Judge Melissa Cianfrini recommended to homicide suspect Prince N.K. Wilson in Genesee County Court today that he find a way to work with his assigned attorney, Public Defender Jerry Ader.

Wilson is apparently unhappy that Ader isn't giving the OK for Wilson to testify at an upcoming Grand Jury hearing on the double murder Wilson and Raul Cruz are accused of committing at an Alexander dairy farm on March 11.

He also apparently thinks his case is proceeding too slowly. He attempted to make a speedy trial motion "pro se" (representing himself), which Cianfrini declined to rule on today because Wilson did not provide any information to substantiate his claim.

Cianfrini patiently -- and in very clear, plain English (no lawyer language) -- explained to Wilson that only an attorney could request a defendant testify at his own Grand Jury hearing, and that in order for her to consider his motion, he needed to provide supporting documents. And, because of the way the motion was made, the prosecution was not aware of the motion until today and by law needed time to prepare a response.

She also told Prince that as part of his motion, he needs to inform the court what it is he would like the court to do if the judge ruled in his favor.

Prince indicated he didn't think he needs an attorney because the Genesee County Jail has a complete law library. 

Cianfrini told Prince he had two choices at this point -- work things out with Ader or hire his own attorney.

Asked if he thought he could work with Ader, Prince said, "I don't know. He doesn't want to see the reason behind my actions.  I'll ask him a question and he will start yelling at me."

Cianfrini said she thought now that she had explained the process to him, perhaps Wilson understood things better and that communications with Ader could improve. 

"I recommend you go back and work on your relationship with Mr. Ader," Cianfrini said.

Wilson, 23, and Cruz, 18, are accused of killing  Elibander Morales, 30, and Marceleno Gomez Hernandez, 29, in a bunkhouse at a dairy farm at 10216 Alexander Road, Alexander.

Press release:

Notre Dame has named Jimmy Fanara, ND Class of 1994, as the Varsity Football Coach replacing Joe Zambito who was unable to return after being hired as Race Secretary at Harrah's Philadelphia last Friday. 

Fanara has been coaching at Notre Dame for 25 years, working alongside legendary coaches Bill Sutherland and Rick Mancuso, as well as being a member of Coach Zambito’s staff for the past 4 years. Fanara said, “It’s a tremendous honor to be the leader of the Notre Dame High school football program. I look forward to carrying on the traditions of not only the program but also the high school. It’s a wonderful honor and I feel blessed. Go Irish!”

Notre Dame would like to thank Coach Zambito for his 4 years of dedicated service to the Notre Dame Football program. He posted a record of 20-14, winning sectionals in 2019 when his team had a record of 10-1, including an undefeated regular season.

Notre Dame will hold a meeting for parents and players on Tuesday, July 19th at 6 p.m. in the cafeteria where Coach Fanara and his staff will be introduced. 

Photo courtesy Notre Dame.  Jimmy Fanara, left, and former ND head coach Rick Mancuso.

Press release:

The Richmond Memorial Library Tweens & Teens Staff will be sponsoring a Book Drive for Children’s and Young Adult books starting this month. The book drive begins July 27th and runs through August 13th, 2022. The books can be for children or teens of all ages, must be in new or good condition, and can be dropped off and put in the purple crates in the RML Foyer anytime the library is open. 

“Books are the way into a world of imagination for young children and teens alike,” shared Teen Librarian Felicia Cecere. “We are so thrilled to be doing the book drive again this year, as it was such a success last year!” 

The Library G.I.F.T. Program (Generate Imagination in Families Today) is dedicated to making new or gently used books available to children and their families in our area, and to raising awareness of the lifelong benefits of early childhood literacy. Bright boxes and shelves of G.I.F.T. books are located at agencies and businesses in Batavia. Children can take a book from the shelf to bring home, read, and keep! Having as few as 20 books in the home has a significant impact on propelling a child to higher lifelong education levels and earnings, potentially breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty  -- and the more books you add, the greater the benefit.

“Batavia is known for being a welcoming community and the donations will truly enhance the G.I.F.T program,” said Children’s Room Assistant Ellen Brokaw. “This program extends out into the community and helps the kids have access to books at specific agencies and businesses in Batavia.”  

