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Grand Jury Report: DWI charge and a 'no bill' on a burglary charge

By Howard B. Owens

Andrew S. Novak is indicted on a felony count of DWI and a felony count of driving with a BAC of .08 or greater. Novak is accused of driving drunk on March 14 on Linwood Road in the Town of Le Roy.

Ronald Carney received a "no bill" from the Grand Jury on charges of burglary, 2nd, and criminal trespass, 2nd. The charged stemmed from an incident in Le Roy on Jan. 23. A "no bill" means the Grand Jury found insufficient evidence to sustain the charges.

Batavia resident accused of dealing cocaine

By Howard B. Owens

(Updated 12:57 p.m.)

A 20-year-old Batavia man is accused of selling cocaine to an undercover agent from the Local Drug Enforcement Task Force in 2009.

Dyllon E. Soccio, of 124 Tracy Ave., was taken into custody yesterday.

He is charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree.

Soccio's arrest was part of an investigation into trafficking cocaine in the Batavia area.

Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster said Soccio, who grew up in Batavia, has been a person of interest to the Sheriff's Office for about three years.

On June 23, the Local Drug Enforcement Task Force raided Soccio's home and reportedly seized a quantity of drugs, including what Brewster characterized as a substantial amount of mushrooms.

"He was quite diversified," Brewster said.

Charges stemming from the June 23 arrest include criminal possession of a controlled substance, 4th, criminal possession of marijuana, 2nd, and three counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th.

He was arraigned in City Court and released under supervision of Genesee County Justice.

Police Beat: Man accused of rape in Le Roy

By Howard B. Owens

Jacob E. Lambertson, 21, homeless, is charged with multiple counts of rape, 3rd. Lambertson is accused of having sex with two girls from the Village of Le Roy who are under 17 years old. The alleged incidents occurred between April and June. Lambertson was jailed on $10,000 bail.

Photos: Genesee County Fair

By Howard B. Owens

The Genesee County Fair opened Tuesday.

All of the typical county fair goodness is available this year -- carnival rides, food, games, big farm equipment, a chance to get up close to farm animals, livestock competitions, crafts and contests, music, dancing and live entertainment.

There will be a meat auction on Thursday.

The fair runs through Saturday.

More photos after the jump.

 

 

Muckdogs take 2-0 lead into sixth, but can't hold on

By Howard B. Owens

Another strong pitching effort from starter Justin Edwards, but the Batavia bullpen was unable to protect a 2-1 lead and the Muckdogs (16-15) lost to Williamsport Tuesday, 8-3.

Edwards went six innings and allowed only one unearned run. Travis Lawler was charged with a blown save, giving up two hits and one run, but the Muckdogs were really buried when David Kington came on and gave up three hits, walked three and surrended six runs.

The only Muckdog to post a multi-hit game was Nick Longmire, who went 2-4, scored two runs and smacked his fourth triple of the season.

The Muckdogs return home Sunday to face Williamsport.

New membership benefit: A free T-shirt

By Howard B. Owens

We have an exciting new offer for people who join The Batavian's voluntary subscription program -- a free T-shirt from Top Line Shirt Company.

The T-shirt is printed with The Batavian logo on front and back.

All members -- including those who have already joined -- can receive the free T-shirt.

To receive your T-shirt, once you join (and current members have already gotten this e-mail), you will receive an e-mail with a PDF attachment that you can print out and take to Top Line T-shirt Company at 212 E. Main St., Batavia. The voucher must be redeemed in person. T-shirts will not be mailed out.

And of course, as a voluntary subscriber, you will still get vouchers at local businesses for up to $600 in savings, all for less than $60 per year. For a list of savings offers, click here.

The cost is either $4.95 per month or $59.95 per year. You can pay through PayPal, or mail us a check.

For details on the program, click here.

Paying by check: Send a check or money order to The Batavian for $59.95. For those paying by check, only the annual subscription rate is available. Please be sure to include on a separate piece of paper, your name, address, phone and e-mail address. Mail to: The Batavian, LLC, 200 E. Main St., #5, Batavia, NY 14020.

PayPal Buttons:

Monthly Subscription Fee: $4.95

The monthly subscription fee will automatically be deducted from your PayPal account until you unsubscribe via PayPal.*

Annual Subscription Fee: $59.95

 

Photo: Horses returning to the stables at Batavia Downs

By Howard B. Owens

The horses are returning to Batavia Downs for another season of harness racing. The first dozen or so horses arrived today -- by Monday, officials expect the stables to be full and bustling once again.

