batavia

Last week, the Batavia Masons presented Paul and Bridget Ohlson with a $500 check to support their Cara-A-Van Ministries.

"We were proud to be able to make a small contribution to such a worthy cause," said Jim Rosenbeck (handing the check to Paul), Master of Lodge #475 of the Free and Accepted Masons. 

"Our lodge has decided to begin regularly identifying worthy causes within the community to financially support," Rosenbeck added. "With membership in all community service organizations dwindling, we feel that this is one way that we can help make a difference in Batavia."

Meet Abigail, a young girl who was found sharing the love of Valentines day with residents of Washington Towers. Her and her grandma Linda were going door to door and sharing Valentines with the residents on this chilly Saturday morning.

Larry Hicks, volunteer of Care-A-Van visits with Margaret

Care-A-Van Ministries stopped by Washington towers to drop off baked goods for the residents  that were donated from a bakery in Alden. Seen here is Paul Ohlson, founder of the ministry helping Ann decide on a treat.

Happy Valentines Day!  May we all have a big heart like Abigal and her Grandma Linda!

 

The Batavia Elks Lodge, #950, has been closed by order of the Grand Trustees of the National Order, according to a letter posted on the door.

A sign in a window says "closed until further notice" and carries a date from yesterday.

The lodge is located at 213 E. Main St., Batavia.

The shut-down notice accuses the local Elks of failing to make required reports and failure to comply with the Elks' auditing and accounting manual.

The letter states that the charter for Lodge #950 has been revoked.

Appointed as trustees of the lodge are Patrick Burns, of Ransomeville, John Ziezeiula, of Lockport, and Kenneth Perry, of Niagara Falls.

The notice informs the local Elks that they are to turn over all items used in ceremonies as well as books, papers and emblems to the trustees.

Local members, according to the notice, can apply to have their membership transferred to other lodges.

(Thank you to a reader for the news tip.)

Easily more than 200 people gathered at the Batavia Party House last night for the Batavia Muckdogs Booster Club's annual hot stove dinner and auction. There were plenty of laughs and people expressed a lot of excitement about the coming season, which could be a critical year for drawing enough community support to keep the team in Batavia.

At the podium, Brian Paris honors "The Voice of the Muckdogs," Wayne Fuller, for his many years of service to the team as the public address announcer and official score keeper. Fuller stepped aside from those roles after the 2009 season. But his voice won't be far from a microphone during the upcoming season; he'll serve as color man on WBTA's broadcast of games.

More pictures after the jump:

Todd Jantzi, left, and Patrick Weissand chat during the silent auction.

Brian Paris, left, and Ryan Gugel chat with a fan who drove to the dinner from Greece.

Board member Bill Kauffman gets a gift from the board honoring his service to baseball in Batavia.

Gretel Kauffman is in the foreground. Immediately behind her is local artist John Hodgins, watching the bidding progress for his winter landscape painting. It fetched $255, well above any other auction item.

Auctioneer Todd Jantzi makes a sale.

Daily News photographer Mark Gutman goofs when the camera gets turned on him for a change. Writer Alanna Stage gets a good laugh.

Everybody likes a little friendly competition, right? And if it's for a good cause, all the better!

These guys definitely feel that way:

Half of them are pictured above...

...and here's the other half!

High schoolers from all over Genesee County are getting involved in "Change for Change" (C4C), a fundraising project for United Way of Genesee County. Student government reps from Batavia High School, the NYS State School for the Blind, Oakfield-Alabama High School and Pavillion Central School gathered in the BHS auditorium Yesterday to kick-start the project. 

From Mar. 8-26, the schools will compete to raise as much money as they can and deposit their funds in an account with the Tonawanda Valley Federal Credit Union (set up for United Way, with a sub-account for each school) every Friday.

BHS government members welcomed their fellow students and gave them the lay of the land (contest rules and stakes, etc.) at Thursday's meeting...

...starting with an icebreaker from treasurer Amanda Jones, who asked representatives of each school to come up with and share a few "fun facts" about their school.

