batavia

For Christmas photos tonight, I managed to get around a bit on the north side of town.

Above, Joe Gerace has his place on Vine Street quite lit up.

More pictures after the jump:

Vine Street

Trumbull Parkway

Elm Street

Fordham Drive

Tracy Avenue

Summitt Street

The welcoming ambiance of cookies and coffee warmly greeted those who attended the Genessee County Mental Health Association's (MHA) open house between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Tuesday. The open house was especially unique in that it marked the re-opening of a new and much improved clothing store.

Pictured above, Sueann Schramm (far left), Lee Albert (back right), and Kathy Hanley (front right), are three of the five voluneers who helped revamp the old clothing store into one that offers many options. It took the members seven weeks to completely improve the area, two of the seven dedicated to the meticulous organization of the clothes.

"It's been a lot of work but we got it done," proudly stated Sueann who was working behind the register as Kathy cheerfully welcomed those entering the clothing shop section of the MHA establishment. Donated clothing is thoroughly washed, organized and hung according to size and item. All profits made from the clothing is recirculated into the purchase of alternative items available such as various hygenic products. The clothing shop is open three days a week, Monday, Thursday, and Friday from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. and all donations are welcomed and much appreciated.

The open house offered papers describing their services, including a book of poetry and CD of music (sponsored by Go Art!)  created by members of their Social Club. The purpose of the MHA society is to advocate wellness and support those in need in a safe and friendly environment. Some of their programs include Trauma Services, Survivors of Suicide support group, and The Warm Line.  The Warm Line is a non-crisis phone service that is accessible  after the designated hours of typical help lines.

With his door open and willingness to talk during the hours of the open house, Charley DelPlato, pictured above, is the passionate Warm Line Coordinator. "We offer support and encouragement," he exclaimed while describing the wholesome efforts made by the Warm Line.  Not only does the Warm Line provide phone services after hours of typicial help lines, they additionally participate in "outreach" programs through visits at hospitals, sending out cards, and taking individuals out for coffee or shopping.

The MHA provides an excellent service to the community of Genessee County and has continuously done so for the past sixteen years. A warm thank you to Sue Gagne, Assistant Executive Director, and all members of the MHA staff for their willingness to provide the Batavian with such valuable information.

For more information on the MHA or of their clothing store, visit their website at gcmha.org or contact them through phone at (585)-344-2611.

It is reported that a car has possibly struck a parked vehicle at 160 Summit St. Unknown injuries.

Batavia City fire and a medic are on scene.

This is the "Grotto to Our Lady of Lourdes," or "The Grotto," on the campus of Notre Dame High School, just off Richmond Avenue.

The photos are from last night.

Because of a conflict of interest with the judges in Le Roy, where the case originated, Judge Robert C. Noonan this morning assigned the case of Chris Charvella to Town of Batavia Court.

Charvella is charged with harassment, 2nd, for allegedly placing a phone call to the home of Legislator Jay Grasso.

It will be up to the court in Batavia to set a time for Charvella's next appearance, and whether that appearance will be in front of Justice Tom Williams or Justice Mike Cleveland.

After the hearing this morning, Charvella said he couldn't comment on the case, but added, "When all is said and done, I'm confident I'll be completely vindicated."

Assistant District Attorney Kevin Fennell said there's been no discussion in the DA's office about whether or not to proceed with the case, but indicated that Charvella was arrested so he would be prosecuted.

He said he doesn't see this as a First Amendment issue.

"It's not the political aspect of the case that's been at issue," Finnell said. "It's the phone call to his home for no apparent legitimate purpose."

New York's harassment law bars phone calls for "no purpose of legitimate communication."

At the time of the call, according to Charvella's blog entries, Charvella believed Grasso was responsible for placing a Mike Ranzenhofer campaign sign on Charvella's front lawn. Charvella said he called Grasso's house to thank him for reading his blog, where he had previously written about a Ranzenhofer signs showing up in front of the family business, where he works.

