From the Daily News (Wednesday):

• Onion fields in Elba that looked ravaged by the hail storms that tore through the region early last week seem to be recovering nicely. Reporter Tom Rivers writes: "A week later and the onion growers say they couldn't be happier with the turnaround. Many of the plants have shed bruised and battered leaves and grown new ones, with some already a foot high."
• Incoming Batavia City School Superintendent Margart Puzio told reporter Joanne Beck that she wants to be accessible to all who need her services. "I have an open door," she said. "If there are ever any problems, please, please, please contact me." Puzio takes over as superintendent tomorrow.
• Another great article by Tom Rivers on the front page today. This one is about a group of onion growers that meets for coffee once a week to chat about their farms, their lives and whatever else. But they don't meet at a coffee shop. Or anywhere else indoors. Instead, this crew gathers beside a frog-filled drainage ditch along Transit Road in Elba. Fun read!
• Traco Manufacturing, a retail display manufacturer, may soon move into a 24,000-square-foot plant in Gateway I Industrial Park in the town of Batavia. That means a move out of the city, where it currently resides on Mill Street. And, since the plot in the town is categorized as an Empire Zone, that also means Traco will be eligible for tax breaks. For more about last night's meeting of the Genesee County Economic Development Center Board, check out the article by Paul Mrozek.
• Today's editorial takes up the issue of the upcoming public hearing July 2 on potential changes to the state rules on open burning. The Batavian posted about the hearing about three weeks ago.
• Brian Hillabush previews the fall lacrosse season at Genesee Community College on the front page of today's sports section. Worth checking out.

For the complete stories, the Daily News is available on local newsstands, or you can subscribe on BataviaNews.com.

Monday:

• 8:25am, E. Main Street, accident: motor vehicle and bike
• 10:12am, Ellicott Avenue, accident: motor vehicle and bike
• 11:09am, 119 State St. (Apt. 4), harassment
• 3:48pm, [no address given], harassment
• 3:57pm, 16 Liberty St., larceny
• 5:34pm, 439 E. Main St., criminal mischief
• 6:48pm, 131 State St., criminal mischief
• 7:15pm, 37 Union St., criminal mischief
• 7:55pm, 26 Maple St., harassment

Tuesday:

• 10:58am, E. Main St., accident
• 5:25pm, 54 Hutchins St., harassment
• 6:43pm, Oak Street, accident: motor vehicle and pedestrian

Note: We don't include noise complaints, domestic disputes and routine police business.

Genesee Community College 2007 graduate Sarina Dorazio didn't waste time after she was awarded funds through the National Science Foundation's Technology Opportunity Pathway scholarship. Fresh off graduation, Sarina took off for the west for an intensive 10-week internship at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington.

From there, it was off to the University of Buffalo, where she picked up her BA in Chemistry. She has already been accepted to the PhD program there.

"When I applied for the internship, I was still not sure exactly what path I wanted to take for a career," Sarina said. "After working at [the national laboratory] for the summer I decided that I definitely wanted to continue in a science-related field."

Scholarship funds are still available for full-time students at GCC.

From the press release:

TOP Scholarship resources are still available for full-time students enrolled this fall in the following programs: math / science; engineering, computer support and operations, computer information systems, computer systems and networking, and computerized drafting.

Visit the scholarship Web site or call Ken Mead at (585) 343-0055 for more information.

Check out WBTA for these and other stories:

• A public hearing on Genesee Community College's $31 million budget will be held tonight at the county Legislature meeting at 7:00pm at the Old County Courthouse. Click here for a download of the complete meeting agenda.
• Batavia City School Superintendent Richard Stutzman told Dan Fischer that the school's annual "report card of test scores" is out for grades three through eight, and they are at least as good as last year's scores, some even better.
• The state Legislature took off for the season without resolving a dispute between union labor and Industrial Development Agencies that would continue the low-interest funding for non-profit institutions in the state — including United Memorial Medical Center. Check out the article by the Buffalo News for a look back on the season.

Eighty-six-year-old Louis O'Geen tells me that the "guy upstairs" took all of his friends from him, all his hunting and fishing buddies, and he's the only one left. He seems resigned to the fact, though slightly bemused by his own good fortune, if he would ever call it that. Probably not. But he isn't above getting a laugh out of it.

