Boots loves attention, in fact he craves it. But he's not pesky about it -- he's too cool and easygoing for that. You won't find him losing his dignity by dashing spastically around his dwelling, which screams "I'm sooo needy! I'm going mad from this dearth of activity and affection!"

Volunteers For Animals note that he "seems to like everyone." The key word in the descriptor is "seems." Merriam-Webster's Dictionary tells us it means (1) "to appear to the observation or understanding" or (2) "to give the impression of being."

This is a remarkable personality trait that should not be underestimated. The ability to seem to like everyone when in fact you do not or, at best, you harbor an impalpable but distinct qualm about a person and his character, yet mingle amiably with that person/dog/cat and no one is the wiser, speaks volumes about Boots's competence in jibing with others.

That is a great quality to have in a pet; coupled with his striking black and white bib and tucker and a dashing all-white moustache -- it makes for one fine speciman.

She does not share the limelight. She does not take a backseat to any other four-legged friend. And she does not equivocate about it.

She is loyal and true, but the key to her heart is all about fun and playfulness. Fetch? Walks? Yes! Yes! Tugs? Yes! Purposeless goofiness? Doggone right --100-percent. 

The flippy, bouncy ears tell you all of that, especially when matched with the eager eyes that say your mere existance is her pure joy.

Tessie, too, is available for adoption at the shelter.

"Volunteers For Animals is always in need of monetary donations for the animals at the Genesee County Animal Shelter. Our largest expense is veterinary care for sick and injured animals.

"A great deal of our money is spent spaying and neutering as many animals as possible BEFORE they leave the Shelter. Spaying and neutering animals is the ONLY way to reduce the number of homeless animals. In addition to vet care, we also purchase FIV/FeLV tests for cats and heartworm tests for dogs.

"Please consider making a donation today. All donations to Volunteers For Animals, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, are tax-deductible."

You can make a donation through PayPal or mail a check to: 

Volunteers For Animals
P.O. Box 1621
Batavia, NY 14020

From Oakfield-Alabama Central School District:

The Oakfield-Alabama Music Department will be presenting a “Cabaret” concert tonight, March 27, as part of the Music In Our Schools Month initiative.

Performing groups will include Middle School Band and Chorus, Sr. High Band and Chorus, Swing Choir, and Jazz Ensemble. Numerous small ensembles and student soloists will be featured as well.

The atmosphere for this event will be energetic yet casual and will be highlighted with music ranging from cinematic to jazz to contemporary hits. The concert starts at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium with reception to follow.

Suggested donation for admission is $5 for adults, $1 for students. Proceeds go to the Music Department Boosters.

The school is located at 7001 Lewiston Road in Oakfield.

A brush fire 100 feet from a house is reported in Le Roy at 8751 W. Bergen Road. Le Roy fire and ambulance are responding. The location is between Quinlan Road and Lake Street Road.

UPDATE 1:27 p.m.: Bergen's brush truck is called to provide mutual aid.

UPDATE 1:56 p.m.: Fire is out.

Batavia cops are on the lookout for a loose chicken in the vicinity of 111 Washington Ave. in the city. The caller to dispatch is the owner, who says it made its escape this morning.

UPDATE 1:39 p.m.: "Rooster secured at 127 South Swan," a dispatcher tells a patrol, now en route to that location. The officer says he'll try to speak with the person who captured the fowl.

UPDATE 1:45 p.m.: No word yet on how the rooster got across busy East Main Street and continued in a southeasterly direction, a trek totaling about a mile -- which Google Maps says is a four-minute drive. Here's a map of the driving route(s); but of course it's most likely the bird hoofed it.

USAToday: Rockland County declares state of emergency for measles, bans unvaccinated minors from public places

Members of the Pembroke Dragon's volleyball team traveled yesterday to Buffalo to serve homemade desserts to the women and children seeking temporary shelter at the Buffalo City Mission.

They were inspired by Social Studies teacher Greg Kinal, who often volunteers at the mission and is sometimes joined by students.

The volleyball team was looking for a volunteer project so asked Kinal if they could serve at the mission. They made the desserts.