Charvella, a frequent contributor to The Batavian, is active in local Democratic politics and ran in 2009 for county legislator against Grasso's colleague Hollis Upson, losing to the GOP incumbent.

Besides sitting on the legislature, Grasso is a part-time aide to Ranzenhofer, now in his second term representing Genesee County in the state Senate.

Billie Ball, founder of Circle of Love, announced that the foundation will be open this Wednesday, Dec. 22 for families to come in and receive gently used clothing and toys. The hours for this special event are from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. and again from 6 to 8 p.m. This is a great opportunity for families to be able to get gifts for their children or other family members. They have children and adult clothing of all sizes.

During the year, people can come to Circle of Love by appointment. The phone number is 585-202-2566. Financial donations can be sent to the foundation by mailing to Circle of Love 3284 W. Main St., Batavia, NY, 14020. Also donations of items can be dropped off and put in the drop box out front.

Care-A-Van Ministries was out tonight and will be the next two nights, spreading Christmas joy and cheer. A group of volunteers from several churches came along and provided caroling as well as hot chocolate and Christmas goodies. Christmas gifts were also given to the residents. We  were at Park apartments, Platt Boarding Home and a home of a very special couple. A delicious chili dinner was served at the boarding home as well.

Summer Ogden, 34, of 4036 W. Main St. Road, Batavia, is charged with resisting arrest, criminal possession of a weapon, 4th, attempted criminal mischief, 4th, and criminal tampering, 3rd. At 6:28 p.m., Monday, the Sheriff's Office attempted to execute a warrant out of Batavia City Court for her arrest for allegedly violating probation. While taking Ogden into custody, she allegedly physically struggled with deputies. After the arrest, she was allegedly found in possession of an illegal knife. During transport to Genesee County Jail, Ogden allegedly kicked at the windows of the patrol car and spit on equipment inside of the car. Ogden was jailed on $2,500 bail. (Prior reports on Summer Ogden)

Eric James Flowers, 23, of Seven Springs Road, Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance (hydrocodone), 7th, unlawful possession of marijuana, aggravated unlicensed operation and uninspected motor vehicle. At 8:21 a.m., Dec. 5, Flowers was observed by Deputy Brian Thompson driving on Trumbull Parkway, Batavia. Flowers was known, according to Thompson, to have a suspended or revoked driver's license. After being stopped, Flowers was allegedly found in possession of marijuana and hydrocodone.

Collin Michael Camp, 19, of North Spreet, Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and unsafe speed. Camp was arrested at 12:20 p.m., Dec. 5, after allegedly being found in possession of marijuana during an accident investigation conducted by Deputy Brian Thompson.

Timothy R. Tucker, 45, of Medina, is charged with DWI and driving with a BAC of .08 or greater. Tucker was arrested by State Police at 3:13 p.m., Saturday, following an investigation into a two-car accident on Alleghany Road, Alabama. No injuries were reported in the accident.

More than a dozen Robert Morris School teachers withstood subfreezing temperatures and light snow last night in an effort to garner more votes in the Pepsi Challenge. If the school gets enough support, Pepsi will donate $50,000 for a new playground.

Teachers were handing out handbills to passing drivers and car passengers with information on how to vote, plus the school's computer lab was open for anybody who needed help voting.

Santa in the picture is Paul Bernardi, of Pauly's Pizza.

To vote:

1. You can go to refresheverything.com/robertmorrisplagyround, where you can find more information -- including a video made by students, staff and parents -- and vote by clicking the "Vote for this idea" tab (upper right).

2. You can also vote via text messaging. Simply text to 73774 and enter 104607 in the message.

WHAM 13's Sean Carroll sat down with John Parrinello, the prominent Monroe County attorney and politician arrested recently at GCC and charged with criminal trespass.

