Summary:
Not only a nausea-inducing turbulent stock market, stomach-churning plunges in our asset wealth and 401k's, and the incoming migraine of inflation's rocketing grocery prices, but what do we get for a daily dose of information from our venerated local news-outlet, The "Batavian" today?
The smiling, "I've got a surprise for you, I'm not sure you're gonna like it,” short-of-a-grin, face of Batavia's city assessor! (I pray it's a "stock" photo, and not snapped concurrently with the "Batavian" article as a sly editorial on the increases in assessments many of us city property-owners will suffer [mine ballooned 8%], and the consequent potential rising skyward of property-taxes themselves.)
And what did we do to get this additional dollop of angst doled out on, of all days, income-tax day, April 15? A double-serving (double-whammy?) at that, for us unfortunately residing in N.Y., now I'm losing close to 1/3 of my income to state and federal income taxes, and I'm feeling sorry for ever asking for a double-scoop on my ice cream cone in the past!
I have two questions:
Anyway, the "Batavian's" timing and topic for today's story is making me think that the publication is sounding and thinking more and more like me!
Donald Weyer
Batavia NY
The renowned Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said. “Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society.” It is worth keeping that statement in mind when considering the huge tax breaks - $472 million! - offered by the GCEDC as an enticement to build a large data center at the STAMP site in Genesee County. Once built, the data center will be occupied by a tenant company. The firm building the data center currently has a soft commitment from a potential tenant: a Fortune 50 company (i.e., a very large, very wealthy company).
The GCEDC has argued that, since no cash is actually being exchanged in this deal, it’s really not as bad as critics make it out to be, but rather it’s just part of a win-win deal for badly needed economic development in a state that ranks near the bottom for business friendliness. Furthermore, they noted that it’s possible that Albany will push through tax relief legislation, so some or all of the taxes they propose to abate might just disappear. Sounds great, right?
There’s a bit of sophistry in this argument that needs to be sorted out. Tax abatements, whether they come from GCEDC or Albany, are dollars that the data center does not have to pay. It’s a huge win for the data center and a huge win for the GCEDC, which, interestingly, stands to collect tens of millions of dollars as a reward for the transaction.
But what about the rest of us, the taxpayers of New York? Well, that’s tax money that we’ll never see, money that might have been useful to support any number of worthwhile public projects. Adding insult to injury is the proposal to give the data center a price break on massive amounts of electricity, a move that is likely to result in higher electric rates for residential ratepayers.
The counterargument for all this is that the data center will spur economic growth in the area, thereby offsetting the tax breaks. But that’s not how data centers work. They need few workers (around 120 jobs, so about $3.9M in subsidies per job). What they need is 1) tons of electricity, enough to power multiple western NY counties, 2) clean water, and 3) a place to dump their sewage. That’s it. There is no way that a data center per se can be rationalized as a magnet to draw other companies to the site.
However, what a data center could do is pay for an electric substation, thereby accomplishing what Plug Power failed to do. Even though the net effect of a highly subsidized data center will be to put an additional burden on the taxpayers and electric ratepayers of New York, the hope is that electrifying the site will surely attract other companies that will create jobs and boost the economy. Thus the data center would be an expensive means to a desirable end.
Don’t believe it. STAMP is fundamentally flawed.
STAMP is tainted with the original sin of “bad location”. This is not news: twelve years ago (!) a detailed critical analysis of STAMP concluded that it was “a poster child for location inefficiency.” The very real economic, environmental, and ethical problems that plague the STAMP site are all related to the fact that it’s in the wrong place - in a remote, wet, rural area, lacking infrastructure, and nearly surrounded by protected and tribal lands. Yes, if you wave enough money at a company it may decide to accept the risk and build there (Edwards Vacuum, recipient of $18M of Sen. Schumer’s CHIPS money, is an example) but at what cost to taxpayers and ratepayers? This tradeoff is not worth making. The proposed heavily subsidized data center at STAMP is a terrible idea, clearly not in the interest of the citizens of New York.
Sooner or later the truth will come out, and STAMP will be recognized as a failure, not because it was poorly conceived or managed, but because it was poorly sited. If development at STAMP continues, the only uncertainties will be the amount of taxpayer money that will be sacrificed, and the amount of damage done to protected lands, tribal lands, and local waterways.
Economic growth is important and desirable, but it’s got to be smart, ethical growth. It is incumbent on thoughtful New Yorkers to make our voices heard, and express our disapproval of STAMP in general and the data center in particular.
David Giacherio
Kent, NY
On February 28, GCEDC approved the construction of a data center at their STAMP site just outside the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge and the Tonawanda Seneca Nation’s Big Woods. Project “Double Reed” will be enormous—900,000 square feet. Hard to picture, isn’t it? Here are a couple comparisons: Marketplace Mall in Henrietta has 804,806 square feet of retail space; the Carrier Dome in Syracuse (now the JMA Wireless Dome) contains 527,320 square feet. Huge.
In addition, GCEDC misleadingly says that the building will only be one story tall—one story that rises 31 or 44 feet. Those are some high ceilings.
Imagine that you are driving through the countryside of pretty farms, fields, and woods. Then suddenly, a monstrous, blockish data center. No (proposed) landscaping can hide it. And even if it could, you will be able to hear the low-frequency hum of the fans used to cool the equipment, a continuous sound, from miles away. Noise pollution has serious health effects—and if it’s bad from outside, it’s got to be worse to work inside.
The Sisters of St. Joseph live the mission of reconciling neighbor to neighbor and neighbor to God. They are committed to the good of the Earth and its people. At a taxpayer cost of $3.9 million per (projected) job, the so-called benefits of “Double Reed” do not serve the land or the community.
Holly Rockwell
Justice and Care for Creation Coordinator
Sisters of St. Joseph of Rochester
The Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC), the regional Industrial Development Agency (IDA) in our area, has taken the first step toward bringing Double Reed—a data center—into our community, next door to the Tonawanda Seneca Nation.
