batavia

A man who robbed a bank in Batavia in November 2007 entered a guilty plea in federal court on Friday, admitting to a total of five bank robberies in Western New York and Pennsylvania.

Michael Makolinski, 31, of Buffalo, faces up to 25 years in jail, a $1 million fine or both after pleading guilty to bank robbery.

“In his greed to steal the money of others, this serial bank robber thought he could prey upon banks located is some of our smaller communities, as well as in Buffalo,” said U.S. Attorney William Hochul. “As today’s convictions prove, the defendant’s belief was wrong.”

Besides the robbery of the Bank of America branch in Batavia, Makolinski, who appeared to display a gun in each robbery, hit banks in Erie, Pa., Irondequoit, Lewiston and Buffalo.

All of the robberies occurred between October 2007 and December 2007.

Sentencing is set for Nov. 13.

A two-car accident with possible minor injuries is reported on Clinton Street Road, Batavia, in front of Terry Hills Golf Course.

The accident is blocking.

Town of Batavia Fire Department and Mercy EMS responding.

UPDATE 10:21 a.m.: One lane blocked. Debris in roadway. One person complaining of neck pain.

UPDATE 10:34 a.m.: One patient being transported to UMMC.

UPDATE 10:51 a.m.: Town of Batavia fire back in service.

Press release:

City residents and those who work in the city are asked to provide input to the Batavia City Council through a Citizen Survey posted on the city’s Web site at www.batavianewyork.com.

Two years ago the city conducted a citizen survey to gauge how citizens perceive the quality of several city services. The survey also inquired as to whether citizens plan to remain in Batavia in five years and provided an area for general comments.

The data received from the survey was used to develop the city’s Strategic and Business Plan. Last year was an overwhelming success for our first year of implementation as the city achieved or exceeded nearly all of its identified performance measurements and key intended outcomes.

The results of the 2012 survey will again provide the city with information for its strategic planning process 2013 – 2015.

“This past year has been an enormous success for our city,” said City Manager Jason Molino. “It is important that we continue this planning process moving forward, and getting input from our citizens and workforce is vital to the planning success.”

The online survey can be viewed using any computer with Internet access. To find the survey, an individual will need to go to www.batavianewyork.com and click on the link labeled, “Citizen Survey.”

This link will take you directly to the survey which can be filled out online and submitted by the click of a button upon completion. All residents and those working in the city can take the survey, and the survey can be accessed more than once by eligible members of the same household.

For individuals without computer access, the Richmond Memorial Library is encouraging Batavia residents to utilize its free Internet service to take the survey. The library offers several computer terminals from which the survey can be taken. The service is free, however individuals must sign up to become a library member.

Membership to the Richmond Memorial Library is free and requires only a few minutes to provide some basic information. Summer library hours are: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday – Thursday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Residents can also pick up and submit a hard copy of the survey from the city clerk’s office at city hall.

On Memorial Day I took a minute to read the names on the World War I monument in Williams Park.

My assumption was, these where the names of people killed in combat, so when two, possibly three, names looked like the names of women, I was curious as to who they were.

I contacted Susan Conklin, Genesee County historian and records management officer, to see if she knew anything about the monument. She asked me to get the names, which I finally got around to doing for her earlier this week.

Here are the three names that got my attention:

Elva Springer, Florence Carney and Cecelia Cochran.

It turns about both Springer and Carney were men who served in the Marine Corps and Army.

The first name of Springer, a resident of 12 Fisher Park, is also spelled Alva. He was wounded in action some time prior to May 1, 1918. His death as a result of his wounds was reported locally Nov. 22, 1918.

According to a newspaper article from May 1, 1918, Springer was the son of John Springer, who by that time had moved to New York City. John Springer worked for the Batavia Rubber Company. His son had worked for him prior to enlistment.The article says "he was well known among young people here."

Carney, middle name Vincent, was among the first men drafted on Feb. 7, 1918.  He lived at 26 Russell Place. His death was reported Oct. 15, 1918 from pneumonia at Camp Aberdeen.