Some interesting ones to consider:

1. O-A HS recently organized a lunch boycott

2. Pavilion is one of the few schools in the state with a pillow tournament

3. The Blind School has a heated pool with a moving floor

4. BHS has the best cookies in the state, inarguably, of course

 

Handling introductions was co-mayor C.J. Shultz, who introduced his fellow officers and their faculty advisors/helpers as follows:

"There's [mayor] Matt Hoye, who has nothing better to do than keep his beautiful red hair perfectly groomed.

"And next to him is Sahil Jain, our representative to the board of education -- which basically means he makes sure the students' voices are heard at board
meetings. But then he doesn’t get to vote for anything, so it doesn't really matter.

"Then we have the wonderful Amanda Jones, who is our treasurer. We have to trust her with our money. She ran unopposed, so we really didn't have a choice.

"Erica Bucci is our secretary, who takes great notes...when she's
there.

"In the audience is [BHS special education teacher] Mrs. Gammack, who is a great student advisor. Nobody else really wanted the job, so...

"And finally, there's Mrs. Johnson, who is the best statistics teacher at Batavia High…actually, she's the only statistics teacher at Batavia High."

Shultz and Hoye were the brains behind the whole operation, according to Gammack and the other student officers.

"They came to me with this idea in August," Gammack said. "And I thought it sounded great."

The project was inspired by 98 PXY's Penny Challenge, in which BHS students competed (and won!) two years ago. They raised $8,000 in pennies by doing "some crazy things" [crazy in a good way, of course], says UW Campaign Associate Christine Fix.

"We saw the school come together in a way that surpassed any kind of sporting event, school activity, etc.," Hoye said. "We felt that another fundraiser could produce a similar effect, continuing to blur the lines between grade levels and uniting the school as a single body."

"I remember how close our school became during the Penny Challenge," Jones said, "and I really wanted to start that kind of excitement within our school again, with a new group of kids."

During the Penny Challenge, the students saw how powerful a tool competition can be when raising money. This time, they decided to expand the range to include their peers throughout the county.

"I think this is a great way to encourage healthy competition and interaction between our schools," Jones said, "especially since Batavia doesn't participate with the smaller schools in sports very much, since we're in the Monroe County League."

There is another major difference from the 98 PXY fundraiser: this time, they are keeping it local.

"Even though we raised a lot of money [for the Penny Challenge], the proceeds went mostly to agencies in Rochester," Hoye said. "Although we are very proud of our efforts and the money we raised, we would like to see our money used within our own communities in Genesee County."

Representatives from area organizations that will benefit from this fundraiser came to the meeting to express their gratitude and to show the kids how much of a difference they will be making.

UW Regional Manager Lori Stupp pointed out that UW will "fall short of [its] goal this year" in terms of fundraising.

"What you guys are doing is going to help us recuperate some of that loss," she added.

Patricia Kurtz of the Salvation Army -- which receives $57,000 a year from UW -- took a moment to thank the high schoolers for "stepping up to represent [their] schools and to raise money for our community."

"Know how important what you're doing is to us," she added. "I hope this goes to show that when we are united, we are strong, and we can change the world together."

YMCA Regional Director Erik Fix called the C4C fundraising project "a phenomenal thing that speaks volumes about the students in our communities."

"It feels like we're a part of history at BHS," education board rep Jain said. "I feel like the fundraiser will only get bigger and better in the years to come, and to be among the people who started it is an incredible thing."

Students of each school were encouraged to be creative with their fundraisers, which could be anything ranging from competitions between the grades to placing cans at community businesses.

Shultz concluded the meeting on a mobilizing note. First, he quoted Gandhi's famous statement: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." Second, he said: "Now get out there and raise as much money as you can. Booyah!"

Stay tuned to The Batavian for updates on C4C's progress, which will be submitted on a weekly basis once the project officially gets started.

