Brenda Yvette Colon-Cruz, 45, of Watson Street, Batavia, is charged with: driving while ability impaired by drugs, as a felony, with two prior convictions within the last 10 years; holding more than one driver's license; and operating an unregistered motor vehicle on a highway. On Sept. 13 at 4:06 a.m., she was arrested following a complaint in the area of Lake Street Road in the Town of Le Roy. She was arraigned then released under supervision of Genesee Justice. She was due back in Le Roy Town Court on Sept. 20. The case was handled by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Austin Heberlein.

Charles Kibicho Kairu, 37, of South Valley Lane, Springfield, Mo., was arrested at 6:25 p.m. on Sept. 22 on Main Road in Pembroke following a traffic stop. He allegedly operated a commercial vehicle while intoxicated. He is charged with: unregistered motor vehicle; aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the first degree; DWI -- first offense; aggravated DWI -- having a BAC of .18 percent or more; drinking alcohol in a motor vehicle; and operating with brakes out of service. Kairu was arraigned in Town of Pembroke Court and jailed in lieu of $10,000 cash or $20,000 bond. He is due back in Town of Pembroke Court on Oct. 4. The case was handled by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Kyle Krzemien, assisted by Deputy Mathew Clor.

Nicholas F. Kerwin, 18, of Route 77, North Java, is charged with third-degree criminal mischief and fifth-degree conspiracy. Following a property damage complaint of damage to a motor vehicle on Molasses Hill Road in Alexander at 1:30 a.m. on June 10, Kerwin was arrested and released on an appearance ticket. He is due back in Town of Alexander Court on Oct. 9. He allegedly caused damage to the vehicle in excess of $250. The case was handled by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Jeremy McClellan, assisted by Deputy Christopher Parker.

Three youths were arrested by the Le Roy Police Department in connection with a nighttime residential burglary in the village on Sept. 10. It was reported by the homeowner that unknown an unknown or persons entered the residence during the late night or early morning hours and stole multiple packs of cigarettes while the resident was sleeping. A follow-up investigation allegedly determined three youths ages 16, 13 and 12 were involved and some of the cigarettes were recovered as evidence. The 16-year-old, who was already on a court-ordered, 24-hour curfew due to unrelated prior criminal conduct, was charged in Le Roy Town Court with one count each of second-degree burglary, a Class C felony, and petit larceny, a Class A misdemeanor. The 16-year-old was jailed and an undisclosed amount of bail was set. The two younger suspects were "petitioned to the Genesee County Youth Court."

Kevin M. Fossum, 52, of Batavia, was arrested by State Police from the Warsaw barracks on Sept. 15 and charged with driving while ability impaired and unlawful possession of marijuana. During a traffic stop on Route 246 in the Village of Perry, troopers detected an odor of marijuana coming from Fossum while being interviwed. Field sobriety tests were issued and he was taken to Warsaw for processing, then issued an appearance ticket for Village of Perry Court at a later date. He was released to a sober third party.

Submitted photo and press release from the Genesee County Sheriff's Office:

Early this year, Genesee County was selected to be the recipient of technical assistance and funding to develop a Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) program with resources made available through the NYS Senate and allocated to the NYS Office of Mental Health.

The Office of Mental Health (OMH), Division of Forensic Services, is managing the crisis intervention services initiative.

Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training is a program that has been developed to help police officers in situations involving individuals with mental illness. The concept of CIT began in Memphis, Tenn., in 1988, and has become nationally known as the “Memphis Model” of pre-arrest jail diversion for those in a mental health crisis. 

A Crisis Intervention Team is a group of experienced police officers who volunteer to receive an additional, one-week training in mental health-related issues.

Last week, local law enforcement officers from the Genesee and Wyoming County sheriff's offices, the City of Batavia Police Department, Village of Le Roy Police Department, Village of Attica Police Department, and Genesee and Wyoming county probation offices participated in training.

