Batavia City Police Detective Kevin Czora suffered a fractured finger during the capture of a fleeing suspect early Tuesday evening.

According to police, 20-year-old Maverick R. McMurray, who lives at 30 Pearl St. in Batavia, was observed possibly attempting to steal property from a vehicle parked at the Kwikfill on Jackson Street at about 6:30.

McMurray purportedly gave police a false name and then fled on foot. Czora gave chase and caught the guy, breaking his finger in the process.

McMurray was remanded to Genesee County Jail in lieu of $2,500 bond and charged with assault in the second degree, obstruction of govermental administration in the second degree and using a false identity. He is set to appear in court May 7.

The Batavia Drug Treatment Court is celebrating 10 years of operation with a graduation ceremony May 15.

The public is invited. It will be held at 10 a.m. at Batavia City Court. All past drug court participants are encouraged to attend. About five current participants will be graduating and several past grads will speak. A light complimentary brunch will follow.

The Batavia Drug Treatment Court held its first session Feb. 23, 1999 with five cases. Since then, more than 425 men and women have participated. The program consists of an intensive year of comprehensive drug treatment with close supervision and complete accountability.

It began as a pilot program backed by Batavia City Court Judge Robert Balbick, Genesee County Public Defender Gary Horton and Assistant District Attorney Robert Zickl. During the early days, others were also instrumental in launching the program, they include Mary France, the drug court's first coordinator, and Linda Giambrone, the court's chief clerk.

After one year in service, the court was awarded a federal grant for $220,000. At first, it handled only Batavia City Court misdemeanor cases. Now it is a "hub court," accepting both misdemeanor and felony referrals from courts throughout Genesee County.

All along the court has partnered with lots of substance abuse treatment agencies, mental health professionals, law enforcement officials and other groups.

Current drug court coordinator Nicole Desmond works about 70 active cases and she envisions expanding the concept to include extensive cooperation with the Veterans' Administration and improvement in the treatment of mentally ill people in the drug court system.

This month is also National Drug Court Month, recognizing 20 years of drug treatment courts in the United States.

Police officers appeared at BOCES on Monday after a man was seen carrying a backpack with an apparent gun handle sticking from it into the adjoining woods.

Upon investigation, police found the backpack unattended in the woods. Inside was a disassembled 12-gauge shotgun and the ID of Kirk A. Frye, 20, of Batavia.

No ammo was found with the gun.

Apparently, Frye, who doesn't attended BOCES but knows people who do, dropped the backpack in the woods before entering to the campus to find a ride home. He was carrying the gun with the intention of selling it at a local gun shop and stated he knew it was illegal to bring the gun onto campus, which is why he left it where he did.

Police kept the gun and charged Frye with disorderly conduct.  He is scheduled to appear in court on the charge May 12 at 1 p.m.

The proposed budget for Richmond Memorial Library in Batavia passed handily Tuesday.

A total of 312 voters cast ballots, with 253 approving the budget and 59 against it. The new budget is $1,240,352. The library's plans include possibly increasing its hours of operation.

Incumbent Trustee John McGee, who ran unopposed, won reelection to a five-year term with 291 yes votes.

The library's top four sources of revenue are the school district, gifts/endowments, library fees/printing charges and Genesee County funding.

Library staff expressed a lot of "thanks for the community's generous support."

Remember the well-dress man wandering around downtown two weeks ago -- the police sent out a bank-camera photo of the man and said he was wanted it connection with an alleged larceny?

Police tell me the post on The Batavian led to numerous tips.

Yesterday, Yusuf A. Hassem  a.k.a. Louis L. Reed, 69, of Buffalo was taken into custody and charged with one count of grand larceny.

It turns out Hassam allegedly ran a scam, convincing a local woman that he was recently arrived from Africa and didn't know what to do with $7,000 in cash he had on him. The woman suggested he open a checking account at Tonawanda Valley Credit Union.

Hassem reportedly told the woman he couldn't find an available teller and asked her to hold the $7,000 and handed her a folded handkerchief. It was later found that the handkerchief contained only cut-up newspaper.

And an envelope the woman had containing $2,000 was missing.

We're asking Det. Chuck Dudek for clarification on where the $2,000 came from and how Hassem was able to get his hands on it.

Hassem has two prior convictions for running con jobs.

After arraignment in City Court by Robert Balbick, Hassam was jailed without bail.