 

Additional Note:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (pictured) and Legislator Jay Grasso came to talk to the students about the importance of civic responsibility and why Genesee County is a great place to live in, thereby encouraging them in their efforts.

The OTB is ready to do just about anything to avoid having the State Lottery pull all of the video lottery terminals from Batavia Downs Casino.

That was the message from Western OTB attorney Timothy McCarthy following a closed session meeting of the board at the casino and racetrack this morning.

"They're the boss and it's important they are treated as such and that we not get in a fight as to what we may have done," McCarthy said.

While characterizing the issues raised by the State Lottery in a Feb. 3 letter to the OTB board as "procedural" and "administrative," he said the board is taking the warning very seriously and will react accordingly.

He stressed that there are no allegations of criminality or missing money.

Before the board went into closed session, McCarthy said a private meeting was necessary in order to discuss possible litigation.

After the meeting, McCarthy said there is no plan to get involved in a lawsuit, but given the nature of the enforcement action, the possibility of a hearing and the need to preserve attorney-client privilege, he thought the private session was necessary.

"We chose not to be pugnacious," McCarthy said. "We chose to try and work with the Lottery. We take the Lottery very seriously. The determination by the board was, 'let's find the best way to keep peace.' The best way to keep the peace is to go hat in hand to the Lottery. There is no benefit to be achieved by being litigious, but nevertheless, that option, as it obviously must, was considered."

McCarthy noted that Batavia Downs has provided $75 million in revenue for state schools since it opened with VLTs (slot machines) in May 2005. The Downs also provides a good deal of revenue to local government agencies.

He said the board will do what's necessary to maintain that cash flow.

"If they (board members) want to characterize it as going to the woodshed, they may very well characterize it as such," McCarthy said.

The board agreed to send a four-person delegation to Schenectady to meet with Lottery officials in order to find a solution to the threat of closure.

Among the Lottery's requests is that the Downs hire a consultant to help put the procedural and administrative issues back in order. McCarthy did not say so explicitly, but the tone and tenor of his remarks indicate a willingness to follow that advice.

The members of the delegation will be Paul Lattimore, from Cayuga County, Richard Bianchi, Monroe, Richard Siebert, Genesee and Marcia Touhey, Orleans.

Previously:

• State Lottery threatening Batavia Downs over management issues
• Batavia Downs pledges to work with regulators to address concerns

 

Michael Pullinzi says he has a record as a landlord that he will stack up against anybody.

He feels he was treated unfairly by the Batavia City Council on Monday when the council voted 5-4 to deny him a property at 9 Willow St. that he won in a city auction of delinquent tax properties.

"I challenge them to do a fair comparison of all landlords in the city on the same seven-year period, and I guarantee I will be near the bottom of that list," Pullinzi said in a comment left on the site. "I put over $100K into my properties last year alone and have several open contracts for windows, roofs, siding, carpet, already for this year. I have always been very cooperative with code personnel and all issues are resolved promptly."

Pullinzi's comment was removed because The Batavian has a policy of not editing comments, but there was one sentence that ran counter to site standards.

A copy of the memo given to council is thin on details, but lists reported violations that appear to have more to do with tenant conduct than landlord misconduct.

The list violations include failure to remove debris, yard waste and garbage. The memo also cites grass violations in "multiple" years at 4 Swan St.

Other reported violations include "paint" and "interior viol."  There was also reportedly an unlicensed auto reported at 44-46 Walnut St. in 2003.

"If they had bothered to contact me, I could have explained the most of the 13 code citations over seven years were tenants putting out an extra bag of trash," Pullinzi said. "Most issues in the notices were resolved before I even received the notice and I never had to received a secondary notice on any matter."

The memo states that all violations were corrected and that none of the property owners who bought property at the auction had any outstanding violations, nor had any of the property owners been billed for corrective actions taken by the city.

Among the violations Pullinzi said he received notice on was for a driveway that needed potholes fixed.

