New York Times: Sweeping Limits on Guns Become Law in New York

Fisher Sports officially reopens its doors tomorrow, but Andrew Fisher's phone was ringing and there were people showing up at his new location next to Coffee Culture anyway. They were looking for sporting equipment even though the store was not set up yet.

The last 24 hours have been crazy -- moving everything from 412 E. Main St. to 6 Court St.

"We like this location because it's the center of the city. People are driving through here all the time, we were looking for more foot traffic," Fisher says.

Fisher Sports opened on East Main Street last July. Along with sporting equipment, they also offered Zumba classes at the East Main Street store. They will no longer be offering the class, so they decided to move to a smaller space. They went from 3,500 square feet down to 850 square feet.

Fisher says, "We have slimmed down our square footage, but we have the same amount of equipment and apparel in the new store."

Fisher Sports will continue to carry hockey equipment and Sabres, Syracuse, Mets, Yankees, and Red Sox apparel. They will also sell cleates and spikes for soccer, baseball, and football. Team sales are also a big thing at Fisher Sports. They supplied the Oakfield swim team with swimwear this year and are adding new teams to the list.

Contact Fisher Sports for hours and orders at 585-344-2500 or online at www.fishersportsny.com

A Mercy medic ambulance and the Pavilion Fire Department are responding to a one-car accident on Starr Road, near Route 63 in Pavilion.

One person is complaining of a leg injury.

UPDATE 7:58 p.m.: E.M.T. on scene says the patient will be signing off. Mercy medic is back in service.

A motor-vehicle accident with injury has been reported in Stafford on Route 5, just east of Route 237. It is blocking.

Two Mercy medics and Stafford firefighters are on scene.

UPDATE 4:07 p.m: Fire police closing down Route 5 at Route 237

UPDATE 4:17 p.m.: One Mercy ambulance is transporting one person to UMMC, and the other subject is a sign-off. Only the eastbound lane is closed now.

2013 SUMMER SOCCER REGISTRATION IS UNDER WAY! NEW FOR 2013: LYSA HAS IMPLEMENTED AN ONLINE REGISTRATION AND/OR PAYMENT PROCESS

REGISTER EARLY!!! 

A male Kmart employee has taken chase after a female shoplifter near the Verizon Plaza.

Law enforcement has found the suspect and the Kmart employee near Mark's Pizzeria.

There may be another female suspect hiding inside Mark's Pizzeria. Deputies are checking the store.

A flatbed truck on Route 98 lost some of its scrap metal load, striking a parked snowmobile in front of Sunnyside Cycle Sales in Alexander. A vehicle driving behind the flatbed called 9-1-1 to report that the driver did not stop after the incident.

Sheriff's deputies reported a large back end of an old pickup truck in the road. The damage to the snowmobile is minimal.

Law enforcement has the flatbed truck stopped on Angling Road. The driver will return to Sunnyside Cycle Sales with his insurance information.

Lt. Eugene Jankowski is coming to grips with the fact that his 34-year career with Batavia PD is probably drawing to a close.

He hasn't officially announced his retirement yet, but that's probably what he will do before his job as a lieutenant is eliminated April 1 as part of department restructuring.

"I'm glad I was given the opportunity to serve for 34 years," Jankowski said. "It's been good for me. I love what I do and I hate to leave it. It's not about the money. It's never been about the money, but now's the time to find another worthy cause. I'm still young enough to go out and find another worthy cause."

Jankowski disputed a report coming out of Monday's city council meeting that he, along with Lt. Jim Henning and Lt. Greg Steel were offered a chance to stay with the department if they would each accept a demotion to sergeant and that all three turned it down.

None of them, according to Jankowski, has reached a final decision yet.

Henning and Steele are off duty at the time of this story posting so we can't reach them for comment.

For Jankowski, becoming a sergeant isn't even an option. If he accepted a demotion, it would be to patrol officer.

Under civil service law, when a job/rank is eliminated, the employee is offered the job he or she held prior to promotion. For Jankowski, that was patrol officer, not sergeant.

"If it were a sergeant's position, I might consider it," Jankowski said.

City Manager Jason Molino said he wouldn't discuss with a reporter personnel issues and what may or may not have been communicated between city supervisors and the lieutenants.

According to Jankowski, the lieutenants were told they would not be considered for the new deputy chief position.

"We don't know why," Jankowski said. "He didn't give us a reason. He said we won't put anybody in the deputy chief position until you're long out of here."