Miss Cecelia Josephine Cochran, the lone woman listed on the monument, was the daughter of Capt. and Mrs. Elliott P. Cochran of 17 Vernon Ave., Batavia. She had been a nurse in Rochester. She left Batavia Sept. 30, 1918 as a volunteer nurse for the United States Public Health Service. The family was notified Oct. 14, 1918 that she was quite ill with pneumonia at Army Hospital in Huntsville, Ala.

The family held a private funeral Oct. 21, 1918, at home followed by a service at St. Joseph's officiated by Father Gilhooley of East Pembroke.

Cochran was buried with military honors at the Catholic Cemetery in Le Roy.

Joshua Denise, the 37-year-old Batavia resident who was identified in a U.S. Attorney press release and in a federal search warrant affidavit as an employee of The 420 Emporium appears to be at least co-owner the the store at 400 Ellicott St., according to documents obtained by The Batavian.

While working on a story Monday about how other locations of The 420 Emporium have apparently reopened while the Batavia store remains closed, The Batavian stopped by the location to take pictures of the store and check for signs of activity.

The mail had apparently not been picked up in a couple of days and clearly visible in the mailbox was an envelope with a return address for New York Taxation and Finance addressed Joshua Denise c/o The 420 Store, LLC.

The 420 Store, LLC was filed with the Secretary of State on Feb. 16, 2012.

This is a separate incorporation from The 420 Emporium, Inc., filed Aug. 29, 2011.

The Batavian then issued a FOIL request with the Batavia Fire Department for any fire inspection documents.

Denise signed the inspection notice as "owner/occupant" of the business location.

A FOIL request was also sent to the Genesee County Department of Health for any inspection records. 

Denise is listed on those documents as "co-owner" of "420 Emporium," 400 Ellicott St.

Federal authorities, assisted by local law enforcement, raided the store July 26 as part of a larger operation hitting all five 420 Emporium locations and arrested Denise along with Michelle Condidorio, 30, of Le Roy.

Both Denise and Condidorio were arraigned in federal court that day and charged with possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, a controlled substance analog.

They are suspected of selling packages of a product that contained alpha-PVP, a chemical that is an analog to MDPV. MDPV became a controlled substance on July 9. The substances are believed to provide an euphoric type high and be addictive. Side effects seem to include paranoia, hallucinations and agitation.

While Denise and Condidorio were not held by authorities following arraignment, the store has not reopened.

Meanwhile, the 420 stores in Brockport, Fulton and Henrietta have, according to sources, reopened.

The Brockport store has advertised job openings at its location on its Facebook page.

Charles Darwin Fitzgerald is listed in DEA documents as well as the incorporation papers as the owner of The 420 Emporium.  His live-in girlfriend, Amber Snover, has proclaimed herself on Facebook as the owner of the stores in Brockport, Rochester, Henrietta and Fulton.

The feds also searched the Fitzgerald/Snover home in Greece, and reportedly recovered a large bag of cash, but neither subject has been charged with a crime so far.

In an inspection of the 420 store in Batavia on May 31, Denise allegedly told a county health worker that his store didn't sell synthetic cannabinoids.

The health technician reported the following items were on sale: herbal incense brands of "Kryptonite" as well as items labeled "Rain of Fire," "Fuzzy Wuzzy," and "Kush 10x."

Kryptonite herbal incense can be found for sale on what appear to be online head shops and there is at least one YouTube video of a person allegedly smoking a substance of the same name.

"Rain of Fire," "Fuzzy Wuzzy," and "Kush 10x" are all reported on at least one Web site as a form of alleged synthetic cannabinoid.

The health technician issued to Denise a notice that day that the state had banned synthetic cannabinoids of all types.

On July 2, the County Health Department also cited the 420 Store for selling tobacco products that were not either behind the counter with only employee access or in a locked case.

Denise didn't contest the citation and paid a $350 fine on July 16.

The business was also found allegedly to be in violation of city fire codes on July 16, such as accumulation of trash in the back room, a hole above the back door that needed to be properly repaired, lack of properly located fire extinguishers, lack of outlet covers and no exit sign above the rear exit.