The training will prepare officers so that when they are the first responders to an incident, they have the knowledge, skills and support to de-escalate situations and divert individuals from the criminal and juvenile justice systems, when it’s appropriate to do so.

Among the goals of CIT programs are to reduce the number of arrests of individuals with mental illness, refer them to treatment facilities or other support services, and eliminate adverse incidents between law enforcement and those with mental illness. CIT programs involve ongoing collaboration and partnerships between, and among, law enforcement, the mental health system, and consumer and advocacy groups.

Photo: Local law enforcement officers from the Genesee and Wyoming County sheriff's offices, the City of Batavia Police Department, Village of Le Roy Police Department, Village of Attica Police Department, and Genesee and Wyoming county probation offices who participated in CIT training.

We've always had a policy of disclosing when things going on in our lives might disrupt news coverage, even when those events are medical in nature.

This is one of those times.

Since August of last year, I've had afib and this morning I'll be admitted to Unity Hospital in Rochester where, after some tests and if those tests go well, doctors will administer a medication that may correct it. The potential side effects of the medication require that I remain in the hospital where I can be monitored for at least three days.

So, until perhaps Thursday morning, I won't be in town. Billie will be here monitoring the scanner as usual. We have some coverage lined up. I'm expecting some documents that will enable me to write a couple of stories while I'm in the hospital and I can do any other stories that come up that don't require me to travel, but I won't be available for breaking news or event coverage. We'll do our best to get these covered through other means while I'm gone.

Rep. Chris Collins, under federal indictment on charges of securities fraud, has kicked off his resurgent campaign with an ad attacking Democratic candidate Nate McMurray for supposedly having something to do with a free trade agreement with Korea, which Collins falsely claims has cost the United States 95,000 jobs.

In 2010, South Korea and the United States entered a free trade agreement commonly known as KORUS. 

Collins is apparently getting his statistic from a 2016 report by the union-backed Economic Policy Institute, which has a record of calculating job loss estimates solely on a balance-of-trade figure. 

Such a calculation ignores the increase in exports, the lower costs of imports, the jobs created from increased trade, and an assumption that the imports would have been made in the United States if not for the trade agreement. It is not a survey of how many actual workers, if any, were terminated after the trade deal.

Scott Lincicome, an international trade expert with the conservative Cato Institute, has written a couple of times about EPI's flawed methodology. 

EPI used the same methodology to make false claims about jobs lost to China. 

Writing about a similar report in 2012, Lincicome said:

I really shouldn't give the "study" an iota of bandwith, but because it will undoubtedly be mentioned by ignorant journalists or opportunistic politicians looking to respectively score a few cheap page views or scare a few unwitting voters, here's all you need to read:

• My 2010 blog post dismantling of EPI and its study (including boatloads of links from myriad scholars decrying EPI's asinine "trade deficit = job losses" methodology); and

• Today's quick dismissal of the EPI report by the U.S.-China Business Council.

The claim of 95,000 jobs lost is also contradicted by steady economic growth in the United States since 2010, including 95 straight months of job growth. Since 2010, the U.S. economy has added more than 18 million jobs.

According to a U.S. Trade Representative report from 2015, KORUS had increased U.S. exports to Korea by nearly $25 billion annually to that point. 

"U.S. auto exports to Korea increased by 208 percent by value between 2011 and 2015," the report states, "more than 14 times faster than the increase of U.S. auto exports to the world (up 14 percent), thanks to Korea’s 50-percent tariff reduction (from 8 percent to 4 percent) when KORUS entered into force."

In 2016, the USTR reported that total, two-way trade with Korea had increased to $144.6 billion, with $63.8 billion in exports and $80.8 billion in imports.

A trade deficit does not translate into job losses, however. It means Americans are buying more because of greater availability or lower prices. It doesn't mean those products would have been made in the United States.

The Batavian tried to contact the communications director for the Collins campaign this morning and got no response. We reached out to Chris Grant, who works for the campaign, and he referred us to a statement Collins issued to the Buffalo News.