But the fight is far from over. GCEDC still faces several legal and bureaucratic challenges before it can move forward. These include obtaining site plan approval from the Town of Alabama Planning Board, securing an Air Facility Registration permit with an Environmental Justice analysis from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, applying for access to low-cost hydropower from New York Power Authority, and undergoing a State Historic Preservation Office investigation for cultural resources. Perhaps most critically, the project still lacks a firm commitment from a tenant.
Nevertheless, following the recent meeting, GCEDC members congratulated themselves, asserting broad public support for this initiative. And what of the claim that Genesee County residents overwhelmingly support this? Based on conversations I’ve had in response to my previous article, I disagree. Many community members express skepticism at best, and outright opposition at worst, toward GCEDC’s projects. Yet their voices often remain unheard. Why? Because GCEDC’s use of dense financial language, greenwashing tactics, and exaggerated promises of jobs and economic growth intimidate and mislead the public.
However, people are starting to see through the illusion.
A growing coalition of labor unions, teachers, and government accountability advocates are calling for much-needed reforms to New York’s industrial development agencies (IDAs) like the GCEDC, raising alarms about their lack of oversight.
Consider this: While IDA boards are appointed by local officials, those same officials have no oversight power over them. The state comptroller has the authority to audit New York’s 107 IDAs, but in 2021, only six audits were conducted. Meanwhile, IDA incentives increased by 9%, even as job creation fell by nearly 2%.
Additionally, IDAs collect fees for every subsidy package they approve, creating an incentive to push through as many deals as possible. These fees can be substantial, forming a major portion of an IDA’s budget.
IDAs wield enormous power, granting property, sales, and mortgage tax breaks to corporations in exchange for vague promises of jobs and future tax revenue. These tax breaks can range from small amounts to staggering figures—like the $124 million deal for Amazon’s warehouse in Niagara or the $119 million package for Plug Power’s hydrogen facility in Genesee County.
Then there’s the manipulation. Take the recent argument from GCEDC: They assert the Double Reed project will fund the next phase of Batavia’s much-needed water infrastructure. But why must we accept environmental degradation, increased traffic, and noise pollution as the price for basic infrastructure improvements? Shouldn’t our tax dollars already be fully funding these essentials?
Even more concerning is the Plug Project, which has been on hold since January 2024. This pause has led the GCEDC to take over the construction of a $55 million, 450-megawatt substation electrical transmission for the STAMP projects—an obligation that Plug Power had originally committed to funding. While GCEDC claims that Plug Power is fulfilling its financial responsibilities, recent notes from the Alabama Town Board meeting tell a different story. Supervisor Crossen provided an update, revealing that Plug Power has not paid its 2025 PILOT or Host Community Fees. In fact, a default letter was issued at the February meeting.
This is the trap IDAs have set for us— duping communities into believing they must sacrifice their health, land, and quality of life in exchange for resources that should rightfully be theirs.
Even IDA leaders struggle to justify these subsidies. When faced with criticism, they claim that without their deals, projects wouldn’t happen at all. Yet extensive economic research disproves this. In his 2019 book, economist Tim Bartik found that 75% of jobs created through tax incentives would have been created regardless. A 2009 study by University of Iowa professors Alan Peters and Peter Fisher concluded that economic incentives work only 10% of the time and are a waste of money the other 90%.
“These incentives allow companies to get paid to do what they would have done anyway,” says Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First. “And that’s terrible, because it means money is taken away from schools and other critical public services.”
Western New York school districts forfeit millions of dollars in revenue every year due to IDA tax breaks. And these breaks aren’t granted based on need. Companies that can afford to pay often threaten to move their business elsewhere unless they receive tax incentives.
Meanwhile, the race to attract companies through these subsidies has turned into a competition of who can give away the most resources. “It’s a classic race to the bottom,” says Russell Weaver, director of research at Cornell University’s Industrial Labor Relations Buffalo Co-Lab. Communities are held hostage by corporations demanding handouts.
And Double Reed’s cost isn’t just financial—it’s environmental. This data center threatens our waterways and fragile ecosystem. Masse claims due diligence, but Schumer and Hochel’s backroom pressuring to rush the environmental review casts doubt on their commitment to science and safe procedure. They treated legitimate concerns as obstacles, not guidance– pushing forward with their agenda, regardless of the consequences.
It is important to underline that the fight against the Double Reed data center is not over– far from it. If Genesee Residents are to have any hope of enforcing their own will over the GCEDCs, they need to be tuned into the existing resistance network that has been steadily growing and strategizing.
A key place to turn to is Allies of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation, which lists pertinent informational updates and action items to shape our future and protect the wetlands.
It’s time to challenge the unchecked power of IDAs. It’s time to demand economic development that serves the people—not just corporations. And most of all, it’s time to stand with the Tonawanda Seneca Nation and fight for the future of our community.
By Angela Larmon
More than two dozen people showed up for our Rally for Palestine that was held earlier today. Below is the text of remarks delivered by one of our members, Jeremy Sitarek, about two supporters of Palestine, Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk, who were taken as political prisoners by ICE on behalf of the Trump administration:
On March 8, 2025, Mahmoud Khalil was put in handcuffs and taken from his home in New York City by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Mahmoud moved to the U.S. in 2022 on a student visa while pursuing graduate studies at Columbia University. He married his U.S. citizen wife in 2023 and became a legal permanent resident in 2024. Mahmoud’s wife, Noor Abdalla, is pregnant with their first child and is expecting in April 2025.
When ICE agents detained Mahmoud, they were acting on orders from the State Department to revoke Mahmoud’s student visa. Mahmoud’s wife presented his green card, proving he was a legal resident and ICE agents informed Mahmoud and Noor that they were also revoking his green card.