Molino said that once the position is created, probably after the budget is approved in February, any qualified personnel -- including the lieutenants -- in the department could apply for the job.

If they retire before the job is created, then they won't be eligible for the position.

The three lieutenant positions will be reallocated, creating two new patrol positions and one sergeant's positions.

"The plan is, you're going to have more guys on the street than you have now," Molino said. "With more officers in the field, there's more contact with the community."

The deputy chief position, which will be non-union, will be an increase by one the number of sworn members of the department. 

The restructuring is expected to save the city $10,000 a year.

Jankowski said he doesn't understand why the city wants to eliminate all three lieutenant positions at once. Why not, Jankowski wondered, stagger the retirements over three years so those experienced supervisors would help mentor the new deputy police chief?

"Why would you eliminate 100 years of experience like that?" Jankowski said.

Police Chief Shawn Heubusch is proving a great asset to the department, Jankowski said.

"I like the chief," Jankowski said. "He's going to be great. I like him. He brings out the best in guys. I wish I could work with him longer."

Jankowski, a competitive shooter, isn't sure if he will stay in New York after he retires. He's concerned that gun ownership rules being changed by Albany politicians will make competitive shooting in the state all but impossible. Some ranges, he said, will likely shut down. Limits on magazine size and changes to rifle scopes are big concerns, he said, for competitive shooters.

The changes to the police department don't make him mad, Jankowski said, but the changes being considered in Albany certainly do.

Ramon Roberto Domanski, 51, of South Avenue, Lake Bluff, Ill., is charged with grand larceny, 4th. Domanski is accused of stealing two tractor-trailer tires from a located at 8420 Route 77, Pembroke. He was jailed on $1,000 bail.

Daniel DiLaura, 38, of Brooklyn Avenue, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny and criminal mischief. DiLaura is accused of stealing a TV from Walmart and damaging a security device.

In the morning, members of The Batavian Club will receive an e-mail with a coupon from T.F. Brown's for 15-percent off.

Join The Batavian Club by 8 p.m., Wednesday and receive the same coupon, which is good until Jan. 30.

The coupon is addition to the $285 in gift certificates members will receive to local businesses. For a list of participating businesses, click here.

TO JOIN: Use PayPal buttons below, or to pay by check (annual only) or credit card, click here to download form. Or call (585) 250-4118 to pay by credit card.

Monthly Single Membership - $5 per month
Includes membership card and bumper sticker, package of gift certificates to local businesses.

Monthly Household Membership - $10 per month
Includes two membership cards and two bumper stickers, one package of gift certificates to local businesses.

Annual Single Membership - $50 per year
Includes membership card, bumper sticker, package of gift certificates to local businesses.

Annual Household Membership - $100 per year
Includes two membership cards and two bumper stickers, one package of gift certificates to local businesses.

Annual membership, one payment of $60
Includes membership card, bumper sticker, package of gift certificates to local businesses.

Annual household membership, one payment of $120
Includes two membership cards, bumper sticker, one package of gift certificates to local businesses.

Press release:

The staff of Batavia Downs Casino and Thurman Thomas are now accepting entries to name the Hall of Famer’s new restaurant on site at Batavia Downs Casino.

The facility’s $28 Million dollar expansion begins within a month and includes construction of a new Thurman Thomas sports bar. Customers may tweet a suggestion for the Sports Bar’s name on Twitter by tweeting from their account and including the name of the Sports Bar with the tag @BataviaDowns. The contest will end at Noon on Friday, Jan. 18.

Staff from Batavia Downs Casino and Thurman Thomas will review the entries and declare a winner before the end of January.

The person that submits the winning name will win dinner for two inside the new sports bar with Thurman Thomas and Batavia Downs Staff when the new facility opens sometime in the fall. The winner shall also receive a Batavia Downs Casino Prize Pack valued at more than $250.

If more than one person suggests the winning name, then one person shall be randomly chosen from those who suggested that name. Winner will be notified via twitter that they have won. Full rules can be found on Batavia Downs Casino’s Web site at www.bataviadownscasino.com.

“Thurman’s new sports bar will offer great food, a stage for live entertainment on weekends, and many large flat screen TVs where our patrons can enjoy all their favorite sporting events,” said Ryan Hasenauer, director of marketing for Batavia Downs Casino. “It will also feature various pieces of football and Thurman Thomas memorabilia.”

Information courtesy WBTA:

A big change in garbage pick up, a shake up of the police department and a pay raise for council members are the main features of the proposed city budget.