For information on the book drive and other library programs, visit the library website at www.batavialibrary.org, or check out our Facebook and Instagram pages!  

Richmond Memorial Library is located at 19 Ross St in the City of Batavia. The library is open 9 am - 9 pm Monday-Thursday and 9 am - 5 pm Friday and Saturday.

Press release:

The following people were arrested by the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department during the Thomas Rhett Concert at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center on July 15, 2022.

Samuel R. Baudanza, 25, of Route 19, Wyoming is charged with harassment 2nd after allegedly punching a Live Nation security guard in the mouth.

David G. Becker, 20, of Zimmerman Road, Hamburg, is charged with trespass and criminal trespass 3rd after allegedly re-entering the concert venue twice after being ejected and told not to return.

Olivia B. Krieger,  20, of Glen Ridge Ave., St. Catherines, Ontario is charged with trespass after allegedly re-entering the concert venue after being ejected and told not to return.

Samantha E. Bunn, 19 of Engle Drive, Hamburg,  is charged with trespass after allegedly re-entering the concert venue after being ejected and told not to return.

Dakota M. Smith-Neal, 30 of Townline Road, Byron,  is charged with harassment 2nd after allegedly punching a Live Nation Security Guard in the face.

Kyle Burdick, 24 of Redman Road, Brockport,  is charged with harassment 2nd after allegedly kicking and punching a Live Nation Security Guard.

Sean Costello, 25 of Genesee Street, Lockport, is charged with harassment 2nd after allegedly kicking and punching a Live Nation Security Guard.

Mark W. Karsch, 41 of Sturbridge Lane, Grand Island,  is charged with trespass after allegedly re-entering the concert venue after being ejected and told not to return.

The suspects were all released on appearance tickets.

Press release:

The Genesee County and Batavia Youth Bureaus are planning the annual Safe Summer Children’s Carnival open to the public to take place on Thursday, July 28 from 10:15 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. at David M. McCarthy Ice Arena, 22 Evans Street in Batavia.  One dollar buys a ticket to play 10 games, and children can win “funny money” to redeem for prizes.

Entertainment by “Magic and Illusions of Patrick” is scheduled from 10:15-11:00 a.m. and the games will run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a 30-minute lunch break. Folks from the community should plan to bring a bagged lunch or plan to leave for lunch. 

There will also be several community agency booths that the children can visit for a chance to win one of our grand prizes.  For more information on the carnival, please contact Chelsea at the Genesee County Youth Bureau at 344-3960.

Photo: File photo from 2018 of the carnival. Photo by Howard Owens.

Press release:

The City of Batavia Water Department will be shutting down the 12-inch water main on Richmond Avenue, from Oak Street to Buxton Avenue, for emergency repairs due to construction on Richmond Avenue.

The length of time the water will be off is unknown.

As always, when the water is restored, it may be discolored.  Please refrain from doing any laundry until the water runs clear.

We apologize for any inconvenience and the public’s patience is greatly appreciated.

Johnny Gene Jenison, 51, of Federal Drive, Batavia, is charged with sexual abuse 1st and forcible touching. Jenison is accused of sexual offenses at the Fairbridge Inn on Federal Drive at 2 p.m., Aug. 10, 2021. He was arraigned in Town of Batavia Court on July 12 and ordered held on $5,000 bail. An order of protection was issued.

Benjamin Donald Seekins, 33, of 37 Woodrow Road, Batavia, is charged with DWI and speeding. Seekins was stopped at 1:45 a.m., July 12, on West Main Street Road, Batavia, by Deputy Morgan Ewert. He was released on appearance tickets.

Stacy Lynn Patterson, 35, of East Main Street, Le Roy, is charged with petit larceny. Patterson is accused of stealing groceries from Walmart in Batavia at 8:23 p.m., July 17.  She was issued an appearance ticket.

Andres Artega, 24, of Harvester Avenue, Batavia, is charged with felony DWI and aggravated unlicensed operation. Artega was stopped by Le Roy Patrol Officer Zachary Klafehn at 2:35 a.m., July 17, on Bank Street, Le Roy.  He was issued appearance tickets and released to a third party.