There's no indication whether these alleged violations were resolved or are still pending.

PepsiCo and Theo Muller officials along with Gov. Andrew Cuomo praised the efforts of local leaders to convince the two international companies to locate their new yogurt plant in Batavia.

The executives, elected officials along with a host of local dignitaries gathered at the new Muller Quaker Dairy plant in the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park today for a dedication ceremony for the new plant.

Indra Nooyi, CEO of Pepsi, said once it was time to make a decision about the location for the plant, Batavia was an easy choice.

"I must say the Genesee County people and the governor’s office were just amazing in the way they worked with us," Nooyi said. "There was no competition. We love being here. The Genesee County people have to be given a lot of credit, the way they brought the forces of the county together to get everything expedited in such a short time. I think it is a real textbook example of how to attract investment into any community."

Stefan Muller, the CEO of the newly formed Muller Quaker Dairy company, said the day that executives traveled to the Genesee Agri-Business Park, the amount of support Genesee County lined up for the visit was impressive. There were representatives from local government and utility companies making promises on delivery of what Pepsi and Muller would need to build the project.

"I have seen 60 sites that were just locations on a map and I have seen six sites personally, but what we saw here was just outstanding," Muller said. "We were promised to get all of the permissions within weeks and we couldn’t believe it."

Gov. Andrew Cuomo also praised Genesee County officials and said the effort to bring the Muller Quaker plant to Batavia is an example of how New York is open for business.

“We want business in New York," Cuomo said. "Business is the engine that drives the train, providing the jobs, providing the opportunity, providing the career ladder, providing the revenues to local governments. It’s all about making the private sector run and making the private sector run well and government partnering with that private sector. “

Yogurt, Cuomo said, is quickly becoming a big part of New York's economy -- production is up 60 percent in the past few years and there are now 49 yogurt plants in the state. He said the state is committed to ensuring the yogurt industry succeeds.

"We believe in the yogurt story and we’ve invested in the yogurt story," Cuomo said. "It is a big, big business in the State of New York."

He announced an Aug. 15 summit of leaders in the yogurt industry and dairy leaders to help facilitate, he said, the two groups working together to grow the yogurt industry.

"We want this business to do well," Cuomo said. "We want this business to thrive and we want this business to thrive in the State of New York."

Pepsi is committed to growing in the nutritional food categories, and dairy in particular, Nooyi said.

"Dairy products are a $500 billion industry that is expected to grow rapidly in the high single digits," Nooyi said. "We believe that here in the United States the growth potential for dairy is virtually unlimited."

The yogurt market, she said, is "largely untapped." The per-capita consumption of yogurt in the U.S. is half what it is in many other countries."

Muller said the new product is sweeter than what Theo Muller makes in Germany to meet U.S. consumer expectations and Nooyi praised the new yogurt.

"The Muller Quaker Dairy line is going to bring a whole new taste experience to America that’s not like anything that’s available in the country today," Nooyi said. "Try it and you’ll see that it’s more rich than any other yogurt you've tasted.

"It’s creamier. It’s more delicious. It doesn’t have any chalky aftertaste. It's really something you’ll enjoy eating day in and day out, maybe even three or four times a day."

Muller said the online feedback on the new product has been fun to read.

"I read on the Internet, on a blog, one consumer was writing, she tried the product two weeks ago and she is writing it is insanely delicious," Muller said. "This was really, I think, the right comment."

Both chief executives praised their new business partner as the perfect fit for how each company would like to grow.

"I have to say it was good and smart that we took the time because we found the right partner with PepsiCo and the yogurt market is booming," Muller said. "It’s still a very small market compared to other countries and we have products which are very unique and are really outstanding for the American market."

Nooyi said Pepsi has the distribution system to get the new product onto store shelves throughout the United States.

She also said the two companies share a core value in being committed to their local communities.

"One of the reasons this is a great partnership is both companies are committed to growing our businesses and both are committed to growing our local communities," Nooyi said. "When this plant is complete next year, it will be one of the largest yogurt plants in the United States. It’s going to source largely from New York State dairy farmers and other quality suppliers around this great region. The best part is it will create 186 local jobs next year."

