batavia

Police officers appeared at BOCES on Monday after a man was seen carrying a backpack with an apparent gun handle sticking from it into the adjoining woods.

Upon investigation, police found the backpack unattended in the woods. Inside was a disassembled 12-gauge shotgun and the ID of Kirk A. Frye, 20, of Batavia.

No ammo was found with the gun.

Apparently, Frye, who doesn't attended BOCES but knows people who do, dropped the backpack in the woods before entering to the campus to find a ride home. He was carrying the gun with the intention of selling it at a local gun shop and stated he knew it was illegal to bring the gun onto campus, which is why he left it where he did.

Police kept the gun and charged Frye with disorderly conduct.  He is scheduled to appear in court on the charge May 12 at 1 p.m.

The proposed budget for Richmond Memorial Library in Batavia passed handily Tuesday.

A total of 312 voters cast ballots, with 253 approving the budget and 59 against it. The new budget is $1,240,352. The library's plans include possibly increasing its hours of operation.

Incumbent Trustee John McGee, who ran unopposed, won reelection to a five-year term with 291 yes votes.

The library's top four sources of revenue are the school district, gifts/endowments, library fees/printing charges and Genesee County funding.

Library staff expressed a lot of "thanks for the community's generous support."

Remember the well-dress man wandering around downtown two weeks ago -- the police sent out a bank-camera photo of the man and said he was wanted it connection with an alleged larceny?

Police tell me the post on The Batavian led to numerous tips.

Yesterday, Yusuf A. Hassem  a.k.a. Louis L. Reed, 69, of Buffalo was taken into custody and charged with one count of grand larceny.

It turns out Hassam allegedly ran a scam, convincing a local woman that he was recently arrived from Africa and didn't know what to do with $7,000 in cash he had on him. The woman suggested he open a checking account at Tonawanda Valley Credit Union.

Hassem reportedly told the woman he couldn't find an available teller and asked her to hold the $7,000 and handed her a folded handkerchief. It was later found that the handkerchief contained only cut-up newspaper.

And an envelope the woman had containing $2,000 was missing.

We're asking Det. Chuck Dudek for clarification on where the $2,000 came from and how Hassem was able to get his hands on it.

Hassem has two prior convictions for running con jobs.

After arraignment in City Court by Robert Balbick, Hassam was jailed without bail.

Today's Deal of the Day: A $25 gift certificate from Adam Miller Toy and Bicycle in Batavia. The Batavian's Good Deal Price: $12.50 -- HALF off!

The last time I was in Adam Miller, there was a nice croquet set for sale. With grass getting greener, croquet seems like a great idea for some family and friends fun this time of year.

The gift certificate must be used by within 30 days of purchase. It is not valid with other offers and has no cash value. Previous winners of this gift certificate are not eligible for this offer.

Rules: Purchase using the PayPal "Buy Now" button below. After the first person to hit the "buy now" button completes the purchase, PayPal will let you know that the item has been sold. Ideally, the winner will arrange to stop by my office on Main Street before 5:00 p.m. to pick up gift certificate. Mail is an option, but it would be better to hand you the gift certificate. 

If you want to be notified via e-mail of future Deals of the Day, sign up for the Deals of the Day e-mail list by clicking here.

Merchants: If you would like your business featured in Deal of the Day, call Howard Owens at 260-6970.

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Be sure to check out our online exclusive from Roxy's Music Store.

It is that time of year folks, the time that the spring breeze is whispering through the air with the aroma of grilled hamburgs, kids frolicking in the yards and music billowing from one end of the street to the other.

Care-A-Van Ministries will be kicking off their street cookouts this Saturday, May 9^th at GCC. We will be hosting a community cookout for the college students, friends and families in the dorm parking lot. The fun begins at 4:00 PM. There will be plenty of fresh cooked hamburgs, hotdogs and all the goodies to go with them.

Care-A-Van now has their own personal band which has been practicing together to prepare for the summer season. Every Thursday, we travel to a different neighborhood to provide a cookout. Then on that following Sunday, we follow up with street church at the same neighborhood.  We will be hosting 22 cookouts and street church services. Last year we saw about 800 people at the cookouts and 180 people at street church.  We are excited that our band will be joining us for the cookouts.

If you are looking to get involved and make a difference in other’s lives, why not join us for a summer of fun and fellowship? There are great opportunities for you yourself, churches and agencies to get involved.  Even on our Saturday morning distributions, we are looking for help in different areas. We would love to have your teens, small groups, church family or whomever come to the streets to spread some good news and cheer.

Not all families can afford to take their families on a summer vacation or travel to a local park for a picnic, so we take the entertainment to them and at the same time bring them hope. Even if you can just stop by and visit with the families when you see our bus out and about, you will bring smiles and joys to many!  A special thank you to all who encourage and support us in the work we do for the Lord.

