batavia

Ken Merrick has restored a classic name to his business -- Uncle Tony's is now The Harvester, a variation of a name on the bar for 17 years before it became Uncle Tony's.

Merrick said since he was switching from a sole proprietorship to an LLC, and would have to re-apply for his liquor license, and since Uncle Tony's no longer served food, it seemed like the right time to make the switch.

Merrick has owned the business for 36 years on Harvester Avenue, operating it originally as the Harvester Hotel.

"My customers that go way back said, 'We still all call it the Harvester,'" Merrick said. "They told me, 'Why don't you call it the Harvester?'"  I said, "OK, but I'm not calling it the Harvester Hotel."

On a day when the Batavia Muckdogs picked up an important fifth-straight win in a tight Pinckney Division race, the team learned another strong arm is on its way.

Seth Blair, a first-round supplemental draft pick for the St. Louis Cardinals has agreed to terms and will report to Batavia. Blair, 21, was the 46th player taken overall in the June draft.

He was 12-1 in 18 starts this season at Arizona State University with a 3.64 ERA. He struck out 108 batters and walked 29. He won the Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year award.

The Muckdogs, who have been hot in July, picking up 15 wins, are one game behind Williamsport and tied with Jamestown for second place in the Pinckney Division.

The Jammers play the Muckdogs at Dwyer tonight, 7:05 game time, and then the teams travel to Jamestown tomorrow for a twi-nite double header.

Last night, the Muckdogs kept their win streak going by scoring two runs in the 10th inning (after giving up a run in the top of the 10th) to pull out an 8-7 victory over Auburn.

Outfielder Jon Edwards, who's in his fourth stint with Batavia and has struggled since a strong 2008 campaign (helping the Muckdogs win the NY-Penn League championship), had a big night Friday, hitting a home run and driving in three runs.

Joey Bergman had two hits and three RBIs while first-year pro Victor Sanchez, playing first base, had four hits and scored three times (hitting ahead of Edwards and Bergman). Nick Longmire had two hits.

The final run of the game came on a wild pitch allowing Mike O'Neill to score from third.

Stuart Steiner, Ed.D, longtime president of Genesee Community College, is retiring.

Steiner, who has overseen much of the growth of the college, served for 35 years. He was the college's third president and began his career at the college in 1968 as Dean of Students.

When Steiner first went to work for GCC, the college was located on West Main Street Road in what is now known as County Building #2. In 1972, GCC moved to its present location and Steiner oversaw its expansion into the multi-dimensional campus it is today.

At a recent board meeting, trustees remarked on the most recent successes of GCC -- a new Med-Tech building on campus, record enrollment and outstanding academic achievement, and Steiner said he realized now would be an appropriate time for him to step down.

Steiner said he plans to stay in the area and has no specific plans for retirement, except to spend more time with his grandchildren.

"Our academic programs, and our faculty and staff, are outstanding," he said. "We now have over 100 recipients of the SUNY Chancellor's Awards for Excellence. Enrollment is healthy, this year hitting record-high numbers in the fall, spring and summer sessions, and projected to grow again next year.

"Our financial situation is strong, and our facilities are in very good shape. We completed all of the targeted new construction and renovation projects that we planned ... I believe that Genesee is very well-poised for the future, and I am very comfortable leaving the challenges of leadership to a new president."

Full press release after the jump:

Genesee Community College President Stuart Steiner, Ed.D,  announced today that he plans to retire from his position effective Aug. 31, 2011. Steiner, 73, made the announcement this morning in an e-mail message to faculty, staff and students.

Steiner has served as president of Genesee since 1975, and as a member of the college's staff since its founding. He served as Genesee's Dean of Students from 1967 to 1968, and Dean of Instruction/Executive Dean from 1968 to 1975. He is believed to be the second-longest serving community college president in the United States.

Steiner is the third president of Genesee Community College. He was preceded by Alfred C. O'Connell, Ed.D, who served from 1967 to 1971, and Cornelius V. Robbins, Ed.D, who served from 1971 to 1975.

In a recent Board of Trustees retreat, board members characterized the past year as the most successful year in the history of the college. Steiner said that these successes and the excellent condition of the college were major factors in his decision.

