batavia

A two-vehicle accident is reported at the roundabout in Batavia. There are injuries and Mercy EMS and the Batavia Fire Department are responding. Batavia police are on scene, at South Main and Walnut streets.

UPDATE (6:45 p.m.): Personnel there say extrication is needed.

UPDATE (7:05 p.m.): The "extrication" consisted of prying back a dented door to allow the passenger inside to get out. Injuries are minor. This accident involved a minivan and a four-door sedan.

An Elmira stepmother was found guilty of manslaughter today in the death of a 21-month-old toddler from Batavia.

Melissa Engelhardt, 24, was convicted in a non-jury trial. Chemung County Judge Peter C. Buckley found Engelhardt not guilty of second-degree murder.

Andrew Cianfrini, of Batavia, died Nov. 10, while in the care of Engelhardt.

An autopsy found methanol in the child's body. Methanol lowers the temperature of water to prevent it from freezing. It can be fatal if ingested. Methanol was also found in the toddler's sippy cup.

(Read the full story from the D&C).

Jessica Wassink's first-grade class at John Kennedy School got a visit from their assemblyman today.

Steve Hawley walked into the class at 2 p.m. and was eagerly greeted by the young students -- some of the boys even wore ties for the occasion.

They immediately began fielding their suggestions for legislation. Hawley talked some about what goes on in Albany and answered their questions, keeping everything in terms they could understand.

An arsonist who tried to kill his ex-girlfriend's father will spend 20 years in prison, Judge Robert C. Noonan ruled today.

The sentencing of Andre L. Scott came near the close of a bizarre hearing in which Scott let it be known that he thought a juror in his trial behaved improperly, that his constitutional rights were violated in a previous conviction out of Monroe County, and that his ex-girlfriend perjured herself under pressure from Batavia Police detectives.

He also accused the detectives of tampering with evidence.

"Everybody in this courtroom knows what happened," Scott said. "They took my DNA and put it on there, on the evidence."

Since Scott's conviction on Aug. 31 following a jury trial, the 31-year-old former Rochester resident fired his trial attorney, Thomas Burns, and was assigned local defense attorney Fred Rarick.

Today, Scott let it be known that he plans to appeal his conviction.

A jury found that Scott attempted to kill his ex-girlfriend's father by pouring gasoline on the stairs of the man's Batavia residence at 12 Elm St. and setting it afire in February 2009. 

He was convicted of attempted murder, arson and burglary.

"The defendant started a fire in the stairwell where, if he had been successful, it could have resulted in the death of four people in that residence," District Attorney Lawrence Friedman said. "Only through the prompt response of the fire department did it become a situation where nobody was harmed.

"His continued attitude, and what he said to probation during the presentence investigation, communicates loud and clear that, unless I've missed something, I see no mitigating factors to suggest this defendant should get any less than the maximum, 25 years."

Given a chance to speak in his own defense, Scott immediately launched into a rambling complaint about wanting to file a 330 motion (a motion contesting his conviction), but the jail didn't send it over in a timely manner, the court didn't get it, and something about a juror who is related to somebody who works in corrections.

Noonan tried to get Scott back on track, at which point Scott started to complain about evidence being tampered with and asking that the evidence in his case be taken out of Batavia Police custody.

Noonan cut him off.

"One thing I've noticed about you, Mr. Scott, from the very first time you came before me, is that you focus on entirely different matters than what everybody else is focused on," Noonan said. "You make allegations that have no basis in fact and bring up issues not being discussed, and anyone -- including your own counsel -- who tries to  get you to focus (is ignored).

"When I give you every opportunity to tell me what sentence should be imposed, you go off on where evidence is stored and 'what everybody knows,' whatever that means."

After telling Scott that he "committed one of the most serious crimes in our law," Noonan pronounced sentence and then asked if the district attorney's office had any requests for orders of protection.

Friedman requested orders of protection for Scott's ex-girlfriend, her father and one of the witnesses in the case.

