We got about 20 minutes of heavy, blowing snow in Downtown Batavia this afternoon. There is no visible accumulation, but it looked like a good amount blowing through the sky. The forecast for the rest of the day is no more than 20-percent chance of precipitation. It should be sunny tomorrow.
Cody Alan Bush, 26, of Oak Orchard Road, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Bush is accused of shoplifting $56.50 worth of merchandise from Walmart.
We don't get enough fog in Batavia. Fog creates great opportunities for light and shadow and atmosphere, which photographers love. After leaving Genesee Community College this evening, I decided I really need to take some time to have some fun with fog.
Besides the GCC picture above, we have a picture of Masse Gateway and the Upton Monument.
Jim and Tracy Rodemeyer remember their son's smile.
"He was developing such a sarcastic nature," said Tracy when asked about a memory of their 14-year-old son who took his own life after prolonged bullying from classmates. "He was becoming so funny. His smile. If we could just see his smile one more time."
The Rodemeyers were at Genesee Community College on Tuesday night to take part in a panel discussion about bullying.
The forum was sponsored by the Gay/Straight Alliance and The Christian Students Alliance.
"Bullying hurts everyone," said Candice Faulring, the faculty member who helped organize the event (pictured below). "The GSA and the CSU may disagree on a lot, but we realize that some issues are much bigger than our individual points of view and require that we take action and find solutions together."
Prior to the event, students were asked to write on pieces of paper hateful things that have been said to them and the answers ranged from "You're a stupid dyke." to "Only idiots believe in God."
It's the same sort of torture Jamey Rodemeyer faced in the months and years leading up to his suicide and it's the kind of cruelty that's got to stop, even if it takes tougher laws to punish bullies, the Rodemeyers said.
They're planning on approaching their Albany representatives to discuss tougher anti-bullying and harassment laws. But meanwhile, they said, everybody has a role in helping to stop bullying, from parents who need to help their children with self-esteem to the police who investigate the crimes.
"You've got to be a pain (if you're a parent)," said Jim Rodemeyer. "Complain. Don't let it go. Don't pass it off. You've got to complain and make a fuss. If you don't, you might wind up in our situation."
"There's got to be a stop to this," Tracy added. "These kids need to realize that they have a right to be on this planet as much as the person next to them, even if they're different, because everybody is different in their own way."
As part of the summer program at the Holland Land Office Museum, students who were members of the program participated in making a quilt. Each student drew a picture of their favorite item in the museum and then the picture was scanned into a computer and printed on a piece of cloth. The Museum Quilt Guild then sewed the pieces together.
The quilt was presented to the museum today and will be placed on display.
Pictured are some members of the guild (not all guild members were present, and not all pictured participated in the quilt's creation). In the picture are, from left, Cheryl Doody, Jeff Donahue (executive director of HLOM), Jean Butzer, Ethyl Sojda, Dodie Morrison, Ann Gouinlock, Christine Hansen and Anne Marie Starowitz.
Starowitz was leader of the summer program and said the quilt was the highlight project of the summer.
A car has reportedly been T-boned at the intersection of Black Street Road and South Street Road, Pavilion.
Injuries are reported.
Pavilion Fire Department and Mercy EMS responding.
With the planned yogurt plants for Alpina and PepsiCo in Batavia, there's nothing but opportunity ahead for regional dairy farmers, according to Kim Pickard-Dudley, general manager of the membership division of Upstate Niagara Cooperative.
More yogurt means more milk and farmers are ready to meet the demand, Pickard-Dudley said.
"We're obviously excited for this opportunity for farmers," Pickard-Dudley said.
Upstate built its own yogurt plant in West Seneca in 2006 and a year ago purchased a 100-year-old plant in Watertown.
Alpina and PepsiCo have both broken ground on sites in the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park, though PepsiCo has yet to reach a purchase agreement with the GCEDC (negotiations are, we hear, currently going on at the Albany level) for the 81-acre parcel.
Regional farmers will be able to adjust capacity to meet all the demand for milk to make yogurt, Pickard-Dudley said.
Whether that milk comes through Upstate or yogurt manufacturers go directly to farmers is unknown at this time, Pickard-Dudley.
"Farmers are always up for a challenge for meeting new demands on supply," Pickard-Dudley said.
Pickard-Dudley was in Batavia at the O-AT-KA offices on Monday to meet with Rep. Kathy Hochul, who discussed with Upstate representatives her bill to create a guest worker program to assist New York's agricultural industry.