Press releases from Automobile Association of America:

Today’s national average price for a gallon of gasoline is $4.52, down 16 cents from last week. One year ago, the price was $3.17. The New York State average is $4.69, down 11 cents since last Monday. A year ago, the NYS average was $3.20. AAA Western and Central New York (AAA WCNY) reports the following averages:

• Batavia - $4.62 (down 10 cents from last week)
• Buffalo - $4.68 (down 8 cents from last week)
• Elmira - $4.70 (down 9 cents from last week)
• Ithaca - $4.80 (down 6 cents from last week)
• Rochester - $4.77 (down 9 cents from last week)
• Rome - $4.82 (down 8 cents from last week)
• Syracuse - $4.73 (down 8 cents from last week)
• Watertown - $4.83 (down 7 cents from last week)

According to the latest data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand tapered off over the past two weeks following the Independence Day holiday, while total domestic gas stocks increased. The lower demand, alongside cheaper oil prices, has helped to push pump prices down. If these supply/demand dynamics hold, drivers will likely continue to see price relief at the pump. This morning, oil prices are hovering around the $100 per barrel mark, which is down slightly compared to one week ago though prices did drop below $100 at one point last week.

Press release:

“We've seen the national average price of gasoline decline for a fifth straight week, with the pace of recent declines accelerating to some of the most significant we've seen in years. This trend is likely to reach a sixth straight week, with prices likely to fall again this week. Barring major hurricanes, outages or unexpected disruptions, I forecast the national average to fall to $3.99/gal by mid-August," said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. "So far, we've seen the national average drop for 34 straight days, with over 25,000 stations now back at $3.99 per gallon or less, and thousands more stations will join this week. In addition, we will see several states fall back under an average of $4, the majority being in the south, but that could spread to more states in the weeks ahead.”

Just before the pandemic hit, Daniel Sprague decided to take his craft to the streets.

You could say that he went with a twist on the pop-up shop: his product was music and he plays wherever he can.

Two years later, Sprague, of Batavia, is still at it. He can be seen wearing white face paint with black circles drawn around his eyes and black lines across his lips from his nose to his chin. Black nail polish and black pin-striped pants with thick silver chains dangling off his pants, long black fingerless gloves, and no shirt finish off his look. No longer Sprague, this musician with a hint of goth is Danny Christ, his stage name.

“I’m just happy to play anywhere,” he said. “I’m happy to be putting my music out here. I play my own material and some covers; a whole lot of genres … mostly pop, punk, and (heavy) metal.”

His soft-spoken manner and air of courtesy belie the hard-core rock star image. In other words, he seems like a nice guy separate from his persona.

The 33-year-old grew up in Bergen and picked up a guitar when he was around 17, he said. He plays in a few bands, including Natives A.D., and the music shifts over to “strictly folk rock” for another group he’s in.

Once COVID swept in and everything closed down, that meant no more open mic nights or live performances in bars, he said. He is open to playing parties and pretty much “any street corners,” just to express himself and share his music with others.

Not only is he passionate about music, but he is willing to — literally — walk the walk. He has no vehicle and walks to his performance spots while carrying a duffle bag, his guitar and a rechargeable amp, which powers up his sound.

Sprague — or if you prefer Christ — takes the bus to destinations farther away, such as Buffalo or Rochester. He means it when he says he will play anywhere. As for his stage name, it’s not meant to be an anti-Christ message or anything like that, he said.

While standing on the corner of North and Bank streets Sunday, it was obvious he was no stranger to locals. Some people beeped, yelled his name, asked how it was going, and one woman stopped to pass him a few dollars.

“Keep spreading the joy Dan,” she said as she drove away.

Those supportive messages are important to Sprague, he said.

“It always makes my day. I’m always happy when people enjoy it,” he said. “I get this reaction everywhere I play.”

The Batavian asked him what he wants people to know as they drive or walk past him and wonder what this dude in black is doing on a street corner?

“I don’t want them to be afraid. I hope to inspire them to do what they want,” he said. “I want to set an example to always follow your dreams.”

Check out a snippet of his song, "Apocalypse."