Louis fought in World War II. He saw the gore, the portent, the indecipherable anomaly of war up close, nose to nose with bodies chewed to the marrow and eyes sick with the madness of submerged warfare. Louis was a seaman. He joined with the Navy shortly after Pearl Harbor, left his native LeRoy and was dispatched with little haste to some of the most hairy battle theaters in the Pacific and elsewhere.

When the German U-Boats were wreaking havoc not far from Casablanca, he was there. He saw bulkheads torn to shreds. He saw the deck of his destroyer, its hawsers and rails coated two inches thick with ice. He saw the fizzle and flotsam of ships sunk like tinker toy bath boats poked underwater by the vengeful finger of a child.

"I had many close shaves," he says.

Louis almost joined up as a submariner. Almost. Until he saw the subs come up to dock, beaten and barely afloat, ambulances parked on the shore, waiting for the wounded and cracked as they were taken back from the sea that had swallowed their minds whole, often along with some of their limbs.

Ironically, though, the one episode of the war that nearly knocked out Louis O'Geen for good came after the war was already over, in the waters just off the shore of Okinawa when a typhoon tore through the Pacific in early October, 1945. (I think that typhoon was named Louise, and isn't that apt.)

Louis told me that he thought World War II would be the last war. He couldn't imagine how we could do it all over again. Then came Vietnam. Then came Iraq. He's quite fierce in his opposition to the war in Iraq. When I paid Louis a visit Monday, he showed me a drawing he made not long after he got out of the service. The drawing summed up his then and future feelings about war, feelings one can only understand when listening to Louis tell his stories. So let's do that:

Don't forget! Tomorrow is the premiere of the Batavia Concert Band's summer season at Centennial Park. Showtime is 7:00pm. Bring your own lawn chairs. They'll supply the entertainment (and possibly some light refreshments). For a complete schedule of shows, check out our earlier post.

Here's some more info on the band, supplied by Robert Knipe (who also sent us these photos):

"The Batavia Concert Band’s repertoire is wide-ranging in origin, period and style: Sousa-style marches, Broadway show tunes, classical adaptations, fun songs for kids of all ages, big-band and swing numbers, popular songs from hit musicals and movies, rock favorites arranged for concert band… and everything in between.

"The Band consists of forty to fifty brass, woodwind and percussion players ranging from talented local high school students to 50-year veterans. Many have professional experience, and the rest are advanced amateur musicians. All love to play."

All shows are free!

Here is the next video in our Countdown to the Ramble series: West Side Blues Band performing "Runaway." See our earlier post for more about the countdown.

From the Daily News (Tuesday):

• Genesee County Emergency Management is hosting a firefighter boot camp at its office on State Street Road over the next few weeks. The camp that started Monday and continues through to graduation on July 11 is an intensive 90-hour course designed for students to get all the requirements they need for level one firefighter training. Emergency Management Coordinator Timothy Yaeger told reporter Scott DeSmit that the camp is the "first of its kind in New York state."
• Joanne Beck put together a pair of comprehensive articles about last night's City Council meeting. The Batavian featured a post last night on the debate over youth football. Beck has a good summary of Council's business on the front page. Check that out, if you're interested.

As a footnote here, I must admit I'm confused by Beck's lede in the article titled: "Some are hoping for a greener city." She writes: "City Council's review of tree removal companies turned into a desire to go green Monday evening."

That really isn't true.

Nobody on Council talked about going green. Rather, the discussion was about some on Council not wanting to see too many trees cut down in the city. Marianne Clattenburg put it pretty literally when she said that tree removal in the city seems to be decided by which streets have power lines underground and which have them above ground, the latter losing their trees because of it.

I've seen this often lately that when people talk about anything associated with plant life or anything that's pro-environment, other people slap on the rubric 'going green' when it really isn't correct. Not wanting to cut down trees is not the same as wanting to go green. A 'greener city' meant literally that last night: more green. 'Going green,' on the other hand, is more of a conservation movement that at its core means a push toward more natural living and the purging of harmful synthetics — you know, bringing your own reusable cloth bags to the supermarket instead of getting plastic bags every time and then throwing them out. It means reducing or eliminating pollution and being more waste conscious.

