batavia

A two-vehicle accident, possibly a head-on collision, is reported at Richmond Avenue and Oak Street. Injuries are reported and it is blocking traffic. City police, Mercy medics and firefighters are on scene.

UPDATE 11:26 a.m.: Richmond Avenue is shut down "up to North Lyon Street from Oak Street."

UPDATE 11:35 a.m.: This was a T-bone accident. One driver is not injured; the other complained of head and neck pain and was transported to the hospital for evaluation.

UPDATE 11:40 a.m.: Two flatbed tow trucks are called to the scene.

UPDATE 11:49 a.m.: The road is reopened.

A convicted sexual predator has been arrested and accused of sexual contact with a child.

Marlek E. Holmes, 42, of Batavia, is being held without bail after being arraigned in County Court on an 11-count grand jury indictment.

The assaults allegedly occurred in the City of Batavia and Village of Le Roy from 2010 to 2015.

He is charged with two counts of predatory sexual assault, two counts of predatory sexual assault against a child, two counts of incest in the first degree, sexual abuse in the first degree, rape in the third degree, criminal sexual abuse in the third degree and two counts of incest in the third degree.

Holmes has previously been arrested locally on charges of failure to register a change of address as a Level 3 sexual offender and of sending indecent texts to a child.

The smell of something electrical burning greeted an employee upon opening the Dollar General Store on East Main Street in Batavia a few minutes ago. The worker called dispatch and city firefighters just arrived and are investigating.

UPDATE 8:54 a.m.: Command reports no sign of smoke or fire; investigation is continuing.

Heather Ace was hanging out at a friend's house drinking Four Loko* the night of May 20 when her mother tried to call her and tell her that her house on Bank Street Road was on fire, according to a statement Ace gave to investigators.

When Ace didn't answer the phone, her mother sent her a text message, according to a statement by Tracy Ace, that read, "Answer your f---ing phone."

Heather answered on the next ring.

According to Heather's friend, Ashki Zajaczkowski, Heather dropped the phone and started screaming.

Zajaczkowski drove Heather to 8157 State Street Road, Batavia, where she lived with her three boys, including two fraternal twins, Micah and Michael Gard, and before Zajaczkowski would even stop the car, Heather was running from the car hysterically. 

The evening wasn't supposed to go as it did, according to the statements. Heather Ace was planning to go to the movies with Zajaczkowski and other friends, but as afternoon turned to evening, nobody really felt like heading out of town.

Ace put her two children to bed sometime between 8 and 8:30 p.m. and then headed over to a friend's house. She smoked some weed and then went to the Speedway and bought a can of Four Loko and some water before heading over to Zajaczkowski's house.

The two boys were locked in their room, with a lock on the kitchen side of the door put in place after the boys wandered out of the house over to the neighboring house, the residence of their grandparents.

When firefighters arrived that night, they also found the door leading into the apartment kitchen locked. Heather Ace said in her statement, she didn't know how the door became locked. She said she didn't lock it before leaving the house. Tracy Ace said it wasn't Heather's practice to lock the door because her husband needed access to the basement, where he stored his tools.

The cause of the fire has never been determined.

Micah and Michael died in the fire and Heather Ace has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child.

She appeared in Town of Batavia Court yesterday and entered a not guilty plea.

She is represented by public defender Jerry Ader, who said yesterday he had not yet had a chance to discuss the case with his client.

Photo: Previously unpublished, officers dealing with distraught people at the scene of the fire.

*Four Loko is a flavored, malted alcoholic beverage.

Press release from the city Department of Public Works:

The City of Batavia is pleased to announce that Ryan Toal, Anthony Cellino, Robert Marvin and Erich Postler have passed the necessary exam and successfully met the requirements to become licensed plumbers in the City of Batavia.

Cynthia May Mack, 49, of Pearl Street Road, Batavia, is charged with harassment and false personation. Following the investigation into a domestic incident at 10:07 a.m. on Oct. 21 on East Main Road, Le Roy, Mack was arrested after allegedly punching an individual in the face while in presence of law enforcment, and she allegedly provided them with a false name. She was put in jail and is due in Le Roy Town Court on Oct. 27. The case was handled by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Rachel Diehl.

