I'm in Byron/Bergen on a beautiful summer day? Of course I'm going to try and make a few pictures.
Above a barn off Route 237.
High power lines a little further up Route 237.
Old truck, Swamp Road.
Train crossing Ivison Road, Stafford.
In Byron today, residents celebrated Byron Heritage Day. It was a beautiful afternoon for a picnic in the park. Buffalo Road Show rocked the pavilion and, of course, there was the classic car cruise.
A tree is reportedly blocking the roadway on Chaddock Road in Bethany. Bethany Fire Department. Law enforcement is responding. Didn't catch the exact address.
UPDATE 7:59 p.m.: The responder on scene reports the tree is blocking half of the roadway, on the southbound side. Workers from the state Department of Transportation are called to the scene to cut the tree with chainsaws and remove it.
Press release:
The Genesee County Office for the Aging has announced that there is a waiting list for homebound individuals seeking the support of a friendly visitor.
Currently there are individuals in various areas of the county who would very much like to receive services through the Home Visitation Program coordinated by Catholic Charities.
The program is a free service for individuals in Genesee County, 60 years of age and older, with a limited ability to get out of their homes who would enjoy a friendly visitor offering socialization and companionship.
Individuals interested in more information on becoming a friendly visitor may contact Dorian Ely, director of the RSVP Volunteer Placement Program, at the Office for the Aging at 343-1611.
The Home Visitation Program is made possible by the Rochester Area Community Foundation’s Muriel H. Marshall Fund for the Aging.
The Genesee County Women’s Republican Club will host its annual Lucky Numbers Auction event on Aug. 2 at the Batavia Country Club, 7909 Batavia-Byron Road, Batavia.
Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. with dinner at 6:30. Cost is $18 per person.
Reservations must be made ASAP by calling Melissa Gaebler at (585) 297-7948, or emailing her galaxie561@hotmail.com. Genesee Cancer Assistance is the club’s “Caring for America” charity this year. People attending are encouraged to bring a donation.
New members or anyone interested in joining the Women’s Republican Club are welcome to attend.
Once more emergency dispatchers have received a call about a pushy salesman wearing lime green sneakers. Not sure what he's peddling, but he has been described as rather aggressive in his door-to-door demeanor. He was last spotted on Dewey Avenue in the city. Police are trying to locate him.
(I think he came to our house a few weeks back offering an unbeatable deal on carpet shampooing. I declined it but asked for his business card and was told he didn't have any because the deal was only good for that day, a sort of take-it-or-leave-it thing. Then he reached for the screen door handle, just bursting with enthusiasm to show me more about this wonderful opportunity. But our giant dog, Pachuco, and his fearsome bark persuaded him to leave quickly.)
With rain threatening most of the afternoon, the turn out for the anti-bath salt rally at L&L Transmissions was less than organizers hoped, but still, more than 30 people joined in the event. People had a lot of fun taking whacks at the "your brain on bath salts" van.
The event was hosted by Affliction Ink, CPR (Computer and Phone Repair) and L&L Transmissions.
Press release:
Le Roy American Legion Post 576 is asking that each club, church, society organization or individual submit a nominee to be considered as the 2012 Le Royan of the Year Award. Deadline is Aug. 22.
In Le Roy we have many outstanding events. It takes volunteers, hardworking individuals, many of them working behind the scenes that make each and every event a success.
The award recognizes people who demonstrate the following qualities:
Applications can be picked up at the Legion Home 53 W. Main St. Le Roy, and any Le Roy Bank.
Mail application to:
American Legion Post 576
Attn: Catherine Stone
53 W. Main St. Le Roy, NY 14482
A two-vehicle accident with injuries is reported at Bloomingdale and Sand Hill roads, on the border of the Town of Alabama and the Tonawanda Indian Reservation. One person is said to have a mouth and arm injury, another is complaining of chest pain due to the seat belt restraint. Alabama Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding.
UPDATE 3:17 p.m.: The patients are both children.
UPDATE 3:19 p.m.: A second ambulance is requested.
UPDATE 3:54 p.m.: The patients are being transported to Women's and Children's Hospital in Buffalo.
UPDATE 4:11 p.m.: Alabama is back in service.
Bishop William R. Franklin, the Episcopal bishop for all of Western New York, praised God and praised the efforts of the congregation of St. James Episcopal Church in Batavia today at a dedication ceremony for the restored church tower.
The restoration was a difficult financial undertaking for the congregation, but Franklin said the tower was an important symbol of hope in the community.