Coach Morgan Wagner said she was proud of her team.

"The athletes in our program are always thinking of others," Wagner said. "They are the kindest and most generous young ladies and teammates. I am very fortunate to work with these quality character student-athletes

"Their parents even got involved by assisting in the baking of the goodies we delivered. We are truly blessed here at Pembroke to be apart of a community that so selflessly loves and serves others."

The mission is always in need of donations so if anybody in the community wishes to pitch in and help, contact Kinal at the high school.

Photos courtesy Pembroke High School.

Press release:

The Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) will consider approving incentives for Custom Vehicle Operators (CVO), which is transferring operations from its existing facility on Ganson Avenue in the City of Batavia to the former PW Minor manufacturing facility at 3 Treadeasy Ave.

CVO is investing $2 million to purchase and make capital improvements at the 80,000-square-foot building. The project will retain 36 jobs.

CVO is the authorized distributor/installer of accessories for General Motors automobile dealer locations in Central and Western New York and Western and Northeast Pennsylvania.

CVO is seeking sales, mortgage and property tax exemptions of approximately $60,000.

The Batavia Career and Technical Education (CTE) Center’s Culinary Club will host a Pop-Up Dinner at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, April 8. It is open to the public.

This three-course dinner will be held in the Culinary Arts Dining Room at the Batavia CTE Center, located at 8250 State Street Road.

Tickets are $25 per person and may be purchased at the Batavia CTE Center.

Chef Tracy Burgio is the Culinary Arts instructor at the Batavia CTE Center. She noted how events like these give student real-world experiences as the event is student driven.

“The students have researched menu possibilities in order to plan the menu," Burgio said. "They will prepare and cook all the entrees and also serve our customers. Everyone works together as a team to create a memorable, pleasant experience for our patrons."

Any questions may be directed to Chef Burgio at (585) 344-7795 or tburgio@gvboces.org.

About the Batavia Career and Technical Education Center

It is a program of the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership. The Partnership operates as a Board of Cooperative Educational Services providing shared programs and services to 22 component school districts located in Genesee, Wyoming, Livingston and Steuben counties in New York State.

Press release:

Earth Day is your chance to give back to your community and take care of the Earth! Join us at DeWitt Recreation Area in Batavia for the 19th annual Earth Day Celebration and help with park cleanup from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 20.

Let's celebrate Earth Day early (it's actually Monday, April 22) and help keep the park beautiful and the habitat safe and healthy for wildlife.

Leanr to make cool things from recycled materials and enjoy a naturalist-guided hike to discover the natural wonders in the park.

Enjot wild ganes, free fun and more.

Service groups, students, 4-H'ers and Scouts can earn community service hours and meet badge requirements.

Don't miss a special presentation by theBuffalo Zoomobile from 2 to 3 p.m., weather permitting!

Special thanks to the Genesee Finger Lakes Cahpter of the Air & Waste Management Association for their generous support of this Earth Day celebration.

Meet at Pavilion 2 for all activities. DeWitt Recreation Area is located at 115 Cedar St. in the City of Batavia.

This event and all activities are free and open to all. Please preregister for activities by calling (585) 344-1122.

Here's the day's schedule of activities:

• 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. -- Park Cleanup Projects
• 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. -- Recycled Crafts
• 12 to 1 p.m. -- Wild Planet Games
• 1 to 2 p.m. -- Wild Planet Guided Hike
• 2 to 3 p.m. (weather permitting) -- Special Guest: World Safari by the Buffalo Zoomobile -- Meet fascinating animals from all different places on planet Earth!

A motor-vehicle accident with injuries and entrapment is reported at Route 237 and Cockram Road, Byron.

Traffic is blocked.

Dispatchers are checking the availability of Mercy Flight.

Byron and South Byron fire departments dispatched along with Mercy EMS.

UPDATE 12:16 p.m.: Chief on scene, "negative on entrapment." Minor facial lacerations. No need for Mercy Flight.

A change in federal tax law in 2017 could help attract Downstate investors to Upstate communities such as Batavia and the Batavia Development Corporation is planning on pursuing those dollars for economic development in wards three and six.

