Oakfield

Business First takes a look at tax-relief recommendations encouraging mergers between smaller school districts, and comes up with a list of 13 potential consolidations in WNY, among them Elba and Oakfield-Alabama.

Elba/Oakfield-Alabama

Enrollment is 35 percent lighter in Elba (537 students) than in any other Genesee County district. The closest option for consolidation is 10 minutes down the road in Oakfield-Alabama (990). The resulting district (1,527) would still have fewer students than nearby Batavia.

Townline Rd (CR 26) between Rt 63 and Pekin Rd in the Towns of Batavia, Oakfield and Elba will be closed Tuesday, June 2nd to Thursday, June 4th from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM each day for culvert replacements.

Kerry Hoffman, age 27, of Bergen, the former band director of Oakfield-Alabama High School has been arrested and charged with sexual abuse in the third degree.

Hoffman is accused of abusing a female student.

Besides the five misdemeanor counts of sexual abuse, Hoffman is charged with one count of endangering the welfare of a child and one count of official misconduct.

WBTA's Dan Fischer spoke with Oakfield-Alabama Superintendent Christopher Todd, who said Hoffman voluntarily resigned when the allegations surfaced in March. Todd said parents in the district were immediately notified of the allegations.  School officials became involved when information came forward that raised concerns about Hoffman's conduct with the student.

Juvenile Officer J.K. Dehm of the Sheriff's Office said in a release, "During a period from February 2009 to March 2009 Kerry Hoffman acted in a manner likely to be harmful to a child less than seventeen years old."

Hoffman was arraigned in the Town of Oakfield by Justice Graham and released under supervision.

An Oakfield couple was allegedly found last night to posses a substantial amount of crack cocaine after the Genesee County Drug Enforcement Task Force obtained a search warrant for 26 S. Pearl St., Apt. 2.

Investigators reportedly found $300 in crack cocaine and $300 in marijuana during the search of the residence and related vehicles.

Taken into custody were Dennis "Dookie" R. Lloyd-Butler, 27, and Mandy Lloyd, 29.

Investigators reportedly found marijuana in the glove box of Mandy Lloyd's car.

Lloyd-Butler was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, a felony, and criminal possession of marijuana. Mandy Lloyd was charged with unlawful possession of marijuana.

Lloyd-Butler is being held in Genesee County Jail without bail. Mandy Lloyd was issued an appearance ticket.

The Sheriff's Office reports additional charges are pending.

Assisting in the investigation were the Genesee County District Attorney's office, City of Batavia's Emergency Response Team, Genesee County Sherif's deputies, New York State Police officers and K-9 "Jay."

Patrick W. Collins, 46, of Batavia, is being held on $2,500 bail after allegedly attacking his wife. Collins reportedly threw his wife against a wall, put his hands around her neck and threatened to kill her. He is charged with menacing in the third degree. The alleged incident occurred last night around 11:30 p.m.

Martin G. Pacer, 29, of Corfu, allegedly violated an order of protection by punching another person in the face Wednesday night around 11 p.m. The incident occurred in Pembroke. He is charged with criminal contempt and harassment. Pacer is held in Genesee County Jail on $5,000 bail.

Timothy Grice, 47, of Oakfield, is accused of unlawful imprisonment, coercion and harassment for allegedly not letting a housemate leave their residence. Sheriff's deputies responded to the house after receiving a 911 call yesterday at 10:10 a.m..  Grice reportedly punched, kicked and held the housemate. Grice allegedly also tried to grab the phone to prevent the housemate from calling 911.

Ryan L. Krupp, 23, of Batavia is accused of cashing a forged check from another Batavia resident at a local bank. He is charged with one count of criminal possession of a forged instrument and held in Genesee County Jail on $5,000 bail.

Ruben Torres, 19, of Mt. Morris, was stopped in Stafford April 24 at 2 p.m. for an allegedly obscured license plate. During a search, deputies reportedly found marijuana and cocaine. Torres is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of marijuana.

When Ethan Thompson, resident of Oakfield, speaks to you, he moves you because he sees you. He looks right at you, and his words are strong like his eyes. After speaking with him you can tell his spirit is on fire for God.

How can I make my mark for God? Was a question that pushed forth his Web site youthinactionmag.com.

“Encouraging this generation to get in action,” is his drive and tagline for the site.

Thompson said the site is to encourage and give positive ideas for Christian teenagers.

Thompson went to the library once a week for a year, reading about how to build and manage your own Web site. He brings in his own income from selling things here and there on EBay.

“If I don’t make any money, then whatever,” said Thomas who continued by saying its more about the positive message he wants to send.

“I wanted to make a bigger difference in the world,” said Thompson, “I wanted to have an outlet to express my feelings and things.”

