batavia

Hiroshige Yamabe, an exchange student at Batavia High in 1988-89, currently lives in Japan and has been in contact with his former host family following the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit the country two days ago.

Yamabe sent the following e-mails to Jason Smith. Smith said Yamabe has visited Batavia frequently since his high school years. He currently works for Boehreinger Pharmaceutical in Japan.

March 11:

"It was horrible experience in my life. But mostly people in Tokyo are OK. But we can not go back home, just staying at the office. Anyhow, I am responsible for confirm the production sites/plants close to the centre of origin. Hope phone line will be improved. thank you."

March 12:

Dear all,

Thank you so much for your concerns. Yes, I tried to call Jason and James but not made it. Then I called to the funeral home.

We are all safe. Last night I stayed at the office waiting for the recovery of transportation. We could not catch the taxi and I saw people made a long line. Even though catching the taxi, then it seemed to be a heavy traffic. When I come back home this morning by subway, I did not see so much damage on the building except some items fell down.

In Tokyo now all the infrastructure are fine. But the northern part is terrible. Boehringer Japan Group has three plants in Narita, Yamagata and Fukushima. I am a little bit worried about Fukushima Plant. Cause it is just few kilometre away from the nuclear plant. Anyway, I shall be quite busy for the next few weeks. Thank you again and get in touch.

Kind regards,

H. Yamabe

P.S.
Now we have a little shaking again...

UPDATE:  Here's a new e-mail from Hiroshige:

Thank you, Jason. Just I talked with my mother. My brother & sister's family, they are all safe. I just concerned about my colleagues' family in Northern part area in Japan has anything wrong. Public transportation is not recovered. So I am still in the office at mid-night. But pretty fine.

A little bit of old Batavia is going to come back to a new bar on Jackson Street, according to co-owner Derek Geib.

Geib and partner Michael Hyland are busy renovating 9 Jackson St.

Longtime residents will remember the building as the one-time Silver Slipper, and later the Candlelight, before becoming Fuel.  The location was most recently the Jackson St. Grill/Belladessa's.

As a restaurant, Silver Slipper's once gorgeous mahogany bar was boarded over and the back bar painted white.

Geib and Hyland have removed all of that clutter and the dark-brown wood of the bar and walls, as well as a large mirror behind the bar, are visible again. The partners have also partially exposed the brick wall of the original structure.

The duo will dub their new establishment "Bourbon & Burger Co."

And the name reflects what Geib, most recently co-owner of Matty's Pizzeria, hopes people will think of when they think of the tavern -- a place to drink and a place to eat.

"It will be a bar and I don't want people to think just 'food,' Geib said. "I want them to get the idea that it's both."

As for the food, though, Geib is aiming high.

"We'll have the best burgers in town," Geib said. "If you ask 10 people where their favorite place to go for a burger, you'll get eight different answers. We want to be the number-one answer."

If the liquor license process goes according to plan, Geib thinks the doors on Bourbon & Burger Co. will open by May 1. The new tavern's application is going before the Batavia City Council for consideration at Monday's meeting.

Lt. Eugene Jankowski, day-shift supervisor for the Batavia Police Department, recently received a trophy for a sharpshooting contest he participated in last month.

The award was for Jankowski's efforts in the 2011 International Defensive Pistol Association Indoor National Championships held at the Smith and Wesson shooting sports center in Springfield, Mass.

Jankowski tells us, "It was my first major IDPA match and I won First Place Sharpshooter in the Stock Service Pistol Division. This win now moves me up to Expert Class. My goal is to be in the Master Class by the end of the year.

"I used a standard Glock, model 34, 9 mm. Other than caliber, it's very similar to my police duty pistol. This match is one of only two national matches held each year and there were approximately 300 shooters in attendance."

For more on the IDPA, click here.

A motor is reportedly on fire inside an attached garage of the "co-generation building" at the Genesee County Nursing Home.

The address is 278 Bank Street in Batavia.

City Fire Department is responding.

UPDATE 1:58 p.m.: Apparently the situation was handled without much ado. The fire truck is back in quarters.

A former Batavia resident who was caught in Wisconsin posing as an attorney and stealing money from his supposed clients admitted his crimes in a Milwaukee Court on March 3.

Thomas J. Lyon faces a two-year prison term and then will still need to answer to alleged probation violations out of Monroe County.

Lyon was previously convicted in Monroe County for grand larceny.

Facing 11 criminal counts, Lyon entered a guilty plea to charges of practicing law without a license, theft, identity theft and forgery. The remaining charges where dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

The case made headlines in Wisconsin because Lyon reportedly bragged to an associate that he was like Frank Abagnale Jr., the former con artist depicted by Leonardo DiCaprio in the hit movie, "Catch Me If You Can."

In addition to posing as an attorney -- even making court appearances -- Lyon also assumed the identity of a deceased notary public. Police also accused him of running a prostitution ring, but Lyon was never charged with any crimes related to those allegations.