Danielle Marie Stewart, 18, of East Main Road, Stafford, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Following the investigation at 12:23 a.m. on Oct. 25 into a suspicious condition in a parking lot on Main Road in the Town of Stafford, Stewart was allegedly found to be in possession of marijuana. She was issued an appearance ticket and is due in Town of Stafford Court on Nov. 15. The case was handled by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Eric Meyer.

At 84-years-old, soon to be 85, Laura Viehdeffer is likely the oldest person to ever plead guilty to a drug sales charge.

Viehdeffer, a resident of West Main Street, Batavia, was arrested May 25 for two incidents nearly a year before when she sold hydrocodone, which she had a prescription for, to an agent of the Local Drug Task Force. She entered a guilty plea in August to one count of criminal sale of a controlled substance.

She was sentenced yesterday to five years probation by Interim Judge Michael Pietruzska.

Defense attorney Jamie Welch argued that given his client's lack of criminal record and advanced age, a conditional discharge (meaning the conviction is wiped clean if she stayed out of trouble for six months) was the most appropriate sentence.

 “This is unlike the 20-, 30- or 40-year-old defendants facing these charges,” Welch said.

Pietruzska made no comment on Welch's argument before sentencing Viehdeffer.

Viehdeffer made no statement prior to being sentenced.

Photo and info via our news partner, WBTA.

Batavia Middle School was on lockdown for a brief time this morning after a caller reported hearing a gunshot a couple of blocks from the school.

The report turned out to be unfounded and the school was quickly taken off of lockdown.

Genesee Cancer Assistance has opened up an office inside United Memorial Medical Center, next to the Lipson Cancer Center, to help the agency better serve its clients. 

"We offer financial assistance for medical co-pays, reimbursement of travel expenses and any medical-related expenses not covered by insurance," said Sue Underwood, executive director. "The patients can use the money for whatever they may need related to their treatment."

Via our news partner, WBTA.

Press release:

The Board of Directors of the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) will consider finalizing an application for assistance from Mega Properties. The agency also will consider accepting an application for assistance from TJ Sheehan, a Massachusetts-based wholesaler at the agency’s Oct. 27 meeting.

Mega Properties is once again expanding its distribution operations in the Town of Batavia on behalf of Brantford, Ontario, Canada-based Koolatron Corporation. Mega Properties is seeking incentives for a build out of 25,000 square feet at its current warehouse at Gateway I. The expansion would increase the building to 70,000 square feet on three acres and would create six new jobs.

The GCEDC Board also will vote on whether to accept an application from Massachusetts-based wholesaler TJ Sheehan in which the company proposes converting a former 37,500-square-foot Cargill facility in Alexander to a refrigerated beverage distribution center. If the board votes to accept the application, there will be a public hearing since the incentives total more than $100,000.

The GCEDC board meeting will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 27. The meeting will be at the MedTech Center, across from Genesee Community College, on the first floor at the Innovation Center, Suite 107. All board meetings are open to the public.

The former Batavia mother who is accused of leaving her two young children home alone before a fire broke out, killing both little boys, made her first court appearance today on charges of endangering the welfare of a child; she entered a not guilty plea.

Public Defender Jerry Ader told Justice Micheal Cleveland that he had not yet been able to meet with his client and asked that her case be continued to 10:30 a.m., Nov. 21.

Ace made no statement during the short proceeding.

Investigators have not said where they believe Ace went the night of May 20, allegedly leaving her 2-year-old twins, Micah and Michael Gard, unsupervised at 8157 State Street Road, Batavia.

The children were inside their bedroom at the residence at the time. The investigation determined that the fire originated either inside of, or in close proximity to, the children's bedroom. The cause of the fire remains undetermined.

Ace, out of jail on her own recognizance, was given revised release orders. Cleveland ordered her to report for supervision to Genesee Justice.

ADA Melissa Cianfrini asked Cleveland to order Ace undergo alcohol evaluation, but Cleveland's order specified only that she not consume alcohol or non-prescription drugs while the case is pending.

Ace appeared in court accompanied by several friends and family members.

Press release:

Citywide leaf collection will begin Monday, Oct. 31 and continue through Friday, Dec. 2.

Residents of the following streets can rake to the parkway, but do not place in the street:

• Clinton Street
• Oak Street
• Main Street (including East and West Main Street)
• Pearl Street
• South Main Street (between Oak Street and Walnut Street)
• Walnut Street
• Richmond Ave (between Oak Street and Prospect Avenue.

