batavia

The bath salt epidemic in Batavia seems to have subsided over the past couple of weeks.

Law enforcement and health officials across the board report fewer emergency responses that appear related to the use of bath salts by local residents.

Whether the decline in known usage is related to the closure of the 420 store at 400 Ellicott St., Batavia or some other factor is unclear.

In a report prepared yesterday by the Genesee County Health Department, a UMMC nurse manager is quoted as saying there were six bath salt patients admitted to ER in the middle of July. In the two weeks prior to Tuesday, there was one bath salt case in ER.

Michael Merrill, chief medical officer for UMMC, who told The Batavian on July 16 that emergency room cases related to bath salts had become routine, confirmed today that the hospital has seen no new bath salt cases for close to two weeks.

"The easy supplier in town is gone and now the supply is gone," Merrill said.

The drop in synthetic drug-related calls could also be a result of increased awareness by potential users of how dangerous the drugs are, officials said, and the fact that some of the people who seemed to have been involved in bath salts during the height of the seeming barrage of bath salt-related emergencies are now in jail.

"I think the people who wanted to experiment have seen all the negative things that this does and might not want to experiment (now)," Det. Rich Schauf said. "Maybe they had the thought that this might be something to do because it’s legal and then they saw that it's something that’s very harmful, and it got a lot of publicity, it might cause somebody to say, 'I’m not going to harm myself with it.' "

Synthetic drugs have been a growing problem across the nation over the past couple of years and on July 9, the federal government enacted more stringent legal controls on the sale of the substances.

Following the new legislation, the federal Drug Enforcment Administration was lead agency in raids in about 100 cities across the U.S., including Batavia, on establishments suspected of selling synthetic drugs.

Just prior to the raids, The Batavian reported that regionally, communities with emergency responses for suspected synthetic drug incidents were those communities that seemed to have an alleged local supplier of the drugs. Law enforcement officials in areas without an alleged local supplier reported seeing far fewer synthetic drug-related problems.

Users of synthetic drugs tend to display paranoid and agitated behavior, sometimes hallucinating, or they suffer sever medical problems such as high body temperature and seizures, creating both public safety and public health concerns.

Steve Sharpe, director of emergency communications for the Sheriff's Office, said without more data -- and two weeks is too little data -- he thinks it's too soon to say for sure whether usage is down.

He did report, however, that no new calls have been documented in the county outside of the City of Batavia since Aug. 1.

Officer Eric Hill is quoted in the health department report as saying Batavia PD was receiving two or three synthetic drug-related calls per shift, which would mean six to nine calls per day. 

The call volume, Schauf said yesterday, has dropped significantly in recent weeks.

The county health department has received one complaint about the possible sale of bath salts since July 25, when The 420 Emporium was raided. A citizen turned in an empty "Eight Ballz" packet that was allegedly purchased locally on July 26 or 27.

The 420 store remains closed, though its shelves are still stocked with glassware inventory and on the chain's Facebook page for the Brockport location an Oakfield resident asked about the Batavia store and an admin for The 420 Emporium page replied, "No the Batavia store is not open yet."

Joshua Denise, who appears to be the owner (or at least co-owner) of the Batavia store, was arrested during the DEA raid. He is out of federal custody pending further legal proceedings.

Schauf said the Batavia PD continues to remain alert for possible reports of synthetic drug sales in the city and there's no assumption the problems associated with synthetic drugs have passed.

"Somebody who wants to find it will find it," Schauf said. "If there’s a demand, somebody will say, 'there’s a demand' and they’ll try to sell it."

A woman on Maple Street in the city is asking to speak with police officers about an alleged larceny. She claims a neighbor stole her baby stroller, then attempted to sell it back to her.

A car reportedly struck a bicyclist on West Main Street in front of the Dunn Tire store. The bicyclist says she's not injured and is declining medical treatment. City fire and Mercy medics are responding to evaluate her.