"Our academic programs, and our faculty and staff, are outstanding," he said. "We now have over 100 recipients of the SUNY Chancellor's Awards for Excellence. Enrollment is healthy, this year hitting record-high numbers in the fall, spring, and summer sessions, and projected to grow again next year.

"Our financial situation is strong, and our facilities are in very good shape. We completed all of the targeted new construction and renovation projects that we planned."

These include: the installation of an artificial turf field; completely renovating the Zambito Gymnasium; providing new locker rooms; installing a new sound system in the gym; upgrading the theater lighting system; opening our new Lima Campus Center; and relocating!; our expanding School of Nursing to the new Med Tech Park; and breaking ground for a new art gallery, in addition to other work.

"We have all of our collective-bargaining agreements in place, and this year set a record for the number of graduates, exceeding 800 for the first time in our history," Steiner said. "Our reputation has never been better, and our reputation extends far beyond our local communities. I believe that Genesee is very well-poised for the future, and I am very comfortable leaving the challenges of leadership to a new president."

Steiner, a resident of Batavia, plans to remain in the community. He has no specific post-retirement plans, although he anticipates spending more time with his grandchildren.

Steiner notified trustees of his decision last week, and notified State University of New York Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher yesterday.

Board Chair Charles R. Ruffino said that Steiner's contributions to local students and the Genesee-Livingston-Orleans-Wyoming region are historic. The length and accomplishments of Steiner's presidency have attracted the attention of community college leaders across the nation for many years, Ruffino noted.

"We thank and congratulate Stuart for completing what we believe is one of the most extraordinary community college presidencies in our nation's history," Ruffino said.

Ruffino said that trustees deeply appreciate the college's and Steiner's impact on the Genesee-Livingston-Orleans-Wyoming region.

"No other citizen has made education so accessible to so many, or made such a significant contribution to the well-being and economic vitality of our local communities," Ruffino said.

"Stuart has worked tirelessly to bring the transformative power of education to many thousands of our neighbors, and has done so while maintaining Genesee's reputation as one of the most affordable and cost-effective colleges within the State University system."

Stuart Steiner is a native of Baltimore, Md. He began his career as a social worker in 1959, working first as a caseworker and later as director of Juvenile Court Services for the City of Baltimore. He also served as director of Baltimore Information and Referral Services for the Health and Welfare Council of Metropolitan Baltimore. He also began serving as a member of the adjunct faculty of Community College of Baltimore County in 1963.

His administrative skills and passion for the needs of students attracted the attention of Alfred C. O'Connell, Ed.D,  who, at the time, was serving as president of nearby Harford Community College in Bel Air, Md.

O'Connell named Stuart Steiner as Harford's director of Admissions and Placement in 1965. After the newly-formed Board of Trustees of Genesee Community College named O'Connell as Genesee's founding president, one of O'Connell's first acts was to recruit Steiner for the position of Dean of Students at the new college in New York's Genesee County.

When Steiner arrived in 1967, about a year and a half after the college was founded by Genesee County voters, O'Connell and several staff members were working out of a small office in downtown Batavia.

Steiner was instrumental in identifying a location for Genesee's first classes – the old "Valu Tech" building on West Main Street Road, now a Genesee County building – and readying the structure for classes and activities.

As Dean of Students, he was instrumental in recruiting and orienting Genesee's first students, and 379 of them arrived for classes in September, 1967. After only one year, Steiner took on new responsibilities, assuming leadership of all academic programs as Dean of Instruction/Executive Dean.

The new college grew quickly and, with the support of the Genesee County Board of Supervisors, the county acquired property on the east side of Batavia for what is today the Batavia Campus. Steiner was instrumental in planning the new facility. Steiner recalled the sense of commitment and adventure present among the early faculty members and students.

"They were part of something innovative and important, and they knew it," he recalled. "The students, faculty, and staff bonded very quickly and became a true community. There was a deep commitment to excellence among this new community and, in large part, that commitment set the stage for the college's remarkable success in later years."

The original Batavia Campus structure, which opened in 1972, became the nucleus of a 300,000-plus square-foot comprehensive campus which grew under Steiner's leadership. The campus today encompasses the original buildings, the Genesee Center for the Arts (1991), the Conable Technology Building (2000), the Humphrey Student Union (2005), and a variety of exterior athletic fields.