If your street has a route number (i.e. Route 5, Route 33, Route 63 and Route 98), then please keep leaves out of the roadway.

All other streets are asked to rake leaves to the curb line, taking care not to block storm drainage structures/ catch basins.

Leaf operations typically have one crew on the Southside beginning on River Street, moving East in areas South of Main Street; and second crew on the Northside will work from Grandview Terrace moving west, north of Main Street. A third crew will work using a vacuum along main roads and numbered routes. It takes about two weeks to go through the entire city.

Any resident with leaves can also bring them to the Yard Waste Station on Law Street until it closes for the season on Saturday, Dec. 3.

Beginning Nov. 7^th, the hours of the Yard Waste Station operation will be adjusted to 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT LEAF COLLECTION

• Leaf piles must be clear of sticks and other debris;
• Grass clippings, flower potting material, branches, pumpkins and gourds cannot be picked up and residents are encouraged to bring those items to the Yard Waste Station;
• Leaves should not block traffic;
• Leaves should not be piled near intersection corners; this causes sight issues for motorist/ bicyclists/ pedestrians;
• Keep leaf piles clear of drainage ways and catch basins; blocked drainage leads to localized flooding;
• Leaves should not be piled around mailboxes, power poles, fences, fire hydrants or other obstacles; 
• Do not park on leaf piles; the heat from a vehicle exhaust system could start a fire.

Bryan D. Bates, 37, of West Main Street, is charged with second-degree burglary, first-degree coercion, second-degree harassment, obstruction of government administration, and resisting arrest. Bates was arrested at 6:35 a.m. on Oct 20 on Liberty Street, Batavia, following a domestic dispute. Bates allegedly unlawfully entered the victim's residence with the intent to commit a crime. He then allegedly became involved in a physical disturbance with the victim. When confronted by police, Bates fled until he was captured by poluce, at which time he allegedly resisted arrest. He was arraigned in City Court and jailed without bail. He is due in court Oct. 27. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Peter Flanagan, assisted by Officer Felicia DeGroot.

Paris J. McCrimmon, 24, of South Swan Street, Batavia, is charged with first-degree coercion, second-degree menacing, endangering the welfare of a child, and obstruction of governmental administration. McCrimmon was arrested at 9:20 p.m. on Oct. 21 on South Swan Street following a domestic dispute. The defendant was  arraigned in City Court and jailed without bail. The defendant is due in City Court this afternoon. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Peter Flanagan, assisted by Officer Eric Foels.

Samantha Tando, 36, of Penfield Road, Penfield, is charged with second-degree harassment. She was arrested and processed on location at 11:30 p.m. on Oct. 17 following a physical domestic incident at Batavia Downs where it was alleged that she struck a male across the head. She was released on an appearance ticket and is due in City Court on Oct. 25. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Felicia DeGroot.

Tyrone A. Brooks, 24, of Tibbits Road, Medina, is charged with second-degree harassment. At 8:42 p.m. on Oct. 16, Batavia Police responded to the Genesee County Nursing Home on Bank Street for the report of a male refusing to leave. While entering the elevator, Brooks allegedly pushed an employee with his shoulder. He was subsequently arrested and arraigned in City Court. He was jailed on $500 bail and was due in City Court on Oct. 17. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Arick Perkins, assisted by Officer Eric Foels.

Trey G. Henderson, 24, of Jackson Street, Batavia, was arrested at 12:55 a.m. on Oct. 22 as the result of an investigation into an incident that occurred a short time earlier at T.F. Brown's restaurant in Batavia. He is charged with second-degree harassment. He was processed, then released with an appearance ticket returnable to City Court on Oct. 25. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Eric Foels, assisted by Officer Eric Bolles.

Jamie J. Corrieri, 52, of Ellicott Street, Batavia, is charged with DWI, speeding, refusal to take a breath test and driving in the center lane. Corrieri was arrested at 1:39 a.m. on Oct. 21 as the result of a traffic stop on Ellicott Street a short time earlier. The defendant was arraigned at 6:30 a.m. in City Court, then jailed on $1,000 cash or bond. Corrieri was due in City Court to answer the charges on Oct. 21. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Eric Foels, assisted by Officer Eric Bolles.