The new tax law allows investors who have realized profits from prior investments, known as capital gains, to defer and reduce capital gains taxes on those profits if they invest those gains in economically distressed neighborhoods.

Wards three and six -- which contain the City Centre mall and the Harvester Center, among other distressed properties -- were previously designated Opportunity Zones by the City of Batavia and would be eligible to attract investment under the terms of the revised Federal Tax Code.

Rachael Tabelski, BDC director, asked the City Council on Monday night to approve at its next business meeting a resolution that would allow the BDC to invest $20,000 in setting up a Batavia Opportunity Zone investment vehicle.  

"These wards are distressed and would benefit from both large and small investment projects," Tabelski said.

The goal is to attract $5 million in investment funds. Tabelski said there are already potential investors Downstate who have expressed an interest in such investments.

Urban Vantage LLC, a Buffalo-based urban planning firm, would assist, including financially, in setting up the investment package.

The $20,000 would come from BDC's revolving loan fund, which has a current balance of $319,000.

At its next business meeting, the City Council will also be asked to approve a resolution that would allow the revolving loan fund, first established with Federal grants in 1997, to start assisting small businesses in Batavia with cash grants (in addition to continuing revolving grants).

Tabelski told the council that the purpose of the fund is to get money into the hands of local businesses to help spur economic development and the fund isn't accomplishing that goal if the money isn't being put to use.

The $20,000 initial investment would be used for legal preparation of the investment vehicle, listing and marketing the project, along with filing and accounting fees.

"We're setting this up so we are on the map as a proactive community taking advantage of a new federal tax law that is allowing investment into low-income census tracks and to show investors and developers that we're serious about moving our sites forward and creating our own fund as a city," Tabelski said.

There's much about how the new investments will work that hasn't yet been determined by the Treasury Department. The final guidelines should be released in a few weeks.

In general, the idea is if an investor has capital gains, the investor can move those funds to an opportunity zone investment fund and defer any capital gains tax until 2026. After five years, the basis of their taxable gains would be reduced by 10 percent. For example, if an investor had $100,000 in capital gains and invested those gains in an opportunity zone, the investor would owe taxes only $90,000 of those gains. After 10 years, the basis would be reduced another 5 percent.

Also, after 10 years, the investor would not owe any taxes on any additional gains on their opportunity zone investments. In other words, if that investor put $100,000 into an opportunity zone and at the end of 10 years, exited the investment and got back $150,000, there would be no capital gains tax on that additional $50,000 realized from the investment.

"It's really designed to attract investment in projects that have a high likelihood of appreciation," said Richard Rogers, a principal in Urban Vantage.

Tabelski first met Rogers and his partner Travis Gordon during the Downtown Revitalization Initiative process, when they represented Ken Mistler on the Carrs Reborn project. They worked together on developing a plan to create the opportunity zones under the tax code revisions.

Tabelski and Gordon both said Batavia could be attractive to investors not just because of a break on capital gains tax but also because of other credits available, such as historic building tax credits, new market tax credits, and the availability of PILOTs (Payment In Lieu Of Taxes) on building improvements.

"This is a marketable location for people from places like Downstate to put the money into to actually get a good return on their investment as well," Gordon said.

The BDC-initiated fund will focus on real estate investment but there's no reason private investors can't establish their own funds to support business startups and expansions. So long as the business is based in designated opportunity zones, investors would be eligible, potentially, for the same tax breaks on capital gains.

There are some guidelines yet to come yet, however, that will either expand or limit those opportunities. For example, initially, the tax code would have required at least 50 percent of a business's revenue to come from within the opportunity zone.

That would seriously limit, as Rogers noted, a new firm's ability to scale, which would make a much less attractive investment for venture capital.

Tabelski said there is already an investment fund established in Buffalo that might be interested in projects in Batavia.

Photo: Rachel Tabelski presenting the project to the City Council on Monday, accompanied by Richard Rogers and Travis Gordon.

The following people are wanted on warrants issued out of Batavia City Court. If you have any information on the whereabouts of these subjects, please contact the Batavia Police Department at (585) 345-6350.

