Regional and local soccer players gathered at the recently completed Batavia Sports Park at Batavia Turf Farms on Bank Street Road over Saturday and Sunday for various training sessions.
The camp included sessions for the New York State West Olympic Development Program on both days. This afternoon the Genesee Amateur Soccer Association held a Coaches and Players Clinic.
More pictures after the jump:
In the Town of Batavia Fire Hall on Saturday night, Batavia's volunteers gathered for their annual awards dinner and installation of officers.
Above, all of the firefighters who responded to at least 100 calls during 2009 are recognized.
Dan Kemp was named Firefighter of the Year and Randy McIntire won the President's Award. Nate Fix and Bob Mullen were recognized for each responding to more than 200 calls.
Dan Jacques and Paul Barrett (who was unable to attend) were recognized for 25 years of service.
After the jump, more pictures:
Dan Kemp, Firefigher of the Year.
President's Award, Randy McIntire.
Dan Jacques, 25 years of service.
Fire Chief Bob Hunt.
Harness racing isn't want it used to be and probably never will be again, according to newly elected Chairman of the Western Region Off Track Betting Board of Directors Dick Siebert.
In an interview with WBTA, Siebert characterized harness racing as "the cost of doing business." It's the loss leader that under state law allows Batavia Downs Casino to keep its doors open for the much more profitable video slot machines.
"The people that used to come to our parlors, the 55 and older men, are no longer 55 years of age," Siebert said. "Unfortunately, they're dying off. The newer group of people, it doesn't have the interest to them that it did with the old bettor. ... I honestly can't see where harness racing is going to turn around and ever be back where it was in the '50s, '60s and '70s."
He said in 2009, Batavia Downs lost $1.5 million on harness racing while the video lottery terminals brought in $3 million in profits.
To help reduce harness racing costs, more bets will be placed at electronic terminals rather than at the traditional caged window with a person taking the bet.
Meanwhile, Siebert said the Downs continues to work with state regulators on a plan to address deficiencies in some administrative procedures. He said the board is looking to hire a consultant to help address the state's concerns, rather than bring in a management company to take over the Downs' operations, which is one of the state's other suggestions.
Full interview available here (mp3).
A Batavia woman was hurt in a two-vehicle accident at 1:35 p.m. Friday in Alabama.
The woman stopped the 2003 Toyota pickup she was driving at intersection of Townline Road and Maple Street Road when she was struck by another car that was behind her.
Cheryl A. Vagg, 53, of 110 Evans St., Batavia, was transported to UMMC by ground ambulance with back pain, according to Deputy Timothy Wescott, who investigated the accident.
The other driver, Susan J. Neamon, 46, of 2272 Thomas Road, Varysburg, was not injured.
Vagg's passenger, Keith W. Cadieux, 54, was not injured.
Neamon told Wescott she was "looking for oncoming traffic and must have rolled forward." Her 2009 Ford Sedan struck Vagg's truck, which was in front of her preparing to make a right-hand turn on Maple Street Road.
No citations were issued.
A 35-year-old Batavia man reported being shot and his wallet stolen as he walked down what he thinks was Indian Falls Road about 5:30 p.m., Saturday.
After being shot and robbed, Carlos Torres called a friend for assistance, who drove him to UMMC. He was transferred from UMMC to Strong Memorial Hospital by Mercy Flight, according to the Sheriff's Office.
He was in surgery at the time the Sheriff's Office released information on the incident at 11:23 p.m., Saturday.
Torres told officials, according to the release, that he believes he was walking on Indian Falls Road when a car pulled up behind him and somebody demanded his wallet. He was then shot in the back and his wallet was taken.
After the suspects left, he continued walking to Route 5, where he called a friend for help.
The Sheriff's Office says Torres was shot twice with a small caliber weapon. His injuries are not believed to be life threatening.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff's Office at 345-3000.
Police have responded to a report of a fight at the carnival in downtown Batavia.
When the first unit he arrived, the officer reported "quite a fight." He immediately called for an ambulance for a person having a seizure.
A subject was reportedly seen fleeing west on Ellicott Street and crossing the street toward Della Penna's. Police are looking for two white males, with one wearing a white T-shirt.
UPDATE 10:04 p.m.: One of the subjects who fled reportedly dropped a knife. A second fight has reportedly broken out. Two State Police units have been called in to back up Batavia Police.
