Press release:

The Finger Lakes region will be among 35 statewide recipients of federal funding through the Opioid State Target Response Grant, Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) announced Thursday.

The initiative, which will appropriate $25.2 million in grants across the state to aid in the fight against substance abuse, provides assistance to programs that offer prevention, treatment and recovery services, increasing access to treatment for individuals in high-need areas in an effort to combat this statewide crisis.

The Opioid State Target Response Grant program, currently in its second year, announced Genesee County will be among 19 new counties that will receive funding to assist in the fight against opioid abuse this year. The Genesee Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse (GCASA) will directly benefit from this support, receiving a $650,000 grant through the program.

Additional programs throughout the Finger Lakes region will receive grants through this federally-funded program, including the Delphi Drug and Alcohol Council Inc.

“The far-reaching effects of the heroin and opioid epidemic are well documented, not only here in our community, but across our state and nation,” Hawley said. “As lawmakers, we have a responsibility to pursue any and all opportunities to secure support, at both the state and federal level, to assist the dedicated programs providing recovery and addiction treatment to the individuals affected by this statewide crisis.

"I am thrilled to see our community among the recipients of these grants and will remain committed to protecting our local families from the dangers of opioid abuse.”

To discuss the ongoing work being done to fight heroin and opioid abuse in our community, or any additional state matters, please contact Hawley’s district office at 585-589-5780. If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, assistance can be found by calling state's toll-free, 24-hour, 7-day-a-week HOPEline at 1-877-8-HOPENY (1-877-846-7369) or by texting HOPENY (Short Code 467369).

The House Ethics Committee has announced it will convene a special panel to investigate Rep. Chris Collins and his alleged insider trading activities as a member of Congress.

The investigation will be led by Rep. Mimi Walters, a Republican from California but will not begin until federal criminal proceedings against Collins have run their course.

Collins was arrested Aug. 3 and accused of securities fraud, wire fraud, and lying to the FBI.

The Erie County businessman is accused of calling his son, Cameron Collins, with a stock tip after receiving word, as a member of the board of Innate Innate Immunotherapeutics, that a drug under development to treat secondary multiple sclerosis had failed a key clinical trial.

After receiving the call, according to Federal documents, Cameron began selling his holdings in Innate after receiving the call but before the news of the failed trail had been released to the public, as well as calling other friends and family to share the news with them. As a result, the group of stockholders reportedly sold off more than 1.4 million shares of stock.

According to House rules, the Ethics Committee must open an investigation anytime a member of Congress is arrested. Politico reported its unusual for the committee, which is controlled by Republicans, to announce an investigation so close to mid-term elections.

The committee will also investigate Rep. Duncan Hunter, a Republican representing Eastern San Diego County, including El Cajon. Hunter is accused, like his father, who held the same seat for 21 years prior to his son, of using campaign funds for personal expenses. Collins and Hunter where the first two members of Congress to endorse Donald Trump during the GOP primaries.

Officer Arick Perkins with Lilly after Lilly escaped from the stables at the Genesee County Fairgrounds last night.

Perkins happened to spot Lilly on Cedar Street, and after a brief foot pursuit, with the assistance of Officer Felicia DeGroot, Perkins was able to corral Lilly. Lilly was returned to her owner, Meg Hayes.

Photo below of Perkins and DeGroot with Lilly, courtesy Meg Hayes.

Batavia Middle School invited parents to an open house Thursday evening, after the first day of school, for a chance to meet teachers and find out about their children's classes and expectations. 

There were also activities and food trucks for the families.

Above, Tricia Grillo, with her son Dom, meet with teacher Gigi Dombrowski about his eighth-grade math class.

Spanish teacher Julie Trzaska with eighth-grader Hailey Smith, her father Charles Richmond, and her brother Noah, who is in fifth grade.

Long-term sub Kayleigh Meyers in the ELA class with the four books eighth-graders will read this year: "Inside Out and Back Again," "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Omnivore's Dilemma," and "Unbroken."

Press release:

This week was the first day of school not just for students returning from summer break, but for returning and new School Resource officers in Genesee County.

Students entering school doors this week at Pembroke, Alexander, Pavilion, Byron-Bergen and Genesee Valley Educational Partnership’s (BOCES) Batavia Campus were greeted with familiar faces and new faces as Genesee County School Resource officers begin the school year. 

New SROs Deputy Patrick J. Reeves (Pembroke), Deputy Eric J. Meyer (Alexander) and Deputy Cory W. Mower (Pavilion) are excited to embark on this new assignment.