Unfortunately, what started as the slogan for a conservation movement has turned into a catch phrase. It's becoming more and more clichéd and senseless and is being used as exactly that, a phrase intended to catch people's attention. It's a marketing tool.

I wouldn't mind hearing Council talk about going green for real. But in the meantime, can't we just let the conversation about not cutting down trees be about the trees?

For the complete stories, the Daily News is available on local newsstands, or you can subscribe on BataviaNews.com.

Batavia City Police responded to a harassment call at 119 State St. last night, where they were told that 48-year-old Lynn Ells had threatened to kill the individual who had contacted the police. When the officers arrived, Ells allegedly retreated inside up to the second floor apartment of the house, where she shouted from the window and threatened to kill the officers.

Negotiations between the officers and Ells were enough to calm the situation somewhat until the state troopers arrived and continued to negotiate. The police eventually confronted Ells, who then displayed a knife and again threatened the officers. She was disarmed, subdued and taken to the hospital for a mental health evaluation.

Ells currently faces charges of disorderly conduct, harassment, menacing a police officer, criminal possession of a weapon and resisting arrest.

There was no information in the police report about how the incident started.

Genesee County sheriff's deputies got a call late Sunday night that a fight had broken out at the Dreamland Trailer Park on Route 5 in Batavia. Once they got to the scene, they were told that following the fight, Jared E. Flaming, 21, of Corfu, had allegedly thrown someone to the ground, then drove his vehicle into a home in the park.

There was no mention in the release of how much damage was done to the home, if any.

Flaming was charged with second-degree harassment and fourth-degree criminal mischief. He was sent to Genesee County Jail in lieu of $750 bail.

Yet another great video from the prolific production team at Genesee County Animal Shelter. A reminder for folks that adoption is not the only option: you can always be foster parents to a kitten while a permanent home is found.

(I love the soundtrack on this one: Sing, Sing, Sing.)

Following the arrest of a Bergen man over the weekend for possessing several cartons of untaxed cigarettes purchased at an American Indian reservation, WBTA sent out their crack team of investigators to find out just where the legal line is drawn for buying smokes from a reservation.

It turns out, the law is not very tolerant on this issue. Genesee County Sheriff Gary Maha told Dan Fischer that if you've got any more than two cartons of untaxed cigarettes, "you put yourself at risk." I especially enjoy the phrasing, though I can't say if it's all Dan Fischer or Gary Maha. Of course, you put yourself at risk if you've got a lot of smokes. But I would have assumed the risk was to your lung health, not the risk to get booked with misdemeanor tax evasion!

Sheriff's deputies reported that the "bust" over the weekend was made when a fellow was already pulled over for a traffic stop and was found in possession of 2,200 cigarettes. If my math is correct, I believe that's 11 cartons.

Maha did stress, however, that deputies are not actively out looking to nail people for buyig cigarettes from a reservation. But if you get pulled over for something else and you happen to have 11 cartons in your passenger seat, you may just be held responsible.

There comes a time in every city government reporter's life when he heads home from a lengthy municipal meeting and says to himself (perhaps not entirely in jest): There has to be another way. In other words, representative government is not the prettiest form of rule that we've dreamed up as a thinking, social species — and the more you spectate, the less pretty it gets.

You would be hard pressed to get nine people to agree on which type of latté to order at Main Street Coffee — or even three of them to agree on the milk to mix: skim, whole, soy, part, almond, powdered, none. Fat chance then getting those same nine to come to a tidy conclusion about a complex city issue. In fact, you can almost count on that issue becoming more and more complex before it eventually was hashed out and resolved.

But that's just how it goes. Unless you want a dictatorship... and even then you've still got bureaucrats.

Take the relocation of the youth football program out of Dwyer Stadium — its home for 32 years — into a city park: a non-issue that was vaulted to priority status when Red Wings management came to the city a few weeks back and sort of said that they would not pay for the costly repairs to the turf each year that would be required as a result of football cleats gouging the grass. Toute suite, City Manager Jason Molino put together a cost comparison between relocating the program to Austin Park or Kibbe Park. He recommended moving to Austin at a cost of about $19,000, rather than Kibbe, which would cost more like $61,000. See our earlier post for the full details.

