A two-car accident with injuries is reported in the area of 10778 Alexander Road, Attica.
There is no entrapment.
The location is in front of Mooche's Auto Glass.
Alexander fire and ambulance responding along with Mercy EMS.
Traffic on Route 98 is being shut down in both directions.
UPDATE 5:50 p.m.: Correction: No Mercy ambulances available. Bethany's ambulance was dispatched. A chief on scene says Bethany can stand by in its hall.
A severe thunderstorm warning was issued at 4:10 p.m. by The National Weather Service office in Buffalo.
It is in effect until 4:45 p.m.
At 4:09 p.m. a severe thunderstorm was located over Batavia moving northeast at 75 mph. Wind gusts of up to 70 mph are a hazard. Up to three-quarters of an inch of hail are possible.
The weather service says: Expect considerable tree damage. Damage is likely to mobile homes, roofs, and outbuildings.
This area of impact includes the following highways: Interstate 390 between exits 11 and 12; and Interstate 90 between exits 48 and 46.
For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building.
Also, a high wind warning is in effect until 10 p.m.
A "motorcycle versus mailbox accident with injury" is reported at 1018 Lewiston Road, Basom. The operator is conscious, alert and sitting down. Alabama Fire Department is responding along with Mercy medics. The location is between Casey and Crosby roads.
A reduction in state aid for the Alexander Central School District is contributing to the district's need to raise property taxes by 38 cents per thousand of assessed value for 2018-19 even though overall spending will be reduced from this academic year.
Voters in the district will be asked to approve the proposed budget May 15.
The district is asking to spend $17,704,810 next fiscal year, a reduction in operational spending of $293,367.
State financial aid, which makes up more than half the district's budget, is being reduced by $193,685. Building aid is being reduced as well by $565,851.
The proposed tax levy, the total amount collected through property taxes, is $6,159,675, compared to $6,050,850 this year, an increase of $108,825.
That levy would put the property tax rate at $21.51, or 38 cents more than this year, per thousand of accessed value.
Catherine Huber, Ed.D., superintendent of schools, said the budget is responsible and meets the needs of students.
"We always, of course, focus on developing fiscally responsible budgets," Huber said. "To talk a little bit about a fiscally responsible budget and the things we were able to do with our last budget. With that budget, we were able to maintain staff and programs.
"With that budget we were able to build capacity in our school district by bringing on a school social worker, by bringing on an ESL teacher to build the capacity for when students come to us with varied needs their needs can be met."
With the proposed budget, the district will also be able to build capacity.
"If anybody was at our last board meeting, you heard about the expansion of our agriculture program," Huber said. "It's an exciting expansion for Alexander. We also are proposing the addition of an instrumental music teacher. Did you know that we have 300 students in grades four through 12 -- out of 800 students in the school system -- (who) participate in music?
"We just had a sampling tonight of what the quality of our programming is, so to expand that program is something we can sustain over time and something we're really proud of."
A key proposal in the budget is the addition of a school resource officer. An SRO is a member of law enforcement -- in this case, a deputy from the Sheriff's Office -- who is posted at a school full time throughout the school year.
Sheriff William Sheron attended Wednesday's public hearing and encouraged voters to approve the proposal.
He said in this day and age, an SRO isn't a "nice to have." It is a "must have."
"The officer protects the individuals here, the students, the faculty, the visitors that come in here," Sheron said. "He will interact with all the children. He will also be a mentor with the children in the school."
The SRO program has worked out very well at BOCES and Byron-Bergen Central School, Sheron said.
"The SRO is a resource for children go to when they don’t feel comfortable going to a teacher or an aide," Sheron said. "You create those relationships and those children will come to you. They’ll have faith in you. They’ll have confidence in you and they’ll share things with that officer that they wouldn’t share with anybody else."
Some budget highlights:
Tim Batzel, the district's finance director, said at Wednesday's hearing that in June the district will make its final payment on a $17.9 million bond that was financed in 1998 primarily for addition of the Middle School. As a result, next year's budget reflects a 66-percent ($530,000) drop in bond payments and a 21-percent drop in interest payments ($23,303).
