batavia

Press release:

It’s beginning to look like Christmas at the Batavia Salvation Army. Preparations began weeks ago to organize the Red Kettle Campaign and holiday assistance programs.

During the holiday season The Salvation Army offers many opportunities to get involved and donate. This year we have expanded our kettle campaign to include online giving.

This year an online red kettle team has been created by Major Patty Kurtz. Major Patty has issued a challenge to raise money through her online kettle team to exceed the campaign goal set by her husband, Major Bob Kurtz.

All money raised through the online red kettle will be dedicated to meet the needs of local families and individuals in Genesee County.

Individuals interested in joining the team or making a donation can visit the team’s Web site: www.onlineredkettle.org/BeatBob

For more information contact: Major Patty at 343-6284 or email at patricia.kurtz@use.salvationarmy.org

St. Joseph Catholic School will honor alumni Judge Robert Balbick and M&T Bank Regional President Dan Burns at its 53rd annual Popcorn Ball on Saturday, Oct. 13 at the school. Three volunteers will also be honored for their service. They are Jamee Logsdon, Michelle Cryer, and Maria Streeter.

The theme of this year’s event is “A Taste of Genesee” and will feature food from nine different restaurants and caterers.

This year’s Popcorn Ball will feature food from some of the area’s most popular restaurants along with prizes from Darien Lake and Palm Island Indoor Water Park. This year’s menu includes:

Seafood Bisque from Terry Hills
Fried Calamari from Alex's Place
Smoked Chicken Wings from Duke's Smokin' Bone
BBQ Ribs from Clor's
Pulled Pork Sandwiches from Center Street Smoke House
Mini Beef on Weck from T.F. Brown's
Mini Beef Wellington from Larry's Steak House
Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo from Bob Evans
Eggplant Parmesan & Pasta Primavera from Penna's Catering

Tickets are $60/couple and currently available at the school. You can also reserve a table of 10 by visiting www.sjsbatavia.org or calling 343-6154.

About the honorees...

Judge Robert Balbick graduated from St. Joseph Catholic School in 1963, going on to earn a degree from Canisius College and his J.D. from Albany Law School. Judge Balbick was admitted to the bar in 1975 and became a Batavia City Court Judge in 1992. He was instrumental in creating Genesee County’s Drug Court, which gives those with substance-abuse problems a chance for recovery. Robert and his wife, Jane, have three children -- Kristen, who is a lawyer; Michael, who currently works in the banking industry, and Katie, who works for UMMC.

Dan Burns graduated from St Joseph Catholic School in 1978, going on to graduate from St. Bonaventure University and earn an MBA from Columbia. He was first hired by M&T in 1986 and currently services as a regional president while managing the M&T Charitable Foundation. Dan is past chair and current board member of Greater Rochester Enterprise and YMCA of Greater Rochester; he is vice chair at the Monroe Community College Foundation; he is a board member of the University of Rochester Medical Center, Flaum Eye Institute and St. John Fisher College. Dan currently lives in Rochester with his wife, Denise, and has two sons and a daughter.

Jamee Logsdon is part owner of Baltz Concrete of Pavilion and has spent countless hours supporting events like the Popcorn Ball and the Mammoth Sale and once waded into water that was ankle deep to fix a plumbing problem prior to a major event at the school. He has also served on several committees and supported numerous fundraisers. Jamee, along with his wife, Seana, their daughter, Kaitlin (SJS Class of 2009), and son Connor (SJS Class of 2013) live in Batavia.

Michelle Cryer and Maria Streeter are known as the “Dynamic Duo of Bingo” and have managed to turn Friday night bingo into a successful fundraiser for the school. Both have chaired the annual Popcorn Ball and have volunteered to do everything from painting to assisting with the construction of the school store. Michelle and her husband, Matt, live in Batavia with their three children, James (SJS Class of 2011), Jacob (SJS Class of 2013), and Jocelyn (SJS Class of 2016). Maria and her husband, Darryl, also live in Batavia with their two children, Julia (SJS Class of 2013) and Benjamin (SJS Class of 2017).

Batavia Bulldawgs varsity squad beat Akron 22-19 and finished the season 7-1.

The win ended Akron's 70+ game win streak and put the Bulldawgs in the playoffs.

The Bulldawgs' first playoff game is in Medina at 7 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 20.

Notre Dame won against Wellsville on Saturday, securing a 34-7 home victory.

The Fighting Irish are 5-1 on the season and play Attica next week in a game that will determine whether Attica wins the Genesee Region title outright or if there will be a three-way tie of ND, Attica and Elba/Byron-Bergen.

Andrew Mullen carried the ball 22 times for 109 yards and one TD. Tim McCulley was 5-12 passing for 132 yards and three touchdowns. He was intercepted once and scored on a 45-yard run.