Steven Peckenpaugh, 17, of Attica, is accused of stealing a 2004 Polaris H.O. Four-Wheel ATV from behind a residence on Seven Springs Road in Stafford. The alleged theft took place March 11. Peckenpaugh is charged with grand larceny.

Derek Leach, 29, of Byron is charged with possession of stolen property. Leach is accused of having three stolen New York State vehicle inspection stickers.

Today's Deal of the Day: A $25 gift certificate from Adam Miller Toy and Bicycle in Batavia. The Batavian's Good Deal Price: $12.50 -- HALF off!

The last time I was in Adam Miller, there was a nice croquet set for sale. With grass getting greener, croquet seems like a great idea for some family and friends fun this time of year.

The gift certificate must be used by within 30 days of purchase. It is not valid with other offers and has no cash value. Previous winners of this gift certificate are not eligible for this offer.

Rules: Purchase using the PayPal "Buy Now" button below. After the first person to hit the "buy now" button completes the purchase, PayPal will let you know that the item has been sold. Ideally, the winner will arrange to stop by my office on Main Street before 5:00 p.m. to pick up gift certificate. Mail is an option, but it would be better to hand you the gift certificate. 

If you want to be notified via e-mail of future Deals of the Day, sign up for the Deals of the Day e-mail list by clicking here.

Merchants: If you would like your business featured in Deal of the Day, call Howard Owens at 260-6970.

SOLD

Be sure to check out our online exclusive from Roxy's Music Store.

I happened to be at the store (Present Tense books at 101 Washington Ave) this year when this tree burst! 

It is that time of year folks, the time that the spring breeze is whispering through the air with the aroma of grilled hamburgs, kids frolicking in the yards and music billowing from one end of the street to the other.

Care-A-Van Ministries will be kicking off their street cookouts this Saturday, May 9^th at GCC. We will be hosting a community cookout for the college students, friends and families in the dorm parking lot. The fun begins at 4:00 PM. There will be plenty of fresh cooked hamburgs, hotdogs and all the goodies to go with them.

Care-A-Van now has their own personal band which has been practicing together to prepare for the summer season. Every Thursday, we travel to a different neighborhood to provide a cookout. Then on that following Sunday, we follow up with street church at the same neighborhood.  We will be hosting 22 cookouts and street church services. Last year we saw about 800 people at the cookouts and 180 people at street church.  We are excited that our band will be joining us for the cookouts.

If you are looking to get involved and make a difference in other’s lives, why not join us for a summer of fun and fellowship? There are great opportunities for you yourself, churches and agencies to get involved.  Even on our Saturday morning distributions, we are looking for help in different areas. We would love to have your teens, small groups, church family or whomever come to the streets to spread some good news and cheer.

Not all families can afford to take their families on a summer vacation or travel to a local park for a picnic, so we take the entertainment to them and at the same time bring them hope. Even if you can just stop by and visit with the families when you see our bus out and about, you will bring smiles and joys to many!  A special thank you to all who encourage and support us in the work we do for the Lord.

During my walk around downtown this afternoon, I snapped this picture of the Upton monument, which has stood at Ellicott and Main since 1919.

Periodically, we make a post like this -- please support the sponsors of The Batavian. Without our sponsors, we cannot continue.

You'll also note, that our sponsors are locally owned businesses. When you shop or eat at a locally owned business rather than a Target/Wal-Mart or an Applebees, 47 cents on every dollar vs. 17 cents stays in the community. Local business owners also do more to support the community and are more responsive to community needs. And don't fall for the myth that the big chains are less expensive. It is rarely true.

Here is a list of our current sponsors:

• Adam Miller Toy and Bicycle
• Barrett's Batavia Marine and Sporting Supplies
• Batavia Downs Casino
• Batavia Muckdogs
• Blue Pearl Yoga
• Cedar St. Sales and Rentals
• Center of Attention Auto Spa
• D'n'R Fireplaces and Stoves
• Fastec Automotive
• Genesee County Chamber of Commerce
• Genesee County Red Cross
• Godfrey's Pond
• Herbly Wonderful
• Holland Land Office Museum
• The Insurance Center
• Larry's Steakhouse
• Lewis and Lewis
• Main St. Pizza Company
• Max Pies
• Oliver's Candies
• Roxy's Music Store
• Southside Deli
• T.F. Brown's
• Valle Jewelers

If you're interested in becoming a sponsor of The Batavian, call me at 260-6970. Our goal is to help local businesses prosper.