"When we look upward, we look to the future and it reminds us that the joy of God belongs to us," Franklin said.
The front doors of the church, which have been kept closed for years because of safety concerns from falling masonry, were once again reopened.
"We open doorways of hope," Franklin said. "We open our doors and go out into the community and give people hope."
Previously: Photos: St. James restoration project reaches pinnacle with placement of new cross
Remember a while back we ran a contest for Shop Batavia -- leave a five-star rating on your favorite local businesses for a chance to win a $100 gift certificate to that business?
I totally forgot to pick a winner.
So I just did.
It's Ingrid Bowen, of Elba. She wins a $100 gift certificate to the Log Cabin Restaurant.
UPDATED Saturday at 12:48 p.m. with the names of the suspects and clarified/corrected information from the Sheriff's Office.
A federal helicopter passing over Genesee County this evening just happened to spot what looked like marijuana plants growing in a field off Angling Road in Corfu, and following an alleged frenzied attempt to hide or destroy the crop three people were taken into custody.
The three suspects are being charged with felony counts of criminal possession of marijuana 3rd and tampering with physical evidence as well as a misdemeanor charge of unlawful growing of cannabis.
Taken into custody were James P. Cox, 49, of 2109 Angling Road, Corfu, Jessica D. Cox, 22, of Benedict Street, Perry, and Beau T. Bressler, 25, of Benedict Street, Perry.
Sheriff's dispatchers received a call from a Homeland Security helicopter piloted by U.S. Border Patrol Agents just before 8:30 p.m. saying that the agents had spotted a suspected marijuana field at 2109 Angling Road, Corfu.
"The border patrol was not actively working with us or actively looking for marijuana," said Sgt. Steve Mullen, of the Sheriff's Office. "They just happened to be flying over the area on their way back to their base."
Immediately after the initial call, the agents informed dispatchers that an individual had run from the field into a residence at that address. At least four people immediately left the residence.
Two people reportedly jumped into a white sedan.
The other three people were allegedly spotted pulling up marijuana plants from the ground and carrying them into the house, into a barn, into a cornfield and into a red SUV parked at the house.
The red SUV was reported to leave the scene and was subsequently stopped by a trooper on Angling Road.
"We had communication with the helicopter through the inter-county system and the helicopter was able to tell us what was going on play-by-play and give us a description of the vehicles as they were leaving," Mullen said.
"(They were able to) observe it (the suspected marijuana) being placed in vehicles and observe it being destroyed or tampered with by throwing it into the cornfield in the hope that we wouldn’t subsequently see it or find it."
Several suspected marijuana plants, with their roots still attached and dusted with dirt, were found inside the vehicle (top photo with Sgt. Greg Walker and Deputy James Diehl, who is also the driver in the photo below).
Mullen said all suspected marijuana plants had been pulled from the ground by the three people allegedly involved in the incident. A total of 32 marijuana plants were recorved, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Two individuals who reportedly left in a white sedan told law enforcement that they left the scene when the suspects started to pull up the plants because they weren't involved and didn't want to be involved in what was going on. Neither of those people were arrested.
The residence at 2109 Angling Road is owned, according to the county's online database, by James P. Cox.
Mullen said one of the inviduals arrested was a resident of the property and the other two people were visiting at the time the suspected pot plants were discovered.
"After noticing the helicopter they decided to help (the suspected grower), or so they thought, remove or destroy the evidence."
Deputies are responding to East Pembroke where a U.S. Border Patrol helicopter has reportedly spotted people cultivating marijuana.
One person reportedly saw the helicopter and ducked into a house.
Two other people are reportedly pulling plants into a barn and there is some concern they are trying to destroy the evidence.
A white sedan with a sunroof was reported leaving the property and a deputy has located the car.
Other deputies are responding to the scene.
One suspect is carrying plants to the residence.
An older model red SUV has reportedly left the property.
UPDATE 8:32 p.m.: The subject in the white car reported that he left because they were pulling the plants. Another subject is in custody. The red SUV has not been stopped yet.
UPDATE 10:41 p.m.: I inadvertently failed to publish to the home page when it was breaking. I just returned from the scene. Three people taken into custody. More info and pictures coming.
Reminder, the "Let's Beat Bath Salts" rally is tomorrow (Saturday) from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at L&L Transmissions, 8781 Alexander Road, Batavia.
Sponsors for the event are:
A church burglary suspect who allegedly tried to escape from the Genesee County Jail had an alleged accomplice, the Sheriff's Office revealed today.