During my walk around downtown this afternoon, I snapped this picture of the Upton monument, which has stood at Ellicott and Main since 1919.

They tell us the under-construction roundabout at Oak and Pearl will make traffic move smoother and more safely, even for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Just how that will work is the subject of a public information meeting later this month.

City and state Department of Transportation officials will explain how roundabouts work from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, May 21 at Batavia City Hall.

Howard McCulloch, a DOT design specialist, will discuss the benefits of a roundabout. He has worked on similar projects throughout the state since 1999.

The local roundabout will be a circular intersection designed to slow traffic while decreasing delay time for motorists. The project is expected to be finished, or close to it, this summer.

McCulloch plans to: help educate the public on how to enter and navigate their way through the roundabout; describe the benefits of this new design; and give people a chance to ask questions.

According to the Institute for Highway Safety, which studied 23 roundabouts nationwide, total crashes dropped nearly 40 percent and serious injury/fatal accidents were cut by 90 percent after roundabouts were constructed.

The Genesee Justice/Jail building at 14 West Main Street needs a new roof, and it seems the County Legislature Ways & Means Committee is in a little tiff with the city over what kind of roofing material is permissible.

The county applied to the city's Historic Preservation Board to replace the current roof with asphalt shingles, but the request was denied, according to minutes from the April 15 Ways & Means Committee meeting minutes.

The lowest of five bids for the re-roofing project, at $197,000, proposed asphalt shingles. The next lowest bid, using synthetic slate is $67,000 higher.

Committee members question whether the city has the authority to declare a county building part of a preservation zone.

The minutes note that the preservation board approved the synthetic slate roof "reluctantly," without any detail on what that means.

A motion to approve the $264,000 bid from Grove Roofing Services was tabled after some discussion and the matter was referred to the county attorney for further review.

During the discussion, County Legislator Jay Grasso noted that both City Hall and the new county courthouse have asphalt roofs.

At about 1 p.m. today, we e-mailed City Manager Jason Molino for clarification of the city's position and have yet to receive a reply.

UPDATE: After this post, I e-mailed County Manager Jay Gsell to double check whether anything had changed since the April 15 Ways and Means meeting.  In response, he made these points:

• City Hall was not directly part of process county pursued to get approval for roof replacement options other than new slate.
• The Historic Preservation Board was called on because of requirements in city Code, but the new buildings (as mentioned above) do not fall under the board's jurisdiction, so it's not an accurate comparison.
• Bids were solicited as required by state law and the roof of this building is complex both interms of removal and new systems/replacement and materials with a 50-year life expectancy (asphalt shingle is 25 years).

"Bottom line is that roof is over 100 years old," Gsell wrote. "It's in bad shape. This building is on Register of Historic Buildings and we intend to keep using for county functions for a long time, including our  back up emergency 911 center should 165 Park Road for some bizarre reason not be functional."

The Ways and Means Committee meets tomorrow at 4 p.m. and will revisit this issue.

Richmond Memorial Library's polls are open today until 9 p.m. so voters can decide on this year's budget.

Also, Trustee John McGee is running unopposed for reelection to a five-year term.

Registered voters who live in the Batavia City School District are eligible to cast a ballot. Voting takes place in the Gallery Room of the library, located at 19 Ross St.

The library's top four sources of revenue were the school district, gifts/endowments, library fees/printing charges and Genesee County funding. If more funding is approved this year, the library's plans include possibly increasing its hours of operation.

The next revision of the Batavia city charter is heading to the attorney for review after the Charter Review Commission polished up its proposed changes tonight.

The last issue to get any discussion dealt with the definition of "affiliation" in the case a city council member resigned office mid-term -- if a council member was elected by a political party different from his or her affiliation at the time of resignation, which party should get to appoint the replacement.

By a 3-4 vote, the commission rejected a proposed change that would have defined according to which party gave the candidate the most votes.

Commission members who objected to the change said the current definition is clear, has worked for years, and less likely to subvert the will of the voters.

"We are trying to infer what voters want instead of keeping it black and white," said Matt Landers. "We're getting into a subjective area."

The issue was raised last month by Councilman Bill Cox, who was elected as a Republican on a Democratic line. He asked who would get to appoint his replacement if he resigned for any reason. Under the current charter, it seems, the Republicans would get to pick the new member.

After the city attorney finishes his review, the commission will meet to discuss any of his language changes and then set a public hearing for the revised charter in July. The vote will be in November.

If a high speed rail system is built between Albany and Buffalo as part of President Obama's transportation stimulus package, don't expect a stop in Batavia, according to Tim Hens, county highway superintended.

