batavia

An accident with a minor injury is reported at Clinton Street and East Avenue, Batavia.

A person has a cut.

City fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

Cold, wind, snow, seems to have kept a lot of people away from the City of Batavia Centennial Celebration on Wednesday night, but those who braved the elements, there seemed to be plenty of fun to go around.

There was a bonfire and entertainment in what organizers dubbed Centennial Plaza in the parking lot of St. Mary's off Evans Street, and a swank party for those who bought tickets inside City  Hall.

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Kind of like old vaudvillians, fireworks operators say "the show must go on."

Yes, it's cold, it's snowing, and we may get a bit of wind, but there will be a fireworks display in the City of Batavia tonight at 10 p.m. (Batavia Downs is also planning a display at midnight).

There will be three and four inch canisters used in the downtown display, and those lager ones could get obscured by the clouds, but otherwise, we should expect a good 18 minute show, a technician told me.

A three-vehicle accident, unknown inuries, is reported at the corner of West Main Street Road and Wortendyke Road. Mercy medics and East Pembroke Fire Department are responding.

UPDATE 3:08 p.m.: A responder reports heavy traffic there and says the accident is blocking the roadway.

UPDATE 3:11 p.m.: Fire Police are called to handle traffic.

UPDATE 3:43 p.m.: The East Pembroke assignment is back in service.

In August, City Fire Chief Jim Maxwell announced plans to equip medics in his fire department with Narcan, a drug that can potentially save the life of a person who has overdosed on heroin or other opiate-based drugs.

Saturday, for the first time, a life was saved in the city when a firefighter administered Narcan to a middle-aged female resident.

The woman apparently overdosed on heroin.

The firefighter, Ryan Whitcombe, said the call came in shortly after noon Saturday for an unresponsive female.

When firefighters arrived, they found the woman unconscious on the floor of her residence. She wasn't breathing.

Whitcombe was informed by others at the residence that the woman may have suffered a narcotics overdose.

After consulting with other first responders, he agreed the best course of action was to administer Narcan, generically known as naloxone hyrdochloride, which he sprayed into the woman's nostrils.

The fast-acting drug did its job.

"Over the period of a minute or two, her breathing started to come back," Whitcombe said. "Little by little her breathing came back to the point where she became conscious and was breathing on her own without assistance."

When a person ODs on heroin or an opiate-based prescription medication, the drug shuts down brain function that controls breathing. The person literally forgets to breath. Narcan stimulates that portion of the brain and the person will start breathing again.

As Maxwell explained to council members in August, there's no known downside to administering the life-saving drug.

"If it's not an opiate overdose, you can't hurt the patient," Maxwell said. "You can't overdose on it or anything along those lines, so if it's a false recognition and they administer it, it doesn't do anything to the patient."

Narcan, clinically considered "an opioid antagonist," can also be used to revive people who have overdosed on prescription medications that are opiates.

"Centennial Plaza," in the St. Mary's parking lot on Evans Street is just about all ready for tonight's revelers as Batavia celebrates the 100th anniversary of its incorporation. 

Fireworks are planned for 10 p.m. and will be launched from behind the fire hall.

There's plenty of wood ready for the bonfire.

Jeffrey Deats, the Batavia resident arrested Dec. 18 following the investigation into the death of a 6-month-old boy, died Monday, Batavia PD announced this afternoon.

Deats was found hanging from a bed sheet in his Genesee County Jail cell the night of Dec. 21. CPR was performed by jail staff and Deats was transported to UMMC and later ECMC.

As a result of his death, the criminal case against Deats is closed, Chief Shawn Heubusch said.

Chandler Zuchs died Dec. 14 while in the care of Deats.

At the time, Deats believed he was the father of Chandler, though after his arrest, DNA test results surfaced that showed an Albion resident was the infant's father.

In his statement to police during the investigation, Deats said the boy's mother, Michelle Zuchs, of Tonawanda, alternately told Deats he was the father and wasn't the father, and finally told him she had DNA test results back, apparently leading Deats to believe he was the father.

One account Deats gave of how Chandler may have suffered brain damage, which was the cause of the baby's death, was that he fell down the stairs of his Olyn Avenue home while carrying Chandler.

Deats was 28 years old.

For previous coverage, click here.

