EIghth-grader Cody Harloff was the first to cross the finish line in a 1K fun run at Centennial Park this morning held to promote the Batavia High School Cross-country Team.
The run was promoted to Batavia Middle School students.
Below, Coach Rich Boyce explains to the rules of the race to the runners.
First-place awards were given to the winners at each grade level participating.
A heavy rainstorm delayed the start of the annual mother and sons Mud Run at John Kennedy School today, but once the clouds cleared, the race was on.
Jennifer Desautels, covered in mud, gives a mock hug to her uniformed father, Firefighter Tom Douglas.
A large fight is reported in the City of Batavia at Austin Park, 10 Jefferson Ave. City police are on scene with "a large group on Jefferson."
Law enforcement is responding to the parking lot on Veterans Memorial Drive in the Town of Batavia outside GameStop for a report of a dog locked inside a blue Chevy Silverado truck. It's 79 degrees now here.
GameStop is located at 4232 Veterans Memorial Drive, unit E-2.
Shots fired near my location. Should I go toward them? Can I get there? What is the aftermath if I do? Register today for M&S Tactical Solutions Active Assailant Awareness for the Concealed Carrier!
This course will focus on what you can do as a concealed carrier to protect yourself and your loved ones during an active shooting, as well as the moral, ethical and legal aspects. There will also be a hands-on, scenario-based component covering emergency first aid and tourniquet application, taught by a current NYS Tactical Paramedic.
Seats are limited -- Call 585-219-4248 or visit www.mandstactical.com today!
A motor-vehicle accident with injuries is reported at Lewiston and Park roads in front of Town of Batavia Fire Station. Four vehicles were involved. "All the vehicles are clear; there's just a lot of debris in the roadway."
Injuries are reported; one victim is a 12-year-old child. Town of Batavia Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding.
UPDATE 5:28 p.m.: A second ambulance is requested for a victim with a knee injury.
The message of a community meeting Thursday night at St. Anthony's on Liberty Street in Batavia was clear: The Southside community needs to pull together if residents want to reduce the risk of a repeat of what happened on Central Avenue the night of May 17 when one man was stabbed to death and another man was wounded by a bullet from a handgun.
The meeting was put together by Councilwoman Kathy Briggs with the participation of Batavia PD and more than three dozen people attended.
"Believe me when I tell you, we're doing something about this problem," Briggs said. "We're doing whatever we can, working with the police. We are going to eliminate this problem."
Before residents spoke, Chief Shawn Heubusch, Det. Kevin Czora and Assitant Chief Todd Crossett briefed people on what the police are doing and what has been done to address issues with disturbances on the Southside, especially recent hotspots on Central, Jackson, Watson, Thorpe, and Maple.
There are increased patrols, including foot and bike patrols, a camera on Central -- and the chief is asking the city to purchase more cameras -- and more support from the Sheriff's Office for increasing the frequency of patrols around Central Avenue.
There is brighter lighting on Central Avenue and Heubusch told residents that if there is a trouble spot and lighting needs to be increased, call the police department. He said National Grid has been responsive and helpful to requests for more lighting.
A primary message of Heubusch, Czora, and Crossett: If you see or hear something, say something. The police operate more successfully with community support.
"It takes people to step up and become part of the solution," Czora said.
Crossett said citizens sometimes see new problem areas before police.
"If you do not see patrols and are seeing problems, let us know," Crossett said. "We can expand the patrol area."
He also encouraged residents to call police if they know a person is on probation or parole and it appears they're not abiding by their terms of supervision.
Landlords were a big part of the discussion. Most landlords are cooperative, Heubusch said, but in response to residents who would like to see landlords get punished for the bad behavior of tenants, Heubusch said there's only so much the police can do.
The City has no say in who a landlord rents to, but in most cases, it's not the tenant causing the problems. It's the people visiting the area that cause the most problems.
That makes it hard to hold a landlord accountable. If a landlord is knowingly allowing criminal activity on his or her property, the landlord can be charged with criminal nuisance but that can be a hard case to make and sustain.
"The people causing problems are not the tenants of the property," Heubusch said. "They are visitors so it is hard to connect those dots."
Somebody suggested that landlords be fined if police are being called too frequently to a property but Heubusch said that expense or resulting hardship would roll back to tenants and discourage them from calling police when they need help. It might discourage, for example, calls for domestic incidents.
"We don't want to dissuade people from calling the police," Heubusch said.
