batavia

Wortyndyke Road in the Town of Batavia is closed temporarily for repaving. There are barricades up at routes 33 and 5. No vehicles, including emergency vehicles, will be allowed.

Brad C. Doward, of 10 Hall St., Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt in the first degree, endangering the welfare of a child, and harassment, 2nd. The 22-year-old was involved in a domestic incident Aug. 3 on Prune Street wherein he allegedly pushed a female acquaintance in the presence of a 10-year-old child. There's an order of protection in place directing the defendant to refrain himself from harassment against this female. He turned himself into the Batavia PD on Aug. 5, was arraigned and put in jail without bail pending his court appearance today at 1:30 p.m. The investigating officers were Frank Klimjack and Jason Ivison.

Press release:

Genesee ARC and the City Youth Bureau Parks program teamed up this summer to offer educational tours at ARC’s new Trash & Recycling facility, 3785 W. Main St. Road.

Children from all five city parks program sites signed up to learn about the city’s recycling efforts and how items are reduced, reused and recycled.  ARC Trash & Recycling Coordinator Mike Smith shared information about recycling seven different types of plastic, as well as tin cans, paper and the number one product recycled at the new facility, cardboard.

A new initiative called e-recycling was showcased during the tour, explaining the NYS law requiring recycling of electronics such as a computers, televisions, cell phones and electronic games.

(Photo: Mike Smith and a group from the Williams Park recreation program in front of piles of baled tin cans).

A one-car rollover accident with four occupants still inside is reported on the westbound Thruway at mile marker 393.7. Unknown injuries. East Pembroke Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding.

UPDATE 7:33 p.m.: The vehicle landed on its roof and it's actually on the shoulder of Harloff Road. One person remains trapped inside. There are multiple cars pulled over near the accident scene.

UPDATE 7:36 p.m.: Two adults and two infants were in the car, with one adult still inside. A second ambulance is called along with traffic control.

UPDATE 7:51 p.m.: The driver is being transported to Erie County Medical Center.

UPDATE 8:01 p.m.: The babies are being transported to Women's & Children's Hospital in Buffalo.

UPDATE 8:07 p.m.: East Pembroke is back in service.

Amy Swanson, assistant director for Crossroads House, sent along a couple of pictures from yesterday's Run the Roads for Crossroads House 5K. She said it was a "wonderful day" for a run. A total of 211 people turned out for the event. Collin Mulcahy finished first to win the Overall Male with a time of 17:19; Liz Valento was the Overall Female winner with a time of 20:35.

The complete results can be found at www.crossroadshouse5k.com.

Swanson wrote:

All proceeds raised today help support the mission of Crossroads House in providing comfort care to the dying. Individuals with three months or less to live can stay at Crossroads House completely for free where our volunteers and nurses take care of physical, emotional and medical needs.

We accept residents from not only Genesee County, but also Wyoming county as well. All of our funding comes from in-kind donations, memorials and community support like we experienced today! Along with the runners and walkers who turned out today, more than 50 area business sponsored this event!

Aiden, at 22 months, enjoyed his first visit to the Spray Park in Austin Park today while his family, from Clarendon, was visiting Batavia.

More shots from the Spray Park in today's 90-degree weather below.

The weather prediction for Sunday remains strong thunderstorms.

Joe Maiorano (top) and Charlie Hamilton (bottom) tie off during the annual Ricky Palermo Foundation charity tournament at Terry Hills today. Maiorano came from Danbury, Conn., and Hamilton from Tampa, Fla., for the tournament.

The World Harmony Run passed through Batavia today.

The effort is a relay-run involving dozens of runners who have already traveled 8,500 miles on a 10,000-mile journey through all 48 continental states.

There are also running participants in 100 other countries around the globe.

Salil Wilson said the effort is intended to send a message that "peace and harmony starts with each person."

"It demonstrates," he said, "that there is far more that unites us as one human family than divides us."

The group, which includes runners from Germany, Hungary, New Zealand, Belarus, and, of course, the United States, stopped for refreshments at the Peace Garden before heading east.

Click here for a map of the route the group has traveled.

Top photo and photo below, Laszlo Szente, of Hungary.

A Maple Street resident who admitted to welfare fraud will serve five years probation and must repay $11,341.18 after being sentenced in Genesee County Court.

Kerry Ackley, 39, admitted in May to a felony count of attempted grand larceny, 3rd.

She received benefits after failing to report her receipt of worker's compensation. She was originally charged with four counts of offering a false instrument for filing and the grand larceny charge.

Ackley is also barred from receiving food stamps.