What horrendous act has Mahmoud committed to be taken from his pregnant wife, his home and threatened with deportation from a country where he holds legal status? Peaceful protest. Mahmoud has been a leading pro-Palestinian activist at Columbia University. By supporting Palestine, which has seen the genocide of over 50,000 innocent civilians since October 7 of 2023 by the occupying state of Israel, he is labeled by the U.S. administration as a terrorist supporter.
Five days ago, on Tuesday, March 25, 30-year-old Rumeysa Ozturk was on her way to a friend's home when she was detained by ICE. Rumeysa has a valid F-1 visa, which allows her to pursue full-time academic studies at Tufts University where she was enrolled in a PhD program. Facing the same accusations as Mahmoud, the State Department deems Rumeysa a threat to foreign policy for her vocal support of Palestine.
Mahmoud and Rumeysa have no criminal charges against them.
The detaining of a legal U.S. resident for their political activism should terrify U.S. citizens because the rebirth of McCarthyism has arrived. In the 1950’s, U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy helped initiate a nation-wide witch hunt for suspected communists. McCarthyism or the Red Scare resulted in the repression and persecution of individuals with left-wing ideologies and spread fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions. It was this historical period of paranoia and political oppression that allowed the passing of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. The exact act that is being used to detain Mahmoud and Rumeysa.
Eventually it came to light that McCarthy’s witch hunt was unsubstantiated, and he was criticized by colleagues and the public at large. McCarthy was on the wrong side of history, and if this administration continues to detain and deport legal residents for their political views, they will be on the wrong side of history as well.
We call for the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk.
Logan W. Cole, Secretary, Genesee County DSA
I want Byron Brown, CEO of WROTB, to tell me how to "lobby" N.Y.State to reduce the income tax I pay to the state year in and year out. I want to get the savings too that he is similarly pleading for from the state on WROTB revenue, according to Howard Owens's report of 3/27/25.
I humbly and respectfully ask, "hat in hand", only for a 2% reduction from the 7% tax rate I paid to the state for 2024 income, to 5%(compared to Brown's requested decrease from a 49% tax-rate to 44%). The savings would allow me to increase the "distribution" of allowances I pay to my children; "right size" the increasing costs of my budget for food, clothing, and housing, all life's necessities; and "address" the very high amounts needed to pay for my automobile insurance. Any savings left over I could use for residential repairs and improvements.
It is simply "a matter of equity and fairness," considering that I also pay N.Y.State sales tax on a day in and day out basis on my purchases, and of which I am not "lobbying" for a reduction at this time.
Donald Weyer
Batavia NY
This Thursday the (27th), the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) is voting on a purchase agreement with US Stream Data Centers. This is after GCEDC voted to approve Project Double Reed, a data center, to occupy the STAMP site on Route 77 despite significant public outcry. Before their vote to approve Project Double Reed, GCEDC received more than 800 public comments opposing the data center, with over 600 of those comments received in just a two-day period. GCEDC still has the opportunity to say no to moving the region’s largest data center into Genesee County.
GCEDC claims that it selected Project Double Reed because it would have the smallest environmental impact of the data centers it was considering. That does not mean its environmental impact will be small. It will be $472 million public dollars allocated to a project with no public benefit that will cause light and noise pollution, traffic on Route 77, increase fire risks from the 60,000 gallons of of diesel fuel stored on site, increase brown and black outs from the massive amounts of energy data centers require, and generally decrease the quality of life of those living in the surrounding communities.
Stream Data Centers is also trying to attract a Fortune 50 company worth $100 billion – why should a company like that get the 250 mw of low-cost hydropower it’s been offered?
GCEDC currently argues that the data center will bring money and jobs to Genesee County. Plug Power moved into the STAMP site in 2021 but is still under construction, and was supposed to bring in 68 jobs, none of which exist yet. I don’t believe a data center will deliver on any of what GCEDC is promising – it will not have a small environmental impact, and it will not bring anything good to the community.
GCEDC can still listen to the local residents who it serves by voting no to a purchase agreement with Stream Data Centers.
Shelby Green
From Town of Shelby
Matt Landers, my good man, is your "so we changed the narrative," and "it didn’t change, in our opinion, the content of the program whatsoever" (in reference to diversity, equity, and inclusion within Genesee County programs and policies, covered by Joanne Beck's article on 3/19/25), the same as "flipping the script"? "Having it both ways"? Sir, you tell me! I'm confused. Why not stand your ground, keep the narrative unchanged since you're not changing the program?
You know, Matt, among the generation before yours, if you got caught dissembling, you didn’t attempt to change your story, your narrative. You confessed that you dissembled, you admitted to being a dissembler, then made an effort to not do so again! And I'm certainly not accusing you of being that. But I think the example is worth contemplating when considering your reaction to the U.S. President's executive order, which in my opinion, only muddies further the "hot potato" of DEI with your words. It sounds to me like you "want to have your cake and eat it too." Or "potato," in this case.
Apparently, times have changed since the days of earlier generations, but please, please stop playing fast and easy with words, with language. After all, that's what compose stories, narratives, scripts, and just give us the truth. Tell us what you really think, what you really feel, and why! Be "authentic," as the generation after, not before, yours says! And don't give us a lot of rigamarole and rhetoric, my hands are tied, I really believe this but have to say that, it's all in the interest of dollars and cents for the county, because eventually you're gonna start to believe your changeable and constructed narratives, and how they can lead one down a "slippery slope."
You're the County Manager, not the County Waffler.
Thanks.
Donald Weyer, Batavia NY
A Data Center in the Midst of Alabama’s Cornfields? “Gift” or Trojan Horse?