"The problem was that it was not my driveway and instead was a city alleyway along the side of my property," Pullinzi said. "To date, the city has not fixed the potholes they demanded I fix, and it has been years."

While the city memo doesn't specify police calls to properties owned by Pullinzi, he said any concern about such calls is misplaced.

"I rent to a lot of handicapped and special-needs tenants and the majority of the police contacts were for emergency medical care calls," Pullinzi said. "Others were for my finding a tenant in a diabetic coma about a year ago, and another contact was my finding the tenant deceased and contacting police. I guess (City Council President Marianne) Clattenburg and (Councilwoman Kathy) Briggs are saying no one should rent to ARC or special-needs individuals or those with medical concerns."

Pullinzi owns properties at 4 Swan, 44-46 Walnut St., 25 Fisher Park, 203 Ross St. and 511 Ellicott St.

If the Muckdogs don't last in Batavia, it won't be because Russ Salway didn't put every ounce of passion he has behind the effort to save the team.

The Le Roy native spends at least 10 hours a week in an office at Dwyer Stadium calling on local and regional businesses trying to sell season ticket packages and special event attendance as well as stadium advertising.

If you bump into him around town, he's likely going to want to talk at some point about the Muckdogs and the need for fan support this season -- this season, especially.

Salway has also set up a group on Facebook called, appropriately enough, Let's Keep the Batavia Muckdogs in Batavia.

Russ Salway doesn't work for the Muckdogs or the Rochester Red Wings, who took over management of the team three years ago. Salway is a volunteer.

"We are obviously operating with a small staff, so we can't get to everything," said General Manager Travis Sick. "So to have somebody like Russ, who is so familiar with the community and knows a lot of people, is a great help.

"He's a tremendous help to us," Sick added. "A lot of people say they want to help, but very few come through like Russ. He's great."

Salway said he is putting so much time and effort to promote the Muckdogs because he can't image Batavia without minor league baseball.

"If we lose the team, we'll never get another one," Salway said.

Last season, the Muckdogs lost about $150,000. That deficit was covered by Rochester Community Baseball, the community group that owns the Red Wings. Club officials say they can't sustain those kinds of losses indefinitely. 

"The Red Wings are definitely behind baseball here, but we need to show some improvement," Sick said. "This is still a business and we can't sustain a hundred-thousand-dollar loss year after year. I don't want to call this a make-or-break year, but we've got to show some improvement."

And Salway says he's making progress. He's finding more people and businesses willing to make a commitment to the Muckdogs this season.

"People are really stepping up," Salway said. "There is no reason we can't make this work."

Sick said season ticket sales are slightly ahead of sales from this time last year.

Salway has become such an integral part of promoting Muckdogs baseball, that it's hard to forget it's not his real job. He has worked for O-AT-KA Milk Products for 15 years, where he mixes ingredients for speciality drinks. 

His schedule allows him to go to Dwyer Stadium to field phone calls for a couple of hours during the week. He runs the Facebook group from home at night.

You might think all of this extra time spent on a volunteer effort might put a strain on his personal relationships, but Salway said that his fiancee, Kellie Porter, is 110 percent behind his effort and even puts in volunteer hours herself.

Both Salway and Porter are doing it, not just for the community, he said, but for their children.

"My kids grew up down the road from Dwyer and we've been going to games for years," he said. "I want the team to remain for years so I can take my grandchildren. It's such a great thing for the community. It's a safe, family-friendly environment. It's really the last place in the county were you can go and see old friends and make new ones."

Sick said it won't take much for the team to show progress -- if more people would just go to one more game a year and a few bring some friends, that would help. The team draws about 2 percent of the population to games. If that number just ticked up a notch to 3 percent, it would make a huge difference, Sick said.

The Muckdogs are part of a tradition of professional baseball in Batavia that goes back to 1939. The New York-Penn League was founded in Batavia. Salway said Batavia shouldn't lose that continuity and that sense of history.

