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Photos: John Gardner Society reads John Gardner at the Pok-A-Dot

By Howard B. Owens

The John Gardner Society gathered at the Pok-A-Dot on Saturday night for the group's annual reading of works by John Gardner.

A Batavia-native, Gardner is an internationally acclaimed novelist and literary critic who died in a motorcycle accident in 1982.

Readers this year were Steve Lewandowski, Byron Hoot, Beth Bucchler (top photo), Richard Beatty, Bill Kauffman, David Lampe, Chris De Pasquale, Helen Maier, Terry Abrams, John Maier and Eric Zwieg.

Byron Hoot

Bill Kauffman

Terry Abrams

Alexander rolls over Perry/Mt. Morris to advance to Class D championship game

By Howard B. Owens

A 325-yard ground game helped Alexander dominate Perry/Mt. Morris in the Class D semifinal playoff game played at Cal-Mum on Saturday, leading to a 45-8 victory.

Chris McClinic rushed 19 times for 108 yards and three TDs. Terrez Smith added another 142 yards and two TDs on 10 carries. Hayden Walton gained 66 yards on nine attempts. Dylan Busch was 3-8 passing for 66 yards and a touchdown. He was intercepted twice.

Alexander's first score came on its second possession in the first quarter when Busch hit Ty Woods over the middle for a 37-yard TD. 

Perry scored on a Cameron Petrie 62-yard kickoff return.

In the top photo, Smith breaks free for a 76-yard touchdown run (scoring on the second photo).

On defense, Jake Jasen had six tackles. J.J. Goodenbury and Ty Woods had five tackles each. Ty Woods forced a fumble and had an interception. Nick Kramer and Nello Paolucci each contributed a sack.

Defense was stellar all night. Jake Jasen led the Trojans with six tackles. JJ Goodenbury and Ty Woods each had five tackles for the Trojans. Ty Woods forced a fumble and had a big interception on the night. Freshmen linebacker Nick Kramer and SR. DE Nello Paolucci each has QB sacks for the Trojans! Trojans will play the winner of the York /Canisteo game. -- Tim Sawyer

York/Pavilion, the #6 seed, beat Canisteo-Greenwood, the #2 seed, 12-7. Alexander and York/Pavilion will face off for the Class D championship at 7 p.m., Saturday at Alfred State University.

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Batavia Blue Devils football advances in wet win

By James Burns

The trouble with averaging over 40 points per game, with the majority of those points usually coming in the first half, is people get nervous when you lead at half time by only 7 points. Even if you made big stops on defense and move the ball on offense better than the other team.

The buzz at the half, in the stands and with those huddled in the concession area trying to stay dry, was one of worry for the Blue Devils. What did they have to worry about? Absolutely nothing. 

Why were the fans worried? Well, at the half there was a little kerfuffle in which both teams stormed the field then stopped short of each other. Then Batavia calmly went off to their own end zone for a quick halftime meeting.

Honeoye Falls-Lima seemed to feel that keeping favored Batavia to only 7 points in the first half was a victory in itself and HF-L celebrated a bit before heading off to the locker room.

To many of the Batavia fans, who expected another trademark Batavia rout by halftime, it seemed HF-L had the momentum and was poised to control the second half. It never happened. Batavia controlled the game as they did in the first half in the second; the difference being they also scored 22 points.

Ethan Biscaro led the team as QB going 4 for 5 with two TDs and a big interception on defense.

Ray Leach wore the HF-L defense down and started the second half with an 84-yard run for a TD that killed any psychological advantage HF-L may have had. Leach had a 175-yard game.

Alex Rood and Taiyo Iburi-Bethel each had receptions for TDs.

Final score Batavia 29, HF-L 0. Batavia moves on in the playoffs to face Wayne.

To see more pictues from the game click here

GSO performs Sunday, featuring young celloist and debut of piece by conductor

By Howard B. Owens

Celloist Marza Merophi Wilks will be the featured soloist tomorrow in a concert by the Genesee Symphony Orchestra at Genesee Community College.

The concert starts at 4 p.m. and tickets are available at the door.

Wilks, born in Peru, started playing cello when she was 5 years old and is a master student at the Julliard School. She has previously been a guest soloist for the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes and The Cayuga Chamber Orchestra. 

Wilks will perform with the orchestra Samuel Barber's "Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra," a piece in three movements.

Also on the program, "Electric Dream for Acoustic Orchestra," a world premiere performance, which was written by S. Shade Zajac, the GSO's musical director and conductor. 

The orchestra will close with "Symphony No. 2 in B minor" by Alexander Borodin.