Press release:

The 2012 New York-Penn League All-Star roster will include five players from Batavia. They will send infielders Breyvic Valera and Patrick Wisdom, catcher Jesus Montero and pitchers Tyler Melling and Lee Stoppelman to the game to be held Tuesday, Aug. 14 at Eastwood Field, home of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.

Valera, an undrafted free agent signing in 2010, has played in 45 games for the Muckdogs this year and has been among the league leaders in hitting all season. Valera currently ranks third in the league in hitting, with a .332 batting average, and his 62 hits currently leads the league.

Patrick Wisdom was drafted by the Cardinals in the supplemental first round of this year’s draft and is enjoying a stellar first professional season. He is currently batting .278 with 27 runs scored, 10 doubles and 16 RBI’s in 41 games. Wisdom has also played great defense at third base this season and ranks first in the league for defense at that position with a .963 fielding percentage with only four errors.

Montero was an undrafted free agent signing in 2007 and has started 33 games at catcher for the Muckdogs this season. He is currently batting .308 with six doubles, four home runs and 21 RBIs. Montero has also been solid behind the plate this year and has helped guide the pitching staff to a team ERA of 2.98, which ranks third in the league. Montero will be unable to attend the game due to injury. 

A 39th round pick out of Miami (OH) University in the 2011 draft, Melling is 2-1 with 31 strikeouts in eight games started for the Muckdogs. The left-hander’s ERA of 2.27 ranks him eighth in the league and his WHIP of 1.06 ranks 11th in the league.

St. Louis drafted Stoppelman out of Central Missouri State in the 24th round of the 2012 draft. He has appeared in 14 games and has a 2-1 record with a 1.16 ERA. In 23.1 innings of work, he has struck out 26 batters and only allowed 15 hits. Opposing batters are hitting just .174 against him on the year. 

Batavia holds the third-place spot in the Pinckney Division with a record of 24-24. This marks the fourth time in five years that the Muckdogs have sent at least five players to the All-Star game. The Muckdogs sent five players to the 2008 All-Star game, three in 2009, five in 2010, and six in 2011.

Get people out of their houses, get neighbors talking with each other, improve the lines of communication between residents and police -- these are some of the goals of National Night Out.

"It’s priceless (when people talk) because without that information you turn into a reactive police department where you’re constantly reacting to crime," Det. Rich Schauf said.

"There are so many things that people don’t realize are thwarted before they become a real social problem in a neighborhood just because a neighbor feels comfortable talking with a police officer on the side. Maybe we might get some information so we can quell something before it grows into something (bigger)."

Each year, the Batavia PD, with the support of other city staff and community volunteers, organize National Night Out events in neighborhood parks that include demonstrations from firefighters and police along with information about crime and substance abuse from community groups.

Last night there were events in Farrall Park, Birchwood Village and Pringle Park.

The Pringle Park event was organized by the neighborhood itself, led by Lisa Barrett and her husband, Kyle.

That kind of sustaining community effort is something Schauff said the police department hopes will grow out of these events.

"We don’t necessarily want to go into a neighborhood and say ‘oh the police are going to come in an organize your neighborhood,' " Schauf said. "We want to show people the police want to assit you and have you come out and talk to your neighbors so that you feel safe and comfortable."

Lisa Barrett, who has been involved in the organizing committee for National Night Out and is a counselor at GCASA, said that's exactly why she and her husband (inset photo) wanted to put together a community event at Pringle Park.

"We just went through the whole bath salts horrific issue and somebody’s got to stand up," Barrett said. "Somebody’s got to bring people out of their houses to get to know each other. If we do that, we’re telling the youth, we care about our neighborhood. If they see we care, they’re going to care in the future."

Schauf said he thinks Batavia is already a pretty special place because with the lines of communications that do exist between police and community, there is a lot less in the way of serious, violent crime in Batavia.

"In Batavia, I can’t think of one area were a person would have to be in fear of (his or her) life to walk through," Schauf said. "We’re looking at cities just down the road on either side of us where you wouldn’t necessarily feel safe walking in a neighborhood. Do you still need to use precautions? Absolutely.

