Mrs. Richmond hosted a tea party at the Holland Land Office Museum today and dozens of local women attended.
Awards were given for the best hats.
Above, Dona LaValle, who won the award for best hat and ensemble.
Below, Anne Barone, most original, and Maryanne Arena, most elegant.
Darien Lake Theme Park is getting back to basics -- entertaining families and celebrating its Western New York roots.
Symbolic of that theme was the grand opening today of the 2013 season with a ceremony honoring Paul Snyder, the founder of Darien Lake Fun Country, which was primarily a campground until 1981, when Snyder opened an amusement park.
Snyder, now owner of Beaver Hollow in Java, said he wanted to create a family-oriented atmosphere and he's glad to see Darien's current owners, Herschend Family Entertainment, putting more emphasis on family rides and attractions.
"They've turned it back into a family-oriented resort," Snyder (top photo) said. "I think when Six Flags owned it, they made it kind of a hard-ride park for teenagers and young adults. It was different and harder and I think (the present ownership) has done of good job of turning it back into a family-oriented park. They've done a good job."
New this year is an area called Boardwalk, which features a renovated carousal and Blast Off, a brand new ride that General Manager Bob Montgomery called a "family thrill ride." It simulates the feeling of "riding a rocket ship to the moon," generating four Gs of air-powered force.
Also new this year is an Anchor Bar food stand, which fits into a growing trend at Darien Lake to feature things that make WNY special. The original Anchor Bar in Buffalo, of course, is where buffalo wings were invented.
The park also serves two other WNY delicacies, Perry's ice cream and Sahlen's hot dogs.
Local music will also get a little extra attention this summer with local bands being invited in for a summer-long battle of the bands.
One of the upgrades to the carousal was decorating it with paintings of WNY scenes (two photographs by Howard Owens were turned into paintings for the carousel -- a picture of a barn in Stafford and a sunrise over Harlow Lake (pictures below).
All of Herschend's parks feature regional themes, Montgomery said, but it's also what the company's research showed people wanted as part of the Darien experience.
Even our Canadian visitors, they're coming to a different country and they wanted an experience that reflected that," Montgomery said. "That's why we began the relationship with Anchor Bar. That's going to be appreciated by our local visitors, but by the people that come from further away as well."
The park's light show has also been upgraded into a bigger laser and fireworks show called "Ignite the Night."
The creation of Broadwalk, installation of Blast Off and creation of "Ignite the Night" was a lot to take on over the off-season, Montgomery said, so the push toward more WNY touches is far from over. There's only so much that can be done during a single off-season.
"You'll see that more and more as we make our way around the park with renovations, bringing those things in," Montgomery said.
Snyder is clearly proud of what the park he started as become and said it's something Genesee County should treasure.
"Darien Lake is the largest privately owned attraction in the State of New York," Snyder said. "A lot of people don't know that, the fact that it employs thousands of young people every year and that employment probably helps keep those kids working and out of trouble -- there's just so many benefits that flow from the investment of hundreds of millions of dollars at this point, it's unique and special."
A caller reports a shed fire off Ellicott Street Road near Paul Road.
The caller didn't have an exact address.
Stafford Fire Department is dispatched.
UPATE 7:05 p.m.: A chief arriving on scene reports heavy smoke in the area.
UPDATE 7:06 p.m.: A chief requests a second alarm for tankers.
UPDATE 7:10 p.m.: Bethany is responding.
UPDATE 8:07 p.m.: All units back in service.
Press release:
The Le Roy Police Department is again encouraging all citizens to be alert due to the recent home invasion involving the knife-point sexual assault which occurred on Gilbert Street in the Village of Le Roy during the early morning hours of Thursday 5/9/13.
The Le Roy Police Department is reenforcing this request as the Le Roy Police Department recovered a knife late yesterday afternoon, located in the general area of the crime, which the Police Department believes was used by the unknown perpetrator during the crime.
The Le Roy Police Department is asking the public to report any conditions or persons who they believe to be suspicious by calling the Genesee County Dispatch Office immediately at 345-6350.
A severe thunderstorm is hitting Hamburg and moving northeast at 35 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
The storm is capable of producing quarter-sized hail and dangerous cloud-to-ground lightning with winds in excess of 60 mph.
The thunderstorm warning is in effect until 5:15 p.m.
Particularly within the storm's path, according to the weather service are Darien and Batavia.
From the weather service:
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH...PREPARE IMMEDIATELY FOR DAMAGING WINDS...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...AND DEADLY CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER... PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
A driver reportedly involved in a single-car accident overnight is facing possible charges after he allegedly left the scene of the accident.