For more information about Danny Christ, go to stevil.bandcamp.com

Daniel Sprague, aka Danny Christ, performs his tunes Sunday at a street corner in Batavia. Photos by Joanne Beck.

Previously:

Casper Farm's shop is still in development but it is open for business, providing some locally grown products, including beef raised right on Patrick and Crystal Casper's farm at 6671 Main Road, Stafford.

The freezers at the store are generally well stocked with strip, ribeye, tomahawk, briskets, roasts, and other cuts of "all-natural" beef.

Casper Farm is a multi-generation operation.

Patrick and Crystal are selling the beef they raise, which is butchered at Burley Brothers in Attica.

The store also sells cheese from Craig's Creamy in Pavilion and local maple syrup.  The Caspers intend to add more locally sourced products.

Crystal also makes a line of seasonings.

Photo: Caitlin Mattis, Carolyn Stewart, and Jon Casper. (Patrick and Crystal were busy at the Oatka Festival when The Batavian stopped by the shop yesterday.)  Photo by Howard Owens.

Shopping for a wedding dress should in itself be a happy and memorable experience and that's what Maddie Fox and Stephan Lentine hope to create for their customers in their new shop in Le Roy, the House of Bridal.

At the end of the Oatka Festival Parade on Saturday, the Chamber of Commerce joined Fox, Lentine, along with friends and family for a ribbon cutting out side the store at 19 Main St.

"We are catering really to the bride that's looking for an experience when she comes shopping for her wedding dress," Fox said. "She doesn't want to just be a number. She wants to be treated respectfully and have a moment with her family and receive genuine guidance along the way."

Fox and Lentine have been best friends since third grade and they always dreamed of going into fashion and owning a store together.  The dream started to become a reality when they saw a need for a special kind of bridal shop in Genesee County.

"We love it," Fox said. "It's such a magical moment in people's lives."

They can deliver on the promise of a great bridal experience, Fox said, because they know wedding dresses.

"Like I said, we're not going to just tell a bride like 'oh, here's a dress,'" Fox said. "We're going to explain the dress to them -- the carriage practice, the characteristics of the dress, all the little things that they don't know because it's a learning experience when you're shopping for it."

Fox and Lentine designed a store that is both cozy and romantic to enhance the experience of shopping for a dress, and Fox thinks that what will really make the shopping experience is that Fox and Lentine can guide the brides-to-be in ways bigger stores can't.

"A lot of brides are very confused and they're not really sure which way to go, so I think our knowledge based on our experience is really huge," Fox said.

For more information about the store and store hours, visit the shop's website.  

Top photo: Maddie Fox, left, and Stephanie Lentine. Photos by Howard Owens

Press release:

Power and Construction Group crews are scheduled to begin work on the night of July 18, 2022 for the NYPA-City of Batavia LED Street Light Project.

The tentative schedule is as follows:

• Monday & Tuesday – start/finish Main Street and then start Oak Street.
• Tuesday & Wednesday – finish Oak Street and then start Ellicott Street/Route 63.
• Wednesday through Friday - finish Ellicott Street/Route 63 and all other cobra head street light locations.

Traffic delays should be expected; however, no street closures are anticipated at this time.

We apologize for any inconvenience and thank the public for their patience.

Morgan Griffin, with a blue and white design on her face and while clutching several plastic animal figures, was happy that she made a trip from Rochester to Batavia Saturday.

The 11-year-old  came with some family members to EverPresent Church’s Fun in the Son carnival. The event greeted visitors with a balloon arch at the entrance, and had several tents set up with games, food and drink, colorful bounce houses and a petting zoo with goats.

“I loved it,” Morgan said. “All the excitement and how nice the people are. They did a good job.”

Her family knows someone in the church and heard about the event, so they took a drive to check it out. Morgan visited every tent and won the toy animals as game prizes.

Much closer to the scene was April Allison. She lives nearby and happened to spot the activity in the City Centre parking lot.

“I was dropping my boyfriend off at work when I saw the balloons,” she said. “So we walked over here.”

Her daughter Adara, who’s going into the fourth grade at John Kennedy Intermediate, liked the bounce houses best. They were checking out the petting zoo after spending a couple of hours there.