City of Batavia New Year’s Eve Centennial Celebration schedule of events for children/family activities Dec. 31, 2014:

Falleti Ice Arena

6 to 6:30 p.m.    --    Free Open Skate

6:30 to 6:45 p.m.    --   Warm Up (Buffalo Skating Club/Falleti Ice Arena Learn to Skate Program)

7 to 7:45 p.m.    --    Buffalo Skating Club Demonstrations

7:45 to 9 p.m.    --    Photos with Queen Elsa (Warming Room)

                                 Free Open Skate

St. Mary’s Church, basement

7 to 9 p.m.    --    Children's Carnival, with games and prizes

                            Balloon Animals

                            Face Painting / Caricatures (FREE)

"Centennial Plaza" at the corner of Ellicott and Evans streets

6 to 9 p.m.    --    Outdoor Winter Carnival

10 p.m.    --    FIREWORKS EXTRAVAGANZA!

Other activities will include: Snowshoe Races; Bean Bag Toss Competitions; Hula Hoop Contests; Balloon Blizzard Races; Life-size Jenga; Snowman Snowball Toss; Trivia by the Holland Land Office; and tours of the Batavia Fire Department.

In addition, there will be FREE pony rides, FREE limo rides, and a photo booth. Michelle’s Bakery and Batavia’s Original will have food and hot drinks available for purchase. A large bonfire and live music/performances will go on throughout the evening.

Century Club Celebration (inside City Centre) -- tickets are still available for purchase at $50 per person at City Hall in the City Manager’s Office until noon Wednesday, Dec. 31 (while supplies last). Tickets will not be sold at the door. Price includes live music, DJ, dancing, champagne toast and heavy hors d'oeuvres. Pick a decade during the past 100 years and dress accordingly!

For more information, contact Leanna Di Risio at 585-738-7388.

The family of Samuel J. Caito placed a memorial today to the former liquor store owner in front of the YNGodess Shop on Main Street, Downtown Batavia, the location of his former shop.

His father, Augustino, opened the store right after the end of Prohibition in 1933. It was the first post-prohibition liquor store in Batavia.

Samuel owned the store until 1985.

He was also a teacher at Notre Dame and Batavia Middle School.

Click here for his full obituary.

For the first time since 2003, the Lions Tournament championship trophy will not be on display in the hallway of a Genesee County school.

After dispatching Batavia in the first round, University Prep ran away from Notre Dame in the 4th quarter of last night's final to clinch the crown in a champion's fashion, 63-49.

In a match-up of a Class A charter school from a populous county against a Class D private school from a rural county, the local team looked for most of the game like they might actually win the game.

But four minutes into the third quarter, a double-digit lead started to slip away after U-prep's guards hit back-to-back threes and the Irish found themselves launching bricks instead of buckets.

"It all started with the missed shots," Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Rapone said. "Once the shots start getting missed, the game gets played at their tempo."

U-prep is a talented and athletic team. After the first round games, Rapone said his team would need to slow the pace of the game down in order to compete, and for 20 minutes, that's what they did.

Notre Dame carried a 29-17 lead into the half.

The Griffins were without three starters, all benched because they missed a practice, said Head Coach Raheem Miller.

"It's all about discipline," Miller said. "To me, you've got to be responsible. I understand things happen and whatever, but you've got to at least call. You don't just not show up."

It was OK, though. Miller still had Isaiah Brinkley at guard, another guard, Quillan Leach-Alexander, and Jeenathan Williams at forward.

Held scoreless in the first half, Brinkley let it up in the second, hitting four threes and scoring 24 points.

Leach-Alexander also hit a quad of treys and finished with a total of 19 points.

Williams, a freshman with some fine athletic moves in the lane and a deft touch from mid-distance, scored 13.

Brinkley was the tournament's most valuable player.

For Notre Dame, Josh Johnson scored 14 points and Caleb Nellis had 10.

Batavia beat Albion 68-31 in the consolution game to finish third in the tournament. Jeff Redband scored 29 points in that game.

Bishop-Timon won the tournament in 2003, and in 2004, Batavia started a tournament win streak that wasn't broken until this year.

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A an accident is reported on the Thruway in the area of mile marker 387, which puts it just east of Byron Road, Town of Batavia.

A driver is reportedly slumped over the wheel of his vehicle.

Town of Batavia Fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

UPDATE 11:21 a.m.: Town of Batavia back in service. No further information of possible injuries, if any, at this point.

UPDATE 12:26 p.m.: This was a medical issue.

Mary Ann McClain, 53, of North Main Street, Albion, is charged with harassment, 2nd. McClain allegedly pushed a chair into another person repeatedly "causing annoyance and alarm." The call came in at 7 p.m. Monday on Judge Road, Alabama. 

