Stories from

Reason Magazine: Divorce Corp: Why the American Family-Court System is Broken

Bergen has a new gas station and convenience store, along with a Dunkin' Donuts location, on Clinton Street Road, near the intersection of Route 33 and Route 19.

Owner Kamaljat Sembhi, who started operating a small, old gas station on the property in 1996, said he thought the location was ideal for an expanded store and gas station. He worked with Dunkin' Donuts to lease space inside the store and offer drive-up donuts and coffee.

"I thought it was a pretty good spot," Sembhi said. "The best corner in the area."

The new store is 3,000 square feet and there are three pumps outside along with two diesel pumps and a kerosene filling station.

The Bergen resident said business has been "pretty good" since opening a month ago.

"We've been busy. I'm happy with that."

Driving down Norton Road, I passed the wetland where the late Ron Graziaplena used to set up waterfowl habitat and release his birds. These geese were right up by the roadway being watched by another motorist. As I took pictures, they came closer to the roadway. They're obviously pretty domesticated and were probably looking to be fed. Hopefully, they'll stay out of the road.

The culvert that collapsed Saturday under a Byron resident and his two children while out on a bike ride was scheduled to be replaced this summer, said County Highway Superintendent Tim Hens.

"I don't think any of us realized how bad it was in terms of being rotted out," Hens said. "We did a visual inspection, but I wasn't going to crawl into a two-foot pipe, but you can never tell without getting in there. The middle was in a lot worse shape than we thought."

Byron-Batavia Road between Griswold Road and Walkers Corners Road will be closed for two weeks while the culvert is replaced.

The cost of the replacement is approximately $50,000.

"Mother nature and time beat us to the punch," Hens said.

The husband of Korinne Haymon, who contacted The Batavian about the incident, said her husband and their two children were on a Saturday afternoon bike ride when the culvert gave out from under them. 

Mr. Haymon was pulling a bike carrier with their 4-year-old and 7-year-old riding along when he decided to stop out of curiosity and look at a small hole by the side of the road. It was about the size of a groundhog hole.

As soon as he put his foot down, the ground gave way.

The 7-year-old was able to jump over the hole "like Superman," Korinne said.

As soon as he realized the 4-year-old had fallen to the bottom of the hole, Mr. Haymon jumped to the bottom and he was able to lift the child over his head and push him out of the hole. He yelled for the child to move away from the hole. Then he pulled the bike and carrier the rest of the way into the hold and use it like a ladder to climb out.

"He said every time he grabbed earth, it was just crumbling," Korinne said. "They were hysterical, like screaming."

Outside of some cuts and scrapes, nobody was injured.

"He was petrified," Korinne said. "He said he just keeps playing it over in his head but I told him to just focus on everybody is all right."

The children are doing fine, Korinne said.

"They just laugh about how my oldest Supermanned over the hole," she said.

Hens said in his 16 years this is only the second culvert to collapse. The other one was in Darien in 1998 or 1999 and rain helped wash out a sinkhole.

"Most of the time we're ahead of the game in identifying (culverts for replacement)," Hens said. "We wait for a dry time to check on them. It's unusual for them to collapse like that and just from a visual inspection point of view, we have ones that are way worse. It's an odd combination of weather, timing, cold weather -- all of that plays into it."

Griswold Road, Stafford.

County parks workers were at Dewitt Recreation Area this morning getting the lake ready for another spring, summer and fall of fishing and recreating. The lake was stocked with 500 2-year-old brown trout and the piers were put into place. Parks Director Paul Osborn said he was surprised to find the water temperature this morning is 54 degrees. Normally it's in the 30s on stocking day. The lake had a thick and long-lasting ice cover this year. The water level is also higher than it's been in recent years.

Scott and 6-year-old Trenton Shuler.

Michael Atkinson, in the red, and Marcus Palvino.

UPDATE: Photo of the stocking operation from this morning provided by Paul Osborn.

Contractors have begun road reconstruction work on the south end of Cedar Street, Batavia.

Brandon Michael Woodham, 22, of Wheeler Road, Medina, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and unlawful dealing with fireworks. Woodham was stopped at 5:27 p.m. Friday on Veterans Memorial Drive by Deputy Joseph Loftus and found to allegedly possess fireworks and marijuana.

Scott M. Walton, 57, of Spencerport, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and failure to dim lights. Walton was stopped at an unspecified time and unspecified location by a Le Roy PD officer.

Jamie L. Rennicks, 30, of Pembroke, is charged with DWI and driving with a BAC of .08 or greater. Rennicks was stopped at 2:10 a.m. Saturday on West Main Street Road, Batavia, by a State trooper.

Pat and John Brumsted, of East Road, near Creek Road and Putnam Road, Batavia, are missing their beagle, DYNO. The pooch has been missing since 10 a.m. yesterday. DYNO is 7 and tan and white and very friendly. Their phone numbers are: (585) 343-6173 or (585) 813-3595.

Via WBTA:

Washington Post: Class warfare justified?

Tonight, Yume Asian Bistro, on Veterans Memorial Drive, celebrated the opening of its bar with music played (as a DJ) and performed (vocals and guitar) by Brent Persia. The owners say if music on Friday and Saturday nights after the dinner hour goes over well, they will continue to offer it.

