Murder suspect Nicholas Marten Maher, 37. accused of killing his 69-year-old father in his Oakfield home on Oct. 18, appeared in court today before Judge Michael Mohun, as the judge and the attorneys discussed procedures in the case.
District Attorney Kevin Finnell said he is ready for trial but he understood that Public Defender Jerry Ader was awaiting reports that could have a bearing on how the case might proceed and what motions might be made.
Ader said that was correct and acknowledged receipt of the required discovery (potential evidence in the case) and everything seemed to be in order but the discovery material is still under review.
Mohun set May 20 at 2 p.m. for further proceedings.
Martin D. Maher was found dead in his home at 32 Drake St. after deputies were dispatched to his house for a welfare check at 10:57 a.m. Oct. 18 because family members had been unable to contact Maher.
Nicholas was later located in Erie County. He is being held without bail.
The types of reports Ader is awaiting were not specified but they could have a bearing on whether there is a trial, as well as whether a plea deal is reached. At the March 20 hearing, the court and attorneys will agree on how to proceed with the case.
A two-car accident with unknown injuries is reported at Lewiston Road and Galloway Road, Batavia.
Town of Batavia Fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.
UPDATE 6:30 p.m.:Injuries appear to be non-serious. A second ambulance requested to the scene, non-emergency.
There will be no taxpayer-funded trial on criminal mischief charges for a man already serving a life sentence on a jury-trial conviction for attempted murder and arson.
Judge Michael Mohun dismissed the charges against Plush Dozier this morning at the formal request of District Attorney Kevin Finnell.
Finnell cited the inability of Dozier to pay restitution, the cost of a trial, and the fact that, given how sentencing works in New York, if convicted, Dozier would be given credit for time served, since it would run concurrent to the term he's serving now. That means he would get no additional prison time (which could be a factor if he became eligible for parole).
"It's in the public interest not to hold a trial," Finnell said.
The decision apparently came at Mohun's suggestion during a conference on the case, Defense Attorney Fred Rarick suggested during the case and reiterated to a reporter as he was leaving the courtroom. He said it was the right thing to do and saved the taxpayers the expense of transporting Dozier daily during a trial from Sullivan County.
Mohun, a county court judge in Wyoming County, has been assisting Genesee County since January while also mentoring new County Court Judge Melissa Cianfrini because of a backlog of cases. He inherited more than 80 cases that were more than years old -- going back to Cianfrini's time in the District Attorney's Office. Much of the delay in the cases can be attributed to COVID-related shutdowns and slowdowns.
He said after court that the last of the cases will be cleared from his calendar on Monday and his duties in helping to catch up Genesee County will be completed.
Dozier was convicted of attempted murder and arson in October. Dozier intentionally set fire on June 15, 2018, to the house at 35 Maple St., Batavia, in an attempt to kill a person inside the residence.
He appeared in court this morning, accompanied by three state prison guards, including a sergeant. Dozier was dressed in a green state prison jumpsuit, wearing on his head a white knit cap with a band of copper and black stripes knitted in and around it. Four people, friends and family, sat in court in support of Dozier. After the hearing, they thanked Mohun for his kindness in handling the case.
It was alleged that on Aug. 4, 2018, Dozier kicked out a plate of glass in a holding cell at the Genesee County Jail, which caused more than $5,000 in damage. He's also accused of causing more than $250 of damage to a Sheriff's Office patrol vehicle on Aug. 20, 2018. That lead to charges of criminal mischief 3rd and criminal mischief 4th.
Finnell said he consulted with Sheriff William Sheron on the dismissal and Sheron agreed with the decision.
Sheron said this afternoon, "Dozier is serving a life sentence, therefore in the interest of justice, we agree with the dismissal of the charges."
After about a year as Batavia's assistant city manager, Jill Wiedrick has resigned her post for a job in Monroe County, City Manager Rachael J. Tabelski says.
Wiedrick was hired in June 2021 as a lifelong resident of Western New York and 15 years of experience in local government. She had been the senior county planner for Genesee County and was manager of zoning for the City of Rochester when she was hired for the assistant manager position.
"I would like to congratulate Jill Wiedrick, Assistant City Manager, for her time with the City of Batavia. She is moving to a new job with the Village of Fairport. It was a pleasure to work with Jill, and I wish her all the best in her career pursuit," Tabelski said in an emailed response to The Batavian. "Her last day with the City of Batavia is Friday May 13, 2022. The City will actively advertise the position of Assistant City Manager in the near future to fill the position."