Derek G. Thomas, 38, of Ross Street, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny and conspiracy, 6th. Thomas is accused of shoplifting from Dollar General on Sunday. Also arrested was Melinda S. Blackshear, 49, of Ross Street, Batavia. Blackshear was charged with petit larceny and conspiracy, 6th.

Rashad N. El-Amin, 33, of Jackson Street, Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. El-Amin was arrested following an investigation at 3:18 a.m. Monday into a reported suspicious condition at an apartment on South Main Street, Batavia.

Matthew M. Maniace, 32, of Birchwood Drive, Batavia, is charged with harassment, 2nd, and petit larceny. Maniace allegedly bent back the thumb of another person and took the phone of that person before leaving a residence on Birchwood Drive, Batavia, at 12:19 p.m. on Sunday. Maniace was also arrested on a warrant for alleged failure to appear on a aggravated unlicensed operation, 3rd, charge and jailed on $1,000 bail.

Lauren M. Hunter, 24, of Oatka Trail, Le Roy, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and aggravated unlicensed operation, 3rd. Hunter was arrested following an investigation into an unrelated complaint at 2:43 a.m. Sunday on Summit Street, Batavia.

Roadways in the city are reportedly slick with ice this morning and at least one accident, on Clinton Street, as been reported as a result.

City crews are out and salting roadways now.

The current temperature is 21 degrees.

Sometime soon after the first of the year, Vito Gautieri expects to get word from at least one bank on funding for his planned apartment complex atop of Save-A-Lot at 45-47 Ellicott St. in the City of Batavia.

Gautieri is planning a four-story structure with 30 quality apartments with rents ranging from $800 to $1,100 per month.

He expects to begin construction on the "Casa Mia" complex in February. Completion will depend on arrangements with another contractor, but could come as early as the Winter of 2015.

"It’s a nice project and we’re working like mad on it to see if we can get it going as soon as the financing is done," Gautieri said.

If it comes through, Casa Mia will be a nice boost for the Downtown economy, said Julie Pacatte, coordinator of the Batavia Development Corp.

"Our marketing reports have told us there is a need for quality, urban housing in Downtown Batavia," Pacatte said. "There is a boom in Rochester and they're taking full advantage of the demand from millennials and empty-nesters for more quality apartments. We're excited about it. It brings more disposable income Downtown, more shoppers, more diners, which is what we're looking for."

Gautieri has not applied for any financial assistance from the BDC nor the GCEDC, he said, though he may seek a tax break through the city's 485(A) program.

The BDC has worked to spur development of several apartments on Jackson Street and Jackson Square, all in the $800 to $1,000 per month price range, and every unit was rented as soon as it hit the market.

That, and the marketing studies, gives Gautieri a high degree of confidence that his 30 units will fill up quickly.

"There's a lot of advantages to living downtown for young people and the elderly," Gautieri said. "It will be a good compliment to the Save-A-Lot and within walking distance you've got seven or eight restaurants. That should really make it attractive for people."

He anticipates from 70 to 80 people, including children, will live in the apartments.

Sav-A-Lot occupies only half of Gautieri's property there. He's been unable to find businesses willing to rent the other half of the building, so he's planning to convert that space into covered parking -- 32 spaces -- for the residents of the apartments.

The building was originally constructed by Gautieri for Montgomery Ward and the second floor was intended to be a warehouse, so it was engineered to hold a lot of weight.  

That construction is what enables Gautieri to now add two more floors of apartments.

The second floor will be flats. As soon as funding is approved, crews will get busy opening windows and erecting interior walls.

Gautieri is negotiating with companies in Buffalo and Clifton Springs for pre-fab apartments for the planned third and fourth floors.

If an appropriate deal can be brokered, he anticipates finishing the project by the end of next year.

If his own crews have to build the structure, then it will take well into 2016 to finish.

The apartments on the fourth floor -- Gautieri doesn't call them penthouses, "there are no penthouses in Batavia," he said with a chuckle -- will rent at the higher rates, but the first tenants will be able to customize their spaces.

The project is exciting, even if the BDC isn't directly involved, Pacatte said, because more people living Downtown will drive economic growth, help fill retail spaces and bring in more people.

Studies show that each downtown housing unit drives $19,000 in demand for retail goods and services.

"Investment into Downtown that responds to the market findings will be another win for our efforts toward community renewal," Pacatte said. "The Jackson Street owner investments in recent years have already proven successful -- reaching 100-percent occupancy within weeks of becoming available."

The Ellicott Street project isn't Gautieri's only apartment plan Downtown. He's also planning a project for his property at 45 Liberty St.

