batavia

A four-car accident, no injuries, is reported at West Main and River streets in the city. City fire and police are responding.

Ladder trucks from Town of Batavia Fire and City Fire were used this morning to hoist a large American flag over East Main Street for the funeral procession of Melvin Loder.

Loder was a volunteer firefighter with the Elba Volunteer Fire Department. He died at home Saturday (full obituary).

Photos by Sloan Martin, WBTA.

A fight is reported outside The Harvester bar on Harvester Avenue in Batavia and the caller says there are chairs being thrown. City police are responding.

UPDATE 1:21 a.m. (by Howard): Apparently, two of the people involved in the original fracas tangled again. Police are looking for a suspect and an ambulance has been requested to The Harvester to treat a victim with an injured nose.

Batavia resident Rashaad Santiago, whom we featured in a story last month, is one of three finalists in the reality TV series "Face Off."

The show airs at 8 p.m. on the SciFi Channel. 

Santiago will be at City Slickers tonight for the season finale to celebrate the event and answer any questions people might have about the show.

Maleak H. Green, 21, of Ellicott Street, Batavia, was charged with menacing, 3rd, and trespass following an incident which occurred at about 9:30 p.m. on April 18 on Ellicott Street. He allegedly walked onto the property of another person and struck the door to that person's residence with a baseball bat. He was released on an appearance ticket. The incident was investigated by officer Peter Flanagan, assisted by officer Chad Richards. But the next day, April 19, Green was jailed after being charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct following an incident that occurred at a coffee shop on Main Street. Green allegedly entered the building and started throwing chairs around and demanding that police be called. When police arrived, Green was allegedly observed brandishing a can of peas and allegedly saying he wanted to strike someone with the can of peas. Green allegedly refused to comply with verbal demands to drop the can of peas and he then allegedly struggled with officers who were trying to arrest him. He was arraigned and jailed with bail set at $1,500. The latter incident was investigated by officer Chad Richards, assisted by officer Jason Ivison. Green is to appear in City Court this afternoon on all of the charges.

Jorge Rodriguez Martinez, 31, of South Main Street in Batavia, was charged with obstruction of governmental justice following his arrest on April 19 for allegedly attempting to keep a police officer from investigating a disturbance on South Main Street. Martinez allegedly physically placed himself between the officer and another person during the incident and also allegedly attempted to fight with the officer. Following his arraignment in Batavia City Court, Martinez was jailed and bail set at $1,500. He is scheduled to return to Batavia City Court this afternoon. The investigating officer was Peter Flanagan, assisted by officer Devon Pahuta.

Alex S. Dumbleton, 20, of Jackson Street, Batavia, was charged with disorderly conduct following his arrest at 2:45 p.m. on April 19 for allegedly yelling obscenities at a female acquaintance earlier in the day on South Jackson Street. He was issued an appearance ticket for Batavia City Court. The investigating officer was Eric Foels, assisted by officer Frank Klimjack.

Tanya L. Parsons, 29, of Hutchins Street in Batavia, was charged with petit larceny following an investigation into an incident which occurred April 18 at a bargain store on East Main Street. She is accused of concealing sidewalk chalk and a package of Andes Mints in her purse and leaving the store without paying for them. She is set to appear on the charge this afternoon. The incident was investigated by officer Jamie Givens who was assisted by officer Stephen Cronmiller.

Candace M. Sanchez, 48, of Jackson Street in Batavia, is charged with petit larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, 5th, possession of a forged instrument, 2nd, and forgery, 2nd. She had an active arrest warrant out of the City of Batavia due to an incident April 1 in which she allegedly possessed and passed a forged check. Sanchez was taken into custody April 17 following an investigation and jailed without bail. The incident was investigated by officer James DeFreze and Sgt. Christopher Camp.

Kelly J. Woodrow, 34, of Hutchins Street in Batavia, was charged with petit larceny following an investigation into a complaint of a larceny April 18 at a bargain store on East Main Street. He was arraigned today in City Court, issued an appearance ticket and released. He is to return to City Court on Wednesday. The incident was investigated by officer Stephen Cronmiller who was assisted by officer Jamie Givens.

Tamara L. Butler, 36, of North Main Street in Albion, was charged with petit larceny following her arrest on April 21 at about 2 a.m. after an arrest warrant from Orleans County was executed. She was issued an appearance ticket for Batavia City Court. The investigating officer was Peter Flanagan.

