batavia

One person was killed early this morning when a passenger vehicle and semi-truck hit head on on Route 63, just south of Shepard Road, Town of Batavia.

The location is just yards south of the former Rosie's Diner.

Town of Batavia fire is on scene. The accident is being investigated by the Sheriff's Office Crash Management Team. A coroner is in route.

Route 63 is closed in both directions.

UPDATE: John P. Dow, of Pavilion, was pronounced dead at the scene by Coroner Donald Coleman. Dow was driving a 2005 Chevrolet Envoy southbound on Route 63. Truck driver Iqbal S. Dhadda, 35, of Brampton, Ontario, Canada, said Dow's vehicle crossed completely into the northbound lane. The SUV and truck hit head-on. According to a Sheriff's Office press release, impairment may have been a factor in the crash. The accident was reported at 1:42 a.m. Dhadda was not seriously injured.

The accident investigation is being conducted by Deputy Joseph Corona, Deputy Frank Bordonaro, Deputy Jason Saile, Deputy John Duyssen and investigator Roger Stone. Assisting at the scene were Batavia PD, State Police, Town of Batavia fire and Bethany fire.

A house fire with light smoke showing is reported at 32 S. Main St. in Oakfield. Mercy medics are on scene and Oakfield Fire Department is responding along with mutual aid from the Town of Batavia and the city's Fast Team. Alabama is asked to fill in at the Oakfield hall.

UPDATE 1:30 p.m.: Alabama is asked to reroute and go to the scene.

UPDATE 1:38 p.m.: National Grid is called to the scene. No ETA.

UPDATE 1:41 p.m.: A thermal imaging camera is requested.

UPDATE 1:45 p.m.: Elba Fire Police are called to shut down traffic at Orchard and Main, and at Main and South Pearl. The fire is knocked down. They are checking for extensions.

The Batavia resident suspected of being involved in a shots-fired incident Sept. 27 on State Street has been released from jail, free on his own recognizance.

Dashawn Butler was released following an appearance in City Court because the District Attorney's Office was unable to complete a preliminary hearing within the required six days of Butler's arrest.

District Attorney Lawrence Friedman said the people were not ready to proceed with a hearing because a key witness would not be available in time.

Butler still faces charges of reckless endangerment, 1st, a Class D felony, and criminal possession of a weapon, a Class C felony, and second-degree menacing, a misdemeanor.

State law required Butler's release because he wasn't going to receive a hearing within six days. 

Friedman said his office will continue to press those charges against Butler.

A pedestrian has reportedly been struck by a vehicle at low speed in the parking lot of Enterprise Rent-a-Car on West Main Street, Batavia.

City fire and Mercy EMS are responding.

The patient is complaining of a hip injury. Mercy's ambulance is responding non-emergency.

UPDATE: The victim was taken to UMMC.

The Batavia Area Jaycees, breaking with tradition, are not awarding houses this year for Christmas light displays.

Here's their press release:

The Batavia Area Jaycees hit the City of Batavia streets on December 19^th to look at all the holiday lights set up for the season.

They believe the following streets are worth a drive: Meadowcrest Drive; Grandview Terrace; Eugene Street and Naramore Drive.

These seven streets have houses worth viewing: Bogue Avenue, Redfield Parkway, Edgewood Drive, Roosevelt Avenue, Otis Avenue, East Avenue and Elm Street.

While out and about be sure to drive down Woodrow Avenue, Woodland Avenue, Valle Drive, Chestnut Street, Jackson Street, Williams Avenue, Buell Street, Cedar Street, Clinton Street and Vine.

The Jaycees want to wish everyone a safe and healthy holiday season.

The Holland Land Office Museum welcomed three new board members at its annual meeting dinner meeting tonight and honored longtime museum supporter Helen Batchellor.

Batchellor, on the right, became involved with HLOM 50 years ago and stepped down from her board seat this year after 30 years on the board.

New board members are, Robert Ettinger, left, Aaron Blake and Donna Mruczek.

The dinner was held at GO ART!

Robert J. Barnes, 24, of 5 Raymond Ave., Batavia, is charged with criminal mischief, 3rd. Barnes is accused of punching a refrigerator during an argument reported at 1:09 p.m. on Wednesday. Barnes was jailed on $10,000 bail or $20,000 bond.

Eric D. Mancuso, 19, of 20 Woodrow Road, Batavia, is charged with scheme to defraud, 1st, and falsifying business records, 1st. Mancuso was arrested in early December following an investigation into an alleged larceny at Main St. Pizza Company on East Main Street, Batavia. No further details released.

