batavia

Press release:

"Matt Venuti's performance opens the heart, quiets the mind, and deeply touches the soul" ~ Arun Gandhi, author, lecturer, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi.

Multi-instrumentalist/composer Matt Venuti is one of the world's premier players of the Hang, the most exciting new acoustic instrument of the 21st Century and one of the most captivating and versatile of all time. Better described as a sound sculpture than a typical instrument, Hang means hand in Swiss -- pure magic!

Matt's compositions and performances have been commended by worldwide fans of his original music. He has a history of performing at progressive happenings like the TED Conferences and gala events worldwide, either as a soloist or with his San Francisco based ensemble, The Venusians.

He tours throughout most of the year performing solo Hang concerts and FreeFlow Yoga events.

CLICK HERE to read a recent article written about Matt for the Huffington Post about FreeFlow.

CLICK HERE videos of him playing.

For pre-sale tickets buy on line or stop in the studio call : 585-230-5430​ or visit our Web site: www.bp-yoga.com

Thursday, June 20 | 7 p.m. | $15/ pre sale | $20/ door

Leadership Genesee held its annual golf tournament and its bocce ball tournament today. Here are three shots from bocce ball.

Staff at UMMC were honored this morning for their participation recently in the "Safe Haven" drop off of a newborn baby by a mother in distress.

Timothy Jaccard, president and director of AMT Children of Hope Foundation, and author of the 1996 law that makes Safe Haven possible, presented plaques to the hospital and to staff for UMMC's acceptance of a Safe Haven baby last month.

In late may, a mother contacted Jaccard's organization looking for an option for a baby she could no longer care for. The mother was directed to the Medina Fire Department, which accepted the baby and transported it to UMMC.

The Safe Haven law allows mothers to hand over babies to Safe Haven ambulances and hospitals without any repercussions.

Prior to the law's adoption, Jaccard said, as many as 25 babies a year in New York were being left to die in Dumpsters and along roadways. Last year, only three babies in New York died after being abandoned.

"It’s very rewarding to know that we made a difference in the community," said Maryann Cogdill, who is in charge of the maternity ward.

The baby was given a medical examination to ensure it was healthy and then placed in a foster home and it will eventually be adopted.

Photo: Mary Beth Bowen, VP of nursing, Mark Schoell, CEO of UMMC, Denise Polovick, RN, Jaccard, Cogdill and Dan Ireland, VP of clinical support services.

Police are  looking for a white male suspected of stealing a guitar from a car in the City Centre parking lot.

He was last seen heading heading toward the Jerome Center.

He is wearing dark-colored pants, a zip-up hoodie, and a dark baseball-style hat. He is riding a 10-speed style mountain bike.

The suspect broke out a window of the vehicle to steal the guitar.

UPDATE 2:09 p.m.: It's an electric guitar, not in a case.

UPDATE Wednesday: Scanner traffic on Tuesday indicated the suspect's hoodie was orange.

Rick Levins says the Tonawanda Creek is a spiritual place. He's been drawn to it most of his life, he said. For more than 30 years, he's lived on its bank in a home on Walnut Street.

This spring, he started paddling it every day, finding a few moments of peace, but also preparing for a historic canoe trip next month from Albany to New York City down the Hudson River.

The trip is known as the Two Row Wampum Renewal Epic Canoe Trip and is being organized by a group of Native Americans in the Syracuse area to commemorate the first treaty between Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) and Dutch traders in 1613.

"Basically, the treaty said, 'we're in our canoes, you're in your ships, we're going down the same river together, but we won't bother you, you don't bother us,'" Levins said. "That didn't always work quite so well, but the Iroquois and Haudenosaunee have honored that treaty. This is a 400-year renewal. It's the basically indigenous person saying we're losing the path here and we need to get back to some of these old ways."

Levins is half Native -- his mother was from the Six Nations in Canada -- and his cousin from Six Nations introduced him to the trip.

The journey starts July 27 and ends Aug. 9 on the United Nations Indigenous People's Day. 

Along the way, there will be seminars and lectures. The trip is intended to promote peace, friendship and environmental sustainability.

Levins has been paddling on the Tonawanda every day since the start of spring preparing for the trip. Every day, he says, he has the creek to himself. He sees geese, ducks, herons, beavers and deer and listens to the birds tweet and twitter.

"I've even seen deer swimming in the creek," Levins said. "I was going up the creek, coming around the bend, and I saw something in the water. At first, I thought it was a beaver. There's a lot of beaver in here. Well, the beaver started to get up out of the water and it turned into a deer. A nice young buck with velvet."