The greatest bone of contention about mega industries like data centers on the STAMP site was, and remains, the call for a new Environmental Impact Statement or EIS - a document required by federal law that outlines the potential environmental impacts of a proposed project. The only one issued was back in 2012 before STAMP had even broken ground at the site. Since 2021, when more specifics about the types of mega-industrial developments STAMP was considering for the site became known, the Chief of the Tonawanda Seneca and concerned citizen groups have repeatedly called for a new EIS and SEQR - a law requiring state and local agencies to consider environmental impacts when making discretionary decisions. They argue that, as the agency involved in a project’s development and in line to profit from it, it is a potential conflict of interest for GCEDC to have oversight of the environmental stipulations informing the EIS and the SEQR. GCEDC stands to gain tens of millions of dollars in fees from the data company they choose.
Not Just Any Old Data Center. By any contemporary standard, an updated EIS would seem to be a reasonable request. Data centers, in particular, have changed a lot since 2012. Massive data centers needed for AI applications are currently being built at sites around the world. As noted in recent Wall Street Journal, New York Times, MIT articles data centers consume the most energy of all high tech industries, needing tons of electricity and water to cool stacks upon stacks of on-site computers. Approval of proposals like Project Double Reed by the GCEDC would give the go ahead for a mega center that fuels high end AI computing chips by drawing 250-350 MW of power. Supported by New York State taxpayer dollars to the astounding tune of over 472 million dollars in subsidies, this boils downs to a subsidy of 3.9 million for each of the 122 jobs that Double Reed promises to bring. As a point of comparison, according to GCEDC’s website, their support of light manufacturing at AppleTree Acres near the rural hamlet of Bergen will generate 60 new full time jobs with a salary range of $45 to 65,000 annually plus benefits. GCEDC’s report states this was launched with only 42 million in taxpayer dollars, about 1/ 10th of what is at stake with Double Reed at STAMP. a center that is laden with pertinent ethical questions regarding its potential effect on the neighboring Tonawanda Seneca Nation, the Wildlife Refuge and Oak Orchard Watershed.
Whom would the servers serve? In a paper that uncovers “how utilities are forcing ratepayers to fund discounted rates for data centers,” Ari Peskoe, Director of Harvard University’s Electricity Law Projects observes that “Artificial intelligence is one technology driving the number and size of data centers which don’t need subsidized energy rates if they are already receiving other incentives from a state to locate. We’re all paying for the energy costs of the world’s wealthiest corporations.” In effect, a mega data center at the STAMP site would require enough energy to power a city of 50,000 people in the Alabama cornfields. Placed next to the Wildlife Refuge and Tonawanda Seneca Nation, a massive data center of this type would forever alter the character of the region and bring a host of potential consequences.
What the Trojan Horse could bring: The public might well consider what happens if the computers in a data center overheat, which they are known to do. They can cause a huge fire and explosion. Local EMS services and the Alabama fire station would be hard pressed to deal with an emergency of this magnitude. What happens if the new substation with electrical power that a data center would use to cool their super fast and hot computer systems went down during an extreme weather event? For their part, a data center would stand to lose millions of dollars every hour, so they have generators on site along with 20 to 30 thousand gallons of diesel fuel. There are 40 known cancer-causing organic substances, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), benzene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acrolein, and 1, 3-butadiene released in the burning of diesel fuel, which is classified as "carcinogenic to humans" by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which links its emissions to lung cancer and bladder cancer. OSHA warns that workers exposed to diesel exhaust face the potential risk of health effects ranging from irritation of the eyes and nose, headaches and nausea, to respiratory disease and lung cancer. Based on warnings about health effects attached to the release of diesel fuel in the air, what the purported “gift” of a mega- industrial Trojan Horse of a data center could release on wildlife as well as humans would be equally toxic.
Due Deliberation? Fast Tracking the Vote on the Double Reed: Notwithstanding these weighty public concerns and their implications, on Feb 28, less than a month after the Feb 3 hearing, GCEDC posted a 116 page “Staff Report’ on their website addressing some of the objections raised at the public hearing of Feb 3 that generated a large such an outcry of public concern. Dismissing Tonawanda Seneca Chief Roger Hill and the public’s call for a new EIS and SEQR, in an interview with Mark Masse published on March 3 in the Batavian Masse tentatively stated he “felt” and/or “anticipated” Project Double Reed Data Center would meet the environmental thresholds of the 2012 EIS. “So the facility that they're going to be building (in STAMP) is going to be brand new. It'll have all of the lessons learned from previous projects […} So we anticipate it to fit within the parameters of what was analyzed for the EIS, and we would anticipate them to propose and follow through on any potential mitigation that we would suggest for noise or that the town board planning board may suggest for noise.” However, what is not clear who the ultimate user of a data center would be, as Double Reed would build the facility and lease the server capacity to one or more technology companies.
Within a matters of days - between the time GCEDC’s “staff report” came out on Feb 28 and the Executive Meeting of GCEDC held on March 5 (when it was recommended that their staff bring the vote on the Double Reed Project to the GCEDC Board at a meeting the following day on March 6) - a flurry of 210 comments were sent to GCEDC board members. Among the comments was a letter from the lawyer for the TSN protesting the fast tracking of the vote on approval of Double Reed and stating that the Tonawanda Seneca Nation needed more than a couple days before it could meet with Masse or GCEDC to discuss Double Reed, especially since the actual tenant for the site was still unknown.
On March 6 GCEDC committee members met to vote on the proposal to move forward with Double Reed at the STAMP site. Leaving work early once again, over a dozen, Genesee, Orleans, Niagara and Monroe County residents went to great lengths to attend the meeting. Complying, once again, to the rules of order that no one but committee members could speak, concerned citizens stood silently against the back wall by the table where five board members cast their vote on behalf of welcoming Double Reed, a project that would affect generations of Tonawanda Seneca and other human and environmental communities in the region. The protesters held placards that expressed both their objections to the data center as well as the way the vote was fast tracked without respecting to the requests of Tonawanda Seneca Nation. Shortly after the meeting was convened, a frustrated mother wheeling a baby carriage with a young child called out members of the board for the potential harm to the region and future generations.