Beverly E. Gorecki, 76, of Warren Street, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Gorecki is accused of stealing $13.36 in bulk candy from Tops on Saturday.

Justin V. Easterbrook, 31, of 13284 Gray Road, Barre, is charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and assault, 2nd. Easterbrook was arrested following an alleged disturbance reported at 12:58 a.m. Saturday at Billy Goat's.

Christina S. Baudanza, 37, of 4036 W. Main Street Road, Batavia, is charged with disobeying a court mandate. Baudanza was arrested while at Sport of Kings on a warrant issued in City Court.

Christopher R. Waite, 24, of 3540 W. Main Street Road, Batavia, is charged with front yard parking. The alleged incident was reported at 11:48 p.m. Dec. 9 at 10 W. Main St., Batavia. No further details released.

Steven A. Gilliatt, 18, of 17 Thorpe St., Batavia, is charged with criminal mischief, 4th. Gilliatt is accused of damaging the property of a person residing on Ellicott Street. The alleged incident was reported at 8 p.m.

Jared E. Avery, 27, of 24 Central Ave., lower, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Avery allegedly stole food from Tops at 5:30 a.m. on Dec. 5.

Rebecca A. Edwards, 20, of 45 Central Ave., Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and motor vehicle lights that don't meet standards. Edwards was stopped at 12:11 a.m. Dec. 6 on West Main Street by Officer Jason Ivison.

Dorsie McGill Jr., of 48 Buell St., upper, is charged with criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation. McGill is accused of putting another person in a choke hold during an alleged incident reported at 12:06 a.m. Nov. 28 on Bank Street.

Gerald E. Nicholson, 47, of 107 Harvester Ave., Batavia, is charged with disobeying court mandate. No further details released.

Richard James Burdick, 35, of Coward Road, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Burdick was charged after he allegedly returned an $18 Christmas tree to Walmart he had not purchased from the store.

Kristen Antwan Miller, 32, of Linda Drive, Hinsdale, N.H., was arrested on bench warrants out of Town of Batavia Court for grand larceny, 4th ,and falsifying business records, 1st. Miller allegedly failed to appear for a scheduled court appearance Sept. 29. He was arrested in New Hampshire on Nov. 20. He was charged as a fugitive from justice and released from custody on a promise to appear in Batavia on Nov. 22. Miller allegedly did not appear on that date. He did appear Dec. 10 and was jailed on $2,500 bail.

Andrew Lucas Kosiorek, 41, of Bank Street, Batavia, was arrested on a warrant related to a charge of failure to pay fine/restitution. Kosiorek was in jail on an unrelated matter and was arrested on the warrant. He was also arrested on a warrant for alleged failure to pay fine on a DWI charge. Kosiorek remains in custody.

Heather Louise Cooper, 37, no stated address, was arrested on a warrant for petit larceny. The warrant was issued in Orleans County and she was turned over to the Orleans County Sheriff's Office.

T.F. Brown's and the Lions Club of Batavia will host their annual community Christmas dinner Dec. 25.

The dinner is free to all.

There are two seatings available, noon and 1 p.m. 

An RSVP is requested by Dec. 20. If planning to attend, please call (585) 345-1000 and let Maud know how many people are coming, for which seating, and the gender, ages and first names of children.

Children will receive a present from Santa.

T.F. Brown's is located at 214 E. Main St., Batavia.

Pictured are: Tony Scalia, Joe Teresi and Michael Tomaszewski from the Lions Club and T.F. Brown's owner Rick Mancuso.

A two-car accident with injuries is reported at 229 W. Main Street, in front of Ken Barrett's car dealership. It is blocking traffic. City fire is on scene along with police. Mercy medics are also responding.

Duane Lewis Garlow, 29, of 110 Woodcroft Drive, Rochester, is charged with felony DWI, felony driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, unreasonable speed in a curve and unsafe lane change. Garlow was charged following a motor-vehicle accident at 12:33 a.m., on Perry Road, Le Roy. Garlow's vehicle reportedly struck a stop sign and utility pole after failing to negotiate a curve in the roadway. The accident was investigated by Deputy Frank Bordonaro.

Emma Jean Brinkman, 58, of Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Brinkman is accused of shoplifting from Walmart and stealing $43.23 in merchandise.