Well, quite quickly it was quite clear that the issue was not so simple.

About every member of Council seemed to have a different take. Some argued for moving to Kibbe Park. Others argued for Austin Park. Some wondered if the real issue was the cost of the move. Others wanted to know if the program could wait one year or if they had to relocate right now. Some thought the Red Wings management said they wanted youth football gone without delay. Others swore that the management was an enthusiastic supporter.

Councilman Bill Cox recommended lifting and hauling the bleachers from Dwyer to Austin for football season, taking a torch to the scoreboard posts and hauling that over, too — and doing it all for about $1,000, not $16,000, he said.

Council President Charlie Mallow was utterly and unabashedly opposed to any solution that did not involve the immediate expulsion of youth football from Dwyer Stadium and spending the least amount of money possible relocating it somewhere else. Although he urged that he was a supporter of youth football, he just couldn't see spending so much time and money on something that lasted eight weeks and was over. Quote: "What are we really talking about here? What are we prima donnas?"

One question that was never really answered, mostly because several Council members had several diametrically opposed answers to it, was whether one more season of youth football would damage the field so much that it would cost $15,000 to fix for the next Muckdogs season; or was $15,000 more accurate for a repair of many years of field damage and not just one eight-week season.

In the end though, Ben Bonarigo put it quite simply. (Bonarigo is a member of the youth football program's board of directors.) City Council, he said, gave the youth football program its word that they could stay at Dwyer Stadium for one more year, then relocate. Fine. If that was understood, the program wanted to move to Kibbe Park. It just made more sense for them. And if the Council had a problem spending so much money — no problem, youth football would do the fundraising to make sure that the move to Kibbe would be no more costly for the city than the move to Austin.

That was actually prior to Council's discussion that raged on for a good hour and got a few hackles raised, along with a few voices.

Council President Charlie Mallow said that the decision to allow youth football to stay another year was made as part of an informal conference meeting, and it was done as a straw poll. Therefore, it was not official. Council members Rose Mary Christian and Frank Ferrando didn't care much for that, and they said so. Then a couple of them yelled so. But that went nowhere.

In fact, not much of anything went anywhere.

As Mallow himself said: "Where are we going? We're going around in a circle."

Or City Attorney George Van Nest: "The discussion has ranged far and wide." (It should be noted that Van Nest's statement had a bit of an ironic twang to it, since he followed the declaration by offering his own take on what the real issue was, taking everything farther and wider.)

Mallow repeatedly urged Council to just wrap things up before the whole thing erupted in one big overblown argument.

So... Where do we stand? Where does youth football stand? Nowhere. Everywhere.

At the end of the rigamarole, a motion by Frank Ferrando was pushed through that would put a vote on the next business meeting agenda to declare that youth football can remain at Dwyer Stadium for one more year — and one more year only  — before they have to relocate. In other words, Council will vote to maintain a situation that already exists. You could see that Van Nest got a kick out of that. Me too.

Congratulations are in order for one of our favorite guest posters: Patrick Burk, president of the City of Batavia Board of Education.

Patrick was recently elected as the president of the Genesee Valley School Boards Institute, a nine county organization that represents over 70 upstate school districts.

From the press release:

The purpose of the organization is to promote and train school district support personnel in the areas of Food Service, Transportation, Teacher Aides, Safety & Security, Educational Clerical and Facilities. Training Conferences are held annually in these areas in the nine county area.

"I am pleased to once again be serving nine counties in Western New York as we strive to continually train our educational support employees," Burk stated. "It is by far an honor to be chosen to represent our member districts. This is just one way that we all can work together to improve and enhance our districts."

There is one thing that we all should be very happy about  this year.....for once, at least in my opinion, we have two wonderful candidates for President.  I hope that neither slips too far into that quagmire of wanting to be the "Good Little Party Boy", the leader of the fringe of their respective political parties while trying to maintain a centrist message that will capture just the right amount of electoral votes from the correct color of states.  Who picked red and blue anyway?  