Along with 22-year-old John Anthony Cabrera, Paul Joseph Doctor, 34, of West Main Street, Batavia, is facing an escape in the first degree charge. The charge is a Class D felony.
Both were arraigned in Batavia City Court today.
According to Investigator William Ferrando, Doctor aided Cabrera by giving him a boost into the ceiling area of the jail dormitory.
Cabrera then allegedly used the jail air duct system to access the correction officer locker room and stole a CO's uniform and boots.
Somehow, Cabrera allegedly then made his way into the basement area under Genesee Justice (the old Sheriff's Office), which effectively meant he was out of the jail and an alleged escapee.
According to Ferrando, Cabrera was unable to proceed further because by that time corrections officers discovered he was missing. Jail-escape protocols were initiated, which included law enforcement setting up a perimeter around the building at 15 W. Main St., Batavia.
The Cabrera case, which includes multiple felonies, including two felonies charged in the Town of Batavia prior to his arrest July 22 for an alleged church burglary, will be presented to the Grand Jury on Tuesday, District Attorney Lawrence Friedman said.
In the Town of Batavia, Cabrera was charged with possession of stolen property, 4th, and forgery, 2nd, for allegedly possessing a stolen credit card and using it.
At the end of June, Cabrera was arrested on misdemeanor charges of criminal mischief, petit larceny and conspiracy. Cabrera, with an alleged accomplice, was accused of using a rock to smash a window of a parked car and steal a purse from the front passenger seat.
In city court today, besides the escape charge, Cabrera was arraigned on charges of burglary, 3rd, stemming from his alleged attempt to escape from the jail, and criminal mischief, 3rd, for allegedly damaging county property in the process.
Judge Robert Balbick ordered Cabrera held without bail.
"The court has discretion on bail in this matter, but it's clear to the court that no bail in this case would be appropriate," Balbick said.
A 29-year-old Batavia man was jailed on a $10,000 cash bail after allegedly spitting blood on a deputy's face when the deputy attempted to arrest him at an address on Bennett Avenue, Oakfield, at 7 p.m., Thursday.
Shawn Michael Twardowski, of Montclair Avenue, Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt, 1st, and harassment, 2nd.
Twardowski was arrested by Deputy Matthew Fleming after Fleming responded to a report that Twardowski was at the address in Oakfield in violation of an order of protection.
The criminal contempt charge was elevated to the first degree because Twardowski has a second-degree criminal contempt conviction within the past five years.
As Fleming placed Twardowski under arrest, Twardowski allegedly spit blood on the deputy's face, leading to the harassment, 2nd, charge.
Bail was set at $10,000 or $25,000 bond.
For Brian English, the prospect of people no longer parking on the front lawn of his home on Sumner Road won't make or break him.
He has a full-time job. He can still meet his expense budget. He just won't get the extra cash that made living next door to Darien Lake Theme Park so much fun.
For some of his neighbors, the new policy banning pedestrian traffic from entering the concert venue from off-site parking could be a problem, English said.
"I'm going to hate to lose the money, but I'm not going to go bankrupt," English said. "Some of the people that count on the money, it's going to drive them to bankruptcy."
When the new policy takes effect Aug. 17, according to officials, it is aimed at addressing three ongoing issues with concerts at the park:
Steve Hollowell, marketing director for Darien Lake, said the park's owners and management started working on a plan to deal with these issues last summer and decided to implement it this year.
Gordon Dibble, deputy chief with the Sheriff's Office, said it's been obvious there is a safety problem along Sumner Road on concert nights.
"Well, I think the safety concern is obvious to anybody that if you have that kind of foot traffic at any venue anywhere and then throw in alcohol into it, you don't have to be a police officer to understand the danger there," Dibble said. "It's a major concern."
Earlier this summer a young man stepped in front of a van on Sumner Road and was killed. Though the driver has been cleared of any wrongdoing, the accident remains under investigation and details about events around the accident have not been released.
Dibble and Hollowell both said they expect the changes to improve access into and out of the parking areas.
Hollowell said one of the major problems with the private lots is that the owners let all of their customers leave at the same time, dumping thousands of cars all at once onto Sumner Road. That blocks up traffic for customers who have parked for free in Darien's own lots.
The change will allow the Sheriff's Office to more efficiently manage the traffic, Dibble said, in part because with less traffic they can use Sumner as a detour when traffic to the Thruway becomes too backed up. Deputies will also be able to send traffic out of the back gate from the grass lots in either direction, giving the Sheriff's Office greater flexibility in managing traffic.