"I tell people, harden your targets, know your area, be aware of what’s going on around you. But I think we have a gem in Batavia where bad things can happen and do happen at times, but we do feel safe because people feel comfortable talking with police and telling us things that we can look into pretty quickly."

Photos: Councilwoman Rose Mary Christian tries on the turn-out gear of a city firefighter and Deputy Brian Thompson demonstrates some of the law enforcement tasks performed by his K-9 "Pharoah."

A serious injury accident is reported in the city at Redfield Parkway and West Main Street. One person is said to have a punctured lung. Batavia Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding.

UPDATE 10:04 a.m.: A 65-year-old male who was driving a green gray pickup truck is being transported to UMMC complaining of pain on his left side. Another patient is being taken to Strong Memorial Hospital.

(Truck had been moved to this location by the time I arrived at the scene.)

Jolene Janelle Goodell, 32, of Attica Road, Attica, is charged with assault, 3rd, criminal contempt, 2nd, and endangering the welfare of a child. Goodell was picked up in the City of Batavia on a warrant out of Town of Alexander Court on the listed charges. Goodell was jailed on $2,500 bail.

William Delose Hirsch, 25, of Buckman Road, Bethany, is charged with unlawful imprisonment, 2nd. Hirsch was taken into custody by County Probation on an arrest warrant out of city court.

Batavia's rail system sits on beds that are more than 150 years old, but remain relevent and essential in 2012 to local business.

To help ensure the more than one dozen Batavia businesses that regularly use  the line -- now operated by Genesee Valley Transportation -- can continue to depend on the rail system to bring in materials for manufacturing, the state and feds have ponied up nearly $500,000 in grants to make critical repairs.

This week crews are replacing the ties under the steel rails on portions of the entire three miles of the track.

"There's a lot to be said for the work going on out here because if you take the weak spots and strengthen them, that strengthens the whole line," said Director of Operations Doug Eisele. "What’s that have to do with the customer? A whole lot because (if) you derail somewhere, the customer is not getting his product until you get it cleaned up."

Throughout New York, according to Syracuse.com, short line rail is experiencing a resurgance in business, but refurbishing antique tracks is an expensive process primarily because the heavy equipment for the jobs is too costly for small lines to even think about buying for infrequent work.

That means contractors -- driving up costs -- are necessary, and that means without the grants, lines so essential to local business would continue to decline to the point of being impossible to use.

Typically, the tracks have been deteriorating for years because owners who were responsible for the lines before they were acquired by short lines (and this was the case in Batavia, according to Eisele) neglected routine maintenance.

According to the American Short Line & Regional Railroad Association, the number of short line companies in the U.S. has increased from 200 in 1980 to more than 500 today as national carriers have decided to sell of regional routes.

Eisele said rail makes a lot of sense for manufacturing businesses because it's so much more cost effective than trucking.

"Trucking is available to get there quick, but on top of that is the extra expense, whereas rail can undercut those rates and still provide reasonable service," Eisele said. "That’s really what the customers are looking for."

According to the Syracuse.com article, rail can ship "three to four trucks worth of goods 300 miles on a gallon of diesel."

The Short Line association reported in 2009 that "Short line railroads take the equivalent of nearly 33 million truck loads off the highways, saving the country over $1.4 billion annually in highway repair costs and improving highway safety and congestion."

GVT operates six lines with 300 miles of track in Orleans and Erie counties as well as Utica and the North counties along with one line in Pennsylvania.

The company is based in Batavia and employs locally -- including rail operations and company administration -- 22 people.

Steve Hyde, CEO of the Genesee County Economic Development Center, said GVT is definitely an economic development asset for Batavia.

In discussion with companies looking at Batavia as a location for manufacturing, the availability of rail is a common topic of discussion.

"Having a short line rail system that is well established and well respected and does a really good job like Genesee Valley Transportation is another major asset that helps our strategic development efforts," Hyde said.