Jeffrey S. Canale, 43, of 2 Orchard Drive, was located at his house following the accident and transported by an ambulance to Strong Memorial Hospital.
According to a Sheriff's Office accident report, Canale was driving a 1999 BMW sedan westbound on Oatka Trail, Le Roy, at 2:13 a.m. when his vehicle spun out, went off the roadway and struck a tree, and then spun off the tree.
Canale allegedly left the scene of the accident before law enforcement arrived.
The accident was investigated by Deputy Frank Bordonaro.
A car / deer accident is reported on the westbound thruway at mile marker 403. Unknown injuries. Pembroke and Indian Falls fire departments and Mercy medics are responding.
UPDATE 1:12 p.m.: A chief on scene says fire and medics can stand down. Only law enforcement is needed at the scene (to dispatch the deer).
Press release:
Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) officials will hold a public information session on June 4 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the MedTech Center Building, located across from Genesee Community College (GCC) in Room 214. GCEDC officials are encouraging residents to attend the meeting to learn more about how the GCEDC fosters economic development in Genesee County.
Mark Masse, senior vice president of operations for GCEDC, will provide an overview of the organization, the incentives they offer, and how a potential company can be attracted to our community. A question and answer period will follow the presentation.
“This is a great opportunity for residents as well as local businesses to learn more about how our organization enhances economic growth in Genesee County,” Masse said.
Because the seating capacity is limited to about 100 persons, GCEDC is requesting that those interested in attending to please contact Rachael Tabelski, marketing and communications manager at GCEDC by calling 585-343-4866, ext. 12, or sending an e-mail to rtabelski@gcedc.com.
Press release:
Law Street, City of Batavia, is closed until 2 p.m. today for resurfacing.
Rock band Monster Johnson will be live rocking the stage at City Slickers tonight starting at 8 p.m! Stop by for great food and drinks!
Mark your calendars for June 21st as the Zac Brown Tribute Band takes over for a live concert at City Slickers!
Genesee County Economic Development Center is trying to get initial permitting completed on a proposed expansion of the Upstate Med-Tech Center on R. Stephen Hawley Drive just in case a specific medical device technology company wants to lease the space.
Mark Masse, VP of operations for GCEDC, told the County Planning Board on Thursday that a contractor has a potential leasee and is in negotiations now. Getting certain regulatory hurdles cleared now would help the process.
"If they reach an agreement, the potential leasee is working on a tight time frame," Masse said.
Masse doesn't know yet how many new jobs could be created by the company.
"They haven't gone before the board yet for incentives from us," Masse said. "More information would be available at that point in time, if it gets to that point."
The planning board unanimously approved site plan review for proposed 60,000-square-foot facility.
The board also unanimously approved a site plan review for a proposed 60,000-square-foot cold storage facility at the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park.
Masse said GCEDC still owns the property the unnamed company is considering for the facility and sales negotiations are ongoing.
That company also has yet to come to the GCEDC board seeking incentives, so Masse doesn't know yet how many new jobs will be created by the facility.
In other board action:
For the first time since 2005, Batavia's commercial property owners are getting their parcels re-assessed and the effort has been greeted with some decidedly mixed reviews.
With some property owners being told their initial re-assessment shows an increase in value of 55 percent to 400 percent -- adding $70,000 or $95,000 or $120,000 per parcel -- there is a bit of a sticker shock.
Re-assessing commercial property when it hasn't been done for eight years isn't an easy process, explained Rhonda Saulsbury, the city's assessor. There are a number of factors to consider and the initial re-assessment is sometimes based, admittedly, on incomplete information.
That makes it important for property owners to help fill in the blanks for the assessor's office.
"The goal here is to keep property values as fair as possible citywide," Saulsbury said in an e-mail. "Without going through this process (after 8 years) that wouldn’t be possible. I have also reduced a great number of assessments citywide resulting from the same methodologies. I do not hesitate to make an adjustment down when given reasonable information to substantiate the change in value.
"Until someone reaches out to me with an issue," she added, "I can’t fix it."
Local property owners have confirmed that after responding to the initial re-assessment letter to the city and providing more evidence about the status of their buildings, Saulsbury has adjusted, and even rescinded the increase in value.
One local businessman with at least two commercial properties downtown was actually notified that the value of one property was reduced. He didn't complain about that re-assessment.
Another property owner said his assessment only increased 10 percent.
So while some property owners are being hit hard, the impact isn't uniform.
The criteria for reassessment is almost an endless list, Saulsbury said, and includes location, property use, rentable space, income generated, building updates, additions, demolitions and deferred maintenance.
The assessor, from just looking at the building, can't know all of these details, which is why property owner feedback is an important part of the process.
