batavia

City Fire has responded to a working structure fire at 9 Prune St., Batavia.

UPDATE 7:36 p.m.: When I left the scene around 6:50 p.m., firefighters were still on scene trying to get the last of the fire smoldering in the roof. A neighbor told me the fire started on a couch sitting outside that had been left out for trash, but not picked up, because it wasn't tagged. The fire got into the structure of the house by climbing up the wall behind the siding. Chief Craig Williams didn't think the fire had moved into the front of the house. It seem contained to the back attic.

We'll provide an update when more information is released.

More pictures after the jump:

Clinton Stanley Worthington, 20, of Genesee Street, Corfu, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, and no/inadequate stop lamps. Worthington was stopped at 2:25 a.m. in the area of 8974 Upton Road, Batavia, by Deputy James Diehl.

UPDATE: The name of the "spotter" in this story has been removed. Public records indicate there is no way the person mentioned was a spotter at the time of the described incidents.  Dan says the only thing he remembers for sure was that his name was "Petey." 

While the dignitaries introduced each other and made their speeches -- all very solemn and respectful -- I couldn't help myself, I wandered over to the Wall.

The Wall is a smaller replica of the Vietnam War Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. It's on display at the Veterans Hospital in Batavia until Monday afternoon. Today, at 5 p.m., the dignitaries hosted opening ceremonies.

Dan Matthews was at the Wall, too. I took his picture, and moments later I gave him my business card and offered to send him a copy. That's when he told me his story.

Matthews, who splits time between Pembroke and Phoenix, was a sniper, an elite sniper. He served in the Marine Corps on a "recluse" mission.

A young man named XXX was assigned as his spotter.

On XXX third outing with Matthews, they were on a mission and XXX was working hard to do a good job. At one point, Matthews told him he needed to get his head down. He kept spotting. He didn't move fast enough.

"I inhaled bits of his brain," Matthews said.

He then added, "but I killed the other sniper."

Two days later, on another mission, he killed an enemy three-star general.

But to this day, Matthews said, he still struggles with the memories of his time in Southeast Asia.

When I showed him the picture I took of him touching Peter's name, he said, "I can never touch the real Wall."

I'm sorry, but I missed the speeches.

I met Dan Matthews and learned about XXXX instead. They are what the Wall is really about. With due respect to the dignitaries, it's not about speeches.

You should visit the Wall while it's here. I don't care if you're a hawk or a dove, pro-interventionist or anti-interventionist, or supported the Vietnam War or opposed it: You should visit the Wall. The Wall isn't about politics or American foreign policy. It's about young men and women who died doing either what they thought was their duty, or  they felt was the only choice they had. It isn't about the generals or the politicians. It's about our neighbors and our uncles and their friends and their family. It's about Ken Matthews and it's about XXXX

UPDATE: Click here for WBTA's coverage.

More pictures after the jump:

City Fire is being dispatched to Dunkin' Donuts where a child is unable to get out of a car because the seat belt is stuck.

Last year, city workers had to remove the weeds from around the seemingly rotting Latina's building, billing the property owner for the abatement.

LKLWL Properties out of Amherst may be in for another bill from the city if owner Tom Lewin doesn't deal with the growing weed problem soon.

BID Director Don Burkel said he spoke with Lewin the other day and he said Lewin was adamant that he's not going to do anything with the building, neither in regards to upkeep nor selling the property.

I called Lewin this morning and left a voice mail asking him to confirm whether that's his position. No call back yet.

Of course, most of us call the building the Latina's building because that's still the company name on the side of the structure. 

I called Latina's Food Services out of Tonawanda and asked if a company spokesman would comment on any potential public-relations problem in having a decrepit building in the middle of Batavia with its name on it. No official spokesman would come to the phone. The only response was through a receptionist who said he was told to say, "We don't own the building."

Previously:

• Property owner refuses to discuss sea gulls plaguing former Latina's location
• Gulls at Latina's market a nuisance again this year

Hundreds of motorcycle riders were in the procession this morning escorting the Vietnam Memorial Moving Wall from Le Roy to the Veterans' Home in Batavia.