He did mention that landlords have resources through the city to help them manage their properties better. For a fee, Batavia PD will run a background check on a potential tenant. For free, through a FOIL request, landlords can track police calls to the properties they own to see how much police activity their tenants are generating.
"For the most part, the landlords will deal with problems and are very willing to work with us," Heubusch said.
If citizens want troublemakers arrested, however, eyewitness accounts are critical to solving crimes and getting convictions.
"If there's a large disturbance a lot of times the parties involved don't want to cooperate," Heubusch said. "If there are third-party witnesses there is a better chance we can make an arrest. We go to these calls all the time where the victim won't cooperate. When it comes to prevention, we need eyewitnesses."
He said if a citizen sees something and wants to tell police, they can arrange with a dispatcher to meet an officer at the police station or for a phone interview to avoid people seeing an officer knock on a residence's door.
Councilman Bob Bialkowski asked what kind of incident should citizens report, and used an example of a large group walking down the street.
Heubusch said report criminal activity. If something seems suspicious, police will come and check it out, but that large group walking down the street could be just a bunch of kids talking loud.
Bernie Thompson suggested everybody can do their part to help the neighborhood. He had a problem with kids cutting across his yard, so he put a fence around his property and if they jump the fence, he said, "I've got two hungry bull mastiffs."
He said people shouldn't be afraid to call the police.
Carol Pietryzykowski said she is a landlord and takes care of her properties. She said the city needs to do more to take care of the Southside -- taking care of sidewalks, cleaning up streets, picking up trash at the parks.
"I think the city needs to take a little more pride in the Southside," Pietryzykowski said.
Debra Smith said there is also a role for parents to play.
"Some of these parents need to be responsible for their children," Smith said.
Residents expressed concern about local children growing up with parents who have criminal records and have spent, or are spending, time in jail and whether those children are getting sufficient direction in their lives.
One of the last speakers was Pastor Marty Macdonald, from City Church, owner of the St. Anthony's property now.
He talked about his own childhood, being homeless at 17, and growing up without parents, and the adults who influenced him not to give up. He said that's why St. Anthony's exist. He said every Tuesday there are 150 to 200 kids taking part in recreational activities at St. Anthony's and getting a free meal, courtesy of donations from Genesee County businesses.
"If we all paid a little more attention to these children, we would get great results," Macdonald said. "We have to change the culture. We have to be the leaders in our community.
He added later, "Instead of looking down, we need to lift their heads up and tell them, 'you're going to make it.' "
The sixth annual Batavia Football Golf Outing will be held on Saturday, July 21, at Batavia Country Club. It is located at 7909 Batavia Byron Road, Batavia.
Cost is $90 per golfer / $360 per foursome.
There's a shotgun start format starting at 8 a.m.; registration is 7:15-7:45 a.m.
Price includes:
Questions? Contact Brennan Briggs at 409-5557.
If you would like to sponsor a hole or make a donation for the raffle, please contact Brennan Briggs.
Payment and registration is due by July 13. Please provide names of players and preferred T-shirt size.
Make checks payable to: Blue Devils Touchdown Club.
Mail to:
Brennan Briggs
8 Woodland Drive
Batavia, NY 14020
Press release:
The Zonta Club of Batavia-Genesee County is seeking donations for their current community project of Personal Care Packages being assembled for both victims of domestic violence and for female veterans.
Items needed to complete care packages are: Full-size shampoo, full-size conditioner, lotions, toothpaste, dental floss, deodorant, female sanitary items, tissues, journals, socks, nail polish, hairbrushes/combs, and shower loofahs. Zonta Club of Batavia-Genesee’s goal is to assemble a total of 100-200 care packages.
Items may be dropped off to Beth Kemp at T-Shirts Etc., 37 Center St., Batavia, by June 15th. For further details and/or questions regarding the personal care packages contact Beth Kemp at 585-993-7747 or bkemp@downtownbataviany.com.
About Zonta: Founded in 1919, Zonta International seeks to empower women worldwide by improving the legal, political, economic, educational, health and professional status of women at the global and local levels through service and advocacy.
With the generosity and collective action of Zontians and friends around the world, Zonta International has supported projects in 57 countries, provided scholarships and awards to women around the world, and been a powerful advocate for change in our local and international communities.
Press release:
The Batavia Rotary Club’s popular annual Fly-in Breakfast is scheduled for Sunday, June 17, 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Genesee County Airport, 4701 Saile Drive, Batavia.
As in years past, the event is expected to attract more than 1,500 guests from across Western New York, as well as numerous private aircraft pilots from across the state and beyond. Residents throughout Western New York are invited to enjoy breakfast, meet the pilots, and view their aircraft.