A bicyclist was struck, how is not clear, but he is conscious. This happened at Ellicott and Hutchins streets in the city. City fire is responding along with police and a medic.

UPDATE 12:56 p.m.: City fire is back in service. Apparently, everything's OK.

County legislators OK'd a $1.659 million project to replace the Lyon Street Bridge over the Tonawanda Creek on Wednesday, with a majority of the funding coming from a federal grant.

The resolution passed by the Ways and Means Committee authorizes the county to accept reimbursement for 80 percent of the project, which is scheduled to begin construction in 2015.

The county's share of the project will be $331,800 and be paid for from anticipated sales-tax revenue.

The design phase of the project is expected to cost $95,000. The local share of that expense will be $19,000.

According to New York Bridges Are Falling Down, the steel deck bridge was built in 1910 and is rated at 4.875 (on a scale of 1-7), putting it in the "dangerous" category.

The City of Batavia's financial health is looking a lot better, according to Moody's Investor Services.

The bond-rating agency recently upgraded the city to A1, which not only makes it cheaper for the city to borrow money, if needed, but it's also a vote of confidence and affirmation that the city's financial outlook is improving, City Manager Jason Molino said.

"Moody's bond-rating agency downgraded the city in 2005 and the upgrade says we're on the right path," Molino said.

From the upgrade memo:

Moody's expects the city's financial position to improve as of the close of fiscal 2012 given the city's practice of conservative budgeting of both revenues and expenditures. In previous years, the city had failed to maintain a balanced budget and accumulated a General Fund balance deficit, topping $1 million at the close of fiscal 2007, necessitating several years of issuing revenue anticipation notes. A new management team came in and generated four consecutive years of operating surpluses through conservative budgeting, increasing revenues and controlling expenditures.

Last fall, Moody's issued a "positive outlook" report for the city, but did not upgrade the bond rating.

Moody's said the city's strengths are management's ability to restore fiscal health and Batavia's proximity to employment centers.

The city's weakness is "Limited tax base with below-average wealth levels."

In order for the city's rating to go up even further, the city must improve reserves and liquidity and increase the city's socio-economic profile.

The rating could be hurt if the fund balance declines and the city's socio-economic profile declines.

Batavia's median family income is 74.4 percent that of the rest of New York, a ranking Moody's believes needs to improve.

While the city currently carries $7.5 million in debt, Moody's found this amount modest compared to property value of $535.8 million and overall annual revenue.

Moody's anticipates the city's average direct debt burden of 2.0 percent of full valuation to remain stable given the absence of major borrowing plans. Debt service is modest, accounting for 5.1 percent of fiscal 2011 expenditures. No borrowing is expected over the next two years.

"This lays the foundation for us to earn some of the trust back from the public," Molino said. "What's happened over the past several years, because of the finances, that's been lost a little bit. This builds on what it's going to take to stabilize our local economy over the long term."

Batavia may have experienced yesterday what is known as a 100-year-flood event.

The data is still being evaluated, it appears that within a two-hour period 3 inches of rain fell on Batavia and parts of Le Roy and Darien.

The city's infrastructure held up pretty well under the circumstances, said City Manager Jason Molino.

"That's a small time frame for that amount of volume," Molino said. "You've got to understand that sanitary and sewer systems are not designed to handle that kind of volume."

He said everything worked as it should.

"There were no failures in the system," Molino said. "There were no collapses and no malfunctions. The water pretty much dissipated within 30 minutes (of the rain stopping)."

A couple of dozen property owners, at least, reported flooded basements or flood-related damage.

Residents who witnessed water cascading into their basements may not feel like the system worked as it should, and Molino sympathized and said when your's is the place being flooded "it's tough to understand" that a combination of location (in a flood plain) and heavy localized rain is something no municipal drainage system is designed to handle.