Learning from Past Mistakes Infamously known for years as “the Silo” the Batavia Mall on Main Street stands as a testament to what many generations of local people have agreed was an unfortunate, short-sided decision made in the 1970s to capitalize on urban renewal funds. A city block featuring century-old downtown buildings, historic structures and heritage architecture on Batavia’s Main Street was demolished to make way for the Genesee Country Mall and City Centre. The character of the city was irrevocably altered and the mall has been bleeding taxpayer and tenants’ money ever since. Documenting the consequences of this decision, in 1991 Bill Kauffman, the popular author of “Dispatches from the Muckdog Gazette” wrote: "The city fathers rushed headlong into urban renewal, whereby the federal government paid Batavia to knock down its past {…]all of it Batavia tore out - literally - its five-block heart and filled the cavity with a ghastly mall, a dull gray sprawling oasis in a desert of parking spaces. The mall was a colossal failure, but it succeeded in destroying the last vestiges of our home-run economy.”
The Iroquois Wildlife Refuge and the ancestral lands of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation make this region unique. There is still time to RETHINK STAMP and ask whether a Mega Industrial project like a Data Center at STAMP is a “gift” to our region or a dull gray sprawling Trojan Horse misallocating millions of taxpayer dollars and releasing a swarm of lawsuits, ethical, social, health and environmental problems.
Christine F. Zinni, PhD
Cultural Historian
https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/the-staggering-ecological-impacts-of-computation-and-the-clo
By Wendy Wasner, West Seneca, NY
It’s that time of year when Oliver’s Candy Store in Batavia starts to fill up with cute chocolate bunnies. I love to visit Oliver’s Candies in Batavia during the springtime and walk around and just admire all the chocolate cuteness of the season. I love to look at the brightly colored foil eggs and other fun Easter treats. Fruity jellybeans fill the shelves and all sorts of fun chocolate figures and chocolate suckers. Perhaps you love white or ivory chocolate or maybe orange flavored chocolate. For me, I don’t think I ever met a chocolate I didn’t like.
Recently, I went into Olivers Candies Store and found a great price on after Valentine’s Day chocolates. I did have to get a milk chocolate heart that was wrapped so pretty with a red bow. It contained a red foiled heart as well as about six pieces of milk chocolate sponge candy. I was in chocolate heaven.
You know you’re a chocoholic when your T.O.P.S. (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) group is on the way to their State Recognition Day Events and you stop or insist that you stop at Oliver’s Candies on the travel route to the event. Yes, I instigated the stop at Oliver’s and it was worth every morsel of chocolate. I love pecan turtles, coconut clusters, orange chocolate, sponge candy and most chocolates! I especially love Oliver’s Candies milk chocolate peanut butter cups! I sometimes try to give up chocolate during the Lenten season, but I usually don’t succeed as the chocolate temptation is too much for me to not give in.
I also love the ice cream counter at Oliver’s Candies that always makes me think of spring and summer. When I think of Batavia, Oliver’s Candy store is the first thing that comes to mind. I daydream of the Easter chocolates displayed on all of the shelves and i can almost taste it! Yes, I love Oliver’s Candies in Batavia!
What, we're supposed to shut up and forget about those veterans and that war? Fifty-60 years ago, and most of those veterans approaching end of life? "Out of sight, out of mind"?
Donald Weyer
Batavia, NY
Vianiliz Rivera, Coordinator, CSP of Genesee, Orleans, Wyoming, and Niagara *Supported with funds from the State of New York
As March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, the Cancer Services Program of Genesee, Orleans, Wyoming, and Niagara would like to make sure everyone knows the facts about this disease. Here are some common beliefs that are just not true:
- Colorectal cancer is a disease of old age. This is false. It is true that most cases are found in people over the age of 50, but there has been a steady increase in colorectal cancer among people ages 20 to 49.
- All people who get colorectal cancer have a family history of the disease. This is false. While family history is a risk factor for colorectal cancer, family history accounts for only about 5 to 10 percent of cases. Eating a diet high in red and processed meats, smoking, and drinking alcohol are some other risks for colorectal cancer. These are risk factors you can change to lower your risk.
- Colorectal cancer is not preventable. This is false! Colorectal cancer can be prevented. Regular screening can find the growths that lead to cancer. These growths can then be removed. This prevents cancer! There are often no symptoms of colorectal cancer until the cancer has spread. That’s why getting screened on a regular basis is so important. It can help prevent colorectal cancer — or catch it early when it is easiest to treat.
If you are age 45 or older, talk to your health care provider about getting screened.
If you do not have health insurance, the Cancer Services Program is ready to help. We offer free colorectal cancer screening to uninsured people ages 45 and older. Now that you know the truth about colorectal cancer, don’t wait. Call us today at 716-278-4898.
It was 1988, and our youngest daughter came home from Batavia Middle School all excited about an author she had met as a guest speaker in her English class. She was telling us about a murder that happened not far from us. As a result, we got in the car and drove to Linden to see where this murder took place. She still has a copy of his book, Linden Murders: UNSOLVED, first published in 1984. This author inspired her to be excited about reading mysteries.
The first time I met the author, Bill Brown Jr., was when we were on the Holland Purchase Historical Society Board. After meeting him, I asked if he would be a guest speaker in my fourth-grade class. That began our friendship. He was an excellent addition to my classroom. He talked about being a writer and answered the children's questions. He then would return weekly to work with the children.
That year, when my class did their Famous Batavian Project, they chose Bill to be their class's famous Batavian. Part of their project was to draw a picture related to their person. The child, who was researching Mr. Brown, drew an image of the home he lived in with his family using an Opaque Projector. I just found out the picture hangs in the house of Bill's daughter, Betsy.