Live harness racing makes its 2010 debut Monday. First post time is 6:40 p.m.

Batavia native nabs another Emmy nomination

By Billie Owens

Batavia native Josh Earl has been nominated once again for another Emmy for his work on the popular TV reality show Deadliest Catch.

He is one of the series' film editors and has worked on more episodes than the production crew's other film editors. From 2006 to date, he has handled the editing of 21 episodes.

The Deadliest Catch documents the hazards, difficulties and obstacles faced by commercial fishing expeditions on the high seas.

Assembly candidate keen on cultivating local markets for local products

By Billie Owens

Here's a news release sent today from Chris Barons, Democratic candidate for the 139th Assembly District.

Key to restoring New York State’s economic vitality is bolstering opportunities for local products and farm produce in local markets. My program to open up local markets to local producers involves a one-two punch.

The two-part program targets both consumers and retailers -- establishing recognition of locally grown foodstuffs and manufactured goods and providing an incentive for retailers to merchandize local-origin products.

Just as branding has defined merchandizing strategies for apparel, fast food and innumerable high-profile products, "Made in New York" and "Grown in New York" will become state-licensed trademarks.

Minimum criteria would be required to qualify for the brands: Made in New York and Grown in New York. Standards would include in-state labor, local source and origin of components and/or goods. Manufactured products and agricultural produce would have to meet such requirements to be labeled with a New York brand.

In 2002, New York retail sales amounted to $178,067,530,000. Overall, U.S. retailing accounts for 8.1 percent of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product). To encourage retail participation in marketing and the sale of local products, the flip-side of the plan is to institute a Local Enterprise Credit.

This business credit would be based on the ratio of floor space allotted to local-origin products and produce. To maximize opportunities for local producers, the credit would be graduated -- the more floor space allotted to local products, the larger the credit.

The Local Enterprise Credit incentive and New York branding strategies would boost most retail products and commodities.

New York branding would guide consumers toward selecting New York’s products and produce. Thus, the marketplace would connect New York’s consumers and producers in a mutually profitable alliance, restoring New York business to Main Street, New York.

Straw fire reported on Britt Road, Le Roy

By Howard B. Owens

A straw fire has been reported on Britt Road near Keeney Road in Le Roy.

There's a small fire by the road and a "pretty good sized one" out in the field.

Le Roy Fire is responding with mutual aid from Bergen.

UPDATE 11:59 a.m.: Fires are out. Crews wetting down the fields for precaution.


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Police Beat: State Street woman accused of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct

By Howard B. Owens

Latoya D. Jackson, 24, of 120 State St., Batavia, is charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration; Dashawn A. Butler, 30, of 4016 W. Main Street Road, Batavia, is charged with disorderly conduct. At 9:45 p.m., Monday, Batavia PD responded to a report of loud yelling on State Street. When police arrived on scene, they heard yelling coming from an apartment. Jackson and Butler then reportedly came out of the apartment and continued yelling and using profane and obscene language. There were reportedly children nearby. Jackson was jailed on $2,500 bail. Jackson has at least three prior disorderly conduct arrests.

Virginia L. Martinez, 24, and Amanda Andres-Lopez, 30, both of Dellinger Avenue, Batavia, are charged with petit larceny. Martinez and Andres-Lopez are accused of stealing undergarments and makeup from Kmart.

William Delose Hirsch, 23, of Buckman Road, Pavilion, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Hirsch is accused of having verbal contact with a person he was ordered to stay away from while at the Stafford Carnival on June 18.

Wayne Marcel Diaz, 52, of Highway 50 Road, McClave, Colo., is charged with three counts of aggravated harassment, 2nd. Diaz is accused of making harassing phone calls to another person. He was jailed on $500 bail.

Robert Oliver Taft, 36, of W. Bergen Road, Le Roy, was picked up on a bench warrant for a prior DWI charge.

Bonnie Lynn Tracy, 43, of North Street, Attica, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Tracy allegedly made a phone call to a person she was ordered not to contact.

Mitchell R. Freeman, 21, address not released, is charged with unlawful imprisonment, 2nd, and assault, 3rd. Freeman allegedly restrained another person and the victim suffered an injury during a domestic incident. Freeman was jailed on $3,000 bail.