Eric. R. Swede, 25, of Perry Road in Pavilion, was arrested in Monroe County on a bench warrant issued by Batavia City Court. He posted $100 bail and was released. He is scheduled to be in City Court on April 29. The incident was investigated by officer Kevin DeFelice.

A tractor-trailer and car have been involved in an accident -- the big rig may have lost a tire -- on Route 98 near Pike Road.

There are no injuries reported, but there is a fuel leak.

Town of Batavia Fire Department responding.

Press release:

The Showtime Sports Academy has partnered with the Buffalo 716ers (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Erie Hurricane (Erie, Pa.), who participate in the Premier Basketball League (PBL). The objective of the Showtime Sports Academy is to provide high quality AAU basketball programs, which service the youth in grades K-12, throughout Western New York.

Showtime Sports Academy is owned and operated by Batavia native, Jerry Smith, who is committed to providing opportunities for the youth in Batavia.

“I am thrilled to be working with professional organizations that are just as dedicated to helping the youth as we are,” Smith said.

The Buffalo 716ers and Erie Hurricane will be working to provide camps and clinics for the youth of Batavia this summer, tournaments, and assisting with Showtime Sports Academy events.

“We are excited about the opportunity to mentor, volunteer, and work with youth of the Showtime Sports Academy,” said Buffalo 716ers and Erie Hurricane team owner, Tawan Slaughter. 

For more information on the Showtime Sports Academy please visit www.showtimesa.com. Also, for more information on the Buffalo 716ers and Erie Hurricane, please visit www.buffalo716ers.net or www.eriehurricane.net.

Two males are reportedly fighting at State Street and Richmond Avenue and bystanders are taping it. City police are responding.

The culvert that collapsed Saturday under a Byron resident and his two children while out on a bike ride was scheduled to be replaced this summer, said County Highway Superintendent Tim Hens.

"I don't think any of us realized how bad it was in terms of being rotted out," Hens said. "We did a visual inspection, but I wasn't going to crawl into a two-foot pipe, but you can never tell without getting in there. The middle was in a lot worse shape than we thought."

Byron-Batavia Road between Griswold Road and Walkers Corners Road will be closed for two weeks while the culvert is replaced.

The cost of the replacement is approximately $50,000.

"Mother nature and time beat us to the punch," Hens said.

The husband of Korinne Haymon, who contacted The Batavian about the incident, said her husband and their two children were on a Saturday afternoon bike ride when the culvert gave out from under them. 

Mr. Haymon was pulling a bike carrier with their 4-year-old and 7-year-old riding along when he decided to stop out of curiosity and look at a small hole by the side of the road. It was about the size of a groundhog hole.

As soon as he put his foot down, the ground gave way.

The 7-year-old was able to jump over the hole "like Superman," Korinne said.

As soon as he realized the 4-year-old had fallen to the bottom of the hole, Mr. Haymon jumped to the bottom and he was able to lift the child over his head and push him out of the hole. He yelled for the child to move away from the hole. Then he pulled the bike and carrier the rest of the way into the hold and use it like a ladder to climb out.

"He said every time he grabbed earth, it was just crumbling," Korinne said. "They were hysterical, like screaming."

Outside of some cuts and scrapes, nobody was injured.

"He was petrified," Korinne said. "He said he just keeps playing it over in his head but I told him to just focus on everybody is all right."

The children are doing fine, Korinne said.

"They just laugh about how my oldest Supermanned over the hole," she said.

Hens said in his 16 years this is only the second culvert to collapse. The other one was in Darien in 1998 or 1999 and rain helped wash out a sinkhole.

"Most of the time we're ahead of the game in identifying (culverts for replacement)," Hens said. "We wait for a dry time to check on them. It's unusual for them to collapse like that and just from a visual inspection point of view, we have ones that are way worse. It's an odd combination of weather, timing, cold weather -- all of that plays into it."

County parks workers were at Dewitt Recreation Area this morning getting the lake ready for another spring, summer and fall of fishing and recreating. The lake was stocked with 500 2-year-old brown trout and the piers were put into place. Parks Director Paul Osborn said he was surprised to find the water temperature this morning is 54 degrees. Normally it's in the 30s on stocking day. The lake had a thick and long-lasting ice cover this year. The water level is also higher than it's been in recent years.

Scott and 6-year-old Trenton Shuler.