Jill Turner of Batavia had seen an online post about the Nortons seeking vendors who might want to help out, so she responded. She has four miniature goats and offered a small petting zoo. They were enclosed in a mobile fence that opened for visiting children to pet and feed them.

“I thought it would be good to bring my goats and do a good deed,” she said.

The zoo was a popular spot. Several children and their parents stopped by, including Adara and her mom. They had seen most of the exhibits, but weren’t quite finished, Adara said just before suggesting the next booth to visit.

“Snowcones,” she said, as the sun beamed down in 80-degree weather.

Pastors Jason and Michelle Norton, leaders of the church, wanted the event to “be a blessing” for the community, and they felt it was a mission accomplished.

Jason worked the refreshment stand while Michelle made announcements from behind tables full of raffle gift baskets. It had been going very well, she said, and Jason had sold more than 150 hotdogs with about an hour remaining before closing time.

From the moment the official beginning hit — 11 a.m. — “we were a steady busy flow of families all the way ’til 3 p.m.,” Michelle said.

“From what we gathered, the children were super blessed; they were so excited and delighted with all the prizes they won, and I know the church family was thrilled to be able to serve our community,” she said. “People were asking us about our church, almost everyone that came had a chance to go through the church and we had well over 100 kids get their faces painted, along with hundreds winning multiple prizes.”

While one goal was to offer some fun entertainment for kids and families, the Nortons also wanted to introduce the church to the community, and vice versa. Jason estimated that "well over 500" people attended, and considered it a huge success.

Mary Hecht sat in the middle of all of the action as she sold tickets for the games and other activities. She’s been going to the church for several years, she said.

Everyone involved has been very pleased, she said.

“We’ve really been very busy; God really blessed us,” she said. “ We were all praying this morning before it started. This has been really nice for the community, it’s been really nice.”

The event was a success on so many levels, Michelle Norton said, including to serve as a fundraiser.

“We raised half the funds for a much-needed heating and air conditioning unit that we need to install, and we made some great connections and some more networking,” she said.  “Our plan is to do this annually. We are playing around with the idea of taking the Fourth of July the day that we have our festival, as long as GO ART! is not doing it anymore.”

The plan is to expand upon what they offered this year, she said, by adding carnival rides, vendors and possibly food trucks.

"We want to turn that parking lot into a full-fledged carnival with some live music, and I think it will happen by next year,” she said.

For previous coverage about the church, go to EverPresent

Top photo: The entrance to Fun in the Son at the City Centre parking lot next to event host EverPresent Church; Morgan Griffin, 11, of Rochester; Visitors at the petting zoo, provided by Jill Turner, center, and Pastor Michelle Norton making announcements during the event Saturday in Batavia.

The Oatka Festival Parade returned to the Village of Le Roy on Saturday after a two-year hiatus because of pandemic protocols. 

Ed Henry, Le Roy sports super-booster, coach, and photographer, was the grand marshall (second photo).

The Oatka Festival continues tomorrow (Sunday) in Trigon Park and along the east bank of the Oatka Creek.

Photos by Howard Owens.  To view 55 more photos and to purchase prints, click here.

Overlooking the Creekside Inn patio after the parade.

Genesee County Chamber of Commerce helped the new Fairfield Inn by Marriott celebrate its opening Thursday with a ribbon-cutting outside of the new hotel.

The project was pursued by the Chase Hotel Group with assistance from local investors and project managers. Planning started four years ago but was often delayed by issues related to the pandemic. 

The hotel, at 4333 Federal Drive, Batavia, is designed to offer slightly more upscale accommodations to travelers.

The four-story hotel contains sixty-four rooms, including king and queen suites and double rooms for families. Amenities include an indoor pool, breakfast area, and fitness room.

Photos and information courtesy of the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce.

If necessity is the mother of invention, then what is a mother with a dilemma?

She’s an entrepreneur like Alisa Pastecki who opens up shop to help her and fellow moms out.

And Thoughtful Kids Consignment Shop was born.

“I have a one-year-old and a four-year-old, and this was out of an abundance of need for myself because living here in Batavia we didn't have any consignment options. And when I was living in Buffalo previously, one consignment shop that I did like to frequent was on Hertel Avenue, and there was just, there's no parking. It would not be easy to bring two kids in tow with, you know, boxes of clothes to sell,” she said during her shop’s ribbon-cutting grand opening Friday at Harvester Center. “So this was just out of an abundance of need for myself, and I think for the community and other moms like myself.”