A year ago the site was basic HTML and Thompson decided to hire someone to design something new.

Thompson who enjoys web developing more than design said in a year from now the site will have more content, and more podcasting. He hopes to have a writer other than himself.

His parents are very supportive and help proofread and review the content of his articles. He gets their viewpoint and said it is always great to have different perspectives on an idea. Right now he is seeing about 50 visits a day and said when he has a new article posted the site gets much more attention.

“It’s an ever-changing process,” said Thompson, “You can never have a perfect Web site because technology is always changing.”

Thomas attended St. Paul’s and is now home-schooled. Thompson has the discipline to set aside time for his school work, and completely focus on it until it’s done

“I don’t have to worry about walking to the next class, or lunch, or study halls,” said Thompson, “Mine is all a study hall.” 

Thompson chooses to take a stand against the question he says society demands, “How can I be satisfied or entertained?”

He talked about the negative aspect to social networking like Facebook and Myspace saying the sites allow you to be someone who is viewed as cool. It doesn’t matter whether or not you as a person agree with who you are choosing to be online, because online you can be anyone.

He is very active in his youth group at Genesee Country Church. He also has his black belt and loves mountain bike riding.

He spends about 4-5 hours a day on the computer working on his site.

“Your mind thinks your working, but your not really working, your not doing anything physical,” said Thompson. So after 4 or 5 hours he will enjoy his quiet time reading the bible, or thinking about his favorite verse, Romans 3:23. The verse sets up everything he does. 

What makes Ethan so true to the meaning of Christianity is his spirit to encourage others, and he is doing this in a big way, with his own Web site.

Although he loves this experience, he said he doesn’t want to get into Web design in college.

“I would want to major in Marketing or Broadcasting,” said Thompson. He likes to do tech related things and commented that he isn’t even sure if college is for him because of the costs. But the almost 15-year-old already sees the truth of the world and is doing something to encourage others is something a college degree could never teach anyways.

A motorcyclist who reportedly was driving fast on Fox Road in the Town of Oakfield lost control of his bike and struck an embankment, ejecting the rider from his bike.

George Latko, of Perry, suffered a head injury and was taken by Mercy Flight to Erie County Medical Center.

The accident occurred Saturday night around 8:15 p.m.

The Sheriff's office is continuing its investigation and charges are pending.

A brush fire has been reported well behind the residence at 3693 Maltby Road in Oakfield.

A sheriff's deputy says he saw a bong fly from the window of a vehicle on Route 63 in Oakfield on Monday evening.

In the vehicle, which was stopped for allegedly having improperly tinted windows, were a group of young people and reportedly three more partially burned marijuana cigarettes.

Two Alabama teenagers were charged with unlawful possession of marijuana: Joseph D. Bauer, 18, of Oakfield, and a 17-year-old from Oakfield.

A third person was identified as the young man who threw the item from the window, which deputies say was a marijuana pipe.  The third person was not charged with a crime, nor were two other passengers in the car.

The 17-year-old reportedly told deputies the marijuana cigarettes belonged to him.

The two teenagers charged were issued appearance tickets for Town of Oakfield Court.

Barb Falker of the Lazy Redneck Ranch in Oakfield suffered a fractured vertabrae to her spine when she was kicked by her own horse Thursday night.

She was flown by Mercy Flight to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester were she remains in stable condition. She is expected to be released Saturday.

Her daughter Nina Regan said the incident happened when Barb's niece's horse, Chief, got out of his inclosure. Barb rounded up the horse and put it in her pasture with her horse, Sheba.

When Barb went to retrieve Chief at about 7:30 p.m., Sheba tried to kick Chief. The commotion resulted in the lead getting twisted around Barb and she got a couple of hard kicks from Sheba.

"It was kind of a weird accident," Regan said.

Her family called Oakfield Fire/EMS who had to cut the lead of Barb before she could be taken for medical treatment.

"She was awake and talking when I saw her in the hospital," Regan said. "The doctor said she's going to be fine but she'll be pretty bruised up."

Previously: Out on Lazy Redneck Ranch.

Marcos Juan Gomez, 31, of Rochester (pictured, right), is being charged with robbery in the 1st degree after allegedly being caught shoplifting at Target, and when security personnel there tried to stop him, he reportedly pulled a knife and fled. He was subsequently apprehended in the Home Depot parking lot. He is being held in Genesee County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bail.

Michael F. Geer, 18, of Batavia, is in jail on $5,000 bail and charged with harassment in the second degree and menacing in the second degree after allegedly wielding a knife and threatening to kill his mother. He is also charged with possession of a controlled substance He was taken into custody yesterday at around 5 p.m.