Michael Atkinson, in the red, and Marcus Palvino.

UPDATE: Photo of the stocking operation from this morning provided by Paul Osborn.

A two-car accident with believed to be minor injuries is reported at the intersection of Bank Street and Washington Avenue. City fire, Mercy medics and law enforcement are on scene.

UPDATE 11:25 a.m.: Mercy just arrived at UMMC with a patient complaining of pain between the hip and knee.

Contractors have begun road reconstruction work on the south end of Cedar Street, Batavia.

Brandon Michael Woodham, 22, of Wheeler Road, Medina, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and unlawful dealing with fireworks. Woodham was stopped at 5:27 p.m. Friday on Veterans Memorial Drive by Deputy Joseph Loftus and found to allegedly possess fireworks and marijuana.

Scott M. Walton, 57, of Spencerport, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and failure to dim lights. Walton was stopped at an unspecified time and unspecified location by a Le Roy PD officer.

Jamie L. Rennicks, 30, of Pembroke, is charged with DWI and driving with a BAC of .08 or greater. Rennicks was stopped at 2:10 a.m. Saturday on West Main Street Road, Batavia, by a State trooper.

Pat and John Brumsted, of East Road, near Creek Road and Putnam Road, Batavia, are missing their beagle, DYNO. The pooch has been missing since 10 a.m. yesterday. DYNO is 7 and tan and white and very friendly. Their phone numbers are: (585) 343-6173 or (585) 813-3595.

Via WBTA:

A one-car rollover with injuries is reported on School Street in Downtown Batavia. City fire and Mercy medics are on scene. The car is on its roof but the victims are extricated.

UPDATE (by Howard): It appears a blue sedan was westbound on School Street from Swan Street when it struck a parked SUV. The passenger-side front tire struck the rear tire on the driver's side of the SUV. The SUV was pushed forward about five feet and its rear wheel assembly was broken. The fender was scraped but not dented. The frame of the sedan was broken. The owner of the SUV said he just recently got the vehicle. It still had a temporary registration in the window, he pointed out. He hasn't even made a payment on it yet, he said. He was at a friend's house for Easter Dinner. Police conducted a field sobriety test on the driver of the sedan. He was taken into custody pending further investigation. 

UPDATE 10:30 a.m., Monday (by Howard): The driver was released after further investigation found neither drugs nor alcohol were a factor in the accident.

Press release:

The Batavia Business Improvement District will hold its annual meeting and awards luncheon from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Friday, April 25 (registration at 11:45 a.m.) at the City Church Generation Center, 15 Center St. in Downtown Batavia.

The agenda will include a review of the B.I.D.’s accomplishments and the announcement of the newly elected members to the Board of Directors.

The “Downtown Spirit” Business Awards are presented to: Greg Gluck, Alberty Drug Co. and Christine Crocker, The YNGodess Shop.

The “Downtown Spirit” Volunteer Awards presented to: Dan Fischer (WBTA Radio) who served as a board member and chairperson for Summer In The City, Beth Kemp (T-Shirts Etc.) for serving on the BID Promotion / Wine Walk committees and Steve Coraci (community volunteer) for serving on the Downtown Public, Summer In The City and Wine Walk committees.

Guest Speaker: Mark Masse, vice-president Genesee Economic Development Center. His topic: “When The STAMP Project Comes, Will Downtown Be Ready?”

All B.I.D. members and area businesses are invited. A special buffet will be served from Sweet Ecstasy Bakery & Bistro.

Price is $20 per person. RSVP and payment by Tuesday, April 22. Reservations contact BID - Don Burkel or Laurie Oltramari, at 585-344-0900 or e-mail at dburkel@downtownbataviany.com

City police are responding to the parking lot of UMMC where there's a complaint about a fight.

Tonight, Yume Asian Bistro, on Veterans Memorial Drive, celebrated the opening of its bar with music played (as a DJ) and performed (vocals and guitar) by Brent Persia. The owners say if music on Friday and Saturday nights after the dinner hour goes over well, they will continue to offer it.

Previously: Pair of young chefs see opportunity in Batavia for Asian cuisine, especially sushi

A dumpster fire was reported outside of Clor's Meat Market on West Main Street at the corner of Lewiston Road. A responder says there is no exposure to the building and the dumpster was smoldering, but no flames were showing. Town of Batavia Fire Department responded and the fire is knocked down.