Joe Marone, left in the file photo above, co-owner and co-founder of the Pok-A-Dot, has died, according to a post on the restaurant's Facebook page.
The picture is from the Pok-A-Dot's 60th anniversary party. On the right is co-owner Phil Pastore, with Pok-A-Dot regular James Pero.
On a beautiful fall day, I took a little time to drive around Batavia and see if I might be able to make any pictures.
The first two shots are from Richmond Avenue by the Blind School.
North Street.
Bottom three shots, one of my favorite, knarly old trees, on South Jackson.
A few weeks ago, as a writing assignment, a pair of kindergarten classes at Jackson School decided to send cards and a "police survival kit" to Batavia PD officers.
Today, three officers in the department returned the favor by going to the school and showing off their police cars and answering questions about their jobs.
Participating officers were Kevin DeFelice, Mich Cowen and Felicia Degroot.
The police survival kit contained candy and gum.
"We decided to come down and show them we appreciated what they did for us and that we're here for them anytime they need us," DeFelice said.
My father just left after a two-day visit to Batavia. Wednesday, we visited the Holland Land Office Museum, Oliver's and the Batavia Cemetery and then drove down to Letchworth State Park. Yesterday, I gave him a Genesee County ag tour that started at Post Farms, then the mucklands, then Mortellaro Brothers in Elba then Baskin Livestock in Bethany.
The only pictures I took yesterday were of crates of onions on the mucklands at Torrey Farms property. These, I thought worth sharing.
Press release:
With a $100,000 grant from the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, the City of Batavia Fire Department will help expand local emergency response teams and first responders throughout the County with equipment and training to reduce and respond to water emergencies.
The money will equip and train all first responders in Genesee County, to include 17 fire departments, five law enforcement agencies and three EMS agencies with water rescue awareness training and a basic water emergency response bag. Attica Fire and Police departments were also included with this grant.
In addition, this grant will also allow the City Fire Department to provide an annual water safety seminar for Genesee County residents to include topics such as: pool safety, open water safety, flooded road safety and what resources are available in Genesee County if you have an emergency.
“In our rural setting it is most likely that a police officer will arrive on location first,” said Lieutenant Bob Fix of the City Fire Department and Special Operations officer responsible for securing the grant. “With the basic kit and training supplied by this grant, an officer will be equipped with the knowledge and equipment to call for more advanced help and to try and effect a safe shore-based rescue.”
The City has been providing some level of water rescue protection for more than 50 years with minimal training and mostly donated equipment. Recent events in the City and Genesee County over the past several years have prompted more training and better equipment in order to provide adequate and safe response to residents.
City Fire Chief Jim Maxwell said, “We are pleased to have been awarded this grant through the New York State Homeland Security Program. These funds will be utilized by City Fire and Genesee County first responders to enhance water rescue response capabilities across the county. We would like thank the 24 area fire, EMS, and police agencies for their support of this initiative which will provide basic water rescue kits to emergency response vehicles throughout the county.”
All fire departments in Genesee County participate in the Genesee County Mutual Aid Plan. While the City of Batavia Fire Department will be the technician-level responders, it is important that local first responders throughout the county are trained and equipped for the initial response. A tiered-response partnership not only dramatically increases the capabilities countywide, but does it safely and effectively using manpower from throughout the county.
The Batavia Blue Devils JV team recorded another undefeated season with a victory yesterday evening over Le Roy, 29-16.
The varsity squad opens post season play tonight with a quarterfinals sectional playoff at home against Pal-Mac (3-4). Batavia enters sectionals with a 6-1 record and the #2 seed in Class B.
Le Roy, the #1 ranked Class C team in the state, opens sectional play with a home game against Wayland-Cohocton (2-5).
Both games start at 7:30 p.m.
Tomorrow in Class D, #6 seed Elba/Byron-Bergen (4-3) travels to Bath (6-1) for a 5 p.m. game against the #3 seed.
In Class DD tomorrow, Alexander (5-2 and the #2 seed) plays Avon (5-2 and the #3 seed). The game is in Honeoye Falls at 4 p.m.
Reader submitted photo.
The initial call sounded more serious than it turned out to be said Rob Yaeger, assistant chief, Batavia PD.
Multiple law enforcement units responded 2:40 p.m. to Willow and State streets for the report of some sort of conflict involving a man with a knife.
The man reportedly ran west on Willow and went into a garage.
The knife turned out to be a pocketknife.
The incident also led to a lockdown at Batavia HS. Students were kept inside the building for about 20 minutes.