Eva Gristina Hernandez, 23, of Spencer Court, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Hernandez is accused of shoplifting from Kmart and stealing $41.58 merchandise.

Long lines formed at the Batavia Post Office today.

According to Darlene Sharping, who has been at the customer service desk for 14 years, the Batavia Post Office has been one busy place for the last three weeks.

Today the wait in line was about 20 minutes. Some people walked in and walked out, while others braved the line and waited. 

Marybeth Bowen needed to mail a large envelope for $1.90, but did not have enough stamps. She had six but needed eight. In the Christmas spirit, another woman who was waiting in line to mail a lot of packages, volunteered to mail her envelope so she would not have to wait in line for stamps.

Sal Oddo, who has worked behind the customer service desk for 35 years here in Batavia says tomorrow is the last day to mail out packages to places like Florida or California. Anything after tomorrow might not make it in time for Christmas.

If you are mailing in the Northeast the last day is Thursday.

The Batavia Post Office will be open from 9-5 during the week.

Boxes were the theme in line today.

Even though the lines were long most people seemed to be in the Christmas spirit.

Stephanie Ann Bonin, 19, of Ross Street, Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of a weapon, 4th. Bonin was arrested following an incident reported at 1:24 p.m., Dec. 6, at 4330 Commerce Drive, Batavia. She was allegedly found in possession of an expandable metal baton in her purse.

Joshua John Lein, 34, of Kibbe Avenue, Batavia, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .18 or greater and criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th. Lein was stopped at 1:12 a.m., Saturday, on West Main Street, Batavia, by Deputy Joseph Corona.

Raymond W. Schramm, 27, of East Pembroke, and Marla A. Mugler, 24, of Batavia, are each charged with harassment, 2nd. Schramm and Mugler were arrested by State Police in connection with an alleged incident reported at 3:45 p.m., Dec. 9. No further details released.

The City of Batavia Fire Department is on scene at Bank of America, 100 Main St., for the odor of  natural gas.

Fire crews have been on scene for about 20 minutes and have detected some levels of CO on the first floor and in the basement. A crew on the roof has detected the same smell there and they are shutting down the heating/cooling system.

UPDATE 8:52 a.m.: City fire has cleared the building of CO and levels are down to zero.They have isolated the problem to the heating units on the roof and all of the heating and cooling units have been shut down until maintenance arrives. Engine 12 will remain on scene until they arrive.

UPDATE: 9:06 a.m.: Engine 12 has now cleared the scene and is back in service.

Piper McBride, 2,of LeRoy, wondering what to tell Santa.

Supper with Santa, a St. Joseph's School event, has been bringing families and their children together for the Christmas season for over ten years.  Kids of all ages enjoyed some pizza, making cookies, creating ornaments, visiting with Santa and a little live caroling with Kay McMahon and Bill McDonald.

At the end of the night children ate their cookies and had a cup of hot chocolate.

Kay McMahon of the Old Hippies and Bill McDonald of the Ghost Riders, sing a few Christmas songs with the kids as they wait in line to talk to Santa.

Kaitlin Kratz, 6, of Batavia, frosting a cookie to go along with her cup of hot chocolate.

The man who might be described as Batavia's most wanted fugitive has been taken into custody this morning.

Dashawn Butler, 34, was arrested at 8:45 a.m. when police located him at 38 Walnut St., Batavia, while assisting NYS Parole with another person sought by parole officers.

His is charged with a felony stemming from an alleged shots-fired incident Sept. 27 on State Street. He's also a person of interest in a report of shots fired Oct. 8 on Jackson Street.

Butler was taken into custody without incident, Officer Eric Hill said, arraigned in City Court and jailed on $25,000 bail or $50,000 bond.

The investigation is continuing.

UPDATE: According to a press release from Batavia PD, investigators received information that Butler might be at 38 Walnut with Harvey Lockhart, 31, who was wanted by NYS Parole. Butler is accused of firing a handgun at another person at 117 State St. Police received several tips after police released information that there was a warrant out for Butler's arrest. Butler is charged with reckless endangerment, 1st, a Class D felony, and criminal possession of a weapon, a Class C felony, and second-degree menacing, a misdemeanor. "This arrest is the result of good police work, cooperation amongst police agencies and citizen input," said Chief Shawn Heubusch. "This type of criminal activity will not be tolerated in the City. Every resident deserves to live in a safe neighborhood and be able to walk the streets without fear. The witnesses and residents who assisted the officers with piecing this case together should be commended for their actions. Every bit of information was valuable during this investigation." Additional tips can be called into Batavia PD through 9-1-1 or the department's confidential tip line at (585) 345-6370.