While none of the current tenants of the new Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park has yet requested rail, Muller/Pepsi and Alpina have expressed an interest in rail, Hyde said, and future tenants might have a strong need for rail.

The GVT line runs right up to the property line of the ag park and the state has earmarked $1 million in grants to extend the line if the need arises.

The local short line connects into CSX tracks and typically, rail cars are picked up and dropped off at operations connecting the two lines.

For businesses such as Chapin, Graham, Genesee Lumber and Eddy Arnold Recycling, the GVT line is pretty much a direct part of their businesses, but for many other local companies, GVT's recently constructed transfer center at Evans and Mill streets offers a cost-effective way to send and receive large shipments via rail.

The 22,000-square-foot warehouse can help any business throughout Western New York not directly connected with a rail line eliminate hundreds of miles of highway shipping for the more cost-effective alternative of rail.

The ease of access for local rail is also the best bet for turning old factory space in the heart of Batavia into thriving business ventures again, according to both Eisele and Hyde.

"We have buildings here that have been vacant for years," Eisele said. "If a new customer can come in and get a business in shape, if we have the track there that hasn't been used in years, we would come in and find ways to get that track back into shape so the could get their business going. The whole idea is to bring business back into the county and that's what we do."

Hyde said GCEDC is available to help revitalize that aging industrial infrastructure.

"Having an active rail line near some of those older industrial sites to help those things redevelop over time is good and we would certainly be happy to be part of the team," Hyde said.

Press release:

For the third year in a row Genesee County has been recognized in the top five of the rankings in the Metro Food Processing Industry Growth category by "Business Facilities" a national site selection publication.

The agriculture industry in Genesee County employs more than 1,500 workers, a number that will dramatically increase with the opening of Alpina Foods, LLC, and PepsiCo/Muller yogurt manufacturing facilities.

“The construction of two major new food processing facilities by Alpina and the joint venture between PepsiCo and Theo Müller demonstrates a significant return on our investment in our Agri-Business Park which we believe is driving our high national ranking,” said Steve Hyde, president and CEO of Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC). “We are honored to be once again recognized by 'Business Facilities' as it keeps us on the radar screen for site selectors throughout the United States and the world.”

The Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park encompasses 202 shovel-ready, pre-permitted acres strategically located between Western New York and the Finger Lakes Region. On site there is access to low-cost process water via a local aquifer that produces more than six million gallons per day and a pretreatment facility as well as rail access.

Through the support of National Grid and National Fuel, the site has an enhanced utility infrastructure. The agri-park was originally a public-private partnership between GCEDC and Farm Credit East.

“The Agri-Business Park in Genesee County is perfectly tailored to fill a niche in our region created by our productive agricultural sector,” said Mary Pat Hancock, chair, Genesee County Legislature. “It makes perfect sense to have those who process food to have their facilities as near as possible to where the food is produced.

"It makes for a better, safer, and tastier product and is also more efficient.  Our resources lend themselves to food processing and our location is ideal for quick market access. We look forward to continued success and expansion.”

Alpina Foods LLC, one of the most recognized dairy companies in the world and a leading dairy producing company in Colombia and South America, has decided to open its first specialty yogurt manufacturing plant in the United States at the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park.

PepsiCo, in a joint venture with German dairy company Theo Müller, also broke ground earlier this year on a $206 million yogurt manufacturing facility at the park. Other food processing facilities in Genesee County include O-AT-KA Milk, Yancey’s Fancy and Allan’s Canning. 

“The significant dairy supply, abundance of fresh water, and talented workforce are just some of the assets that attract food manufacturers such as PepsiCo, Theo Müller and Alpina foods to Western New York,” said Mark S. Peterson, president and CEO of Greater Rochester Enterprise. “It’s no wonder that more than 100 food manufacturers have operations here.”

“Genesee County’s strategic location and agricultural assets make it a prime location destination for the food processing industry,” said Thomas A. Kucharski, president and CEO of Buffalo Niagara Enterprise.