The Lutheran school on Washington Avenue was also placed on lockdown, according to police.
Several Batavia patrol units responded along with Deputy Chris Erion and his K-9 Destro (seen above after Destro's work at the scene was done and he was rewarded with a little play time).
Batavia PD, Erion and Destro along with state troopers were just completing a planned exercise at the high school when the call to Willow Street came in, according to Principal Scott Wilson.
An American Legion grave marker, presumably bronze, has been reported stolen from the burial place of a veteran in the Machpelah Cemetery, 77 North St., Le Roy.
Le Roy PD responding to investigate.
Previously: Thieves steal hundreds of bronze markers from the graves of veterans in Byron-Bergen area
Sponsored Post: Donated to the Holland Land Office Museum by The Batavian.
Injuries are reported after a car hit a tree in the area of 954 Main Road, Pembroke.
Only one vehicle is involved in the accident.
Pembroke and Indian Falls fire departments dispatched, with one engine requested from Corfu.
Mercy EMS dispatched.
UPDATE 8:39 p.m.: National grid requested to the scene.
Samuel Christopher Dilcher, 31, of Lewiston Road, Oakfield, is charged with assault, 3rd. Dilcher is accused of punching a patron in the face at the Stumblin Inn in Elba causing the person to require medical attention, including several stitches. Dilcher was issued an appearance ticket.
Justin David Moscato, 21, of Riddle Road, Lockport, is charged with driving while impaired by drugs and uninspected motor vehicle. Moscato was arrested following a citizen complaint of a person staggering around a vehicle at 12:55 p.m. Wednesday at a location on Hopkins Road, Pembroke.
Benjamin J. Bullard, 27, of Franklin Street, Batavia, is charged with possession of a forged instrument, 2nd, and grand larceny, 4th. Bullard is accused of cashing forged checks at Five Star Bank. He was jailed on $5,000 bail or $10,000 bond.
Sarah E. Hughes, 22, of Oak Street, Batavia, is charged with harassment, 2nd. Hughes is accused of threatening another person who was walking down Walnut Street at 2:40 p.m. Monday.
Katherine Schaeffer Thomas, 41, of Ross Street, Batavia, is charged with unnecessary noise. Thomas is accused of playing music loud enough to disturb her neighbors at 12:12 a.m. Friday.
Kimberly M. Douglas, 32, of Hutchins Street, Batavia, is charged with public appearance under the influence of drugs and endangering the welfare of a child. Douglas was allegedly under the influence of suboxone while with her children at a public place at 5:22 a.m. Saturday.
Samuel F. Russo, 33, of Pearl Street, Batavia, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Russo turned himself in following an alleged domestic incident at 2:31 a.m. Saturday.
A former Le Roy resident has been charged with four counts of burglary and one count of grand larceny for allegedly stealing calves from local farms.
Janet M. Knauss, 49, of Caledonia, is accused of stealing 16 calves during four separate burglaries in July.
The calves were valued at $3,164.
Investigators contend that Knauss stole the calves and raised the calves and other livestock at a location in the Town of Stafford.
Four calves were reportedly recovered at that location and returned to the owner. The other calves were allegedly sold at auction and not recovered.
Following her arrest and arraignment, Knauss was released under supervision of Genesee Justice.
Conducting the investigation were Investigator Timothy Weis and deputies Brad Mazur, Howard Carlson, John Duyssen and Chad Minuto.
After a year on probation that a prosecutor described as "stellar," a former Corfu court clerk who admitted to stealing more than $10,000 in court funds has another year of good behavior and substance abuse rehab to complete before her criminal record is wiped clean.
A year ago, Brandi Watts entered a guilty plea to one of the 64 counts on a grand jury indictment -- first-degree tampering with public records -- and was placed on interim probation with the understanding that if she made restitution, got help with substance abuse, and stayed out of trouble, she could have the felony charge reduced to a misdemeanor.
Then, if she did well for another year -- the year coming up -- she could have that charge dismissed under what's known as a conditional discharge.
"Everything we've heard from the probation department indicates a stellar probation report, so we came back today and she was given the benefit of the bargain that she negotiated back last October," said Eric Schiener, an assistant district attorney in Wyoming County, who was filling in for Donald O'Geen, the special prosecutor in the case.
Schiener spoke with reporters following a short hearing in County Court, where neither Watts nor her attorneys made a statement. One of her three attorneys told reporters the legal team had no comment on the case.
Watts should have completed a rehab program through Horizon, Noonan said, but through no fault of Watts, she never got into the program and is now slated to complete a program with GCASA. As a requirement of her conditional discharge, Watts must successfully complete the GCASA program. She must also refrain from using illegal or unauthorized drugs and not break the law.