Parrinello says he's retained Batavia attorney Lisa Kroemer to represent him. He believes two five-minute videos of the incident posted on YouTube vindicate him.  He indicates he was trying to leave when he was arrested, but wanted to leave by the exit nearest his car rather than the one the trooper wanted him to leave by (don't all exits from the gym lead to one exit to the parking lot -- I mean, does it really matter which gym door he goes out of to be "closer to his car"?)

I've looked at this memorial a few times in the past couple of years. It is mounted on the fence behind the courthouse above the Tonawanda Creek.

The sign reads: "Michael Caccamise and two playmates fell through the ice and into the icy waters of the Tonawanda Creek on Feb. 10, 1932. The bodies of Harry Campebello, age 10, and Frank Bezon, age 9, were recovered on Feb. 13th near the dam. However, Michael’s body was not recovered until July 8, 1932.

In Loving Memory of Michael Caccamise
Age 10
Son of
George and Mary Caccamise"

There's never a good time to kick somebody out of their home, said Bruce Gerould, Town of Batavia deputy building inspector.

But when raw sewage is seeping under the dwelling units, how much longer do you wait? Until after Christmas, after New Year's, or after somebody gets typhoid?

"If we waited and somebody got sick, then people would be asking why we waited," Gerould said. "It's a no-win situation."

Gerould has been the building inspector responsible for inspecting the Batavia Motel, 3768 W. Main St. Road, since he went to work for the town in 2004. He said there's never been a time when there haven't been code violations at the apartment complex, and since a fire two years ago, the owner has been increasingly less responsive in making repairs.

The owner, Panchal "Sonny" Bhupendrabhai, said he hasn't been eager to make repairs of late, because all he's really wanted to do is sell the property.

He thought he had a buyer until a couple of months ago, but with open code violations, he couldn't complete the deal.

Then the town expressed interest in the property.

"When I heard of the town's interest, I thought there's no reason to spend thousands of dollars for repairs," Bhupendrabhai said.

Bhupendrabhai initiated the call with The Batavian. He said he wanted readers to know that his tenants, with one exception, had plenty of notice that they needed to find new dwellings.

He said he told them weeks ago he intended to shut down the property.

In the case of Eric Duda, he said, Duda fell behind eight weeks in rent and Bhupendrabhai told him just find another place to live, and rather than evict him, gave him time to make other arrangements. He said that days before the condemnation notice, Duda was approved by DSS for $175-per-week rent at Mark Trail. 

Another tenant, he said, stopped paying his rent five weeks ago after learning of the town's interest in buying the property. That tenant, he said, told other residents to stop paying their rent as well.

When Bhupendrabhai confronted the tenant about it, he agreed to stop telling others not to pay their rent. Bhupendrabhai told him he would forgive the five-weeks back rent if he would pay one more week rent and then find another place to live.

A total of seven people lived at the motel at the time of the condemnation.

As for Maken Ithnnascheri, the tenant who moved in just a week ago, he may not have known about Bhupendrabhai's plan to shut down the motel, but he only paid one week's rent and shouldn't have expected to live there longer than that.

He said he covered Ithnnascheri's rent for three days at another motel on Friday, and gave him an extra $50 "to help him out."

As for selling the property to the town, Bhupendrabhai said he essentially has an agreement in place to sell the 2.9-acre parcel adjacent to Kiwanis Park, but nothing is in writing yet.

Gerould said there is no connection between the town's enforcement action and the plan to buy the hotel.

While he feels bad for the residents, he also felt troubled by the conditions they were living it.

Besides the broken septic system, the roof leaked, there were no fire extinguishers and no smoke detectors.

"The place is deplorable," Gerould said. "It's filthy and much of it is not up to standards of the health department or the New York State building code."

He said he told Duda in September that a condemnation order was coming if the problems were not corrected by Bhupendrabhai.

A man arrested in Genesee County with warrants in San Francisco and Ithaca entered a guilty plea today to criminal possession of stolen property.

Thomas E. Dodson, 24, admitted to possessing a stolen benefits card belonging to another person.

