my people," Goff said. "That’s who I relate to, that’s who I feel comfortable around. We started an open mic in the 1980s and did it off and on. Musicians just liked to hang out there. It felt like home to everyone. We had a lot of bands who called that place home."
Standing next to Goff was local musician Doug Barnard. He said Barnard and his band Southbound were responsible for helping Goff recognize the value of local bands to his bar business.
"They said 'Give us a chance,' " Goff said. " 'We guarantee we'll pack this place.' They told me that about three times so I gave them a chance. They packed the place for five years. I realized maybe this local band thing is a pretty cool thing to embrace."
It all worked, Goff said, because he and his brother kept their priorities straight.
"It’s all about having fun," Goff said. "If you’re having fun, you’re going to make money. Money and fun, it all goes together."
As for the future, that's still a blank slate.
"All the experts say you don’t make big decisions right away," Goff said. "You let things sink in. There’s certainly some pressure to rebuild. Age is definitely a factor. We honestly don’t know. I would say we’re leaning toward probably not, but who knows? I’m not going to say no because I don’t know. I honestly don’t know."
Top photo: Goff as he arrived at Thursday's open mic night, hugging local musician Dylan Desmit, who helped organize the fundraiser for the Goffs with co-host Paul Draper.
Those who made it a habit to read arrest reports locally have come across the name Raymond Lee Morgan a few times over the years but that public profile paints an unfair picture of the man, his friends and family said during a vigil in his honor yesterday outside 111 Liberty St., where he was murdered on Tuesday.
The 47-year-old had a big, loving heart, said his sister, Natalie Urbanski (top photo).
"He had seven grandkids," Urbanski said. "He had sisters. He had family. He’s always there, no matter what. You needed something he would be there to help you and it seems like no one wants to hear that."
The vigil was, as Victor Thomas put it, a celebration of Ray Morgan's life, but Thomas and others also made pleas for anybody who knows anything to help the police solve the murder case, and for Batavia to come together.
"He would want us to come together and spread the same love that he spread," Thomas said.
With arms wide open he said, "I want to spread love today because that is what Ray did and that is who he was. He didn’t deserve to go out like this. Nobody does. So at the end of the day, if anybody knows anything they need to say something because my man didn’t deserve this."
Then he looked to the sky and addressed Morgan, "I know you're up there and I know you're looking down on this. Something’s got to give, bra. This stuff in Batavia has got to stop. This isn’t what it was. We’ve got to get back to what it was."
Natalie Urbanski said Morgan was "one of a kind."
"He was a sweet loving man who did not need to go out the way he did," she said.
She also made a plea for anybody with information to come forward and help the police solve Morgan's murder.
"His daughters, his grandkids, his loved ones, his aunt, his mother, need some type of closure," Urbanski said. "Let’s not let this be a cold case. Let this be solved immediately."
And she included a plea for Batavia come together.
"Batavia you need to come back as one, as we were before," she said. "All of this violence and nonsense, senseless killings is not who were are. We are not the city. We are Batavia."
Dionne Thomas also recalled Morgan's kind, loving ways.
"I remember the Christmas he told the kids he was going to kidnap Santa Claus," Thomas said. "The kids were really scared that Uncle Ray Ray was going to kidnap Santa Claus. He said if he didn’t leave no presents on Hall Street there wasn’t going to be no Christmas. The kids woke up on Christmas, Santa visited Hall Street. Uncle Ray Ray made sure Santa was on Hall Street. That’s who he was for us all."
People know he had problems in his past, Thomas said, but his murder was just senseless.
"No matter what was done in the past doesn’t justify what was done to him," Thomas said. "No one deserves that, especially not Ray. We all know that."
Funeral arrangments have been made for Morgan. Calling hours will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at H.E. Turner, 403 E. Main St., Batavia, with a funeral service at 1 p.m. (Full Obituary)
Previously:
Victor Thomas
Matt Green, pouring a 40 in honor of Ray Morgan.
Nicole Griffen
Victor Thomas with Jeff Hull and Lamar Randall.
Ray Morgan with his seven grandchildren (photo used with permission of his daughters).