She's already made restitution.
The theft of court funds came to light in a state comptroller's audit and was a significant event in more than 24 months of turmoil in Village of Corfu government, which eventually led to the resignation of Mayor Ralph Peterson.
Watts is the daughter of Robert Alexander, who was a village judge while Watts was court clerk. Alexander was charged with official misconduct and coercion. Those charged were dropped as part of the plea agreement with Watts, and Alexander had to resign as Town of Pembroke justice (he was already out of office in Corfu).
Noonan said Watts appeared to be on the right course, but told her, "I certainly hope you have learned your lesson from this event. You took a responsible job and totally abrogated your responsibility in that job, lost that job and created a lot of havoc in a lot of people's lives."
From the special prosecutor's point of view, Schiener said the disposition of the case is an appropriate outcome:
"It was a negotiated plea bargain agreement. Given the facts of the case, the facts and circumstances of the crime, the goals of the criminal justice system were all met here. Someone who obviously had a substance problem that may have been the primary factor in her commission of crime, she's addressed it. She did well on probation for a year, so she's receiving the benefit of that bargain."
The way Jim Neider sees it, stealing markers from the graves of men and women who served their country through military service is "as low as you can go."
Neider was reacting to news that more than 400 bronze markers -- perhaps many more -- have been stolen from the graves in at least a half-dozen cemeteries in the Byron-Bergen area.
The case is being investigated by both the State Police and the Sheriff's Office.
The markers are placed by families and veterans service organizations and, in many cases, were pushed into the turf beside the headstone of a veteran decades ago.
The markers are designed as flag holders and include a bronze medallion designating a veterans group, such as the American Legion or Veterans of Foreign Wars. The medallion typically weighs about a pound and the current replacement value is $32 each.
"They're very expensive," said Nieder, a local veterans leader. "I do discourage people now from getting them because they do have a tendency to walk."
Nieder said since the 1990s, veterans and families have been more likely to buy aluminum markers, which have no scrap metal value to speak of, or less commonly, plastic.
Whoever is involved in the theft of the markers is facing a charge of grand larceny, said Trooper Victor Morales, public information officer for Troop A.
Nieder pointed out that there is a law now on the books that covers both the sale and purchase of markers used on the graves of veterans. Section 450-A of the state's general business law says "it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, association or corporation to engage in the buying or selling of metal cemetery markers and flag holders bearing the insignia of any veterans' organization placed upon the graves of veterans."
Each violation of the law is punishable by a $500 fine or 15 days in jail or both.
Morales said the State Police are investigating the left of markers in four cemeteries in the Byron-Bergen area. More than 400 markers were stolen from these cemeteries. The Sheriff's Office is investigating thefts from other cemeteries, but Morales didn't know how many other cemeteries or how many additional markers were stolen from those locations.
We've been unable to contact the investigator with the Sheriff's Office handling the case.
The disappearance of the flag holders was discovered over the weekend. It's unknown when they might have been taken.
When asked for his reaction to the thefts, Neider said his first thought wouldn't be publishable. He said this isn't like stealing something from somebody's front lawn. The thieves are going into graveyards and stealing from those who unselfishly served and are dead and buried and unable to defend themselves.
"It's the ultimate slap in the face to these veterans and their families," Neider said. "They earned these markers by their service. It's akin to the problem in Batavia earlier this summer of people going in and desecrating headstones. It's almost beyond that because these markers are earned by these veterans, and it's a cemetary for crying out loud. ... It's pretty low. As low as you can go."
Anyone with knowledge of the whereabouts of these items, or, who may have information on the larcenies is asked to contact the State Police in Batavia at (585) 344-6200 or the Genesee County Sheriff's Office (585) 343-5000.
UPDATE 7:40 p.m.: We just spoke with Tom Williams, with the American Legion in Bergen. He said local Legion leaders are trying to figure out what to do. It would cost $16,000 to replace all of the markers.
"That's a lot of money," Williams said. "You know how hard that is to come by."
He doesn't have a count on how many total markers were stolen. There's still an inventory taking place of all the graveyards in the Byron-Bergen region.
Among the more than 400 known to be stolen was the one that marked his father's grave, said Williams, who served in the Seabees from 1963 to 1966.
He doesn't think much of the perpetrators who lifted the markers of America's heroes.
"Those are people who made sure we were kept free," Williams said. "They did their job. They left their homes, their families. I did that, the same as my dad. It's just the idea that whoever did this is a real son of a bitch. It just bothers me. Why would they come here? Why would they do that? There are people who are nuts. They don't understand. They have no clue."