Attention parents and kids in the LeRoy Central School District: there's no holiday on Friday, May 8. That's VE Day -- as in Victory in Europe -- in honor of the unconditional surrender of the Nazis in World War II.

As of 4:30 p.m. May 5, VE Day was still cited on the district's website calender as an official school hoilday.

Oops! It was some sort of administrative error and it's certainly no school holiday.

But it was practically a world holiday in 1945. Millions of people poured into the streets of London, Chicago, Paris, Los Angeles, New York City and elsewhere. Light had overtaken darkness and its synonym, the Third Reich.

On the balcony of Buckingham Palace, King George VI, Princess Elizabeth and Prime Minister Winston Churchill waved to jubilant Londoners. It was also President Harry S Truman's 61st birthday and he dedicated the victory to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, our president who died less than a month earlier, on April 12.

VJ Day -- Victory over Japan -- was still to come, on Aug. 14, 1945 (North American Time). When it was announced, another wave of gleeful hysteria broke out in American streets and the sailor bent over the nurse in Times Square and gave her a big smooch.

(The kissers in the famous Alfred "Eisie" Eisenstadt photo were later determined to be, although there's still debate about this, Carl Muscarello and Edith Cullen Shain. The photo was probably shot with a Leica 250 "Reporter," which used 10 mm film and offered 250 shots before having to reload. The photojournalist's work was featured in the first one-man exhibit offered by the International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House Museum in Rochester.)

These days, VE Day is a holiday commemorated in the former East Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. But, again, not in the LeRoy Central School District where Friday will simply be another opportunity to teach and to learn.

They tell us the under-construction roundabout at Oak and Pearl will make traffic move smoother and more safely, even for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Just how that will work is the subject of a public information meeting later this month.

City and state Department of Transportation officials will explain how roundabouts work from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, May 21 at Batavia City Hall.

Howard McCulloch, a DOT design specialist, will discuss the benefits of a roundabout. He has worked on similar projects throughout the state since 1999.

The local roundabout will be a circular intersection designed to slow traffic while decreasing delay time for motorists. The project is expected to be finished, or close to it, this summer.

McCulloch plans to: help educate the public on how to enter and navigate their way through the roundabout; describe the benefits of this new design; and give people a chance to ask questions.

According to the Institute for Highway Safety, which studied 23 roundabouts nationwide, total crashes dropped nearly 40 percent and serious injury/fatal accidents were cut by 90 percent after roundabouts were constructed.

The Genesee Justice/Jail building at 14 West Main Street needs a new roof, and it seems the County Legislature Ways & Means Committee is in a little tiff with the city over what kind of roofing material is permissible.

The county applied to the city's Historic Preservation Board to replace the current roof with asphalt shingles, but the request was denied, according to minutes from the April 15 Ways & Means Committee meeting minutes.

The lowest of five bids for the re-roofing project, at $197,000, proposed asphalt shingles. The next lowest bid, using synthetic slate is $67,000 higher.

Committee members question whether the city has the authority to declare a county building part of a preservation zone.

The minutes note that the preservation board approved the synthetic slate roof "reluctantly," without any detail on what that means.

A motion to approve the $264,000 bid from Grove Roofing Services was tabled after some discussion and the matter was referred to the county attorney for further review.

During the discussion, County Legislator Jay Grasso noted that both City Hall and the new county courthouse have asphalt roofs.

At about 1 p.m. today, we e-mailed City Manager Jason Molino for clarification of the city's position and have yet to receive a reply.

UPDATE: After this post, I e-mailed County Manager Jay Gsell to double check whether anything had changed since the April 15 Ways and Means meeting.  In response, he made these points:

• City Hall was not directly part of process county pursued to get approval for roof replacement options other than new slate.
• The Historic Preservation Board was called on because of requirements in city Code, but the new buildings (as mentioned above) do not fall under the board's jurisdiction, so it's not an accurate comparison.
• Bids were solicited as required by state law and the roof of this building is complex both interms of removal and new systems/replacement and materials with a 50-year life expectancy (asphalt shingle is 25 years).

"Bottom line is that roof is over 100 years old," Gsell wrote. "It's in bad shape. This building is on Register of Historic Buildings and we intend to keep using for county functions for a long time, including our  back up emergency 911 center should 165 Park Road for some bizarre reason not be functional."

The Ways and Means Committee meets tomorrow at 4 p.m. and will revisit this issue.