This is a real video of Nate McMurray that he removed from social media because he didn’t want to defend his efforts to promote a Korean-U.S. Free Trade Agreement that shipped nearly 100,000 U.S. jobs overseas. Nate McMurray needs a new video to explain why he opposes President Trump's policies that are protecting American jobs and American workers. Hopefully, he’ll leave that video up.

Via text message, The Batavian pointed out to Grant that the statement didn't address Collins's false claim about the number of jobs lost and we got no response.

Collins made his claim as part of a campaign commercial (see video above) that attacks McMurray's past employment as an attorney for U.S. companies in Korea.

According to the Buffalo News story, McMurray helped U.S. companies trying to open up the Korean market to their exports.

McMurray learned to speak Korean while working there. He married a Korean. He's said that the Collins' ad is xenophobic. He shared this on Twitter yesterday:

"I watched that ugly attack ad with my son. His mom is Korean. My son speaks Korean. He looked at me with a grave sadness on his face. He felt what I felt. Neither of us said a word."

Collins was arrested Aug. 3 and charged with securities fraud. A few days later he suspended his campaign. Earlier this week, he announced he would not cooperate with GOP efforts to remove his name from the ballot in November and then announced he would resume actively campaigning for reelection. As far as we know, he made his first public appearance in the district today in Newstead. About the event, he tweeted: 

It's great to be back on the campaign trail meeting with constituents across NY-27. Voters have a clear choice in November. We must keep this seat in Republican hands to continue advancing President Trump's America first agenda.

The First Presbyterian Church in Batavia celebrated its 209th anniversary today by hosting a Scottish Heritage Festival. The festival featured food, ancient highlander games and toys, bagpipes (Carol Romanowski, top photo), and a lecture on Protestant churches in Batavia by Genesee County Historian Michael Eula, Ph.D. (second picture with Mike Stuart). 

Bottom photo: Ludia Gundel, age 7.

The Alzheimer’s Association, WNY Chapter, sponsored today's Walk to End Alzheimers in Batavia. The route started and ended at Premier Genesee Rehabilitation and Nursing Center on Bank Street. Hundreds of people turned out, though this morning organizers did not have an exact count of participants.

For decades, the former Presbyterian church in East Pembroke has looked weathered and beaten and neglected but owner Wes Winters had decided it's time to restore the exterior.

So far he's removed the old siding, painted the trim and the bell tower and installed some windows. This week he will start installing new clapboards (wood, not vinyl). 

He described the project as "weatherizing."

"It was pretty sad," Winters said. "We needed a new roof on the tower and the clapboards had long since seen their paint go away. It was just time."

His father bought the building in the 1970s and converted the basement into two apartments and divided the sanctuary into two floors as storage for his construction business.  

His son David is assisting with the restoration project.

The sanctuary was built in about 1854 and the bell tower was added in 1857.

The original bell -- cast in the 1870s in Troy -- still hands in the tower. The last time it was rung was just a few weeks ago. A friend of his son's got married nearby in East Pembroke. At the start of the service, Winters' son texted him and he rang the bell five times and then when the couple was pronounced husband and wife, he rang it again five times.

The stained glass was apparently removed when the congregation left the church.

Winters doesn't have immediate plans for the sanctuary but said it might be appropriate for apartments or retail.

"We're not going to sell it," he said, adding that the building will stay in the family.

This is a commemorative plate found in the church building. The inscription on the back says the church was built for $3,200. Rev. D.C. Houghton was the first pastor. A tornado Sept. 30, 1921, tore off the spire and it was replaced by a dome. The Baptists and Presbyterians of East Pembroke merged in 1962 and formed the East Pembroke Federated Church. Photo submitted by David Winters.

Photos and information from the Le Roy Police Department:

The Le Roy Police Department is currently investigating a case of animal cruelty. Early this morning (Sept. 22) patrols located a cat enclosed in a plastic bin. The cat was inside the bin and the lid was duct-taped closed; there were no holes cut in the lid or anyway for air to enter the bin.

The cat appears to be in good health and is being cared for at this time.