Steiner made off-campus outreach a high priority and pioneered one of the first off-site campus centers, which opened in Albion in 1990. Additional campus centers followed in Warsaw, Lakeville (and later Lima), Arcade, Dansville and Medina. The new centers enabled almost all residents of the Genesee-Livingston-Orleans-Wyoming region to reach a Genesee location within a 20-minute drive.

In collaboration with the Genesee County Economic Development Center, the college transferred 32 acres of land on the south side of Hawley Drive for a new Med Tech business park, which earlier this month became home to the college's growing School of Nursing.

A new art gallery is presently under construction on the Batavia Campus. In recognition of Steiner's leadership and his commitment to high-quality facilities, the Board of Trustees in 1991 named the theater in the newly constructed Genesee Center for the Arts "The Stuart Steiner Theatre."

While Genesee's facilities grew over the last four decades, Steiner's highest priority was the development of strong academic programs and services to students and the community.

Today, the College offers 65 degree and certificate programs, which last fall served a record 7,208 students. More than 12,000 other area residents participated in business, professional, and personal development courses. More than 20,000 of the region's residents attended community events based at the Batavia Campus and campus centers last year.

Over the last 25 years, 105 members of Genesee's faculty and staff received the SUNY Chancellor's Awards for Excellence. He has mentored numerous college administrators and, at last count, 17 former Genesee vice presidents and deans have gone on to assume positions of significant leadership in higher education across the United States.

In a 2008 commencement address, Glenn DuBois, Ed.D, a former Genesee dean and current Chancellor of the Virginia Community College system, said that he knows of no community college in the United States that has produced more senior college leaders across the nation than Genesee Community College.

Many of President Steiner's initiatives have made higher education more accessible to the region's residents and attracted the attention of community college leaders across the nation.

These include: the development of a comprehensive distance-learning program, which enables more than 10 percent of Genesee students to participate in online courses; the Accelerated College Enrollment Program, which enables more than 2,700 Western New York high school students to participate in Genesee courses; andthe establishment of The BEST Center, which provides training and education to thousands of managers and employees of area business organizations each year.

Additional initiatives include: the establishment of educational programs in many correctional facilities; development of academic programs new to community colleges within SUNY -- such as Travel and Tourism and Teacher Education Transfer; and the transformation of Genesee into a "high-tech" environment complete with 83 "smart" classrooms, 33 computer labs and more than 1,000 personal computers.

Under Steiner's leadership, the college formed numerous co-curricular (outside-of-class) activities that now include almost 50 student clubs, organizations and athletic teams; and it instituted Genesee Promise Plus, a program that provides scholarships to all area high school graduates for one or two summer courses at Genesee.

Steiner called Genesee's success a "team effort," and praised the many individuals who have contributed to the college's success over the years.

"From the very first days of the college, our trustees have provided exceptional volunteer leadership," Steiner said. "The Genesee County Legislature, our sponsor, has been steadfast in its support for the college. We have an outstanding faculty and staff who go far beyond expectations in meeting the needs of students and the community."

Steiner also praised Genesee Community College Foundation board members, college alumni, and local business and civic leaders for their ongoing support.

The president said that, while he is proud of the programs and initiatives established under his leadership, his greatest source of satisfaction has been the college's impact on individual students.

Steiner is known as highly accessible among students. He regularly meets with the Student Government Association and has always maintained an "open door" policy for students who want to see him.

"At the end of the day, what happens to students is what counts," he said.

Steiner has received state and national recognition for his work. He is a recipient of: the New York State Phi Theta Kappa Service Award; New York State Community College Faculty Council Distinguished Service Award; and the Association of Community College Trustees Northeast Region Chief Executive Officer Award.

He also: was named a Transformational Leader in Higher Education by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation; received the University of Texas at Austin Community College Leadership Award; received a Kellogg Fellowship and various academic honors from Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Maryland, and University of Baltimore Law School. He was named a distinguished alumnus of Baltimore City Community College.

Steiner's service and record of innovation led to numerous requests to serve on a variety of regional, state, and national boards and committees over the years.

Locally, he has served as a board and committee member for: the Rochester Area Association of Colleges; Workforce Investment Board; Private Industry Council; and WIRED (Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development) consortium.