Christopher Lambert, 36, of Jackson Street, Batavia, is charged with possession of a hypodermic instrument and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree. At 10:40 p.m. on Jackson Street, Lambert was allegedly found in possession of a hypodermic needle and heroin. He was issued an appearance ticket for Oct. 25 in City Court. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Jamie Givens.

Dakota Ryan Lee White, 18, of South Lake Avenue, Bergen, is charged with petit larceny. The defendant was arrested at noon on Sept. 29 on Buffalo Road in Bergen after an investigation revealed he allegedly took merchandise from a business in the Town of Bergen during the course of his employment. He was issued an appearance ticket for Bergen Town Court on Nov. 2. The case was handled by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Christopher Erion.

Adrienne F. Yocina, 35, of Alleghany Road, Corfu, is charged with petit larceny. Yocina was arrested at 4:29 p.m. on Oct. 18 after an investigation at a place of business on Ellicott Street in Batavia. Yocina allegedly stole money from the business over the period of a month by making false returns. Yocina was issued an appearance ticket for Oct. 25 in City Court. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Nicole Salamone, assisted by Officer Chad Richards.

Frank Edward Finnin, 50, of Raymond Avenue, Batavia, was arrested at noon on Oct. 12 on a warrant issued by Genesee County Court for alleged violation of felony probation. He was transported to Genesee County Jail by the Probation Department and was due in County Court this monring. The case was handled by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Richard Schildwaster.

Ivan Nicolivich Molodkin, 33, of Wellington Avenue, Rochester, was arrested on an outstanding bench warrant  after failing to appear at Batavia City Court. He was transported to City Court, arraigned and released on his own recognizance. He was due in court on April 27 in regard to an unspecified incident which occurred on July 2, 2015, on Main Street in Batavia. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Kevin DeFelice.

Richard E. Stafford, 76, of Orange Grove Drive, Batavia, was arrested on a bench warrant for failing to appear in City Court on a ticket for aggravated unlicensed operation. He was issued an appearance ticket for this afternoon in City Court. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Matthew Wojtaszczyk.

There is a power outage in Batavia that covers an area north of East Main Street, from about Bank Street to just east of Clinton Street stretching north in a triangle with the tip on Bank Street Road in East Elba.

About 2,400 National Grid customers are affected.

The cause of the outage is not available at this time and emergency dispatchers are not aware of the cause.

National Grid is giving an estimated time of power restoration of 12:45 p.m.

UPDATE 11:59 p.m.: Steve Brady, spokesman for National Grid, said the cause it not known at this time. A crew is at the substation.  He will provide more information when it's available.

UPDATE 1:42 p.m.: From Steve Brady: "All customers were restored at 12:54 through some switching, but root cause of the outage is still unclear.  There may have been a fuse problem in the station, but crews are still looking at it."

UPDATE 2:03 p.m.: Batavia High School Principal Scott Wilson sent parents/guardians a voice message this afternoon about the power outage. He said power was reported out at 10:55 a.m. and it was restored at 12:30 p.m. and that school officials were in contact with National Grid. The high school remained open throughout the power outage. Backup generators were used and lighting was in place for bathrooms, and the students were provided a hot lunch. They took advantage of natural lighting and students were directed to sit in the atrium and gymnasium. Having Chrome book computers during a power outage was noted as a "new benefit" of the devices, enabling instruction to continue with a minimum of disruption. Wilson said afternoon instruction for BOCES students has been cancelled; students were directed to the library and could be dismissed from there with parental consent. Anyone with questions is asked to call 343-2480, ext. 2000.

Several years ago, dispatcher James Tripp and then Batavia PD Lt. Jim Henning got to talking one day about how cool it would be to have replicas of Batavia patrol vehicles made, and Tripp, being a bit of a collector of fire and police memorabilia, he started researching how to get it done.

Employed by both the Sheriff's Office and Batavia PD, Tripp began with the idea of getting replica patrol vehicles for both agencies. 

For that batch, he found a company in California that could make them.

About five years later, both agencies had replaced most of their old vehicles and members of both agencies were interested in updated models. He and Henning discussed the options and Henning suggested VSP graphics in Buffalo; the company, at the time, did the decals for Batavia's patrol vehicles. 