They have recently completed School Resource Officer training and have shadowed existing SROs Deputy Chad P. Cummings (Genesee Valley Educational Partnership’s –BOCES, Batavia Campus) and Deputy Matthew R. Butler (Byron-Bergen) to learn  from experiences both have had over the years in this position.

Sheriff William Sheron stated that it is his goal to establish a School Resource Officer in all county schools to ensure the safety and protection of the students and faculty.

“Although the cost associated with placing a School Resource Officer in the schools is significant, I believe the safety and security of our children should be of the utmost precedence,” the sheriff said. 

Press release:

The Genesee Gateway Local Development Corporation (GGLDC) today approved a loan for Rest & Revival Float Center LLC’s renovation of a City of Batavia facility.

The startup company will be the first health and wellness center in Batavia and Genesee County to provide floatation therapy services.

The renovation includes the purchase of new machinery and equipment. The project has a capital investment of $355,000 and will retain two jobs and create three new jobs.

The company will receive a $100,000 loan from the Genesee Gateway Local Development Corporation’s Revolving Loan Fund.

Rest & Revive will provide floatation therapy and retail sales of floatation sleep therapy systems.

“Businesses are developing new ideas to grow with our economy,” said GGLDC Board Chairman Tom Felton. “The Revolving Loan Fund offers assistance to create more opportunities for companies and our community.”

Press release:

The Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) approved applications for incentives for two capital projects at the agency’s Sept. 6^th board meeting. 

Amada Tool in the city of Batavia is planning an $8.8 million capital investment to increase the company’s manufacturing facility by approximately 19,000 square feet in the City of Batavia.  The project would create 17 new jobs and retain 68 current jobs. 

The proposed investment includes $2.3 million in construction costs and $6.5 million in new equipment. Amada Tool is seeking property and sales tax exemptions of approximately $266,000. Approximately $85 will be generated in the regional economy for every one dollar of private-sector investment by Amada.

Six Flags Darien Lake LLC is one of the largest sales tax revenue generators in Genesee County and one of the region’s most popular tourist destinations is planning to build and open a new $2.150 million ride in 2019.  The company is seeking approximately $166,000 in sales tax exemptions.    

Both projects will require public hearings as the companies are seeking incentives of more than $100,000.

Press release:

Darien Lake, a Six Flags Theme Park, and the Coaster Capital of New York, is holding its fourth annual Harvest Festival Sept. 8 through 23, featuring local performers, food trucks, crafters and fun activities throughout the park, all set against the beautiful fall foliage of the season.

Harvest Festival activities that are included with park admission:

• Local food trucks including Eat Greek, The Cheesy Chick and Center Street Smokehous, plus seasonal in-park fall treats;
• Stage entertainment with international bands, local performers and dance groups;
• Regional arts and craft vendors;
• Hay-mazing Adventure – a fun kids’ maze;
• Harvest Fest Express hayrides;
• Keg Tap and Beer Slides (for ages 21 and up); and
• Ignite the Night Laser show on the lawn Saturdays at 8 p.m.

Vacationing guests will have access to special harvest-themed activities each Friday evening before the Festival, including Magical Pumpkin Forest, when guests will plant seeds at night and “harvest” their pumpkins the next morning. There will also be fall-themed crafts in the hotel and a family-friendly movie on the laser lawn at 9 p.m.

The Harvest Festival takes place Sept. 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, and 23; and Saturdays 11 a.m. – 7 p.m., and Sundays, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.        

Darien Lake is also announcing the extension of its special Flash Sale, now through Sunday, Sept. 9, featuring the best deal of the year — savings up to 70 percent off on a 2019 Season Pass, which also includes admission to 2018 Fright Fest^®, a new Halloween event this October.

Guests who take advantage of this special offer will receive a free upgrade to a Gold Season Pass with every Pass purchased. Gold Season Passes include admission to Six Flags Darien Lake and any other Six Flags theme park, as well as free parking, special admission offers for friends and a free drink bottle with paid refills.

During the Flash Sale guests can also join the Six Flags Membership program for 65 percent off the Season Price and receive three free bonus months. Six Flags Membership includes all of the benefits of Season Pass plus more than 50 additional benefits such as unlimited soft drinks, preferred parking, walk-on passes for rides, and exclusive waterpark seating. Members can also participate in Six Flags Membership Rewards, a new loyalty program that allows guests to earn valuable prizes for just for riding rides, seeing shows, and having a great time at the park.

