batavia

NOTE: This is an updated version of the story that corrects the implication from the Albany Times-Union story that the Batavia Kmart was involved, and the error in the TU story that warning letters were sent to the stores.

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Six grocery stores in New York -- including one in Batavia -- were notified by the state that some fish products the were selling were apparently overpriced.

The allegation is that the stores were selling seafood packed in ice, and the ice was being weighed so that consumers were paying not just for filets and shrimp, but ice as well.

The Batavia Tops was one of the six stores asked to remove products from its selves and either re-label the packaging or return it to the distributor, a company out of New Jersey, according to Jessica Ziehm, spokeswoman for the state Department of Agriculture and Markets.

Tops reportedly sold fish fillets packed in ice that was counted as part of the weight.

Press release available here.

The City of Batavia and the union representing many its workers have apparently reached a tentative contract agreement.

Details of the agreement with the Civil Service Employees Association have not been released.

The new five-year contract, which will run from April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2015, will give union workers graduated raises (no raise in the first year, but a $1,000 bonus and compensation instead), and 2-percent raises in the fourth and fifth year.

The total impact of the raises over the next five years will be $79,000 in additional expense.

New hires will not be able to accrue sick leave to use to purchase health care upon retirement. They will not be able to purchase health care from the city when they retire.

Health care contributions for current workers will increase, with the first-year contribution being 10 percent, then 12.5, then 15, then 17.5, then 20 percent. There are cash incentives, up to $1,000 per employee and spouse, for participation in wellness programs.

New hires will contribute 30 percent to health care, an amount that can be reduced if they participate in wellness programs. If both spouse and employee participate, the total health care contribution by the employee would be reduced by 25 percent.

Information on the settlement is contained in the Batavia City Council's agenda for Monday night. The council will be asked to approve the agreement.

The council meets Monday at 7 p.m.

The Batavian apologizes for the incorrect information in the original version of the story.

The cherry blossoms (or I assume they are cherry blossoms) are in bloom behind the Upton Monument outside the Old Court House at Main and Ellicott streets.

BTW: We still might get thundershowers today and tonight, and there's still a chance of snow on Friday night.

New York's top jurist, Jonathan Lippman, will be in Batavia April 23 for Law Day at the Genesee County Courthouse.

It may be the first time a Chief Judge of the State of New York has visited Batavia.

County Court Judge Robert C. Noonan said a chief judge has never visited Batavia in the 35 years he's been involved in the local legal community, and he doesn't believe a chief judge visited during his father's time practicing law in Batavia, which goes back another 35 years.

"It is possible that this is the first time the Chief Judge EVER came here (of that, I am not certain), but this is a big event and we in the legal community are excited at the prospect of Judge Lippman's visit," Noonan told us in an e-mail.

Noonan anticipates a large turnout, with members from the legal community in Genesee, Wyoming and Orleans counties expected to attend. The event is open to the public, but space will be limited.

The Chief Judge will make a presentation at 9:30 a.m., and the one-hour session is likely to include time for questions and answers in a Town Hall format.

Lippman was appointed to his current position in January 2009 by Gov. David Paterson. Before that, he was Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, First Department. His legal career spans six decades. A full biography is available here.

Recent news items involving the Chief Judge:

• Lippman wrote the opinion on a unanimous decision limiting the scope of police search warrants, prohibiting, in certain cases, the search of persons who just happen to be in a house subject to search.
• Lippman has called the lack of pay raises for the past 10 years for State judges "demoralizing."

The 17-year-old who was allegedly the subject of a manhunt in the City of Batavia on April 2 has been charged with an additional crime stemming from the search.

Christopher Allen Laird, of 30 South St., Le Roy, has been charged with obstructing governmental administration, 2nd.

Batavia Police and Sheriff's Office police, at least one State Trooper and a State Police helicopter were out looking for Laird the morning of April second in the area of State and North streets.

Laird was not captured that day, but was arrested in Le Roy on April 5. Laird was wanted on a warrant for alleged violation of probation stemming from a burglary charge.

Laird was the subject of a manhunt, also involving the State Police helicopter, on Sept. 23, 2008, following a burglary, 3rd, charge. Laird reportedly went missing a few days before, and was spotted in Elba. He was eventually found, according to reports, at a Transit Road residence where he had been accused of stealing a Polaris Trail Blazer off-road four-wheeler.

The Sheriff's Office put out a wanted notice for Laird on Feb. 2. He apparently remained at large until his arrest a few days ago.

Laird is being held without bail. His next scheduled court appearance is April 14.

Fast action by three people on Swan Street this evening saved a Batavia man from possible serious injury after a car he was working on slipped off a jack and trapped him.

The man, Dean Case, started yelling and two men nearby heard him as well as two boys.

The boys, Peter and Philip, ran to get their mom, Kim Koziol, who called 9-1-1. Jeremy Fitzsimmons and his friend Josh Fye, who was visiting from Darien, rushed to see what was going on.

They said all they could see was Case's legs sticking from under the car. Fitzsimmons ran to get a jack and Fye pushed the car from behind to keep it from rolling back further onto Case. Koziol then came with two wheel ramps and pushed them behind the rear tires to help hold the jacked-up vehicle in place.