Tim Yaeger, emergency management coordinator for Genesee County, said that such relatively few reports of damage in Batavia may mean that the county can't qualify for an emergency designation that would free up funding for financial help for property owners. But perhaps if the storm damage is grouped in with damage to Elmira and other parts of the Southern Tier last week, an emergency designation might be possible, he said.

If you suffered property damage, Molino said, you should contact your insurance company, but you can also contact the city manager's office to ensure the damage is counted in any reports sent to the state or federal government.

Yaeger cautioned against "false hope" of an emergency designation because "it's a very high threshold to meet."

The map shows rain total estimates for the hours of 4 to 6 p.m. Pink is 2+ inches and blue is 3 inches.

With things winding down from the storm this evening, I drove down Harvester Avenue and spotted this long puddle next to the railroad tracks and thought "that might be pretty interesting come sunset time." So at dusk, I drove back and made this photo.

Patches of flooding were reported throughout Batavia this afternoon after a heavy thunderstorm passed through the area starting at about 3 p.m., with the heaviest rains falling between 5 and 6 p.m.

Cars got stuck in underpasses, basements were flooded, and children found the biggest puddles of their lives to splash around in.

No injuries were reported as a result of the strong storm.

Floodwaters receded quickly once the rain slowed to a drizzle.

Top photo, a car stuck under the train bridge on Cedar Street.

Liberty Street between Ellicott and Main.

Tree limb down on power lines on Harvester Avenue, early in the storm.

Close up of the vehicle on Cedar Street.

Vehicle under the train bridge on Ellicott Street.

Some children on Vine Street had a great time with the flooding. Their parents said earlier Vine was heavily flooded, as the waters receded the children stood next to what was left of the puddle and waited for cars to come past and splash water on them.

A resident on Tracy Avenue invited me to see their flooded backyard.

A vehicle on Tracy Avenue.

More photos after the jump (click on the headline):

The photo above and the next several of children playing on Hutchins Street.

The backyard of the Finn residence on Hutchins Street.

The basement of the Finn residence. The water streamed in from the street to the side of the house.

On Watson Street, the basement of this house was flooded and firefighters set up barriers to keep cars off the street because every vehicle that passed pushed more water into the basement.

The flooded basement on Watson.

After the floodwaters on Hutchins Street receded, firefighters were able to pump out the basement of the Finn residence.

Almost as soon as the first reports of flooding came in I started getting texts and emails from readers of pictures they were taking. Of course, by this time, I was out taking my own photos, which I'll post later.

We also requested photos in our breaking news post on the storm.

Here are the photos we received so far. If you have any, email them to howard at the batavian dot com (of course, turn that into a properly formatted email address). If you have video, upload it to YouTube and email me the URL of the published video and we can post that, too. Get your photos in soon because we won't keep adding them indefinitely.

Above, photo of the Lehigh Avenue underpass from Greg Emerson.

Route 5 underpass, Le Roy, from Mary Margaret Ripley.

From Matt Hendershott, vehicle stuck under the bridge on Cedar Street.

From Tina Heartgrove, Spencer Court.

From Frank Bellucci, vehicle stuck under train bridge on Ellicott Street.

From Kyle Couchman, Swan Street.

Video from Jamie.

More photos after the jump (click on the headline):

From a reader on Vine Street.

From Janet, Liberty Street

From Robyn Silliman, backyard off Ellicott Street.

From Rita Towner, backyard canoeing.

From Kim Williams, canoeing on Ganson Avenue.

From Jennifer, Vine Street.

Lori Brickwood-Coles, Liberty Street. She included this note, "My sons Alex and Owen had fun in the flood, my Great Aunt told us the story of when Liberty flooded before in the '70s and people had actual boats on the streets because the water was so high."

Photo from County Highway Superintendent Tim Hens of the maintenance yard on Cedar Street.

For the third straight year, City of Batavia firefighters are wearing special T-shirts for two weeks to promote breast cancer awareness.

Starting Friday, residents will be able to stop by the fire hall on Evans Street and purchase special T-shirts (not quite like the firefighters are wearing in the photo above, and with the logo in the inset photo) for $10 each. Proceeds benefit Genesee County Cancer Assistance.