Photo: For the purpose of illustration, a picture of a marker in a local cemetery. If you see these, made of bronze, and they're not in a cemetery, contact local law enforcement.
Rep. Chris Collins was honored today by the American Farm Bureau for his efforts on behalf of the agriculture community, not only in Genesee County and New York, but throughout the United States.
Collins spearheaded an effort to get the EPA to back off waterway rule changes that farmers -- and others -- say will drive up the cost of business, if not put them out of business.
It's a top legislative priority of the Farm Bureau, said New York bureau President Dean Norton, to convince the EPA to "ditch the rule," which he says would change the definition of navigable waterways to include small ditches and puddles, which are common on farms.
Norton presented Collins with an award from the Farm Bureau at a gathering at Post Farms in Elba.
Jeff Post thanked Collins for taking up the cause.
"If you look across the back of our farm, which we've been farming for 100 years, we have a lot of ground that would fall into the rule to be permitted," Post said. "It would have a large impact on a small producer like us."
At the urging of Norton, Collins took up the cause with the goal of getting 100 members of Congress to sign a letter urging the EPA to ditch the rule. Collins had 100 signers in a week. In another week, Norton said, he had 200. Eventually, 240 members of Congress, Republicans and Democrats signed the letter.
"This goes to show you just how flawed the rule is," Norton said. "Then when you have other organizations like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce coming out and saying, 'ditch the rule,' and when you have the small business administration telling their partner agency, 'you need to rewrite this thing, it's really flawed,' it tells you it is flawed."
Collins also said the fact the letter would garner such bipartisan support shows how seriously off track the EPA has gotten on the proposed rule change.
"I was able to get majority of Congress, which is very hard to do today, Republicans and Democrats alike, over 240 members, to send a letter to the administrator to the EPA asking, demanding, that they withdraw the rule and start over," Collins said. "There was too much ambiguity, too much worry in a rule that was out for comment."
In a hearing, Collins said, a deputy at the EPA "effectively admitted" that the proposed rule is flawed. The official said the comment period, which has been extended again, to Nov. 15, is designed to give the EPA information to fix any flaws in the rule.
"They said, we can fix it after the comments are done," Collins said. "My comment to them was, 'we don't trust you. No one trusts you. The public doesn't trust you. Farmers don't trust you. Congress doesn't trust you not to overreach yet again.' "
Collins, left, Post and Norton.
Every fire department in Genesee County was represented at a mandatory briefing Monday evening by Dr. Sara Connolly, the incoming medical director for the county.
Connolly briefed the chiefs and department representatives on protocols for dealing with Ebola patients.
It's a long shot that there will ever be a person carrying the Ebola virus in Genesee County, but county and state officials agree it's better to be prepared, trained at thinking ahead than to be caught off guard.
Such briefings are mandated for all first responders by the NYS Department of Health.
Connolly said she addressed triage and isolation issues and answered questions. EMS responders are instructed to ask patients at emergency scenes if they've traveled to West Africa within the previous 30 days.
If the answer is yes, then first responders need to find out if the patient has had any of the symptoms of Ebola, such as high fever, diarrhea or vomiting. If yes, then the patient needs to be isolated as quickly as possible and the first responders need to avoid further contact with the patient.
Some misunderstandings were cleared up during the Q&A session at the end of the talk, Connolly said. For example, not everybody who gets Ebola dies, and we don't even have any idea how lethal, or not, it would be in the U.S. since there's been only one case of a person in this country who has died from it.
"We don't know what it's mortality rate would be in this country, with a good sanitation system and developed healthcare system," Connolly said.
Connolly is not yet officially the new county health director. That appointment could be finalized as soon as today.
She is a physician at UMMC and specializes in emergency department medicine. She's a graduate of Princeton University with a medical degree from the University at Buffalo.
Every county is required to have at least one medical director, accounting to Emergency Management Coordinator Tim Yaeger, who overseas emergency response medical personnel. The position is responsible for training and ensuring that policies and protocols from the Department of Health are implemented and properly followed.
The director works closely with the Emergency Management Office and the county's Department of Health.
The Ebola briefing was required by the state, but Yaeger said it is a wise thing to ensure all emergency responders are prepared to deal with an Ebola patient, no matter how remote the possibility.
"We want to be prepared," Yaeger said. "Hopefully, nothing occurs here, but if it does, we want the public to know that we are prepared and ready to respond, and primarily to make sure those first responders are safe."
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