Case, who was working on his transmission, stood up immediately after he was pulled from under the vehicle, and he was fully conscious. Fitzsimmons said his first words were, "Next time, I'm calling L&L."

A short time later, Officer John Zola and Batavia Fire personnel arrived on scene. Mercy EMS transported Chase to UMMC for evaluation.

Fitzsimmons and Fye demurred when asked if they were heroes. "We were just in the right place at the right time," Fye said.

A two-car accident on West Main Street, Batavia, reportedly caused minor injuries.

The two cars have pulled into the Parisee's parking lot and West Main is not blocked.

City Fire and Mercy EMS are responding.

This minivan became disabled as it turned from East Main Street to Bank Street, Batavia, and was partially blocking the intersection.

A Batavia police officer arrived, spoke with the driver, the boy got out of the passenger side and helped the officer push it out of the way.

Jared Michael Stalker, 26, of 8874 Hartshorn Road, Batavia, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, aggravated unlicensed operation, failure to keep right, and consumption or possession of alcohol in a motor vehicle. Stalker was stopped by Sgt. Brian Frieday at 4:11 a.m., Saturday, on Hartshorn Road in Batavia.

Vincent J. Monteiro, 31, of Buffalo, is charged with DWI. Monteiro was stopped by State Police on the Thruway in Le Roy at 3:09 p.m., Saturday.

Accidents from the State Police blotter:

9:28 a.m., April 4, Arrow Hawk parking lot (Bloomingdale Road), Alabama, two vehicles; Driver 1: Richard A. Ferris, 55, of Interlaken; Driver 2: Zulfiqar A. Syed, 44, of Rochester. No injuries reported.

3:29 p.m., April 4, Kendall Road, Le Roy, two vehicles; Driver 1: Cortney Lee Green, 16, of Byron; Driver 2: Russell A. Lyons, 49, of East Bethany. No injuries reported.

Murrie Hokenson sent along this picture of a tree that fell in his neighbor's yard on Sunday.  The neighbors are the Szczesnys, and one son was visiting from New Jersey. His car was narrowly missed by the falling limb. The other son, Father Szczesny, normally parks right where the tree fell, but was tied up with Easter duties at the time.

With a nod of approval (no official vote could be taken) from the Legislature's Human Services Committee today, Marilyn Drilling and Barb Toal are ready to push forward with plans for a peace garden next to the Holland Land Office Museum.

They need to raise $55,000 in the next 11 months, and Drilling said a key component of the fundraising campaign will include a dinner with Terry Anderson as the keynote speaker.

Anderson, who was held captive in Lebanon for more than 6 years, from 1985 to 1991, hasn't visited his hometown of Batavia in 19 years.

He didn't want to make it 20, said Drilling, executive director of HLOM, and he agreed to support the peace garden effort at no cost to the organizers.

"Who better to talk about peace than a man who spent so much of his wonderful life behind locked doors," Drilling said.

The dinner is planned for Sept. 9.

The county owns the land next to the museum and must approve any new use of the strip of real estate hard against the Tonawanda Creek. To grant approval, the Legislature must receive a finished plan, which includes at least the potential of approvals from the City of Batavia and the Army Corps of Engineers, as well as contract language from County Attorney Charles Zambito and final engineering plans.

Without that, the Human Services Committee couldn't even poll members for consensus, but it was clear there were no objections from members for pushing forward with the project.

"Of all the people I've heard talk about it, I don't think I've heard anybody say they're not in favor of it," said Hollis Upson. "It's very interesting the amount of outpouring and number of volunteers who support it. It's been vary contagious."

Drilling is concerned that without a sense that the county supports the project, it will impede fundraising, which needs to proceed now.

There are 20 countries with official Peace Gardens, which is an international effort to promote and recognize peace among nations. The Peace Garden Foundation promotes the effort and was founded by current president Paula Savage, a resident and native of Batavia. The Batavia garden would be an honorary, not official, member. It would feature the 20 flags of the countries with official gardens.

Each country would be represented by its flag, and flag poles would be sold for donations of about $2,500 each, according to Drilling.

Drilling sees the peace garden as a natural extension of HLOM, helping to bring in tourists.

Toal, who chairs the local Peace Garden Committee, said it's a natural fit for Batavia and the strong interest in the region from War of 1812 enthusiasts.

Batavia, she said, served as a key defense in stopping the British advance after Buffalo was destroyed. Many tourists interested in the War of 1812 make the trip to Batavia, she said, and the peace garden at HLOM would be an appropriate destination point.

No county funds would be used in building and maintaining the peace garden, which is why, Drilling said, it's important to get started on fundraising now.

A grass fire has been reported just off the Thruway near Route 98.

Town of Batavia Fire is responding.

UPDATE: All units back in service.

Police are looking for a teal-blue pickup truck with a silver tool box that hit another car in the area of Ellicott and Main streets.

The driver of the truck apparently left the scene.

The license plate of the car is described as a New York registration with lots of numbers and some sort of decoration on the plate.

No further details at this time.

UPDATE: The two vehicles did not collide. The driver of a Ford Windstar reports that she took to a curb to avoid an accident. Her car had 8- to 10-inches of paint removed. There was no new damage to the truck, though he may have had damage from a previous accident. The truck was last seen turning onto Court Street and it may have pulled into the parking lot between Jackson and Court.