"Any objections?" Noonan asked in what is normally a very routine matter at criminal sentencing.

"No, your honor," said Rarick.

"Yes," said Scott loudly, going on to say that his ex-girlfriend had spoken with his mother after she testified and said that police had threatened her if she didn't lie on the witness stand.

After some consultation with his client, Rarick offered up Scott's objection.

Noonan ruled that, if in the circumstance that Scott winds up representing himself and needs to interview her, the order can be modified, otherwise he was issuing the order of protection.

A 55-year-old Batavia woman is accused of forging her boss's signature on company checks and depositing the funds in her personal bank account.

Deborah Dutton faces a federal charge of making and possessing forged checks. The maximum penalty is 10 years in prison or a $250,000 fine or both.

Dutton is accused of stealing in the neighborhood of $77,000 from her employer, A1 Sheet Metal Company.

The arrest is the result of an investigation by Special Agents of the U.S. Secret Service, under the direction of Special Agent-In-Charge Tracy Gast.

A mechanical Halloween display at Boces malfunctioned and caught fire about 15 minutes ago. People at the school, located at 8250 State St. Road in Batavia, put the fire out. A fire engine from the City of Batavia was called in, nonemergency mode, to check out the situation and ensure all is safe.

Latifa Aminya Abdullah-Muhammad, 19, of Tibbets Road, Medina, and Merle Franklin Agee, 19, of Ontario Avenue, Niagara Falls, are charged with disorderly conduct. Abdullah-Muhammad and Agee were reportedly at 8204 Park Road, Batavia, at 7:54 p.m., Sunday, where they allegedly used abusive and obscene language while in a public place.

Porfirio Diaz Gomez, 35, of Merriman Road, Byron, has been charged with illegal entry. Gomez was taken into custody at 5:15 a.m., Sunday by Deputy Frank Bordonaro and turned over the the U.S. Border Patrol.

A motor-vehicle accident with injuries has been reported at State Street Roads and South Bennett Heights Road, Batavia.

Town of Batavia Fire and Mercy EMS are responding.

First responder reports one car is in a corn field, the other is on the road.

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More than 100 members of the local legal and law enforcement community were at Bohn's tonight to pay tribute to Linda Giambrone, who is retiring after 39 years of service as a clerk at City Court.

Giambrone started her career in 1971 and became chief clerk in 1976.

Speakers praised Giambrone for her knowledge of the court system, her memory for repeat offenders and her kindness toward all the people she came in contact with.

Above, judges Michael Del Plato, left, and Robert Balbick present her with a certificate of appreciation.

Officials were on hand today at the new surgical wing of United Memorial Medical Center for the setting of the cornerstone.

Above, masons Ken Maurer, left,  and Jeff Crevier, set the cornerstone into place.

The expansion project represents a $19.5 million investment by the hospital. It will contain five new technologically advanced operating suites, a treatment room and 19 recovery beds. The project is scheduled to be finished by Dec. 15.

After the brief ceremony, guests were invited to tour the still-under-construction facility.

More pictures after the jump:

CEO Mark Schoell addresses the group on hand for the cornerstone setting.

Schnoell with Rev. Ken Comer watching Maure and Crevier place the cornerstone.

Brian and Michelle Trott are to the left in this picture with their children Brandon and Ashley. Michelle is the architect for the UMMC expansion. She was born at UMMC and her parents still reside in Bethany. Brian is the architect for Pembroke Central Schools.

Schoell called this "the big room." It's the biggest of the surgery suites.

An accident has been reported in the Target parking lot, between the store and the AT&T Store.

One person is complaining of a head injury.

Mercy EMS and Town of Batavia Fire are responding.

UPDATE 4:11 p.m.: A fire crew is standing by at headquarters. A chief reports, "the fire department isn't needed here." The first responding Mercy ambulance said the second ambulance could go back in service.  Also, the fire chief on scene has requested that law enforcement respond.