Since we seem to have done the party selection process with some positive results, could we now look at the Electoral College?  I really do dislike it.  It really is why we have had the last eight dismal years and it may reflect what happens in future elections as well.  Why can't we just have the best man win?  How is that one man can win the popular vote of this country and have it not mean anything?  It just does not make sense.  It certainly makes for some interesting reporting but it also steals away the each vote counts idea.  

Both the Obama camp and the McCain camp already have a list of states where they will not campaign.  We are lucky here in New York that even though this is considered a solid Obama state, both will appear because of the vast amount of cash each can get from New York State.  The same holds true for Californina.  Can you imagine being in Nebraska?  Small amount of electoral votes, below the national medium of income and solid red.  They won't see much of this election.  No long-winded half baked political commercials, no thousands of laws signs, no debates and "outside groups" calling each candidate names.....no swift boating of Obama......  Maybe there is something to be said about Nebraska after all.

I would love to see us adopt a shorter Primary Season with actual votes and no caucuses.  I would love to see the expense of the Electoral College go to pay off our ever increasing national debt and I would love to see campaigns capped for expenses and free TV and radio ads for candidates on the public airways.  I would like to see a vote total that counted and a reason for all candidates to work in all states to get the votes out.  I like the word change, but make it worth something, not just a political word used for expediency of your campaign while toting around lobbiest and cronies and collecting the cash.

My most recent "props" go out to Laura Bush, who correctly answered and defended Michelle Obama about her "proud for the first time in my life comment"  Mrs. Bush actually thought the press and the public should back off....if politicians and those campaigning can not mispeak or say something off the cuff.... we will have a very dull "sound bite" type of campaign.  Mrs. Obama did not deserve the grief and the educated public certainly did accept her explanation.  It was only on the "fair and balanced" network - which in itself is such a laugh - that it kept living much longer than it deserved.  Mrs. Obama said it, she explained it and that was that.  Cindy McCain, the multi-million dollar "Beer Queen" of Arizona brought it up again.  She better watch out because what goes around comes around.  You can bet that there are many out there watching her every word and past words to catch her with something.... oh and they will.

So we end up with two qualified candidates, we have the debate over the summer, the conventions in August, the commercials in the fall and then the election.  Let's just remember, it is important.  It should be treated with respect.  It should not become the news reporters that are making the news.  Oh and the "fair and balanced" network should take a lesson on truth in advertising.  Then we truly would have a wonderful election.....Don't forget to vote (especially if your state is deemed purple). 

Friday:

• 1:17am, 651 E. Main St., accident
• 12:07pm, 29 Liberty St., criminal mischief
• 12:23pm, 12 Central Ave., larceny
• 1:39pm, 4138 W. Main Street Road, criminal mischief
• 2:49pm, 99 Jackson St., larceny
• 6:51pm, 119 State St. (Apt: 4), harassment
• 9:41pm, 522 E. Main St., accident

Saturday:

• 3:02am, 518 E. Main St., aggravated harassment
• 3:44am, 213 Bank St., criminal mischief
• 10:27am, Ross Street, harassment
• 12:20pm, 224 S. Swan St., accident
• 6:34pm, 2 Vine St., accident
• 8:32pm, 218 State St. (Apt: 9), harassment

Sunday:

• 1:15am, Hutchins Place, rape
• 10:32am, W. Main Street, accident
• 8:41pm, 145 Vine St., larceny
• 9:40pm, Swan Street, larceny

Note: We don't include noise complaints, domestic disputes and routine police business.

From the Daily News (Monday):

• The Muckdogs fell apart in the ninth to go down 8-6 against the visiting Mahoning Valley Scrappers last night. After getting sweeped by the Doubledays earlier in the week, the Muckdogs took off for Rochester's Frontier Field Friday where they scored their first win, then won again against the Scrappers Saturday. With the loss yesterday, the home team drops to 2-4 for the season. They'll host the Jamestown Jammers at 7:05pm tonight. Be sure to tune in to WBTA 1490 AM for the broadcast.
• There's really little else in the way of Batavia news in the paper today. Roger Muehlig put together a trio of articles on the Oakfield-Alabama and Elba graduations from this weekend. Today's Local section has an article about a pastor in Albion helping to raise money for a Pakistani school, a response from Medina's Board of Education to a state audit that found problems with the district's funding procedure and an info-piece about a fundraiser in Bergen. The Zwerka Family Fun Day Fundraiser will be July 13 from 1:00 to 6:00pm at the Gillam-Grant Community Center at 6966 West Bergen Rd.