Lighting upgrades continue to reduce the cost of utilities, Batzel said, and for the second year in a row, the district is benefiting from a 9- to 10-percent reduction in workers' compensation insurance.
After the hearing, during what the board calls "the roundtable," Board Member John Slenker made a statement with an apparent reference to recent school board meetings where multiple parents used public comments to voice complaints and concerns about child safety issues and whether the Code of Conduct is fairly applied. The story was reported by The Batavian.
"I would just like to remind parents that the school board is a very important function," Slenker said. "It is also voluntary. We’re not paid. The people who sit up here take the safety and education of your children very seriously. We have 15 current, future and former children among us. The other part I would like to say, it’s been an absolute honor serving with Reed Pettys and working with Catie. They are some of the best people I have ever met."
Pettys, currently board president, is stepping down following the completion of his term in June.
There is also one open seat on the school board up for election and only one declared candidate. The candidate is Sara Fernaays. The Batavian attempted to interview Fernaays after Wednesday's meeting. We wanted to ask her thoughts on the budget, the SRO, and other issues and Fernaays declined. She said she feared granting an interview would cause trouble with the school district.
The school district has a policy that prohibits school board members from speaking individually with reporters.
The Genesee County Women's Republican Club will host the 2018 Spring Breakfast from 9 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 19, at Ascension Parish Hall in Batavia.
Enjoy a full breakfast buffet catered by the Dibble Family Center.
Cost is $20 per member and $25 per nonmember; you can sign up for membership at the event.
The parish hall is located at 15 Sumner St.
This year's "Caring for America Charity" is the Alzheimer's Association.
For more information, contact Melissa M. Haacke at 314-4501.
RSVP by May 7 to:
Michele Smith
20 Canterbury Lane
Bergen NY 14416
or via email at:
Reader James P. Bradman sent us a photo of this female dog found running around West Main Street in Batavia near Settler's restaurant. "Apparently there was another small white dog with her that we were unable to find," he says.
An animal control officer has taken this one with the jaunty pistachio-colored bandana kerchief to the shelter. The shelter's phone number is 343-6410.
Press release:
Twenty-seven-year-old Marquele Tomlin, of Batavia, has been playing the Lottery since he turned 18. The auto shop bodywork expert said he never won more than $50, but kept playing because he thought, “Maybe someday I’d have a day like this.” Tomlin and his girlfriend of eight years, Amber Blackshear, recently claimed a $1,000,000 top prize on the $1,000,000 Double Sided Dollars scratch-off game. Tomlin purchased the couple’s ticket during a quick stop at their local Rite Aid to wire some money to his mother.
“I had a $20 winner that I exchanged for 10 $1 tickets and two $5 tickets,” he said. “I bought the tickets home and we scratched them just standing around the kitchen Island. She ended up with the big one.”
“We brought it back to the store to be sure and even the machine said ‘Big Winner,’” Blackshear said. “I got all excited; maybe too excited because Marquele told me I had to calm down.”
Blackshear, 23, said she believes fate had a hand in the couple’s windfall. “After eight years together, we broke up for awhile. The day we won was our first day back together as a couple.”
The couple opted to receive their prize as a one-time lump sum payment in the amount of $400,000 each. They will each receive a net check totaling $268,720 after required withholdings.
The two plan to use their respective shares of the prize to invest in a house for their growing family, which includes two toddlers. “I’d like one with a pool,” said Blackshear.
When asked what it felt like to be a Lottery Millionaire Tomlin said simply, “Ahhhhhhhhh. We did it!”
Blackshear said the win is a dream come true. “Now we can do anything as individuals or as a family,” she said. “It’s a feeling you can’t explain.”
The winning ticket was purchased at Rite Aid at 601 E. Main St. in Batavia.
The New York Lottery contributed $13,874,189 in Lottery Aid to Education to school districts in Genesee County during fiscal year 2016-2017.
There are more than 1,000 pieces of student artwork, from middle and high school students, on display in the foyer of the Alexander Central School Auditorium and Wednesday's school board meeting, Trustee Rich Guarino drew attention to it and to the jazz ensemble that performed prior to the meeting.