When Nick LaFarnara was a kid, his father opened a pet store in Batavia and Nick worked there from the time he was 5 years old.

He loved it.

But when Anthony LaFarnara was injured in a work-related accident at Doehler-Jarvis, the family had to close the pet store.

But young Nick never forgot.

"That was it," said LaFarnara. "I just couldn't get it out of my system."

In October 1985, LaFarnara and his ex-wife, reopened the store at a location on Ellicott Street. Although LaFarnara would later remarry and move the store to its current location at 33 Liberty St., Batavia, it is still going.

Neptune's Garden specializes in fish -- lots of fish, exotic and freshwater and saltwater and just plain old guppies and goldfish. It's also a favorite place for birds and reptiles.

Occasionally, they have kittens or puppies available for adoption and they also make a bulletin board available for anybody who has a pet to give away.

"Even though we don't make any money on it, it's better than seeing a pet killed," said Kathy LaFarnara, Nick's wife of about 10 years.

Kathy met Nick when she was a legal secretary for an attorney handling Nick's divorce. He told her he owned a pet store.

"I thought, 'big whoop,'" Kathy said. "I'm allergic to everything in your store."

As somebody who grew up never owning pets, she soon fell in love with having animals around.

"They run up to the door to greet you, they sleep in your bed, they just love you, and I realized, 'this is great,'" Kathy said. "I take a lot of medicine to work here."

Kathy mostly handles the birds, the reptiles, the grooming and the saltwater fish. Nick takes care of ordering, the freshwater fish and pretty much everything else.

Besides selling pets, the LaFarnaras give tours to local schoolchildren and bring pets into schools so they can learn about different kinds of animals.

"We tell them what it's like to own a business, take care of the pets and never get to take a vacation," Kathy said.

A person alerted me earlier that a parking enforcement officer was on Center Street chalking tires. I went out to try and get a picture, but couldn't find him, only the chalked tires (FWIW, this picture is not of my car. Mine was in a parking lot with one chalk mark at the time).

The person who told me about the tire chalking said she had never seen parking enforcement downtown before. I spoke to a business owner and another office worker -- who always parks on the street -- and neither of them had seen it before. One shop owner remembers parking enforcement one day last summer.

I called Chief Randy Baker to ask if this was something new or what's going on? He said nothing has changed.

"I beg to differ that people haven't seen him out before," Baker said.

Baker said there is a two-hour parking restriction downtown and the city employs a part-time parking enforcement officer who monitors parking, addresses problems when he sees them and responds to complaints.

I asked the chief for statistics on the number of parking tickets written per month and he said that number should be available in a couple of days.

Terrance D. Bauer, 48, of Church Street, Alabama, is charged with criminal possession of a weapon, 3rd, and criminal possession of marijuana, 5th. Bauer was taken into custody by the Genesee County Local Drug Enforcement Task Force following the execution of a search warrant at his residence on Oct.15. Bauer was allegedly found in possession of marijuana and a billy club, which he cannot legally possess. Bauer was released on his own recognizance following his arraignment in Town of Alabama Court.

Craig A. Tiberio, 21, of Lathrop Avenue, Le Roy, is charged with assault, 3rd. Tiberio is accused of getting into an argument at a residence on St. Mary's Street, Pavilion, and punching another person in the face causing physical injury.

Robert Adam Barnhart, 25, of East Main Street, Batavia, is charged with grand larceny, 3rd. Barnhart was arrested on a warrant out of Wyoming County.

Aaron John Gugel, 18, of Donahue Road, Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. A K-9 handled by Deputy Brian Thompson reportedly alerted on Gugel's car, parked at 260 State Street.

Sharmice Shantell Gibson, 18, Wood Street, Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. A K-9 handled by Deputy Brian Thompson reportedly alerted on Gibson's car, parked at 260 State Street.

A bicycle rider has been struck in the area of 8322 Park Road, Batavia.