There will be drink specials at the tavern formerly known as Billy Goats, 345 W. Main St., Batavia, on Tuesday because the bar won't open again on Wednesday, or Thursday, or Friday, any other day after that unless some entrepreneur wants to sign a lease and open a new nightspot.
Owner John Spyropoulos wants to eliminate his existing inventory of booze because he's decided his family is more important than trying to run two demanding businesses by himself.
His father, Steve Spyropoulos, died May 11, at age 66. John said Steve wasn't just his father. He was his best friend and his business partner.
"There's a lot of ground to cover and it's physically straining on me," Spyropoulos said during a conversation at Settler's Family Restaurant. "There are late nights there, early morning here. I have a family at home. I have two boys who are 14 and I've got a daughter. She's 5. You know something's got to give sooner or later; I prefer it not to be with my family."
Steve Spryopoulos arrived in the United States at age 19 with just the suitcase in his hand. He made his way to Batavia, started a family, and built two successful businesses. John is proud of his father's legacy and knows how much he loved running the bar, but the two businesses are too taxing and require too many incompatible hours to be managed by one person.
Settler's is the primary family business and the one Spryopoulos really wants to run. If he couldn't do both, closing the bar made the most sense.
"It needs to be done," Spryopoulos. "You know I feel bad for the employees. We had good help over there, three employees, good employees. They've been there for a long time and I feel bad for them but they understand."
While most people still know the bar as Billy Goats, Steve and John officially changed the name about a year ago to The Goht. Now, with the business being shut down, Spryopoulos is open to talking with anybody with the wherewithal to run a bar business about leasing the building. Or he will lease it for office space. The one thing he's not going to do, he said, is sell the property. He'll put it to some use if he can't lease it.
When Spryopoulos broke the news that The Goht would be closing, one bartender today told him he made a decision his father would encourage.
"She said to me that my dad's biggest concern for me was that I would not spend enough time with my family," Spryopoulos said. "She told me, 'your father always worried about you and your family. He wanted to make sure you spent enough time with your family.' So, you know, when a bartender tells me that, that means something."
It's still a sad decision, Spryopoulos said, because he also knows the bar meant a lot to his father and just walking into the place reminds him of his dad.
"My dad touched a lot of lives over there," Spryopoulos said. "He made a lot of friends. The imprint he left on people is incredible. It says a lot."
When you run your own business there are no off hours. Running two of them is especially difficult; and bars and restaurants come with many headaches and worries you never escape. Spryopoulos said he's had no time to really come to grips with the loss of his father
"I haven't even had a chance to cope with my father's death since he passed away May 11," he said. "You get through the funeral. You get through everything. Then it's right back to work. There's no time coping, no time for myself and for my family."
Spryopoulos picked Tuesday to close down because that's the final day of the current liquor license and he decided not to renew it.
"I don't want people to think, 'oh he couldn't handle it on his own,' " Spryopoulos said. "Or saying my dad passed away and now I'm giving up. I'm not giving up. You just have to pick your battles. I'm working here six, seven days a week, from seven or eight in the morning to five or six in the evening. I've got to worry about over there and I've got my wife and kids at home. That's only going to last so long. Something has got to give."
The Goht will be open Tuesday from 4 to 11 p.m. with DJ Kevin providing entertainment. There will be "HUGE" drink specials Spryopoulos said.
A person of interest in the murder of Raymond Lee Morgan is in custody on an unrelated matter, Batavia PD announced this morning.
The police are not releasing the name of the person or a description of the person because of "the very active nature of the investigation."
The police are not releasing further information about the case at this time, the department said in a statement.
Morgan was found badly beaten in his room at 111 Liberty St., Batavia, at 11:15 p.m., Tuesday after police received a report of a disturbance. Mercy medics responded but Morgan, 47, who had two daughters and seven grandchildren, died at the scene.
According to family members, a person was seen fleeing through a second-story window and police officers, including a K-9, conducted a search of the area that night.
The day after the murder, two men living at 111 Liberty were taken into custody on alleged parole violations.