Do not make any attempt to apprehend these individuals on your own.

If you have an active warrant and want to avoid ending up on a WANTED list like this, the Batavia Police Department would be more than happy to assist you on resolving the warrant.

Above, 2019 fundraising participants.

Submitted photos and press release:

On Friday, March 22, the staff of Byron-Bergen Central Schools met Genesee County Sheriff’s Office personnel on the basketball court for their annual fundraiser.

While the Sheriff’s Department ultimately scored the most points, the evening’s true goal was to raise money and awareness of programs that support the local community. The Byron-Bergen Sports Boosters organized the game, which raised $2,165.

The proceeds were divided between two causes. The Genesee County Sheriff’s Department received $500 to put toward the care and training of their new K-9 -- Frankie. Frankie joined the force after the passing of K-9 Destro.

“Destro was beloved among the Byron-Bergen students and the school community has proactively embraced Deputy Frankie,” said Genesee County Sheriff Deputy Matt Butler.

Butler participated in the game as part of the Sheriff’s Office team; he is also the Student Resource officer for Byron-Bergen Central Schools.

The remaining $1,665 was donated to the Batavia hospice Crossroads House. Crossroads House is a volunteer-run end-of-life care center providing a homelike setting for terminally ill residents of Genesee and Wyoming counties.

“The Byron-Bergen Sports Boosters put together such a great event to benefit both our home and the Genesee County Sheriff’s K-9 unit,” said Crossroads House Executive Director Jeff Allen.

“We can carry out our mission because we operate in a generous community that appreciates the value of comfort care. Thank you to everyone who organized, participated and attended the Faculty/Sheriff’s Basketball Game.”

During breaks between quarters, fans enjoyed exhibition games between Gillam Grant Youth Basketball League teams, as well as a halftime three-point shootout, and a Sheriff’s Office K-9 demonstration.

Photo credits: Bob Brumsted.

Below: Gillam Grant Youth Basketball exhibition game.

Below: Byron-Bergen Superintendent Mickey Edwards takes a three-point shot during Friday's game.

Below: Halftime three-point shootout.

Below: GC Sheriff's Office demonstration with new K-9 Frankie.

Below: Courtside, fans enjoy the charity basketball game.

Juaquin E. Davis, 23, of East Main Street, Batavia, is charged with first-degree criminal contempt -- physical contact; first degree criminal contempt -- with a previous conviction within five years; and second-degree burglary -- illegal entry to a dwelling. Davis was arrested on March 21 after an alleged domestic incident on Thomas Avenue in Batavia on March 18 against a person with a complete stay away order of protection. Davis was arraigned in Batavia City Court then jailed in lieu of $5,000 bail. He was due back in city court on March 22. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Jamie Givens, assisted by Officer Marc Lawrence.

Henry L. Banks, 49, of Ross Street, Batavia, was arrested at 12:49 a.m. on March 24 on Ellicott Street in Batavia. He was stopped for a traffic violation and it was shown that a bench warrant for his arrest was issued by Batavia City Court. He was processed and arraigned in city court, then jailed in lieu of $2,500 bail or $5,000 bond. He was due back in city court this afternoon (March 25). The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Miah Stevens, assisted by Officer Stephen Cronmiller.

Aisha I. Culver, 20, of Thomas Avenue, Batavia, was arrested on a Batavia City Court warrant March 17 after she failed to appear in court on a traffic summons. Culver had previously been charged with: aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree; operating a motor vehicle with a suspended registration; and various other traffics infractions. She was released on her own recognizance. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Peter Post, assisted by Officer Jason Ivison.

Jordan R. Rose, 18, of Maple Street, Batavia, is charged with: criminal possession of marijuana in the fourth degree -- weight more than two ounces; and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree. Rose was arrested at 10:45 a.m. on March 22 following a search by the Probation Department of his residence. He was allegedly found in possession of marijuana and miscellaneous drug paraphernalia. Rose was arraigned in Batavia City Court and jailed in lieu of $1,500 cash or $2,000 bond. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Peter Post, assisted by Officer Marc Lawrence.