It still remains likely that the Muckdogs will be back in Batavia for the 2019 season but General Manager Dave Chase said today he won't be back.

"It was a one-year deal," Chase said. "I finished that year. Ben and I have talked about me continuing as a consultant for some period of time but I don’t think I’ll be here next season."

Chase has lived at the Quality Inn & Suites this summer but at one point thought about renting an apartment downtown with the idea of staying longer but decided against it.

"I will admit I go back and forth," Chase said. "There are parts of Batavia that I really like but I did it for a year and that’s what I wanted to do and it was a difficult year, professionally and personally."

Chase said he has had medical issues doing the year that made things more difficult.

"The reality is this is my third city in four years," Chase said. "I’ve sort of developed a reputation of going into troubled markets and none of them have failed yet so I might have one or two more years of that lifestyle left in me."

He thinks he will leave Batavia in good shape but the day the Muckdogs leave Batavia is still close at hand. It gives the team two or three more years before moving.

"That's still better than it was a year ago," he said.

At the start of the season, associates of one of baseball's top executives, Larry Lucchino, former president and CEO of the Boston Red Sox and co-owner of the AAA team in Pawtucket, inquired about the Batavia franchise, Chase said.

The scenario discussed at that time involved the Muckdogs either moving to Pawtucket or Worcester. 

There have been no further discussions since but it's been announced that the Pawtucket franchise will move to Worcester, where a new stadium is being built.

The problem with any such move is that the Red Sox have territorial rights over the area and currently, the NYPL team in that market is Lowell, a Red Sox affiliate. For the Muckdogs to move to Pawtucket, the team would need to become the NYPL Red Sox affiliate and the Lowell franchise would have to move to another city.

One reason the Muckdogs haven't moved yet is there appears to be no city in the Northeast that has the facility and market availability to accommodate a short season Class A team, so if Lowell had to move the league would face the same difficulty in trying to relocate that team.

The earliest, apparently, any of this can happen, is 2021.

Meanwhile, the affiliate agreement between Batavia (which has not gone bankrupt, contrary to a story in the Lowell Sun), and the Marlins is up for renewal. The renewal is expected to take place by the end of the month. The length of any such agreement could complicate a move by Batavia to New England.

Chase is confident the Marlins will return to Batavia in 2019. He said when the team packed up after the last game, they left a lot of equipment behind.

"That seems to indicate a desire to come back," Chase said.

Since 1969, English heavy metal band Judas Priest has sold more than 50 million copies of their albums worldwide.

Last evening at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center in Darien, the band opened for Deep Purple and had the crowd revved up and rockin' to classics like "Living after Midnight," "Breaking the Law," and "You’ve Got Another Thing Coming."

Judas Priest is ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time, and singer Rob Halford's voice projected robustly throughout the hour and a half set at Darien Lake.

Deep Purple, named the planet's loudest band in 1972, was formed in 1968 and has had decades of success. The English band opened with "Highway Star" and "Pictures of Home."

A poll on the British radio program Planet Rock ranked them fifth among the "most influential bands ever" in the early 2000s. One of their biggest hits, "Smoke on the Water," from their 1972 Machine Head album, was ranked number 4 in the United Kingdom's Total Guitar magazine list of songs with the "Greatest Guitar Riffs Ever."

Photos below of Deep Purple.

According to Ellie Mae Millennial Tracker, 77 percent of Millennials who bought homes in July where single.

That's the fourth highest total in the nation, according to the tracker.

Lynn Bezon, co-owner of Reliant Realty, said that percentage may be masking a trend she sees: Which is for only one member of a Millennial couple to take out the mortgage to buy the house.

"One person in the couple may not be creditworthy or not have the income (to qualify)," Bezon said.

Sometimes, the couple isn't married and a parent has recommended only the person who has the means to make the purchase take out the loan.

"I don't get a lot of single Millennial buyers," she said.

Millennials are generally considered to be people born in the early 1980s through the mid-1990s, so some Millennials are now in their 30s, and that's the age where more single Millennials will buy a house, she said, though it's still not common.

A common reason one person in a couple might not qualify for a loan yet is the other person weighted down by college debt. 

That is also the number one reason Millennials don't buy homes at all, she said.

Sometimes they have to wait for the right job to come along that pays them enough to diminish the negative effect of student loans on credit applications. 

The city's with higher single-Millennial purchasers are:

• Bay City, Mich., 82 percent
• Cheyenne, Wyo., 82 percent
• Norwalk, Ohio, 80 percent

A year ago, Assistant County Manager Matt Landers really wasn't sure why DWI the number of arrests were down for the first part of 2017 but it was a countywide trend.