While there's never been a problem with law enforcement going onto private property, such as the Hill, to check for underage drinking, it isn't something deputies do often, Dibble said.
Typically, deputies position themselves at the bottom of the driveway to the Cherry Hill Campground or on Employee Road and detect and ticket alleged underage drinkers that way.
Hollowell said with all of the parking confined to the Darien Lake property, it will be easier for law enforcement and Darien Lake's own security to detect possible underage drinkers.
Officials hope that will reduce the amount of underage drinking at concerts.
"We think we will be able to better enforce the rules much more effectively in our own lots," Hollowell said.
Brian English said that if pedestrians on Sumner Road are an issue, that shouldn't really effect his property, which is on the north side of the road and pedestrians can walk right onto Darien's property without getting anywhere near the roadway.
Officials said allowing even access to the venue for pedestrians leaving his property and other north-of-the-road properties doesn't address the traffic flow issues.
The first area of construction for the new fences being erected by Darien Lake is directly across the road from Cherry Hill Campground, known far and wide as "The Hill."
The couple who identified themselves as the owners of Cherry Hill Campground, but didn't provide their names, refused an interview with The Batavian.
They objected to our coverage of the pedestrian's death (the man was hit on Sumner Road while crossing from the driveway of The Hill and the male owner objected to The Batavian reporting that the incident happened at The Hill) and they both objected to yesterday's headline on the Darien Lake parking story that began "End of The Hill."
'It's far from the end of 'The Hill,'" the man said.
The woman said, "When you can engage in unbiased reporting, then we'll talk with you."
To any further questions she said, "No comment."
Tracy Avenue resident Richard Stevens holds a bass he said weighed in at 5 pounds and was 20-inches long. Stevens and his friend Gavin Demmer, he said, caught it at Dewitt Recreation Area this afternoon.
A few minutes ago, Batavia PD took a subject into custody in the 200 block of East Main Street.
The subject was seen struggling with police after he was handcuffed.
The initial indication is he will be charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
We don't have details yet on the situation, but minutes prior to his arrest there was a complaint of two male subjects fighting, with one possibly having a baseball bat, at an other location. Sgt. John Peck said he was only aware of a verbal argument proceeding the arrest.
Mercy EMS was dispatched to Batavia Police HQ for a subject who had been sprayed with pepper spray.
UPDATE 4:23 p.m.: The subject at the police station refused medical treatment.
T-Shirts, Etc. and the Batavia Business Improvement District (or "the BID") will present "DC in the Square," a benefit for local philanthropist Don Carroll, on Sunday from noon until 4 p.m. It will be downtown at Jackson Square.
Carroll, who is well-known locally for raising thousands of dollars on behalf of underprivileged youth, was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in April.
Brian and Beth Kemp of T-Shirts, Etc. have known Carroll for several years and helped him every year with Toys for Kids, an annual toy drive Carroll founded to purchase Christmas presents for children who might not otherwise receive them.
"When I found out about Don's cancer," Beth said, "I went to Brian and suggested we host a benefit. Because he has helped so many people, I thought it would be awesome for the community to be able to give back."
They approached the BID to ask if they could use Jackson Square as the venue. The BID went even further and agreed to sponsor the event.
"DC in the Square" will feature live performances by three bands: "Old Hippies," "Soul Craft" and "Savage Cabbage," plus a Chinese auction and a 50/50 raffle.
Items included in the auction and raffle will include all kinds of goodies donated by several local businesses, including:
Coffee Culture Manager Brenda Richardson, who is also helping out with the event, said that M&T Bank has donated money, which they may use for a kids' basket or something similar.
Clor's Meat Market will be providing BBQ dinners for $9. People have their choice of chicken, rib or pulled pork dinners. Each dinner comes with a roll, butter, and two out of the following three sides:
Tickets can be purchased at the Square on July 29 or in advance at the following Batavia locations:
A minimum $2 donation is asked of everyone at the gate.
Jerry Foster, a former teacher and lifelong friend of Carroll's, provided an update on his condition.
"He's completed his third cycle of chemo," Foster said. "He is starting to be able to swallow a little bit, though not much. ... He will be going back to Strong Memorial Hospital to see if the tumor has shrunk enough that they can operate on it."
For more information about "DC in the Square," contact Brian and Beth Kemp at 345-1993 or email tshirtsetcsales@rochester.rr.com.
Picture courtesy of Brian and Beth Kemp.
Copyright © 2008-2022 The Batavian. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service