There was some discussion about his admission because at first Dodson would only say that he possessed the card knowing it wasn't his, but in order for him to admit to the charge, he had to admit that he knew the card was stolen, not that it just didn't belong to him.

As part of his plea deal, the other charges against him are dropped and his sentence will be served concurrently with time he is already doing in state prison on a Tompkins County conviction for robbery, 3rd.

Dodson will be sentenced on the Genesee County conviction at 3 p.m., Feb. 23.

One of Batavia's most persistent criminals never had a chance to be a productive citizen, his attorney argued this morning, just before Judge Robert C. Noonan sentenced Michael J. Piasta to three-and-a-half to seven years in state prison on a burglary, 3rd, conviction.

Piasta's mother was an alcoholic and his father a heroin addict who died only recently of an overdose, said attorney William Teford. As a toddler, Tedford said, Piasta found some LSD in his house and swallowed it, nearly killing him.

"There's no denying his lengthy criminal record, no denying this sentence comes from many other criminal charges," Tedford said. "But as I read his family and social history, from a personal standpoint, I found it disturbing and difficult to believe."

Tedford asked that Noonan consider the circumstances of Piasta's life and give him the minimum term, two to four years in prison.

Noonan said he read the pre-sentence report prepared by the probation department, and given Piasta's lengthy criminal history, it was important, Noonan said, that Piasta be kept from society for "as long as possible."

On Nov. 5, Piasta entered a guilty plea to burglary, 3rd, and two counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument. Piasta admitted that in October he broke into a business at 56 Harvester Ave., Batavia, and stole a credit card -- running up more than $500 in charges -- and checks. He attempted to forge the checks at two local banks.

Over the summer, Piasta was also accused of stealing DVDs from Pandora's Boxx and shoplifting from Wilson Farms.

In court today, Piasta told Noonan that for a period of time when he was released from jail, he did work toward turning his life around, even getting a job.

"At this point I just want to say I don’t feel that I’m hopeless," Piasta said. "Regardless of what happens today, I think I can make things better."

After the sentencing, Noonan told Piasta that he didn't believe the 30-year-old Batavia native is hopeless either, but that he needs to take advantage of whatever substance abuse programs he can while in prison.

A motor-vehicle accident is reported at 403 Ellicott St. in the City of Batavia. There are minor injuries and it is blocking the roadway.

Mercy EMS and city fire are responding.

Dorsie M. McGill Jr., 26, of 21 Buell St., Batavia, is charged with theft of services and resisting arrest. McGill allegedly got into an argument with a taxi driver over the amount of fare due, then struggled with police officers Frank Klimjack and James DeFreze when they attempted to take him into custody. McGill was jailed on $2,500 bail.

Vincent D. Henning, 33, of 610 Ellicott St., Batavia, is charged with two counts of petit larceny. Henning is accused of renting two laptop computers at two different rent-to-own stores and then selling the laptops to a pawn shop.

Veronica Garcia, 30, of 2414 Walker Road, Alexander, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, consumption of alcohol in a motor vehicle and speeding. Garcia was stopped at 10:59 p.m., Friday, on Pearl Street Road by Officer Dan Coffey.

Melissa Courtney Kent, 19, of State Street, Batavia, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and consumption of alcohol inside a motor vehicle. Kent was charged following a call at 1:56 a.m., Saturday, of a car off the road on Route 5 in Pembroke.

Ricky Dean Newbould, 52, of Oak Orchard Road, Elba, is charged with felony DWI, driving with a BAC of .18 or greater, failure to keep right and improper right turn. Newbould was arrested following the investigation of a motor-vehicle accident at 5:01 a.m., Sunday, on Hundredmark Road, Elba.

Troy Damien Schimley, 17, of Clifton Avenue, Batavia, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, failure to keep right and operating a vehicle in violation of a restricted license. Schimley was stopped at 2:39 a.m., Sunday, by Deputy Kevin McCarthy on Wortendyke Road, Batavia.