File photo of Jill Wiedrick
There have been nine accidents involving the Bell 429, the model helicopter being flown by James E. Sauer, 60 of Churchville, and Stewart M. Dietrick, 60, of Prosper, Texas, when it went down in a field near Norton Road in Elba at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
The National Transportation Safety Board has determined the cause of four of those accidents. Three of them were the result of human error and one was an apparent mechanical failure.
The preliminary evidence in Wednesday's crash of the Mercy Flight aircraft, said Aaron McCarter, air safety investigator with the NTSB, is that the rear tail section of the aircraft became detached during the flight.
"Onboard (the helicopter) were two pilots and seasoned professionals about 1300 or 1 p.m. local time, several credible witnesses of the helicopter transitioning the area behind me over Elba, New York, at about 2,000 feet observed and heard a loud boom. We don't know which occurred first (the tail separating or the boom). The tail separated from the helicopter and was found 300 feet from the main wreckage."
The main wreckage was in a gully just a few yards from the edge of Norton Road, about a mile north of Edgerton Road.
McCarter said he will be at the accident scene gathering evidence for three to five days.
"The on-scene portion of the investigation is only a small part of a much larger list, or process," he said. "Most of the work being done by the investigative team happens behind the scenes when the on-scene portion is over. In 10 days, I will be completing the preliminary report. In approximately 12 months, the factual report, followed very shortly by the probable cause, signed off by the Transportation Safety Board members (will be released)."
The cause won't be determined until the investigation is complete, and that investigation, regardless of what the evidence shows now, looks at all factors of the case, McCaster said. That includes mechanical, environmental, and human elements, and how all three elements interacted.
While both Sauer and Dietrick are experienced pilots, they were on a training mission.
"Even though they are seasoned pilots, you know how much time they had in this particular helicopter?" McCarter said. "I'm not trying to equate aircraft with cars, but have you ever gotten to a car rental that was completely different than yours? It takes you a while to kind of figure out where all the buttons are and how how to maneuver. So that's what we're looking at, we're looking at their familiarity with the machine, how much experience did they have in this particular machine, in addition to all the other aircraft that they have flown."
Wreckage to be examined in Delaware
The wreckage, which was spread over a 2,000-foot area from beginning to end, will be transported to Clayton, Delaware.
"It will be transported back to this facility to a two-dimensional assembly of it on a hangar floor and we'll be able to see how the helicopter -- it can assist us in determining how the helicopter came apart and what happened first."
He added, "We will be doing a thorough engine check. We're gonna be checking on the rotor blades. We're gonna be checking the tail rotor. And we're gonna be downloading data."
While the Bell 429 doesn't have a "black box" as most people are familiar with -- its data isn't in a hardened protective case -- McCarter is confident the flight recorder data can be recovered.
Investigators will also look at flight and maintenance logs and any reports on the helicopter's performance on previous flights.
The aircraft was manufactured in Canada so by international treaty, Canadian aviation experts will be participating in the investigation.
McCarter indicated he doesn't believe there was anything of the ordinary for a training mission prior to the crash. The mission started at the Genesee County Airport at 11:15 a.m. and the crew did a typical training flight pattern around the airport for about an hour before heading toward Elba.
Once the tail separated, McCarter said, the pilot would have found it impossible to maintain directional control over the aircraft.
"That tail rotor is what keeps the nose of the helicopter pointed in the correct direction," he said. "Because the torque when the rotor blades are spinning around the helicopter, the fuselage wants to spin in the opposite direction, if you remember your high school physics, so the tail rotor actually keeps the nose of the helicopter pointed in a specific direction."
Of the nine prior crashes involving the Bell 429, four claimed six lives.
Prior aviation crashes locally
Of the nine Bell 429 crashes, one was in Batavia on Oct. 6, 2021. That 429 was also owned and operated by Mercy Flight but was not the same aircraft involved in Wednesday's accident. There were no injuries when that helicopter had a hard landing at the Genesee County Airport. The cause has not yet been determined.
There has been one other helicopter crash in Genesee County over the past 30 years. On Dec. 27, 2003, in Byron, when a pilot practicing autorotations over an airport open field made a hard landing. The pilot was seriously injured.
The NTSB reported, "The pilot reported that he felt a shudder during the autorotation and tried to regain airspeed by using forward cyclic, but he was unable to regain airspeed. Examination of the helicopter found evidence of low main rotor rpm. No discrepancies were found with the flight controls and engine."