Jared Thornton caught two of those McCulley TD passes and gained 90 yards. Josh Johnson also had a 21-yard TD reception.

Anthony Paladino and Charlie Hebert each had six tackles. Paladino had a sack as did Aaron Lyons.

Press release:

The Genesee/Wyoming Music Educators announce that 38 local students will be performing at three music festivals in November and December.

Miranda Graham (chorus-alto) from Le Roy has been accepted to Conference All State that will be held in early December. This is the highest choral honor for vocalists in New York. Miranda was chosen from a large field of students due to her high score at State Solo Festival last spring. Dillon Hirsch (saxophone) from Elba was chosen as an alternate.

Thirty-six other students were chosen to represent their schools at Area All State, which is a group of select singers from nine surrounding counties. All students had to audition at a state solo festival held late last spring.

These festivals will take place for seventh- through ninth-graders (jr. high
orchestra/chorus/band) Nov.  2-3, and for 10th-12th-graders (sr. high orchestra/chorus/band) Nov. 16-17.

The entire Genesee County list is below:

CONFERENCE ALL STATE:
Miranda Graham (chorus-alto) -- Le Roy
Alternate: Dillon Hirsch (sax) -- Elba

AREA ALL STATE
Alexander:
Jr. High Chorus -- Hunter Doran, Alynn Franclemont, Matthew Genaway, Mary Guarino, Marissa Scharlau

Sr. High Chorus -- Mitchell Boughton, Aaron Guarino, Nick Guarino

Batavia:
Jr. High Chorus -- Madison Hoerbelt, Tessa Lynn
Jr. High Band -- Ross Chua, Celia Flynn, Andrea Gilbarto

Byron-Bergen:
Sr. High Chorus -- Sarah Donovan, Andrew Magin, Kelsey Swinter
Sr. High Band -- Lucas DeValder

Elba:
Sr. High Band -- Dillon Hirsch

Le Roy:
Jr. High Chorus -- Katherine Funderburk, Sophia Matla,
Jr. High Orchestra -- Thomas Dunn, Sophie Farnholz,
Jr. High Band -- Joshua Laurie, Kieran O'Halloran, Jennifer Stotz
Sr. High Chorus -- Rachel Glucksman, Miranda Graham,

Pembroke:
Jr. High Chorus -- Ryan Curtis, Grace Fingerglow, Samantha Quaranto, Maisy Ross, Sindel Wille
Jr. High Band -- Katie Brown
Sr. High Band -- Matt Kowalski

Oakfield:
Jr. High Chorus -- Sara Anzalone
Sr. High Chorus -- Eliza Pionessa

St. Joseph's
Jr. High Chorus -- Fiona Beck, Kyra Stella

A caller reports that she can see smoke coming from the South Main Street Apartments. The caller is in the area of 65 Birchwood Drive. City firefighters are responding.

UPDATE 2:31 p.m.: City fire on scene reports nothing showing at the address, 178 S. Main.

UPDATE 2:34 p.m.: A resident at the apartments says the smoke may be coming from a controlled burn behind a residence on Birchwood Drive. Firefighters are investigating.

UPDATE 2:37 p.m.: The smoke is from an open burn on River Street.

UPDATE 2:41 p.m.: "It's in a pit and it's very controlled," says a firefighter on River Street, who nonetheless asked that a water can be brought over.

A beautiful fall afternoon, I thought I would stop by Godfrey's Pond and see what picture-making opportunities I might find. Mother Nature still has some work to do with her fall palette, but things are coming along nicely.

An accident with injuries is reported at Park and Lewiston roads. Town of Batavia Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding.

UPDATE 3:42 p.m.: A 59-year-old woman whose car was rear-ended in this two-vehicle accident is being taken to UMMC with complaints of neck and lower back pain. Town fire is back in service.

UPDATE 3:47 p.m.: A 56-year-old woman who was a front seat passenger in the vehicle which was rear-ended is also being taken to UMMC. She has neck and back pain and is upset.

UPDATE 4:09 p.m. (by Howard): Deputy on scene said both patients transported primarily for evaulation. The red minivan had relatively minor damage and the SUV that hit it had nearly no damage.

Press release:

The State University of New York Community College Collaborative recently announced that $14,633,390 has been awarded for the Training and Education in Advanced Manufacturing (T.E.A.M.) Educational Pathways Project.

GCC's allocation was $145,348 from the collective pool of T.E.A.M. funding for all 30 New York community colleges, which is subsidized through the U.S. Department of Labor Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College Training Grant Program.

It will ultimately provide more than 3,000 of New York's trade adjustment assistance-eligible workers and unemployed veterans with the education and training necessary to secure high-quality, high-wage jobs in the advanced manufacturing industry.