As local law enforcement cleared the way, the procession moved swiftly through town.

The Moving Wall will be on display through the weekend, night and day, with opening ceremonies at 5 p.m., today.

Charles Thigpen Gus "Gusto" Williams, 31, of 4213 Cookson Road, Alexander, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 3rd, and two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th. The Local Drug Task Force executed a search warrant at 4213 Cookson Road, Alexander, on Wednesday afternoon. Williams was allegedly found in possession of crack cocaine, powder cocaine, Hydrocodone, Suboxone and $770 in U.S. currency. Williams was jailed on $15,000 bail.

Dyllon E. Soccio, 20, of 134 Tracy Ave., Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 4th, criminal possession of marijuana, 2nd, and three counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th. The Local Drug Task Force executed a search warrant at 134 Tracy Ave., Batavia, on Wednesday afternoon. Soccio was allegedly found in possession of 3/4 of a pound of Psilocybin (mushrooms), about 2 1/2 pounds of marijuana, a quantity of powder cocaine, Hydrocodone, Valium and $2,096 in U.S. Currency.  Soccio was jailed without bail.  Additional charges may be pending.

A 17-year-old resident of Prospect Avenue, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. The youth is accused of placing items in her purse while at Tops Market and attempting to leave without paying.

City Fire responded quickly this morning to a reported house fire at 4 Morton St., Batavia.

Lt. Jay Steinbrenner said when crews arrived, they could see smoke rising out of the chimney, which usually indicates a basement fire.

What firefighters found was a dehumidifier that malfunctioned, and quickly doused the small fire.

There was no structural damage.

This afternoon while waiting for a business in the Harvester Center to open, I killed time by walking along the south side of the building looking for objects to photograph.

If you've ever looked closely at the building, there are stars bolted into the walls between the first and second stories. These, I'm sure, are not decorative, but part of the building's support structure, bolting thick wires that run from wall to wall. That's just a guess, but I've seen this kind of construction before.

Below, a "weed" (I can't identify the flower) set against a red door, and three more pictures after the jump.

Kimberly Lynn Blue, 21, of 7 Wood St., Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th, and unlawful possession of marijuana. Blue was reportedly a passenger in a vehicle stopped for alleged traffic offenses 5:53 p.m., Tuesday. During the stop, she was allegedly found in possession of a quantity of marijuana and Ritalin. The stop was made by Deputy Brian Thompson.

General G. Sanders, 38, of Haxton Lane, Oakfield, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Local law enforcement made contact with Sanders when a van was stopped in order to execute a bench warrant out of the Town of Batavia for a passenger in the van, Jeremy Lyons. The stop was made at 2:33 p.m., Tuesday, by Deputy Brian Thompson and a unit from the State Police. During the stop on Angling Road in Pembroke, Sanders was allegedly found in possession of marijuana.

Luke M. Tarnacki, 19, of Sandridge Road, Alden, is charged with driving while impaired by drugs, failure to keep right, unlawful use of an electronic device (texting) and aggravated unlicensed operation. Sheriff's deputies Ron Meides and Chris Parker were dispatched at 7:47 a.m., Wednesday, to the scene of an alleged accident on Route 33 near Read Road in the Town of Batavia. A vehicle had driven through a ditch and left the scene. Tarnacki was located later and reportedly admitted to texting while driving. Tarnacki reportedly crossed two lanes of traffic and drove off the roadway on the opposite shoulder. Upon further investigation, deputies determined that Tarnacki was allegedly driving while impaired by drugs. Tarnacki was jailed on $3,000 bail.

After his client entered a not guilty plea to an aggravated harassment charge, attorney Dan Killelea read the letter for the first time that Dawn Doll allegedly wrote a Sheriff's Office employee and shook his head.

After court, Killelea said, "I can't see a single threat in the entire letter."

He said he will need to research the case further before deciding on a defense, but he indicted he isn't sure there was even a crime committed when Doll, sister of convicted murderer Scott F. Doll, allegedly mailed the letter in a Father's Day card to one of the officers involved in the murder investigation.