He said he's heard over the years how students who perform music and participate in fine arts do better academically and he said that may just be anecdotal but he tends to believe it.
"I see the kids who are in the music program or the visual fine arts program and those are often the kids I see in other activities that the school has and it’s great to see," Guarino said.
Actually, there is some evidence that students who play music tend to do better academically. That seems to apply across artistic disciplines.
According to Guarino, more than half the students in the elementary grades are learning to play a musical instrument.
"That's a huge percentage and it's great," Guarino said.
Voters tonight approved the Richmond Memorial Library's 2018-19 budget with an 88 percent yes vote out of 214 votes tallied.
The budget increases spending by $24,878.
There were 30 no votes.
Gregg McAllister was elected to a five-year term on the library's Board of Trustees, filling a vacancy to be left by Jennifer Reardon at the expiration of her term next month.
The second consecutive year, the team in the Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Center at UMMC received the Robert A. Warriner III, M.D., Center of Excellence Award.
UMMC achieved patient satisfaction rates of higher than 92 percent and a healing rate of at least 91 percent in less than 30 median days to heal. The award was presented by Healogics, the nation's largest provider of advanced wound care services.
Pictured are: Emily Casaceli, Dr. Samar Alami, Lisa Albanese, Monika Ghise, Alicia Ryan and Holly Siverling in the first row. In the back, Alecia Grandy, Teresa Conti, Dr. Joseph Canzoneri, Dr. John Wickett and Sharon Grimes.
A corrections officer has requested a response from Batavia PD to deal with a group of people on Porter Avenue who are reportedly throwing bricks at the Genesee County Jail.
No description available.
The C.O. says a supervisor is out on Porter Avenue now.
UPDATE 8:48 p.m.: A responder just drove up Porter and didn't see anything.
UPDATE 8:49 p.m.: A supervisor was out with two females. The women have moved on. An officer says they may have been girlfriends of inmates trying to get their attention.
The workload for the County's IT department continues to increase and the need for reliable cybersecurity continues to grow, so Information Technology Director Steve Zimmer told county legislators on Wednesday that he needs more help.
He needs a deputy director immediately and another security analyst to work in the Sheriff's Office in 2019.
It appears he's getting both of his wishes. The committee approved a recommendation that a current vacant position be upgraded to deputy director at an additional cost of $20,000 for the remainder of the year (anticipated salary for the position is more than $70,000 annually).
Committee members also encouraged Zimmer to start his search to hire a new security specialist in July so the new hire can start on the first day of the next budget yet, Jan. 1.
Zimmer pointed to major cyber attacks and ransomware infiltrations in Atlanta, Baltimore, Lincoln County, Ohio, and at ECMC, which cost the hospital $10 million in remediation.
“We’re spending a considerable amount of time looking at our logs, looking at our firewalls, our anti-virus appliances, trying to make sure we’re doing our due-diligence," Zimmer said. "I’m losing time every day to this stuff."
He said public safety needs at least two full-time people and right now he has one full-time person there and one person who has been taken away from other duties to help.
That means, he says, other IT tasks are being delayed.
Another major headache, Zimmer said, is the situation over at the Department of Social Services, which has long been part of the state DSS network but now the state is pushing much of the infrastructure off on the county.
There are three IT employees there who are not part of Zimmer's department holding together an outdated computer network.
"It is one of two DSS agencies in the state that doesn’t digitize anything," he said. "It’s all paper."
The state delivered 100 "zero-client" computers (meaning all software is on a server, not on the desktop) to DSS but they can't be deloyed because the network won't support them unless it's upgraded to 100 megabits. Currently, it's five megabits.
"(The upgrade is ) never going to happen, so this stuff is going to sit on a pallet shrink wrapped until the cows come home or we get together with state IT and figure out how to upgrade that network or we can get them on our network," Zimmer said.
Problems like these, he said, he doesn't have time to deal with because of so much time of his time is spent monitoring security threats.