If a property value increases substantially, she said, the assessor's office believes there's a reason for it -- such as a former warehouse being converted to office space, but it's still important for a property owner to clarify any concerns.
City Manager Jason Molino said the process is intended to be one in which property owners provide feedback on the assessment.
"Review procedure and phone numbers are included in the notices sent to property owners that receive a change in their assessment, as we encourage an open door policy to anyone with a question or concern," Molino said.
One day during the winter I was at Genesee Community College walking down this walkway and thought, "um, wonder what this looks like in spring when the trees are in bloom." Last evening, I went back to take a look.
In January of this year, the Genesee Archers for Christ was officially accepted as a chapter of the Christian Bowhunters of America. Pictured above are three of the chapter's founders. Left to right, Caroline and Joe Pionessa, of Oakfield, and Kevin Lawson, of Bethany. The fourth founding member is Batavian Mike Grasso.
Joe Pionessa, a Marine Corps veteran who has been around the proverbial block a few times, decided the time had come to dedicate his life to Jesus Christ and what better way than to use his love of the outdoors as a ministry to bring the Gospel to men, women and children.
Recently, Joe Pionessa was the guest of Care-A-Van ministries at their Teen Warehouse in Darien, where the group serves up supper and provides recreational activities for inner-city teens on Saturday evenings. On this night, Pionessa shared some outdoor knowledge including turkey and deer hunting tactics.
Here he's demonstrating the use of one of several game calls he had on hand. A longtime outdoorsman, Pionessa was quick to add that, at this point in his life, the outdoors has become about much more than hunting. Whether it be sunsets or sunrise, and a countless number of other natural wonders, he is now quick to recognize the handprint of God in the outdoors he enjoys.
The membership the Genesee Archers for Christ is comprised of men, women and children who are devoted to sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and spread the good news.
Interested parties can reach Joe Pionessa at 585-298-0011.
County officials hope a proposed local law will make it harder for thieves to sell stolen property.
The law will be presented for the first time to the County Legislature at Monday's Public Service Committee meeting.
It would require certain secondhand retailers to:
District Attorney Lawrence Friedman said the proposed law went through a diligent review process that included looking at the successes and failures of similar laws in other jurisdictions.
Assisting in crafting the law were County Clerk Don Read, County Attorney Chuck Deputy Chief Jerome Brewster from the Sheriff's Office and Batavia PD Det. Pat Corona.
There have been burglaries solved in communities, like Rochester, because of such laws, Friedman said, which is why local law enforcement officials came to him with a request to draft something for Genesee County.
The law would also help the victims of theft recover stolen property.
We spoke to the DA just before the sentencing of Ryan P. Johnson -- who admitted to stealing $68,000 in precious family heirloom jewelry from a Batavia resident but the thief could only help recover $14,000 of the stolen items.
"We'll try to get restitution for the victim, of course, but what's that worth?" Friedman said.
A similar law in a Southern Tier county was eventually repealed because it was overly broad, Friedman said, taking in, for example, flea markets.
The proposed Genesee County law carefully defines covered businesses as pawn shops, precious metal dealers, transient merchants that deal in such items and scrap metal processors (scrap metal processors are exempt from a couple of the law's provisions, such as retaining items for 10 days).
"We tried to come up with a list who is affected by this and we came up with 10 businesses," Friedman said.
Those 10 business owners will be receiving invitations to attend a public hearing on the proposed law once the date is set.
The typical residential garage sale person isn't covered by the law, nor are thrift stores, which don't buy items for resale.
Reputable dealers will welcome the new law, said Jimmy Vo, owner of Batavia Gold Rush, at 4152 W. Main Street Road, Batavia.
Reasonable people, he said, don't want to see victims lose valuables and the law will put all of the secondhand dealers on equal footing, with all purchases handled the same way.
There are a couple of aspects of the proposed law Vo would like to see changed before it passes, however.
First, pawn shops, he said, should be required to hold typical retail items for 14 days before reselling them, while precious metal dealers (or pawn shops buying precious metal) should be allowed to sell those metals seven days after purchase.
Any delay in reselling gold, for example, puts a precious metal dealer at risk, he said, because prices can fluctuate quickly.
One day last week, he said, gold lost 20 percent of its value.
"Anybody holding gold lost his shirt that day," Vo said. "The longer you hold gold, the more you can lose."
Seven days should be enough time, he said, for law enforcement to help a victim identify and recover an item, but the proposed 10 days makes the delay unreasonably long.