Previous airplane accidents, as reported by the NTSB, in Genesee County:
The only other fatal aviation crash in Genesee County since the early 1980s was on Oct. 2, 2020, in Corfu, which claimed the lives of attorneys Steve Barnes and Elizabeth Barnes. The cause of that crash remains undetermined.
CORRECTION: There was another fatal airplane crash in Genesee County on Aug. 11, 2001. Two people were killed when a Dominiak Kitfox crashed in Byron. Alcohol and drugs were found in the inexperienced pilot's blood.
Press release:
Twenty first responders from nine fire departments participated in the twelve-hour Officer Development: Firefighter Health and Safety Course, which was held from March 23 through April 13, 2022.
The course provided current and potential fire officers with a basic knowledge of effective communications for both administrative functions and for emergency incidents. Students were provided activities to apply skills learned in addition to conducting a size-up based on emergency incidents. Additionally, this course provided the Company Officer with the skills needed to identify and prevent common safety hazards and to perform an initial accident investigation. Students must have completed the basic firefighter courses prior to participating in this course. Successfully completing the Officer Development: Firefighter Health and Safety were:
BATAVIA, TOWN
- Joshua M. Finn
- Dwayne J. Fonda, Jr.
BROCKPORT
- David R. Stratton
CORFU
- James C. Hale
- Matthew P. Lenhard
ELBA
- Nicole M. Boldt
- Nathan J. Tabor
LE ROY
- Fay Fuerch
- James D. King
- Stephanie A. Mcvicker
- Brie L. Rogers
OAKFIELD
- Justin Cooper
- Annette J. Johnson
- Andrew S. Pilc
- Collins J. Scheiber
PAVILION
- Jeffery L. Freeman
SOUTH BYRON
- Vitorrio J. Muoio
- Jeremie J. Rassel
STAFFORD
- Randal J. Henning
- Chad A. Rambach
Press release:
Yesterday we introduced the new Mobile Medical Unit (MMU) at the ribbon-cutting event at our Brockport location. The MMU will operate like a primary care site bringing healthcare to Monroe, Orleans, Wyoming, Steuben, and Genesee counties.
“The Mobile Medical Unit would not have been possible without the support of our Board of Directors and The John R. Oishei Foundation that gave us a grant to fund this state-of-the-art medical facility,” said Mary Ann Pettibon, CEO, Oak Orchard Health. The John R. Oishei Foundation enhances the economic vitality and quality of life for the Buffalo Niagara region through grantmaking, leadership and network building. For more information about The John R. Oishei Foundation, visit www.oishei.org.”
“Oak Orchard Health will be working collaboratively with the County Health Departments, partnering agencies, the Head Start programs, and the homeless to bring the Mobile Medical Unit closer to those in need. This is all part of our mission. We will also serve farmworkers, as we always do, but with this new unit we will be able to provide access during the times and the places that are convenient for them,” said Mary Ann Pettibon, CEO, Oak Orchard Health.
Public Health Commissioner, Dr. Michael Mendoza also spoke at the event and said, “one thing this pandemic has taught us is that we haven’t done a good job meeting people where they are, where they live, and where they are comfortable. Our region suffers from a lack of primary care access -- doctors, nurses, behavioral health professionals, the gamut of healthcare professionals. This Mobile Medical Unit will help to bridge that gap. Without Federally Qualified Health Centers like Oak Orchard Health, many, many, people would be going without healthcare. This unit will provide more primary care to more people especially those who are underserved.”
The Mobile Medical Unit will also provide vision screenings, behavioral health services, COVID testing and vaccinations, other vaccinations, routine health screenings, chronic disease management, EKGs, and so much more.
Two local girls and a coach, all from Batavia, will be attending their first-ever competition in Florida with Dynamic Elite Athletics, Batavia resident Robin Cook says.
They will be attending the Summit cheer and dance Championship at Walt Disney World Resort’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex beginning Thursday through May 1.
Kayla Gangarossa, a Batavia High School graduate, is the coach of the Level 2 ICE team, and her daughter, Payton Spikes, will be going with Level One Junior D1amonds, Cook said in an email to The Batavian.
Payton is a fifth-grader at Batavia Middle School. Her mom Kayla was a coach for Batavia Bulldawgs cheerleading, and Payton and her Batavia school peer Hailey Armison were Bulldawgs cheerleaders. Both Payton and Hailey will be participating in the Florida event. Dynamic Elite Athletics is a cheer and tumbling center based in Rochester.
"This will be our first-ever D2 Summit, as well as our first-ever world finals for our open level 6 team Legacy,” Gangarossa said. “We will be kicking off our decade of purple and teal and celebrating 10 years of Dynamic Elite Athletics the week after we return from the summit."