A man who robbed a bank in Batavia in November 2007 entered a guilty plea in federal court on Friday, admitting to a total of five bank robberies in Western New York and Pennsylvania.

Michael Makolinski, 31, of Buffalo, faces up to 25 years in jail, a $1 million fine or both after pleading guilty to bank robbery.

“In his greed to steal the money of others, this serial bank robber thought he could prey upon banks located is some of our smaller communities, as well as in Buffalo,” said U.S. Attorney William Hochul. “As today’s convictions prove, the defendant’s belief was wrong.”

Besides the robbery of the Bank of America branch in Batavia, Makolinski, who appeared to display a gun in each robbery, hit banks in Erie, Pa., Irondequoit, Lewiston and Buffalo.

All of the robberies occurred between October 2007 and December 2007.

Sentencing is set for Nov. 13.

A two-car accident with possible minor injuries is reported on Clinton Street Road, Batavia, in front of Terry Hills Golf Course.

The accident is blocking.

Town of Batavia Fire Department and Mercy EMS responding.

UPDATE 10:21 a.m.: One lane blocked. Debris in roadway. One person complaining of neck pain.

UPDATE 10:34 a.m.: One patient being transported to UMMC.

UPDATE 10:51 a.m.: Town of Batavia fire back in service.

Press release:

City residents and those who work in the city are asked to provide input to the Batavia City Council through a Citizen Survey posted on the city’s Web site at www.batavianewyork.com.

Two years ago the city conducted a citizen survey to gauge how citizens perceive the quality of several city services. The survey also inquired as to whether citizens plan to remain in Batavia in five years and provided an area for general comments.

The data received from the survey was used to develop the city’s Strategic and Business Plan. Last year was an overwhelming success for our first year of implementation as the city achieved or exceeded nearly all of its identified performance measurements and key intended outcomes.

The results of the 2012 survey will again provide the city with information for its strategic planning process 2013 – 2015.

“This past year has been an enormous success for our city,” said City Manager Jason Molino. “It is important that we continue this planning process moving forward, and getting input from our citizens and workforce is vital to the planning success.”

The online survey can be viewed using any computer with Internet access. To find the survey, an individual will need to go to www.batavianewyork.com and click on the link labeled, “Citizen Survey.”

This link will take you directly to the survey which can be filled out online and submitted by the click of a button upon completion. All residents and those working in the city can take the survey, and the survey can be accessed more than once by eligible members of the same household.

For individuals without computer access, the Richmond Memorial Library is encouraging Batavia residents to utilize its free Internet service to take the survey. The library offers several computer terminals from which the survey can be taken. The service is free, however individuals must sign up to become a library member.

Membership to the Richmond Memorial Library is free and requires only a few minutes to provide some basic information. Summer library hours are: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday – Thursday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Residents can also pick up and submit a hard copy of the survey from the city clerk’s office at city hall.

On Memorial Day I took a minute to read the names on the World War I monument in Williams Park.

My assumption was, these where the names of people killed in combat, so when two, possibly three, names looked like the names of women, I was curious as to who they were.

I contacted Susan Conklin, Genesee County historian and records management officer, to see if she knew anything about the monument. She asked me to get the names, which I finally got around to doing for her earlier this week.

Here are the three names that got my attention:

Elva Springer, Florence Carney and Cecelia Cochran.

It turns about both Springer and Carney were men who served in the Marine Corps and Army.

The first name of Springer, a resident of 12 Fisher Park, is also spelled Alva. He was wounded in action some time prior to May 1, 1918. His death as a result of his wounds was reported locally Nov. 22, 1918.

According to a newspaper article from May 1, 1918, Springer was the son of John Springer, who by that time had moved to New York City. John Springer worked for the Batavia Rubber Company. His son had worked for him prior to enlistment.The article says "he was well known among young people here."

Carney, middle name Vincent, was among the first men drafted on Feb. 7, 1918.  He lived at 26 Russell Place. His death was reported Oct. 15, 1918 from pneumonia at Camp Aberdeen.

Miss Cecelia Josephine Cochran, the lone woman listed on the monument, was the daughter of Capt. and Mrs. Elliott P. Cochran of 17 Vernon Ave., Batavia. She had been a nurse in Rochester. She left Batavia Sept. 30, 1918 as a volunteer nurse for the United States Public Health Service. The family was notified Oct. 14, 1918 that she was quite ill with pneumonia at Army Hospital in Huntsville, Ala.

The family held a private funeral Oct. 21, 1918, at home followed by a service at St. Joseph's officiated by Father Gilhooley of East Pembroke.

Cochran was buried with military honors at the Catholic Cemetery in Le Roy.