Vo also takes issue with the requirement that dealers report suspicious sellers. He said New York has previously tried to get such laws through, but they don't work because just somebody is twitching, for example, doesn't mean a peson is on drugs. A police officer has to meet a higher level of probable cause to arrest somebody, so a dealer can't be expected to act as a law enforcement officer just because somebody is acting suspicious.
Overall, Vo said he's happy with the proposed law. As a one-time crime victim himself, he thinks it's important to give victims a tool that will help law enforcement capture criminals and victims recover stolen property.
Often times, the personal value of the property far exceeds any monetary worth.
"That ring that belonged to great-great-grandma may be worth only $100, but it can't be replaced," Vo said. "That's the gut-wrenching problem that can be solved with a law like this."
UPDATE 10 p.m.: We didn't get a chance to talk with Det. Pat Corona before writing the story, but he called us tonight.
Corona said it's his hope that the law will act as a deterrent to would-be burglars, help law enforcement solve crimes, help victims recover property, be convenient for resellers and serve the community better.
"My motive is help victims recover their property and help us hold people responsible," Corona said.
Yesterday, Ryan P. Johnson was reported as a fugitive from the law; today, he's a convict headed to state prison.
He will spend four years in prison for attempted burglary, 2nd, with a concurrent sentence of one and a third year for grand larceny, 3rd.
He could have received a short jail sentence followed by a term of probation if he had shown up for his original sentencing date in March.
Instead, Deputy John Baiocco, the warrant officer for the Sheriff's Office, had to go looking for him.
When Baiocco found him on Ross Street yesterday, Johnson reportedly took off running leading to a search of the area by three police agencies.
Johnson eventually surrendered to Baiocco and appeared today as a ward of the Genesee County Jail before Judge Robert C. Noonan.
Noonan wasn't pleased with Baiocco's reported violations of his release under supervision contract.
"You blew your opportunity," Noonan said. "You had an opportunity at shock probation. All you had to do was show up, tell the truth, and serve your time. You would have gotten shock probation even though the probation department recommended incarceration given your record, but I was prepared to honor your negotiated deal."
Johnson was arrested in January for the Oct. 5 burglary of a City of Batavia residence where is said to have carried off more than $68,000 in precious and irreplaceable family jewelry.
In court today, Johnson cried as he apologized to the victim (who did not appear in court, but had sent a letter to Noonan), his fiance and his three children.
He blamed his behavior on an addiction to drugs and his attorney William Tedford said Johnson was using hydrocodone at the time of the burglary.
Noonan was unmoved.
"Saying your children need a father is certainly not going to tug at my heart strings," Noonan said. "They don't need a father like you, not like you are now."
Tedford asked that the restitution hearing be delayed until June 20 so he can more fully review the restitution claim.
The insurance company paid only $1,000 to the victim, who is claiming another $55,000 in unrecovered jewelry.
Johnson said he knew where some of the jewelry went so he made efforts to recover as much as he could and reportedly returned $14,000 worth of jewelry.
A 77-year-old Thorpe Street resident has been arrested by the Wyoming County Sheriff's Office and charged with animal abuse.
His son, a Middlebury resident, was also arrested.
The arrests follow an April 28 report in Middlebury of 50 chihuahuas being dropped off on a property in Middlebury.
Joseph Wenzel Jr., of Bank Road, Middlebury, allegedly made the 9-1-1 call.
The day before, according to the WCSO, a Batavia PD officer responded to a residence on Thorpe after receiving a barking dog complaint. The officer reportedly observed eight dogs at the residence, but the homeowner did not come to the door.
The officer left a contact card and information was passed on to the city's animal control officer.
When Wenzel Jr., contacted law enforcement, he said he had fed the dogs and the dogs were contained.
An animal control officer and a deputy responded to the residence and decided to leave the dogs in place until the next morning.
Upon further investigation, Investigator Mayer and Deputy Ficarella determined that Wenzel Sr. allegedly dropped off the dogs after the visit to his residence in Batavia.
He reportedly told officers that he could not take care of the animals any longer.
Wenzel Sr. was subsequently arrested and charged with 44 counts of animal abuse and is being held in Wyoming County pending arraignment.
Wenzel Jr. was charged with 44 counts of animal abuse and falsely reporting an incident. He was jailed on $10,000 bail.
An Elba resident is accused of burglarizing an occupied residence at 1:40 a.m. on March 26 and he has been taken into custody.
Charged with burglary, 2nd, and grand larceny, 3rd, is 29-year-old Jon H. Bush Jr., of 7614 Oak Orchard Road, Elba.
Bush was arrested at Batavia City Court when he appeared on an unrelated matter.
Allegedly, Bush made off with a safe containing money and jewelry.
He was jailed on $20,000 bail.
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