Because of the historic meaning of the Tonawanda to both Natives and white settlers, Levins said he's always felt a special connection to the waterway that was once an important transportation link.

"The creek holds a lot of meaning to me," Levins said. "There's so much history here."

Links:

• Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign
• Wikipedia
• Facebook
• Onondagas making traditional dug out canoe for the trip

From DPW:

Due to rain, the paving work on Buell Street and Ellicott Avenue has been postponed for today. Paving operations have been rescheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, June 12th from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for Buell Street first and then moving to Ellicott Avenue. Rain date for tomorrow will be Thursday, June 13th if needed.

Asked to support repeal of the SAFE Act, two Batavia City Council members voted no on the resolution, saying repeal goes too far.

Before the 7-2 vote Monday night, neither Patti Pacino nor Pier Cippolone offered specifics about what was good or bad with the law, which critics say violates the Second Amendment and does nothing to keep weapons out of the hands of criminals.

"Repeal is too big for me," Pacino said. "I would rather change it a little bit and I'm not going to fight that battle right here."

The SAFE Act was pushed through by Gov. Andrew Cuomo following the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Local government bodies across Upstate have been passing repeal resolutions, though such resolutions have no force of law.

"I do not agree with an outright repeal," Cippolone said. "There's some good and there's some bad and we need to work with the bad and leave the good."

Information provided by The Batavian's official news partner, WBTA.

Veterans Memorial Drive is closed to traffic and vehicles traveling on Lewiston Road are bottlenecked after a "suspicious package" was found more than an hour ago in the parking lot of Walmart.

Town of Batavia firefighters, Sheriff's deputies, and State Police responded to the scene as the attempt to remove the object got under way.

UPDATE 6:20 p.m.: "The package was safe," is what a State Police officer told dispatch a moment ago and responders are back in service. Veterans Memorial Drive is reopened. The package in question was a black backpack that was found at the fence at the north entrance to the parking lot, by the retention pond parallel to Veterans Memorial Drive. It seemed suspicious because it had a car antenna next to it with a wire running from it into the backpack. Videotape from Walmart is being reviewed to try and determine who put the backback by the fence.

The package was some distance from the store itself and the majority of shoppers. State Police used their robot to X-ray the package.

Sgt. Ron Meides said authorities needed to exercise every precaution, given the suspicious nature of the package.

UPDATE (by Howard): Turned out to be some sort of computer case, not a backpack. After retrieving an X-ray of the bag's contents and examining the results, State Police gave the all-clear. Authorities obtained pictures from store security cameras of the woman who may have left the package. It's unknown if there was any ill intent or just carelessness.

UPDATE 10:18 p.m.: Sgt. Meides said the woman who left the package was identified and contacted. Prior to going to Walmart, she had sold some items at Pawn King. Some of the items didn't interest the pawn broker, so before entering Walmart, she set the items by the fence. In the process of shopping, she spoke with some people and by the time she left, she had forgotten about the items and walked right past them. No charges are being filed and she was reminded, Meides said, to be more mindful in the future.

Crews will be paving Buell Street and Ellicott Avenue tomorrow and the streets will be closed from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Residents of those streets will have access to their properties, but access will be limited at times.

Paving will begin on Buell Street and then move to Ellicott Avenue.

All traffic is asked to avoid these areas during paving.

Joey A. Evans, 22, of 202 State St., Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Evans allegedly admitted to a theft of a bicycle from 400 Towers following several anonymous tips to police from readers of The Batavian.

Darrell Smith, 46, of 26 Queens Drive, West Seneca, is charged with criminal obstruction of breathing/blood circulation. Smith is accused of grabbing a woman he knew by the throat.

Bill A. Thomas, 53, of 252 State St., Batavia, is charged with disorderly conduct (creating a hazardous or offensive condition), disorderly conduct (obscene language/gestures) and open container. Thomas was arrested at 140 W. Main St., Batavia, for an alleged incident reported at 6:15 p.m., June 3, at 15 Main St., Batavia. No further details were released.

Danny J. Torok Jr., 26, of 3177 Dodgeson Road, Alexander, is charged with burglary, 1st (use or threat of use of a dangerous instrument), criminal possession of a weapon, 3rd, unlawful imprisonment, 1st, criminal contempt, 1st (violating an order of protection while using a weapon), and menacing, 2nd. Torok was taken into custody by Batavia PD on an arrest warrant. The alleged incident was reported at 1:30 a.m., May 16. He was jailed without bail. No further details were released.