“The vision Genesee County officials have shown in developing shovel-ready sites like the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park has distinguished them among peer communities and allowed us to succeed in attracting global investment and job creation like Alpina, Mueller and more."

A man is attempting to bust down the front door of a woman's house at 13 Hutchins St. in the City of Batavia. Police are responding.

Friends and family have come through for Paul Konieczny, at least when it comes to the work of repairing the shattered foundation on his home at 144 Harvester Ave., Batavia, which collapsed in a storm July 31.

The work is getting done thanks to the volunteer effort of long-time friends, Konieczny teen-age children and other family members, but Konieczny said he still might not have enough money to meet all of the financial needs that go with making the repairs.

The materials for the new foundation alone costs more than $1,000.

"We're just day-by-day," said Konieczny.

And day-by-day met a bit of a set back yesterday when nearly an inch of rainfall in an hour caused more of the damaged foundation to collapse.

Don Johnson, a friend of Konieczny for 30 years, and a contractor, is working as fast as he can during his off hours to get the new foundation wall in place, knowing that any more rain before the work is done could mean more damage.

"He's willing to fight because he knows I don't want to leave," said Konieczny, who previously said he isn't going to leave the house that's been in his family for 130 years.

Johnson (top photo) said is effort is "just what friends do." He said, "We help as best we can at the things we can do."

Konieczny said he would welcome any financial assistance anybody might be able to provide.

"I'm grasping for hope," Konieczny said. "I pray to God we can get this done."

Bottom photos: Ron Gibble, another long-time friend of Konieczny's, pitches in with the help of Konieczny's son Andy. Daughter Kayla was also helping today. Gibble said he will do the plumbing work once the project gets to that point. The very bottom photo, one of Paul's sunflowers. Kayla said they used to have a neighbor who grew sunflowers and the neighbor and Paul would compete every year over who could grow the tallest sunflower.

A suspect in a series of burglaries in Le Roy and Batavia who was taken into custody during an alleged break-in a week ago has been charged with one count of burglary.

Russell P. Cessna, 24, of 18 Pleasant St., Le Roy, was arrested after being allegedly caught in the act on Summit Street, Batavia.

Investigators say Cessna made forcible entry into the residence and stole jewelry, cash and coins.

Following a series of similar burglaries in Le Roy, Batavia and other parts of Genesee County, the Le Roy PD, Batavia PD and Sheriff's Office cooperated on an investigation and set up a surveillance detail, which led to Cessna's arrest.

Cessna was taken into custody and held in jail on a warrant for alleged violation of parole.

Additional burglary charges are pending. He will be arraigned in Batavia City Court at 1 p.m., Tuesday.

Wortyndyke Road in the Town of Batavia is closed temporarily for repaving. There are barricades up at routes 33 and 5. No vehicles, including emergency vehicles, will be allowed.

Brad C. Doward, of 10 Hall St., Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt in the first degree, endangering the welfare of a child, and harassment, 2nd. The 22-year-old was involved in a domestic incident Aug. 3 on Prune Street wherein he allegedly pushed a female acquaintance in the presence of a 10-year-old child. There's an order of protection in place directing the defendant to refrain himself from harassment against this female. He turned himself into the Batavia PD on Aug. 5, was arraigned and put in jail without bail pending his court appearance today at 1:30 p.m. The investigating officers were Frank Klimjack and Jason Ivison.

Press release:

Genesee ARC and the City Youth Bureau Parks program teamed up this summer to offer educational tours at ARC’s new Trash & Recycling facility, 3785 W. Main St. Road.

Children from all five city parks program sites signed up to learn about the city’s recycling efforts and how items are reduced, reused and recycled.  ARC Trash & Recycling Coordinator Mike Smith shared information about recycling seven different types of plastic, as well as tin cans, paper and the number one product recycled at the new facility, cardboard.

A new initiative called e-recycling was showcased during the tour, explaining the NYS law requiring recycling of electronics such as a computers, televisions, cell phones and electronic games.

(Photo: Mike Smith and a group from the Williams Park recreation program in front of piles of baled tin cans).