Muckdogs need only one run in the first inning to secure win

By Howard B. Owens

One run on an RBI single by hot-hitting catcher Audry Perez in the first inning was all the scoring the Batavia Muckdogs needed at Dwyer Stadium on Monday to notch the team's 16th win of the season.

The Muckdogs (16-14) rode nine innings of scoreless ball by four pitchers to move within two games of the visiting team, first-place Jamestown Jammers (18-12).

Venezuelan Jose Rada, four years in the Cardinals, but in his first season with the Muckdogs, walked one but didn't surrender a hit in the ninth to pick up his sixth save and lower his ERA to 0.98.

The biggest noise of the night came from a group of Jamestown Jammer fans sitting high up in the first-base-side bleachers, cheering on their team in the top and bottom half of every inning -- for eight-and-half innings (pictured below).

Folks, everyone of you reading this who hasn't been to a game yet this season needs to go to at least two. Or we're going to lose our team. Not only is it a lot of fun, and shows great community spirit, but it's also a chance to see future major leaguers up close. This past All-Star Game included 22 players who came through the NY-Penn League.

More pictures after the jump:

Photo: Cars for sale on Bloomingdale Road

By Howard B. Owens

While out in Alabama today I spotted these two cars for sale at the corner of Bloomingdale Road and Route 77 and thought they looked pretty interesting together.

Genesee County firefighters responding to barn fire in Albion

By Howard B. Owens

At least three companies from Genesee County are responding to a barn fire in Albion at 13823 W. Barre Road.

Dispatched are units from Elba, Oakfield and Alabama.

UPDATE 4:53 p.m.: Additional Genesee County units are being activated. Town of Batavia may already have an engine at the scene, an additional unit has been dispatched to the Albion Fire Hall to fill in. An East Pembroke engine is requested to Elba to fill in. Byron has also been dispatched. Orleans County firefighters are reportedly dealing with multiple incidents right now.


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Pest company manager says gull problem at Latina's can be handled

By Howard B. Owens

The gull problem at Latina's is "hand-able, but a large-scale problem," according to a manager for Pest RX, a company out of Clarence hired by LKLWL Properties to assess the situation and recommend a solution.

"It's not like it's a one-shot deal," said Jeff Waiter. "It's not like we're going to come in here for however long and we'll never see a seagull again. We're going to have to work with the property owner and work on a long-term solution."

Both Waiter and Pest RX owner Jeff Phelps said they still need to put together a plan, but the preliminary solution includes fixing the drainage on the roof, getting rid of standing water, and coming up with an "exclusion" system, something to make it harder or scarier for the gulls to land on the roof.

Just ensuring it's a clean, dry roof will do a lot to deter the gulls.

"The first thing is, the standing water has to go," Phelps said. "Once that's gone, we'll do a power wash and clean off the roof, but to keep them off permanently, there's a lot of obstructions there.

"We're trying to put our heads together and come up with a plan," he added.

It shouldn't be necessary to get the DEC involved at this point, Waiter said. He said the team spoke with the DEC this morning, they have a copy of the DEC manual and so long as they're not disturbing eggs or active nests, no DEC permit is required.

He said they found no eggs and only old nests on the roof today.

"We can definitely make the place tidy without a DEC permit," Waiter said, "so long as we don't harass the young or the eggs."

Photo: From left, Phelps, Waiter and another Pest RX employee.

Fire alarm at Jerome construction site

By Howard B. Owens

If you're wondering about City Fire going code 3 down Main Street -- it's just another "automatic alarm of fire" at the Jerome Center construction site on Bank Street.

Car and motorcycle accident reported on Route 98

By Howard B. Owens

There are reportedly only minor injuries following a car and motorcycle accident on Route 98 at West Saile Drive, Batavia.

Town of Batavia Fire is responding along with Mercy EMS.

Church fire on reservation under investigation

By Howard B. Owens

(Update II at 2:19 p.m.)

A late night fire at a Presbyterian Church on the Tonawanda Indian Reservation may have been deliberately set, according to Tim Yaeger, emergency management coordinator for Genesee County.

The fire is under investigation by the Genesee County Sheriff's Office, the Alabama Fire Department and Yaeger's office.

Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster said the fire was spotted by a person driving by the church who saw an orange glow through the windows. He turned around, confirmed the fire and called dispatch at 11:05 p.m..

"It's on the further recesses of the reservation," Brewster said. "I'm surprised somebody was out driving by that church that late. Not a lot of people drive through there at 11 o'clock at night. It's very remote."