The next big event in the life of every Muckdog's fan is the Hot Stove Dinner on Friday at the Batavia Party House. It may be possible to purchase tickets ($25) at the door, but it would be better to buy them in advance at Dwyer Stadium.

I happened to stop in Terry Platt's office today and the conversation eventually got around to dog tricks. It turns out his dog, Kiwi, likes to chew gum. That was entertaining to watch.

Mary E. Pawlukiewicz, who died last night in a fire at 132 State St., was warned just this past Sunday by fire officials about the dangers of smoking around her oxygen tanks.

That small fire Sunday was the second, and possibly, third smoking-related fire connected to the 57-year-old Pawlukiewicz.

In the summer of 2009, in the parking lot of Walmart, a car reportedly occupied by Pawlukiewicz caught fire and was destroyed. She sustained minor burns in that fire. Smoking and oxygen tanks were reportedly to blame for that blaze.

In 2002, there was a fire at 132 State St., but it hasn't been determined with certainty yet that Pawlukiewicz was living at the residence at the time.

There are currently no regulations requiring no smoking by patients using oxygen tanks.

At least one of Pawlukiewicz's tanks exploded last night.

As for the fire Sunday, Det. Rich Schuaf said at a press conference this morning that when the Fire Department arrived, the oxygen unit had been disabled, but its alarm was sounding and a tube had been disconnected.

"She reported that there was a fire, but it was out by the time the fire department got there," Schauff said.

Last night's fire could have been much worse, according to Schauff. A woman, Melissa Ricigliano, and her three children were just leaving at 5:45 p.m. to visit a neighbor. That was an unusual time for them to leave, Ricigliano reportedly told police. Normally, they wouldn't leave until 6 p.m., in which case her and her children would have been in their apartment not yet in a position to evacuate quickly.

Last night, as soon as Ricigliano opened her door, an alarm sounded and there was an explosion. She was able to quickly get her children, all under age 6, out of the building.

"She felt quite fortunate that her plans changed and she left early that day," Schauf said.

There was an attempt made to rescue Pawlukiewicz. Officer Chris Camp as well as witnesses tried to gain entry to the burning building, but the heat and flames were too intense.

Camp tried to enter through the front door and from a south side window, but couldn't get access.

"He was told there was a good chance that she was (still inside)," Schauf said. "The neighbor had a strong feeling she was there. She wasn't positive. She hadn't seen her that day, but she felt she should be in there. She was persistent that there was a good chance she was in there."

City officials are inspecting the building today to determine whether the other two families living there will be able to re-enter the building any time soon to either recover property or move back in.

Currently, they are receiving assistance from the American Red Cross.

Picture: Det. Rich Schauf, left, and Capt. Patrick O'Donnell, at this morning's press conference.

Any bloke can pour a beer, but getting the perfect head on a Guinness -- that's an art.

It turns out that nobody in New York, or the entire Eastern United States for that matter, pours a better Guinness than the staff at O'Lacy's Irish Pub on School Street in Batavia.

The O'Lacy's pour is so good, in fact, that it placed number three in the nation in a contest sponsored by the Ireland-based Diageo Company, makers of Guinness.

The winners were selected based on the text-message votes of patrons of bars that serve Guinness.

O'Lacy's, opened in 1997 and is owned by Kent Ewell & Nancy Bachulak. It beat out 2,100 other contestants for the "best pour" honor.

These are pictures from the fire we reported this afternoon on Bank Street Road. The fire was confined to a garage owned by Everett West. The fire appears to have started with a wood stove in one corner of the garage and quickly spread to the second level. Daniel West was working outside of the garage at the time of the fire and spotted smoke coming from the garage and called 9-1-1.

Town of Batavia and Elba fire responded and Oakfield and Stafford provided standby at the Batavia fire halls.

More pictures after the jump:

(Post updated 10:18 p.m.)

A woman who'd been reportedly warned about smoking near her oxygen tank died tonight in a fire at 132 State St., Batavia.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but several people reported hearing explosions as the fire broke out.