For the complete stories, the Daily News is available on local newsstands, or you can subscribe on BataviaNews.com.

Thanks to the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce for passing along this timely notice of a hybrid bus and truck seminar going on tomorrow afternoon in Bergen. Here are the details:

The Genesee Region Clean Communities coalition and Leonard Bus Sales Inc. announced today that they are jointly presenting a Hybrid Electric Vehicle Bus and Truck Seminar, on June 24, 2008 from 8:30a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

The event will be held at the Leonard Bus Sales Inc. facility, located at 7150 Apple Tree Ave., Bergen, NY 14416.

The seminar is an educational and informational outreach event for commercial hybrid electric vehicle applications, with a specific focus on school buses, commercial buses and medium-duty trucks. Some program highlights include:

•    Education about hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) technology
•    Manufacturer presentations and updates on the latest in truck and bus technology
•    Product reviews
•    Discussion of funding opportunities
•    Equipment show and demonstrations
•    Ride and drive

Invitations for this seminar will be extended to fleet professionals, business and governmental managers and others involved with fleet operations and vehicle selection and who have an interest in commercial truck and bus applications with HEV technology.

This event is made possible through sponsorship by Leonard Bus Sales Inc.; IC Bus LLC; Navistar, Inc.; Regional International; Enova Systems, Inc., and Eaton Corporation.

For additional information about this event, please contact:

David Keefe
Genesee Region Clean Communities
(585) 301-2433

The following arrests were reported over the weekend:

• Adam M. Zastrocky, 23, of Bergen, was charged with aggaravated driving while intoxicated Friday night, Genesee County sheriff's deputies said. Zastrocky was stopped on Lake Avenue in Bergen and ticketed with driving without a front license plate.
• Dietrich Williams, 26, of 541 E. Main St. (Apt. A18), Batavia, was charged with fourth-degree grand larceny and third-degree unauthorized use of a motor vehicle Friday evening, city police said. Police were told that Williams had failed to return a rental vehicle.
• Kathy A. Lamotte, 50, of Stafford, was charged with second-degree harassment Saturday afternoon following reports that Lamotte had allegedly yelled at and thrown a rock at a homeowner, Genesee County sheriff's deputies said. Lamotte then left the area and was later charged by the LeRoy Police with driving while intoxicated.
• Several charges were filed at the Tom Petty concert at Darien Lake Saturday night. Genesee County sheriff's deputies charged Alan Frankosky, 26, of Tonawanda, and Zachary M. Rodriguez, 20, of Buffalo, with trespass. Timothy W. Stillwell, 24, of Trumansburg, was charged with second-degree harassment. Nicholas A. Todaro, 18, of Cheektowaga, was charged with disorderly conduct, as was Michael J. Grammariello, 21, of Palmyra, who was also charged with false impersonation. Grammariello was subsequently sent to Genesee County Jail in lieu of $750 bail.
• Welford C. Dempsy, 52, of Bethany, was charged with felony first-degree criminal contempt and second-degree harassment Saturday night, Genesee County sheriff's deputies said. Deputies were told that Dempsy had violated an order of protection and slapped the victim in the head during an incident.
• Daniel J. Nixon, 28, of Kenmore, N.Y., was charged with driving while intoxicated early Sunday morning following a traffic stop on Oak Street in Batavia, city police said. Nixon was also ticketed with making an improper turn.

Note: All of the above arrests were reported in published releases from the departments.

Over thirty years ago I left my birthplace, Batavia New York, at the age of nineteen. I saw the "Cell Block" go to "The Primitive Scene". Creek road trips and driving dirt roads. Partying with friends as I was a Batavia teenager. Some of the best times and friends of my life are in Batavia. The city is like no other to me. The Family I still have in the area is all growing old with time. Even Batavia itself has changed with the passing of time. What I would give to turn the clocks back and press restart. I have many children and will not give up one. Batavia seems to hold a lost love that makes me wonder how different life would be if I stayed.