Richmond Memorial Library's polls are open today until 9 p.m. so voters can decide on this year's budget.

Also, Trustee John McGee is running unopposed for reelection to a five-year term.

Registered voters who live in the Batavia City School District are eligible to cast a ballot. Voting takes place in the Gallery Room of the library, located at 19 Ross St.

The library's top four sources of revenue were the school district, gifts/endowments, library fees/printing charges and Genesee County funding. If more funding is approved this year, the library's plans include possibly increasing its hours of operation.

Sunday the boys and rode our bikes to the guitar show at days inn.I like that one right in the front.too bad its 1100$Its like the one Skynyrd used a fire bird gibson.

Today's Deal of the Day: A $56 gift certificate from Blue Pearl Yoga in Batavia. The Batavian's Good Deal Price: $28 -- HALF off!

Blue Pearl is located in the Masonic Temple on Main Street. With a wide-open fourth-floor location for yoga classes, it provides a great setting for these classes.  The gift certificate provides 7 classes over a seven week session.

Rules: The gift certificate must be used by within 30 days of purchase. It is not valid with other offers and has no cash value. 

How to Win: Purchase using the PayPal "Buy Now" button below. After the first person to hit the "buy now" button completes the purchase, PayPal will let you know that the item has been sold. Ideally, the winner will arrange to stop by my office on Main Street before 5:00 p.m. to pick up gift certificate. Mail is an option, but it would be better to hand you the gift certificate. 

If you want to be notified via e-mail of future Deals of the Day, sign up for the Deals of the Day e-mail list by clicking here.

Merchants: If you would like your business featured in Deal of the Day, call Howard Owens at 260-6970.

SOLD

And take advantage of our  online exclusive offer from Roxy's Music.

We just received this statement from Interim Public Health Director Randy Garney:

It has been reported to the Genesee County Health Department that 1 of the 2 "suspected H1N1 (Swine Flu) cases is NEGATIVE for H1N.  One suspect case is still pending.

Five months is a long, long time to be off-line.  The computer crashed just before Christmas.  Not a good time, financially, to buy a new one.  It isn't that the old one totally died, but it showed signs of dying a slow and painful death.  So, it was unplugged and sent to the inner sanctum of the storage room.

I cancelled the internet (and phone - decided to only use the cell) and went into withdrawal.  It was more difficult than I imagined.  Since I had worked for a dot com for many years and made my living on the internet, it seemed unnatural not to be connected to those in cyberspace.

This is a small living space.  An area dedicated to office space took up valuable real estate when not used daily.  So, furniture was moved around.  A small table and two chairs replaced the desk.  Now it became a place to have morning coffee while watching life unfold outside the window and a comfortable place to play cards in the evening.

I replaced the big round dining room table and chairs for a smaller set, and replaced my living room set for a love seat and a rocker - lounge chair (which I hate).  The traffic flow improved, but I missed being on-line.

Finally, in April I called Time Warner and requested that the phone and internet be reinstalled.  They came yesterday.   I dusted off the old computer just to see how bad it really was.  It's semi retirement didn't resolve the old problems, but it did allow me email access and the ability to get to this site.  I'm back online, but not fully functional.  hmmmmm, I wonder if that is a metaphore for my personal life?

What have I done to keep busy for five months?  I spent a lot of time in the kitchen.  There are loads of new recipes to share with the readers and I'll begin posting them soon.  One, in particular, is perfect for those of us who are cooking for one or two.  It isn't just one recipe but a series of recipes when cooking a half pork loin.  The first is straight forward and extremely simple.

Roasted Pork Loin

Pre-heat oven to 350.

1 pork loin

Montreal steak seasoning.

Place the pork loin, fat side up, in a roasting pan.  Rub the loin with the steak seasoning.

Insert a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the loin.

Place pan in oven - do not cover.  Calculate cooking time for 15 minutes per pound or until the meat thermometer reaches 160 degrees.  Remove pan from oven and let meat stand for about 10 minutes before cutting.

The key is not to add anything to the meat....no liquid...no additional veggies...nothing.  Just let the oven do the work.  The roast is tender, flavorful, and offers a myriad of opportunities for other meals.

Last night we had the pork roast with roasted red potatoes; broccoli slaw; applesauce; and steamed carrots. 

I sliced half the loin into chops and will use them for dinner later in the week.  I froze the other half to be used later in the month.

Can't be easier.