A statement from Joan Elizabeth Seamans:
There is always a lot of talk about changing Albany in election years. Yet, the only way to truly change Albany is to stop sending the same old politicians back.
We have a diverse district, with people from many walks of life. This district has multimillion dollar homes, a rural community, and families living in poverty. Taxes are high and the needs of our communities are great.
Our great state can meet the needs of New Yorkers and at the same time be fiscally responsible. The question will always remain, “Who or what is benefiting from our tax dollars?”
Wealthy developers downstate continue to fund my opponent's campaign while receiving tax breaks in the hundreds of millions. Corporate welfare takes money from our communities here in WNY. My opponent is the protector of the LLC loophole and this is just one of the reasons he needs to be replaced.
We need to invest in our people. Invest in stellar education for our children. Invest in workforce training and trade schools. If we invest in people, our economy will grow. We need to replace worry with hope. We need to put people before politics. We need to change Albany and I am ready to do it.
Rather than borrow $4 million with a 20-year payback to finance several energy-saving projects at county buildings, which was meeting some stiff opposition from some members of the County Legislature, a new plan for the county to loan itself the money for the contract with Johnson Controls went over well Wednesday at the Ways and Means Committee meeting.
County Highway Superintendent Tim Hens presented the proposal yesterday and was told to return at the next Ways and Means meeting with a resolution the committee can vote on.
The plan would: use $1.1 million that the county needs to spend anyway on some need capital improvement projects; use $1 million from the building equipment reserve; and borrow $1.8 million from the infrastructure fund.
The county would pay its money saved from the lower energy costs to pay back its infrastructure fund at 2-percent interest. Over the 10-life of the loan, the county would pay itself more than $200,000 in interest that would flow back into the infrastructure fund.
That's a lower interest rate than proposed for the original $4 million loan, which is 3.5 percent, and lower than the 5-percent interest County Treasurer Scott German estimated a municipal bound would cost.
Over the 20-year life of the contract with Johnson Controls, by paying off the entire cost of the contract in the first 10 years, the county will realize the benefit of an additional $800,000 in energy savings in that second 10 years. That money would have been paid toward the loan if the whole $4 million was financed by Bank of America.
Hens also discussed another proposal floated by some members of the legislature two weeks ago, that the county put down $1 million on the loan. That would also save the county money, but not as much as the self-financing option.
"I think it is a good deal for the county under all three scenarios," Hens said. "The self-funding option is by far the most beneficial to the county in terms of savings to the county and return on the investment."
Most of the opposition to the original proposal came from legislators Gary Maha and Andrew Young. Young could not attend Wednesday's meeting and Maha didn't express any objections -- nor strong support -- for the revised plan.
Marianne Clattenburg, Shelly Stein, Bob Bausch and Gordon Dibble all seemed to react favorably. Greg Torrey didn't express an opinion either way.
Legislator John Hilchey was particularly enthusiastic.
"There are very few times that a government can spend money and have it pay for itself," Hilchey said. "You can put a new road in; you can put a new bridge in; you can build a new jail. They don’t pay for themselves. This is an opportunity to make an expenditure that will pay itself back. To me it makes sense."
Press release:
Genesee County Office for the Aging and Independent Living of the Genesee Region (ILGR) will be holding a FREE six-week Chronic Disease Self-Management (CDSM) workshop for the community, beginning on Friday, May 11.
Those who attend the CDSM workshops will be shown practical steps to gain control of their daily health concerns.
Participants will learn about healthy eating, problem-solving, action plans, medications, weight management, physical activity, sleep, and relationship communication skills.
The workshop information is relevant for those experiencing chronic conditions such as: arthritis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), cystic fibrosis, diabetes, and eating disorders.
The workshop is taking place at 2 Bank St., Batavia, at the Genesee County Office for the Aging, from 9:30 AM to noon over six Friday’s; the dates are May 11, May 18, May 25, June 1, June 8 and June 15th.
Participants who complete the series will receive free materials and a gift card.
Preregistration by Wednesday, May 9, is required.
You can receive more information, and sign up for the workshop by contacting Donna Becker at (585) 815-8501, ext. 411.