Cherkiga Starks, 36, of 335 Bank St., Apt. A7, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child. The alleged incident occurred at 11:57 p.m., May 31. No further details were released.

Steven E. Wells, 51, of Macomber Road, Oakfield, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08, aggravated unlicensed operation, 1st, operating without an interlock ignition device, and driver's view obstructed. Mary E. Wells, 51, of Macomber Road, Oakfield, is charged with facilitating aggravated unlicensed operation, David Daniels, 56, of Macomber Road, Oakfield, is charged with consumption of alcohol in a motor vehicle. Steven Wells was stopped at 2:11 p.m., Sunday, on Slusser Road, Pembroke, by Deputy Chris Parker for allegedly driving with driver's view obstructed. Upon investigation, he was found to be allegedly driving drunk. Mary Wells is reportedly the registered owner of the vehicle and is accused of knowing Steven Wells did not have a valid driver's license. David Daniels was a passenger in the vehicle and was allegedly consuming alcohol while in the back seat.

Jason Leo Antos, 21, of Independence Avenue, Niagara Falls, is charged with criminal trespass, 3rd, and unlawful dealing with a child. Antos is accused of unlawfully entering the campgrounds at Darien Lake Theme Park and supplying alcohol to a minor.

Joshua M. Gaudioso, 24, of Lake Street, Le Roy, is charged with possession and transportation of more than 400 untaxed citgarettes. Gaudioso was stopped for an alleged traffic violation at 5:43 p.m., Saturday, on West Main Street, Le Roy, by Deputy Patrick Reeves. During the stop, Gaudioso was allegedly found in possession of more than 400 untaxed cigarettes and operating on a suspended registration.

Heather Jo Lehman, 20, of Oliver Street, North Tonawanda, is charged with criminal trespass, 3rd, and unlawful possession of alcohol under age 21. Lehman was allegedly on Darien Lake Theme Park campgrounds property unlawfully and in possession of alcohol at 3:19 a.m., Sunday.

Jeffrey Scott Canale, 43, of Orchard Drive, Le Roy, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, failure to reduce speed on curve, leaving the scene of a property damage accident and failure to keep right. Canale was allegedly driving a 1999 BMW on Oatka Trail, Le Roy, at 2:13 a.m., when he was involved in a single-car accident.

Elizabeth Anne Weiner, 22, of Conkey Avenue, Rochester, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th, and unlawful possession of marijuana. Weiner was a passenger in a vehicle stopped for an alleged traffic infraction June 2 by Deputy Patrick Reeves. She was allegedly found in possession of Ecstasy (MDMA) and marijuana.

Clifford Leo Regimbal, 34, of Granite Street, Webster, Mass., was arrested on bench warrants for alleged criminal possession of marijuana and unlawful growing of cannabis. Regimbal is being held on an unrelated matter after being returned to New York from Massachusetts, and was arrested on warrants out of Town of Alabama Court. He was also arrested on warrants out of Village of Corfu Court for alleged criminal use of drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance, 7th.

Joel David Prouty, 27, of Fisher Road, Oakfield, is charged with criminal contempt, 1st. Prouty is accused of stalking and harassing a protected person in violation of a court order issued by Judge Robert C. Noonan.

Jesse S. Repass, 26, of Oakfield, is charged with petit larceny. Repass is accused of stealing from a location on Lewiston Road, Batavia, and was arrested by a state trooper.

If you happen to be in Miami for the NBA finals, and happen the Largo Bar & Grill, across the street from the American Airlines Arena, you'll hear a familiar voice -- WBTA's Jerry Warner.

Stephen Warner, manager of the Largo, streams WBTA every morning to keep up with the news from back home and listen to his father.

A graduate of Oakfield-Alabama High School, Genesee Community College and SUNY Brockport, Warner has been managing the bar and grill since it opened in 2010.

The place is popular with Miami Heat fans -- players might even stop in -- and it's been hopping with the Heat making the finals again this year, Warner said.

Western New Yorkers pass through the Largo regularly, Warner said. Notre Dame alum Paul Merrill (bottom photo) is the bar manager at the Largo.

Photo and information provided by Mark Warren, VP Batavia Teachers' Association:

Members of the Batavia Teachers' Association and their families attended the NYSUT One Voice United rally on Saturday June 8th in Albany.

Speakers representing parents, teachers, and various other groups highlighted the major issues that need to be addressed to help our students and our schools including over-reliance on expensive corporate developed tests, equitable funding of schools, and protecting the safety and privacy of students and staff.

Over 20,000 teachers, parents, and students attended the event.