Vidis E. Malejs, 73, of Buffalo, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and failure to yield right-of-way. Malejs was charged following a report of a property damage accident at 6:20 p.m., Saturday, on Park Road.

Tammy J. Green, 40, of Attica, is charged with DWI, aggravated driving with a BAC of .18 or greater, unsafe start. Green was reportedly involved in a property damage accident at 9 p.m., Saturday, in the parking lot of Alabama Tee Off, on Route 77 in Alabama.

Adam Lee Leaton, 20, of Caswell Road, Byron, is charged with unlawful dealing with a child. Leaton is accused of hosting an underage drinking party.

Jamie L. Broadbent, 27, of 60 Swan St., Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Broadbent is accused of shoplifting a six-pack of soft drinks and over-the-counter medication from Tops Market.

Tyler P. Schroeder, 18, of Oak Street, Oakfield, is charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Schroeder is accused of allowing a 14-year-old to drive the car of another person. A 17-year-old was also in the vehicle. The car was stopped by Deputy James Diehl at 6:36 p.m., Saturday, at the intersection of Pratt and Kelsey roads, Batavia. The 14-year-old was referred to Genesee County Family Court.

Batavia Police are investigating three burglaries that occurred over the weekend.

Two of the burglaries may be related.

The first break-in was reported at the Batavia Industrial Center, 56 Harvester Ave. A suspect or suspects entered a business and stole musical instruments and other equipment.

There was also a break-in at the Sherwin-Williams paint store, 16 Liberty St. Some merchandise along with a small mount of cash was stolen. Store employees are conducting an inventory to determine exactly what was stolen.

The third burglary occurred at the UPS Store, 8351 Lewiston Road, where some cash and a small safe was stolen.

The burglaries occurred between Friday night and Saturday morning.

When a friend of Brandi Bruggman's looked down at his Converse one day, he thought they looked like a dirty mess.

He didn't want to throw out an otherwise fine pair of shoes though, so he asked Bruggman if she could paint some art work on the shoes -- they were made out of canvass, after all.

An intriguing challenge, and Brandi gave it a try.

He loved the "new" shoes, and so did his friends.

"Somebody saw the shoes and wanted them, and then somebody saw those shoes and wanted them, and now I have a business," Bruggman said.

The 20-year-old Alexander native sells "Bruggies," as well as hats and other wearable items at Glass Roots, 12 Center St., Batavia, as well as through her Facebook account.

Each item is hand painted, coated to make it waterproof, and inspired by the individual buying it. She said she often talks with the customer, finds out that they like, asks them to provide some adjectives, and then "goes with that vibe."

Ironically, Bruggman said, before she started selling wearable art, she was having a hard time finding a market for the kind of art that hangs on walls. Now, she's selling a lot more wall art.

Often, the people who buy her shoes, or other items, realize how good she is and they commission a painting for a room in their homes.

In all, Bruggman said that since she started creating "Bruggies" in June 2009, she's sold about 200 hand-painted items.

A theater design technician major at Niagara University, with a minor in fine arts, Bruggman would love it if her fledgling business became her full income.

"If I could paint every day, that would be awesome," said Brandi.

Though, the business can't get too big, she cautioned, because she won't let anybody else paint shoes for her. She does it all herself.

Painting clothing has expanded her as an artist, she said, both from working with different materials and techniques. She's learned to use an airbrush to paint T-shirts -- but since each item is custom created, she's often painting subjects she might not otherwise.

"It's cool that I get to draw into new things," Bruggman said. "I draw things I never would have drawn before. The other day I drew a boat. I never drew a boat before.

"It's been opening new avenues of art for me," she added.

Examples of Bruggman's shoes and hats -- as well as a mural she painted -- are on display at Glass Roots, and an order for shoes, or other items, can be placed at the store. Prices for hand-painted Converse start at $85 (other shoes can go for as little as $65). A tote ranges from $20 to $50, hats from $35 to $45.