UPDATE 10:11 p.m.: Mercy EMS was requested to check on a male down behind Alberty's. He reportedly has a head laceration. There is also a report of "all suspects are black males." It's unclear if that's related to all fights or just one of the fights.
UPDATE 10:29 p.m.: One patient transported to UMMC. Police units going back in service.
UPDATE 8 a.m. Sunday: Reader Adam Lowder submitted the photo above. His description of events follows after the jump:
Adam Lowder's description of events:
I was at the carnival when the fight took place, and I have attached a photo of the aftermath.
First off I would like to say that this carnival was just plain disgusting. The majority of the ride attendants I witnessed were interacting with the patrons; using foul language, leaving their stations for minutes at a time, and one was even smoking a swisher sweet style cigar that he passed to a young patron to hold onto and smoke for a few minutes.
There were groups of unsupervised middle-school aged kids all over.
We were getting ready to leave around ten o'clock when I saw the ride attendant from the “vehicles that go in a circle” kids' ride (black male 20's red hat with goatee) wrap his arms around a black male, belly to belly, and slowly but forcefully push him across the grounds. The attendant was making statements along the lines of, "just leave" and the male being forced back was saying, "did you hear what he said" repeatedly.
After a minute of this and after a few other people involved yelled towards the two men, the ride attendant in red let go of the male who took off towards Jackson St. Seconds later a group of people (prominently if not all black males) took off running in the same direction.
Ten to fifteen seconds later a few more males ran passed me in the same direction. That is when I saw a crowd of observers gathering on Jackson St. and people screaming and yelling.
As I approached the area, I could see a large group of people involved in physical actions (some jumping around, some swinging their arms, some taking pictures with their phones) in the middle of the street.
An officer in a SUV pulled up with his lights flashing and the group quickly scattered. A few more police cruisers quickly arrived on the seen. I did not see the police apprehend any of those involved, or really even attempt to do so. They all came to the man that was left lying in the middle of the street.
A few minutes later, two of the cruisers rushed over towards Rt. 63, and one stopped next to the Salvation Army.
One thing that I am certain of is that some of the ride attendants were involved in this. The one that I mentioned earlier who was smoking the cigar was in the group that ran past me. He was a black male wearing a Kobe Bryant Lakers jersey, and he was running the “Rio Grande Train” kids’ ride.
I stopped to snap this photo as I walked back to my car parked across from O’Lacy’s Bar.
At this point, the injured male was still lying in the road, paramedics had arrived, there was a crowd of people watching, and a couple of officers were standing near the victim watching.
The Downtown Batavia Carnival continued on Saturday, so we have more pictures from this afternoon. Sunday is the final day and it runs from 1 to 5 p.m.
More pictures after the jump:
Families from Batavia's Natural Parenting Network gathered at the home of Kristi Evans today for a May Day Party that featured arts and crafts for the children. Evans said the wind today made it a little tough to do crafts outside, but all the kids were having a great time, anyway.
Sarah Fisher set up the foot-painting activity and Olivia Dayton was the first child to give it a try.
Kids from the First United Methodist Church in Batavia were at the Town of Batavia Fire Hall today washing cars for donations. It's a fundraiser to build a school for a village in Nicaragua. The church needs to raise $20,000. The next car wash is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 12 at the same location. To help with the school building project, call Sharon McWerthy at 343-6326.
One of my favorite parts of Spring in Batavia is charcoal-cooked hot dogs at Jerry Arena's pizzeria on Lewiston Road. I made my first stop of the season there today.
If anyone around the Walden apartments area/Bank Street area or at this point anywhere in town sees an all white cat with a purple collar on, her name is Mooshoo. She got out the other day and hasn't returned, she's not an outdoor cat, and I just hoped if anyone finds her they could let me know. She doesn't know this area as I just moved over to this side of town.
A small gray car reportedly hit a Mercy EMS ambulance that was parked at 103 Ross St., Batavia. The driver reportedly fled the scene.
The car will be missing a side-view mirror, knocked off in the accident. It was last seen heading east on East Main Street East Avenue
No further description is available. No injuries were reported.
Police are responding to take a report and look for the car.
UPDATE 10:10 a.m.: The car is likely a Chevy Cavalier.
Vintage Reserve partners Tim Walton (left) and Rob Credi (right) are pictured with Elefunk Clothing founder Jeff Birge.