Quick action by three Alabama Fire chiefs who arrived on scene at the same time kept the fire from causing more serious damage.

Chief Bill Schutt said he and assistant chiefs Andy Merkel and Gary Patnode realized shortly after arriving on scene at 6978 Meadville Road that the biggest fire was confined to a piano, so they used extinguishers to put it out. They dealt with some additional flames using water in an ice cooler that had been left in the church. A fire hose was needed only to deal with some minor extension into a wall.

"Minimal water was used," Schutt said.

Brewster said whoever set the fire, set several small fires inside the building. No accelerant was used and because it was extinguished quickly, there was no structural damage.

The most serious damage was to the piano.

There are no suspects yet, though several church members and the original caller were interviewed. Because it's a church fire, and therefore a potential hate crime, ATF and the FBI were notified, per protocol.

Brewster described the church congregation as small and they meet only once a month with an out-of-town pastor conducting services. The church did meet yesterday.

"Our crew along with Indian Falls, who responded, too, did a good job," Schutt said. "It could have been much worse."

NOTE: I went to the scene to get a picture of the church, which is now boarded up, and when I spoke to a Tribal Council member, he said I couldn't publish the picture without council approval, and the earliest approval could be granted would be tomorrow. So, no picture.

Top Items on Batavia's List

Town Court Clerk Below are two lists: one details the myriad responsibilities that fall within the purview of the court clerk; the other summarizes the knowledge and abilities that court clerks possess or acquire through training. These lists are provided so that a judge and municipality can intelligently discuss the benefits that a court clerk can provide. The items below can also form the basis for a list of job duties should a municipality need to fill a vacancy in a court clerk position. Primary Responsibilities A. Maintain confidentiality of records and information when required to do so B. Prepare court calendar C. Collect monies, reconcile daily receipts, deposit receipts, prepare reports for monthly disbursements, reconcile bank accounts, and prepare administrative reports D. Enter convictions on drivers' licenses and prepare conviction reports electronically transmitted to the Department of Motor Vehicles E. Enter criminal conviction on NCIC reports and electronically send same to Division of Criminal Justice Services F. Respond to inquiries-in person, by phone, by e-mail and by mail-and provide assistance to lawyers, litigants, media, and members of the public G. Prepare monthly reports that are electronically sent to the Office of the State Comptroller H. Prepare orders, summonses, warrants and other court forms i. Communicate with outside agencies in order to coordinate the Court's activities and provide services to litigants. Such agencies include: ii. Law enforcement agencies, such as local police departments, New York State Police, Sheriffs office, FBI and CIA, US Armed Forces, and the Office of the District Attorney; I. Other courts, including superior courts and other local town and village courts; and i. Miscellaneous county agencies, such as Community Service, Community Dispute Resolution Center, Pre-trial Release, Probation, Stop DWI program, Victim Impact Panel, and Youth Court. ii. State agencies that require periodic reporting, including the New York State Unified Court System, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Office of the State Comptroller, the Division of Criminal Justice Services, and the Office of Court Record Retention. J. Examine court documents to ensure their accuracy and completeness K. Receive and file summonses, traffic tickets and other documents for court proceedings i. Assist the Justice at the bench during all Court proceedings Knowledge of: 1. The functions and organization of the Unified Court System ii. Basic legal terminology, codes and abbreviations iii. Court forms, practices and procedures, including those set forth in the Uniform Justice Court Act and the Uniform Civil Rules for the Justice Courts (22 NYCRR Part 214) 2. Ability to: i. Prepare judicial orders and decisions ii. Effectively communicate information orally and in writing iii. File and retrieve materials, extract data from various sources for entry onto court form iv. Research and interpret laws outlined in court documents and litigants' motions and other papers v. Perform mathematical tasks in order to compile court activity reports, total receipts, accept payments, and verify bills vi. Refer to appropriate documents, statutes, citations or other sources in order to respond to specific questions from attorneys, litigants and members of the general public vii. Interpret policies, statutes, rules and regulations and apply them in specific contexts viii. Establish work priorities ix. Constructively manage conflict with court users Qualifications: Highschool diploma recognized by the NYS Dept of Education or appropriate equivalent. Along with 4 years of college, specialization in criminal justice, law, business administration or related field. -OR- 2 years college with specialization in Business Administration or related field. Please email your resume to abrownell@townofbatavia.com no later than 12/16/2024. Pay is based on experience.
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