On the state level, he has served as a: member of the SUNY Task Force on Community College Code and Standards of Operations and Procedures; member of the SUNY Public Service Advisory Committee and SUNY Committee on Presidential Evaluation and Terms of Conditions of Employment; and chair of the State University Task Force on Distance Learning.

He also served as a: member of the New York State Education Commissioner's Advisory Council on Higher Education; chair and member of SUNY-West College President's Association; member, director, and president of the New York State Association of Presidents of Community Colleges; and board member of the Institute for Community College Development.

At the request of the SUNY Chancellor, he has taken on sensitive special assignments. These include: service as chair of the SUNY Chancellor's Special Commission on Rockland Community College (1992); acting deputy director to the SUNY Chancellor for Community Colleges (1985); and interim president of Fashion Institute of Technology (1997-1998).

At the request of the New York State Education Department, he accepted an appointment to the reorganized Board of Trustees of New York Chiropractic College. He also served on the Villa Maria College Board for a decade.

On the national level, Steiner has been active in the American Association of Community Colleges, and was a member of the AACC Commission on Learning and Communications Technology and a member of the AACC Commission on Global Education.

He has chaired or served as a member of more than 20 Middle States Commission on Higher Education accreditation teams, which make college accreditation recommendations. He has also consulted with and chaired teams and visits to educational institutions in Greece, Puerto Rico and China at the request of the Middle States Commission. He also served as a member of the Middle States Commission Board for six years.

For more than three decades, President Steiner served as an adjunct faculty member of the University at Buffalo Higher Education graduate program, where he taught a course on community colleges. He has also taught at the Community College of Baltimore, Catholic University, and the Rochester Institute of Technology.

He has served on numerous conference panels and is known nationally for his expertise in employee relations and collective bargaining.

Steiner's notable publications include: "The Pragmatic Presidency" (Community College Journal of Research and Practice); "The Community College Presidency" (Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education and Educational Planning); "SUNY – The 'Systemless' System" (Voices of Leadership); "Community Colleges of the Nineties: Living on the Fiscal Edge" (Higher Education in Turmoil: The Case of New York State and National Prospects for Change).

He also edited "Distance Learning: The Presidents' Task Force Report," published by the State University of New York.

Steiner is a graduate of a community college himself – Baltimore City Community College (formerly Baltimore Junior College). In addition to the Associate in Arts (A.A.) degree from BCCC, he holds a B.S. degree from the University of Maryland; Graduate Certificate in Social Work from Florida State University; a M.S.W. degree from the University of Pennsylvania; a J.D. degree from the University of Baltimore; a master's degree from Columbia University, Teachers College; and an Ed.D. degree from Columbia University, Teachers College.

Ruffino said that the Board of Trustees plans to conduct a national search for Genesee's fourth president. He said that, in the near future, he will appoint a Presidential Search Committee comprised of college stakeholders.

The Search Committee will guide the search, solicit views of college stakeholders, interview candidates, arrange for campus visits by finalist candidates, and recommend three to five highly qualified candidates to the Board of Trustees, which has the responsibility for appointing the college president.

"We are confident that the insight and wisdom of the college community and our many stakeholders will enable us to identify and select the individual who will serve with distinction as Genesee Community College's fourth president," Ruffino said.

Genesee ARC sponsored what it dubbed a "Ginormous" garage sale at its new Woodrow Road community center. By the time I got there, the crowd had pretty much thinned out, but Trilateral Commissioner Sandy Konfederath said they had a big crowd this morning and the sale went well.

NOTE: The sale continues Saturday, July 31. Hours are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Listen I know you all have probably read posts here online or elswhere about our Batavia Muckdogs. I'm sure you all know that the Muckdogs have had financial problems over the last few years and that this is a very important year for the future of our franchise.

Something you might not have thought of is the quality-of-life issue for our city and county. The Muckdogs have been a part of our area since 1939. I believe that's the year both the "Wizard of Oz" and "Gone with the Wind" came to our theaters. Needless to say, it's been a long time. During those years, many players have passed through Batavia with their dreams of some day playing in the big leagues. Most go onto other cities, carrying those dreams until one day they either make it to the big leagues or they get sent home looking for a job in "the real world."