The cat is an unneutered male tiger cat and appears to be well fed and taken care of (pictures posted below). 

We are asking for the public’s assistance with any information that could lead to a possible suspect or suspects as well as locating the owner of the cat. 

The Le Roy Police Department takes Animal Cruelty seriously and appreciates the public’s assistance in this matter. 

If you have any information, please contact the Le Roy Police Department at (585) 345 6350.

Foiled Again, the richest Standardbred of all time, with driver Jim Morrill Jr. and a fan at Batavia Downs Friday night; photo courtesy of Kevin Oklobzija.

By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs

It was a dark and stormy night in Genesee County as storms blew through the area on Friday night (Sept. 21). But that didn’t deter the multitude of fans of Foiled Again from turning out to witness the richest Standardbred of all time compete at Batavia Downs one last time. 

Prior to the eighth race, everyone in attendance gathered at the fence in anticipation of seeing one of the greatest pacers in the history of the sport.

Foiled Again was in a $10,000 Open II pace that saw him start from post seven and get away fifth, where he would stay until the race approached the three-quarter pole. That's where driver Jim Morrill Jr. pulled him and tried to advance toward the leader. Although Foiled Again raced gamely pacing homes in :28.2 over an off-track, he came up two-lengths short of the win, finishing fourth in 1:53.4. 

After the race, Foiled Again was brought back to the winner’s circle where he stood like a rock star with his caretaker Jordan Miller and his driver Jim Morrill Jr. to greet the hundreds of racing enthusiasts who ran down from all points of the grandstand and clubhouse to see him up close and take his picture. There is no doubt that Facebook accounts all over Western New York will be rife with images of Foiled Again for the foreseeable future. 

Batavia Downs Gaming is very appreciative of Burke Racing, the Weaver Bruscemi partnership, the JJK Stables and trainer Ron Burke for including it as a stop on the Foiled Again Farewell Tour.

The Batavia Blue Devils continued their dominance of opponents this season, this time with a 41-26 win over Windsor.

Ray Leach ran for 230 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries and added 97 more yards and a TD on four receptions, for 327 all-purpose yards.

Ethan Biscaro was 10-11 passing for 140 yards and two TDs.

Taiyo Iburi-Bethel had a 71-yard touchdown run.

Josh Barber had nine tackles, including a sack. Alex Rood and Ethan Biscaro each had eight tackles and a sack and Biscaro added an interception.

Also on Friday night, Alexander beat Bolivar-Richburg 52-0 and Pembroke lost to Perry/Mt. Morris 30-8.

UPDATE Saturday, Sept.22: Officials corrected the stats for Ethan Biscaro; the story originally stated he had a perfect 10-10 passing. The figure was revised today to 10-11.

Photos by Steve Ognibene.

Le Roy overcame its own mistakes and capitalized on the mistakes of the Red Raiders in a 15-7 win over their archrivals Friday night.

The Oatkan Nights limited Cal-Mum/Byron-Bergen to 146 total yards on offense and snagged four interceptions, which helped negate Le Roy's own turnovers and opportunities squashed by penalties.

Kyler LaCarte rushed for 59 yards and a TD on 23 carries. Jake Hill gained 29 yards on nine carries, and Cineque Robinson scored a TD on three yards. Jake Hill was 12-16 passing for 97 yards. Reece Tresco caught four passes for 34 yards and Cody Lytle caught three for 43.

Anthony Leitten had six tackles and Bobby Locke had five tackles. Lytle had two interceptions. Tresco and Robinson (top photo) pulled down the other two interceptions.

For the Red Raiders, Bryce Yockel gained 106 yards.

To purchase prints of photos, click here.

Press release:

“Everyone knows Chris Collins will not do a good job representing NY27 from a jail cell. He is not going to care about getting a great Farm Bill or making the middle-class tax cuts permanent while contemplating up to a 150-year jail sentence,” Larry Piegza said.