Previously, Lyon was arrested in Genesee County on an alleged bad check charge.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 7.

Previously: Milwaukee's accused "Catch Me If You Can" fake attorney has Batavia roots

Stephen Wade Thompson, 33, of West Main Street, Attica, is charged with criminal mischief. Thompson is accused of slashing tires on two vehicles in the Town of Alexander.

A 17-year-old resident of South Swan Street, Batavia, is charged with harassment, 2nd. The teen is accused of getting into a fight with another person at 9:25 p.m., Thursday, in the area of 4133 Veterans Memorial Drive, Batavia.

Amy Lou Platten, 41, of Main Street, Corfu, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Platten is accused of violating an order of protection.

City Fire Department is responding to a report of wires arcing in the area of 536 Ellicott St., Batavia.

UPDATE 10:53 p.m.: National Grid notified. The primary wire to the house is arcing.

UPDATE 11:20 p.m.: Two National Grid trucks on scene.

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I went to the courthouse this afternoon to cover a case that, as it turned out, wasn't called, but I did spot this giant snow mountain behind the skate park. You really need to stand next to it to appreciate it, but here's a photo anyway.

There is still a flood watch in place for Genesee County, but eyeballing the Tonawanda Creek this afternoon, it didn't look too bad. Of course, if this pile melts off all at once ...

Here's a news release from the Buffalo office of the National Weather Service.

The National Weather Service will be conducting a SKYWARN spotter training seminar in Batavia at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 13 at the Genesee County Fire Training Center, 7690 State St. Road.

It's sponsored by the Genesee County Office of Emergency Services and will last about two hours. There is no cost for the training.

SKYWARN is a national effort to save lives during severe weather emergencies with an expanding network of trained volunteer weather spotters. SKYWARN spotters support their local community and government by providing reports of severe weather directly to the National Weather Service in Buffalo through amateur radio or by phone using the the NWS spotter hotline. The services performed by SKYWARN spotters have saved many lives.

The National Weather Service has a number of devices for detecting severe thunderstorms. Included in these are Doppler radar, satellite, and lightning detection networks. However, the most important tool for observing thunderstorms is the trained eye of the storm spotter.

By providing observations, SKYWARN spotters assist National Weather Service staff in their warning decisions and enable the National Weather Service to fulfill its mission of protecting life and property. Storm spotters are, and always will be, an indispensable part of the severe local storm warning program.

The basic training session provides a brief overview of the National Weather Service organization and its responsibilities, severe weather safety, and basic severe weather meteorology including how thunderstorms, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes form.

Anyone can become a severe weather spotter for the National Weather Service. SKYWARN training is free and open to the public.

For further information, you can call the National Weather Service at (716) 565-0204, ext. 223, or to register for the program, please call Genesee County Emergency Services at 344-0078.

More information about SKYWARN is available on the NWS Buffalo Web site at http://www.weather.gov/buf/spt.htm.

Submitted by Pam Zola:

March 4 – 6, 2011 wasn’t an ordinary weekend for the Batavia Ramparts Bantam III team. Vying for a state title, the team traveled to the Onondaga Indian Reservation to play in the 2011 NYSAHA Championships. The team was led by Coach Duane Olin and Assistant Coaches John Zola and Jeff Bower and is sponsored by T. F. Brown’s.

In their first game during round robin play the team faced the Great Neck Bruins, the second seed out of the East. Winning with a score of 10 – 2, Batavia never looked back. Led by Captains Richard Francis and Sean Olin and Assistants Joe Saraceni and Will VanAuken, the team faced the number-one seed out of the North, The Norfolk-Norwood Icemen. 

Zachary Laird, John Sallome, Jake Bower, Tyler Andrews and Cameron Chamberlain as well as Goalie Tyler Stroud proved instrumental in the 6-2 win. The Cortland Flames faced Batavia in the last round robin game.  Playing well for the Ramparts were Jack Simpson, Tristan Aldinger and Julien Schimley as well as Kris Bank and Josh Preston. 

The 4 – 2 win propelled the Ramparts into the crossover game where they faced Canandaigua. Mason Versage, Kris Walker, Francis, Saraceni, Sallome and Laird led the team to the 6 – 1 win and put Batavia in the finals to once again face the Norfolk-Norwood Icemen.

With a 9 – 2 victory, the Batavia Ramparts Bantam III team won the State Championship – the first in 12 years for the organization. The team will travel to Portland, Maine March 18 – 20 for the Regional Tournament.

One of my longtime goals has been to stop by Glass Roots at 12 Center St., Batavia, some time when Jeremy Almeter is blowing glass. Today, I happened to catch Jeremy in action along with Josh Taggart (bottom photo).

Almeter told me he and Josh can create any kind of glass object a customer might want -- just draw a picture and they'll make it.

A 16-year-old boy has officially been missing since Jan. 21, but Youth Officer John K. Dehm had been tracking him and had a good idea where he was, according Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster.