City Manager Jason Molino told council members about the proposed changes in garbage collection, dubbed PAYT for "pay as you throw," which will remove garbage collection from property owners' tax bills and have users of the service foot the bill.

The user fee will extend to nonprofit agencies and churches.

"You pay for what you throw away," Monlino said. "So, if you want a smaller tote or larger tote, you are going to pay respectively. If you throw away more, you are going to pay more. You throw away less, you are going to pay less. Another aspect of the program is unlimited recycling, and that also has the ability to help control your costs of what you throw away."

The automated system -- one-driver trucks will use a mechanical arm to pick up the totes -- will also help reduce costs, Molino said.

The apparent lower bidder for the program is Allied/Republic, a national waste management company headquartered in Phoenix. The company operates in 39 states and has 30,000 employees according to its Web site.

Allied/Republic submitted the lowest of four bids at $4.34-million dollars over the next five years.

Genesee ARC, which had been providing the service to the city for nearly 30 years, bid 4.99-million dollars. It appears ARC's bid was the highest.

ARC Executive Director Donna Saskowski said the loss of the city contract hurts the human services agency:

"I will have to lay off between 8 and 10 people," Saskowski said. "The agency will loose $800,000 in revenue, and we will have to find different jobs for the people with disabilities."

Saskowski said half of the people expected to lose jobs have some form of developmental disability.

The 2013-2014 proposed budget technically calls for a reduction in the city tax rate from $10.71 to $9.15. However, when the average cost of the garbage fee is factored in, Molino said the impact on the average homeowner will be a “wash.”

A big change in police department operations will save about $10,000, according to Molino.

Currently, the supervisory structure of the department includes three lieutenants. The lieutenant position will be eliminated, replaced by two police officers, a sergeant and a deputy chief.

The deputy chief position will be non-union.

The current lieutenants, Eugene Jankowski, Jim Henning and Greg Steele, have elected to retire rather than accept a demotion to sergeant, Molino told council members.

As for council members, a raise for the elected officials approved 6-3 in February, will be instituted, increasing compensation from $2,000 per year to $3,500 per year, beginning April 1.

The only way pay raises could be prevented, Molino said, was for the council to vote down the entire budget proposal or opt to pull the pay raise allocation from the budget plan and vote on it separately.

Council members Patti Pacino and Pier Cipollone said on Monday night they would not support a pay raise. Both had supported the pay raise measure in the February vote.

UPDATE: The city has posted all available documents about the changes to garbage collection.

A Le Roy resident who trashed the home of a person she knew and was later charged with burglary will be required to pay $169,161.71.

Karen L. Stone, of Elm Street, will also serve six months in jail and five years on probation.

Stone was arrested in August and entered a guilty plea Oct. 30 to burglary in the third degree.

Water line repairs in the area of 10 Bogue Ave., Batavia, on Tuesday will disrupt traffic access and water service.

The work will begin at 8:30 a.m. and result in possible lower water pressure and possibly discolored water.

A rollover accident with minor injury has been reported at 8825 Route 98, near L&L Transmission.

The vehicle is off the road in the ditch.

Mercy medics and Town of Batavia Fire Department are on scene.

UPDATE 10:06 p.m.: Subject is not injured at all and the car is well off the road. Town of Batavia back in service.

Batavia police are responding to a residence on State Street to help a homeowner with a cat that is preventing the resident from getting in the house.

The cat is located on the porch and won't leave. Dispatch says it might be 110 or 115 State St.

Christina M. Sanchez-Anderson, 24, of 2 Lewis Place, Batavia, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Sanchez-Anderson is accused of leaving her two children at home alone and unsupervised. Her 3-year-old was allegedly found at 9:58 a.m., Saturday, outside and not wearing any shoes. Sanchez-Anderson was jailed on $2,500 bail. Department of Social Services assisted in the case.

Ashley M. Kreutz, 25, of 10 Lewis Place, Batavia, is charged endangering the welfare of a child. Kreutz allegedly left her two children unsupervised for more than four hours Saturday morning. One child was transported to UMMC for a medical evaluation. Kreutz was jailed on $5,000 bail. Department of Social Services assisted in the case.

Eric J. Bratcher, 24, of 7 1/2 South St., Le Roy, is charged with criminal impersonation, 2nd. Attica PD responded to a report of a complaint of noise and underage drinking at an address on Washington Avenue, Attica, and Bratcher allegedly gave police officers a false name. He was jailed on $1,000 bail.