“Republicans who want to vote for an ethical pro-Trump candidate should vote NY Reform Party this year. I have offered to give my congressional salary to charity after I pay for my Washington, D.C., expenses just because I want to show voters that I am not in this for the money.”

The NY Reform Party chose to break from tradition this year and not endorse Chris Collins due to the fact that the Office of Congressional Ethics had “substantial reason to believe” that he had broken the law. Collins was found to have tried to pass legislation in Congress designed to help his company, Innate Immunotherapeutics.

This turned out to be a sound decision as Collins was arrested on a different charge related insider trading concerning the same company.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if a quarter of the Republican Party votes Reform Party in this district this year," stated Charlie Flynn of the Reform Party selection process before Collins’ arrest. "We have the better conservative candidate.”

Recently, Piegza spoke on NPR with Evan Dawson and at “Left, Right and Center,” a political discussion group at the Orchard Park Presbyterian Church. After this appearance, he has seen donations to his campaign pick up. His campaign currently has $220,000 available, double the amount that the Democrat Nate McMurray has on hand. He anticipates that that number will grow if he can get either candidate to debate him.

“I understand why Chris Collins won’t debate me, he has to prepare for his trial and never met with his district since he took office," Piegza said. "What I can’t figure out why Nate seems to have changed from his #DebateNate stance to #NeverDebate.

"I offered to debate him in Batavia two weeks ago. Some reporter should ask him why he won’t. This is an interesting contrast to the fact that I am advocating for an online town hall, where residents can contact me 24/7.”

A two-car accident, unknown injuries but it is blocking, is reported in the area of 3080 W. Main Street Road, Batavia.

East Pembroke fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

UPDATE 11:49 a.m.: No injuries. There's a bit of debris in the roadway.

UPDATE 12:12 p.m.: One person being transported to UMMC for evaluation.

Press release:

Nate McMurray, the Democratic and Working Families Party Candidate for New York’s 27th Congressional District, today responded to the launch of Chris Collins’ so-called campaign comprised solely of TV attack ads:

“Right out of the gate, Chris Collins’ so-called campaign has nothing to do with Chris Collins. There’s a reason: there’s nothing to brag about while their guy is out on bail. This ad is desperate, it’s untruthful, and no one’s going to fall for it. I can’t believe they thought it was a good idea to start with this.

“I won’t shy away from the fact that I speak a foreign language, that I’ve been on the front lines of the trade war that’s redefining our economy, and that I’ve been fighting FOR American workers. Do you think I’d have the support of the local and national labor community if I was going to ship jobs to Asia? Of course not.

“I’ll use every experience I’ve got to fight for this district. No can play me in Warsaw or Washington, Beijing or Batavia.

“If this is the best they’ve got, bring it."

In 2003, Nate was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study the development of democracy in the Constitutional Court of Korea. He worked to represent U.S. farmers and U.S. manufacturers ensuring that they had an opportunity to feature their products in Korean stories, helping create jobs back here at home.

About Nate McMurray

Nate McMurray is a native of North Tonawanda. He’s a family man, an Eagle Scout. He is also one of seven children raised by his widowed mother when his father died of cancer at the age of 39. Nate worked his way through community college, earned a bachelor’s degree at SUNY-Buffalo, then went on to law school and a successful career in business.

For the last two years, he’s served as town supervisor of Grand Island, a conservative community in Western New York, where he has been instrumental in bringing fiscal responsibility to local government and millions of dollars in new business investment to the town. For more on Nate McMurray and his campaign for Congress in NY-27, visit www.votemcmurray.com.

It was pretty clear at a gathering of local leaders at County Building #2 on Thursday night that few elected officials in Genesee County's towns and villages are happy with the county's plan for how it will share sales tax revenue.

It was also clear that the county has few options.

The current plan is for the county to cap the amount of sales tax revenue it annually sends to towns at villages at 2018 levels for 40 years.  

Sales tax revenue has been a significant portion of revenue for local jurisdictions -- it's 51 percent of the Town of Le Roy's revenue, for example -- enabling local officials to hold down property taxes.