Batavia PD is looking for the operator of this red pickup truck. The truck was allegedly involved in a hit-and-run property damage accident on Pearl Street. No further details were provided. Anyone with information should contact Officer Officer James DeFreze (email address removed as no longer relevant).
UPDATE 9:44 p.m.: Within an hour of this post going up, Officer DeFreze received information that helped him get in contact with the alleged operator. No further information available at this time. Officer DeFreze thanks the readers of The Batavian who responded for their assistance.
A female driver was transported to UMMC with a complaint of chest pain after this fender-bender on West Main Street at Porter Avenue shortly after 11 a.m. Police worked quickly to clear the scene, but traffic was tied up for about 15 minutes.
James E. Murray, 23, of 1 Cone St., Batavia, is charged with two counts of criminal contempt, 2nd, unlawful imprisonment, 1st, strangulation, 2nd, and endangering the welfare of a child. Murray was arrested following the investigation into a domestic incident reported at 4:45 a.m., Monday. Murray was not on scene when police arrived at the alleged incident location. He turned himself in at Batavia PD headquarters at 2 p.m., Monday. He was jailed on $5,000 bail.
Lawrence D. Williams, 51, of 148 Hutchins St., Batavia, is charged with falsely reporting an incident. Williams is accused of calling the dispatch center at 10:46 p.m., Monday, and reporting a "gunfight" at a city address. Williams allegedly knew the information was false. Williams was jailed on $1,500 bail.
Sean P. Case, 34, of 50 S. Main St., Batavia, is charged with disorderly conduct. Case was arrested following a report at 11:38 p.m., Monday, of a person on South Main Street near the Oak Street Extension yelling obscenities. Case was identified by witnesses.
Roger Lee Ballard, 18, of Liberty Street, Castile, and a 16-year-old of Route 362, Bliss, are charged with petit larceny. Ballard and the youth are accused of going into Kmart and taking several pieces of an Xbox gaming system out of their packages and concealing them in their pants and walking out of the store without paying for the items.
Aaron M. Zastrocky, 27, of 6870 Byron Holley Road, Byron, is charged with falsely reporting an incident, 3rd, and making a punishable false written statement. Zastrocky is accused of falsely reporting a vehicle stolen. Zastrocky allegedly signed a written statement reporting the vehicle stolen. Allegedly, the statement was false.
Daniel L. Russell, 36, of 152 S. Main St., Batavia, is charged with DWI and driving with a BAC of .18 or greater. Russell was stopped at 2:09 a.m., Sunday, on West Main Street, Batavia, by Officer Marc Lawrence.
Rachel A. Fromwiller, 27, of 164 Main St., upper, Akron, is charged with throwing refuse on a public highway (littering), DWI and refusal to take a breath test. Fromwiller was arrested after Officer Kevin DeFelice received a complaint of a woman in a car at Wilson Farms on Pearl Street who may need assistance. Following an investigation, Officer DeFelice made the arrest.
Darien, Bethany and Alexander fire departments are responding to a commerical structure fire at 40 Favor St., Village of Attica.
The business is identified as Hillcrest Coating Facility.
UPDATE 10:45 p.m.: Darien, Bethany and Alexander put back in service per Wyoming County dispatch.
A Central Avenue resident who admitted last month to attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance, 3rd -- a drug-dealing charge -- will spend four years in state prison, Judge Robert C. Noonan ruled today.
Derek Leach, 31, of 29 Central Ave., Batavia, was arrested in March following a parole check of his residence.
When law enforcement searched the apartment, investigators reportedly found numerous bags of cocaine.
Leach was on parole at the time of his arrest and he entered a guilty plea Nov. 7.
Also arrested with Leach were Eric Williams, 45, of 219 Washington Ave., and Randy G. Leach II, 24, of 58 South Main St. The status of their cases is not available at this time.
Press release:
(Batavia, N.Y.) United Memorial Medical Center has experienced tremendous growth in the past year. The surgical expansion project was completed, the Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Center opened and a number of new physicians joined the medical staff. Several advancements were made in healthcare information technology, quality initiatives and improvements to our physical plant. Each program and project was a direct result of our strategic planning process to improve locally delivered healthcare based on the needs of the community and to continue to strengthen financial performance.
While growth is important to our viability, we must also assess established services and practices to determine whether they are fulfilling the mission of the organization and are sustainable. To maintain the financial balance of the organization and the needs of our community, several changes have been implemented.