Benjamin Muntz, 20, of Oakfield (pictured, left), is accused of forgery after allegedly trying to pass forged checks at a local bank. He was arrested Thursday by a Sheriff's deputy while at Batavia City Court. He allegedly possessed two forged checks while at a Batavia bank in September. He is held in custody in lieu of $5,000 bail.

A 17-year-old girl from Stafford is in custody and held on $1,000 bail after allegedly entering a residence and taking $300 worth of property. She is charged with burglary in the second degree, a felony, and petty larceny. An order of protection was also issued.

Clint L. Stafford, 27, of Basom, was charged with DWI and felony unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle early Sunday morning. He was also ticked with an improper left turn and an open container.

A 17-year-old from Bergen is being charged with possession of a controlled substance in the 7th degree. A K-9 reportedly found hydrocodone in the teenagers possession in November and a subsequent lab test confirmed the substance was hydrocodone. The teenager was issued an appearance ticket.

A 17-year-old girl involved in a motor vehicle accident in Stafford last week was allegedly found with a switch blade knife and several marijuana pipes. She is being charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the 4th degree and unlawful possession of marijuana.

Steve Moore, 47, of Oakfield, reportedly led law enforcement officers on a low-speed ATV chase Saturday.

The chase started in Murray and Moore was eventually apprehended in Barre, News 10 reports.

At one point Moore got off his ATV and approached a police sergeant. The sergeant tasered him, but it had no effect and Moore got back on his ATV and drove off.

He also allegedly struck a police vehicle.

Moore was charged with DWI.

An "out of control" grass fire is being battled at 3186 Batavia-Oakfield Townline Road.

The fire covers an estimated two acres and additional crews have been request.

No report on whether any structures are threatened.

UPDATE 2:58 p.m.: I'm on scene. Fire seems pretty much under control. Manpower-only crews were called in from Stafford and Pembroke (Pembroke's brush truck was reported out of service). The fire started as a controled burn, according to homeowner Michael Cusmano. "It just took off," he said. I'll post a picture or two shortly. Also, there is another reported brush fire near Stafford (I didn't catch the exact address) and a grass fire at 10346 Hartwell Road in Pavilion.

UPDATE 3:45 p.m.: I didn't make it out to the Pavilion fire. It sounds like it's under control at this point. Some crews are returning to station.

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A Bethany teen-ager is facing charges after losing control of an ATV he was allegedly driving and getting into an accident that left a 16-year-old passenger injured.

The teen-ager, also 16, left the scene of the accident in Spring Road in Alexander, according to a Sheriff's office report.

No word on the seriousness of the injuries the passenger sustain. The driver was traveling at a high rate of speed, according to the report.

The driver has been charged with criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree and may face other charges.

A 16-year-old from Oakfield is charged with trespass after entering the driveway and yard of another person in Oakfield.

Sarah J. Moutrup, 29, of Oakfield, is charged with felony DWI following her arrest in Alabama. Moutrup is charged with aggravated DWI and driving with a BAT of .18 or greater.

Brian M. Glor, 36, of Oakfield, was arrested Monday for possession marijuana and obstruction of governmental administration in the second degree. Glor allegedly interfered with a DWI investigation in Alabama. Glor was arrested and during a search, the marijuana was found.

I knew the village of Oakfield has been around for a long time, but I never really thought about what might have happened before everybody living there was born.

While looking at some history sites I came across one called GenDisasters, which posted a story from an Ohio Newspaper called The Mansfield News from 5-12-1895.

Buffalo, May 11. -- The little village of Oakfield was entirely destroyed by fire this morning. Not a house is left standing. The fields about the burning village are occupied by the refugees who have saved nothing from the flames. Shortly after 3 o'clock this morning a telegram was received here asking for assistance but none could be sent. The telegraph, telephone and railway dispatch offices are all burned out and no wire communication can be had with the village. The fire started in the rear of HARRIS & CHAPIN'S hardware store about 1:30 a.m. and burned till 3:30 o'clock. Among the buildings destroyed are:
CHAMBERLAIN'S block, dry goods and grocery store.
HARRIS & CHAPIN'S hardware store.
WEAVER'S furniture and undertaking establishment.
B. C. MARTIN'S dry goods and grocery store.
The ARNOLD Hotel.
The BARNES House.
Odd Fellows Hall.
DR. TUGTUIS' drug store, and a number of dwellings. The loss will be about $75,000.

Oakfield - which was originally known as Cary or Caryville - had a population of over 1,000 when the first recorded store opened in 1833 by Colonel Alfred Cary.

The village's name was changed to Plain Brook in 1837 and was soon after changed to Oakfield. The first village meeting was held in August of 1887.

There is a fascinating piece written on the history of Oakfield here.