Funeral arrangments have been made for Morgan. Calling hours will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at H.E. Turner, 403 E. Main St., Batavia, with a funeral service at 1 p.m. (Full Obituary)
Previously:
The Holland Land Office Museum hosted its annual penny carnival Thursday for children participating in the History Heroes summer program.
Below is a photo submitted by Tiff Plimpton of Carson Colantonio and Ben Landers.
Hundreds of children turned out Thursday for a safety carnival at the Falleti Ice Arena sponsored by the combined Genesee County and Batavia youth bureaus. There were games, contests, and prizes along with safety lessons.
Batavia Downs started a trend in harness racing in New York in 1989 by creating a passing lane, which seemed like the right move at the time to give horses behind the leader a better chance to move into position.
But times change. Over the years, the passing lane came to give favorites an advantage so after Yonkers removed its passing lane and races suddenly became more competitive, Batavia Downs, for the 2018 season, decided the passing lane was, indeed, passé.
"Taking out the passing lane affects the race because there’s more movement in the race," said Todd Haight, GM of live racing for Batavia Downs. "Instead of horses staying at the rail and closing up the inside and never moving, the passing lane being gone, they have to move to the outside at some point, so you’re seeing more flow."
That makes for more exciting racing, Height said.
"You heard the track announcer few times tonight say three in, four out," Haight said. "Those are things he never said because very few horses ever left the rail because they were just lined up along the inside. Now they can’t do that."
Yonkers was the first track in New York to remove the passing lane and it's reduced the times the favorite wins the race by 9 percent.
That reduction increases the odds for race fans to place money-winning wagers.
A lot has changed at Batavia Downs, Haight said, since he first came to the track in the 1970s. Back then, Batavia Downs was just harness racing. There are now multiple restaurants, the sports bar Rush 34, video terminal gaming, and a hotel.
"This is a destination now," Haight said. "We are now a designation and you can see by the size of our crowd tonight on a Wednesday, I can guarantee you there were more people in our clubhouse tonight than in any track in the country. I can guarantee that. People are responding and that’s why we’re doing so well right now."
More changes are planned, including opening up 34 Rush to the track side of the main building.
The 11th race Wednesday night also had a touch of nostalgia. By the time the 11th race rolled around, the regular starters truck had developed a mechanical issue, so the track put into service the sedan it used in the 1980s. It was the same sedan that paced the legendary harness racing horse Niatross, with trainer and driver Clint Galbraith.
"Many people think to this day, Niatross is the greatest harness horse of all time," Haight said. "Niatross set world record after world record."
Top photo: Step Beyond, winner of the 11th race on Wednesday. All photos are from the 11th race.
Video of Niatross racing at Batavia Downs, Sept. 6, 1980.
An Oakfield woman was seriously injured late Thursday night on Route 5 in Pembroke when her Ford sedan collided with a semi-truck hauling Perry's Ice Cream.
Megan King was transported to ECMC by Mercy Flight following a lengthy extrication from her white 2015 Ford Fusion.
The cause of the accident is still under investigation.
King's Fusion was eastbound and the tractor-trailer, driven by Robin L. Alexander, of Buffalo, was westbound. Physical evidence at the scene indicates the truck and car collided in the eastbound lane.
Alexander reportedly told deputies he swerved into the eastbound lane in an attempt to avoid a crash. The force of the collision forced King's car backward and Alexander's truck traveled off the south shoulder and up an embankment.
Alcohol does not appear to be a factor, according to the Sheriff's Office.
The accident was reported at 9:40 p.m. in the area of 2040 Main Road.
Members of the Crash Management Team responded to the accident scene. The accident investigation is being handled by Chief Deputy Joseph Graff, Sgt. Andrew Hale, Investigator Chad Minuto, Deputy Travis DeMuth, Deputy Eric Meyer, and Deputy Joshua Brabon. Assisting at the scene were volunteer fire departments from East Pembroke, Pembroke, Alabama, Indian Falls, Oakfield, and the Town of Batavia, along with Mercy EMS and the NYS Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit.
An ambulance is requested to the New York State Police Barracks on West Saile Drive, Batavia, to evaluate a 15-year-old who jumped off a train.
The youth reportedly suffered minor injuries.
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