Batavia Police Officer Chris Camp was the first on scene and reported a fully involved structure fire. Camp and witnesses tried to enter the residence to rescue the woman, but flames, fed by exploding oxygen tanks, prevented them from reaching her.

UPDATE 9:42 a.m., Wednesday: The woman has been identified as Mary E. Pawlukiewicz

The woman's husband arrived at the scene about 6:45 p.m., but other family members had not yet been notified, so the woman's identity was not released. She was 57, reportedly confined to a wheelchair and lived alone in a ground-floor apartment.

Batavia Fire Chief Ralph Hyde said city firefighters found the woman's body buried under rubble.

"That was hard on them," he said.

The complex was home to three families, according to landlord Chuck Pero.

"It's just too bad that it happened," Pero said. "She was warned about not smoking with the oxygen. She wouldn't listen to anybody."

When firefighters arrived on scene at 5:45 p.m., flames were already reaching into the attic, according to Hyde.

"I had some report of an oxygen tank exploding, which would have fed that fire very rapidly," Hyde said.

The investigation by Batavia fire and police remains ongoing at 10:15 p.m., with the assistance from Genesee County Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator Keith Hunt and and New York State Fire Investigator Montour Falls.

American Red Cross is assisting the other displaced families.

Above, after learning of a family member's death, relatives console each other with a fire official.

More pictures after the jump:

Above, residents remove an aquarium that firefighters carried from the building after the fire was out. One of the residents said the aquarium contained a bull python.

A house fire has been reported at 132 State St., Batavia.

It's a confirmed working structure fire in a four-unit complex.

Numerous explosions reported in the building. An elderly woman may still be in the building.

It's gone to a second alarm.

UPDATE(S)(Billie Owens)( (5:57 p.m.): They first accessed the basement. Soon thereafter over the scanner -- "We've pretty much got it knocked out," reports a firefighter at the scene. All occupants are out. They're checking the basement, first and second floors once more.

UPDATE (6:01 p.m.): Heard over the scanner: "We've got zero visability up here. Can we please get some windows broken out." Also, a Town of Batavia crew is heading to city fire headquarters for standby.

UPDATE (6:11 p.m.): They've almost got the fire out in the attic now, but need ventilation. There are no windows, so they're going to tear open the roof.

UPDATE (6:22 p.m.): City police have confirmed there is one fatality.

UPDATE (6:34 p.m.): The property owner, Chuck Pero, said the person who died in the fire was an older woman who'd lived there 15 years. He said she was recently warned not to smoke around her oxygen tank. But the cause of the fire has not yet been determined. Also, National Grid is headed to the scene and American Red Cross is requested to assist one resident.

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Employees of Angelica Textile Services, located at 3 Apollo Drive in the City of Batavia, have been evacuated from the building following a smoke alarm.

It is reported that there is possibly a fire smoldering in a dryer vent, where some lint may have ignited during maintenance work.

A little smoke was seen coming out of an exhaust blower vent. A firefighter asked that the blower be turned on and "send a drying chemical right up through the system."

The company at that location provides linens and "textile solutions" to the healthcare industry.

A garage fire is reported at 8058 Bank St. Road in the Town of Batavia. The town's firefighters are responding and an engine is requested from Elba.

The roof of the garage is smoking and the cause is believed to be a wood stove.

Oakfield is filling in at Station 1 and Stafford is filling in at Station 2. Mercy EMS is nearby in case needed.

UPDATE (12:28 p.m.): Heavy fire is on the second floor moving to first floor.

UPDATE (12:32 p.m.): Elba fire police are requested at Bank Street Road and Hawley Road as well as Saille Drive and Bank Street Road.

UPDATE (12:37 p.m.): A portion of Bank Street Road is being closed to traffic. The fire is coming through the ceiling now and the firefighters are breaking up the middle of the structure to fight it.

UPDATE (1:19 p.m.): The fire is under control and a few minutes ago a fireman said "three sides look good."

Howard Owens took pictures at the fire scene, which he will post later today.