In 2000, I met someone very special to me, Ida Spiotta, a neighbor, and we would talk about what it was like to work on the muck. That gave me the idea to interview people and hear their stories. That was when I contacted Bill, and we worked together to write the book The Story of the Muck As Told by Those Who Worked There.
For those that have not heard of the muck, it was a part of Batavia's history that spanned from 1932 to 1952, when hundreds of men, women, and children worked on the muck, planting and nurturing crops and, months later, harvesting lettuce, spinach, onions, potatoes, and carrots. I presented my idea for a book to Bill, and he said, "You research it, I will write it." That was the beginning of a very special friendship with Bill Brown. I learned so much from him as we created this book together. The book was published in 2003.
These are the books Bill authored:
William F. Brown Jr. was born October 25, 1923, in Batavia, the son of William F. Brown Sr. and Monica Sellinger Brown. He graduated in 1941 from Batavia High School and graduated from Canisius College. He also studied at Yale and Fordham Universities. He served in WW II and worked for the Armed Forces Radio Service in Kokura, Japan.
He worked as public relations director for Batavia Downs and Buffalo Raceway for several years before becoming co-owner and manager of WBTA radio in 1968.
He won 16 statewide best editorial awards in his career from the New York State Broadcasters Association. He was a United States Harness Writer Association member for over 55 years, introduced into the Hall of Fame in 1991. He was the first chairman of the Board of Trustees for Notre Dame High School, a Saint Jerome trustee, and a board member of the Catholic Education Diocese of Buffalo. He was a lecturer and Eucharistic Minister at Resurrection Parish.
Mr. Brown married the former Elizabeth Farrell in Stamford, CT in 1947. She died in 1993. He was the father of four children, William F Brown III, survived by his wife Deborah, Elizabeth A. McGee (John), Robert F. Brown (Katie), and Bonny Peacock (Bob).
After a brief illness at 91, Bill passed away on Nov. 29, 2014.
Bill will be remembered by my daughter, my students, and myself as a very special friend. His involvement in many civic organizations, his awards, and the books he authored truly made him a famous Batavian.
By Angela Larmon of Batavia
“The enemy doesn’t come by boat; he arrives in a limousine.” These words feel especially relevant when considering the renewed push for the STAMP project.
If you grew up in Oakfield, like me, the term “STAMP Project” might stir faint memories from years past. But those memories never truly faded. Now, the project is ramping up again—despite a disastrous history of pipeline spills, covert dealings, and broken promises.
As adults, it’s our responsibility to ask tough questions of these polished businessmen who promise jobs and prosperity. And as we do, we must remember who has been consistently protecting the land—the Indigenous peoples. They are the guardians of 80% of the world’s biodiversity, including the sacred lands of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation, where their stewardship is critical.
When it comes to matters of land and environment, siding with the protectors of biodiversity is not just wise — it’s necessary for the well-being of future generations.
Let’s take a closer look at STAMP’s recent track record.
The STAMP Pipeline Spills
In August and September 2023, there were three ‘fracouts’ of hydraulic drilling fluid—a mixture of water and clay slurry—from the STAMP pipeline. These spills resulted in hundreds of gallons of fluid contaminating federally protected wetlands in the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge.Mark Masse, Vice President of Operations for the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) tried to downplay this environmental fallout by dismissively referring to the spilled material as “mud.” This attempt to minimize the severity of the situation is a red-flag. Such language demonstrates a fundamental disconnect from the principles of environmental science and the reality of the harm caused by these spills. This tone fosters divisiveness and undermines the collaborative efforts needed to protect both our natural resources and our communities.
In response to the frac-out spill, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service revoked a critical permit for constructing the wastewater pipeline in September 2024, following months of pressure from the Tonawanda Seneca Nation and its allies. Adding to this, the DEC reprimanded the GCEDC and its contractors for failing to promptly notify the proper authorities about the spills. While the contractors informed DEC staff on the day of the incident, they neglected to alert the Bureau of Ecosystem Health immediately, leaving drilling fluids in the wetlands for over two weeks. Cleanup didn’t begin until September 22, and wasn’t fully completed until recently.
Given this, it’s astonishing that local leaders would even consider continuing to work with contractors who have already demonstrated incompetence at best—or reckless dishonesty at worst.
At least Orleans County has had enough. In September 2023, they took legal action and filed a lawsuit in the state Supreme Court against the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC). They’re asking the court to stop the construction of the wastewater pipeline meant for the Science, Technology, and Advanced Manufacturing Park (STAMP).
The lawsuit claims that the GCEDC broke state law while trying to build the pipeline. It says that they created the Genesee Gateway Local Development Corp. (GGLDC) and STAMP Sewer Works in an illegal way. Orleans County also argues that the pipeline would seriously harm Oak Orchard Creek, which is important to the county’s fishing and tourism businesses.
The lawsuit further states that, because the GCEDC couldn’t get Orleans County’s permission to build the pipeline, it started illegally acquiring the necessary easements from property owners in Orleans County to build it.
“They started construction without having all their ducks in a row and did so at their own risk,” said Jennifer Persico, an attorney representing Orleans County. “This behavior is entirely consistent with their actions throughout this entire process.”
She’s right. The residents of Genesee County are supporting this pipeline at their own risk — risking the beautiful wetlands that are integral to the rural life we cherish here.
Are we really so desperate? So gullible?
The Fox Guarding the Henhouse
This brings us to an even larger issue: the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) itself. Steve Hyde, the former head of the GCEDC, made a suspicious amount of money while priming the STAMP location and courting big businesses to the area. He retired recently, but it’s worth questioning the motives behind this entire operation.The real problem lies in the GCEDC’s unchecked power over this situation. The GCEDC has been allowed to act as the “lead agency” for all aspects of the state’s SEQR environmental review process. Think about that for a moment: the same organization profiting from pushing the STAMP project is also responsible for overseeing its environmental compliance. This is a bold case of the fox guarding the henhouse.