The Cardiac Rehab Department and the Byron Family Care Center will close by March 1, 2012 due to unsustainable patient volumes. Cardiac Rehab will not accept new referrals and current patients will have the opportunity to complete their 90-day program. Patients of Byron Family Care were mailed letters informing them of the closure and information on transferring their medical records.
The primary care provider at Byron Family Care, Dr. Stanley Ambis, will continue with United Memorial’s Family Care centers in LeRoy and Batavia. Patients will be encouraged to remain with Dr. Ambis at one of the other sites. United Memorial Medical Center has filed its intent to close the Byron Family Care Center with the NYS Department of Health and will work through the appropriate steps in the next 90 days to complete this process.
Discontinuing the two services and realignment of job functions in other departments will result in the elimination of 16 positions, with the equivalent hours of approximately 14 full-time employees, slightly less than 2 percent of United Memorial’s 795 member workforce.
The eliminated positions include two Allied Health professionals, four registered nurses, four technicians, one licensed practical nurse, one patient access specialist, an administrative secretary and three salaried positions. Those eligible were offered severance packages and, where appropriate, options to extend their healthcare coverage. If qualified, they will be encouraged to apply for and be considered for other positions within the organization.
Patrick Raymond Krieger, 21, of East Main Street, Corfu, is charged with menacing, 3rd, reckless endangerment, 2nd, and harassment, 2nd. Krieger was arrested following an investigation by Deputy Jason Saile and Deputy James Diehl into a 9-1-1 hang up call in the Village of Corfu at 3:50 a.m., Saturday. Krieger is accused of grabbing the steering wheel of a vehicle he was riding in and jerking it in an alleged attempt to scare or cause harm to the female driver. The vehicle nearly struck a tree and a mailbox when the driver lost control of the car. Krieger then allegedly took the ignition key and shoved it into the neck of the woman and made threats of physical harm. When the woman wouldn't exit the vehicle, Krieger allegedly grabbed her by her throat and hair and threw her out of the car and onto the ground. Krieger was jailed on $5,000 bail.
Nicholas J. Pascucci Jr., 21, of Main Road, Stafford, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 5th, criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th, unlawful possession of marijuana and inadequate stop lamps. Pascucci's vehicle was stopped by Le Roy Police on Friday afternoon for an alleged traffic violation. The officer suspected there may be narcotics in the car and requested the assistance of the Sheriff's K-9 unit. The K-9 reportedly alerted on the vehicle and Pascucci was found allegedly to be in possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell. Pascucci was jailed on $10,000 bail.
Willie C. Armstrong, 40, of Tolland Avenue, East Hartford, Conn., is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Armstrong was charged following a traffic stop at 4:30 p.m., Nov. 20 on State Street, by Deputy Brian Thompson.
Christopher Nathaniel Johnson, 24, of Salina Street, Rochester, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Johnson was charged following at traffic stop at 8:41 p.m., Saturday, on Route 33, Bergen, by Deputy Brad Mazur.
Zachary J. Rusin, 18, of Route 237, Holley, died Sunday as the result of injuries he sustained in an accident early Sunday morning when a golf cart he was riding in on Route 237, Byron, was struck by a car from behind.
The golf cart, driven by Cortney L. Greene, 18, of North Byron Road, Byron, had no lights and was described as slow moving by Sheriff's investigators.
Rusin was taken to Strong Memorial Hospital via Mercy Flight where he died later Sunday.
The accident remains under investigation and Greene faces possible criminal charges.
Previously: Passenger in golf cart on Route 237, Byron, at night seriously injured
A 68-year-old man was injured Sunday evening after he was struck by a car while he walked through the crosswalk on Park Road at Batavia Downs.
Douglas Aiken, of Morrow Road, Pavilion, was taken by a Mercy EMS ambulance to the Genesee County Airport and then transported by Mercy Flight to Strong Memorial Hospital.
Aiken was alert and conscious at the time of transport, according to Sgt. Greg Walker, Sheriff's Office. Walker said Morrow complained of head and shoulder pain. His injuries were not believed to be life threatening. He was taken to Strong as a precaution given the nature of the accident.
The driver, David L. Reeb, 60, of Corfu, had slowed while approaching the crosswalk, but did not stop, Walker said.
Reeb was cited for alleged failure to yield to a pedestrian.
A 10-year-old passenger in Reeb's station wagon was not injured, nor was Reeb.
Walker said the accident was the first car-pedestrian accident he can remember at the crosswalk outside Batavia Downs since the Downs reopened.
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