Now those officials fear the economic impact of seeing sales tax revenue shrink relative to rising costs and what it will mean for property owners in their jurisdictions.

"This agreement is a burden on the towns and villages," said Michael Plitt from the Town of Darien. "It will mean towns have to impose higher property taxes or cut services."

From the county's perspective -- as shared by Bob Bausch (top photo), chair of the County Legislature -- the county has few alternatives.

• The state is forcing the county to build a new jail, which will cost local taxpayers $50 million, or more, plus interest, over 40 years;
• The state is imposing new requirements, called "Raise the Age," for how criminal defendants ages 16 and 17, are handled by law enforcement, the courts, and corrections, which will cost the county $2 million to $3 million a year -- a cost the state says it will reimburse the county for but only if the county stays under the property tax cap;
• The county is facing $75 million in expense to replace aging bridges and culverts.

The county's proposal for sharing sales tax revenue capped at the 2018 rate is an explicit attempt to keep more sales tax to help pay for the new jail.

Bausch pointed out that 80 percent of every property tax dollar collected locally goes to cover state-mandated expenses. Legislator Andrew Young added that the county has only two revenue streams -- property tax and sales tax; and with property tax, the levy is capped so the county doesn't have the option to raise property tax to pay for the jail, that leaves sales tax as the only option.

Young also pointed out that Genesee County is the most generous county in the state for sales tax with towns and villages. Maybe if its share was more in the middle of the pack over the past 10 years, the county wouldn't be in the situation it's in now.

One of the chief objections to the plan for town and village leaders is that the agreement would last 40 years.

Rob LaPoint, deputy supervisor in the Town of Pavilion, calculated inflation going back to 1977 and pointed out that a dollar 40 years ago is worth 25 cents now, at that rate, the county will gain $625 million over 40 years.

"You could build 10 jails for that," LaPoint said.

Both Bausch and Young indicated the county is willing to adjust the 40-year time frame. Young said he favors 15 years.

"If it is a 15-year agreement in place, I know I won't be around, at least I hope not," Young said. "The Legislature in 15 years might decide to take more money."

The county isn't obligated under state law to share any sales tax revenue with the towns and villages. Bausch pointed out that the county could make the amount to share an annual budget decision.

Bausch said without an agreement, he couldn't obligate future legislatures to any particular amount of revenue share.

Some in the audience expressed concern that the City is getting a better deal than the towns and villages. While the amount of new sales tax revenue that will flow to the City will be restricted under its agreement with the county, it is not capped.

The City has more leverage because it can legally override the county sales tax and impose its own sales tax, something the villages and towns can't do.

However, Steve Barbeau pointed out that the City doesn't have that much leverage because most of the sales tax in the county is generated by businesses outside of City limits. 

Legislator Marianne Clattenberg said the City has much higher expenses than the towns and villages. It has its own police department and fire department but it is also the site of most of the tax-exempt property in the county, including the jail, the courthouse, the Old Courthouse, and County Building #1, yet the city must protect those buildings with its police and fire departments and plow the roads that lead to them without collecting the property tax to pay for those services.

David Hagelberger, supervisor for the Town of Darien, wanted to know why the county didn't deal with the jail issue sooner. Bausch said the county wasn't was aware of the looming issues with the jail, but that while it owned the County Nursing home, losing $2 million to $3 million, it really didn't have the ability to deal with the jail or roads and bridges.

While Hagelberger shared many of the same concerns about the length and nature of the agreement and burden it will create for local jurisdictions he also said, "the jail is really all of our problems" and that one way or another everybody in the county was going to have to help pay for it.

Also unique to Genesee County in New York is the county's responsibility for all of the roads and bridges in the towns and villages, which ends up being a cost savings for local jurisdictions, something Carol Glor, supervisor for the Town of Oakfield, said she appreciated.

"We just got two new bridges in Oakfield that are worth well over $2 million," Glor said. "There is no way we could have taken on that expense in our budget."