The T.E.A.M. Educational Pathways Project aligns advanced manufacturing industrial career pathways and third-party certifications for participating students to attain credentials and degrees in two years or less. The targeted industries for the Pathways Project include: advanced manufacturing, plastic and all its related sub-industries, optics, photovoltaics, precision machining/CNC, semi-conductor, and nanotechnology.

A statewide process for designing and offering training and education programs will be developed to replicate the T.E.A.M. model across all community colleges and all academic programs in the applied and occupational sciences.

The Pathways project will also allow the SUNY Statewide Community College Collaborative to leverage additional funding opportunities, such as $20 million in the SUNY2020 capital funds, and a $5 million proposal to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Workforce Innovation Fund in partnership with New York State DOL.

The T.E.A.M. Educational Pathways Project incorporates the following eight key strategies:

(1) Develop and promote educational pathways in advanced manufacturing with clear entry and exit points;

(2) Build and offer uniform core and specialty curricula based on the USDOL competency model for advanced manufacturing and incorporate the NAM-Endorsed Manufacturing Skills Certification System;

(3) Validate new and existing curriculum with industry at state, local and national levels;

(4) Build and offer fast track developmental education curricula in advanced manufacturing programs;

(5) Offer core specialty and developmental education courses online and in other delivery formats;

(6) Build and offer a uniform statewide system for awarding academic credit through prior learning assessment;

(7) Provide centralized student services through campus-based T.E.A.M. Centers in partnership with public workforce systems;

(8) And build and implement a coordinated statewide approach to outreach, recruit, and "earn and learn" models for the advanced manufacturing industry.

A series of existing credentials, both credit and noncredit, will be incorporated into the training program, including but not limited to: ACT's Work Readiness System (National Career Readiness Certificate/NCRC), Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), Manufacturing Skills Standards Council (MSSC), and National Institute of Manufacturing Metalworking Skills (NIMS). Additional training to support or enhance core and specialty curricula will be based on employer demand to include Six Sigma, OSHA standards, EntreSkills and web-based programs offered by the NYS Small Business Development Center.

"Genesee Community College is delighted to be the local partner in a national initiative designed to sharpen the competitive edge of our manufacturing sector," President Jim Sunser said. "Together as partners, the Pathways Project will allow community colleges to bring the very finest, most up to date training programs to our workforce and business community."

Through the grant, GCC will hire three adjunct faculty members to not only teach designated courses, but to also participate in the collaborative developmental meetings and planning process. In addition, the grant will allow the college to purchase equipment in support of its academic programs.

Sheriff's deputies are at the college to check on a complaint of erratic driving. Campus security has the gray Ford Focus in question stopped in the parking lot of College Village. According to dispatch, it's the same vehicle that not long ago was "causing some issues" in the city related to traffic safety when it stopped and conducted "a Chinese fire drill."

A fire alarm has sounded in Hickory Hall at College Village and the Town of Batavia Volunteer Fire Department is responding. The address is 8170 Batavia Stafford Townline Road.

UPDATE 8:32 p.m.: Firefighters are responding to a "confirmed report of burnt food" in room H-102.

UPDATE 8:36 p.m.: A firefighter on scene says they are "trying to determine why the alarm went off. I don't believe (the reason) was cooking."

UPDATE 8:50 p.m.: No update on what set off the alarm, but the assignment is back in service.

A car-pedestrian accident is reported at 505 E. Main St. in front of the 7-11 store in the City of Batavia. The city fire department is responding and medics are on scene.

UPDATE 7:38 p.m.: City fire is back in service.

A fight in front of Genesee Community College, by the Clock Tower, is just now breaking up and it reportedly involves 15 people. Campus security is on scene and multiple law enforcement officers are responding.

UPDATE 4:48 p.m.: The fight has reignited. An ambulance is requested for injured victims.

UPDATE 4:50 p.m.: A law enforcement unit on scene reports other officers responding may disregard the call. They have the situation under control.

UPDATE 4:52 p.m.: Mercy medics are put back in service as they are deemed not needed.

UPDATE 5:18 p.m.: Subsequently, medics were again called to the scene, in non-emergency mode. One 19-year-old male who was allegedly involved in the fight is being taken to UMMC with lacerations to his lips and an injured left hand.

The following three suspects were accused of shoplifting at Kmart on Tuesday at 8:14 p.m.:

Chrisina Maria King, 19, of South Main Street, Castile, is charged with petit larceny. King is accused of shoplifting from Kmart.

Lisa Marie Uvenio, 34, of Borden Avenue, Perry, is charged with petit larceny. Uvenio is accused of shoplifting $56.88 in merchandise from Kmart.

Ashley Nicole Dumbleton, 17, of Lamont Road, Gainsville, is charged with petit larceny. Dumbleton is accused of shoplifting at Kmart.