Seasons pass, but one thing has always remained, our Clippers, Pirates, Indians, Trojans and Muckdogs have always returned. The "Boys of Summer" come to Batavia with their dreams. This could very well be the last summer where that happens! The 2010 Batavia Muckdogs might be the last season of professional baseball to ever play at Dwyer stadium on a beautiful summer night. What will that mean for the people of Batavia and Genesee County?

Our community will welcome next spring like it always does after a long hard winter! Spring fever will be everywhere! The "snowbirds" from the south will come back north to Batavia to be with family and friends for the summer. Kids will be getting out of school looking forward to a summer of fun! Yes some things will always remain the same, but something will be very different, something that has always been taken for granted. Our Muckdogs could be GONE FOREVER!

Summer nights at Dwyer stadium aren't just about baseball games. They are the last place in our county where people gather weekly to see old friends and make new ones.  Many kids from the NY State School for the Blind come to games, kids of all ages gather at Dwyer for a summer night of fun. Some even get to run on the field with Muckdog players. Buses come to Dwyer with Batavia's older generation from area retirement homes for a night out of summer fun. Area businesses promote their own businesses at Dwyer and promote community togetherness. Church groups join together for a summer night. Everyone in Genesee County seems to come to Dwyer on the 4th of July for their traditional fireworks!

Please never take anything for granted, because once you do, you stand a great chance of losing it forever! Our baseball team (no matter what name you call them) will be the same! Oh yes we will have the stories to share with friends about fun nights at Dwyer.  Just like many have of former nights at many other local area traditional places that are now nothing but ghosts!  I can already picture it now for the 4th of July celebration for 2011. Cars driving down Bank Street packing the sides of the street and people walking down to a quiet Dwyer stadium. All of them questioning if they already missed the fireworks?  Then maybe they will realize that they missed out on a lot more. That they took things for granted and now start to realize what they have lost forever!

It's not too late! You can make a difference Batavia and Genesee County! You can start with coming out tonight and tomorrow night (July 30th &31st). Pack the stands, show your support, spread the word, enjoy new friendships and old ones as well, watch young men start their dreams and end the night with fireworks both nights! Nobody would take our team if the stands were packed the rest of the season! Why would they? But if they aren't packed, be ready to start sharing your past stories once this season is over!

David D. Homer (photo), 40, of 7 North St., Le Roy, is charged with disseminating indecent material to minors, 2nd, a Class E felony. Homer is accused of sending indecent photographs of himself using a mobile phone to a 17-year-old person. He was arraigned and released under the supervision of Genesee Justice.

Erik P. Roth, 40, of 7595 Bank St. Road, Elba, has been indicted by the Genesee Grand Jury on three felonies and two misdemeanors. Roth is charged with two counts of sexual abuse 1st, course sexual conduct against a child, 2nd, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Roth is accused of having sexual contact with a child under 11 years old. The alleged crimes occurred in Elba between November 2004 and March 2006.

Michael Patrick Tanner, 18, of Hopkins Road, Getzville, is charged with unlawful dealing with fireworks. Tanner is accused of possessing illegal fireworks and shooting them from a car traveling on West Main Street Road, Batavia, at 11:48 p.m., Thursday. Tanner was reportedly later located in East Pembroke.

A 16-year-old resident of Maple Street, Batavia, has been charged with criminal mischief. The youth is accused of punching a hole in the wall of the Department of Social Services at about 8:30 a.m., Thursday. He was arraigned in Town of Batavia Court and jailed on $2,500 bail.

A car reportedly struck a semi-truck at Oak Street and Park. Unknown injuries. City fire and Mercy EMS are responding.

UPDATE (12:10 p.m.): Law enforcement on scene reports nothing showing. Although the call reportedly came from a toll booth operator at the Thruway, police say the nearby toll booth workers say no such call was placed. All units back in service.

UPDATE (12:17 p.m.): A toll booth worker did make the call about an accident, but the accident location is on the Route 77 overpass in Pembroke. Nothing more known at this time.

UPDATE 12:26 p.m.: No injuries. Vehicles have been moved off the road.

In second place, a game behind Williamsport, with a four-game winning streak and a 11-3 record so far in July, the Batavia Muckdogs return home tonight to face Auburn.

Fireworks will follow the game, which starts at 7:05.

The 22-16 Muckdogs beat Auburn (15-25) in Auburn last night, 8-3.