Now, the whereabouts of Ronald J. Murray Jr., are unknown and the Sheriff's Office is asking for the help of anyone who might know where he is.

Murray is 5' 10", 170lbs. He has brown hair and brown eyes.

He was last seen leaving Batavia High School and failed to show up for classes at BOCES.

Anyone with any information is asked to call Dehm at the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office at 585-345-3000, ext. 3575, or write jdehm@co.genesee.ny.us.

A wire on a pole in the area of 316 E. Main St., Batavia, is reportedly sparking, but is not down.

Batavia Fire Department is being dispatched.

Also, about five minutes ago, Stafford fire received a call of a wire sparking near Stafford Trading Post, called in by a passerby, but two chiefs checking Main Road have been unable to locate any such problem.

UPDATE 7:36 p.m.: The Batavia call was determined to be unfounded.

A man stopped to drop something off at a residence on Liberty Street, left the motor running in his car, and when he came out of the house, he told police, the car was gone.

The car is described as a black Oldsmobile Alero.

It's unknown what direction of travel the thief took the car.

A police officer is responding to the scene now.

UPDATE 5:45 p.m.: If I heard correctly, the car was located unoccupied.

A Conesus man who thought he was coming to Batavia meet a 15-year-old boy for sex will spend 10 years in prison and 25 years on supervised release.

Dalton E. Wilke, 46, who previously entered a guilty plea to online enticement of a minor, receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography, was sentenced Tuesday in a Rochester federal court.

Wilke was arrested in Batavia in August 2008 by federal agents and officers of the Batavia Police Department. Det. Todd Crossett helped lead the investigation by posing as a 15-year-old boy in online chats.

In addition to the prison term, Wilke was fined $2,500 and ordered to forfeit his GMC Sierra pickup truck that he drove to Batavia.

Following his arrest, agents seized Wilke's home computers and the computers were analyzed by the Regional Computer Forensic Lab linked them to the online enticement. A 48-minute video depicting two young boys engaged in sexually explicit conduct was also recovered.

The developer of a proposed housing project in the Stringham Drive area of Batavia is misleading the public, according to a letter written by the director of the Batavia Housing Authority.

Gregory Langen sent a letter to Town of Batavia Supervisor Greg Post on March 8 and blasted Chatham & Nathaniel Development Corp. for not being completely upfront about planning a low-income housing project.

The letter includes a resolution passed by the BHA board of directors opposing the project.

Chatham & Nathaniel have been pushing for approval of a 19-home development that they have claimed will be open to all buyers, not just qualified low-income residents. They've tried to leave the impression that taxpayers won't foot the bill for the development.

In fact, according to Langen, a letter from Chatham & Nathaniel soliciting support from PathStone (the local Section 8 administrator), says preference in selection of tenants for 100 percent of the units will be low-income.

The project, Langen wrote, will be funded through $3.5 million in low-income housing tax credits, $2.4 million in New York State Home Funds and $158,000 in deferred developer fees.

"I believe this contradicts the public testimony of the developers that the project would be funded through private conventional financing," Langen writes. "In fact, this is to be a publicly financed project in the form of tax credits."

Because of New York low-income property tax rules, according to Langen, local taxpayers will also help subsidize each home occupied by a low-income family.

All of this, Langen wrote, at a time when there is simply no demand for more low-income housing in Batavia, especially for family housing of this magnitude.

BHA has no appreciable waiting list, and there is no unmet demand for low-income family housing.

"Rather than make low-income residents move to Batavia from other communities in order to be housed (and transferring that burden to the local Department of Social Services), it would make more sense to construct the subsidized housing in the communities where there is a current unmet need," Langen wrote.

Langen is also critical for a Chatham & Nathaniel reference to providing low-income housing for veterans.

"I question the need for yet another housing program for homeless veterans in Batavia when the VA is opening its own," Langen wrote. "The needs assessment identified 17 homeless veterans served in Rochester and Buffalo but does not identify the number, if any, in Batavia. While the BHA is proud to serve veterans in all of our facilities, we are aware of only one homeless veteran applicant in many years. That person was only considered homeless as a result of a pending divorce and his wife asking him to move. The BHA housed him successfully."

BHA currently operates 49 low-income units of three and four bedrooms.  Langen said all of them -- in the north, south and east sections of Batavia -- are clean and maintenance requests are completed in one day.

"There are many communities where there are long waiting lists of publicly subsidized housing," Langen wrote. "Low-income housing tax credits should be invested in those communities."

Here's three photos from my travels around the county this afternoon. Top, Peaviner Road, Alexander.

An irrigation system on East Road, Batavia.

A barn/shed on Buckley Road, Stafford.

George and Barb Galliford of Batavia own some property on the banks of the Tonawanda Creek along South Main Road and are planning a new house there. It will be a BOCES project starting in September, but the timber needs to be cleared from the land. This morning, two Amish men from Fillmore were harvesting the trees using their horse-drawn carriage to haul the logs up the bank to the side of the road. (Thanks to an alert reader for letting us know.)