The Summit Championship, founded by Varsity All-Star in 2013, will celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2022 and will showcase more than 1,500 teams and 24,000 competitors from around the globe. The Summit Championship is promoted as a way to provide a unique experience for athletes to compete against the best of the best across all levels of competition.
Top photos of Payton Spikes and Hailey Armison; the girls' cheersport team and Coach Kayla Gangarossa and Payton, her daughter. Photos submitted by Robin Cook.
East Pembroke Fire responded to a report of a one-vehicle accident at 5:49 p.m. today on Route 5 in Pembroke.
A blue Chevrolet pickup struck a utility pole and then crossed the highway coming to rest on the opposite shoulder.
The driver may have suffered a medical incident, according to East Pembroke Fire Chief Don Newton. The driver was transported to ECMC by Mercy EMS for treatment and evaluation. The name of the patient has not been released.
Corfu Fire assisted with traffic control. Westbound traffic was shut down between Boyce Road and Indian Falls Road due to low primary wires hanging low over the highway, Newton said.
East Pembroke remains on scene awaiting the arrival of National Grid crews.
Photos by Allison Lang.
East Bethany, NY - One visit is all it takes to discover that Genesee County Park, Forest & Interpretive Center is one of Western New York’s outdoor treasures.
Featured content brought to you by the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center. Discover all that awaits your visit in our latest blog.
Press release:
The Genesee County Chamber of Commerce is celebrating its 50th year of existence in 2022, and with it has come a number of special events meant to bring together the local business community of Genesee County. Last night a Founder’s Event was held at GOART! in Batavia.
This invitation-only reception was held to recognize the men and women who have led the organization in its first 50 years. Past and present board members shared an evening of fellowship and remembrance, sharing stories of their time with The Chamber and how this community has changed over time. The building that currently houses GOART! in Downtown Batavia, Seymour Place, was the perfect location to hold this event as it itself is steeped in the history of the business community of Genesee County.
Special guests included two of the original members of the merger that made The Chamber what it is today, John Dwyer and Jim Vincent. Both men gave their remembrance of the events that took place in 1971 and how they along with other business leaders, like Bill Brown and Tom Cashin, came together to consolidate and connect the communities of Genesee County. The principle of a county-wide Chamber was meant to bring together people from all aspects of industry and business and was something that was already being embraced in other upstate NY communities.
In Genesee County, before 1971, there were two primary Chambers: The Batavia Chamber of Commerce and the Le Roy Chamber of Commerce. Setting competitiveness and hometown pride aside, the Board of Directors of these two Chambers agreed that a county-wide Chamber was both warranted and necessary in Genesee County. However, they not only wanted Batavia and Le Roy businesses to be involved, they wanted a balance of representation from the remainder of the businesses in the county as well. This was in hopes that The Chamber would create a cross-section of the communities and businesses that it would serve.
On July 10th, 1972 the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce was founded on the idea of this countywide community in Genesee County, NY. Last night was a way for us to remember and appreciate the past and also embrace and look forward to the future of Genesee County. The modern-day Chamber is different than what it was in the ’70s, but the idea of a countywide community of businesspeople working together is still very much at the heart of our mission.
We would like to send a special thank you to the hundreds of people that have served on our board over the past fifty years, and to all those that attended last night to celebrate with us! Here’s to fifty more years of The Genesee County Chamber of Commerce!
Statement from Mercy Flight:
Our neighboring non-profit Helicopter EMS provider based in Canandaigua, NY, Mercy Flight Central, is on location at our Buffalo Base to continue to deliver critical air ambulance service to the people of Western New York. Requests for air ambulance within our service area should continue to be directed to our Communications Center as normal. We are so grateful to have the full support of the Mercy Flight Central team during this difficult time, and we thank them and all who have expressed to us their well wishes and encouragement from the bottom of our hearts.
Previously:
Press release:
According to the 2022 County Health Rankings, released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute (UWPHI) Genesee and Orleans Counties rank 38th and 54th respectively in overall Health Outcomes. The Rankings are available at www.countyhealthrankings.org.
“As Chief Health Strategists, we use the County Health Rankings to help us identify factors that are important for residents to live long and healthy lives and understand how we compare to other counties in the state. With this knowledge, we work collaboratively with our partners to improve the health of our community,” stated Paul Pettit, Director of the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments (GO Health). “The county with the lowest score (best health) gets a rank of #1 for that state and the county with the highest score (worst health) is assigned a rank corresponding to the number of total counties ranked in each state. New York State has 62 counties.”