The Fly-in Breakfast menu will feature sausage, eggs and omelets, pancakes, and beverages. Adult tickets are $8. Tickets for children ages 4 through 12 are $5. Children under the age of 4 are admitted free.
Tickets for the event may be obtained from any member of the Batavia Rotary Club or at the door.
Saile Drive is located just north of the City of Batavia and the Batavia exit of the New York State Thruway, off Route 98.
Over the years, members of the Batavia Rotary Club have turned the event into a well-oiled machine. Co-chair Edmund Leising and a team of almost 50 Rotarians will check people in, cook and serve a delicious breakfast, and clean tables after guests leave, all quickly and efficiently.
The event attracts families celebrating Father’s Day, people coming from church, or area residents wanting to enjoy breakfast in an unusual location. The event also attracts many people curious about aircraft. Guests can see airplanes landing and taking off up close, and talk with the pilots.
Proceeds from the event benefit the Batavia Rotary Club’s youth programs. The Batavia Rotary Club, founded in 1919, provides financial and volunteer support to numerous community service organizations, with a special emphasis on service to young people.
Jess DiSalvo shared this picture taken at 5:40 a.m. of a rainbow over the Willow Group building on Clinton Street, Batavia.
A caller reports a dog locked in a white Ford Escape parked for at least 30 minutes in front of Alberty's Drug Store on Main Street in Batavia.
Batavia PD responding.
The current temperature is 84 degrees. The south side of Main Street is in the shade this time of day.
The Public Market located at Bank Street and Alva Place parking lot will welcome back more than 20 vendors again this summer and fall, along with some brand-new vendors. Market hours will continue on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
This year’s market will host a special Kids Day on Aug 10th.
If you are interested in being a vendor at the Downtown Batavia Public Market please contact Mike Bakos at MBakos@rochester.rr.com or 716.866.4958. Follow “Genesee Country Farmer’s Market” on Facebook for updates on produce and specialty items available.
Batavia High School teacher Caryn Wood has woven together songs from three musicals, "Wicked," "The Wiz," and "The Wizard of Oz," to create a new production for the Drama Club that will serve as a fundraiser for the program.
Wood said the songs are pulled together in a single timeline to tell the Wizard of Oz story.
"All three are very different musical styles, but we took some of the most well-known songs from each," Wood said.
Wood described the story:
Wicked tells the story of Elphaba & Glinda and their unlikely friendship that gets turned upside down when the young girl, Dorothy drops from the sky into Munchkin Land. Unfortunately, during a cyclone, Dorothy's house lands on a kills the Wicked Witch of the East who in Wicked you learn is really Nessa, Elphaba's younger sister.
Both The Wiz and The Wizard of Oz pick up the story at that point and follow Dorothy and her band of three friends (Scarecrow, Tinman, & Lion) as they travel the yellow brick road through Oz. In the Emerald City, they meet the Wizard who sends them on a mission to free the land from the grips of The Wicked Witch of the West.
But in Wicked the question is also asked...who really is the "Wicked Witch?" Perhaps the answer isn't quite as simple as you might think.
"The music from these shows is amazing and memorable, and our students have loved bringing all three of them to life," Wood said.
The price of admission: Whatever you are willing to donate to the program.
The performance is tomorrow at 7 p.m.
Seating is limited.
Featured cast includes:
There are also six returning alumni participating in the production.
Jeffrey Fischer is vocal director and accompanist, Jane E. Haggett is on keyboard/synthesizer and Wood is the director and producer.
Top Photo: Tanner Kolb, Eryn Dunn, AT Thatcher, and Cameron Bontrager.
Evan Bellavia
Madison Hoebelt and Madeline Keenan
Daniel E. Wells, 29, of Royalton, is charged with criminally negligent homicide. Wells was charged following an investigation by the Niagara County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigation Bureau and the Niagara County Drug Task Force. Wells is accused being with his sister, Christyna Wells, 34, of Oakfield, in the City of Niagara Falls Nov. 10 when she overdosed on an unspecified drug. Wells then drove his sister to the 9400 block of Ridge Road in Royalton before summoning medical assistance. Wells is currently being held in the Niagara County Jail without bail on unrelated charges.
Edward Ryan Loper, 30, of Pratt Road, Batavia, is charged with robbery, 2nd. Loper allegedly stole money from a victim while being aided by another person who caused physical injury to the victim. The incident was reported at 5:47 p.m. Sunday. Loper was jailed on $20,000 bail.