Jeff Whitcombe, who is organizing the effort said he's had a sister-in-law who had breast cancer a year ago (and is cancer free now) and the annual event began two years ago when the wife of a firefighter developed breast cancer.

"It can strike anybody," Whitcombe said. "The guys here have mothers, wives or significant others, and it hits home when that happens."

Pictured are, from left, Jeff Whitcombe, Lt. Mark Mikolajczyk, Bob Fix, president of the Batavia Firefighters Association, which is the sponsor of the event, Chief Jim Maxwell, Chuck Harmmon, Ryan Hendershott, Mike Dorgan and Dave Green.

Stephen A. Lewis, 32, of 130 W. Main St., Apt. A, Batavia, is charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and harassment, 2nd. Lewis was arrested following a report at 3:45 p.m., Friday, of two men arguing, with one of them possibly carrying a baseball bat, at East Main and Summit streets. According to Batavia PD, when a patrol officer attempted to interview Lewis, Lewis became irate and yelled obscenities. He continued, according to police, even after being warned to stop yelling and clean up his language. Lewis was placed under arrest and charged with disorderly conduct. Lewis struggled with officers. Once taken into custody by officers Eric Hill and Kevin DeFelice, Lewis was arraigned at city court and jailed on $1,000 bail. On the way to jail, Lewis allegedly threatened to kill Batavia PD officers, leading to the harassment, 2nd, charge. (Initial Report)

George M. Hodges, 22, of 9 Pringle Ave., lower, Batavia, is charged with disorderly conduct. Batavia PD officers responded to 9 Pringle Ave. at 11:46 p.m., Saturday, to investigate the report of a property dispute. While Officer Frank Klimjack was on scene, Hodges was allegedly irate and yelled obscenities. Klimjack reportedly warned Hodges to calm down, but Hodges allegedly continued yelling obscenities.

Brodes J. Gibson, 51, of 13 Thorpe St., Batavia, is charged with two counts of petit larceny. Gibson is accused of entering the Kwik Fill at 99 Jackson St. on two occasions and stealing two 18 packs of beer.

Joel S. Shelhorse, 24, of 23 West Ave., Elba, is charged with DWI, consumption of alcohol in a motor vehicle, operating in violation of a restricted use license, aggravated unlicensed operation and opening a vehicle door interfering with traffic. Shelhorse was taken into custody following a report at 8:46 a.m., Sunday, of a male and female arguing on South Main Street.

David A. Kendall, 40, of 215 Bank St., Batavia, is charged with trespass. Kendall is accused of entering a neighbor's property at 4:45 p.m., July 21, without permission.

David M. Smith, 26, of Pavilion, is charged with criminal possession of a weapon, 4th. Smith was arrested by State Police following an incident reported at 10:20 p.m., Sunday, in Darien. No further details released.

The River Street Bridge is closed today as part of an ongoing repair process. The bridge surface was already milled and today workers will do more work to prepare the bridge for resurfacing. Resurfacing will be completed next week, which will wrap up the repair work.

A motor-vehicle accident with injuries is reported at Alexander and Rose roads. Town of Batavia Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding. One person has a head injury, unknown severity. They are checking on the availability of Mercy Flight.

UPDATE 12:25 p.m.: Mercy Flight is not needed.

UPDATE 12:58 p.m.: Two vehicles were involved in this accident. I'm not sure about the status of patient(s), but I think one person was transported to Strong Memorial Hospital.

UPDATE 1:06 p.m.: Town of Batavia is back in service.

On Sunday afternoon, seven local churches and two local ministries came together in Austin Park to have a worship service, music and fellowship.

The idea came from several local pastors who think that churches in Batavia need to unite together. There was quite the crowd on hand.

Care-A-Van Ministries served 740 folks delicious hot dogs, and the churches provided free popcorn, snowcones, cotton candy and bottled water. The kids attending enjoyed the games and the bounce house.

Music was provided by Elmwood Drive, Care-A-Van Band and choirs of the local churches. The churches are hoping to make it an annual event with even more churches participating next year.