It is the largest grant Care-A-Van Ministries has ever received from the Walmart Foundation.

On hand to present the $60,000 grant check to Care-A Van Ministries was Jason Klipa, director of Public Affairs and Government Relations for Walmart. Klipa says the Walmart Foundation awards grants twice a year and today's grant award was part of the Foundation's Hunger Program.

"It's a great way to give back to the Batavia Community and Care-A-Van Ministries is an amazing operation," Klipa says.

Paul Ohlson, president of Care-A-Van Ministries, says in the past year they were able to feed about 5,000 people. He has been operating the mobile food pantry to deliver free groceries, hope and prayer to those in need for about 13 years.

The grant awarded today will help not only in purchasing food products but replacing aging equipment on their fleet of vehicles and maintaining them.

Ohlson says, "This will go beyond the food, our vehicles are the heart of our ministry. God always provides us with what we need."

Ohlson giving a tour to Walmart Foundation representatives.

Pictured from left, Paul Ohlson, Care-A-Van Ministries president, Al Maiorino, president Public Strategy Group, and Jason Klipa, director of Public Affairs & Government Relations for Walmart.

From The Batavian's news partner, WBTA:

Batavia Middle School and the high school are OPEN. 

The announcement was made by School Superintendent Christopher Dailey shortly before 6 a.m. this morning in a voice mail message to parents.

Batavia's First Presbyterian Church will be alive with rousing holiday spirit when "Christmas with Vox, a Festival of Carols" comes around on Friday, Dec. 20.

"Vox Lumine," a professional chorus group made up of 25 members from all over Western and Central New York, is performing for the public free of charge at the church, at 300 E. Main St. in Batavia.

Ann Emmans, minister of music at First Presbyterian, says this is going to be "the church's gift to the community."

"We had ('Vox Lumine') at the church for a concert in May," Emmans said, "and it was delightful.  We thought, 'What would be more wonderful than to have them back for Christmas?' "

Costs are being covered by the church's memorial donation funds from the last few years.

The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. and will probably run about an hour and a half, according to "Vox Lumine" first tenor Mark Ross.

A reception with Christmas cookies and punch will follow in the church's fellowship area.

The performance will feature 17 Christmas songs, including classics such as "Carol of the Bells" and "Joy to the World" and lesser know works, as well as pieces with different ethnic backgrounds (including Polish and Italian).

Emmans stressed that the music is "non-commercial" and has a "sacred character."

"It's more about the joy of the season," she said.

"(The Christmas season) is a time when people appreciate music even more than they normally do," Ross said, "because it's associated with the events of the holiday."

"Vox Lumine" was formed in March 2010 by founder and director Brandon Johnson, D.M.A, director of choral activities at Houghton College.

Ross, of Batavia, said they have done concerts as far east as Ithaca and as far west as Orchard Park.

Because members live in scattered locations (the member living at the farthest distance from Batavia is from Syracuse), Johnson sends the music to each of them individually. They will come together in two rehearsals between now and Dec. 20 to "meld" (in Emmans' words) what they have learned together. So each will quite literally bring his/her own voice to the performance.

A Houghton graduate, a member of First Presbyterian Church for 41 years and currently commissioned lay pastor at Stone Church Presbyterian in Bergen, Ross is very happy to be a part of the upcoming performance. It coincides with his retirement from New York Central Mutual Insurance, where he worked for 27 years as an insurance adjustor.

"It's a wonderful combination," he said with a smile on his face.

For more information, call the church at 343-0505 or e-mail Emmans at HEmmans@aol.com.

Pictured Emmans and Ross at the First Presbyterian Church sanctuary.

Top photo submitted by Mark Ross.

Samuel R. Smith, 27, of Townline Road, Bergen, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Smith was allegedly involved in a motor vehicle accident at 9:22 a.m., Sunday, and his children, ages 7 months and 3, were not secured in any sort of child restraint in the back seat at the time of the collision. The arrest report did not indict whether the children were injured or not.

Amanda Ann Mull, 29, of Mill Street, Akron, was arrested on bench warrants related to charges for aggravated unlicensed operation and following too closely. Mull is accused of failure to appear on the charges. She was arrested following her release from the Erie County Jail where she was held on unrelated charges. She was arraigned in Town of Batavia court jailed on $300 cash bail or $500 bond.