That set of vehicles was created in 2010. 

VSP was unable to handle the workload this year, so Tripp turned to Vinyl Sticks, with an office in Batavia, and Vinyl Sticks was willing to take on the job in between their larger jobs. 

Trip ordered the blank 1/24 scale of the SUV used by both departments and the first batch was recently completed.

"These replicas as I indicated are not mass produced and each car's decals are manually applied, which can be a time-consuming task," Tripp said.  

The cars are sold to members of both agencies looking for a keepsake and conversation piece. They can be customized with the officer's badge number on the top of the roof and license plate number. 

Tripp said these cars are not sold at a profit. 

"One other footnote is the City of Batavia replicas (and most common folk would not even notice) have the City of Batavia Police Department special 100-year century of service sticker on the back door of the model, just like the real patrol vehicles, which makes them even more unique," Tripp said.

"I would just add it is one of those things likes arts and crafts I guess that you're either into it or not," Tripp said. "My feelings are, for me anyway, it is a sense of pride for me to display and be proud of what I have done and who I have worked for most of my adult life. Serving and working with emergency services to me has been a blessing for me and I am honored that I have had that opportuinty to do just that in this community. While I am semi-retired, I still enjoy walking in the door of both agencies to represent both agencies to the best of my ability. This project for me is part of that pride."

The John Gardner Society gathered for the 20th time last night for its annual reading of works by and about John Gardner, the acclaimed novelist originally from Batavia.

This year, Bill Gardner, John's cousin, attended and spoke at the end about a phone call he received from John near the end of his life. He said John was morose and despondent over the state of his writing.

“I want to come back to Genesee County," John told Bill. "I lost my roots."

He wanted Bill to find him a place to live, ideally a Greek revival home. Bill said he there wasn't much around, but he had seen a place in East Bethany, so he went took at it, but found it had been turned into apartments.

John died in a motorcycle accident in Pennsylvania (where he lived) not long after that, but Bill said he was always struck by the fact that John felt he couldn't write because he had strayed too far from home.

"He had lost his touch," Bill said. "He had lost his ability to write and the problem, as he saw it, was that he lost his touch with the land where he grew up and he wanted to come back."

Top photo: Maureen Maas-Feary.

Gretel Kauffman

Byron Hoot, who travels from Pittsburgh each year for the reading.

Helen Maier

Bill Gardner

Timothy Bucknam stands in for Philemon Tracy, the only Confederate officer lain to rest north of the Mason-Dixon line, who is buried in the Batavia Cemetery.

Bucknam provided visitors to the cemetery last night with information on Tracy's life during the Batavia Cemetery Association's annual ghost walk.

Also pictured below are Tracy Ford as poet Rev. John Henry Yates and Patrick Weissend as Joseph Ellicott.

A pair of large obelisks at grave sites in the Batavia Cemetery, which were knocked by falling tree branches in recent years, were placed and positioned on their stands earlier this week by Craig Wolcott and his crew from Wolcott Lawn and Cemetery Maintenance.

The project was funded through a grant from the Rochester Area Community Foundation and a donation by the Landmark Society of Genesee County.

Photos and information from Sharon Burkel.

James Dillon explained to more than a dozen people who attended the open house Saturday night at the new Harvester Makerspace what a makerspace is all about and what they can do there.

Members will have access to a variety of tools to help them turn their ideas into useful items, art or new products to try and bring to market.

The space provides 3D printing, CNC milling, laser cutting and vacuum forming.

Wet and cold and a slippery pigskin defined much of Batavia's opening round game against University Prep at Van Detta Stadium on Friday night.

Batavia pulled out a win, 24-12, after falling behind in a first half 12-8 marked by four fumbles.

In all, both teams would combine for more than 10 turnovers on the rain-soaked night.

U-Prep held Batavia's season-leading rusher, Ray Leach, to less than 40 yards on the ground. He did score the opening touchdown.

It was a tough night for passing, and with Leach pretty well bottled up by U-Prep's defense, Batavia turned to QB Jerry Reinhart to run the ball. He rushed for 66 yards and two touchdowns.

The star of the night was likely Anthony Ray, who had 10 tackles and two sacks, including one for a safety.

To purchase prints, click here.