Unsurprisingly, the environmental review process under the GCEDC’s leadership has been sloppy at best and negligent at worst. An independent review revealed Hyde’s salary and bonuses increased significantly during periods when he aggressively lobbied businesses to consider the STAMP site. Their profit motive creates a glaring conflict of interest, especially when you factor in their lackluster oversight.
Are we really supposed to trust the judgment of an agency that cuts corners on environmental protections while padding its own bottom line?
The Hollow Promises of Jobs
Politicians love making promises, especially the enticing kind. They’re not fools— they know Western New York is struggling, just like much of the working class across the country.So, when businessmen roll into town claiming the STAMP project will create 9,000 jobs, it’s easy for folks to trade their common sense for a sliver of hope. Senator Chuck Schumer and Governor Kathy Hochul, heralded STAMP as a beacon of high-tech opportunity, even going so far as to pressure the regulators to issue permits necessary -- causing violations of federal law and a state policy.
That was then. Now, they’re pivoting. Instead of the promised 9,000 high-tech jobs, the site will likely employ just a few hundred people—and it won’t be in advanced manufacturing. Instead, the focus has shifted to data centers.
Why the change? Because the developers have failed to attract tenants in advanced manufacturing or semiconductor production. As a result, they’re pivoting to data centers, which bring far fewer jobs but come with immense environmental costs.
Data centers come with massive environmental footprints. They consume staggering amounts of energy and water, emit greenhouse gases, and generate disruptive noise, light, and air pollution. These facilities are notorious for being terrible neighbors, degrading quality of life while straining local resources like the power grid.
But, of course, the suits insist their data center will be different. They assure us they can be trusted.
Sure — just like we could trust the pipeline’s construction.
GCEDC has even described their current process of reviewing applications from three different data center investor groups as a “sweepstakes.” But let’s be honest—there are no winners here, not for local residents, not for the community, and certainly not for the local environment.
This is the same gamble they’ve been selling for years. And based on STAMP’s history, the odds aren’t in our favor. Is it really worth risking the land, your home, and your community for a vague promise of development and jobs? In the future, will the data center be sold to another company? Will jobs be downsized as more automation makes human workers irrelevant?
It seems the developers have failed to attract advanced manufacturing tenants and are instead offering us this pivot—one that benefits them more than it ever will us.
A Call to Action
It’s time for local residents to step up and demand accountability. Attend your Town Board meetings and ask the hard questions: Who is truly benefiting from this project? Why are we continuing to partner with organizations that have already proven to be careless and self-serving?For those looking to get involved, check out the work being done by the Allies of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation. They’ve been tracking the STAMP project closely and advocating for the protection of our region’s natural resources and quality of life.
In closing, I anticipate that the Genesee County Economic Development Center will dismiss any significant concerns as hysterical or misinformed — after all, their primary objective is to quell worries and push business forward.
One cannot claim to care about the environment while continuing to disregard and disrespect the rights of Indigenous peoples. They are on the frontlines, combating the disastrous industrialization and destruction that directly fuel the climate crisis we face today. Ignoring their warnings is a grave mistake — they have been fighting to protect this land far longer than any of us.
Thus, it should go without saying: when it comes to matters of environmental preservation and land sovereignty, ensure you stand with the true guardians of biodiversity—the people of the land.
Time is ticking. Spread the word by informing others — let us not have businessmen pull the wool over our eyes.
All babies, and my house plants, in Batavia city, protest the nocturnal sonic and vibratory disruptions of the ether caused by the helicopters on their training missions.
The babies and their parents,as well as my house plants, have nothing against military preparedness; it is the timing of the training.
Couldn't the Genesee County helicopters join their brother drones in the skies over New Jersey for their "training" in the dark of night?
Donald Weyer
Batavia, NY
Letter to the Editor by Karyn Winters is Director of the Genesee County Business Education Alliance and Angela Grouse is Director of Education to Employment with the Livingston County Area Chamber of Commerce. Both served as Co-Chair of this year’s event:
Thanks to the dedicated volunteers, vendors, and students from across Genesee, Livingston, Orleans, and Wyoming Counties, the 6th annual GLOW With Your Hands: Manufacturing was once again another successful demonstration of hands-on career exploration for local students.
This workforce development program is designed to educate the next generation of employees in the skilled trades, advanced manufacturing, agriculture, and food production workforces.
The 6th annual event on September 24 welcomed 1,100 students and chaperones from 30 school districts across the GLOW region who connected with 200 representatives from more than 70 agencies, trades groups and businesses in hands-on activities and demonstrations that provided an exploration into careers and pathways into them.
Launched in 2019 with 800 students, GLOW With Your Hands Manufacturing has grown into the premier workforce development program in the region and continues to grow. With the addition of GLOW With Your Hands: Healthcare, a hands-on medical careers program held annually in March, more than 5,000 students have participated in GLOW With Your Hands events since 2019.
With the mounting student debt, it is essential that we educate students on cost-effective pathways into careers.
GLOW With Your Hands introduces students to careers that can be entered immediately after high school, as well as economical ways to pursue careers that require post-secondary training and education.
We continue to witness a significant influx of private sector investment across the region, fostering growth and innovation that is bringing in-demand, economically rewarding careers right to our backyards. This surge not only creates jobs but also enhances local economies, encourages workforce development, and attracts talent, ensuring that our communities thrive in an increasingly competitive workforce landscape.
We have built a workforce development ecosystem that equips students with the necessary skills that connect them to desirable careers resulting from company relocation and expansion projects. That ecosystem is on display annually at GLOW With Your Hands Manufacturing and Healthcare events.
Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our committee members, volunteers, and vendors, students interacted with local company representatives learning about careers and industries they may have never been aware of previously.
Our vendors are subject matter experts with on-the-job experience, and they were well-equipped and excited to answer students’ questions.