Rob Credi is not shy to owning and managing businesses in downtown Batavia and he is at it again. Credi recently teamed up with Tim Walton, to open Vintage Reserve retail clothing at 214 East Main Street, inside the building that houses TopLine Shirt Company, a screen printing and embroidery company that Walton owns.
Credi, who was the owner and founder of Main Street Coffee, and most recently the manager of The Daily Grind coffee shop owned by Ken Mistler, said "The timing worked out perfectly. Tim approached me and told me that he had space that he needed to fill and I always wanted to get into the screen printing and clothing business so it was perfect".
Vintage Reserve currently offers three full clothing lines and has styles for both men and women. The store's self named brand, Vintage Reserve, a line developed by Credi is a line that offers retro styled clothing that is themed on music and the rebirth of our culture. Walton developed Narrabeen Surf Co., a beach styled lined that represents the surfer and beach theme. The last line is an urban styled line, Elefunk Clothing Co., that was originally established in 2002, by founder Jeff Birge and Tim Torrey.
"We want to be the clothing store where you want to go when it's time for clothes shopping. We hope people give us a look before traveling to the mall to buy their outfits." Walton said. "Our prices are competitive and our styles are ones that people want to wear".
Currently the store offers a variety of shirts and has plans to expand to pants, hoodies, bags and other clothing accessories.
Credi and Walton celebrated their official grand opening of Vintage Reserve on April 10 and have had an overwhelming response from the local community. They recently launched their online webstore, www.vintagereserveonline.com, and have been able to expand their customer base to as far as California and Montreal.
Photo courtesy of Nate Oaksford/ NMO Photography
This evening at the carnival, I thought I should get a picture of the midway from a rooftop, and when I saw Steve Valle in front of Valle Jewelers, I asked him if I could borrow his rooftop. We got up there just in time to see the entire flock of gulls on the Latina's roof take flight (unfortunately, none of those shots really turned out). Steve allowed me to hang out a bit longer as the sun set, and eventually, I got this shot.
Friday was a beautiful evening to spend at a carnival, and plenty of people turned out for the second night of the Downtown Batavia Spring Carnival.
The carnival continues Saturday and Sunday.
More pictures after the jump:
A Batavia man with at least five arrests for various alleged crimes in the past two years now faces a burglary, 2nd, charge for allegedly participating in a home-invasion burglary March 18.
Brandon C. Dodd, 23, who police say does not now list a permanent address, is accused of forcing his way into the home on Vine Street, wearing a bandanna to cover his face, with an accomplice.
Police at the time said the residents of the home fought back, and investigators did not believe the home was selected at random.
Dodd was arraigned and jailed today on $25,000 bail.
His alleged accomplice, Robert D. Wright, 18, of 149 Ross St., was arrested March 26 and charged with burglary, 2nd. At the time of his arrest, he was jailed without bail. His current status is not immediately available.
Dodd's previously reported arrests:
PRAYER...AMERICA'S HOPE
THURSDAY, MAY 6TH
Millions of Americans will unite in prayer at thousands of events from coast to coast to observe the National Day of Prayer on Thursday, May 6th. The theme for this year is “Prayer for Such a Time as This” and is based on the verse from Nahum 1:7 which states: “The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him.”
This year, like previous years, parents are braving a long line to buy tickets to the Suzanne's School of Dance dance recital. The first person in line arrived before 8 a.m.
It was a day for hanging out in the sun at Glass Roots on Center Street today. Jen Fountain of Batavia was having fun with a hula-hoop. She said, "I just learned today and now I can't stop."
The Batavia Business Improvement District held its annual meeting and awards luncheon today at the Homestead Events Center in Batavia City Centre.
Top photo, Rick Mancuso, co-owner (with his brother Ben) of T.F. Brown's accepts proclamations from Sen. Mike Ranzenofer and Assemblyman Steve Hawley. Also pictured, Don Burkel, executive director of the BID, and BID President Victor Gautieri.
Bottom photo, William Parker, winner of "Spirit of Downtown Community Volunteer Award," Mary Valle, "Spirit of Downtown BID Volunteer Award," and Rick Mancuso, "Spirit of Downtown Business Award."
Not able to attend, Ken Mistler, owner of Next Level Fitness & The Daily Grind, winner of "Spirit of Downtown Business Award" for a newly established business.
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