Wendi L. Provost, 37, of 19 Riverside Parkway, Massena, is charged with DWI, aggravated DWI, driving without headlights and failure to keep right. Provost was stopped 1:10 a.m. on West Main Street by Officer Eric Bolles.

Bryan Pettinella, 27, of131 Bank St,, Apt. A, Batavia, is charged with criminal mischief, 4th. During a verbal argument, Pettinella allegedly punched the car of another person causing damage.

Curtis J. Doward, 18, of 25 Ganson Ave., Batavia, is charged with two counts of failure to appear as directed, criminal contempt, 2nd, and endangering the welfare of a child (second two counts are warrants). Doward turned himself in to Batavia PD on a failure-to-appear warrant. He was jailed on $2,500 bail on each count.

Christopher W. Cummings, 33, of 19 Cherry St., Batavia, is charged with coercion, 2nd, aggravated harassment, 2nd, and harassment, 2nd. Related to a domestic incident, Cummings allegedly sent numerous unwanted text messages in an attempt to compel or induce the victim to engage in conduct she had the legal right to abstain from, thereby threatening her. Cummings is also accused of spitting on the victim.

Christopher W. Colantonio, 23, of 110 South Swan St., Batavia, is charged with a violation of probation. Colantonio was taken into custody by the Probation Department for an alleged violation of probation.

Pavel V. Yefremenko, 24, of 8 Walnut St., Batavia, is charged with DWI, aggravated DWI, speeding and consumption of alcohol in a vehicle. Yefremenko was stopped at 1:27 a.m., Sunday, on West Main Street, Batavia, by Sgt. Dan Coffey.

Kayla Marie Baker, 22, of Union Street, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Baker is accused of stealing more than $900 in merchandise from Target over a several month period.

Howard Clarance Schultz, 54, of Keeney Road, Le Roy, was arrested on a warrant out of Greece, for aggravated harassment, 2nd. Schultz was located during an incident at 8798 Keeney Road, Le Roy, reported at 9:51 p.m., Friday.  Friday's incident remains under investigation.

Joshua James Burns, 26, of North Main Street, Oakfield, is charged with stalking, 4th. Burns is accused of sending a text message to another person after being warned by law enforcement to cease all contact with the person.

Philip Chase Smith, 28, of South Old Wire Road, North Carolina, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and obstructed license plate. Smith was stopped at 11:05 p.m. Friday, on Route 5, Batavia, by Deputy Kevin McCarthy.

Jason Lee Perry, 18, of Telephone Road, Pavilion, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Perry is accused of violating an order of protection barring him from offensive conduct toward a family member.

David Bernard Marsceill, 35, of Old Ford Road, Elba, is charged with criminal possession of a weapon, 3rd, strangulation, 2nd, and criminal mischief, 3rd. Marsceill is accused of choking another person during a domestic incident, causing that person to lose consciousness, of damaging a vehicle during the incident and possessing brass knuckles on two separate occasions.

Randy Lee Smith, 55, of Swamp Road, Byron, is charged with petit larceny and trespass. Smith is accused of stealing railroad tie plates located in the CSX Railroad right of way in the area of Route 19, Village of Bergen.

Russell P. Cessna, 24, of Batavia, is charged with burglary, 2nd. Cessna was arrested by State Police in connection with a burglary reported in the Town of Stafford on July 28. No further details released.

Jimmy R. Wenzel, 26, of Wyoming, is charged with criminal mischief, 4th. Wenzel was arrested by State Police in connection with an alleged incident reported at 2:45 a.m., Saturday, in Pavilion. No further details released.

Friends and family of Kelsey Milks met at the Richmond library parking lot this evening to walk in remembrance of her. Milks, 19, died in a three car motor-vehicle accident Dec. 16, 2012 on Route 63 in the Orleans County, Town of Shelby.

Daniel King says he decided to organize a walk for Kelsey because some people were unable to make the prayer walk they had for her in Pembroke on December 19th.

King says, "People do care care and need more love and community. It's important to show how much people matter. She made a difference in a lot of lives."

About 20 people walked from St. Joseph's Church down Main Street to the Falletti Ice Arena on Evans Street. She loved to ice skate King says. Kelsey's dog Ace made the trip, too.

Jesse Winnicki, from Corfu, says Milks helped him through college.

"She made such an impact on me," Winnicki said. "I don't know how things are going to be without her."