One of our participants highlighted the passion displayed by our company representatives “It is inspiring to see the number of businesses and representatives who are passionate about sharing their professional experience with us, a lot of students do not know what career they want to pursue, and this helped me get an idea of what companies are a part of the community.”
This is what GLOW With Your Hands is all about; there are so many great careers and companies available, and students deserve to learn what is possible right here in their own backyards as they move onto the next chapter of their lives.
The awareness and education that results from GLOW With Your Hands, has spurred an influx of increased enrollment in local apprenticeship and BOCES programs, where students can take their skillset to the next level, participating in earn-as-you-learn type programming.
We take pride in being the premier workforce development event in the region. Thank you to our platinum sponsors, National Grid, LandPro Equipment, and Rochester Davis-Fetch, and the dozens of other companies, unions, and agencies whose significant investment generated a successful event.
The third annual GLOW With Your Hands: Healthcare is just 5 months away from coming back to Genesee Community College where we welcome hundreds of GLOW region students to explore the opportunities available in the local healthcare industry.
Stay tuned for more details to come!
Letter to the editor from Joseph J. Zambon:
In her letter to "The Batavian," Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY24) wrote, "…the Biden-Harris administration and the Democratic party are trying to stifle American energy production, increasingly relying on imports from our adversaries”.
In reality, the U.S. has reduced its reliance on energy imports from adversaries due to increased domestic oil and natural gas production. Most energy imports come from friendly countries, with Canada accounting for the majority in 2022 and Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Brazil.
Before the Ukraine invasion, Russia represented about 3% of U.S. crude oil imports, but those imports are now banned. While the U.S. imports oil from OPEC countries like Saudi Arabia and Iraq, it banned imports from adversaries like Iran since the late 1970s. Venezuelan imports have also plummeted due to sanctions against the Maduro regime.
Though the U.S. does not rely on China for oil or gas, it does depend on China for rare earth minerals essential for renewable energy and electronics, raising concerns about future supplies of these critical materials.
In summary, the U.S. has reduced, not increased, energy imports from adversaries.
By: Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-24)
The United States is the largest producer of petroleum, natural gas, and nuclear energy in the world, yet the Biden-Harris administration and the Democratic party are trying to stifle American energy production, increasingly relying on imports from our adversaries to keep our economy afloat. To continue leading the world in innovation and finding new, cost-effective, and efficient ways to harness our natural resources, we must diversify our energy production and consumption while ensuring consumers are not priced out by regulations or government overreach.
In 2019, under the Trump administration, our country became energy independent for the first time since the 1950s— a significant accomplishment for our nation's prosperity and national security. Yet, progressives in Washington and Albany have taken an anti-American approach todomestic energy production. Somehow, their unscientific Green New Deal agenda has pitted them against the expansion of nuclear power and domestic production of natural gas. American natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel produced in the world, and nuclear power yields the highest megawatt-per-hour output of any form of energy at zero carbon cost. Democrats' opposition to these two in the name of climate change is not only hypocritical but dangerous.
American carbon dioxide emissions are now lower than they were in 1990, almost entirely due to domestic natural gas and nuclear power. Meanwhile, China has been ramping up its use of coal and importing larger quantities of crude oil by the year. China is now by far the largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, and the climate alarmists in Washington and Albany could seemingly care less. Maybe that’s because Governor Hochul employed a Chinese Spy? Instead, they continue to point fingers at Republicans trying to find realistic solutions to our nation’s energy needs.
The reality is that the fight against green policies has only ever been about one thing: control. From banning gas stoves to combustion engine vehicles, Democrats want to control every aspect of American's way of life through their Green New Deal agenda.
We do not have to choose between clean, affordable energy and protecting our environment. We can and must do both. In Congress, I am supporting a robust package of legislative initiatives to do just that—expand safe, clean, reliable American energy while continuing to be a good steward of our environment. Through common-sense conservation and pro-energy policies, we can do our part to preserve our planet's natural beauty for future generations while unleashing economic growth and prosperity.
Letter to the editor from Brittany Bozzer, Reality Check Youth Outreach Coordinator.
Every year on October 13, we observe Seen Enough Tobacco Day to raise awareness about the impact of tobacco marketing on youth and minorities. The day of action was established by members of Reality Check, a youth-based program in New York State.
Locally, Reality Check youth from Tobacco-Free Genesee, Orleans, and Wyoming (TF-GOW) used their creative talents to express startling statistics and health outcomes that will inspire their community to protect children like them from the billions of dollars of tobacco marketing in places where kids can see it.
The tobacco industry has spent decades avoiding the truth to sell their products. Juul Labs, an American e-cigarette company, recently settled a lawsuit that exposed its role in fueling the youth vaping epidemic. The company’s deceptive and misleading marketing glamorized vaping using fruity flavors that appealed to youth. They even claimed their products were safer than cigarettes.
To date, the FDA has authorized 34 tobacco and menthol-flavored e- cigarette products, yet more than 6,000 illegal, often fruit-flavored, vapes are still widely available online and in stores—many targeted at minors.
And menthol is more than just a flavor in tobacco products. It is used to addict young people by making nicotine easier to inhale and harder to quit. It’s no wonder that 22.5 percent of high school youth use e-cigarettes and over half of youth smokers between
12 and 17 use menthol cigarettes.There are resources to help teens quit. Programs like "Drop the Vape" provide free, 24/7 support through text messaging, proven to increase quit rates. In fact, adolescents with a history of vaping are 35 percent more likely to quit after using a text message-based program. To participate, teens can anonymously text "Drop The Vape" to 888709. The American Lung Association also offers essential tools to help break the addiction cycle at lung.org/quit-smoking.
I hope parents, teachers, schools, elected officials and all the members of our community will join me and our Reality Check youth in declaring that we’ve Seen Enough Tobacco and Vaping. By working together, we can build a tobacco-free generation -- on October 13 and every day.
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