The project will consist of small, single-occupant apartments aimed at young people just starting out in life or elder people on fixed incomes with minimal residential needs.  

"There's companies doing some of these in Rochester and they're rented before they even start construction," Gautieri said.

He's also planning to convert one of his office buildings on Liberty, where he already operates storage units, into storage units.

The office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today funding of $16.5 million for 240 units of new affordable housing across the state, including more than $2 million for Big Tree Glen, a project being planned for West Main Street Road, Batavia.

From the press release:

This $12.2 million project is being co-developed by Conifer LLC and United Memorial Medical Center to consist of 56 affordable rental units in seven two-story buildings. The project meets the Early Award Housing Opportunity Project goal in that the project will be served by Pembroke School District, one of the highest-performing districts in Western New York. The project is also in close proximity to jobs, shopping and services. The Town of Batavia supports the project, as evidenced by the approval of a Special Use Permit, approval of the preliminary site plans, and the issuance of a negative SEQRA declaration.

HCR funding for this project will be provided through a Housing Trust Fund award of $1,382,135 and through a $775,583 award of Federal Low-Income Housing Credit, which will leverage Bank of America and CPC loans of $2.2 million and $1,050,000 respectively, $120,000 of NYSERDA funds, and a deferred developer fee of $208,612.

Previously:

• County planners reject proposed apartment complex on West Main Street Road, Batavia
• Developers make case for 136-unit apartment complex in Town of Batavia
• Town planners give initial nod of approval to apartment complex on West Main Street

Out on Creek Road is a long, tall structure the folks at WBTA affectionally call "the stick." It's where the over-the-air signal for the 73-year-old AM radio station is transmitted. Today, in our 28-degree weather, a crew installed a new FM antenna that will enable you to hear "one of America's two great radio stations" at 100.1 FM. WBTA (1490-AM) will start simulcasting on both frequencies Feb. 6. The station first went on the air Feb. 6, 1941.

Ramon E. Esparza, 25, of State Street, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny, obstructing governmental administration, 2nd, and criminal mischief. Esparza is accused of stealing a purse while at a local restaurant. The call came in at 10:52 p.m., Friday. When police arrived and located Esparza, he allegedly failed to comply with an officer's instructions. There was allegedly a brief physical struggle before Esparza was taken into custody by Officer Marc Lawrence. Esparza was jailed on $2,500 bail.

Sade A. Poole, 22, of West Avenue, Medina, is charged with harassment, 2nd. Poole allegedly struck an employee of a local bar. The call came in at 1:16 a.m., Saturday.

William B. Coley, 44, of Frisbee Terrace, Holley, is charged with petit larceny. Coley is accused of stealing $764 from a misplaced wallet at a location on Park Road, Batavia, on Nov. 5. 

Dustin V. Gothard, 26, of Wolcottsville Road, Akron, is charged with petit larceny and unlawful possession of marijuana. Gothard allegedly stole a bottle of cough medication from Tops Market. Upon his arrest, he was allegedly found in possession of marijuana.

Kayleigh Jean Allen, 22, of North Byron Road, Elba, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .18 or greater and failure to signal a turn. Allen was stopped at 2:57 a.m. Dec. 21 on North Byron Road, Elba, by Deputy Eric Seppala.

Jason Scott Stanley, 22, of Judge Road, Basom, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and speeding. Stanley was stopped at 11:40 p.m., Friday, on Batavia Oakfield Townline Road by Deputy Joseph Corona.

Michele Lynn Buccinna, 46, of Alleghany Road, Basom, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, and two counts of speeding (77 in a 45-mph zone and 52 in a 30-mph zone). Buccinna was stopped at 1:45 a.m. Saturday on Pearl Street, Oakfield, by Deputy Joseph Corona.

Antonio Lee Escobar, 19, of 156 Woodside Court, Holley, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Escobar was allegedly found in possession of marijuana after a traffic stop on a suspicious condition complaint at 10:30 p.m. Dec. 21 by Deputy Christopher Erion.

Todd Wilbur Ellinwood, 54, of South Union Street, Rochester, is charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs, unlawful possession of marijuana, unregistered motor vehicle, uninspected motor vehicle and failure to signal. Ellinwood was stopped at 8:11 p.m. Saturday on Rochester Street, Bergen, by Deputy Joseph Corona.

Martha Ruth Thorn, 34, of Main Road, Stafford, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, and lights not meeting standards. Thorn was stopped at 2:49 a.m. Sunday on Main Road, Stafford, by Deputy Joseph Corona.