Winners announced for 2018 STOP-DWI Poster Contest and Top Cop Awards

By Billie Owens

Winners for this year's STOP-DWI Awards will be honored at a luncheon next month at Terry Hills Restaurant in Batavia.

The annual poster contest and Top Cop Awards are sponsored by the Genesee County STOP-DWI Advisory Board.

​The luncheon will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 27. Registration begins at 11:30 a.m.; luncheon and award ceremony starts at noon. Cost is $20. Checks should be made payable to Genesee County STOP-DWI.

***RSVP and payment due by Nov. 9.***  Contact the GC Youth Bureau, 2 Bank St., Batavia, by phone at 344-3960 or fax 345-3063.

Terry Hills is located at 5122 Clinton St. Road, Batavia.

The 2018 honorees are:

Sixth- through eighth-graders

  • First Place -- Malachi Smith
  • Second Place -- Antonio Andrade
  • Third Place -- Maria Prattico

Ninth- through 12th-graders

First Place -- Taylor Hutton

Second Place -- Jessica Andrade

Third Place -- Amber Leigh Fitzsimmons

Computer-generated Art Winner

  • Emma Goodman

Grand-prize​ Winners

  • Brooke Jarkiewicz & Grace Shepard, ninth grade, Byron-Bergen Central School

Top Cop Awards

  • City of Batavia Police officers Mitchell Cowen & Christopher Lindsay
  • Genesee County Sheriff's deputies Ryan DeLong & Mathew Clor

Photos: Drug drop-off day

By Howard B. Owens

There's still time to discard your unused medications at one of the drug drop-off points set up around the county today.

Safely disposing of unused medications help ensure they are not misused and do not pollute the waste stream.

There are drop-off locations until 2 p.m. at Batavia PD, Le Roy PD, and the Sheriff's Office is set up at Route 5 and Route 77 in Pembroke.

If you're unable to get to a drop-off location before 2 p.m., there are secure disposal boxes that are available 7/24 at Batavia PD. the Sheriff's Office on Park Road, Le Roy PD, and the State Police Barracks on West Saile Drive.

Air conditioning fire at Miss Batavia Diner

By Howard B. Owens

Following a report of smoke coming from the kitchen at Miss Batavia Diner on a East Main Street, Batavia, City fire has located the possible source — a fire in a rooftop air conditioning unit.

UPDATE 8:38 a.m.: The fire is reported out.

Hit-and-run accident reported at Ellicott and Jackson streets in the city

By Billie Owens

Photo of the black SUV suspected of crashing into a gray pickup then leaving the scene.

A hit-and-run accident was reported at Jackson and Ellicott Street about 10 minutes ago. No injuries. A black SUV struck a gray For pickup truck and left the scene, headed eastbound on Ellicott, when it turned left on Liberty Street.

The black SUV was located behind Wortzman Furniture store unoccupied and Batavia police are out with it now. 

There was minor passenger-side fender damage to the gray pickup.

The suspect vehicle is missing its front grill, among other damage (see photo above).

The investigation is continuing.

UPDATE 12:11 p.m., Saturday: Det. Eric Hill said officers were able to locate the vehicle last night because he was able to review the video recording from the police department camera at Ellicott and Liberty streets. The vehicle was seen on the video turning from Ellicott onto Liberty and heading into a parking lot off of Liberty. As far as Hill knew, as of this morning, the suspect had not yet been located.

If State Senate flips party leadership, it could lead to hardships for rural residents, local farmers warned

By Howard B. Owens

Local farmers were warned Tuesday night at the Genesee County Farm Bureau's annual meeting at Terry Hills that there's a risk Republicans could lose control of the State Senate, which would be bad for Upstate rural residents speakers warned.

Dean Norton, director of public policy for the New York Corn and Soybean Growers Association, said if Democrats gain control of the Senate, to go along with their control of the governor's seat and the Assembly, things could get as bad or worse as 2009-2010, the last time the Democrats controlled both the executive and legislative branches of state government.

Norton was president of the New York Farm Bureau then.

During that era, the state redirected 30 percent of school funding to downstate schools, eliminated $60 million in local agency funding, which meant cuts to ag research, gutted the Environmental Protection Fund for Upstate; and if not for five rural Democrats who voted no, would have passed a farm labor bill that would have greatly increased the costs of farming in New York.

"You think a $15 an hour minimum wage is going to be hitting," Norton said. "It's going to be higher."

Regardless of what Gov. Andrew Cuomo says, Norton said, he is no friend of rural communities.