It's still not clear why arrests took a dip for more than six months but an interesting thing happened after a report was published about the dip -- the number of DWI arrests reported increased. The trend has continued in 2018, Landers said.

Yesterday, like last year, Landers, who is the STOP-DWI coordinator for the county, delivered his annual report on the program to the County Legislature's Ways and Means Committee.

The problem the program is facing this year is -- despite holding steady on the total number of arrests -- revenue is down for the program.

STOP-DWI is funded through fines imposed on convicted drunken drivers. Landers said he doesn't know if revenue is down because collections are down or if justices are imposing smaller fines.

With the drop in revenue, Landers is proposing a budget for 2019 that spends 40 percent less than 2018, though there will be no cuts to the amount spent on enforcement.

The STOP-DWI program provides funds to participating local law enforcement agencies for extra patrols focused entirely on DWI detection.

The $25,000 reduction in spending will mean some expenses, such as a portion of Lander's salary, will likely be shifted to the general fund.

Members of the committee said they recognized there is still a need for the program, which also assists in detecting and arresting people driving under the influence of drugs, which is a growing problem, even though there are probably fewer drunks on the road these days.

"It is better than the '80s and '90s but there’s still a need for the program," Landers agreed. "it’s a successful program."

The County and City have reached a new 40-year agreement to share the distribution of local sales tax, pending approvals by the NYS Comptroller's Office, the County Legislature and the City Council.

The agreement establishes a formula for sharing from 14 to 16 percent of local sales tax with the city.

The towns and villages in the county will be bound by the agreement but do not get a vote on the plan.

County Manager Jay Gsell said the other municipalities will receive a share calculated similar to the city's share but based on what they receive in 2018.

If approved, the new agreement takes effect Jan. 1.

Currently, the county collects a 4-percent sales tax. That would continue under this agreement. The state collects 4 percent, making the local sales tax 8 percent.

The Batavia City Council will be asked to vote on the new agreement at Monday's meeting. The Count Legislature will vote next Monday.

Gsell said he expects to hear by tomorrow if the attorneys in the Comptroller's Office will recommend approval to their boss, Tom DiNapoli. Gsell said if the attorneys recommend approval, DiNapoli will likely approve the agreement.

The City and County have been negotiating the new agreement for more than a year. A committee that included city and county staff leadership and elected officials from both bodies participated in the discussions.

While towns and villages don't get to participate directly in the agreement, the City and County need to work out a deal because, under state law, the City has the ability to levy its own sales tax.

As part of the agreement, the City agrees not to institute its own sales tax.

Students arrived at Batavia High School for the first day of classes bright and early.

Some students started the morning off with a tailgate party in the senior parking lot. That's water in those cups.

Students picking up their class schedules.

The traffic circle was jammed.

Students arriving at Batavia Middle School for the first day of classes. 

Photos submitted by Principal Ashley John Grillo.

There will be a fundraiser Sunday at The Yngodess Shop, 73 Main St., Batavia, Sunday, starting at 12:30 p.m. to benefit the family of Michael Tenebruso.

Tenebruso, who grew up in Batavia, died after a lengthy battle with cancer six days ago at age 50. Tenebruso leaves behind three children.

The fundraiser includes a chicken BBQ, live music and a basket raffle.

In April 2016, more than 400 people turned out for a fundraiser to benefit Tenebruso at Ascension Parish (top photo). 

The North Chili resident graduated from Batavia High School in 1986 and later received his bachelor's and master's degrees in Elementary Education and Educational Administration, respectively, from SUNY Brockport. 

His career in education took him to schools throughout Western New York as a teacher and administrator. While teaching at Elba he was named Teacher of the Year.

From his obituary:

Michael's persona was larger than life. He was a friend and role model to all. Most importantly, Mike’s selflessness and devotion to mankind was most evident at home where he was a kind and nurturing father to his three beautiful children. Michael battled his illness head-on for six long years, facing every set back with grace and dignity. He never gave up. Cancer did not take his passion for life, his mind, or his soul as he closed his eyes for the last time.

The Tenebruso family will be present on Friday from 1 to 8 p.m. at the Michael S. Tomaszewski Funeral & Cremation Chapel, 4120 W. Main Street Road, Batavia. There will be a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 a.m. Saturday, Resurrection Parish, 303 E. Main St. Batavia. He will be lain to rest in St. Joseph's Cemetery.