Independent Living of the Genesee Region (ILGR) is a member of the Western New York Independent Living Inc. family of agencies that offers an expanding array of services to aid individuals with disabilities to take control of their own lives.
Press release:
Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27) will host a ceremony to honor any Vietnam era veteran from 4 to 5 p.m. on Friday May 11th at the Batavia City Centre.
Veterans who are interested in receiving a pin from The United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration are encouraged to contact his office to confirm their eligibility and RSVP for the ceremony.
“This year we commemorated the first National Vietnam War Veterans Day to recognize the brave individuals who served in our nation’s military during the Vietnam War years,” Collins said. “I’m honored to have the opportunity to meet Vietnam veterans in my district and distribute these special pins.”
Any veteran who served in Vietnam is eligible for a pin and should contact Alex Gould in the Congressman’s office at (716) 634-2324 for more information on obtaining one.
May 11
4 o'clock
Batavia City Hall, Board Room
1 Batavia City Centre
Batavia, NY 14020
The Genesee County Legislature approved such a position in the 2018 position and yesterday, the county's new compliance officer, Kimberly Mills, was introduced to the Legislature at the Ways and Means Committee meeting held at Genesee Community College's new Student Success Center.
As soon they met her, the committee also agreed to a proposal from County Manager Jay Gsell to increase her new duties. She will also be the county's privacy officer.
Mills is a graduate of Oakfield-Alabama High School, started her college education at GCC, earned her bachelor's degree in Accounting at Roberts Wesleyan University, and her master's in Accounting from the University at Buffalo School of Management.
She's originally from Alabama and now lives in Oakfield.
One reason the job interested her, she said, is she has a passion for Genesee County.
"It’s a new position," Mills said. "I knew it would be a lot of work but I’m always one for new projects and working on new things."
Prior to becoming the compliance officer she was an accountant with Freed Maxick CPAs.
A new, spacious headquarters for Mercy Flight/Mercy EMS will serve as a much-needed home away from home once the ribbon is cut on the new facility off Route 98 in Batavia on May 21.
"I’m looking forward to the crews being able to move into a home," said Bill Schutt, business development manager for Mercy EMS. "That was the whole gist of this thing -- give them a home while they were at work.
"They spend a lot of time here. They spend a lot of shifts here. They spend a lot of time together, probably more so than families. Holiday time when we’re home enjoying our family, they're here still working."
The 12,000-square-foot facility has bays for ambulances in half the space and the other half contains offices, storage, showers, a workout area, a day room, a quiet room, a kitchen suitable for crews to enjoy meals with their families, and a large conference room.
"The space is large enough to house the ambulances, keep them out of the weather and to provide everything the crews need throughout their 12- or 24-hour shifts," said Scott Wooton, VP of finance for Mercy Flight. "If they’re here for a 24-hour shift, they need to be able to prepare food. They need to be able to wash their uniform if they come back from a call where their uniform is soiled.
"They need to be able to rest. They need to be able to sit down and chart stuff. This has been a need right from the start. It’s only that it’s taken nine years for us to put all the pieces together and make it happen."
The $2.5 million facility was largely financed through assistance from M&T Bank and the Genesee County Economic Development Center, which was able to provide tax-exempt financing.
That assistance was critical to making the new building possible, Wooton said.
"We certainly don’t have that much cash on hand so we couldn’t do it without the financing and being able to do it in a tax-exempt way keeps that interest rate more manageable for us and spread it out in a way that the monthly payments are more manageable," Wooton said.
David Ciurzynski, business development manager with Manning Squires Hennig, said one of the key features of the new building is its energy efficiency. The large garage doors that are all glass will allow a lot of natural light into the ambulance bays and all lighting throughout the building is LED. The energy efficiency will help Mercy EMS reduce its operating costs.
The pre-engineered building also helped reduce costs and accelerate construction time.
"We were able to keep the construction period tight so they can get in and get it in use as quickly as possible," Ciurzynski said. A pre-engineered building allows you a lot of flexibility on time because components come quickly but it also gives you a very handsome building they can use for years to come and it’s exapandable."