"They won't stop for us now, so I can't image they will stop for us at double the speed," Hens said.

Hens said its his understanding that the high-speed line will only stop at major cities.

There hasn't been a rail stop in Batavia -- which was part of history when Lincoln's train stopped here -- in his lifetime, which means for at least 35 or 40 years, Hens said.

There currently is an Amtrak route that heads east from Buffalo and the trip to Albany can take seven hours or longer, Hens noted, with stops to yield right-of-way to cargo trains and whether being two factors that can increase the length of the trip.

"You can drive a car there in half the time," Hens said.

Hens advocates a new dedicated line for a high-speed rail, but that would entail a great deal more expense, including new passenger stations and switches. The only place to build a rail without acquiring new right-of-way is along the path of the Thruway, but the Thruway Authority, he noted, has it's own agenda, which includes collecting tolls from drivers who might opt for rail over car travel if it were available.

While a rail stop in Batavia could be beneficial to the city, Hens said, it's just too close to both Buffalo and Rochester to efficiently run a train between spots so close together.

"You would get up to speed about half way from Buffalo and need to slow down to stop in Batavia," he said.

Today's Deal of the Day: A $25 gift certificate from Batavia Downs Grandstand Bar & Grille in Batavia. The Batavian's Good Deal Price: $12.50 -- HALF off!

Enjoy a great meal in one of Genesee County's favorite entertainment venues.

Rules: The gift certificate must be used by within 30 days of purchase. It is not valid with other offers and has no cash value. By law, gift certificates cannot be used for purchase of alcohol.

How to win: Purchase using the PayPal "Buy Now" button below. After the first person to hit the "buy now" button completes the purchase, PayPal will let you know that the item has been sold. Ideally, the winner will arrange to stop by my office on Main Street before 5:00 p.m. to pick up the gift certificate. Mail is an option, but it would be better to hand you the gift certificate. 

If you want to be notified via e-mail of future Deals of the Day, sign up for the Deals of the Day e-mail list by clicking here.

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Merchants: If you would like your business featured in Deal of the Day, call Howard Owens at 260-6970.Don't forget about our online exclusive from Roxy's Music: A guitar and amp, a $450 value, available through The Batavian only for $295. Click Here.

Reader Holly Carney was on scene Sunday for a duck rescue. Carney tells us that a mother duck waited for help by a sewer where her ducklings had fallen. Firefighters, whom Carney calls "the true heroes of this town," arrived with nets to scoop out the babies. She says, " It was truly amazing.  They were so dedicated to the rescue of these animals.  Imagine how dedicated to our safety the are."

UPDATE: Holly just passed along this picture of the ducklings and momma.

Andrew Hall-Jones, 56, of Stafford, is charged with petty larceny after allegedly stealing clothes from outside an apartment in Stafford. He is being held in Genesee County Jail on $500 bail.

Rachel A. Baehr, 22, of Elba is in jail on a bench warrant after she allegedly failed to appear in a previous child endangerment case. She is held on $500 bail. Baehr was also taken into custody Friday at 3:30 p.m. on a petty larceny charge. She is accused of attempting to steal three 12-ounce bottles of Corona beer from Kmart by concealing them in her purse.

Timothy J. Smith, 19, of Basom, is charged with unlawfully dealing with a child after allegedly hosting an under-age drinking party. The party was reportedly held Saturday night on Lewiston Road in Basom. Deputies say Smith allowed people under 21 to drink while attending the party. He was taken into custody early Sunday morning and issued an appearance ticket.

Anne Weremblewski, 54, of Batavia, is accused of using a kitchen knife to scratch a neighbor's car. She is charged with a felony count of criminal mischief. She was released on her own recognizance and ordered not to engage in offensive conduct.

Jason Cramer, 25, of Batavia, allegedly made an "unreasonable noise" inside his residence during a domestic dispute. This caused neighbors to call 911. He is charged with disorderly conduct and possession of marijuana. The incident occurred early Saturday morning.

Vincent T. Winterkorn, 50, of Rochester, was stopped for reportedly speeding along Route 33 in through Stafford on Friday at about 7 p.m. Upon further investigation, it was determined that he appeared intoxicated. He is charged with DWI with a BAC of .08 or greater, driving without a license and speeding.

Andrew J. Rock, 22, of Batavia, is charged with petty larceny. Rock is accused of attempting to shoplift two bottles of perfume from Target. He was issued an appearance ticket.

Robert Piechocki, 45, of Alexander is accused of slapping his wife during a domestic dispute. He is charged with menacing and harassment. He is held on $1,500 bail.

The Care-A-Van Band made up of local muscians made it's first debut with a practice with our outing to a local neighborhood this past Saturday.

Stay tuned for more details on this exciting group of local talent!