Chris Laughton, director of knowledge exchange for Farm Credit East (bottom picture), the night's keynote speaker, also expressed concern that New York will lose the benefit of a divided government.

"One could argue that there is value in having a divided government and one party can keep the other in check," Laughton said. "The State Senate is up for grabs and could shift parties pretty easily and that could bring urban lawmakers more to the forefront in policy discussions."

Most of Laughton's talk about was about national issues affecting farmers.

The mid-terms are coming up, he noted, and his prediction is that Republicans lose seats in the house but maintain a narrow majority.

The farm bill expired Sept. 30 and Congress has not passed a replacement. Funding for SNAP (food stamps) and crop insurance continues but many other USDA programs come to a halt for the time being.

A Senate version of the farm bill passed by the largest margin in many years but the House version barely got through and it is drastically different from the Senate version. The House version raises the work requirements for SNAP recipients, which is a big reason it has no Democratic support.

Trade remains a big issue for farmers.

Soon there will be tariffs on every import from China and China is retaliating, especially against agriculture. 

Trade between the United States, Mexico, and Canada has more than tripled since 1995 when NAFTA was ratified. For U.S. farmers, it's meant an increase in exports in corn, dairy, and pork, with more fruit and vegetables being imported into the United States.

The new agreement, which hasn't been approved yet, doesn't change much, with a slight change coming for dairy.

Canada is eliminating its Class 6 and Class 7 pricing. The primary benefit is that Canada will no longer undercut the U.S. price on these classes of milk products in global markets.

Canada's supply management system remains in place. The United States had access to 1.5 percent of the Canadian market. That will increase to 3 percent.

“So our access to the market is still fairly limited but it is an increase," Laughton said. "It’s not a small market for us. We exported more than 600 pounds from four states into Canada last year and it could increase our exports by about 200 billion pounds at least."

"The effect on U.S. prices is still unclear," he said. "It's certainly not going to help us in the short term."

During a Q&A after his talk, in response to the overall health of the dairy market, Laughton said, "I think prices are going to get better and margins are going to get better, but it’s going to be a slow climb."

To offset agriculture losses from tariffs, the Federal government is delivering billions in subsidies. Much of that will be in the form of price supports but the Federal government is also going to purchase $1.2 billion in commodities for nutrition programs. There will also be $200 million spent to promote exports.

Top Photo: John Sobello, state board of directors, right, presents the New York Farm Bureau membership trophy to Christian Yunker, Genesee County Farm Bureau president, to recognize the local chapter's membership efforts in 2018. Criteria for the award include member retention and new member sign-ups.

Accident blocking West Main Street

By Howard B. Owens

A minor injury accident is reported on West Main Street at Woodrow Road, Batavia.

Mercy EMS asked to respond to evaluate a child.

The accident is blocking.

City fire also responding.

UPDATE 3:41 p.m.: The turn lane and one eastbound and one westbound lane are blocked.

Grand Jury: Phelps Road, Basom, sex offender accused of failing to register change of address

By Billie Owens

Daniel E. King is indicted for the crime of failure to register a change of address as a sex offender, a Class E felony. It is alleged that the convicted sex offender moved to 2058 Phelps Road in the Town of Basom on Jan. 24 and failed to register his change of address with the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services within 10 calendar days as required.

Candido Candelaria III is indicted for the crime of driving while intoxicated, as a Class D felony. It is alleged that on Aug. 16 in the Town of Le Roy that Candelaria drove a 2005 Chevrolet Equinox on Route 33 while intoxicated. In count two, he is accused of aggravated DWI, per se, as a Class D felony, for allegedly having a BAC of .18 percent or more at the time. In count three, it is alleged that the defendant knew or had reason to know that his driver's license was suspended, revoked or otherwise withdrawn by authorities, and that he was under the influence of alcohol or a drug at the time. In Special information filed by the District Attorney, Candelaria is accused of having been convicted for DWI, per se, on Jan. 9, 2017 in Town of Ridgeway Court, Orleans County. The conviction forms the basis for count three of the current indictment.

Benjamin J. Marien is indicted for the crime of driving while intoxicated, as a Class E felony. It is alleged that on June 15 in the Town of Darien that Marien drove a 2008 Chevrolet Silverado on Chick Road while intoxicated. In count two, he is accused of DWI, per se, as a Class E felony, for allegedly having a BAC of .08 at the time. In Special Information filed by the District Attorney, Marien is accused of having been convicted of DWI as a misdemeanor on Oct. 12, 2016, in City of Batavia Court and that conviction was within 10 years of the crimes alleged in the current indictment.