Press release:
As he began the process of putting together this spring’s concert program, all Genesee Chorale Director Ric Jones could sense was turmoil in the world. He felt that there was a large divide in the world, a divide that seemed to grow larger every day. He wanted to counteract that divide and encourage people to embrace unity and peace.
Thus was born “The Call of Humanity,” a mix of contemporary, Gospel, choral and classical music, including the debut of one piece written specifically for the Genesee Chorale.
“I tried to do a variety of mini-themes within the program,” says Jones. “Prayer,” in the words of Mother Teresa, is about helping the needy. Other selections, such as “We Shall Overcome,” “Harriet Tubman” and “MLK,” address civil rights and some of the mega figures who have had an impact on that movement. The lyrics of “Across the Bridge of Hope” come from a poem written by a group of young friends in Ireland; one of the boys was killed in the fighting shortly after their poem was written.
Two pieces form the foundation of the concert program, “Song of the Universal” by Ola Gjeilo from a Walt Whitman poem, and “The Waking,” written for the Genesee Chorale by Composer-in-Residence Daniel Baldwin from a Theodore Roethke poem.
“Song of the Universal” was the first piece to “grab” Jones as he went through the selection process. “The text is beautiful,” he said, “and I love the composer. I kept going back to it. I decided I’d make it the centerpiece.”
“The Waking” stems from Jones’ desire to find “something different that inspires the Chorale and brings the community into Chorale.”
Luckily, GO ART! grant money was available, so, with the blessing of the Chorale’s Board, Jones began the fun and frustrating process of choosing text and composer for an original piece. He and his wife, Karen, pored over “a ton of different poems,” but kept coming back to Theodore Roethke’s famous poem. “I liked the rhythm in the text,” says Jones, “and I like the overall message.”
The text was also an inspiration for Baldwin, the composer chosen by Jones.
“The majority of text chosen for me to set is older and in the public domain,” Baldwin said in an e-mail interview. “The poem (Jones) sent was contemporary and very well done, but also spoke to me in a way I was not expecting. When writing vocal or choral music, text is the most important element and must flow naturally (speech, even conversational speech, has its own rhythms, etc.).”
For Baldwin, the text is the beginning.
“I always write out the poem by hand and apply rhythms to the text based on what feels natural when reading the poem aloud,” he said. “Then, based on the message and perceived mood of the poem, I assign themes to these rhythms, harmonize, etc. It’s a process!”
Baldwin hopes that people “read through the wonderful text in advance of hearing the piece. A vocal or choir performance is the musical equivalent to a dramatic reading. I set the poem how I heard it and how the text affected me. I hope the audience enjoys my interpretation.”
Jones has published some of Baldwin’s other works as part of his Imagine Music business.
“I love his music,” he said, “and I’ve watched him evolve. His music feels cinematic to me usually – that epic sound with grandiose chords. I wanted to see what he’d do with this text.”
What Baldwin did was surprise Jones.
“This was more on the contemporary side,” Jones said. “It is different than I expected, and the first time I heard it, I went ‘hmmm,’ but as I listened, there was something haunting about that motif.” It is, he notes, a challenging piece and Chorale members have had to work hard to prepare it for the concert.
Concerts are at 7 p.m. May 4 at St. James Church and at 4 p.m. May 6 at Pavilion Junior-Senior High School Auditorium, 7014 Big Tree Road., Pavilion. Presale tickets cost $8 and are available from Chorale members or online at GeneseeChorale.com. Tickets at the door cost $10.
Photos by Howard Owens.
A former resident of Maple Street has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for shooting a person in the area of Thorpe and Maple streets in the city in September.
Tyshawn K. King, 25, who was apprehended shortly after the shooting, was originally charged with attempted murder. He entered a guilty plea to criminal possession of a weapon, 2nd, on Feb. 27.
He was sentenced in Genesee County Court by Judge Charles Zambito.
Police responded to Thorpe and Maple on Sep. 20 after receiving a report of a fight in progress. While in route, there was a report of a gunshot.
Upon arrival, they located a victim with gunshot wounds to his hand and abdomen.
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