While raising her children, Pastecki began to notice the collection of things that she didn’t want to throw out yet also didn’t have many options of where to put them to good use, she said. A consignment shop is a clearinghouse for such gently used goods in which the donor receives a portion of the sales for those items directly given to the store. Pastecki will buy them outright or offer a percentage of the total once sold. 

She chose a street-level spot that’s tucked between a children’s bounce facility and a coffee shop. With help from her husband Douglas and other family members — the grandparents babysat Gloria, 4, and one-year-old Walter — they worked to paint the walls and floor and add custom displays “so that we could get open as soon as possible,” her husband Douglas said.

“It started with a small idea of what are we going to do with all these clothes, we’ve got other parents who are the same as us, who just have all these clothes that need to find a home. And she came up with the idea of doing a pop-up shop or some way an outlet to help people, you know, basically make money and save these clothes from ending up in landfills,” he said. “It's very exciting to go through the process because this is our first time going through starting up the business. So it's been very exciting to see it come to this day of the grand opening. We had so many consignment partners … mothers and families had clothes and needed a place to go.”

They carved out a 600-square-foot niche of assorted children’s clothing, footwear, dolls and other items for newborns up to large kids’ sizes.

Once Alisa had the idea last fall, she just kept inching toward her goal.

“This idea started off probably back in November of last year. And so this started as a pop-up business and grew to be something that I needed a lot more space for. And so that's where the storefront came in,” she said. “And the Harvester, I thought, was the perfect spot to do it, being a business incubator and all. I would say that Thoughtful Kids is quality, savings and community. All three good reasons to shop.”

Pastecki is a native of Tonawanda and moved to Batavia about nine years ago. She met her husband here — he works at Oliver’s Candies — and was familiar with some consignment options in the Buffalo area. But once having her first child she wanted something that would be closer and more convenient for kids’ items.

In addition to her brick-and-mortar store, the 38-year-old plans to offer some pop-up shops in the Western New York area to provide opportunities for fellow moms to buy and sell items as well. It’s a simple concept: “you take stuff and sell it,” she said. People can either drop off their goods or she will pick them up for busy parents, she said.

“So I will drive to their homes. I’ve done Orchard Park and Hamburg in a day. I’ve done Batavia any time, obviously, since I’m local. And then I can really go anywhere, from Rochester to Buffalo,” she said. “The plan is to be permanent here and see where this takes us. Being a business incubator, I don’t know if I’ll ever grow out of the space. But I’m really happy to be at the Harvester right now.”

She is a first-time business owner with a background as a sales executive with a network engineering company. She worked with consignment contracts for telecom equipment.

“So this is kind of a lot of the paperwork and a lot of the things I do for my consigners, it is very similar to what I was doing on a much larger scale for telecom companies all over the world,” she said. “So it kind of fit perfectly when  I was home with my kids during the pandemic.”

Benefits of shopping at her place include saving money — an estimated 50 to 70 percent off retail; buying quality, brand name fashions; positively impacting the environment; experiencing an easy consignment process; and the best reason of all, she said, is to support “a small, local, female-owned business."

Hours listed for the next two weeks are 2 to 6 p.m. Monday, 3 to 6 p.m. Friday, and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, July 23, 2 to 6 p.m. July 25 and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 29 at 56 Harvester Ave., Batavia. For more information, call (716) 984-0515 or go to Thoughtful Kids 

Top photo: Alisa Pastecki shows some of the children's clothing at her new shop on Harvester Avenue, Batavia. Family members help Alisa and husband Douglas, behind her to the left, with the ceremonial ribbon-cutting for Thoughtful Kids Consignment at 56 Harvester Ave., Batavia. The couple's children, Gloria, front near mom, and Walter, being carried, in back row, enjoy the celebration Friday.  Photos by Joanne Beck.

Peter Noone's Herman's Hermits packed in the crowd for Rockin' the Downs tonight.

Photos courtesy Batavia Downs.