City firefighters announce winners of 2018 Fire Prevention Coloring Contest

By Billie Owens

Press release:

The City of Batavia Fire Fighters are proud to announce the winners of our sixth Annual Fire Prevention Contest. With more than 400 artwork entries from Batavia Schools, this contest was very difficult to judge.

The theme was: “LOOK. LISTEN. LEARN. Be aware. Fire can happen anywhere.”

Congratulations to the following winners:

Grade K-1:

First Place -- Adam Laska -- St. Joseph School, Ms. Zambito, 1st grade

Second Place -- Savannah Conrad – St. Joseph School, Mrs. Case, kindergarten

Third Place -- Elliana Fava -- St. Joseph School, Ms. Zambito, 1st grade

Honorable Mention -- Ella Thaine -- S.t Paul Lutheran School, Mrs. Porter, 1st grade

Grade 2-3:

First Place -- Lillian McClellan -- St. Paul Lutheran School, Mrs. Porter, 3rd grade

Second Place -- Abilene Foss -- St. Joseph School, Mrs. Clattenburg, 3rd grade

Third Place -- Leo Russell – John Kennedy School, Mrs. Dobbertin, 3rd grade

Honorable Mention -- Olivia Bezon – St. Joseph School, Mrs. Starowitz, 2nd grade
 
Grade 4-5:
 
First Place -- Celes Paratore -- St. Paul Lutheran School, Mrs. Porter, 5th grade
 
Second Place -- Libby Grazioplene – Batavia Middle School, Mrs. Leone, 5th grade
 
Third Place -- Sinciera Jackson – Batavia Middle School
 
Honorable Mention -- Sophie Koladzinski – Batavia Middle School
 
The first-place winner of each group will receive a ride to school on a City Fire Engine, dates TBA.
 
An awards luncheon will be held this Saturday, Oct. 27, from 11 a.m. 12:30 p.m. at the Fire Station on Evans Street for all the winners listed above. These students and their families are encouraged to attend.
 
Thank you to all the teachers and students who participated in this year’s contest and congratulations to our winners!

Three Batavia Soccer Club teams win league championships

By Billie Owens

Submitted photos and press release:

The Batavia Soccer Club is pleased to announce the successful completion of our fall soccer season with three of our teams earning championship titles in the Livingston County Fall Soccer League!

Games were held every Saturday in September and October in Geneseo, York, and Livonia, culminating in a season-ending tournament on Saturday, Oct. 20th.

The Batavia Soccer Club had 110 participants on nine teams enter this very competitive league which is comprised of third- through sixth-grade boys and girls teams from Genesee, Livingston, Orleans, Monroe, and Wyoming counties.

Our three championship-winning teams included two teams from the fifth- and sixth-grade girls division and one team from the third- and fourth-grade girls division.

The Batavia Soccer Club has served Genesee County and the surrounding area for more than 40 years. With more than 600 summer program participants in 2018, it is one of the largest and most successful youth sports program in the region.

Registration for the 2019 season will begin in December. Please visit our website at www.bataviasoccerclub.com.

Portion of Searls Road in Byron to close Wednesday for six months

By Billie Owens
From the Genesee County Highway Department:
 
The Genesee County Highway Department will be closing Searls Road in Byron, from North Byron Road to Tower Hill Road, effective Wednesday, Oct. 31, through May 1 for a bridge replacement. No thru traffic will be allowed. Detour signs will be posted.

Genesee Valley Wind Ensemble preparing for Nov. 18 concert

By Howard B. Owens

The Genesee Wind Ensemble performs at the Oakfield-Alabama Auditorium at 4 p.m., Nov. 18. It is located at 7001 Lewiston Road, Oakfield.

Featured works include "Beguine for Band," "Blue Moon," highlights from "Camelot," "Entry for Gladiators," "Procession for Nobles," "Abracadabra," and Symphony No. 3 by Clifton Williams.

Visit geneseevalleywindensemble.org for more information.

Photos are from last night's rehearsal.

Vehicle fire with person inside vehicle reported on Thurway in Pembroke

By Howard B. Owens

A vehicle fire is reported by the Thruway Authority in the area of mile marker 401.8 with a person still inside the vehicle.

Flames reportedly showing.

Pembroke Fire and Indian Fall Fire dispatched.

It's possible that the person doesn't even realize the vehicle is on fire. There is no indication the person is disabled or that the fire is the result of an accident.

UPDATE 12:09 p.m.: Pembroke and Indian Falls back in service. Unfounded.

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