Hot-hitting Audris Perez doubled in three runs and Joey Bergman added two RBIs.

Fifth-round draft pick Nicholas Longmire is 6th in runs scored (27), 6th in triples (4), tied for second in home runs (7), tied for first in RBIs (36), 5th in total bases (74), 1st in slugging (.578)

Perez is third in RBIs with 31 and 6th batting average (.346).

The Muckdogs feature two starting pitchers among the league leaders in ERA (Justin Edwards, 2.04, and Nick McCully, 2.31). Edwards, in his second tour with Batavia, is 3-1 for the season.

Starter Andrew Moss, who tossed seven perfect innings earlier this month, has four wins, tying him for third in the league, with a 3.54 ERA. Edwards and Moss are tied for 10th in the league with 34 Ks each.

The Muckdogs take on Jamestown at Dwyer on Saturday, and then travel to Jamestown for a twi-night double-header against the Jammers, returning home Monday to face Mahoning Valley.

City Fire is responding to 7 Trumbull Parkway for a report of wires down.

Law enforcement is in route, too.

It's unknown if they are electrical.

UPDATE 10:55 a.m.: Telephone lines only. City Fire back in service.

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When loyal Batavian Bea McManis visited Hornell for a horseshoe tournament she was impressed with what she found -- a city-sponsored, championship-caliber facility that brought in people from all over the state to stay in local hotels and eat in local restaurants.

In a comment on The Batavian, she also noted Hornell annually closes down Main Street for a basketball tournament.

"In my opinion, Batavia is shortsighted when it comes to utilizing its best asset," Bea wrote. "We are located in a perfect spot to make the city a mecca for recreational events such as Hornell had over the weekend."

Ted Hawley shares the vision.

A couple of years ago he approached Craig Yunker, owner of Batavia Turf, about letting him organize soccer tournaments on the grass he grows.

After ironing out some details with the Town of Batavia, Hawley and Yunker opened the Batavia Sports Park off Bank Street Road.

The Town of Batavia chipped in $41,000 to lease the land from Yunker and provide an entrance and gravel parking lot.

"We already know just on that first tournament, the pay back," said Town of Batavia Board Member John Gerace. "We don't know dollars yet but we'll be looking at some numbers on what the pay back is to the town and Genesee County and the city."

This spring, Hawley attracted two significant soccer events to the new sports park -- an Olympic team camp and an Empire United Soccer Academy event.

But Hawley's vision doesn't stop with soccer -- he sees no reason that the facility can't become a major stopping off point for tournaments, camps and clinics for lacrosse, baseball and softball and any other sport.

He would like to see expanded facilities and more fields.

"In my wildest dreams, this could really be a great product between Rochester and Buffalo," Hawley said.

And Yunker is certainly open to expansion. He pointed to a cornfield and said, "we could put another three soccer fields there and another three in the next field over."

"There's 74 acres here," Yunker added.

Nobody's yet talking about the dollars and cents to make it happen, but the town board visited the facility Wednesday to see what some of the immediate issues are, which include some sort of shelter for players and parents (protection during storms), expanded parking and a second access point to Bank Street Road, so there would be only one way in, and one way out for drivers.

Even as board members Hawley and Yunker expressed pleasure and awe at all of the families making use of the facility on Wednesday, Yunkers noted that the future of the Sports Park isn't a done deal.

"The town hasn’t committed past this year. I haven’t committed past this year," Yunker said. "This is sort of a see-how-it-develops and see-if-the-community-supports-it and see-if-it-makes-sense."

Get ready to drive slower on Assemblyman R. Stephen Hawley Drive.

The Town of Batavia board approved a resolution Wednesday asking for a speed-limit reduction on the road that passes between Genesee Community College and the new Med-Tech Center.

The entire length of Hawley Drive will see a lower speed limit, if the proposal is approved by the County Highway Department and the Department of Transportation.

Directly between the college campus and the new facility, the speed limit will drop from 45 to 30 mph. From Bank Street Road to the college, the speed limit could be lowered from 55 to 40 mph.

The change was made at the request of GCC.

In a letter to the board, Kevin Hamilton, VP of Finance and Operations, said increased enrollment, the new nursing program at the Med-Tech Center, and more patients from UMMC going to the facility will be an increase in traffic.