Previously: Pair of young chefs see opportunity in Batavia for Asian cuisine, especially sushi

From County Highway Superintendent Tim Hens:

Byron Road between Griswold Road and Walkers Corners Road is closed until further notice due to a drainage culvert that has collapsed. The road is undermined and is a hazard to all traffic. County Highway will be investigating the scene for long-term repair options on Monday.

UPDATE 9 p.m.: The following photos and information were sent to us by Korinne Haymon.

According to Korinne Haymon, her husband was taking their two children out for a bike ride on Byron Road when suddenly, the ground crumbled beneath them. Their 7-year-old jumped out of the carrier, but their 4-year-old fell into the sink hole. Korinne's husband jumped in and got him out, but "he had a hell of a time getting out because the sides were crumbling," Hayman said. "Very scary!" The width of the hole is 15 to 20 feet, Haymon said. "My kids are so traumatized. We're just thankful everyone is OK." Haymon said they called the Highway Department rather than the Sheriff's Office because nobody was hurt.

Boy Scout Troop 6017 hosted an Easter Egg Hunt for the children of Elba today. The hunt included eggs with winning tickets for dozens of prizes.

The Oakfield Betterment Committee organized a community clean-up day today. Volunteers spread throughout the town to pick up litter.

Above, Cassandra Semar and Brittany Caton on Maltby Road.

Barb Harkness on Maltby Road.

The Johnson Family -- Mark, Michelle and McKenna with friend Cameron Heineman on Fisher Road.

The Kiwanis Easter Egg Hunt this morning at Centennial Park might be called an Easter Egg Scramble. It starts at 9 a.m. and pretty much all of the plastic eggs containing either candy or prize numbers are off the ground by 9:01.

To purchase prints, click here.

John Laverne Robinson, 51, of North Lake Road, Bergen, is charged with menacing, 2nd. Robinson is accused of pointing a shotgun at another person while the person was looking through Robinson's window.

Aaron M. Hatt, 22, of Alexander, is charged with harassment, 2nd, and unlawful possession of marijuana. Troopers responded to a complaint of a domestic dispute in the Town of Pembroke. In route, troopers came upon a young man walking down the center of Gabby Road. He reportedly said he had just argued with a female at the address of the initial complaint. Hatt was taken back to the house and upon investigation, troopers learned Hatt had allegedly been involved with a physical confrontation with the victim. He allegedly possessed marijuana at the time of his arrest.

Connor W. Kelly, 19, of Rushville, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. A trooper stopped Kelly's vehicle on Clinton Street Road, Stafford, for allegedly lacking its plate lamp. the trooper noted evidence of alleged recent marijuana use.

Bernard Lee Evans, 43, of Cato Street, Pavilion, was arrested on bench warrants for alleged criminal contempt, 1st, and harassment, 2nd. Evans was held without bail.

Kelly Marie Faro, 37, of Church Road, of Hamlin, was arrested as a fugitive from justice. Faro was arrested on an unrelated matter by Deputy John Baiocco. During his investigation, he discovered an active warrant out of Cuyahoga County for alleged drug possession. Faro is being held without bail pending extradition.

A group of fifth- and sixth-grade girls are about to embark on a new adventure -- playing in a basketball tournament in another state for the first time.

The Thunder are a new girls basketball team aimed at giving the young players off-season experience and practice.

Coach Otis Thomas said the girls are really dedicated to the sport.

"We look pretty good," he said. "They work hard. Very enthusiastic. Great bunch of girls. Very disciplined. Just to have them in the gym now when it's softball season and baseball season shows how dedicated they are."

The nucleus of the Thunder is the Batavia Middle School team.

They will play in the King James Shooting Stars Classic (sponsored by Lebron James) in Ohio next week.

Pictured, from left, first row: Nya Thomas, Morgan Rohdes, Mckenzie Riegle, Brynn Wormley, Emily Janes, Kennedy Kolb, Destiny Griffin. Not pictured are Mia Rhinehart, Bella Phillips, Hailey Thornley, Nashiya Rhimm.

The team's sponsors are Big Pauly's Pizza and NYSCOPBA.

Batavia has a new barber. Terry Smith has opened his own shop, Fresh Cutz, on the second floor at 218 W. Main St., above House of Kolor Tattoo and Piercing. Smith graduated from barber school in October and was eager to open his own shop. He said he saw a need for another barber shop in the city.  "Whoever needs a haircut, I'll cut it," he said. Getting a haircut yesterday was Kwame Richardson.

Le Roy PD is looking for the public's assistance in identifying suspects involved in daytime residential burglaries Wednesday.

The burglaries occurred in the area of 90s block of Lake Street and the 50s block of Myrtle Street, most likely between 3 a.m. and 9 p.m.

No information was released on what may have been stolen.

Le Roy PD is asking residents to keep their doors and windows locked in order to make their homes less attractive targets for thieves. 

Anyone having any information or who saw any suspicious persons in those areas during that time are asked to please call the Le Roy Police Department at 585-345-6350.