Brianna Renee Button, 22, of King Street, Albion, is charged with robbery, 2nd, and assault, 3rd. Button allegedly hurt a victim while working with another person to steal money from the victim. The incident was reported at 5:47 p.m. Sunday. Button was jailed on $10,000 bail.
William John Velky, 36, of Macomber Road, Oakfield, is charged with petit larceny. Velky is accused of stealing firewood from another person on Macomber Road, Oakfield.
The height of the buildings at Oatka Milk Products at Cedar and Ellicott Streets, Batavia, proved to be the perfect place today for members of the Batavia Fire Department to train with NYS Office of Fire Prevention and Control.
A car vs. pedestrian accident near Rancho Viejo Mexican Restaurant is reported in the City of Batavia. A female is down in the roadway at 12 Ellicott St. City Fire Department Engine #11 is on scene and Mercy medics are responding. A first responder reports the pedestrian is complaining of leg pain.
UPDATE 7:37 p.m.: A teenage girl was running across Ellicott Street from the area of the Upton Monument when she was struck by a vehicle with the right of way. She suffered an ankle inury and is being transported to UMMC. The driver was not cited.
A fawn was rescued and reunited with its mother Saturday night after four local men heard the fawn's plaintive cries in a storm drain and decided to grab their rubber boots and flashlights and try to help it out of the storm drain.
Tyler Hale first became aware of the fawn's plight earlier in the day when he saw a doe hovering near a storm drain grate on Holmes Avenue. After a while, the doe went into the woods and Hale walked over to the grate and he could see the fawn. Hale spent a couple of hours trying to get the fawn out of the storm drain but the little guy just went further into the storm drain.
That night, his friends -- Joe Canzeroni, Kyle Maniace, and Chris Grammatico -- went over to Hale's house for a bonfire. When one of them went behind a shed to get more firewood, he could hear the fawn's cries.
The cries "sounded almost like a baby," Maniace said.
That's when the four men decided they should try again to rescue the fawn.
The four of them each went to different drains and storm drain openings to try and figure out where the animal was.
Maniace went down into the storm drain and found the fawn about 150 to 200 yards down a pipe.
"After I got a little further around the bend I could see its eyes flashing at me, pretty much like a deer in the headlights -- just standing there and not knowing what to do," Maniace said.
He grabbed the fawn.
"We heard Kyle say a few streets over -- 'I got him!' " said Canzeroni, who shot the video of Maniace bringing the fawn out of the storm drain.
Kyle used his shirt to wrap the fawn in and keep him warm.
The group then brought the fawn to the fire, warmed up him and dried him off. When the fawn regained its strength to walk on its own, they put him back where the mother had last been seen. About two hours later, mother returned and retrieved her baby.
The Batavian's news partner 13WHAM contributed to this story.
Submitted photos and press release:
Speak Up Toastmasters had a successful open house on May 22nd at the Emmanuel Baptist Church, located at 190 Oak St., Batavia.
They held a motivating meeting and took applications for new memberships.
Denise Hull's creative ice-breaker speech explained the acronyms that describe who she is. The audience was delighted by the unique way she introduce herself to the club.
Dave Licata's chosen speech was on the importance of taking kids fishing. He gave us some excellent pointers on how to make sure kids have fun and keep their interest in this timeless sport.
The table topics portion of the meeting gave everyone a chance to participate on something they know best, something unique that no one else knows about them. Everyone had fun with that.
The speech evaluators, tasked with finding the high points of the speeches, had glowing remarks for our speakers.
If you would like to participate in an uplifting and motivating meeting such as this and learn leadership skills, visit the website SpeakUpToastmasters.org, call 585-993-0515 or send an email to leslieagmarino@yahoo.com. It's free to visit a club meeting.
The University at Buffalo Bulls are loading up on Batavia track stars with the signing yesterday of Kiaya Franklin to the Division I school.
Last month, Anthony "Butchie" Ray signed with UB.
Franklin has been a member of the varsity track team since eighth grade. She holds school records in the 200 meter, the 60 meter, the 300 meter, the 400-meter indoor, the 400-meter outdoor, the 4x4 relay indoor.
She won her first state medal in 2015 and won three more in 2016 and three more in 2017.
She's been first team Monroe County All-League each of the past four years and won the Section V Devin Snyder 2016 Outdoor Female Award.
She has 16 sectional title patches, including five for the indoor team, three for the outdoor team, and eight individual patches.
Photo by Frank Capuano.
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