Mercy EMS and Town of Batavia Fire are being dispatched.

UPDATE 8:13 a.m.: Town of Batavia back in service. This is not a motor vehicle accident, a chief reports. A man fell off his bicycle.

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There is great beauty to be found in Genesee County, but the best shots can't always be captured from public roads. Once in a while, I see a shot I want, but need to get permission to walk across private property. Today, I drove out to a house on Lewiston Road because I knew there was a barn I liked, also I've been interested in getting the best angle on the shot above. For both pictures, the best shot wouldn't come from the roadside. Fortunately, the landowner was home and kind enough to let me wander around on his property.

At least two Batavia Police units are responding to a laundromat on Ellicott Street where four individuals are reportedly fighting.

Police were at the same location earlier this evening for a reported argument between a woman and her boyfriend.

A Batavia man previously accused of stealing from local stores is in trouble again -- this time for allegedly burglarizing a business on Harvester Avenue and forging checks from that business.

Michael J. Piasta, 30, of 415 East Main St., was arrested by Batavia Police following an investigation and charged with burglary, 3rd, and criminal possession of a forged instrument.

Piasta is accused of breaking into a business at 56 Harvester Ave. and stealing checks and credit cards.

He allegedly tried to cash two business checks at area banks and is accused of using the credit card at various locations.

Piasta was jailed without bail.

Previously, Piasta allegedly stole some DVDs from Pandora's Boxx and fled on foot. He was the subject of a short manhunt at St. Joseph Cemetery off of Buell Street. Also, he was previously accused of stealing beer from Wilson Farms on East Main Street. In that case, Piasta was apparently caught on camera at the store, and at the time of his arrest he was wanted on a warrant out of Niagara County.

Information on the court status of those cases is not immediately available.

A pole fire has been reported in the area of Route 33 and Upton Road, Batavia.

East Pembroke Fire has responded.

With a vacant $80,000-a-year position, the City of Batavia is moving forward to eliminate its own youth director position and share the top youth manager position with Genesee County.

By restructuring Youth Bureau staffing, the city hopes to save $15,600 a year while maintaining current programs -- some of which have been around since the 1950s -- at current levels.

"We really need this program to work," said Councilman Bill Cox. "What I like about this proposal is (it's) not only is a reduction in our budget, it's another step toward working together. Whether you call it consolidation or call it shared services, it's one more step toward working with the county."

Under terms of the proposal, the county's current youth director would become the top manager of the city's Youth Bureau. The shared director would work for the city one day a week and the county would provide an additional five hours of clerical support.

The total cost to the city will be $21,365.

Under the current budget, total compensation for the Youth Director position is $78,960, which is based on the salary, taxes and benefits paid out for the former youth director, who retired six months ago. Her base salary was $59,369. However, according to Jason Molino, she didn't use the city's health care plan, so replacing the director position could actually cost $12,000 more.

The projected $15,000 savings with the shared-services agreement is based on the current budget.

In the restructured Youth Bureau, the city would retain a youth coordinator position, raising the compensation from $56,676 to $60,853. A new position, youth program specialist, would be created with a compensation package of $50,000 (base salary of $29,457), and a part-time rec leader position would be retained at $9,453.

Much of the funding for youth programs in the city comes from state grants that have been in place for decades. Among the programs funded is a six-week summer youth program at all five city parks. The summer programs have been in place since the 1950s and are free to the public. They mostly serve youths 6 to 14. Without the grants, the programs wouldn't exist.

Grants also fund a youth/neighborhood technology center, open 2 to 8 p.m. on weekdays, and 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. Funded by Time Warner, the center provides seven computers and tutoring.

The Town of Batavia also makes a contribution toward the cost of the city's youth programs because some town children participate in the programs.

"It’s very important there are some opportunities for youths," said Councilman Sam Barone (pictured). "There’s an old saying, 'You can pay me now, or you pay me later,' but if we give our youths an opportunity to learn and grow it will pay off for us later."