The Sheriff's Office employee wrote in an affidavit that he felt threatened by the letter.

"The content of the letter was disturbing to me," he wrote. "The fact that a Father's Day card was sent along with the letter and receiving the envelop on Father's Day was very threatening to me and my family members."

Scott Doll was convicted by a jury last month of killing Joseph Benaquist outside Benaquist's Pembroke home.

Dawn Doll appeared in City Court at 1 p.m. accompanied by friends and family to answer to the Class A misdemeanor charge.

In a statement Doll reportedly made to a State trooper at the time of her arrest Saturday, Doll said she had come to understand writing the letter was the wrong thing to do.

"I should never have done it," Doll reportedly said. "If I could take it back, I would."

Judge Michael DelPlato issued an order barring Doll from having contact of any kind through any means with the Sheriff's Office member she allegedly wrote the letter to.

Killelea assisted Paul Cambria in the defense of Scott Doll.

Local law enforcement is looking for individuals who allegedly used stolen credit cards to make purchases at a retail store in Batavia.

The credit cards were allegedly stolen from a vehicle parked on Gateway Drive on June 14.

Credit cards were also stolen from a car on Park Road on June 4.

Batavia PD is investigating the Gateway Drive theft and the Sheriff's Office is investigating the Park Road incident.

The individuals in the picture above are wanted for questioning in the case. They may be driving the car in the picture below.

Police are asking persons who may have information on the identity of the suspects to contact the Batavia Police Department’s Detective Bureau at (585) 345-6444 or the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department at (585) 345-3000 x-3570. Persons can also leave information on the Batavia Police Department’s Confidential Tip Line at (585) 345-6370.

Genesee County's unemployment rate dropped to 6.6 percent in May, four points lower than May 2009, and five points lower than April.

Batavia's unemployment rate is the best its been since November, 2008, when the rate was 6.0.

The official numbers confirm anecdotal evidence of an improving employment picture provided last week by Scott Gage, director of the Genesee County Career Center.

The positive trend is ahead of the curve for New York State, which saw only a one point improvement in the job picture, with the state going from 8.4 to 8.3 year-over-year.

Genesee County is also faring better than all of the surrounding counties, which continue to have unemployment rates of at least 7 percent, with Wyoming and Orleans counties above 8 percent.

The Buffalo area's 7.6 percent unemployment rate is the best it's been since December 2008, when the rate was 6.8 percent. Rochester's rate of 7.3 percent is also a big improvement over the previous 16 months.

A Warsaw man accused of grand larceny in a complicated scheme to steal money and building materials was in City Court today asking that an order of protection for two alleged victims be lifted.

The attorney for Dustin Hurlburt, 32, said Hurlburt could complete work if the order was lifted.

The District Attorney did not object to the request.

The orders were lifted.

Hurlburt is due back in court Aug. 10.

(Dan Fisher at WBTA contributed to this report.)

Reached on his mobile phone, Tom Lewin, reportedly manager of LKLWL Properties out of Amherst, the listed owner of the former Latina's Market building at 45-47 Ellicott Street just hung up on The Batavian.

Asked what he plans to do about the sea gulls roosting on top of the apparently deteriorating former grocery store, Lewin said, "I have no comment" and terminated the call.

Lewin reportedly took the same tact when reach by Geoff Redick of WBTA earlier today.

Lewin reportedly said there are no plans to sell or develop the building. Redick reports that Lewin refused to comment on the issue.  Redick said he asked if he had a reason to disregard the public health in Batavia, Lewin reportedly called it a "loaded question" and discontinued the interview.

WBTA reports that the Business Improvement District has requested LKLWL clean up the problem, and USDA Wildlife Services have been contacted, and that the County Health Department regards the growing number of gulls as a possible public health concern.

WBTA reported that LKLWL has refused to let anybody on the roof to investigate the situation.

Ken Mislter, who owns 10 properties downtown and has in previous years helped organize the classic car show in the Court and Ellicott parking lot said the reason there is no classic car show this year is the car owners don't want to subject their rides to gull droppings.

The property is listed on the BID's website as for sale or lease. The current assessed value is $700,000.