The rankings are broken into to two main categories, Health Outcomes, which include the length of life and quality of life, and Health Factors which include health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors and physical environment.
The 2022 County Health Rankings findings are:
- Genesee County ranked 38 in Health Outcomes and 16 in Health Factors in 2022 as compared to 43 out of 62 counties for Health Outcomes in 2021, a decrease in rank as compared to 2022 and 28 in Health Factors a decrease from 2021.
- Orleans County ranked 54 in Health Outcomes and 55 in Health Factors in 2022 as compared to 60 in Health Outcomes in 2021, a decrease in rank as compared to 2022 and 53 in Health Factors an increase in rank from 2021.
“The County Health Rankings show us that where people live plays a key role in how long and how well they live,” stated Pettit. “The Rankings allow local leaders to clearly see and prioritize the challenges they face — whether it’s rising premature death rates or the growing drug overdose epidemic — so they can bring community leaders and residents together to find solutions.”
According to the 2022 Rankings, the five healthiest counties in New York State starting with most healthy are Putnam, followed by Tompkins, Saratoga, Nassau, and New York. The five counties in the poorest health, starting with least healthy are Bronx, Sullivan, Cattaraugus, Montgomery, and Chemung.
“The County Health Rankings show how Genesee and Orleans Counties rank on factors that influence its overall health ranking,” said Pettit. “For example, Genesee County had a decrease in preventable hospital stays from 4,748 in 2021 to 3,354 in 2022. Genesee County also had a decrease in adults smoking from 23% in 2021 to 19% in 2022. Orleans County had a decrease in the percentage of adults who smoked from 25% in 2021 to 21% in 2022. Additionally, Orleans County had a decrease in the percentage of adult obesity from 37% to 32%.”
Even with the above mentioned positive trends, both counties continue to have challenge areas and are still struggling with health factors specifically with obesity (Genesee – 33% / Orleans – 32%), adult smoking (Genesee – 19% / Orleans – 21%), and local access to clinical care for primary care physicians, dentists and mental health providers. Although the numbers for adult smoking did decrease for both counties, we are still above the top U.S Performers at 15% and New York State at 13%.
The Rankings have become an important tool for communities that want to improve health for all. Working collaboratively with community partners in Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming Counties (GOW), Genesee and Orleans counties are currently working on the GOW 2022-2024 Community Health Assessment and Community Health Improvement Plan to determine the New York State Prevention Agenda priorities to focus on over the next three years. We analyze the Rankings along with New York State data and community input from the Community Health Assessment survey and Community Conversations with various community groups and county residents. If you have not completed a survey you can access the English survey online here or the Spanish survey online here.
For information on Health Department services contact,
- Genesee County Health Department at: 344-2580 ext. 5555 or visit their website at www.GOHealthNY.org. Visit Facebook and Twitter at GOHealthNY for both.
- Orleans County Health Department at: 589-3278 or check out their website at: www.GOHealthNY.org. Visit Facebook and Twitter at GOHealthNY for both.
Regional media got a first look at the still-under-construction Wahoo Wave at Six Flags Darien Lake on Wednesday morning.
The 60-foot-tall thrill slide will rank as one of the tallest water rides in Hurricane Harbor.
The ride features a 30-foot vertical plunge.
First, riders will barrel down an enclosed tunnel slide, twisting around tight turns and slipping and sliding downward for 30 feet. Then they will drop three stories into Wahoo Wave’s signature feature, a huge water wave wall. Riders slide vertically up the wall and let gravity pull them back down with weightlessness into the splash pool below
The Wahoo Wave includes a twist through a hairpin turn, followed by a corkscrew, and then without warning, riders in four-person tubes will plunge down a three-story drop.
Darien Lake management promises an "adrenaline-packed adventure that will send riders into near-vertical motions to experience extended hang times and zero g-forces."
The thrill wave is scheduled to open when the park opens on Memorial Day weekend, Saturday, May 28, 2022.
Photos by Alecia Kaus/Video News Service
Flower City Union, a professional soccer team in Rochester playing its inaugural season, is coming to Batavia on May at 7:30 p.m. for a game against California United Strikers.
The teams are part of the National Independent Soccer Association, a third division professional soccer league. The team is partly fan-owned.
"This is very cool to have this game in Batavia," said Michael Bromley, athletic director for Batavia City Schools.
The game will be played at Van Detta Stadium.
The price of the game is $10. Tickets can be purchased at tickets.flowercityunion.com.
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