The school is also concerned about students walking from the campus, across the road, to the center.

"Our overall goal is safety awareness and accident prevention to ultimately improve safety for all those who are driving, bicycling or walking near our college community," Hamilton wrote.

A letter to the board from Sheriff Gary Maha said the Genesee County Traffic Safety Board discussed the matter at its June 17 meeting and concluded that no new crosswalks or sidewalks were needed immediately, but a reduction in the speed limit might be advisable.

The town board recommended the speed-limit reduction in a unanimous vote.

Kyle Christopher Monroe is facing a charge of grand larceny, 4th, but today he was in Genesee County Court on another matter -- alleged violation of probation.

Monroe, who was accused most recently of taking credit cards from parked cars on Gateway Drive and using them to buy merchandise at stores on Veteran's Memorial Drive, is accused of missing probation appointments and not providing probation with a correct home address.

Of course, the grand larceny charge is also an alleged violation of probation.

Monroe was convicted of possession of stolen property in an unrelated incident and was placed on probation.

In October, 2009, Monroe was found driving an allegedly stolen Caravan. The next month, County Manager Jay Gsell reportedly saw Monroe trying to evade capture after allegedly trying to steal a car.

Apparently Monroe had a pretty recognizable face once a picture of him leaving a local retailer, where he allegedly used stolen credit cards to make a purchase, was posted by The Batavian and WBTA1490.com. Batavia Police reportedly received a number of phone calls identifying Monroe as a suspect.

On the probation charge, bail was set at $10,000. Bail on the grand larceny charge, which is being heard in Batavia City Court, was previously set at $5,000.

Justin Amend, that man allegedly caught with his pants down in Farrall park, appeared in Batavia City Court today only to be told to reappear on Aug. 9.

There is no plea offer in the case yet.

Amend, an Oakfield resident, is charged with public lewdness, a Class B misdemeanor, for allegedly engaging in sexual intercourse with Suzanne Corona. Corona still faces adultery and public lewdness charges.

Assistant District Attorney Robert Zickl requested an evaluation of Amend by a counselor before he would make a plea offer.

Zickl has not had a chance to review the evaluation report yet, and he was unavailable for a court appearance today.

Peter Nasca will finally pay his debt to society.

For 26 years, the Florida resident has been tagged by Batavia City Court as a "scofflaw."

Since 1984, his New York license has been suspended and he's had an unpaid traffic ticket.

That hasn't stopped him from making his living as a truck driver, and even hauling loads through his former home state, but then he didn't know -- he says -- that he was a wanted man.

"All these years, nobody ever caught it," Nasca said after appearing in court. "Even when I do my FBI background check every year, they never caught it."

Apparently, law enforcement in Missouri is a little more on the ball. During a routine inspection of his rig, an officer said, "Oh, by the way, you can't drive in New York."

"What?" was Nasca's jaw-dropping response.

His Florida driver's license allowed him to drive in any state in the union, but New York wanted him to pay his fine, which is $180 for allegedly driving on a revoked driver's license in 1984.

Nasca, a native of Buffalo, was a Tonawanda resident at the time.

(Nasca is spelled like NASCAR, he said, "but without the money.")

Nasca did appear in City Court in 1984 and entered a not guilty plea. He eventually forgot about the charge and figured there was a statue of limitations on it. But there wasn't.

In 1984, Judge Robert Balbick was the prosecuting attorney in City Court, though he doesn't remember if he appeared on the Nasca case. Even so, he had to recuse himself, so Nasca's case was adjourned to Aug. 3, when Judge Michael Delplato can hear the matter.

As for his suspended license, he cleared that up today by filling out some paperwork. He didn't have to pay a fee because in 1984 there was no fee for a "Scoff."

City Court Clerk Linda Giambrone said there are scoff cases on file at City Court going back to the 1970s. They will never be purged and the scofflaws could still be hauled into court.

A reader provided this mobile phone photo of Mercy Flight at Area 51. A motocross rider reportedly suffered a back injury in an accident this evening.

More information if it becomes available.

Yesterday, Batavia Downs opened its 64th harness racing season. Officials were kind enough to let me hang out in the stables and take pictures.

Thirty-three more pictures after the jump:

This is the first in a series of videos we're posting to help you get to know your Batavia Muckdogs players better.